textfiles/computers/stratari

 > ONLINE WEEKLY STReport OnLine          The wires are a hummin'!
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                             PEOPLE "R" TALKING
                            ====================


  On CompuServe
  -------------
  compiled by
  Joe Mirando




      Hello  again friends  and neighbors.    I just  had  a wierd  thought
 (another  weird thought, actually).   Wouldn't it really  freak you out to
 find  out that  I  was not  a  real person,  but an  interactive  computer
 program  that could scan the  libraries here on  CompuServe and winnow out
 the good  stuff for  you?   Well, it  might not  freak _you_  out, but  it
 _would_ freak my fiancee out (although I think  she believes that I've had
 some sort of electronic implants already anyway).

      Well,  at any rate, Thanksgiving is this coming week and Christmas is
 only a  month after that.   It looks like there  will be a  good supply of
 Jaguars (at  least in New  York and San  Francisco) for the  holidays.  If
 someone had told me last year that Atari  would have product available for
 Christmas I would have told them that they were nuts.

      Okay, enough  of this.   Let's get on with  the reason we're  here in
 the first  place... the  great information  available every  week here  on
 Compuserve.


 From the Atari Productivity Forum
 =================================


 Myles Cohen, one of the regulars here on CompuServe, asks:

 "Does anyone know how to diagnose and fix a cartridge port... It used
 to work until I did something that involved my scanner... which caused
 it to not work any more...

 Now everything on the MEGASTE works normally...except the
 fershlugginer cartridge port...

 I've already asked this...but never got an answer...And no...I can't
 take it to a repair shop...because I use it every day...and it works
 beautifully except for the two progs that use the port...one of which
 is Notator...even if I knew of a repair shop in my area...which I
 don't..."

 Sysop Bob Retelle tells Myles:

 "What happened with the scanner when the cartridge port stopped
 working..?

 I'm not sure if the cartridge lines are buffered electrically or
 not.. that would be a good place to start.

 There's also the possibility that the actual cartridge connector has
 been loosened from the motherboard traces.  It might be a good idea to
 try resoldering the connections with a low-powered soldering pencil."

 Myles fills Bob in:

 "I don't know...but the scanner was the last thing I had plugged into
 the port when it stopped working...

 Not being a hardware person...I have no idea what that last sentence
 means...nor how to go  about it..."

 Bob counts off a couple of possibilities for Myles:

 "If you remember the problems Brad has had with his ST, the trouble in
 both cases turned out to be an IC chip that goes between the
 sensitive internal cirtuitry of the computer and the "outside
 world"...

 The chip effectively "buffers" the computer from the static
 electricity, random voltage spikes on the telephone line, and all
 kinds of unfriendly influences like that.

 In many cases, these "buffer chips" will give their "lives" to
 protect the rest of the system from these things.  Replacing them is
 generally a pretty easy operation, and the chips themselves are fairly
 common and inexpensive.

 It's almost like replacing a blown fuse.

 Now the ones Brad had trouble with were on the MIDI port and the
 RS-232 serial port..  I'm not sure if the cartridge port has similar
 "buffers" or not... it would be good electrical design to have them,
 but they do add to the cost of the computer.  (I'll see if I can trace
 the lines on my 520 and try to tell if there's anything I can identify
 as buffering on the cartridge port).

 That's an electronic possibility... the other thing I mentioned is a
 "mechanical" possibility.

 In inserting and removing cartridges and other devices, there's a lot
 of physical force applied to the joints where the actual cartridge
 socket is soldered onto the computer's motherboard.  Over time, that
 force can break the tiny solder bonds that make the electrical
 connections.  Sometimes it will result in erratic operation as the
 board flexes and causes the connections to open and close, and other
 times it can just render the connector completely inoperative...
 (this is a common problem with most motherboard mounted connectors
 like joystick connectors and keyboard sockets).

 As long as there isn't any serious damage to the motherboard itself,
 the fix is to carefully re-solder the connections.

 Either solution (assuming that's the problem) will require some
 electronics expertise..  the buffer chips on the ST are all soldered
 to the motherboard, so replacing one is not just a matter of unpluging
 it from a socket.

 If you know anyone who's done electronics repair, it would be fairly
 simple for them to do for you... nothing is Atari specific, or
 requiring any special info.  Any electronics repair shop could do the
 re-soldering or chip replacement if it turns out that's the solution."

