889 lines
44 KiB
Plaintext
889 lines
44 KiB
Plaintext
==(((((((((( == Z*MAG/A\ZINE ATARI ONLINE MAGAZINE
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=========(( === September 16, 1991
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=======(( ===== Issue #197
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=====(( ======= ----------------------------------
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==(((((((((( == Copyright (c)1991, Rovac Ind Inc..
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Publisher/Editor : Ron Kovacs
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Assistant Editor : Stan Lowell
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-----------------------------------------------------------------------
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CompuServe: 75300,1642 GEnie: Z-NET
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Z*NET BBS: (908) 968-8148 BLANK PAGE BBS: (908) 805-3967
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-----------------------------------------------------------------------
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CONTENTS
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THE EDITORS DESK..........................Ron Kovacs
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DUSSELDORF GOES ATARI.....................Bob Brodie
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PACIFIC NORTHWEST ATARIFEST REPORT...Terry Schreiber
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LYNX ONWERS UPDATE.....................Clinton Smith
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MIST ATARIFEST SHOW REPORT................Bob Brodie
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THE 8 BIT STATE.......................Chuck Steinman
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CONNECTICUT ATARIFEST REPORT......Vincent Patricelli
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THE EDITORS DESK
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----------------
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by Ron Kovacs
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Here is yet another issue and it didn't take 3 months to complete. In
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an effort to update you on recent Atari happenings, we continue with a
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focus on the stories you might have missed during the summer.
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DUSSELDORF GOES ATARI
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---------------------
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Eyewitness Report Exclusive for Z*Net
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by Bob Brodie, Director of Communications, Atari Corp.
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For the fourth year, Atari has hosted the world's largest Atari Fair at
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the Dusseldorf Messe. This year's fair ran from August 23-25 in
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Dusseldorf, Germany. The gigantic Duesseldorf Messe (-fairgrounds-)
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halls held over 20,000 square meters of show space for the event
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utilizing two separate halls for the event. This roughly translates to
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over 180 exhibitors at the show, many with very large booths. Atari
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themselves had over 60 displays in their exhibition area.
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This year for the first time, Atari made provisions to have developers
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from North America in booths at the show. Bringing their products over
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for the show were CodeHead Software, D.A. Brumleve, Double-Click, JMG
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Software, and Wuz-Tek. Other North American developers were at the show
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as well, but were showing their wares in their distributors booths, or
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their own. This includes developers like Gribnif Software, FAST
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Technology, ISD, Gadgets by Small, and ICD.
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The Atari Messe is quite literally the biggest Atari show in the world.
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Last years attendance was set at 42,000. This year, the final count has
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not been announced, although many feel that the show was perhaps 20%
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slower than in years previous. However, in checking with exhibitors and
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Atari Germany, sales figures didn't bear that out. Atari Germany felt
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that the different layout of the hall this year that resulted in wider
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aisles made the show seem not nearly as busy, but much easier to
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navigate the show. Atari Germany seemed very pleased that their market
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is now beginning to move to a different type of user--this year's show
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had a lot less of the phreaks, hackers, and pirates that have been at
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other Atari Messe's. This year, the type of client at the show seemed
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to be a more professional user.
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As in years past, the show also featured a number of different seminars
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for the attendees to enjoy. Among the many seminars given were
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Portfolio Telecommunications, DTP-the 2nd Generation, Programming with
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Omnikron products, Using 1st Base, SCSI usage, Multi-tasking and virtual
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memory, programming the XL/XE, Database applications, addressing the
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math coprocessor, Overscan, MIDI with the Portfolio, Using Notator 3.0
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in Opera, Multimedia Publishing, Music Software demonstrations, and
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Using the 68040.
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In going to this show, Atari US had some specific goals in mind: first
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and foremost, they wanted to continue to -build the bridge- between the
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US and Europe. Convinced that many people were overlooking North
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American developers, Atari provided exposure to the world for the North
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Americans in the hope that they would acquire international
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distribution. Further, Atari has long recognized that there are some
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outstanding applications across Europe, that need to brought over to
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North America. In the past, this was apparently very difficult to do.
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However, this time around, Atari found the going much easier. In almost
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every case when Atari US representatives spoke to a software company,
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their was great interest on their part to getting their products
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represented in North American.
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I took special time to introduce myself to the European Atari media that
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was present at the show. I enjoyed speaking to them thoroughly, and
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they were quite willing to go over and visit with our North American
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developers. This will hopefully lead into some German reviews being
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written about products like MaxiFile, Kid Publisher Pro, HyperLINK, DC
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Novetalk, STalker/STeno, and DEKA. I spent time with XEST, ST Magazin's
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editor Hartmut Ulrich, and TOS magazine publisher Horst Brandl. In many
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cases, arrangements were made for review copies to be provided, and more
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than once I heard the phrase -Who is your representative here in
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Europe?-
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DMC, the producers of CALAMUS, were showing their latest module for
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CALAMUS S/L, a multimedia package that works with a CODE-A-CHROME
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interface box for a digital frame grabber. The frame grabber inputs
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into Calamus S/L at 16 bit color/greyscales. 24 bit color digitizing is
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next on the horizon for Calamus S/L! The results were amazing! The
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staff of DMC would be demonstrating their product, with a digital camera
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mounted at the top of the large screen monitor. When they got to a
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point that they needed to import an image, they simply digitized the
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crowd standing behind the monitor, and immediately imported the image
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into Calamus. The results are true magazine quality instant photos.
