ST*ZMAGAZINE +---------------------------------------------------------------------+ | Volume 1, Number 35 August 25, 1989 | +---------------------------------------------------------------------+ | Publisher/Editor: Ron Kovacs | | Copyright 1989, Rovac Industries, Inc. | +---------------------------------------------------------------------+ | <*> Editors Desk.........................................Ron Kovacs | | <*> ZNet Newswire.................................................. | | <*> World of Atari - Dallas.................................Z*Staff | | <*> Kentuckiana AtariFest Cancelled...................Press Release | | <*> ICD Update........................................Press Release | | <*> GoGo ST Update....................................Press Release | | <*> Public Domain Shelf.................................Alice Amore | | <*> STZmag Feature - Behind The Counter.............Robert Guadagno | | <*> Software Reviews.....................................WK Whitton | | <*> Computer Hacking and Software Piracy.......................PSAN | | <*> Practical Solutions Update........................Press Release | | <*> ST Virus Update.........................................R. Jung | +---------------------------------------------------------------------+ THE EDITORS DESK ---------------- by Ron Kovacs With the conclusion of Richard Tsukiji's latest effort, the Dallas World of Atari show, it is time to comment on the current state of affairs. If you remember last fall, we heard the first whispers of the World of Atari shows. Richard Tsukiji, Publisher of ST-World Magazine, a monthly publication dedicated to the ST and Atari news, would promote Atari specific shows around the country with the support of Atari. The first show was in Anahiem California. We should have known what was to come when the advertising failed to appear, the scheduled concert failed, the rumblings from the invited user groups surfaced and the problem with MACE started. The MACE affair was settled a few weeks before the Dearborn show, but during the behind the scenes mudslinging, both sides made claims and wasted alot of effort. The second show in Dearborn was somewhat successful, perhaps not as well as the previous show, but again the advertising failed, a scheduled Dealer conference failed, and the paging system was poor. Thankfully, a repeat concert was never scheduled or offered. The third show, which is reported on in this edition was the worst of the three. No user group participation requested, no advertising done, and overall not a good showing. In between all of the stops shows were announced, later cancelled, again announced and again cancelled. Seattle was marked for a show, a return to Dearborn and Anahiem. Users requesting a show were urged to call ST-WORLD and if there was enough interest generated, he would investigate the area and possibly plan a stop for the tour. The annual Glendale Atarifest in Southern California was cancelled because of lack of interest on the part of vendors and developers. The scheduling of the San Jose show played a part in the cancellation of Glendale. Earlier this month Tsukiji cancelled the San Jose show and but too late to save Glendale. Promises of equipment to user group members assisting at the shows came with strings attached. A good example at Dearborn was a user group volunteer could purchase an ST system from the Atari booth at a dealer price after local and national dealers were asked, if anything was left the user could purchase it, one unit was sold to my knowledge at Dearborn. User group officers had to keep track of the total hours donated by it's members, CHAOS logged the most hours and to date received nothing for the effort. Tsukiji should either stop the shows all together or stick with the original plan. Involvement of the user groups is essential to get the word out. Only go to areas that want the show. You know where to go when you communicate with user groups, or is this effort of touring Atari shows aimed at non-Atari owners? Without advertising it is just about an impossibility. ZNET NEWSWIRE ------------- ~ Atari's expected announcement was due today, however, at press time we did not have the specific details. As previously reported, the TT and other news was expected. The minute we receive the information we will update this edition with a Z*Break. Z*Break is a publication for Atari news that can't wait. ~ The Texas World of Atari show wasn't as successful as previous shows. Attendance totaled from 1000 to 1600 people, depending on who you speak to. Many of the developers/dealers that attended were pleased with the attention, but others sold stock at unbelievable prices before the show ended on Sunday. See related articles in this edition for more information. ~ Robert Brodie, new Atari User Group Coordinator is on the job at Atari. Mr. Brodie was hired last week as the replacement for Chris Roberts who was terminated a few weeks previous. See past issues of ST- ZMAGAZINE for other stories. Sam Tramiel will attend a conference on GEnie August 30th. Details from the Germany show will be discussed. ~ Epson announced last week the EPL-6000 laser printer as an alternative to the HP LaserJet Series II. The Epson laser printer produces 6 pages per minute, has expandable memory up to 4.5 megabytes and a modular design that allows easy paper and toner replacement and reliability. Available for delivery now for $1900.00. ~ Commodore Business Machines of Australlia has been ordered to pay $250,000 after it was found guilty on 19 counts of having engaged in resale price maintenance activities in 1986, a breach of the Trade Practices Act. Commodore has stated they will appeal against the decision, but failed to give more details. ~ Atari is NOT the only computer manufacturer showing poor profits in second quarter reports. WANG is currently having problems with repayments on it's massive debt. INTEL's third quarter reported at 50 percent drop from it's second quarter. PRIAM reported a 6 million dollar loss in their fourth quarter report, and problems with the disk drive business. WORLD OF ATARI - DALLAS (Part 3) -------------------------------- Compiled by the Z*Staff August 19 and 20 saw the third in the series of World of Atari Shows, promoted by Richard Tsukiji of ST-WORLD Magazine. After