January 1987
JANU ARY
198"7
SPACE FRIDAY, JANUARY 9, 1987 MAST FRIDAY, JANUARY 16, 1987 At the Falcon Heights Communi ty Center 2077 Larpent eur Ave . West 7:30 PM SPACE and MAST Executiv e Officer s Bruce Haug Jim Schulz Bob Floyd Joe Danko Bob Siede Bob Rhode Frank Haug Jim Siede
Preside nt Vice Presiden t MAST Co-Chair man MAST Disk Libraria n HAST Co-Chair man Secretar y Treasur er Newslet ter Editor Disk Libraria n Paper Libraria n
SPACE/TAIG Bulletin Board
-·
774-6226 537-5442 484-7576 777-9500 489-3982 222-3593 774-6226 489-3982 522-2687
Minnesota Atari ST SIG
,
page 1
Bytes from Pres
.:· .~ r
page 2
8-Bit DOM :
page 3
..
.. ."' \
. ~
-------
Word Processo rs ")
page 8
Avatex 1200 Tips
page 9
SPACE Minutes
BYTES FROM THE PRES HAPPY NEW YEAR
page 11 MAST Minutes
page 13 News from Co-Chair page 19 Mast-ON -Line
page 21 MAST DOM
Publishe d by the St. Paul Atari Compute r Enthusi asts (SPACE), an independ ent organiza tion with no business affiliat ion with Atari Incorpor ated. Permissi on is granted to any simiiar organiza tion with which SPACE e x changes newslet ters to reprint material in this newslet ter. We do , however, ask that credit be to the authors and to SPACE. Opinion s expresse d are those of the article authors and do not necessa rily reflect the views of SPACE, MAST, club officers , members, or Atari Inc.
Thls month's Neweletter l• ehort, m•lnly due to the floppy . e ncloeed with th• 8-Bit DOM Library lleting on lt. To uee it, JU■t boot i t up with BABIC. Th■n uee the up lo down "Arrow Key•" ( WI THOUT holding the CNTRL key) to move the cursor up •nd down the menu. You then pr■•• RETURN or the spacabar to ••lect wh•t you're pointing at. Or you can uee a JOYSTICK ln port e1, to move the cursor up a. down, and the FIRE button to select. • 8■• Franks DOl1 Coluan for more detail•• What a great way to ■tart the New Year• Gordy Landeman will glve a GENERIC talk on Data BA■ee. Then we will Demo SYNFILE+ on the 130XE, and Todd Burkey•• SOFTBASE. Gordy will also demo Data Perfect lf anyone i• interested. Next month we will cover Spre ad Sh-te th• ■a•• way, with• demo of BYNCALC, The TAlG/SPACE BBS le back on the HARD DRIVE!! Now lets USE IT !! I wlll be on the board every other d•y to answer what questions I can. The BBS' phone e is (412> -~22-2487. Thanks to Joe Danko for the printed minutes of our last me eting, GOOD JOB JOE . PLEASE, wh•n donating software to th• DOM, or articl e • for the NEWSLETTER on a disk, USE SINGLE DENSITY ! !! NEITHER SPACE NOR THE DOM LIBRARIAN OWN A 10 ~0!! ! Will someone PLEASE volunteer to coordinate • llet of donatlone , Chips, Dips, Cookies, •tc, for the Feb. MAST Meeting. The Club wl 11 provide Coffee , Pop, and A CAKE, for our ONE YEAR MAST BIRTHDAY PARTY !!!
SEE YOU AT THE MEETINGS The PRES.
•••••••••••••••••••••••••••••
• NOTE TO CLUBS WE EXCHANGE * • NEWSLETTERS WITH •
•••••••••••••••••••••••••••••
Pie••• look a t the disk -
have ■ncloeed with thi s newslette r . It le a listing of our Public Oonlain 1. ibrary. Some of th••• progr• 111• . ..Y have come fro• you. If you would like to exchange di s ks with ue, we will SWAP d i s k f o r disk with you. Please • •nd u s a llet of the OISK(Sl you woul d li ke f rom us along with a list of wh•t you have to trade fro• your libar a ry. We will then send you the disk( a ) you wa nt •long with the li s t of di s k<•> we want. EACH CLUB WILL PAY THE POSTAGE FOR THE 0151<6 THEY SEND. THANKS FOR YOUR PARTICIPATIO N
SPACE 0011 Liabr• rian 1497 E. Hoyt AVE , St . Paul, MN. ~~104
-! ...
SELECTING WORD PROCESSOR SOFTEWARE BY TRIAL AND ERROR By Joa Danko of SPACE, St.Paul, MN
DOM stuff by Frank Haug Happy New Y ■ ar! Just in case you didn't notice, there is a disk containing the library listing included with the newsletter, The index program will autoboot. < XL's & XE's might have to hit space bar to continua boot.> To use th ■ index, move the •->• up and down using the arrow keys (no cntr-1) and hit return or the spacebar to select, First load th• l i s t . Thar-a are six indeK files out there( SPACINDX.82 to ,87) Load the list you wish to use, From there the program is pr-atty easy to follow. Each month you can keep your list up to date, but for those who fall bahind in DEC 87 I'll put the '87 list on th• DOM. To add a disk to a list < I suggest you add only to the current year for obvious reasons > first load the list. Then select 'add disk' reply •y• to the "Use identifier?" prompt and insert th ■ DOM, Input the month for the disk It, ( I use 1-12 so they wi 11 be in chronological order. ) The directory will than load in one name at a time. The program automatically bypasses DOS.BYS, DUP.SYS, AUTORUN.BYS, and the menu. You th,.n move the pointer a■ before to select the type of program < bypass will omit that file from the disk >. I will list what I consider the type of each program in the newsletter each month so wa can stay con ■ i ■ tant. Whan you are ~one, enter END at the disk a prompt, and either u■• the various functions or save it out. Enter the appropriate year a■ the aMtension, < Now remember this is 97 not 84 > I have modified the program to what I feel is a more u■ efull state, I will include the original documentation on the disk, THE DOCUMENTATION IS NOT!!! CURRENT. · The following i ■ a list of maJOI'" diffarance ■ 1 The pointlll'" ha• replaced input in various places, the program bypa•••• various menu names and the Fraa Sectors msg, the list will ba over-written upon· saving and NOT appended, and the inputing cryptic characters for file type has bean replaced by the pointer as wall, Whew! Would you believe there•• more ?!? Welcome to the JANUARY 1987 DOM, PROGRAM .EXT TYPE DESCRIPTION l,ADVANTAG -GAME An i ntarawti ng new game kind of a variation of HEX, find a path b•t-•n opposite sid••· (2 players>
2,BLACKJACK
-GAME
A matnbllt'" written version
of
old classic.
3,DEMOFONT
-DEMO
A
-UTIL
Dump
a
From
amortization
demo
of
animation,
4,D11P1020
picture to the 1020 plotter~
~.FINANCE
-HOME
nicely dona financial pr~ram.