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Double Click Software was showing their DC NoveTalk. This is an ST the
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capability to run a real Novell network while they are running a PC
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emulator on their ST. These guys from Houston were showing the product
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with a STacy with an AT-Speed board installed in it. The product
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occupies that cartridge port on the ST computers, and is said to provide
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a Local Talk capability under TOS for ST users to network with Mega STEs
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and TT's.
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At least three German companies were showing their own networking
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solutions: PAMS Net, Riebel (being shown in Atari Germany's booth) and
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BioNet. Each are true ethernet compatible networks.
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Dave and Sandy Small aren't just showing Spectre GCR now. Now they are
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getting into the accelerator business with their Gadgets by Small SST.
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This 68030 device not only completely replaces the ST's 68000, but also
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adds additional ram capabilities to the system as well. Up to 12 megs
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of ram can be added.
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One of the great cries that Atari US has heard is -Now that there are
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VME busses in your computers, when will you have graphics cards?- I'm
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pleased to state that we saw several more at the show. In addition to
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the MATRIX card and the AlberTT card, which Atari is quite familiar
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with, we found at least three other graphics cards. All of these cards
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had a variety of capabilities, and costs. For example, the IMAGINE
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Farbgrafikkarte had the following capabilities:
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320x200 256 colors
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640x480 256 colors
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800x600 256 colors
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1024x768 256 colors
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1280x1024 16 colors
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In addition to the resolutions, the product also came with a long list
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of compatible software. Here's just a portion of the list: Calamus,
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Arabesque, Cubase, Gemini, GFA Basic, LDW Power, Retouche Professional,
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Script II, Signum!2, That's Write, TMS Cranach, First Word Plus.
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In the same booth, we also found they had done some TT conversions to a
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tower case. Most of these units had at least 8 megs of ram, and very
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large hard disks (200 megs plus!), Syquests, and of course a high speed
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modem mounted internally. We found a company with a PCB (printed
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circuit board) layout program called PCB-layout plus. This program
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featured a full board design, and interface to a router to actually have
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the board etched/built by the computer! There was at least one other
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company doing the same type of demonstration there, showing the ST
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controlling the router, and the board design in progress. Very
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interesting, indeed.
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The gang from Atari Journal was busy showing an amazing product-software
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that gets beamed into your home via a satellite dish! From Channel
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Videodat this interface box allows you to get literally megabytes of
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data transferred for your computer, as a subscription offer. Truly
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amazing!
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GE Soft Computersysteme was the first company to come out with a third
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party ram upgrade board for the TT. And of course, typical of third
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party upgrades, it has to be different from anything that the computer
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company manufactures. In this case, the ram board (called the Mighty
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Mic Profiline) breaks the 16 megabyte limit that Atari has imposed on
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the TT. Instead, their product will come with 4 megs, 8 megs, 16 megs,
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20 megs, and a whopping 32 (that's right THIRTY TWO!) megabytes of TT
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ram!
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From Holland came a very interesting type of disk magazine: one that is
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offered a shareware disk. It's called STabloid and is done by a bunch
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of hard core Atari fanatics. The disk is loaded with amazing demos,
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lots of information on how to do them. STabloid also has articles of
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interest to most Atari owners about current events. Chief Editor Jam
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Willekens is very excited about new arrangements in the US to distribute
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his shareware disk magazine.
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The fischertechnik company also showed a Lego-like contstruction set,
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all controlled by the ST. This was quite reminiscent of the Atari ROBO
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Kit, put out by Atari UK and now being carried by Atari US.
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Fischertechnik had a miniature car wash erected, and an ST was
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controlling all the actions of the car wash, including moving a model
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car up and down the line, and rotating the brushes on the car wash.
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Very impressive models!
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One of the great needs in presentation hardware has always been the need
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to interface with an overhead projector. Here in the US, N-View has a
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lock on the Atari market. Not so in Germany--SHARP makes and sells the
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QA-75, which does a beautiful job of displaying a computer image on an
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overhead projector. No more trying to gather the gang around the
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monitor. The QA-75 makes it easy to us a computer to give classes, or
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just demonstrate the capabilities of your software with an ST/STE/Mega
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STE/TT!
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The Portfolio was not to be overlooked in any of this. There was an
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abundance of software available for the Portfolio on a number of tables
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across the halls. SWIFT! is a company that is making software for the
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Portfolio to do banking, insurance quotes, financial operations, and
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stock brokerage operations! In addition, the company also has their own
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version of BASIC (called SWIFT! BASIC) complete with a compiler. They
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also have a file transfer program called SWIFT! Link ST, making file
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transfers painless between the ST/STE/Mega STE/TT and the Portfolio.
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This show is so overwhelming, it's easy to feel that you would never be
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able to cover the show properly. I am sure that there are things that I
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have omitted in this report that others will report as very interesting
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events/products. I trust that this will serve as just something to give
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you a hint of everything that went on in Atari Messe.
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PACIFIC NORTHWEST ATARI FESTIVAL REPORT
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by Terry Schreiber, Show Coordinator
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The Pacific Northwest Atari Festival took place in Canadian Richmond
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B.C., a suburb of Vancouver, on June 15th & 16th. Total attendance for
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the two days was under nine hundred people - total expected were two
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thousand plus.
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Although attendance was light most dealers and developers reported brisk
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sales for the event. Compo, Rimik, Infinite Grafix, ICD, Wizard
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Computers, ISD, Minitronics, Branch Always and all of the Music dealers
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all had excellent sales reports. While Zubair Interfaces and Omnimon
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Peripherals reported sales were bad. All others fell somewhere in
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between. Hardware, both Atari and third party, sold BIG and FAST.