 Myles gives us some more information about his predicament:

 "There are new developments...

 I've been on the phone with a distant...from me...electronix guru who
 listened to my tale of woe and suggested that I should use a
 multi-tester on the outside pins...first and last...of the cartridge
 port on the MEGASTE to see if there was conductivity...my reading
 showed zero...

 He then told me that the MegaSTE's cartridge port is protected a 1/2
 Amp microfuse narked F-121 and which can easily be found on the
 motherboard very close to the port...that all I had to do was to test
 it for conductivity...which if I got a zero reading needs to be
 replaced...I got a zero reading...

 Now all I have to do is find a 1/2 Amp microfuse to replace it...I
 guess that Best Electonics is my best bet...

 What a great diagnostician you turned out to be...Just look at the
 line on the top of this message that I quote from your pevious note..."

 Well Myles, good luck with your cartridge port problem... at one time or
 another, every computer owner has to deal with problems like this.
 Luckily, there are people like Bob Retelle to help the rest of us out.

 Meanwhile, Elaine Eedson asks about a program to make using CompuServe
 even easier:

 "Could anyone give me any information about navigation programs for
 Atari ST that are comparable to CIM.  I'm  looking for one that can be
 used and act like CIM."

 Jim Ness tells Elaine:

 "There are no CIM equivalents for the ST.  CIM is a CompuServe
 product, and CompuServe has only made PC and Mac versions available.

 There also is no other similar program, in terms of navigating by
 Point-and-Click methods.

 There is QuickCIS, a true navigator program.  QuickCIS quickly
 gathers all mail and messages for you, and then logs off.  You read it
 all offline, and your replies can be posted on your next call.
 QuickCIS can be found in Library 4 here."

 Stefan Daystrom of Barefoot Software tells Elaine:

 "CIM itself is only available in IBM/compatible and Mac versions.  If
 you _really_ need something _just like_ CIM, the only way on the Atari
 would be to run an IBM or Mac emulator (typically involving adding
 hardware).

 However, if you're paying for the use of your account, why spend time
 online "live", with _whatever_ user interface, when you can use an
 _automated_ navigator that'll log on, capture all the messages you're
 interested in, log off, let you read them and reply to them at any
 speed you want ("off the clock"), and then log on again for just a
 minute or two to upload all your replies?  _That_ you can get for the
 Atari with QuickCis.  (Also get QCMsg_II, an improved message reader
 that works with QuickCis.  You _can_ you QuickCis by itself, but
 you'll have a lot more flexibility in reading and replying to messages
 if you use QCMsg_II with it.)

 An automated navigator such as QuickCis will cut your connect time
 with CompuServe _way_ down.  If you have enough (offline!) time, you
 can then use that to expand to reading other areas of CompuServe that
 you might not have been able to afford if always using it "live".
 It'll also cut down the amount of time your phone line at home is tied
 up with modem calls..."

 Take it from me Elaine, QuickCis is the way to go!

 Now for "something completely different" from Rob Rasmussen:

 "My ST knows exactly what month/day/year and time it is even though I
 no longer have my DeskCart or any other clock installed! At least
 sometimes it does, right now for example. I have not set the clock in
 the XCONTROL panel (I hardly ever do). I turned my computer and hard
 drive on today (Megafile 60) and used the programs TouchUp, Prism
 Paint, PicSwitch, QuickCIS, EdHAK, Hotwire, Maxifile and maybe a few
 others. But nowhere did I set the time. When I noticed this the other
 day I thought later I'd imagined it! DeskCart used to be my time
 keeper, but I took it out a few months ago. The CALendar accessory
 also displays the correct month, day and year. This is really odd! I
 know some HD's have clocks - could it be retaining the time from when
 I used to have DeskCart?  Somehow I don't think so but I have no other
 ideas. How can this possibly be happening?!! <g>

 Not that I'm complaining, I like not having to set the clock!"

 Sysop Bob Retelle tells Rob:


 "What kind of hard drive interface do you have..?

 Some of them have clocks built-in as an additional feature.

 The way these things work is that there has to be an external clock
 of some kind that keeps regular daily time...  then when you boot up
 your ST, some kind of AUTO folder program has to read the time of day
 out of the external clock and put it into the ST's internal clock.

 (For example, I have a clock chip that hides in an IC socket that's
 installed under one of the TOS ROM chips in my ST... and an AUTO
 folder program that reads the time into the ST's internal clock at
 boot up..)