-2 -
koala
character pad
01'"
to
an
••t gr.a loans
Th• home computer user haw four sources of information when choosing softwares magazine reviews, word of mouth, dealer advice and demonstrations and user groups, If a demo is possible, the salesperson may not know any more about the product than the consumer, maybe l•••• A case in point, I naadad to know if ATARIWRITER-PLUS had the capability to display beyond 40 columns by using the editing screen aw a sideways scrolling window, Everyone said that this was absolutly not true despite the fact that I had read it in a magazina review, I finally got the chance to use ATARIWRITER-PLUS for a while at home and discovered that it does indeed have the capability to display beyond 40 columns. It will scroll out to 249 columns! My intention is to pass along soma of the things I discovered while struggling to coma up with the bast possible word-processor for my S-bi t ATARI, All the products I worked with in the last nine months axacuta th.• basic functions of a useful word procassor-1 WORD WRAP, BLOCK MOVES, SEARCH/REPLACE, FLEXIBLE PRINTING COMMANDS, CLEVER EDITING, ETC. 1, SPEEDSCRIPT
(COMPUTE!) CHEAP/FREE-NOT COPY PROTECTED-EASY PROFESSIONAL-USE WITH ANY DOB-BINARY LOAD FILE,
TO
LEARN-NOT
Available for down-loading from most any BBS, this is probably the value <FREE!) in an easy to use WORD PROCESSOR, It is command-driven with nearly every key on the keyboard used for wavllt'"al functions. Most big bookstore• have a COMPUTE! BOOKS edition of the sour-ca coda, SPEEDSCRIPT loads and runs from avary DOS I have triad, SPEEDSCRIPT haw a vary nice looking display by using a redefined character ■at with ANTIC mode 3 text and ha• command• to altar the screen and character luminance■ to individual taste, Most DOS function■ can ba used from a spacial wcraan within the program. SPEEDSCRIPT can ace••• Ola through D41, The 800XE/2~4k conversion can ba easily used to access a RAMDISK by using the modified DOS 2.~. or any other DOS that supports ramdisk• and will binary-load BPS, Tabs are fixed at ~ spaces per stroke. Th• PRINT function will allow output to any· device which would seam to include RS2:S2 printers on the Ra dev!.ce. Print to Ea for print preview, All of the I/0 commands allow a device to ba bast
specified,
2, TEXT PRO 2,2, 2.~, 2.~R (COLLINS AND RICHIE ON COMPUSERVE> CHEAP/FREE-NOT COPY PROTECTED-EASY TO LEARN-NOT PROFESSIONAL-USE WITH ANY DOS-BINARY LOAD FILE. This article is being written with TEXTPRO. The editing screen and commands bear a strong resemblance to SPEEDSCRIPT but with a lot of interesting additional feature• such as commands to toggle WORD WRAP,
change cursor speed, execute a cold start and axit to DOS. lt seems to be designed to run on the XL/XE and integrate easily with RAMDISKS and other application programs. It normally loads and turns BASIC off without holding down tha option kay. BASIC will be loaded if OPTION is pressad d~ring TEXTPRO's load. The most interesting feature is the MACRO lanquaga. Macro files can be sat up to do anything that can be dona from the keyboard plus some things that are unique. At boot-time spacial files are read in to preset screen colors, key-click, insert mode, etc, custom character font may be loaded, ramdisks setup, files copied from the boot disk, binary extension files and MACRO files loaded, all automatically. There ara features such as the ability to exit to DOS and come back to the same spot in you file, load and run a binary program directly from the editor, the disk directory is displayad in an alphabetized format automatically and thare is a kayin to read any disk directory into the editor. Tha latest version has utilities to handle any file size that will fit on a diskette with built-in segmenting commands. Most DOS functions are built into a disk manu screen, even a command to copy files and a command to exit to DOS. There is available on COMPUSERVE about 1000 sectors of program filas, help files, macro files, documentation and examples! The latest version has been modified to run at a higher address in memory to leave room for large DOS's, communication handlers and such. I am running a version that works with SPARTADOS and my 800XL with 236K RAM. I have it all configured so that I can load TEXTPRO and 1030 EXPRESS into my ramdisk and switch back and forth between the two in seconds with out rebooting. The authors seem to be providing more support than you get from most commerci~l software companies. 3. WORDMAGIC/GRAPHIC MAGIC
(ANTIC SOFTWARE *20)
CHEAP-NOT COPY PROTECTED-EASY TO LEARN-NOT PROFESSIONAL-WORKS ANY DOS-BINARY LOAD FILES WITH BOOT MENU.
WITH
MOST
This ia a systam of several integratad machine language programs. There is the main word processing program that handles files and text processing and ~ontrols access to the othar modules, a print preview module and a printing module. WORD MAGIC is paired with another fraa-standing routine called GRAPHIC MAGIC that allows hi-res dot-graphics pictures to be printed with text in a document. WORD MAGIC also includes a program to customize the printer driver. WORD MAGIC features a help screen display system and a mail-merge function that works with another ANTIC program called DATA MANAGER XL. Two disk drives are almost a necessity. The program disk needs to be inserted into DISK #1 every time a file is praviewed for printing and inserted again to go back to th• main program. The print preview is lntarasting1 each page is represented by a GRAPHICS-a outline of a page with a small horizontal line for each word. Tha program disk must be inserted to load the printing program and the text file is lost from memory whenever the print or preview funtions ar• active. For soma reason WORD MAGIC doesn't work vary wall with DOS 2.3, MYDOS raindisks and won't work at all with SPARTADOS. 4. HOME WRITER
(SIERRA •so>
PRICEY-COPY PROTECTED-VERY EASY TO LEARN-NOT PROFESSIONAL-BOOT DISK.
-1/-
This software makes extensive use of manues with icons to make selections. There is not much to remember when using it because all functions are menu-driven. Ona nice feature is a constant on-scr-n miniature image of the document page showing little dots and lines inside a border. As text is entered, on• can watch the page formatting in realtime. HOME WRITER has virtually no print driver flexibility and the only built-in drivers are for the ATARI 1027 and 1023. The configuration screen states that bold and underline printing 1• not possible for printers other than the 1023 and 1027. HOMEWRITER'• files are not compatible with other programs. 3. ATARIWRITER
<ATARI •10-•30)
CHEAP/MODERATE-CARTRIDGE-EASY TO LEARN-SEMI ANY DOS-DISK/CASSETTE.
PROFESSIONAL-USE
WITH
MOST
I am not going to dwell on the features of ATARIWRITER as I am sure almost everyone has seen it. ATARIWRITER is very easy to learn and use and has a very nice display. It ha• several 'limitations•, it is always in INSERT MODE when editing and the printing system is not vary flexible. Only two disk drives can be used and file handling is limited and cumbersome. One advantage to the cartridge format is that it can be used with almost any DOS available for ATARI, with cassette storage or alone.
There is also available an assortment of support S/W such •• printer drivers for every printer you can imagine, utilities to custom design print drivers and even an integrated database program that boots up with it. 6. HOMETEXT<BATTERIES INCLUDED •30-•30>
CHEAP/MODERATE-NOT PROFESSIONAL-BOOTDISK
COPY
PROTECTED-EASY
TO
LEARN-NOT
This is the teMt processor intagratad with the famous HOMEPACK software package. It is good enough to ba used as a word processor in its own right, althogh most will use it for handling text fll•• for communications with HOMETERM. It has a vary nice screen to configure the program for your printer but the number of options is limited. In fact, most functions are simple but limited. The text area available is limited to about 6K.
7. ATARIWRITER PLUS
<ATARI *23-•30)
MODERATE-HEAVILY COPY PROTECTED-EASY TO EXTRAS-BOOT DISK.
LEARN-NOT
PROFESSIONAL-LOTS
OF
ATARIWRITER-PLUS looks like ATARIWRITER but is disk-based, does not use a cartridge and is more powerful and flexible. It comas in a version for the 400/900 and a version to use the full memory available on the 130XE. This also works with the SOOxa 236k ram upgrade for th• 800xl. It also com•• with a bunch of utility programs to build custom print drivers, print graphics, do mail-merge, and more. Ona powerful faature is a spelling checker that is easy to use but deadly slow.
-s-
Customized dictionaries may be built by th• user. There is a utility to build a simple database for mail merge that i• extremely easy to use. The editing screen can be setup to act as a scrolling window across a display that can be set anywhere between S and 249 columns wide. Editing can be set to INSERT or TYPEOVER. Fil• handling is much improved over ATARIWRITER. The 130XE version uses the memory•• three banks and the editor must be manually switched to ace••• each bank. 8. PAPERCLIP
<BATTARIES INCLUDED S33-SS0l
MODERATE-DISK NOT COPY PROTECTED PORT2-BASICS EASY/SOME FEATURES EXTRAS-USES BUILT IN SINGLE/DOUBLE FEATURES FO XL/XE ONLY.
