793 lines
41 KiB
Plaintext
793 lines
41 KiB
Plaintext
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Syndicate ZMagazine Issue #127 October 16, 1988
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*************************************************************************
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American Publishing Enterprises, Inc.
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Post Office Box 74
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Middlesex, New Jersey 08846-0074
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*************************************************************************
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* Publisher: Ron Kovacs * Copyright (c) 1988 APEInc, SPC *
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* General Manager: Ralph Mariano * ------------------------------ *
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* ZMag Editor: John Deegan * ZMAGAZINE Available on these *
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* Assistant Editor: Carlos Hernandez * online services: CompuServe *
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* GEnie Rep/Features: John Nagy * GEnie, Delphi, The Source *
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*************************************************************************
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EDITORS DESK by John Deegan
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#############################
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As Comdex draws closer we all start to wonder what Atari will promise,
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offer, or display at the show. With the resignation of Neil Harris, Atari
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has developed a hole in the wall, as displayed in last weeks conference on
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Compuserve.
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It has been stated by a few in the community that (we) the reporters,
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shouldn't report the problems, rumors, and stay with the positive side of
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Atari. Especially after a few telephone conversations with a few this
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week, I am a little concerned about what these people want. Either we
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tell it like it is or report nothing at all. Atari is a public company,
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making statements and releasing information and not meeting the expected
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release dates. Are we expected to swallow this double talk week after
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week and project to the public that Atari is a wonderful company concerned
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about it's users??
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Many of you know Rex Reade, the outspoken Editor of ST-Report. Although a
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fellow employee of APEInc, I am not writing this to inflate his ego. Rex
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has been instrumental in proding Atari for answers. If you read the
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various Atari related magazines around, you will notice the evident lack
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of outspokeness. You might remember a few weeks ago when Sam Tramiel
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released a public statement requesting that we gather together and help
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Atari by being positive about their products etc.. Why the abrupt 360 in
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attitude from Mr. Tramiel?? The only editor I can see reporting the real
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happenings is Rex Reade. Think about it this way, if all the so-called
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editors out there really wrote editorials like those produced in ST-
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Report, don't you think the users would see that there is something wrong?
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Time after time, when I state that I am with ST-Report or ZMagazine, the
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first thing that comes out is, -How is Rex doing-, -How do you guys get
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all this information..-, -I think Atari would be in big trouble if Rex
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wasn't around to watch...-... These comments tell you that the community
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at-large is interested in what Atari is doing, and they want the best for
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our machines. Whether they be 8 bit or 16 bit, we want Atari to be the
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best and it is up to ALL of us to make sure Atari keeps it's promises.
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We at Zmag especially on behalf of our 8 bit readers, look forward to
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seeing some relief to the dismal abiss presented as a future for the 8 bit
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systems by what Atari is expected to show at Comdex, certainly Atari will
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not let us down for a third year in a row.
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*************************************************************************
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<---CONTENTS--->
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<*> Editors Desk.......John Deegan <*> Ron Luks Asks For.....John Nagy
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<*> AMS II Info......Robert Abrams <*> MAM The Replies......John Deegan
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<*> Toronto Atari Show Details (*) NeXT Computer Press Release
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*************************************************************************
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#############################
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Conference Update
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#############################
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RON LUKS ASKS FOR APOLOGY
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by John Nagy
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Ron Luks, Manager of the the Atari Sigs on Compuserve, took personal
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exception to an item in last week's ZMAGAZINE and asked for a public
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apology. While this ISN'T exactly that, our resultant hour on the phone
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revealed a LOT of information that helps to explain just why the SAM
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TRAMEIL ATARI CONVENTION conference went as it did.
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I wrote my -reflections- on the conference, which followed the actual
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conference transcript in last week's ZMAGAZINE. After considerable
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discussion about how, in my opinion, there was zero information passed in
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the conference, I commented on the unexpectedly early end of the
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-Convention-. In one paragraph I conjectured that by the end, the
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Compuserve Sysops were -perhaps... more concern[ed] over connection time
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fees that were to be lost than over the possible loss of information
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exchange-.
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Ron Luks felt personally insulted by this, and says that the other Sysops
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at Compuserve felt the same. He called ZMAGAZINE's publisher Ron Kovacs,
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who suggested that I call Luks. I did, and we both learned something from
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it.
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First, Ron believes that neither he nor CompuServe consider the -lost
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revenues- issue to be real. Ron assumes that the typical user of telecom
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services will spend about the same amount of time online regardless of
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how or where. An hour or two spent on the conference is, in this mindset
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only time NOT spent elsewhere on the system. If so, my observation would
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be wrong.
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My original intentions in making the comment were only as a minor
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sidelight to the conference. I included it after several witnesses to
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the convention (myself included) independantly voiced nearly identical
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observations.