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Software, especially established titles, sold SLOW.
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Where have all the users gone? As show coordinator, that was the
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question I asked myself the weekend of the show. With over five
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thousand machines sold here in British Columbia - where were the users?
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Total spent on show advertising and promotion exceeded ten thousand
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dollars. While Father's Day on Sunday may well have severly cut the
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second day attendance, Saturday should have been fine... and was not.
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Some have speculated that, since we have a lot of well-stocked dealers
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in the general area, it's no big deal to a lot of users to see such a
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show.
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Compo Software flew in from England just to attend the show. He had two
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new products for the West - That's Write and Write On. GEnie's Darlah
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and Atari's Bob Brodie were both very taken by them, look for reviews on
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both in a later issue. Also shown was a new mouse called -That's a
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Mouse- which is similar to most of the higher resolution mice but this
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one felt better than most.
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Rimik new on the developers scene is run by Richard Betson formerly with
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Talon Technologies. Rich was demonstrating a new multi-tasking system
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from Germany called Multi-Gem and although it was a pre-release version
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showed excellent signs of being a success.
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JMG Software was showing Hyperlink a modular style database. Add on
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modules for just about any application are sure to make this one a hit.
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Soft-Aware was showing their entry into the database market called
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Informer II. First impressions left me with my mouse in hand. This was
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the official database used for the show, it is slick and allows you to
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build some powerful macros.
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Musicode was showing their MIDI and games software. I am not sure how
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they did on the MIDI end but Blackjack Plus was surely a hit at this
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show.
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SoftLogik, the Pagestream guys, were blowing people away with the color
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output on a postscript QMS Color Laser. Even users of other brands of
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computers were definitely impressed. Ron Tucker of Tucker Media here in
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Vancouver who, till a year ago, was an Atari user and sold it for a Mac,
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was seriously contemplating the change back to Atari. Excellent job
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guys. Version 2 of Pagestream was to be available for sale at the show,
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but is now scheduled for release July 1.
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Phil Commeau had his grammar checker, which by the way I vow to start
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using soon, Phil. He also demonstrated a Geography Tutor which is
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currently available in English or French but I understand he is working
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to translate it into more languages.
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ICD had extremely brisk sales. Host adapters, hard drives, Adspeed
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boards it didn't seem to matter they all sold except for the tape back-
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up system. Hint - could this puppy be a little too high priced? It
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doesn't matter because I fully intend on buying one anyway. No serious
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computer user should be without a back-up system and at the size of the
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drives currently being sold it no longer makes it feasible to use
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floppies. Can you afford to lose your data?
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Application and Design were selling their new upgraded Universal Item
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Selector. This is a program that no one should be without. It is
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simple to use and practically fool-proof. Formatting, copying, setting
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attributes--this program contains what we had hoped Atari had built in
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to their new TOS.
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John and Charles - The CodeHeads - were doing upgrades to most of their
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product line as well as sales. MaxiFile and MultiDesk owners were
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pleasantly surprised at the amount of work gone into the latest
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versions. If you liked UIS you will love MaxiFile. Although the
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features are too numerous to mention this is a MUST HAVE for anyone who
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is a power user with a large hard drive system.
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Zubair Interfaces attended and was selling his memory upgrades, but did
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not fair well. We have a thing called dealers up here in B.C. and they
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all stock and sell his products, making his market fairly saturated.
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Omnimon Peripherals demonstrated their new DEKA interface. This allows
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the use of an IBM style keyboard with the ST as well as relocating the
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joystick and mouse ports.
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Gribnif was showing their latest in software, including Cardfile and
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STENO, which premiered at this Vancouver show. I didn't find out what
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sales they did during the two days but from the amount of people around
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the booth I would say sales were slow. Gribnif puts out the popular
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Neodesk the desktop replacement for the Atari.
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Another entry into alternative desktops was Double Click. They were
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demonstrating DC Desktop, DC Utilities, and the new DC Shower program.
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For those of you into graphics, their new DC Shower is a must. This
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program shows almost all picture files from the desktop, a fast and
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handy way of searching through picture files.
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Darek Mihocka of Branch Always Software was demonstrating the latest
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Quick ST on the TT030, another first released at the show. Darek also
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took the time to spend on the slower Sunday to do some code re-writing
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at the show.
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Cherry Fonts and Todd Johnson were also selling a competitor's fonts at
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the show. Todd is now looking at expanding his fonts into other
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programs other than Calamus.
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Canoe Computers is based out of Edmonton and had memory upgrades and
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accelerator boards for sale.
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Goldleaf was demonstrating Wordflair II. We were hoping that some of
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the new products from Germany would be available but not as of the show
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date. Keep your eyes peeled for these products, becoming available
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shortly.
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David Small - always a hit at any show - was showing the SST an 030
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board for your 68000. Also, the Spectre GCR which was running on a
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TT030. This unit turns your computer into a Mac. How fast David? When
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did you say that Cray emulator was going to be ready?
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Micro Creations had their latest release for sale G.I.M.E., a terminal
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program offering online graphics.
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PDC Software was offering the Calamus Font Resource, Tracker ST STealth,
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and a few other items for sale. This is another booth that I didn't get
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to spend any time at.