BUT USES A KEY IN JOYSTICK DIFFICULT-SEMI PROFESSIONAL-MANY DENSITY DOS ONLY-BOOT DISK. SOME
Originally written for COMMODORE and ported to ATARI, this program command possible, macros, math functions, fleMible file handling, late versions have spell checking. The screen can have two windows. The second window size can be changed, can contain text, help screen or file directories and text can be 'cut and past'ed between th• windows. Th• editing screen width can be set to as wide as 132 columns for the whole screen or Just the line with the cursor. It comes with about 2 dozen different print drivers and program• to dump and customiza your own. Thar ■ are utilities for graphics, mail merga and file conversion. PAPERCLIP use• its own version of DOS 2.0 for disk handling and will automatically usa single or double density as it is detected. It can not fully use lOSO enhanced density. PAPERCLIP comes with two versions, 400/800 on one side of the disk and XL/XE on the other side. Altogather there are only about 30 free •actors betwean both sides. Th• disk may be backed-up or customized as the user prafers but the program will hang unless the 'DONGLE' is plugged into Joystick port 2 at all times. It can use all of the memory provided by the variuos XL/XE RAM •Mpansion• if modified properly, On• such mod is on a recent SPACE DOM. The latest versions of ·PC are available with an integrated. spelling checker but only for use with XE or eMpanded XL models. Rumor has it that all future B,I, softwara will NOT BE COPY PROTECTED by dongle• or any other -thod, They plan to keep the prica way down and if the sales are not there due to piracy they will drop ATARI support. Like FLEET SYSTEM II, PAPERCLIP will not allow printer control character• to be imbeded in the teMt. Thi• •••m• to ba a characteristic of WORD PROCESSOR• ported to ATARI from COMMODORE. does it all. Every editing
9, THE WRITER'S TOOL COSS S40-S~O) MODERATE-CARTRIDGE/UNPROTECTED DISK-BASICS EASY/SOME FEATURES DIFFICULT-SEMI PROFESSIONAL-USABLE WITH ANY ATARI DOS-BINARY LOADFILE. WRITERS TOOL 1• unique in that it requires a cartridge and a disk. Apparently this allow• easy updates, The current version comes with an integrated spelling checker that l• useful but not• real JOY to use. Thanks to the ability to use any DOS many of the utilities that com• with WRITERS TOOL can be run out of a ramdlsk ta •P••d operation, Also
-6-
the lOSO enhanced density mode i• easily usable, or any other disk format available for ATARI. This would probably work very nicely with an ATR-8000. Unfortunately it won't work properly with SPARTADOS. WRITERS TOOL uses a combination of commands from the keyboard and nested menus. This makes it a bit slow to use but it i• very hard to maka mistakes that could wipe out files as all such keyin• are confirmed with a yas/no dacision. Several features ara nearly usel••• because they ara only available from a menu, such as the cursor position and available memory, Several dozen print drivers are included and a utility to build your own as wall as an implementation of the '61' graphics printing driver that soma of you may recall from ANALOG. There i• a nice littla feature that allows printing of small icons with a dot-graphics printer direct from text. Printer commands may be imbedded in tha text and are transparent to th• program so as not to corrupt the print-line formatting. 10, FLEET SYSTEM II
<PROFESSIONAL SOFTWARE S40-SS0l
MODERATE-COPY PROTECTED-EASY XL/XE,10SO AND DOS 2.~
BUT
ODD-NEAR
PROFESSIONAL-MUST
USE
FLEET SYSTEM II is really a strange one. Sida A of the protected disk is so full of software that there is not enough room for a DOS! The user must boot up DOS 2,S with BASIC TURNED ON, insert FLEET SYSTEM II in drive IU and 'RUN "D1BOOT"'. The unlistabla basic program takes over, loads a machine language loader, turns off BASIC and loads the main program. FLEET SYSTEM II is another COMMODORE program ported over to ATARI and shares soma characteristic• with PAPERCLIP • It is impossible to imbad printer control characters in the teKt as the non-text codes are usad for the print formatting flags. PAPERCLIP'• file commands are a little odd but FLEETSYSTEM II is absolutely bizarre although very powerful once understood. Depending on the function the fila name may or may not require 'D1', 'Dl1'or Just a bare filenaand the documentation does not always say which! The editing commands are very powerful and fast and the editing scraen may be ••t up as 40, eo, or 120 columns wide and scrolled sideways. A• with· PAPERCLIP, math functions may be included in the teMt, The real treat is the spelling checker on SIDE B which co-• with a 70,000 word dictionary! It is also quick to load and execute, sosort of a data compression technique i• used to allow so much data and speed. This i• evident as teKt files may be saved either as ASCII or compressed, There are many printer driver fil•• and a utility to custoaize your own. A mail merge utility i• also included, The manual is very complete - if you have a COMMODORE. The ATARI part is way in the back and many details must be dug out of the COMMODORE section, Once the user is accustomed to it• quirks, can get along with its limitations and ha• the correct hardware, FLEET SYSTEMII seems to be the fastest and most powerful word processor availabl• for the 8-bit ATARI,
AVATEX 1200 TIPS BY Joe Da_nko Sens■ a lot of members have AvateK 1200 modems, I thought that would pass along this information. It is supplied by E+E Data Comm of Sunnyvale California, the makers of th ■ AvateK 1200. The modem will not pass the self test, dial, answer, or respond to any ATtention commands if the TR light is not ON. The TR light is on when Data Terminal Ready <DTR> is ON. DTR is a signal generated by your computer to tell your modem that it is ready to sand and receive. This signal is supplied to tha modem on pin 20 of your RS-232 connector and is usually ON when your communication software program is loaded, and in the terminal mode, or, when auto-dialing, is turned ON immediately prior to th ■ auto-dial sequence. If the computer does not provide DTR, you can force it ON at the modem by setting switch 6 in the back of the modem to the down position. After hooking up your modem to your computer, your modem should have three lights on: POWER,TR,AND MC Thi ■ is the normal idle condition of the modem. The MC light will remain ON until connection ha ■ been established with another modem or the modem is in the analog loopback test. All commands sent to the modem must be in UPPER CASE letters or the modem will not respond. Suggested AVATEX software• FULLY Compatiabl•• 850 EKpress, Modem 7, Homepak, Amodem 85/Autogen SEMI Compatiable1 Disklink, Tscope <neither one will auto-dial>
For those of you who wish to use this modem on an auto answer BBS, the only means for software disconnect after user has logged off is by toggling DTR off, then on to enable it to answer the next call. The modem will automatically adJu•t itself to the incomming baud rate. Dialing a call• Tha Avat ■K 1200 will accept ATD plus 20 digits (including T, P, Commas, Spaces, or Hyphens>. Foe accessing long distance services which require greater than 20 digits, enter your account code and 10 digit telephone into your auto-dial file. Then manually dial the local ace••• number. Upon hearing the second tone, ••1 act your auto di al number and al 1 ow the computer to di.al the remaining 17 digits. · Computer/modem cable configuration interface modem 1 20
2----------e2
3 4
l5
3 7
6
---6
B
5
Hera is one more tip from John Nagy the sysop of CHAOS, The Supra 1200AT and the Supra 1200ST are the same Modem as the AVATEX, although the AT version has an ATARI 8-bit interface built in. You do not need any other kind of interface with the AT version, although you lose control of the DTR line, making it almost useless for running a BBS. The Supra 1200ST is EXACTLY the same as the AVATEX ■Kc ■pt for the nameplate! I hope that this info helps out anybody having problems with their new modem.