 If you *don't* have anything in your AUTO folder that would read the
 time out of something...  and you  *don't*  have anything that would
 store the current time-of-day when your ST is turned off, maybe it's
 time to take it in for its 50,000 mile exorcism..."

 Rob tells Bob:

 "I don't know about the hard drive interface - the Megafile just plugs
 into the ST's hard drive port.

 My auto programs are Shadow, Warp 9, Desk Manager, Spooler, Codekeys,
 LGS, Hotwire and REGACC (for Lookit and Popit). Nothing I know of here
 that would set the clock. I used to have Codehead's CLOCKSET in the
 auto folder, but removed it when I took out DeskCart. Nowhere in the
 Megafile manual did I see mention of a clock. Totally strange!"

 Rob tells Bob about one interesting finding:

 "I just did a cold boot and after all the auto programs loaded, I
 checked the control panel, it was the wrong time (April, '89). I
 loaded a few other programs to see where this odd (but rather nice)
 time-keeping ability kicks in.  Using QuickCIS to call Compuserve is
 what does it!!!!

 I made a Normal call, captured an announcement, a few messages and lib
 descriptions , then it logged off. The Xcontrol panel now displays
 the correct date and time! 7:31 AM 11/16/93. Any files I save are
 saved with the correct time. This is one bug that I consider a
 feature, but who can explain it? I know Hotwire has a clock, but other
 than calling CIS, nothing in my system could be retaining the time,
 unless it's the ghost of DeskCart. It resented being replaced by the
 scanner! Seriously, could CIS be setting my clock???"

 Jon Sanford tells Rob:

 "I think it is a feature of QuickCIS to set the system clock if it is
 off by more than a certain ammount. Amazing what little bits of info
 stick after reading a doc. 4 or 6 times...."

 Rob re-reads the documentation and tells Jon:

 "Well, you're right! There it is, kinda hidden in the docs  :^}. How
 come I never knew about this? Maybe since I had the cartridge clock I
 ignored this nifty feature."

 Bob Retelle jumps in and adds:

 "Wow..  I knew QuickCIS was a good program, but this is pretty
 amazing..!

 Er.. that is..  Of course.. just another special little advantage of
 using CompuServe and QuickCIS.."

 Jim Ness, the creator of of QuickCis, tells us:

 "That was a feature requested by James Port.  He had a 520ST with no
 clock, but wanted his .MSG files to have a real timestamp.  So, I
 worked out a routine which compared the CIS time to the ST time, and
 if it was off by more than 24 hours the clock would be set to CIS
 time.

 The 24 hour deadband was to account for someone calling in at approx.
 midnight, or someone calling across a time zone or three."

 While on the subject of calling up an on-line service, Stefan Daystrom
 talks a bit about Alan Page's latest "baby", STORM:

 "This isn't exactly a bug, but I thought I'd point out one other
 problem with your 7-scanline med rez font besides readability (and it
 bothers me _more_ than the readability <grin!>):

 It makes Storm _slow_!!!!!

 Well, what it does is it makes graphics accelerators like TurboST
 which accelerate the stock fonts (in TurboST's case, 8x16, 8x8, and
 6x6) unable to kick in, thus reducing Storm to standard GEM speeds
 (which makes it seem real slow compared to Flash, which _does_ run at
 TurboST speeds).

 I recall reading a message where you said it you were planning to
 handle this by a special emulation; does that mean it could not be
 combined with other emulations?  (On the other hand, do I still need
 to use Vidtex on CIS just to be able to download using CIS B
 protocols, as I did in Flash, or can I just use the same TTY emulation
 for CIS as I do for most BBSs I call?  If the latter, then I'm less
 worried about it being a special TTY emulation that might use the 8X8
 font in med rez...)"

 Alan Page tells Stefan (and the rest of us):

 "Actually, ALL my GEM text is done using custom code, no matter what
 the font.  Much of the speed comes from trying to update large blocks,
 rather than one character at a time. I thought it was rather fast,
 actually.  CIS-B will work with any of the terminal emulations. I
 normally log on to CIS with VT100. VIDTEX, however, does have an
 option in the setup to switch to an 8 scanline font, with 21 lines in
 medium rez. Select "Emulations" in the Settings menu, click on VIDTEX,
 then click on Config. Warning: switching will erase the terminal
 screen!  When I finally publish some source, people will be able to
 customize the emulations extensively, including the ability to use
 stock GEM text."