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Darlah Pine the System Operator of the Atari section on GEnie was there
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for the two days of the show. Sunday we finally had the phone lines to
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the information booth and the hook-up to GEnie. Darlah and others spent
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most of the early afternoon catching up on messages they had missed
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during the trip but the booth did not go un-noticed. Many people
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expressed interest in signing up to GEnie at the show.
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Bob Brodie - have you seen Bob? This was the guy who said I was hard to
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catch up with that weekend. If I had a free moment I was looking for
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Bob. -Oh Bob, ya I think I saw him in the Gadgets Seminar-, damn,
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missed him again. Yes Atari U.S.'s man on the go was living up to his
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reputation - he was everywhere but where you could find him at a moments
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notice. We'll try this again next time Bob--in the meanwhile we will
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continue to play telephone tag.
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Nathan from ISD gave two seminars as well as multiple demonstrations of
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the Calamus product in Atari's area. Nathan had the new version of
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Calamus, but unfortunately release to the public will be delayed while
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manuals are being translated and printed from the German version.
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Atari Canada's Geoff Earle, Murray Brown and Mark Campbell were joined
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on stage by Geoff LaCasse and Ron Grant of GXR Systems in the Atari
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display. Atari had their full product line on display including the
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ATW/ABAQ workstation. Atari Canada supplied most of the equipment for
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developers use at the show, many mouse clicks of thanks to Geoff Earle
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and Murray Brown.
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Although the show turnout was somewhat less than expected, most people
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attending as well as the developers had a good time. Will there be a
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show next year? That depends on how many developers will come back and
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how Atari sales fare over the next eight months.
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I would like to take this opportunity to thank those developers that did
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attend and support the event. It was a pleasure putting faces to all
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those names, although now a week later I doubt if I could tell the
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difference between John and Charles. Well, I'll take two Aspirin and
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the leftover keg of beer, and start looking for next year's location!
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LYNX OWNERS UPDATE
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------------------
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by Clinton Smith
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Copyright, 1991, by Quill Publishing. This article may NOT be reprinted
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without permission of AtariUser Magazine. Information and subscriptions
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are available at 800-333-3567.
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ALERT BOX ITEMS
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NEC's TurboExpress portable game unit will not be released in Europe due
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to the established popularity of the Lynx there, according to reports in
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an online magazine from the Netherlands. Portable Addiction, edited by
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Tjerk Heymens Visser and Yiri Kohl, is a new monthly Lynx and Portfolio
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support magazine, distributed electronically from Europe via USENET, and
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also available on U.S. BBS systems and pay services.
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Consolidating its resources, Atari relocated its entire entertainment
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division to Lombard, Illinois, formerly only the Lynx software
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development center. Lawrence Siegel, a 20 year veteran of the amusement
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and video game industry with Sega, Seeburg, and Williams and former head
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of Lynx software development, has been appointed President of the Atari
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Entertainment Division.
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NEW LYNX GAMES - PREVIEW!
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Insider's first look at games in development
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By the time you read this, Warbirds and Blockout should both be out, but
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I took advantage of my proximity to the new Atari Entertainment Division
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in Chicago to get an early peek. I gave them a call and they invited me
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down to their offices to check out some upcoming games and get the
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lowdown on what is to come. These aren't quite reviews--I like to spend
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some serious time with a game before I make a definitive opinion. I'll
|
|
give you the final word on these as soon as I get my hands on them.
|
|
|
|
WARBIRDS
|
|
|
|
Warbirds is a World War I dogfighting game where you fly in 3-D through
|
|
the skies, engaging enemy aircraft. The surprising thing is that this
|
|
isn't the shootemup that you would expect on a video game system.
|
|
Instead, it's more like the flight simulators that you're used to seeing
|
|
on 16-bit computers like the ST.
|
|
|
|
You view the game from your biplane's cockpit. Since they didn't have
|
|
radar in WWI, you have to scan the skies with your eyes to find your
|
|
opponent. Holding down your B button and moving your joypad will let
|
|
you look around and behind you.
|
|
|
|
Warbirds features exceptional graphics. The 3-D environment is very
|
|
smooth and even has clouds to hide in. When an enemy plane is damaged,
|
|
smoke starts pouring out of its tail. The game also has some nicely
|
|
detailed, digitized pictures at the end of the mission. If you feel
|
|
like making your friends crash and burn, you can ComLynx up to 6
|
|
players.
|
|
|
|
BLOCKOUT
|
|
|
|
Blockout is a 3-D puzzle game which is already available for most
|
|
computers. It's very similar to Tetris, but the action is viewed from
|
|
above. Three dimensional blocks fall into a pit, and you must rotate
|
|
them as they fall so they will fit together. Fill up an entire level
|
|
and those blocks disappear. If your block placement isn't very good,
|
|
the blocks will start to stack up and once they reach the top of the
|
|
pit, GAME OVER.
|
|
|
|
The 3-D graphics of Blockout fit in perfectly with the Lynx's 3-D
|
|
scaling abilities. Like other puzzle games of this sort, it's extremely
|
|
addictive and will be eating up a lot of man hours.
|
|
|
|
THIRD PARTY DEVELOPMENTS
|
|
|
|
A number of third party companies are working on games for the Lynx:
|
|
|
|
COLOR DREAMS is best known as one of the companies who has produced
|
|
third party NES titles without Nintendo's permission. Their first Lynx
|
|
title is Crystal Mines 2. CM2 is a puzzle/strategy game which looks
|
|
similar to the classic Boulderdash. They're also working on a game
|
|
based on the gruesome horror film, Hellraiser.