-8-
SPACE MINUTES DEC. 12, 1986 By Joe Danko, Secretary I. Meeting called to order at 7135 PM by Pres. Bruce Haug, approKimatly 40 members present, at Falcon Heights Community Center. II. REPORTS A. Presidents 1. Attempts being made to organize an ATARI FEST computer fair in th ■ Twin Cities. See New Business 2. St.Paul Children• Hospital ProJ ■ct is on hold until Atari Corp. representative is contacted. concerning hardware,software donations. B. Vice Presidents 1. ICD P1R1Connection i• not 1007. compatible with th• ATARI 850 interface, no 12 volts available for modems. 2. Quotas from BUSINES WEEK article concerning ATARI financial performance, Salas for 3rd quarter $60 million, up 1077., $165 million for 9 months. 3. COMDEXs ATARI 8-bit products shown were the new 1200 baud modem and the 80 column display adapter. ICD had their MIO expansion boK and the R*TIMEB cartridge. Electronic Arts had a bunch of new g.ames. 4. A new version of basic for the 8-bit line ha• appeared from Holland called TURBOBASIC. It is currently available on COMPUSERVE and SPACE will be getting a lisencad version soon to put on sale through the disk librarian. C. Treasurer, 1. Currant Balanc ■ 1 *1158 2. EKpenses average about •1000 each month. D. Sacratarys No report. E. Disk-of-the-month/Library, 1. Demo of DOM by Frank. 2. Christmas music disk and player on sale, ■ame a ■ la■t year. 3. Disk Library IndeK will be made available with the new■ letter in January thanks to an improved database program from our esteemed Libr.arian, Frank Haug. 4. ANALOG m.agazine disk-of-the-month i ■ available to all validated ANALOG subscribers. F. Newsletters 1. The December newsletter was very late to the printer due to the total loss of input that was uploaded to the TAIG/SPACE BBS. 2. Thanks to Steve Pauley for the ■Kcellant logo da■ ign• ha ha■ provided free of ch.arge that are on the SPACE/MAST newsletter• and membership cards. G. Paper Library, Could use ■ om• new material. H. TAIG/SPACE BBS1 This BBS is run mainly by TAIG members, the phone bill 1• shared by SPACE and TAIG, SPACE provides an 850 interface. 1. Usage i ■ running about 10 a day so the owner of the 10 megabyte hard di ■ k removed it for other uses. This has been th ■ c.aus• of downtime and a certain amount of bugs in the ■y ■tem.
2. Several SPACE members have complained about the inability to get their passwords validated. It appears to be a communication problem where the member is not actually using the same password-as is registered in the system. 3. The previous BBS configuration gave the average member 39 minutes each day. the new setup gives 60 minutes. 4. A showing of hands indicated that only about 5 of 25 or so modem owners regularly use the BBS. 5. All members with modems are urged to attempt to use the BBS and report back at the naKt meeting. Attempts will be made to communicate and resolve problems. II. Old Business, A. The President is attempting, with little success, to co-ordinator contact Sandi Austin, the Atari Corp. user group concerning action on the donation of Atari hardware and software to St. Paul Children• Hospital. B. Ribbon Re-inker, The group owns a ribbon re-inker that is operated by• Larry Van Den Plas 850 Emerald Court New Brighton, MN 55112 Near Silver Lake Rd. and 16941 Ribbons may ba mailed, dropped-off or given to Larry at a meeting. Thay can only ba picked-up at a meeting. Standard charge is Sl par ribbon. 1. Discussion of costs. Sl charge may have to double for certain large ribbons. 2. Users are urged to store re-inked ribbons in a zip-lock bag or some other air-tight container to prevent the ink from drying out. C. Offers and Deals, News of any good deals on H/W, S/W or whatever. Also anything members need or want to sell. John Novotny, needs a new KOALA PAD, cheap. D. Service problems, No report. E. Questions·and Answers, Soma members would like to see a list of local ATARI BBS's publ,ished in the newsletter. III. New Business, A. An un-namad Atari dealer was attempting to organize an ATARIFEBT computer fair on his own and was informed by Atari Corp. that such avant ■ must be co-ordinated with the participation of all regional user groups and retail dealers. There is some movement towards a fair in this area. Are member• interested? 8. Database software demo cancelled.
C. Ralph
Johnson,
operator
of
the
Center
For
Information
Research, a public database s-rching service gave a presentation to the 111ambarship. D. Discussion of the merits of using DOS 2.5 when submitting software to the library, If members are now using DOS 3.0, contact Frank Haug for a DOS 2.:5 package.
E. Discussion of the general health of ~h• SPACE/TAIG BBS and possible cour••• of action, Ona possible option discussed is a BBS sponserad by SPACE to handle both ST and 8-bit users. Stave Murphy, alias the Guildmastar, volunteered as SVSOP and offered space and hardware in his home if such an action took place.
-JO-
ATARI BBS LIST courtesy of THE FIRM BBS TAIG/SPACE INF IN ITV' S EDGE CAMALOT ABSTRACT REALITY SKULL ISLAND THE UNDER WORLD SPIKE MASTER (NIGHTS> GIZMODE ATARI BASE COMPUTALK IN SEARCH OF ••• TCCN DATABASE BIG TIME C23l DIGITAL NEWSLETTER
612-522-2687 612-544-5118 612-633-2755 61.::-544-815.!o 201-379-1459 612-451-9184 612-374-3232 612-929-6879 408-745-5308 817-:59:5-0094 612-929-2323 612-349-6200 612-:521-5398 612-291-0:567
MAST December Meeting Minutes recorded by Dan Stubbs The December meeting of MAST was held in the Falcon Haight• Community Canter on Friday, December 19, 1986. The meeting was opened by co-chair Bob Floyd. Bab announced that an upgrade has Just bean made available for E-Z Draw for $2:5. Bob mentioned rumors published in Infoworld of a new Atari computer called the ST Professional that has an IBM-like detachable keyboard and comas with 4 megabytes of 111amary and will sell for about $1,500. Co-chair Jim Schulz discussed the 11 disks of the month for December, sea Jim's article in this newsletter. Bob mentioned that the MAST treasury was "in the black" due to sales of the DOM'•· About 1,100 disk• hava' bean sold so far. Casts ta the club have included the club computer and drives, the rental af the meeting room, the purchase af books, and connect time with national BBB'• such a• Compuserve. Bab said article• were welcome far the newsletter and can be submitted ta the MAST ■action af three local BBS'•• LR Data BBS 777-6376 , Mindtools BBS 542-8980 No-Name BBS 786-2458 The club has a paper library with books af interest to ST owners. Books can be checked at the meetings and can be held until the n■Kt meeting. The paper librarian is Neil Palisary. Jim announced that the programmer• group, a spacial interest group af MAST, will begin meeting in January. Meetings will be held the Monday after the regular MAST meeting at the First Minnesota Bank Building at LaKington and Larpanter at 7130 pm. The meeting room is an the second floor and the entrance is at the rear af the building. Meeting topics will include "C", Pascal, Modula-2, etc. and will be more technical than the regular MAST meetings. Come ta the January MAST meeting with question ■ or far more details.
-JJ-
News from the Co-Chair By Jim Schulz A member pointed out that the FCC was considering changing the rules on Packet Switching Networks and that this could result in significantly increased telecommunicat ion charges in the future. People were urged to make their opinions heard on this topic. A follow-up comment was made by another member to the keyboard problem mentioned in last months minutes.
It
has
been
determined
that
this
problem is related to continuously displaying clock programs. New membership cards are available to anyone without a current membership card, contact Bruce Haug. Jim Schulz suggested that a party be held in February in honor of the first anniversary of MAST. He suggested that some programs be raffled off and that members would each receive a ticket for the raffle plus additional tickets for the purchase of the DOM's in past year. Volunteers are needed to help organize the party, please contact Bruce Haug. Jim discussed rumors about new versions of BASIC for the ST; ST-BASIC was announced at the Consumer Electronics Show, it will sell for $19.95. GFA BASIC is being released by Michtron. Other new BASICs include 0-BASIC and a public domain BASIC produced in France. however the manual for the last BASIC mentioned will cost $50. Other news from Jim included mention of a box that allows the ST to switch from black and white to color monitor without turning the system off. A GEM upgrade version of VIP is available for $19.95 plus your original VIP disk from ISO Marketing In Canada <also available locally). A member reported having problems running some software with Parado~'s MS Emulator version 1; these problems are apparently being addressed in vergion 2. A British magazine, ST User, is being produced in Canada now and will be available at local dealers. At the end of the meeting there were several very intriguing demos. Todd Burkey demonstrated the MacIntosh emulator "Magic Sac" with a card playing program and MacPaint. Both of these worked fine on the ST. The Flight Simulator program was demoed along with SDI; both very impressive. Bob Floyd demonstrated the desk accessory Crystal that allows many operating system-type operations to take place as a desk accessory while a GEM compatible program •is being run. Scott Hutchinson demonstrated the GEM version of VIP and an interesting, new concept in game programs called Diablo was shown.