Disneyland (Anaheim, California) last April and Dearborn (Detroit, Michigan) in June, the Dallas/Fort Worth, Texas, show was again touted to be "the biggest yet". However, according to or interviews with over 20 attending vendors, developers, club members, and general public, this was the smallest and least successful to date. Set under the Holiday Inn Holidome in Irving, Texas (selected for its metropolitan airport and position between Dallas and Fort Worth), the show floor for this latest World of Atari was reportedly smaller than either previous show. However, the number of vendor booths was apparently similar to that at Dearborn, the largest of the floors to date, providing Dallas a busier overall "feel". Official attendance figures are unavailable as yet, but consensus ranges between 1,000 and 1,600 people. That's just under half of that posted in Dearborn, and barely 15% of the Disneyland attendance. While Saturday provided a good opening crowd, it slowly diminished throughout the afternoon. Sunday was very light in attendance, although the afternoon picked up somewhat. Nevertheless, the crowds were both knowledgeable and enthusiastic. Atari Corp was represented by Sig Hartmann and Jay Crosby. The Atari booth featured the Portfolio and the PC4 IBM clone, but not the Stacy Laptop ST, nor any of the entertainment or 8-bit line. A user group supplied some 8-bit display hardware and software at the last moment. Big ticket vendors reported a steady stream of "informed" lookers, although systems and hardware sales were reported to be very slow. Software sold at frenzied rates due to equally frenzied price slashes. Fast Technology, makers of the about-to-be shipped Turbo 16 accelerator board, had a good overall impression of the show, with lots of attention to the product being given. Users at the Texas show seemed to be more interested than at Dearborn, said James Allen Jr., developer of the board. He also said that he was pleased with the instant comparisons he was able to do with a competing system from CMI, also at the show. Unfortunately, Jim was unable to sell his product as the first production run is not quite complete. In a similar situation was MIGRAPH, who drew consistent interest in their new Hand Scanner, but had no stock to offer. The first two shipments have been shipped to buyers, with the next shipment already sold before it arrives. Orders are being taken, however, and Liz Mitchell reported that a number of buyers are "ramping up" to the scanner by buying the improved TOUCH-UP software now, to upgrade to a scanner later. CODEHEAD said that while attendance hurt their expected sales, that they did sell quite a bit of their unique utilities. However, Charles Johnson commented on the rampant price cutting that many other vendors resorted to near the end of the show. RITE-WAY, a Detroit area retailer that did well at the Dearborn show, says that their trip to Dallas was a "barely break even" affair. While theirs was one of the busiest booths, Rite-Way had to cut prices by as much as 90% (!!!) off most of his available stock in order to go home with cash. Ron, of Rite-Way, nevertheless says the show was "OK, not fantastic, but OK". He blames what he called the "very religious" character of the area for the very low Sunday turnout. He did sell out his stock of World of Atari Hats that he had purchased from CHAOS, a Lansing, Michigan club that had prepared them for the Dearborn show. Chaos still has perhaps a hundred left, and can be contacted through ST*ZMAG/Z*Net for further purchases, either singly at $5 or in quantity at a discount. ICD Inc reported far more tire-kickers than buyers for their complete line of hard drives and tape backup systems. Sales were VERY slow, with the 8-bit support product line almost totally without buyers. Sources at ICD reported that only 3 to 5 total sales were made from the 8-bit line, with better but limited sales from their ST lineup. They also noted that Rite-Way was selling ICD FA*ST Hard Drive systems at $50 BELOW cost in order to prevent taking them back home. ABACUS of Michigan was particularly hard hit buy the lack of buyers, discounting their fine line of books finally to ONE DOLLAR per title in an effort to move them. Their new software for the ST, BECKERCAD, was marked down from the retail of $395 to only $50, half that of the introductory price offered at Dearborn months earlier. BEST of California, sellers of some of the most obscure and intriguing parts 'n stuff, is said to have done poorly enough to have told several other vendors that this would be their last show. Other vendors included SEYMOR-RADIX, CMI, SOF-TREK, Gadgets by Small, MICHTRON, REEVE SOFTWARE, and several local Atari dealers, and others. Seminars were held as usual. Sig Hartmann again held the opening seminar, with others following the same lineup as in Dearborn. Scheduled: Dave Small spoke about the MAC emulators, Michtron's George Miller held a desktop publishing and a BASIC programming talk, Alan Reeve spoke on his DIAMOND graphic operating system for the 8-bit Atari, and ICD discussed hard drives. User groups were conspicuous by their absence. After significant involvement in the Dearborn show, groups were hardly considered at the Dallas World of Atari, and no group had a booth of their own. Area group representative told us that they learned more about the upcoming show from reporters calling them for comments than they were able to get from ST-World or Richard Tsukiji. A major Dallas group, DAL-ACE, said that they NEVER got any official info so they did not participate at all. The Atari Users of North Texas say most of their information came one week ahead of the show when a local dealer sent them some fliers. Alamo Atari, an 8-bit group from San Antonio, heard of the show two weeks in advance, and contacted Richard for information, but were told that there would be no Atari 8-bit display. They confirmed this with Jay Crosby, but later persuaded Sig Hartmann to let them set up a few systems in the Atari area and do a seminar on 8-bit programming. While receiving neither booth area nor other benefits, several groups did provide a number of volunteers to help staff the World of Atari show. In the end, the attendees were generally very happy with the show and the bargains they were able to snap up. The