|
|
|
|
LORICIEL (one of the biggest French developers) is doing Superskweek, an
|
|
action game where you must repaint tiles, rescue imprisoned Skweekettes,
|
|
and kill the monsters that are infecting your planet. The game has 225
|
|
levels for you to get through.
|
|
|
|
SHADOWSOFT is a Canadian firm which is converting the arcade classic,
|
|
Robotron. They are also rumored to be working on a Lynx version of
|
|
Joust.
|
|
|
|
TELEGAMES USA is readying a comprehensive chess game titled Fidelity
|
|
Ultimate Chess. The game features 2-D and 3-D views. Next up is a 3-D
|
|
miniature golf simulation.
|
|
|
|
Most of these games are due very soon.
|
|
|
|
PLAY TIPS
|
|
|
|
In XENOPHOBE, the Poofer Gun is the most powerful. It has a short range
|
|
but is very effective right through the last levels.
|
|
|
|
Jump to level 144 in CHIP'S CHALLENGE with code GVXQ. And try code MAND
|
|
for the hidden Mandelbrot explorer, where every button has a new
|
|
function.
|
|
|
|
NEXT MONTH we'll have more on -games within games-, hidden levels, and
|
|
more playing hints. If you have Lynx questions or suggestions for this
|
|
column, contact me in care of my quarterly newsletter. APE Newsletter,
|
|
2104 North Kostner, Chicago, IL 60639. I also can be reached on GEnie -
|
|
leave a message to me at C.SMITH89 - Clinton Smith
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
MID INDIANA ST ATARIFEST SHOW REPORT
|
|
------------------------------------
|
|
by Bob Brodie,
|
|
Director of Communications, Atari Computer Corp.
|
|
|
|
|
|
For the last two years, a small gathering of Atarians has met in
|
|
Bloomington, Indiana. The groups have used the gathering as a chance to
|
|
have a swap meet, and attract a few small developers. MIST is an
|
|
association of three users groups that has shared members, and needs
|
|
over the past few years. The groups that form MIST are ASCII- located
|
|
in Indianapolis, BLAST- located in Bloomington, and PAUG- located in
|
|
West Lafayette on the campus of Purdue University. Their goal has been
|
|
to share information, ideas, make new friends.
|
|
|
|
In making the move to Indianapolis, the members hoped that they would
|
|
share the burden of putting on the event a little bit better. This
|
|
years show was put on at CADRE, Inc, a local CAD firm. The show area
|
|
was a comfortable seminar area at CADRE, with carpeting, air
|
|
conditioned, and easy access to hotels and local eateries. The wide
|
|
open seminar room was laid out logically, so visitors would have an easy
|
|
path in making their way around the show.
|
|
|
|
Exhibitors at this event included:
|
|
|
|
Atari Corporation MP Graphic Design
|
|
Gribnif Software CompuServe
|
|
AT/Com Electronics Clear Thinking Software
|
|
Unicorn Publications Randall's Home Computers
|
|
MegaType Electronic Spinster Graphics
|
|
Mar's Merchandising Touch Technologies
|
|
SKWare One Softlogik
|
|
Computer Works ICD
|
|
Cal Com DA Brumleve
|
|
Apprentice Software One STop
|
|
MS Designs Wiz Works
|
|
|
|
also attending were a number of user groups:
|
|
|
|
Milwaukee Atari ST of Milwaukee, WI
|
|
Cin'tari of Cincinnati, OH
|
|
STar of Belleville, IL
|
|
Lake County Area Computer Enthusiasts, Waukegan, IL
|
|
Eastside Atari Users Group, Alton, IL
|
|
|
|
From the moments the door opened, the show was very, very busy. Show
|
|
organizers were pleased with the turnout for Atarifest III! Once again,
|
|
the combination of inexpensive tables for developers ($50 a table!) and
|
|
low admission made this event a can't miss affair! While the turnout
|
|
was great, and the crowd was active, I never felt like I was in a rush
|
|
to get to the next person. Instead, I found people to be quite patient
|
|
waiting for their turn to talk with me about what was going on in the
|
|
Atari Community. I was quite surprised at the distance that some people
|
|
drove to attend this event. Spotted in the crowd was Paul Plants of the
|
|
WACO User Group from the Pittsburgh, PA area! Attending from
|
|
Huntsville, Alabama was John Cole, ST Vice President of the Huntsville
|
|
Atari Users Group. Other people told me that they had driven up from
|
|
Kentucky, Ohio, Missouri, and Michigan. I met so many new faces, I'm
|
|
sure that I've overlooked a number of people in this report.
|
|
|
|
The MIST organizers set up the exhibition area in a large open area of
|
|
CADRE's conference center. In addition, they had seminars set up in a
|
|
room down the hall from the main area, which sat around 150 people. The
|
|
entrance to the show was in yet another area, which also had a MIDI-Maze
|
|
ring set up in it. Dan Ward from ASCII set up a large -white board-
|
|
that he posted all door prize winners on. Nice touch, Dan! There was
|
|
even a convenient Coke machine!
|
|
|
|
A number of developers that couldn't attend this show demonstrated their
|
|
support for MidWestern Atarians by sending along door prizes or
|
|
advertising in the show program. Among them was ISD Marketing, which
|
|
donated Calamus, Outline Art, The Calamus Font Editor, a copy of the
|
|
Guide to Calamus Desktop Publishing. Current Notes, the Washington D.C.