:t- #t;,tt!;
ti, er~ /s
710
dd-e to f~_,,t?-Jf IJlafe,~ ,4,.,. ;t -nei"t- .,,,,, o ..,, -th .
t1,ls
1 f$Uf'?'
-12-
//
;f/4f~s ofl t)~t,e.1!
\C,/,71 CIts
First, happy new year to all the member of MAST' And it looks like it will be another happy year for the ST. Rumors are abounding on what will be happening at this year's CES. More on that later.... First off, club business. It's time to again yell for volunteers. It's almost like an endless record. But I do get results. Last month, I added three new volunteers to the list. Steve Pauley has volunteered to organize at least one picture disk a month. Bill LeDuc has volunteered to organize CP/M utility disks. And Dave Meile has volunteered to modify some Music Studio files for Music disks. I thanks them one and all. Now, I would reall Y like some volunteers for writing newsletter articles. It would be nice to have tutorials" reviews~ hardware mods~ etc. New columns would bEP greatly appreciated. I currently spend a ••eek putting together my comments for the newsletter and writing. I would like to cut this down a bit. Also volunteers are needed for tutorials and demos for the programmers group. This group will not succeed without your help. Finally, wa need demos at the monthly MAST meeting. Last month, we had a good range of demos and a number
of
members
agreed.
To
all
who
demoed,
secretary.
Enough
thank '✓ OLlc Finally. my new year~'5 resolution this year was to serve the MAST members better. If this is going to happen you all must help and volunteer. said.
Oh, we also need
a
programmer
s1g
Ne:<t month is the fir<st anni:ver<sary of MAST. One year old. hard to believe. I think it aged me ten years. So for the February meeting, I would li~e to have a party. Nothing big, Just a way to celebrate the success of MAST. What i would like is to have some snacks and coffee and soft drinks and a software raffle. Oh,no. It's time for that word again. What I need is a volunteer to take names of people to bring snacks and soft drinks. MAST will spend some money on this as well, dependent on what the members bring. Also I plan on having a software raffle. One ticket for each member of MAST and one ticket for each disk of the month bought in February. I hope to get some donations from some of the dealers in town and MAST will buy a couple of programs as well. Other surprises will be announced next month. I think that It's time we celebrate. The first meeting Bob and I had, there were about ten people there. Now we have about sixty. Nice growth. think MAST has something to be proud about.
Starting this month, we will have a new users group which will be meet In the adjoining room after the meeting. This will be a very informal group to ask general questions about the ST. This group will start immediately following the demos. Ted Holman, Another new volunteer, will run this meeting. New and old users alike plan on stopping by with your questions. Programmer's group.
I won't say much here ginc:a
startad a
new
column
for this group. The first meeting of this new SIG is January 20th at 7s30pm. This group will meet eac:h month on the Monday following the MAST meeting. Disk of the month will be sold as well. This is a group for programmers to discuss problems, learn from other programmers and hear what• s new in software and languages. This is not a repeat of the
MAST meeting, but an eKtension of it. This meeting will take place at the Fir•t Minnesota building at LaHington and Larpender in the old SPACE meeting room. Please plan on attending. MAST On-Cina is now c on ti nu i ng on t hree MAST On-Line BBSs. This month, No Name BBS has volunteered to add a MAST sig for news files and I never got a chance to upload a slew of Last month, messages. In the neKt few days, last month's list along with a new list goodies. for this month will be uploaded so check them out. So dial them in and check it out. In this month's issue, we have this monthly report of news and information about MAST and the ST, my monthly DOM news, • new Programmers Chair column about the programmers group, MAST On-Line Dan and Notes Chuck's Update, another installment in Stubb's As you see most of these are written by yours secretary's report. If you want, send ma your I would sure appreciate your input. truly. articles and I will make sure they get in the newsletter. Post them to We can use all the LR Data BBS and I will make sure that they get in th e help we can get to put out a quality newsletter for the MAST members.
So that's it for business and now it's time for the news!!!!! CESGo~= Evening and now it's time for this month's headlines...... New ST for Professional ••••• almost hare, what will be shown???? ••••• American Dental Association recommends ~~BOST appears in Europe.....
soon???? ••••• arrive Will the blitter chip for cavities.... Electronic_Arts and Atari, have they made up yet??? •••• MAC/ST, no not 520 New drive??? hard Boot from the cartridge..... soon ••••• OSS and Pascal, will the new version·-~~~~· appear??? ~:~wi~~ alore Updat~~ near you........ store a magazine ••••• Coming soon to ' the month??~? a nd updates •••••• Finally, what will be the pick of · · ·••••• Mora on these stories coming soon.....
First up, CES. CES is the semiannual Consumer Electronics Show that is This is th ■ show where all of the held in January in Las Vegas. Atari produc;=t• that you wi 11 see for the na><t .three months are shown. very closed mouth as always about thi·s sho~, but all I keep on i his being don't I What this is ear ng is a "s':'rprisa announcement" at CES. I ■Kpect that you will hear ~now, everyone is being very closed mouth. the blitter chip, the of version new bout the 2 mag and 4 meg ST, the MS-?OS bo><,as well as soma of the new rumors which you will see below. received FCC Don t ■Kpact word about the new STs unless they finall y approval. Atari also claims they have more bi g news for March in Hanover. Atari keeps moving. Atari ~na ~•w product that might appear at CES is the ST Professional. little hard selling a home computer to the as ound that it is a This version modified a ••11 professional market so they are going to • computer will be a different color and packaged Just It :ill Ii~;~: different. From latest rumors, like our Big Blue friend. the a detachable keyboard and a separate bo>< for a hard drive, No confirmation from Atari on this, but ~~ocessor, and floppy_drivas. • February ST-Log will have a complete story on the new machine. In addition, the 2080ST might appear at CES.
-1 t/-
The
2080ST
is
a
2
mag
version of the ST with a built-in double sided drive and a blittar These computers are now being sold in Europe, but it is chip. Atari questionable if they have the blitter chip. The owners say yes. You make your own conclusion. says no. American Dental Association recommends Regent Base for tooth decay. It seems that This is what I say on Delphi the other day from Regent. the dental association liked Regent Base so much that they bought a second copy. Regent Base has received a lot of bad press lately for its documentation and numerous bugs. A new version of this program and The documentation will be out at the end of January for a S25 upgrade. program looks real powerful and support is Just a phone call away to If this version is good, we will have another viable the author. entrant in the data base wars. This Now it's time for our monthly story on the infamous blitter chip. month's story is that the chip will be available in February for t95 which includes si:< new ROM chips. The blitter chip will be available limiting is planning on at authorized service centers and Atari Installation is still, though, up for installation to those locations. grabs. Atari has, however, found some bugs with the blitter chip which now increase its speed another 507. from the previous showing of the chip. This new version of the chip is eKpected to be shown at CES. Atari is still tweaking the blitter chip for more speed. The ROMS will No word on which ones. Also eKpect a new also have some bugs fixed. bug fi:,ed set of ROMs later in the year. More next month ••••• Two names, six months ago, that you would Atari and Electronic Arts. never eKpect to hear in mixed company. But that was six months ago. Today, Electronic Arts is actively developing software for the ST or According to someone on are they??? Here, I get conflicting reports. the inside, only SkyFoK was worked on for the ST. No other software is in development. All other software that EA is advertising for the ST They comes from outside developers. Atari, though, has another story. booth at ComdaK are saying Trip Hawkins spent some time in the Atari You make your own and EA is progressing well on new ST software. Judgement. Th ■ battle continues??? This How about a MAC/ST???? No, this isn't a MAC emulator cartridge. is Atari is a new monitor from Atari if you can believe it. planning<???> to sell a new monitor which has a built-in disk drive, even was This according to Sandi Austin, head of User Group Support. shown at the Pittsburg show in November. Well, we now have half a MAC. Look for this also at CES in January. Atari has If Atari has it's way. Boot from your hard disk, never!!!! a program which has bean in beta testing and works cleanly which will Atari has decided not to allow you to boot from your hard disk. release the program. Reasons A lot of programs are booted off a floppy and the hard drive has a higher priority so it would have to be shut off for these program• to run. The point was then conveyed that th••• programs are most often games and don't let you use the hard drive anyway. Atari response, We'll think about it ••• Who knows now?777 This computer called a 520F NOUld look A new 520 is on it's way. similar to a 1040ST, but with a single sided drive instead of a double.