vendors were either neutral or negative regarding profitability and attendance. Almost every vendor and each group stated that they knew of NO ADVERTISING locally for the show, and that promotions were poor overall. One story making the rounds at the show was that a major area newspaper took Richard's check for full page ads, but never ran them. While previous shows were widely covered and promoted online at GEnie and CompuServe, ST-World elected to ignore online cooperation this time, even refusing to return repeated phone calls for information. Despite his cancelled San Jose show, Richard was soliciting for vendors to attend his future World of Atari shows. Still on the calendar are returns to Anaheim next April, and to Detroit next Spring. KENTUCKIANA ATARIFEST CANCELLED ------------------------------- Press Release The Atari Exchange Of Louisville, Kentucky has announced the cancellation of the Kentuckiana Atari Fest '89 that was scheduled for October 28th and 29th at the Sheraton Lakeview hotel in Clarksville, Indiana. The primary reason for the cancellation was lack of support and a firm commitment from Atari Corporation, according to Lawrence Estep, AEL Convention Coordinator. The problem was further complicated by the dismissal of Chris Roberts, user group coordinator of Atari Corp., who was helping with the organization of the convention. The AEL felt that the quality and reputation of the show could have been ruined by the cancellation of Atari Corp., and that the time restraints caused by the October convention could have caused many coordination problems. According to Lawrence, the convention has been tenatively rescheduled for sometime in July 1990, and that interest exhibitors may contact the AEL Kentuckiana Atari Fest headquarters at (812) 944-8997 for more information. The Atari Exchange Of Louisville, Kentucky would like to thank everyone who expressed an interest in the convention, and apologizes for any inconvenience that this cancellation may have caused. As a token of our appreciation to user groups, dealers, developers, and PD authors, the AEL is offering two advertising packages for our newsletter, AELien Transmissions. For one piece of Atari software/ hardware per month, you will receive a free advertisement, or for a donation for our December computer raffle, you will receive an ad in either our November or December newsletter. A special price has been set-up for advertisements without donations, and more information can be obtained from AEL Promotions director, Lawrence Estep. The AEL would also like to encourage user groups to exchange newsletters and PD catalogs with us. All materials can be sent to the address below. Thank you for your time, and patience. Sincerely, Lawrence Estep AEL PD Librarian/Promotions director 08/23/89 Atari Exchange Of Louisville c/o Lawrence R. Estep 524 Roseview Terrace New Albany, IN 47150-4457 ICD UPDATE ---------- Ctsy CompuServe AtariVendors Forum ** ICD HARD DRIVE NEWS! 8/22/89 ** ICD will be releasing our new version 4.0 FA-ST hard disk booter in just a few days for public beta test. This new booter allows unprecedented speed for all hard drive systems equipped with an ICD ST Host Adapter. Our new version 4.0 includes a new intelligent caching scheme to make your hard drive operate much faster than before! User configurable buffers cache both reads and writes. AHDI 3.0x is also supported to allow our ICD booter to read those illogical sector sizes and non- conforming partitions. And the best news is that this upgrade will cost you absolutely nothing! (Except for download time or long distance charges which you must pay.) As with all our other hard drive format and booter upgrades, ICD's new booter is available free to all owners of our ICD ST Host Adapter. If you are thinking of buying a Hard Drive that is not using an ICD ST Host Adapter, don't accept less, ask for it by name! Within the next few days we will release a beta test version of this new booter. Look for it on GEnie (m475;3 download area 22), CompuServe (ATARIVEN DL1), or our own ICD BBS at 815-968-2229. ICD does not allow distribution on other BBS systems. The final version should be out in a few weeks and will include a new configuration utility to modify the buffer sizes. If you would like new master disk copies of our latest hard drive utility disks, send us your old disk(s) and $10 for shipping and handling charges. Please specify single or double-sided disk format. Speed increases using our new 4.0 booter will vary depending upon the program in use but most operations which access the hard drive will show some speed benefit. (Note: RATEHD does direct disk I/O without using the booter so no changes will be seen.) Below are some comparative benchmarks made during development. All testing was done using TOS 1.4 under the GEM desktop. A partition with 11 directories and 109 files was created for testing purposes. Our present versions of ICDBOOT 3.41 were compared with our new ICDBOOT 4.0. Files were COPYed from the outermost partition (C:) to the innermost partition (H:) of an ICD FA-ST drive equipped with a Maxtor LXT-100S (92.5 Megabytes) and formatted at a 1:1 interleave. Next, all files and directories were ERASEd from H: When used, the full Cache size was 60K. DOS buffers of 10K were used with all the 4.0 tests and the VERIFY buffer is always 16K. The speed of 3.41 with No VERIFY is the same as the speed of Atari, Supra, Berkley, and all other booters that are presently shipping with hard drives. 