 Stefan Daystrom tells Alan:

 "Hm, I may have crossed circuits to jump to conclusions <grin / red
 face>!

 I don't have a 9600/14400 modem yet, so my sense of speed was not
 based on _online_ speed (I've never seen it get behind relative to the
 RD light on my modem, though it somehow _feels_ as if the pacing is
 different than I'm used to!) as much as the speed with which the
 window redraws when I flip between the capture buffer and terminal
 windows.

 But now that I look at it closer, the delay I see is probably just
 the window drawing white behind the text, when it's topped, before the
 text is drawn.

 If I'm spoiled by even _greater_ speed, I realize now that's it's
 from using QCMsg_II, which doesn't _need_ to redraw the window when I
 flip between messages, _only_ the text.  So _obviously_ it's going to
 be faster since it has less to do!

 So you're right, the text is actually rather fast!  Sorry for making
 assumptions..."


 From the Atari ST Arts Forum
 ============================

 Shawn Laughnin asks:

 "Does the Atari require a special (i.e. Atari) joystick? I remember a
 time you could buy a host of generic joysticks in chain stores. Its
 been a while since I've noticed them ."

 Sysop Bob Retelle tells Shawn:

 "Yup, the "Atari Joystick" is a thing of the past, just like most
 things Atari..

 Used to be any joystick had to be "Atari compatible"... now they're
 all Nintendo..  I wonder why that is..."

 Master Sysop Ron Luks adds his own thoughts:

 "Yes, the Atari uses a special joystick.  There used to be scads of
 different brands of joysticks that worked on your atari (anything that
 used to be compatible with the former industry standard Atari 2600
 game machine and 8-bit computers) but these are becoming hard to
 find."

 Rob Rasmussen asks about "doing" graphics with some of the whiz-bang
 graphics packages out there:

 "...The positioning of 16 colors/shades of gray in the palette - that's
 what I don't get. I'm used to coming from the other direction, where I
 create a picture in Prism Paint, starting on a blank screen with
 default colors in the palette which I can change. But how does a
 scanned picture, or the software TouchUp, decide which position in the
 palette a gray, black or white will be?  Even if I can use the feature
 in Degas Elite and PP that maps the colors gradually between any two,
 I'm still stuck with maybe 2 objects on the screen that I want to be
 different colors, but they can't be because they're in the same
 palette position. If I scan a picture lighter, there may be more
 shades of gray and maybe certain pixels would be in different pal
 positions, but the picture looks undefined with not enough detail.

 I saved some scans as GIFs, others as PC1. I only have a color
 monitor. When I try to load a GIF, I get a dialog with a 'gray scale'
 button (using this makes everything too dark) and the dimensions of
 the GIF which I find will not fit on the screen. Other scans will all
 fit on the screen. It looks like the GIF really is just the top of the
 scan - there is no way to scroll or print it. Any comments anyone?
 This really is all a puzzle I hope to understand one day!"

 Lee Seiler of Lexicore Software tells Rob:

 "First install EP10 so you have access to 4096 colors, Next use Prism
 Paint for the whole job. Hold the Alt Key when booting to get the
 Grey scale Select dialog.  Then, when you load the color pic it will
 auto Grey scale, the machine pallet will also have the correct Grey
 scales auto set. Now when you save out as a PI file it will be in 8
 grey scales including the required desk top reserved pallet."

 Rob asks for clarification:

 "I have an ST, not an STE. I thought I was limited to 512 colors. What
 is EP10 and where can I get it? If I can get 4096 colors then this is
 incredible!"

 Lee explains to Rob:

 "Many, many ST owners have installed the video shifter from JRI but
 never realized that the 4096 colors were not always there, this is
 also the case with the STE, Mega STE, and TT.  Many programs which
 could use the 4096 don't, due to a little tic in the OS, EP10 deals
 with this problem and while no difference is apparent, things like GIF
 and Spectrum Images are much richer and look better because you see
 "Better or More correctly matched colors" and with software that does
 access the full 4096 you see a slight increase in speed, or so I am
 told.

 You get EP10 Free with all Lexicor purchases, we put it on all
 current Utilitiy and resource disk sold with Lexicor products."