-JS-
Expect This rumor started to spread at the Pittsburg show in November. to hear more about this also at CES. Rumor has it that this computer will replace the 520ST currently sold. Will Ou; favorite software manufacturer of OSS Personal Pascal. This version includes a GEM-based version soon???? Would you believe that editor among others and a number of bug fixes. it is with all known bugs fixed this naw version is dona??? Wall, GOOS!!!! including tha GOOS problem. So what is holding it up????? ass has decided not to release their Yes, those famous four letters. new version until Atari officially releases GOOS. ass was burned once I hope that we sea it soon. and they don't want to get burned again.
OSS.
we saa the new
This magazine Finally, another new ST magazine has made it into town. This magazine is now also published in is ST User from England. Canada. The distribution of this magazine in town was been picked up by a new ST dealer, Alpha Tech. He will be distributing the magazine to all the ST dealers in town, as well as, B.Dalton, Software Etc., and Contact He also says that he will take subscriptions. Walden Books. this Otherwise, you can order Alpha Tech for more information. magazine directly from Canada from G-Plus Marketing .at a user group G-Plus Marketing's discount of $35.00 for one year of 12 issues. B-8/0ttawa, Suite address is G-Plus Marketing/130 Albert Street, offering is Tech Alpha I believe Ontario / Canada KlP 5G4. This subscriptions for the same price so you can also check with them. is one of the best ST magazines that I have seen and I would strongly the to issue sample I will bring the recommend that you subscribe. next meeting. Wall, that's it for naws this month. about How soma coming attractions? Boy, have I got a list of new software coming soon!!!! This could be a while so let's go. First, from Atari. The new version of ST Basic is just This version still has a few bugs in it, but the manual is Expect Nao 1.0 is dona and in tha warehouse. is $19.95. soon. Rumor has that it looks a lot like 0.9. Next, the box is sat to be shipped in January, with a number of new No more is known. Finally, Atari's new 1200 baud modem is for March delivery. We'll sea. All of these are sure to CES.
about done. Price done. to see this IBM emulator enhancements. now expected show up at
These Here, there are quite a faw. N&Kt, products from Michtron. 2) include 1) Trimbasa, a data base program, shipping early January Journey to the Lair Laser Disk Controller 3) Matchpoint, a tennis game a Directory, Super 5> 4) Karate Kid, a karate game, available now 6) Space Shuttle II, a space disk cataloger, available mid January 8> Font, a simulator, available now 7) GFA Basic, more on this later font editor 9) Raid, a debugger utility 10) Challenge, an educational program 11) M-Cache, a disk cache program 12> GFA Basic Compiler, more on this later 13) Super Conductor, a midi program, available late January 14) GFA Draft, a CAD program 15) GFA Vector, vector graphics 17) Sound 16) Video Digitizer Expert, a video digitizer from Basic In addition Ewpart, a sound digitizer. Michtron has been quite busy. of combination a Plus, to these, Michtron has Just released M-Disk M-Disk and Soft Spool. The new version of M-Disk is 20¾ faster and tha
-/6-
Also naw new version of Soft Spool can print 200 characters a second. a quick printer a Trivia game and Mi-Print, is Trivia Challenge, released been Just has All new!!! Now GFA Basic. GFA Basic program. and should be in the stores real soon. This is an interpreter version of Basic. A compiler version of GFA Basic will be available in about This three weeks. This version will compile any GFA Basic program. Early tests !lay that GFA Basic seems to be "the" Basic for the ST. programs run faster than Pascal and in many cases faster than C. ABACUS is also Michtron plans to release two books on GFA Ba,aic. Compute is currently looking into publishing a number of books. writing a book and it will be released as ,aeon as enough copies are sold. Li ka I said, this seems to be "the" Basic for the ST. I can• t wait to try it myself. It now looks like HomePak i,a delayed until Next, Batteries Included. tha third quarter of 1987. Reason, Russ Wetmore, author, quit and went to work for Apple. PaperClip Elite i,a still being held up by that nasty word, GOOS. The author says all that is left is to fiw the GOOS problems. These problems, he says, are Atari's. When they are fixed, Finally, BI is about to release another wa will see PaperClip Elite. for preconfigured This program comes terminal emulator package. It Tektronix, DECCVTlOO, VT220, and VT240) and Lear-Siegler terminals. also comes with a terminal configuration program which will allow users to redefine their ST to emulate virtually any terminal on the market, Xmodem, This program al,ao includes including graphics terminals. kermit and ASCII download protocols. This look,a like it could be tha terminal package for 1987. I already have a couple terminals that I would like it to emulate. No release date is given. Finally, two miscellaneous programs. First, OSS is about to release OSS Prolog. OSS Prolog is complete, but the manual is only half done. This is going to ba well The half done manual is an inch thick. documented. No release date is given. Second, a program called ST•Pro I have no notes on this communication program, but from Abacu,a. everyone who has seen the beta version say that they are going to put And th••• are Flash! fanatics. their copy of Flash! on the shelf. ST*Pro wtll be released in January. That•• it for new products and now on to this month'• round I'll say this, it sure seems like this ST updates. supported. Wa have quite a faw this month so hara goes.
of
software software ts
First off, VIP. Since my news last month about tha update, qutta a lot Tha way tt looks now ts if you complain, you gat tha has been written. update for free. Otherwise, you can sand the $19.95 and your original disk. A number of paopla have complained that the update was free and they have it in writing and have been given a GEM version in a weak; Ona owner even complained that ha couldn't send tha disk back because ha needed a copy of it and it was protected and they agreed to send him tha update with no disk. I have seen tha GEM version and it looks vary The address for the update is 18D It's up to you. well done, Marketing Inc./2651 John Street, Unit 3/Markham, Ontario/Canada L3R 2W~. The cost ts $19.95 in cashier•• check or money order along with your original disk. Their phone number i• (416)479-1880 if you want to complain. G00d Luck!!!