3.41 with VERIFY COPY = 2:42 ERASE = 0:29 3.41 with No VERIFY COPY = 2:18 ERASE = 0:20 4.0 with VERIFY and read-only Cache COPY = 1:45 ERASE = 0:29 4.0 with VERIFY and with full Cache COPY = 1:10 ERASE = 0:09 4.0 with No VERIFY and read-only Cache COPY = 1:14 ERASE = 0:20 4.0 with No VERIFY and full Cache COPY = 0:57 ERASE = 0:09 NOTE: Older versions of TOS will also benefit but the speed increases will not be as dramatic due to the inherent slowness of those TOS versions. A Cache program should not be used with this new booter as it will slow down. No Cache program will compare with this performance anyway. GO-GO ST UPDATE --------------- Ctst CompuServe Version 1.1 of GoGo-ST is now shipping. Demo version coming this weekend to CIS. GoGo-ST is a new utility program for the ST that allows quick selection of programs for execution. Save associated programs in list files quickly loadable into GoGo selection buttons. Run GoGo from the desktop by just striking a key combination, no need to even open a window for GoGo. Keep a record of your ST activities with GoGo's log function. And keep a watch on father time with the editable digital clock and date. And version 1.1 brings some new features. A demo version of GoGo-ST will be in the uploads section this weekend! MaxWell C.P.U. PUBLIC DOMAIN SHELF ------------------- by Alice Amore FLOORMAT ~~~~~~~~ The authors of this shareware program, S. Orandi and S. Tringali (D. & W. Associates), contend that although there are already enough ST formatting programs to choke a horse, not even one of them could be considered even marginally "attractive". They have changed all that with FLOORMAT. This program is very pretty. Gone are the boring dialog boxes and the GEM interface. Instead we get an animated picture of an ST (which I remember as being one of the best animated D.E.G.A.S. pics in existence) and a wealth of formatting options displayed on a spiffy menu screen. One important feature of this program is the ability to abort a format at the last minute (when you suddenly realize that the wrong disk is in your drive). You can control the seek time, FAT size, directory entries, sector layout and cluster size. You can verify, use tracks up to 200, do multiple formats, and even see a 3-D layout of errors. The parameters are user-configurable and can be saved. FLOORMAT claims to be faster than all other formatters, and it also claims to be the only formatting program which will continue formatting even if there are disk errors. (When that happens, the errors are displayed on a graph.) This program definitely deserves your attention. TCCOMP25 ~~~~~~~~ If you are a user of FLASH! (Antic Software), and you call GEnie often, you will definitely want John Hickey's sophisticated TC COMPANION, version 2.05. This program, used in conjunction with FLASH!, makes its own DO files which are then used for automated file-browsing and downloading on GEnie. The program doesn't forget you after the downloading is over. It includes utilities for deARCing, copying, erasing, and renaming files. It has an ASCII file viewer and a disk formatter, too. TCCOMP25 is shareware. CALNDER1 and CALNDER2 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Using Color ComputerEyes and Digispec, Eric Zwirnmann has digitized the pictures from two calendars. The digitizations are of landscape scenes from the US and Europe. ST-Log Programs! ---------------- Programs from ST-Log can now be found in the GEnie ST file libraries. Included with each file is a detailed index of the ST-Log issue from which the file was taken. These files were meant to be used in conjunction with ST-Log. Subscribe. ST-Log contains all the necessary documentation to help you use the software therein. The following are some (but not all) of the programs available on GEnie which are from ST-Log, Issue #34: WUZZLERS ~~~~~~~~ D.A. Brumleve has done it again with another fine program to add to the first-rate KIDPRG (tm) series. Written in GFA BASIC, WUZZLERS (4.1) is a "word and picture puzzle game" for one or two players. Using the excellent built-in paint-type program, the child first paints a picture. Features include draw, circle, frame, line, magnify. There is also a fill feature which includes many patterns as well as solid colors. The UNDO key can be used in case there is a change of mind. The finished picture is saved to disk where it joins several other included picture files. To play the game itself, a picture file is loaded but not shown at first. A game (of the hangman variety) is then played with the child clicking on boxed letters as she/he tries to guess the name of the picture file. If a wrong letter is guessed, part of the picture is revealed. The object of the game is to guess all the letters before the entire picture is revealed. Get this file for your kids. They will have loads of happy play with it. BINGO ~~~~~ This is as fine a bingo game as you might find in any church basement or gambling palace. Bingo cards can be custom-configured or randomly- constructed by the ST. Cards can then be sent to the printer. The game can be played either by clicking on a number/letter selector, or by letting the computer do the choosing automatically. A winner must type in all the winning picks for verification (don't make up winning numbers... it won't work). Dollar values for winners are automatically generated. Written by Albert Baggetta. CAL_CNT ~~~~~~~ Nicely programmed by Ron and Kathy Schaefer, M.D.s, "Calorie Counter" will total up your calorie intake, and compare it against the caloric limits you have previously specified for yourself. If that's not enough, it also calculates the grams of fat, carbohydrates, and protein in the foods you've selected from the menu listing. If you are able to wrest yourself from behind your monitor, the print-outs of your menu selections can be used as shopping lists when you go to the market. STZMAG FEATURE - BEHIND THE COUNTER ----------------------------------- by Robert J. Guadagno, Software Spectrum NJ When I was approached with the idea to write an article about being an Atari dealer, I was needless to say intrigued with the offer. The only problem I had was "what to write". I'll start by stating being an Atari dealer will not make you a million dollars overnight or over EIGHT YEARS for that matter it is a struggle to make the sales on an "unknown" system, we (in our two stores) sell more PC systems than ST systems, but we sell more ST software (in the Matawan, NJ store) than PC software. The problem we all know is with Atari's lack of advertising, but don't let the "lack of DEALER support" excuse fool you, Atari is fine when it comes to supporting us dealers... slow, but fine. Software support is tough on Atari dealers as well, you cannot sell a system without software to support what the customer wants, and most customers do not care about PC-DITTO II, or SPECTRE-GCR, they want their system to be complete when they buy it, then again, most customers do not know WHAT an emulator is and if you talk too much tech, you lose a sale. I will not stand on a soapbox and tell all of you about piracy (I have done that too much) or what Atari should do, but I will say that you do not make money selling Atari...I'll give you a good example (usings "pseudo" figures). Atari sells a 520ST-FM CPU to a dealer for $350, Atari LISTS (their suggested price) the 520ST-FM for $600. we would sell the CPU of a 520ST-FM for $399 or $449 depending on the dealer next door. So you can see there is little money to be made here...on the PC systems, however a dealer makes a killing... Tandy units (Radio Shack) sell for anywhere between $1,200 and over $2,000, Radio Shack purchases these machines for a figure between $200.00 and $700.00 each computer...