 Rob tells Lee:

 "I looked for EP10 on my Lexicor disks, but those are older programs,
 so I guess it wasn't included. You mentioned the JRI video shifter -
 is this required for an older ST to get 4096 colors? I would LOVE to
 have more screen colors than 512 to choose from. Often I want colors
 that are between 2 available ones that are right next to each other.

 The picture I'm starting out with is a mono IMG and PI3. Is this what
 I could gray scale before converting to low rez PNT or PI1 ? If I can
 do this on an ST with EP10, then I'll need to get that or something
 similar."

 Lee explains exactly what is needed:

 "Yes and no.

 You do need the JRI hardware first, if you have the STE, the 4096 are
 there but unaccesable. EP10 fixes the bug for all 4096 systems no
 matter how it happens.  If you are using the PI3 you should be able to
 load it into a grey scale Prism paint mode of at least 16 shades of
 grey.

 This then is saved as a Gif which can then be reloaded into a color
 Gif which you can then reset from grey to color and save as color.

 EP10 is in all our libs as far as I know, knock on Ringo's door and
 ask him to point you at it or E-Mail it to you."

 Mike Myers asks Sysop Ron Luks about converting Atari files over to
 DOS (I know, I know, I've mentioned this a lot... but the question
 keeps getting asked, so I guess that not everyone reads this column
 all the time [and you know who you are]):

 "Is there a program available which will allow the conversion of ATARI
 ST .lzh files to IBM .gif files / .jpg files and back?  I have an IBM
 and a friend has a ST.  We have looked in the forums under viewers,
 utilities, and anything else we could think of."

 Before Ron can answer, Sysop Bob Retelle tells Mike:

 "There should be a conversion program that will run on an ST and
 convert DEGAS format pictures to GIF, which your friend could display
 on his IBM..

 It's been a looong time since I remember seeing it, but I think its
 filename was something like  CNV2GIF.   There should also be something
 similar that will convert Spectrum 512 pictures to GIF format too, but
 the name of that one eludes me at this moment.

 As for converting the other way, there shouldn't be a need to convert
 GIFs and JPGs, since we have some pretty good viewer programs for the
 ST for those graphics formats."

 Ron Luks tells Mike:

 "LZH is a compression method.  GIF is a picture file format.

 There is an LZH utility for the PC.  (LZH files are created/processed
 witha utility called LHARC).  Think of LZH as another type of ARC or
 ZIP files. GIF is a graphics picture format like TIFF, or PCX, etc.
 One has nothing to do with the other.

 I dont know of any JPEG utilities for the Atari ST."

 Boris Molodyi jumps in and adds:

 "As I recall, GEMVIEW loads JPEG files (and so you can save them in
 different format). Also, Studio Photo from Compo can load JPEG pics."

 A column containing both the words "Atari" and "Graphics" wouldn't be
 complete without mentioning the Jaguar, Atari's hot new video game
 machine.  Bob Retelle posts:

 "One thing I've been wondering though.. since Atari has said virtually
 nothing concrete about the Jaguar beyond the official Press Releases,
 and about the only other source of real information was the Press
 conference they held recently in New York, just what exactly is all
 the "Jaguar talk" you mentioned about..?

 There's a "lot of Jaguar talk" on the InterNet newsgroups too... but
 most of it is just rumors and unfounded speculation, along with the
 "3DO vs Jaguar" flaming that never gets anywhere...

 Jaguar developers are under NonDisclosure Agreements, so they can't
 say anything, and the only other source of Jaguar "news" has been
 leaks from some of the companies working on games.

 It just seems that "a lot of Jaguar talk" would be pretty useless
 until we actually get to see and use the machines themselves... once
 that happens, I'm sure the areas here will pick up.."

 John Brenner tells Bob:

 "All the Jaguar talk on GEnie is trivial. Everone asking eachother if
 they saw the commercial. How great it looks. How well it is being
 marketed. Which store chain has confirmed if they are going to carry
 it. There is also some people talking about having ordered one and
 that some stores have already pre-sold hundreds of units. It's like a
 bunch of sports fans rallying around a sports team. Talking about the
 new uniforms, or the new stadium. No better, no worse. I have no
 interest in such things, but I have not bothered Ignoring permanently
 that CAT. Perhaps because I enjoy looking at so many happy people."


 From the Atari Vendor's Forum
 =============================

 Rafael Hermoso asks:

 "Is Neodesk 4 out yet? If not, when? If so, where can I purchase it?"