-17'
Also this month, a new version of Easy-Draw 2.0 is now available. Thia version includes a load ASCII file feature, edit polyline, flip or mirror feature, new Arrange commands, new arc commands metric and inch, 2 ~ew point sizes, automatic copy, new taKt featur~s and more. It also includes a brand new manual with a new chapter on Desktop Publishing. To get the update, send your warranty card, 129.00, and both Easy-Draw diska to MiGraph/720 South 333rd (201> /Federal Way WA 98003. If you ragiaterad Easy Draw, follow the instruction on 'your upgrade flyer. Alao thia month, a naw GEM-based version of DB Man Version 3.00 is available. This version includes ASSIST(novica user help for creating and using data bases), PMENU(pull down menus>, SELMENU<GEM file selector boK>, MMENU<mouae menus/dialog boKea>, MODIFY command<a program teKt editor for DB MAN programs>, RUN(aKacute ■Ktarnal TOS programs from within DB Man> and SEND and RECEIVE<send and receive data through the seri~l port. Thia i& not an update, but a new product. To upgrade, sand your original disk, and a check, money order, or Visa/Master Charge number and eKpiration data and warranty card •if not registered. The cost of the upgrade is 140.00 for a Varsasoft product, 149.93 for an Atari product or 123.00 for the Atari product with coupon. Tha address is VarsaSoft, 4340 Almaden EKpressway Suite 230, San Jose,CA 93118. NeKt, two updates to Michtron products. First, Cornerman 2.1 is now available. Thia includes a number of bug fiKes and enhancements, but the moat important is that it 80K smaller. For a complete list of new features, check MAST On-Line. To get this update, send 15.00 and your or1g1nal disk to Michtron, 370 South Telegraph, Pontiac, MI 48053. The second update ia to Pinball Factory. A new feature has now been added to save eKacutabla Pinball games. All owners of this program should get this update and donate your pinball games to the MAST library. To get the update, sand •s.oo and your original disk to the address above. Finally, we have two free updates from Batteries Included. First, Thunder! Version 1.31 has been released. This version is now totally compatible with First Word. If you usa any other v ■rsion with First Word, you can lose data. Also added is a new anagram word finder game. Other features include enhanced memory management, ■ Kpand ■d word lists and an indicator of how much of the document is left. Thia update is free by sending your original disk to Batteries Included, 30 Mural Streat, Richmond Hill, Ontario Canada L4B 183. Also tha communications program IS•Talk has b ■an updated to version 2.03. This version includ ■• an autodial feature pre-configured to work with Hayes madams and the ability to store an unlimited number of BBS settings. This update is also free by sending your original disk to tha address above. There is also a new version of DEGAS 1.2, but no upgrade or new feature information was given. Weil, that•• it for this month's updates and upgrades. Now, it's that time again •••••••• Th ■ winner i••·•••••• The winner of this month'• pick is Crystal by Antic Software. After waiting for month'• for this program, I finally got a copy and it was well worth the wait. It gives me all the directory features plus file viewing and printing and directory printing with or without labels. Lately, I have found it hard get away from. The file vi-ing faatur ■ has saved ma a number of
-JB-
times. But there are soma nasty bugs. Nona, though, that I can recreate consistently. I hope, though, that they do come out with a new version soon. My second pick this month is GFA Basic. Evan though, I have not seen it. This program looks like a winner. Some of the demos of this program ware on last month's disk of th• month and I am quite impressed with the ease of displaying a GEM interface. I believe this program will bring a number of Basic programmers to the ST, especially with the compiler. Another program that look• good is Zoomracks II. This time, I have been able to find it a lot more useful. Th• menus on the bottom have made the program •••i•r to understand. Finally, K-Switch. I want a copy of this program. This program allows you to run two programs at the same time. I would love to download on one screen and play Cards or edit on the other. There are a lot of neat possibilities here. Wall, that's it for this month. Another long week of writing and research has com• to a close. If you like this column or anything else about MAST, let ma know. It's always nice to hear a few compliments, Also let me hear about your gripes. If you don't like something, I am sure others are thinking the same thing. Happy New Year again. I hope to sea you all at the two MAST meetings this month.
MAST On-Line By Jim Schulz What's new this month on MAST On-Line???? Well, before we get to that, let ma first apologize for not putting anything up last month. Also for reason• that I don't wish to go into hare, MAST On-Line didn't even make it into last month's newsletter. But one of my resolutions for the new year is to keep you the MAST members up to date and to keep MAST on-Line going. So last month's stuff and this month's stuff should be up soon after the new year as I am writing this on New Year'• Day. The only thing missing will be an updated Disk of the Month ARC file which will be posted after the MAST meetings. Now, what i• MAST ON-Line????? I consider this to be MAST'• version of ANTIC On-Lina found on Compuserve. This i • a way that I can keep the members informed between meetings and give them up-to-data information and news that I pick up in my travel• among the BBS world. There are now three board• that carry MAST On-Line. No Name BBS at User Friendly has bean added to the MAST On-Lina listing this month. I hope to get them a complete sat of files at the same time that the other two boards are updated. All three boards also have a massage base to give your comments and questions, both privately and publicly, to yours truly. I log in all three boards at least once a day so you can usually eKpact a quick response. I repeat, I love mail. Finally, MAST does not financially support these boards. All space on th••• boards is donated. Also, to speed the ease of posting, I am now a remote SYSOP an the LR Data BBS so private uploads of program• and fil•• can be directed to this BBS. Now for tha telephone numbers, LR Data Mindtools -No Name BBS
777-0370 342-8980 780-2438
-19'
So what•• new this month???????? MAST Disk Library Listings - This is a complete description of all of the disks of the month by month and a copy of the Todd Burkey•• DISKTOP disk management program and the data bases for all of the disks of the month through December. All of the description files will be ARCed together in one ARC files and a copy of the DISKTOP program and two data bases will be ARCed in another ARC file. Please note that there are two data bases!!! The second data base will have to be renamed to DISKTOP.DB before using. The library finally got so big that it overflowed Todd's program. This new disk library listings will be posted after the MAST meetings. ST Software List This is the updated list that was posted in December. This includes three updates for December and a complete list of all available software which I will now ARC because of its size. DISKTOP2 - This is a new version of Todd's DISKTOP program that now supports monochrome. If you want you can download the old ARCed file and use this version with the old DISKTOP.DB to get a list of the old di ■ ks of the month. This will also be on the January disk of the month. Developers Conference Notes - During the month of December, ST software developers met with a representative of Atari to discuss soma of the currant developer problems with the ST. Thia is a text of the maett ng. Find out what others are complaining about the ST. Two versions of this conference will be posted.
Tom Hudson Conference Notes - Tom Hudson also held a December to talk about DEGAS, DEGAS Elita and CAD-3D. of this meeting, Also learn. about the new version released soon.
conference during This is the text of CAD-3D to be
CORNERMAN 2.1 Upgrade Notes Thia is a list of changes enhancements made to the new version of Cornerman by Michtron. upgrade info, check my co-chair's report for this month.
and For
Pittsburg Atari Fair Notes - This is a report on the November Atari Fair ·in Pittsburg. Learn about what was shown and what Atari showed at this last fair before Christmas. ALICE, The PerBOnal PASCAL - This is a description of a new PASCAL converted from the IBM for the ST. This gives description of this new PASCAL available for the ST.
version of a complete
As I have said before, if you like what you sea, let ma know. I am willing to keep this going as long a• interest remains. As I said earlier, I will try to keep these boards up better this year. It's always nice to know if you do something right.
Coming n ■ Kt month on MAST On-Lina, The latest CES, the January Consumer Electronics Show.
and
greatest
Also, the weak of the meeting will post a message planned for this month'• MAST meeting. Also will give on how many disks we will have for this month. 80 that•• it this month for MAST On-Lina. is your club so your input is necessary. Until next month, happy modeming.
-20-
I love mail. I listen to
new•
from
about what is you a rundown Remember MAST all comments.