(thanks for the info Brian) This is not because the Tandy systems are good, the Lord knows the Atari ST is a better machine as a whole (three computers in one!!!), but because the SOFTWARE and POPULARITY of the PC market, this needs to be changed soon, and Atari has assured us that THIS is the YEAR they will do it, or as my Dealer Newsletter said in big bold caps...ATARI IS BACK. Oops an Atari PROMISE...I know what you're thinking...but SO FAR, everything I have been told in the past six months has come to life... the Folio, LYNX (the hand held game system) and STacy are going to be released in Sept. (FOLIO in EARLY Sept., Lynx later in Sept., and STacy some time between Sept. and Nov.). The TT and the PC-4 will be released before or by November, the MEGAFILE-44 will be here once the FCC allows it here, and I must say that so far it looks good for Atari with their stock up to 10 a share and the "look" of their attitude as a whole...I am proud to be an Atari dealer. Well, as I have said in the first lines of this article ...What do I write about?? In closing my soapboxing, I will add a final word...SUPPORT your ATARI (dealer), DON'T kill it (him)...STop software Piracy. Till next time... MEGA-STENDER/GOGO ST -------------------- Reviewed by WK Whitton I guess it can be said that there is nothing perfect, and the gentlemen that utters such a comment can be relatively sure that he will not be proven wrong. Such is the case with Atari Mega ST. This fine computer possesses speed, versatility, and an impressive array of powerful software applications. Yet, there are a few design flaws which cause considerable inconvenience to the serious user. One of these faults is the miniscule keyboard cable that comes with each and every computer. This little guy is barely long enough to reach to the front end of the normal desk, let alone in a users lap! MegSTender to the rescue! MegaSTender is a keyboard extension cable for the Atari Mega ST computer. This cable is an especially designed cable, roughly in appearance to a telephone extension cord, although the insulation is much thicker. On each end is 6 pin telephone plugs, just like the jacks on either end of your stock Mega keyboard cable. MegSTender comes in 6, 8, 12 and 25 foot lengths, and makes numerous heretofore impossible applications possible! You can use your MegStender equipped Mega with the Practical Solutions Videokey and large monitors to demo ST-animations to large groups, or control your Mega "remotely" as where while you are in the midst of a MIDI session. Installation of the MegaStender couldn't be easier. You simply unplug your original keyboard cable, and plug the MegSTender in. The only thing that I didn't like about MegSTender was that you had no choice of what style cable you wanted. You could order it by length, but the only version currently available is straight. I'd like to see a coiled version made available so there would be less chance of it dangling all over your desk as is the case with the current MegSTender. This is only a small complaint as overall this product is a fine value, and well worth the prices MaxWell is asking for it. What are those prices you ask? Suggested retail prices on the MegStender keyboard extension cable are: 6' - $16.95 8' - $17.95 12' - $19.95 25' - $24.95 "Can you tell me more about the company that makes this product?" Sure, here's the official biography of MaxWell C.P.U.: "Located in Lafayette, Colorado, on the Front Range of the Rocky Mountains and eight miles east of Boulder, Colorado, MaxWell C.P.U. is one of the two companies founded by Tim Reyes and Mikel Cawthon. We ate St developers and an ST based Graphics company - MaxWell Graphics and Publications. The name MaxWell was taken from the name of the Physicist which developed the Electro-magnetic theory - James Clerk Maxwell. Over the last hundred years, it has been theorists like Maxwell and experimentalists like Tesla that have led the world into the computer- communications age. MaxWell C.P.U. has depended upon the team work of Mike Cawthon, the DTP specialist, Mark Cawthon, the main programmer, and Tim Reyes, concept developer and team leader. They have attracted a second ST programmer, Doug Doshen, giving MaxWell two assembly and three GEM-C programmers. We are hard at work on a new utility for the ST and a new hardware product both of which will make the Atari St computers more productive machines. And you have not seen the last of GoGo-ST; we are completing work on a new version that will knock the socks off both NeoDesk and HotWire and at the same time be a savings to you. We are very excited about the code developing inside MaxWell C.P.U. MaxWell Graphics and Publications is a desktop publishing and offset print shop. In association with freelance graphical artist, Sharon Solomon, we are a complete graphical design company. Our print shop includes a Multilith 1250 offset press, a 36 inch paper cutter, and a complete set of bindery equipment. Our layout equipment includes a Mega 4 ST with 134 meg of storage, a 2.5 meg 1040 ST, a 520 ST, an Atari SLM804 with Ultrascript and a HP Scanjet. We also run a 286 13 Mhz machine as a daytime BBS and at night as an IBM based desktop publishing machine. This is a very turbulent year for Atari's products. We are hopeful that Atari will pull through and raise its product line and product support a step or two closer to the Gang of Two - IBM & Apple. MaxWell C.P.U. will be bringing you more outstanding products to enhance the value of your Atari ST and we are very conscious of the value of good customer support. Be assured that we will develop a great customer support system as well. Keep a watch for MaxWell Products! MaxWell