|
|
area based magazine offered a subscription to Current Notes, as well an
|
|
ad in the show program. Fonts by Guber sent 3 PageStream font disk
|
|
certificates.
|
|
|
|
The show organizers kept trying to tell me that they only had 250 people
|
|
or so that had shown up. I couldn't believe it, I've been to enough of
|
|
these events that I just *knew* that the crowd was much better than
|
|
that! Sure enough! During teardown the show officials acknowledged
|
|
that they had miscounted. The attendance was 450+! Now there's a
|
|
number I can believe in!
|
|
|
|
The developers expressed great satisfaction with this event. Tricia
|
|
Metcalf from Gribnif Software told me that sales were better than they
|
|
had been at the Windsor Show, which was a two day event with much higher
|
|
booth prices! ICD sold out of a number of items. Wiz Works was
|
|
badgered by people all day that wanted to buy Migraph scanner modules to
|
|
use with MVG, and I was one of them! Some of the user groups expressed
|
|
disappointment with the sales of their PD libraries, while others did
|
|
just great. The LCACE gang did a bang up business, and EAUG had a
|
|
terrific looking booth.
|
|
|
|
For me, one of the highlights of the day was the MARC Meeting. Under
|
|
the leadership of Hank Vize, MARC (Midwest Atari Regional Council) is
|
|
trying to make sure that all of the groups in the midwest stay in good
|
|
contact with each other. This meeting was open to user group officers
|
|
only, and had a fine turnout. MARC started in the St. Louis area. I
|
|
visited them in late '89, and just kind of casually remarked to Hank
|
|
that it was a shame that the local groups didn't talk more. He took the
|
|
idea and ran with it, and now MARC has an e-mail list that goes from St.
|
|
Louis to South Bend, Indiana! Keep up the good work, guys! Look for
|
|
the gang from St. Louis to have a bigger role in next years MIST Show.
|
|
Maybe they'll have to give the show a new name!
|
|
|
|
Another bright spot was a tour of Purdue University. Professor Dennis
|
|
Short of Purdue's Technical Graphics Department is an Atari fan! He's
|
|
got a number of labs at Purdue that are crammed full of IBM/PS2's and
|
|
Macs. But in his office, he's got an Atari TT, running DynaCadd and
|
|
NeoDesk3! Professor Short is excited about the high speed performance
|
|
of DynaCadd. He's proposed a lab of TT's to Purdue University, all to
|
|
be running DynaCadd! Professor Short is faculty advisor to the Purdue
|
|
Atari Computer Enthusiasts, and spent several hours at the show. During
|
|
dinner on Friday night, he expressed sincere appreciation for all of the
|
|
support Atari developers have provided him as he's learned the ins and
|
|
outs of the TT030! Not without a fun streak in him though, I caught the
|
|
professor taking a hard look at a Lynx! Hmmm, what that line about all
|
|
work and no play? MP Designs is the Indianapolis based VAR that is
|
|
servicing Purdue's Atari needs.
|
|
|
|
I'm grateful to the organizers of the MIST Atarifest III for allowing me
|
|
to participate in this event. Congratulations on a job well done!
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
8-Bit ALERT
|
|
-----------
|
|
|
|
|
|
As previously reported in AtariUser, catalog close-out specialist DAMARK
|
|
has purchased thousands of Atari SX212 300/1200-baud Hayes-compatible
|
|
modems. The latest Damark catalog (September 1991) now shows a reduced
|
|
price of only $19.99! Shipping and handling is an additional $5.50.
|
|
These Atari modems are 8-bit ready, featuring an Atari 8-bit SIO port
|
|
(no interface required) as well as the industry standard RS232
|
|
connector. At this price, no 8-bit owner should miss this modem! Get
|
|
terminal software for it through your club or any PD software source.
|
|
Damark, 800-729- 9000, item number B-375-181504, catalog B-375-2006.
|
|
|
|
|
|
THE 8-BIT STATE: Adding BIG Power to your little system.
|
|
----------------
|
|
by Chuck Steinman
|
|
|
|
|
|
One of the most significant time saving and productivity raising
|
|
peripherals you can add any computer system is a HARD DRIVE. That goes
|
|
for the 8-bit Atari too, and once you have one you will wonder why you
|
|
hadn't upgraded before. There is something about having many megabytes
|
|
of files instantly available on the 8-bit that is nothing short of
|
|
amazing. And the speed of access and loading is blinding--quite
|
|
literally indistinguishable from the speed of a RAMdisk.
|
|
|
|
While there were hard drives made for the original 800, they appear to
|
|
have gone underground over the years. We'll concentrate on the newer
|
|
systems.
|
|
|
|
THE HOST ADAPTOR
|
|
|
|
The gateway to hard drive use is the device called a HOST ADAPTOR.
|
|
There are two main units used in the classic Atari world, the Multi-I/O
|
|
(MIO) from ICD, Inc., and the Black Box (BB) by Computer Software
|
|
Services (CSS). Both provide similar performance, with each offering
|
|
their own special features. They both connect to the Atari 600XL and
|
|
800XL PBI (Parallel Bus Interface) and to the 130XE through the ECI
|
|
(Enhanced Cartridge Interface). Several other companies used to market
|
|
hosts for the classic Atari, and their products might still be available
|
|
either second hand or from dusty dealer archives. Beware, it might be
|
|
impossible to find technical support.