Disk of the Month - January 1987 By Jim Schulz Well, it has arrived. This is the month that we break the magic 100 disk mark. But first up, last month. Last month, I had nine brand new disks and two updated version disks of past disks. The following is the list with their disk numbers• 860 - ST Writer 1.70 (The latest version of the PD word processor) *78 Uniterm 1.6E (VT100/VT102 Terminal Emulator with Xmodeml *83 - December DOM 81 (Utilities> 884 December DOM 82 (Applications> 885 - December DOM 83 <Games) *86 - December DOM 14 (Communication Prgs, Pascal and Modula-2 Files) *87 - December DOM 85 <C Files, Music, and General ST Information) 188 - Demo Disk 815 <Fully Operational ST-Term Demo) 189 - Demo Disk 816 (UltraCalc Calculator Demo and GFA Basic Demos) 190 - Demo Disk 817 (Animation Demos From The Aegis Animator> 191 Music Disk 82 (Michtron Christmas Music Demo) That's last month's disk. Before I go on to this month's, would first like to apologize to all who were upset that I dropped a disk that you wanted. I worked for seven straight days for about 18 hours a day to put together last month's set and I JUSt got tired. I was also on vacation, ha ha. Most of the disks that were asked for at the meeting will appear this month. Others will follow in the next fww months. I currently hava about a twenty disk backlog of special disks BO I have alot to choose from. Secondly, I made anothwr batch of bad disks last month. I thought that I had fixed the problem, but l guess that I was wrong. If you got a bad disk, let me know in advance if possible and bring it to the maeting for replacemant. l have completed a full disk checksum program that seems to do th ■ Job. If I get a couple more fixes made, I might give a few people beta copies to chack their disks. All disks starting with January's disks will have a checksum on the label. Whether I rel•••• my checksum program is still up to JS Software. This checksum program checks the density of th• disk, reads all th ■ sectors on the disk, and then produces a checksum based on the data on the disk. Vary basic. I, repeat. I don't like bad disks any more than you do. Soma more news, Todd Burkey•• new varsion of DISKTOP is out. This version supports monochrome BO all members can now use the Disktop data base. Also I have decided that l will now put out a documantation disk once every three months. By setting a schedule, I have something to aim for. There will be a new disk this month. Also, I would like to recognize three new volunteer• who will be helping ma put some of the files for the disks together. Steve Pauley ha• volunteered to scrounge through all of the picture file• and put together only the best for one or two disks each month. I can probably expect some of hi• own pictures, too each month. Bill L■Duc is going to look for CP/M file• off of a number of CP/M BBS and put some of the best files together each month. And last, but not least, Dave Maile is going to convert Music Studio fil•• from Midi format to play on our
-21-
I am standard STs. With these files, I will put together music disks. still looking for someone with a keyboard to put together an occasional disk of Midi patch programs and accessories for those members using the I J'IOUld again like to thank all those who volunteered. Midi. Finally, I got only three responses to my Starter Kit disk idea so this If you are interested will be put on hold until I get more interest. still, lat ma know, otherwise I will wait a couple more months before bringing it up again. Now for this month'• disks. That•• enough business for this month. This month, I have quite a good collection of special disks as wall as I will try to the best of files for the standard disks of the month. So here my abilities to deliver this list. That's all you can ask. goes for this month •••• PrintMaster Icon Disk #1 - This is a disk of converted 8 bit icon I have found a number of icons already converted as wall as libraries. Now the problem, three public domain 8 bit Print Shop Library disks. disk requires about 200 disk swaps. Tha conversion one to convert procedure is slow. I will try to have one disk a month for the newt I will also include the 8 bit conversion program and two three months. I will include a program In addition, PrintMastar Basic programs. written by MAST'• Bill LaDuc which converts Print Shop icons to Degas Elita block format. Because of this, I will also include all of the original Print Shop icons. So if you own PrintMaster or Degas Elita, this disk is for you. FASTER #2 - If you bought the first FASTER disk, you know about the quality of this disk magazine. This is a GEM-based disk magazine with It supports both monochrome and pictures, programs, and articles. Vary nicely color monitors and it speaks both English and Franch. dona. This disk was bumped last month, but it will be available this month by popular demand. I have Smalltalk - Smalltalk is another programming language for ST. a me for interesting tried this one out and it looks quite documentation The disk includes complete non-Smalltalk programmer. from ST the to converted was and demos to get you going. This language ST. Just another public domain language for the -an Amiga port. In order to fit all of the Smalltalk with the docs and demos is big. files and documentation, I have had to use an enhanced single sided disk. It got bumped last month, but it will ba hara this month. MicroEmacs 3.71 - This is another version of MicroEmacs converted from one of the standard Emacs distribution available for a number of This version of Emacs is updated across all systems about systems. This version of Emacs supports color among once every siw months. It changes the screen color for deletes, inserts, and a other things. I have run this program Just to try it out number of other options. and it seems the most impressive of the Emacs programs that I have seen to data. This program includes quite a few options including function button aliasing. I have found the source coda so that will be • If you like Emacs editors, you might available also on a second disk. want to check this one out.
-22
CP/M Utilities Disk #2 - This is the This disk will include a number of modem program and a game of space This also be included on this disk. save you the transfer and conversion that got bumped last month, but will have about one CP/M disk a month.
second disk of utilities for CP/M. utility programs include the MEX All documentation will invaders. will be a CP/M formatted disk to This is another disk problems. I hope to be included this month.
Michtron Demos - This is two demos of two Michtron games which have Just been released. First, there is Space Station, a space eKploration going into space. game. This demo shows the spaceship taking off and The user can modify some of the parameters. The second demo is a series This allows you of pictures from Karate Kid II, a new karate game. flip through the pictures with the last picture allowing you to move the karate kid around. Quite interesting. This is a demo in music and Pirates of the Barbary Coast Demo Probably more pictures of the game Pirates of the Barbary Coast. important, this disk includes a new Music Studio player program with a script function. For the music player, it is a pretty nice demo. This ls a special applications disk. This Applications Special includes two special applications. The first application is a runtime I will version of a Video Cassetta library program created on DB Man. The second also include the DB Man command files if space permits. Both application is 99 form letters converted to the ST from the IBM. applications are quite unique and I sure can find a spot in your library. This program allows you to BOB - This is a Small Data Base program. Also included is the complete C source set your own data base formats. Quite nice and basic for a public domain data base. coda. Control Panel Fiw - This is a modified version of the control panel to work with clock cartridges. Someone did soma checking and found that Very small, but still losing it. ha was losing time on his clock. Through some effort, ha tracked it down to the control panel dask If you own a clock cartridge, this new desk accessory is accessory. for you. Window - Atari said that their version of Breakout was not Window is domain so someone went ahead and wrote their own. breakout type game that work• in both monochrome and color.
public a new
like Undelete - Have you aver deleted a file and said, "Boy, would that back!!!"??? Wall, now you can, this program searches your disk A program .and undelete• deleted files to the best of its ability. needed by al 1. Disk Labeler - Thi• is a new disk label program which will list the main directory of any disk to one of two standard disk label sizes. This program is GEM-based and very -11 done. This Checkers - Vas, this i• a new version of the Checkers game. It is version now come in two formats, program and desk accessory. advertised as being GEM-based, but I have not yet triad it.
--2. 3
lntraRa m Ramdisk - Th1• la the latest version
program .
of
the
IntraRa m
Thi• ramd1sk will •urvive reboot s and now has a
you can set up it bootup size in advance .
feature
ramdisk where
DISKTOP 2.0 - This I• the new version of the DISKTOP program fro■ MAST's Todd Burkey. This version now suppor ts monochr ome and It is v■ ry wall don■, Now all ST users can enJoy this very nice disk catalog progra,n . Monochr ome Corner Clock - This 1• a version of the corner clock program written by Chuck Purcel l. This new version by MAST'• John Stanley include s an AM/PM indicat or and a way to disable th• clock. Vo,ry nicely done. Saving Bond Organi zation Program - This is • Saving Bond Data Basa program written by Dick Stubbs , Dan Stubbs brothe r. This program written ln BASIC will allow you to keap track of your print them out for referen ce. Thanks for the donatio Saving Bonds and n. Well, this is only a start. have quite a bit more, 9ut do need my aleep and the newsle tter need to get out. For more inform ation, coma to the January MAST meeting . Yes, thia month I will break one hundred . Alao for those who can't make the Friday meeting , MAST disks will also be sold at the Program mer• SIG meeting the follow, ng Monday. Now there I• no reason that you can't buy the disks. So far a• of la■t month, we now have 9l(coun t'em> disk• of the month after eleven months. For lnforma t1on on any of the past di•k•, see me at the neMt meeting or purchas e the MAST docume ntation disk for ■2.00. Send $2.~0 lf orderin g by mail. Thia docume ntation disk include s a deacrip tion of each disk aa well as a 11st of all file• on all disks organiz ed u■ lng the DISKTOP program . This disk will be updated every three month• at leaat. For tho•• who don"t know, eb.00 for which i• packed ·All aoftwa re progra,n a ar ■ file In each directo ry so
MAST has a dlak of the month which we ch•rge full of public domain softwa re for th• ST. checked by m■ and docume nted in a READ.ME you are sure you g■t someth ing that work■•
For those who cannot make the meeting and atlll would like the DOM, I will mail th■m to you within one week of atandar d ■b. 00 plus ■ l.00 for postage and handlin the meeting for th■ g for th■ first siM disk• and each siM disks therea fter or •0.50 for on• disk. My address la1 32b4 Welcom e Avenue North Crysta l, MN 5~422 Aleo, rememb er if I blow and don't make enough diaks for the meeting , l will mall it to you free within a week of the MAST meet1ng . Also if you get a bad disk, bring It to the neMt meeting and I will replace It. Well, It's time for me to call It a night and Happy New Year and 1 hope to see you all at thethat•• all for January . neMt MAST meeting and the Program mers SIG with the best new public domain aoftwar e from the last month. Rreachi ng thi• month the century mark.
-2 'I-
ST_ PAUL ATARI COMPUTER BRUCE HAUG, PRESIDENT 1697 E . HOYT AVE . ST . PAUL, MN~ 55106 ( 6 1 2 ) 7 7 4 - 6226
ENTHUSIASTS