C.P.U. 507 W. Baseline Lafayette, CO 80026 Voice: (303) 665-4849 (8AM-5PM) BBS: (303) 666-4470 (24 hrs) MaxWell C.P.U. has also recently released another new product for the ST, GoGo ST. GoGo St is a menu program that allows you to run any program anywhere on your hard drive or disk with ONE click of the mouse. This eliminates the tedious searching in and out of folders that folk with hard drives have become accustomed to. GoGo ST can be run from the desktop, or auto-started with StartGem or the new "Install Application" feature of Tos 1.4. GoGo St will boot up with a menu, reads in "AUTO.LST", and then displays a layout of programs you can run by clicking on it with the mouse button. Each menu screen allows up to 15 selections to be shown at the same time, and other ".LST's" can be loaded in. Not only is GoGo ST a fine menu program, it also contains an excellent "Find File" feature. You may use this section to search for a particular file that matches the string you have entered (wildcards of "?" and "*" are allowed) and run it. Additionally, Gogo ST will keep a log for you of the time you spent in each application, whether it be word processor, online service, or cumbersome spreadsheet. This log can be sent to the screen, disk or your trusty printer. A new revision of Gogo St is reportedly in the works for release shortly. One of the newer features will be the capability to hit "Shift -Enter" while at the desktop and GoGo St will magically reappear. Another interesting idea that may well turn the tide for GoGo St will be the capability to use icons at the desktop, unused by any drive or partition, and allow them to be assignable to your favorite application. When you click on the icon it will automatically load the program of your choice. The folk at MaxWell have also warned us that GoGo ST is not compatible with ICDTIME.PRG. Users of systems that have an ICD FA*ST Host Adapter should use TIMESET.PRG instead. ICDTIME.PRG stays in memory, constantly keeping tabs on the time, while TIMESET.PRG loads once, sets the time in ST clock, and then makes a graceful exit, and therefore causes no conflict with any program, including GoGo ST. The manual which comes with GoGo ST is well written, clear and concise. Although it does not go into great detail on any of the features of Gogo ST, the best part of the manual is the "GoGo ST Graphical Reference" chart which appears on page 2. Rather than struggle and try to describe a part of the program, they have devised an excellent graphic of the 3 main sections of the program, and clearly labeled them for you. Nice Touch! In conclusion, although GoGo ST is a fine program in its own right, and allows several features that Hotwire! by Codehead Software does not currently contain, it is still the weaker of the two. Hotwire! allows immediate access to Multidesk 1.81 and higher, and with this comes access to any possible unlimited combination of accessories. A very weak point of GoGo ST is that it limits you to only 15 menu selections at a time, while Hotwire! allows 54 at a shot. I have learned the value of using the fine utilities that our resident ST PD programmers have provided, and the thought of only being able to access 15 at a time doesn't thrill me. An additional feature I prefer in Hotwire! is its excellent macro-key setup system. I have things laid out now to where I can hit the correct macro for quite a large number of my programs on the hard drive, and they pop up instantly. This is opposed to the method of sorting through a graphic menu and picking out the program you wish to run. Granted, both Hotwire! and Gogo ST could be cumbersome via the graphic interface if you used the programs in that fashion, but at the present time Hotwire! is the only one that offers an escape form this method if you so desire. There are 2 features that GoGo ST needs in order to round out its talents. First, it should provide the user with the capability to print a list of each of the ".LSTs" contained in the current directory. This reference sheet, especially handy for a new or relatively recent user of GoGo ST, would allow the user to know which set of programs to load in order to get to the desired program. I realize that initially this may handicap one as to the speed of executing an application, but is absolutely necessary in order that the user can familiarize himself with the locations of the applications at hand in relation to GoGo ST. Secondly, it is imperative that the GoGo ST menu screen be redesigned in order to allow the user to access more than 15 selections at a time. It may be necessary, due to resolution considerations, to make this "enhanced menu" feature only available in the medium and high modes, but this is not a drawback. The increased number of selections available would increase productivity and speed, both being features that inspired the creation of this fine program in the first place. I must say at this point that it may be entirely unfair to compare the 2 programs at this stage in their development. Hotwire! has been out for several months now, and has had the advantage of user input and suggestions in that period of time. Gogo ST has recently made its appearance, and is just starting to go through the molding process the user base puts a program through. I am quite confident, with the talented programmers they have on staff, and the energetic ST user base we all are a part of, GoGo St _will_ emerge as one feature packed, high- quality program. I'd would still highly recommend it to the ST user looking for a utility to make life with a hard drive that much easier. GoGo ST has a suggested list price of 34.95, and is available from your local ST dealer, Horizon Computers, Micro-D, or directly from MaxWell C.P.U. Ratings - MegaSTender ----------------------------------------------------------------- "First Glance Usability" | 100 ----------------------------------------------------------------- Overall Speed | N/A ----------------------------------------------------------------- Pleasing to the eye | 90 ----------------------------------------------------------------- Clarity of Documentation | 98 ----------------------------------------------------------------- Flexibility | 98 ----------------------------------------------------------------- Portability | 98 ----------------------------------------------------------------- Printer Support | N/A ----------------------------------------------------------------- Attention to detail | 90 ----------------------------------------------------------------- Customer Support | 95 ----------------------------------------------------------------- Updates | N/A ----------------------------------------------------------------- Packaging | 90 ----------------------------------------------------------------- Most Liked Feature - Its simple two-second installation. Least Liked Feature - Due to design of MegaSTender, it is too easy with bunched up cord draped over your computer system, giving it a "cluttered" look. Summary - MegaStender is a keyboard extension cable for the Atari Mega St line of computers, and comes in lengths of 6,8,12 and 25 feet. Ratings - GoGo ST ----------------------------------------------------------------- "First Glance Usability" | 90 ----------------------------------------------------------------- Overall Speed | 90 ----------------------------------------------------------------- Pleasing to the eye | 95 ----------------------------------------------------------------- Clarity of Documentation | 98 ----------------------------------------------------------------- Flexibility | 98 ----------------------------------------------------------------- Portability | 90 ----------------------------------------------------------------- Printer Support | 95 ----------------------------------------------------------------- Attention to detail | 90 ----------------------------------------------------------------- Customer Support | 95 ----------------------------------------------------------------- Updates | 85 ----------------------------------------------------------------- Packaging | 90 ----------------------------------------------------------------- Works Tos 1.4 - Yes Works In How Many Resolutions? 3 (All) Built-In Printer Support? Yes Most Liked Feature - Ability to send application usage log to the printer, screen or disk. Least Liked Feature - Only 15 items available per each menu screen. Summary - GoGo ST is a menu system, for both hard drive an floppies, that allows easy "one-click" operation of any ST program irregardless of the programs depth in a series of folders. COMPUTER HACKING AND SOFTWARE PIRACY ------------------------------------ Reprinted from Puget Sound Atari News, January 1989 Computer software pirating has been going on for years. Software pirating violates the Copyright Law which is a Federal offense. There has been many different ways to pirate software and many different groups known as "underground groups" have been formed to find and crack the ways of pirating. It is circulated socially at work with many different peers. I think anyone who has a personal home computer does this. It is transfered via modem person to person call or by "high access levels" on a Bulletin Board System ... also referred to as a BBS in this paper. People write the programs to break the codes which the author writes to the disk to keep his hard work from being stolen. Other programs are copiable but still copywritten to allow the user/ buyer to make a back up copy. There are also programs called "Trojan Horse" programs which are written to format Hard Drives and ruin expensive disks and software. These programs along with code breaking programs, war dialers and many other programs are legal to own but illegal to use. The reason for this is because a person may use these types of programs for personal use only. A Copywrite law is the exclusive right for the creator of any written material to sell and distribute freely. Copyrights are obtained by the United States Copyright Office, Library of Congress, Washington D.C.. This law permits the holder to sue for damages of infringment. (Dictionary of Practical Law page 52) Computer Pirates don't just pirate software. They range from hacking into private systems, launching Trojan Horse programs, using stolen credit card numbers to purchase expensive items through systems, and basically distribute copywritten materials. They also "Phreak" phone numbers, these are numbers which the phone company uses to test phone lines which no toll is charged. "Is what you do is dial the number then wait for a dial tone and dial the long distance number you want to call", says source "B", "although I have no idea how these people find these these numbers." (Source "B") There is also embezzlement performed on large corporation computers. Like at Volks Wagon in West Germany. A group of financial associates used computers to cover up a trade of U.S. currency and German currency. The group was caught. (Maclean's Page 32) There are also the famous "Wiz Kids" they are the ones who do most of the pirating, hacking and poking around in large systems which do not belong to them. There was a group in Germany who was caught breaking into over 135 private systems. One of the major systems was N.A.S.A.'s own SPAN. This group was found to have been placing the famous Trojan Horse programs into N.A.S.A.'s computer which would freely override the computer's security system and reproduce itself to other systems linked. SPAN had no no real damage done. It is merely a system open to about 4000 researchers around the United States. (NewsWeek page 38) The way numbers are found such as that like N.A.S.A.'s SPAN are by "Wardialers" these are programs which search numbers in the specified area codes, prefixes and numberical order set by the user. These numbers are printed to the printer and recorded as having carriers or voice on the other end. In October, 1987, a man was tried for stealing a program which was in testing for lawyers to keep track of their legal cases. Inslaw, the software company which created this program was granted 10 million dollars to create this program. Mr. Justice, an employee, distributed copies of the program to lawyers and the company went out of business. They were unable to repay the loan. (Time Magazine, page 52) A pirater who answered my questions has been pirating for about two years now and has never been caught. This is Source "A". This person has a few friends from around the bulletin boards that participate in a bit of trading software now and then. They trade over the phone, directly calling one