|
|
|
|
The MIO has been out for many years, but ICD is presently trying to
|
|
close out their 8-bit lineup. One of the unique features that the MIO
|
|
offers is its built in RAM. You can order the MIO with either 256K or
|
|
1M bytes of RAM, which can be used as a RAMDisk or a print spooler. The
|
|
amount of RAM dedicated to each function can be user programmed using
|
|
the built-in configuration menu.
|
|
|
|
The Black Box does not have a built-in RAMDisk, but does have an
|
|
optional printer buffer. There is a print screen button, which will
|
|
send a text/graphics dump of the current screen contents to your
|
|
printer. Another pushbutton will activate the BB debugger, extremely
|
|
handy for programmers. The BB also has a port on it for a parallel
|
|
floppy drive, but they are not available.
|
|
|
|
Both the MIO and BB will control up to eight disk drives, of which any
|
|
number can be RAMDisks, standard Atari floppies, or hard drives. You
|
|
can change the logical drive number of any drive, or swap drive numbers
|
|
of two drives. Hard drives can be divided (-partitioned-) into several
|
|
separate sections, each seen as an independent disk drive.
|
|
|
|
The BB and MIO both offer a serial (modem) port, a parallel (printer)
|
|
port, and an SASI/SCSI (hard drive) expansion port. This last port will
|
|
allow industry standard SASI or SCSI hard disk controllers to be
|
|
attached using a 50 position ribbon cable.
|
|
|
|
BUILDING A HARD DRIVE SYSTEM
|
|
|
|
An 8-bit Atari hard drive setup will include several parts: the HOST
|
|
(probably an MIO or BB), a CONTROLLER, a HARD DRIVE, and some kind of
|
|
case and power supply for it all. Other than the host, all the other
|
|
parts will be usable on other computers (including the ST) if you later
|
|
change systems (shame on you). Total costs can be as low as under $400
|
|
with careful shopping. And you won't really need more than a single
|
|
floppy anymore, perhaps freeing up some hardware you can sell. Hard
|
|
drives are available in a wide range of sizes, from 5 megabytes to
|
|
hundreds of megs. The capacity of your drive is up to you and your
|
|
budget, but for the relatively small 8-bit applications, even a (very
|
|
cheap!) 10 meg drive will hold an incredible array of software. You can
|
|
also easily add a second drive later.
|
|
|
|
When buying your hard disk controller, make sure it matches your hard
|
|
drive. Controllers are available for Modified FM (MFM) and Run Length
|
|
Limited (RLL) type drives. RLL will provide 50% more disk space at
|
|
approximately the same cost, and are usually a bit faster. Don't use
|
|
MFM drives with an RLL controller, as the increased data density of the
|
|
RLL system will likely exceed the capability of the MFM drive, leading
|
|
to data loss sooner or later. You can usually use an RLL drive on an
|
|
MFM controller with no harm, but with only two-thirds of the rated drive
|
|
capacity.
|
|
|
|
Another option would be to get a drive which has the controller built
|
|
right on it. These drives tend to be a bit faster and more expensive.
|
|
These are designated as -SCSI drives- and have the 50 position ribbon
|
|
connector right on the drive.
|
|
|
|
A wide variety of cases (most with power supplies) are on the market,
|
|
with the most popular being the external -shoebox- type formerly used
|
|
on the original PCs.
|
|
|
|
To be able to access all of this disk space, you will need a DOS which
|
|
will support hard drives--Atari's own DOS systems haven't got the
|
|
capacity. Both SpartaDOS (including the cart-based SDX, both sold by
|
|
ICD, Inc.) and MyDOS 4.50 (included with the BB) fill this need very
|
|
nicely. Both support drives with partitions as large as 16 megabytes.
|
|
|
|
Both ICD and CSS offer prepackaged hard drive systems to simplify the
|
|
task of adding a hard drive to your 8-bit. Call CSS or ICD to check
|
|
their current stock, pricing, or for additional information.
|
|
|
|
Resources:
|
|
|
|
Computer Software Services P.O. Box 17660 Rochester, NY 14617 (716)
|
|
429-5639
|
|
|
|
ICD Inc. 1220 Rock Street Rockford, IL 61101-1437 (815) 968-2228
|
|
|
|
|
|
BIO: Chuck Steinman not only reads and writes about the Atari 8-bit
|
|
computers, he designs software and hardware for them, which is sold by
|
|
DataQue. He can be contacted on GEnie and Delphi as DataQue, or CIS at
|
|
user i.d. 71777,3223.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
CONNECTICUT ATARIFEST REPORT
|
|
----------------------------
|
|
by Vincent Patricelli
|
|
|
|
|
|
I attended the Connecticut AtariFest Saturday and spent the entire day
|
|
there. I would guess there was about 200-300 total people who attended
|
|
the show, so it wasn't very big, but nonetheless very exciting. The
|
|
following are the vendors that attended:
|
|
|
|
Gribniff Software - Rick Flashman and company was displaying several new
|
|
exciting programs. They were taking advance orders on Stalker 3.0 which
|
|
should be available in about a week....it is impressive. He says it has
|
|
the most extensive manual for a terminal program available for the ST,
|
|
and the program operates as an accessory completely in the background,
|
|
including Z-modem. The companion program Steno, a text editor as an
|
|
accessory, has been released and works with Stalker....looks like a nice
|
|
combo. Also, I saw a demo of a German import drawing program called
|
|
Arabesque. It combines all the features of Touch Up and Easy Draw and
|
|
more in one program....and boy is it fast and impressive. It should be
|
|
available in about a month and will retail for $199. Rick said this is
|
|
the best selling program in Germany and the only thing holding back the
|
|
US release is the manual. Can't wait!