 Rick Flashman of Gribnif Software tells Rafael:

 "No, NeoDesk 4 is not out yet.  We've been forced to delay its
 shipping until early '94.  Part of this delay was that we wanted to
 insure that Geneva was as bug-free as possible and that we had
 resolved any minor issued that might have arisen as of its initial
 release.  We now believe this strategy has paid off, as we've been
 able to correct some minor problems with Geneva (that only showed up
 after shipping) and therefore we now have a substancially more solid
 package."

 John Brenner tells us:

 "After many years I am still using INTERLINK to do any BBS'ing
 outside of GEnie. I have just D/L a file on this system and did
 not remember how slow XMODEM transfer was. Are there any Interlink
 TXF files in the libraries that support the other protocals available
 on Compuserve. And which one is most recommended?"

 Jim Ness nudges John about "getting with it":

 "Geez, John, with all the terrific ST terminal programs out there, you
 are still using good old Interlink?  There's Flash II, STalker, and
 now the shareware gem STorm...

 All three of those support CIS B and ymodem-g, the two fastest
 protocols."

 John tells Jim:

 "I used to have Flash before I got Interlink many years ago. I never
 looked at Flash II since I never liked Flash to begin with. I D/L
 STorm last week. I also dont' like very much the way it is set up.
 I have a friend who uses STalker. He has to buy another program to
 do on-line editing. So, I just don't see the need to change. I have
 a capture buffer, I can edit, save paste...everything I need.
 I use Alladin, you know where, and now it looks like I will use
 QuickCIS to log on here. So I really don't see why I should change.
 I only upgrade software that no longer suits my needs.

 I was starting to think I might need something for here since I
 couldn't get QuickCIS to dial, but all has now fallen into place
 and I think I'll be very happy with it. Thanks for writting it.
 I'll have to read the doc....there must be a fee for something
 that will save me so much money! <Grin>"


 From the Palmtop Forum
 ======================

 Kent Peterson pats the Compuserve Sysops' proficiency at getting new
 files (like Kent's new programming language) "up and ready":

 "You guys are a lot faster than the sysops of some other forums. BTW,
 the HP folks seem to be going into a download frenzy on this little
 bit of Port technology, I decided to cast their way. Did you ever post
 PBASIC over there?"

 We're still waiting for and answer from BJ... that kind of negates
 the compliment in the first place, doesn't it?...

 Don Thomas of Atari Corp posts:

 "Every once in a while I am beginning to see messages in langauages
 other than English... German, for instance. It sure would be cool if
 CIS had some sort of translation process built-in... either on demand
 or automatically."

 Sysop BJ Gleason tells Don:

 "As a person who has done a lot of work with Natural Language
 Processing and such, it is a very tough, if not impossible task.  One
 of the best jokes about it is:

        A program translates from russian to english and back.  The
        program puts in the phrase:

                "The spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak."

        It is translated to russian, and then the russian is fed back
        and the translation comes back as:

                "The wine is good but the meat is spoiled."

 Back on the subject of the Jaguar again, Don Thomas tells us:

 "I stopped by an Electronics Boutique this past weekend in Pleasanton,
 CA (40-50 miles East of San Francisco). I pretended to be Joe Blow
 consumer and observed two 3DO systems on a shelf. The salesman said
 they are not selling well, BUT he would love to take my pre-order for
 the Jaguar. He said he didn't know what game came with it or how many
 controllers, but that he couldn't find an end to the waiting list the
 store had established for the Jaguar. It felt good.

 My son even said this past Friday without me asking that all the kids
 at school were talking about the Jaguar (he's ten). He told me that he
 felt good telling his friends that his Dad worked at Atari."


      Well folks,  I intended to  use use information on  other palmtops in
 this column but, as usual, I've run out of room.

      So  c'mon back next week and see  what else I can shoe-horn into this
 column.  Just think of it  as some little sports bar somewhere  in Boston.
 A place  where... oh  heck, I've gone  this far.   I'd  might as well  say
 it... A place where  everybody knows your name.   It's easy to  just leave
 your troubles at  the door for a while and absorb some of the hints, tips,
 and information available  on CompuServe.  But  if you don't  subscribe to
 CompuServe, this column is the next-best thing.   Just make sure that  you
 remember to listen to what they are saying
 when...


                             PEOPLE ARE TALKING