another via modem. When asked Source "A" said, "I would probably confess if caught and give up all software in my possession." Although Source "A" does not think there is much chance of being caught because Source "A" does not talk about pirating too much anyone. This person is proud of pirating, especially when the accomplishment of copying a complex disk is done. Source "A" likes seeing a copied piece run flawlessly after spending much time working to crack the codes. "A" has never hacked private systems and does not seem to care to ever do this sort of thing. "A" was on a BBS which did have private files also known as pirated files. This BBS does not have them anymore in fear of being caught by the authorities. "A" says it is very hard for a person to keep their pirating a total secret. "A" is one of the less involved piraters unlike Source "B" as you will see. This person has been doing this a long time, six years to be exact. By some Source "B" maybe considered a veteran. Source "B" even has friends who have been caught but "B" himself has never been caught. "B" does not take place in any of the groups anymore but is very much aware of them. "B" says, "It is just too dangerous and I was afraid of getting caught." "B" was a good source to receive answers from and talk to, "B" still knows the pirate market well and pushes software quite heavily to a few select friends. "B" is one of the few who is active in a BBS with pirated software on it. "B" pirates software for the Atari 8-bit series and Amiga series. Although it sounds like "B" is heavily involved "B" tends to disagree. "B" would start over if convicted and not fined too heavily. Source "C" is rather a light pirater I found. This person has only been doing this sort of thing for about 4 months. So it is very obvious that this person is not very heavily involved. This person is not a member of any bulletin boards which pirate software niether is she involved in any underground pirating groups. Just trades with friends. Source "C" pirates for Atari 8-bit series computers and the ST series computers also made by Atari. Source "C" is unaware of the fact that if caught Atari has fifteen lawyers working alone just on cases involving pirating. This person does not try very hard to copy software if it is uncopiable she stops there. If she were convicted or arrested on suspician she would not confess or tell of anyone else she knows of involved. So as you see Source "C" is one of the mild type piraters around. (Source "C" Roger's ST BBS) So as you see what I assumed was pretty true according to the sources I checked. My knowledge about software pirating and computer crimes was very much broadened though. Some of the stuff I learned about was the way people override system securities. Another thing was that it is very hard to find sources like "A" and "B" who will take a chance and talk. I do not know the names of these people to this very day. I submitted the questions to local BBS's in the file sections and they were answered and then resubmitted for me to recieve answers. I spoke to "B" on the phone and received a lot more information. I learned that if there are any groups in this area people may never find them. Their disguise is unreal. PRACTICAL SOLUTIONS UPDATE -------------------------- Press Release Practical Solutions has announced that they will be producing an exciting new product for the Atari ST. This item is a "cordless mouse". Some of the features of this mouse will be: 1. Wireless, infrared transmission 2. 5 foot range, and 45 degree viewing angle 3. 200 DPI resolution (this high resolution means you have to use less mouse pad in order to move your cursor across the screen. 4. Dual battery saving modes - allows your AAA batteries to last for months A. After 2 minutes of non-use the mouse enters a "sleep" mode, and when you move the mouse or click any button it will "wake up". B. After 10 minutes of non-use it shuts completey off. Pressing a momentary-on button on the side of the mouse turns it back on. Practical Solutions expects to be shipping these units in November after they pass through their FCC inspection. You can contact Practical Solutions for more information, or place an order by leaving mail on Genie to: PS.INC, or: Practical Solutions, Inc. 1135 N. Jones Blvd. Tucson, AZ 85716 (602)322-6100 (602)322-9271 ST VIRUS UPDATE --------------- by R. Jung WARNING ATARI ST USERS! There is a new, "Trojan horse" virus out running loose on the Atari ST community! This is no hoax, but a confirmed sighting by independent sources! (Yes, I got caught) What is it? Well, nobody knows for sure, but somebody has released a "dormant" virus into the ST community. It spreads quick and fast, once you boot an infected disk on your ST, ANY AND ALL subsequent disk accesses will infect ALL clean disks with it. There's no need to panic too much; As it stands, this Trojan horse will put an inactive boot sector on your disks (It cancels itself out). The harm comes when, IN THE FUTURE, a second virus is released. These two could then concieveably work together, and do Heaven-knows-what damage to your system. This can be anything from playing a song to formatting your hard drive. The virus itself is harmless, but its partner is NOT! How can you tell if you're infected? Check the boot sector (Sector #0) of your floppy disk (with a disk editor, or a virus checker). If you see the hexedecimal digits $60 $38 $00 $00 $00 $00 then you're infected. (The 00 00 00 00 is where the partner will latch in and really wreck havoc) The solution? Get rid of the virus. Use any of the virus-killer programs and flush that bugger. Check ALL your disks, this seems to have been out for a few months now. And for future precautions, test out new programs on WRITE-PROTECTED disks. *Nothing* in the ST world can write to a disk that's been protected, so a virus can't infect them. ======================================================================= ST*ZMAGAZINE Issue #35 August 25, 1989 Copyright 1989, Rovac Industries, Inc. Post Office Box 59 Middlesex, New Jersey 08846-0059 (201) 968-8148 CompuServe: 71777,2140 GEnie: ZMAGAZINE Volume 1, Number 35 ======================================================================= the United States. (NewsWeek page 38) The way numbers are found such as that like N.A.