|
|
|
|
Atari Explorer - John Jainschigg was there giving out free copies of the
|
|
latest Atari Explorer mag. He gave a seminar on publishing which I only
|
|
caught the tail end of. They have a special on subscriptions for all
|
|
Genie and/or Atari user group members...$9.95 for one year (6 issues)
|
|
Good deal!
|
|
|
|
GFA Basic - John Barger was there displaying the latest version of this
|
|
popular basic program and showing off the new IBM version on a couple of
|
|
MS DOS portable computers. Owners of the ST version can purchase the
|
|
IBM version for 50% off list.
|
|
|
|
Step Ahead Software - Nevin Shalit was showing off his latest version of
|
|
Tracker ST, an impressive, easy to use database program. I attended his
|
|
seminar and he showed off 2 fantastic products, Retouche Professional
|
|
and Didot. These allow the ST/TT to do things I never even say a Mac or
|
|
IBM do. I was impressed!! He is currently writing the manual for these
|
|
products and they are going to be distributed by Goldleaf Publishing.
|
|
Retouche allows full editing of black and white or full color photos.
|
|
Nevin was doing some amazing things with this program. Didot is a
|
|
vector tracing program and more that has true bezier curves and allows
|
|
you to set a path for text, type along the path, and do amazing
|
|
distortions you wouldn't believe. Each program comes in a professional
|
|
version (big $$, $2000 retail for Retouche Professional and $900 retail
|
|
for Didot) and a scaled down version (smaller $, around $200-300 each).
|
|
This is a big step ahead for Atari!
|
|
|
|
TidBit Software - Jeff Lomicka was demoing his program, the Good Backup
|
|
Utility. I also attended his seminar and he explained his philosophy
|
|
for backups. His program automatically deletes old data and updates it
|
|
in the free space on incremental backups and is very reliable. He said
|
|
he has about 500 copies sold worldwide. I have read favorable reviews
|
|
of this program.
|
|
|
|
Softlogik - Bill Caferelli was showing PageStream 2.1 and all the font
|
|
sets and business templates for this fantastic program. I got a chance
|
|
to play with PageStream 2.1 on Bob Brodie's TT, WOW, is it impressive in
|
|
high rez color, and fast, too!
|
|
|
|
Taylor Ridge Books - Clay Walnum was displaying his book on C-Manship, a
|
|
complete tutorial on learning to program in C on the ST, complete with a
|
|
two disk set. This is his excellent series from the defunct ST-Log
|
|
magazine.
|
|
|
|
Alternative Hardware - Leo Taylor was displaying several unique mutant
|
|
ST's including one mounted in a wooden case!
|
|
|
|
Atari Computer - The hit of the show was Bob Brodie. He gave his usual
|
|
honest and sincere seminars. He said FSM GDOS was finished should be
|
|
shipping by November. The TT is in the lab and pending class B
|
|
certification. It has a 1.44 meg floppy in the newest version. WordUp
|
|
is being updated and Atari will distribute it under their own name,
|
|
although probably not until next year some time. The Hotz box has sort
|
|
of been put on the back burner due to lack of interest in the product.
|
|
New software is being developed for the Atari CD Rom player which will
|
|
allow it to use data disks from other platforms. The latest version
|
|
will only have a SCSI interface and will require a host adaptor to work
|
|
with the ST. He spoke about the positive reception Atari is getting
|
|
with the TT in the desktop publishing market and that Atari will be
|
|
advertising a full page ad in Publish! magazine in next month's issue...
|
|
YEA!
|
|
|
|
Also, there was Computers Ect., the local Atari dealer offering specials
|
|
on all software and hardware. Paul, the owner, reported brisk sales all
|
|
day. Three user groups, STARR, FACE, and the Boston Computer Society
|
|
were selling PD or used software at very good prices.
|
|
|
|
Unfortunately, Jim Allen from Fast Technologies didn't make the show. I
|
|
heard he had a hard drive crash the day before the show. Hope he had a
|
|
backup :^) I was really looking forward to seeing Turbo 20, oh well,
|
|
maybe at WAACE. Also, Darlah Pine from Genie was supposed to be there,
|
|
but I guess she couldn't make it, either.
|
|
|
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All in all, it was a pretty good show. It was small enough so you
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didn't have to fight crowds to talk to the vendors. It was announced
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that this will be an annual event, so I am looking forward to going
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again next year.
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=======================================================================
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Z*MAGAZINE Atari 8-Bit Online Magazine is a bi-weekly magazine covering
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the Atari and related computer community. Material contained in this
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edition may be reprinted without permission, except where otherwise
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noted, unedited, with the issue number, name and author included at
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the top of each reprinted article. Commentary and opinions presented
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|
are those of the individual author and does not necessarily reflect
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the opinions of Z*MAGAZINE or the staff. Z*Magazine Atari 8-Bit Online
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|
Magazine, Z*Net Atari Online Magazine, Z*Net are copyright (c)1990 by
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|
Rovac Industries Inc, a registered corporation. Post Office Box 59,
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|
Middlesex, New Jersey 08846. (908) 968-2024. Z*Net Online BBS 24
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|
Hours, 1200/2400 Baud, (908) 968-8148. We can be reached on CompuServe
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|
at 71777,2140 and on GEnie at Z-NET.
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=======================================================================
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Z*Magazine Atari 8-Bit Online Magazine
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Copyright (c)1991, Rovac Industries, Inc..
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=======================================================================
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