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In our extended discussion, Ron Luks admitted to be -very sensitive- on
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the costs issue due to the other services in competition with him. Ron
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went on to agree with me that the conference was awful, and even said that
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he wished he could make a refund to every person who felt it was a waste
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of their time and money.
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Ron went on to outline his concept of the convention (and indeed the
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entire ATARI SIG system) being a FORUM, and that it was not his role as
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moderator to attempt to control or prod the guest speaker. He thinks of
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the CompuServe role in these matters is to provide the place and time and
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technical matters, and content is up to the attendees. As such, Ron and
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CompuServe claim no responisbility for seeing that the speaker is
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co-operative or responsive to the questions.
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Ron has a good track record for advocating ATARI users' interest. He
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pulled a quick (and well attended) conference together that was
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instrumental in making WORD PERFECT at least temporarily rethink their
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withdrawal from the ATARI market.
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In an unexpected and pleasant move to make up for an embarrassing
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conference, Ron graciously left mail for all attendees of the convention.
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He apologised for the technical foulup that threw some callers out of the
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question que and offered to collect and forward all questions that might
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have been left unasked or unanswered. He promises to post ATARI's answer
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(or the lack of them) for all to see.
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Compuserve's ATARI area remains dedicated to offering the best services
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for the money, says Ron, and he has backed that offer up by extending his
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signup offer to anyone who reads ZMAGAZINE/ST-REPORT. From now until May
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1, 1989, you can obtain a free introductory kit (including free
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registration on CompuServe and $15 of free online time) just by dropping
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a note requesting one to ZMAGAZINE, care of the post office box in our
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header.
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-------------------------------------
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ADVANCED MUSIC SYSTEM II INFORMATION
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by Robert N. Abrams
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-------------------------------------
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Within the past several months, there has been a rejuvenation of the
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-Advanced Music System II- (AMS II) in the Sound and Graphics Library.
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I am very excited about this to say the least.
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I have been receiving enquires about the AMS II. In response, I would
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like to help-out by providing some information.
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The AMS II program is available from:
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LOTSOFBYTES
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15445 Ventura Blvd., Suite #10
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Sherman Oaks, CA 91413
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818-988-8366
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ATTN: Robert Kymack
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The price of the program is $9.25 plus $2.50 for handling. (Add $.56 for
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California sales tax if you are a California resident.)
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One does not have to be able to play an instrument to use the editor.
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However, one does have to have a basic knowledge of music theory to be
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able to transcribe the notes from the sheet music into the editor. So,
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how does one learn basic music theory without being able to play an
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instrument? Phew, I thought you would never ask! For those of you who are
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toying with the idea of getting into the AMS editor, I would like to take
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this opportunity to point you in the right direction.
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I would first recommend that you obtain the following references to get
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you on your way. They should be available at your local music store. If
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not, ask the store to order them for you. You may try a regular book
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store as well.
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I suggest that you purchase the following publications:
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Roger Evans
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HOW TO READ MUSIC
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Elm Tree Books/EMI Publishing
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Selling agent: Hansen House
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1870 West Ave.
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Miami Beach, FL 33139
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ISBN 0-241-89916-8
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Dr. William F. Lee
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MUSIC THEORY DICTIONARY
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Hansen House
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Library of Congress Catalog No. 54-28888
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David Carr Glover
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LEARN YOUR CHORDS AND HOW TO APPLY THEM
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Belwin Mills Publishing Corp. No. EL 03000
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Now, since you are the lucky owner of the greatest 6502 computer in the
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world, aka the Atari 8 bit, I suggest that you go into Library No. 6, the
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Sound and Graphics Library and download a program entitled -The Music
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Major.- The name of the file is -MUSMAJ.DCM.- (As it has a -DCM- extender,
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you will need the -Disk Communicator- file to unpack MUSMAJ.DCM. GO into
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Library No. 3 and download -DISCOM.OBJ- and -DISCOM.DOC.-) Load the -The
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Music Major- with BASIC. By the way, -MUSMAJ.DCM- contains 87680 bytes
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(about 685 sectors) so if you have a 1200 baud modem, pack a snack; if
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you have a 300 baud modem, pack a lunch!
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I also suggest that you write Antic Magazine, enclose a check for $5.00
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and request the documentation from sections 2 and 8 of the Antic version
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of the -Pokey Player- program. (The Antic version of the Pokey Player
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diskette comes with the documentation for sections 1, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 9
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and 10. They didn't have enough room on the diskette for sections 2 and 8,
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which by the way is an excellent tutorial on music theory. The author of
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the Pokey Player, Craig Chamberlain, did a real nice job. I highly
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recommend that you get it.) However, if you are into BASIC programming, I
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highly recommend that you also purchase the Antic version of the Pokey
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Player program. The Antic Catalog number is APO 147. It is not readily
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seen in the Antic Catolog, so jot this number down! I saw it on sale a few
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months ago for about $10.00. I paid about $19.00 for my copy.
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(A note: there is a public domain version of the Pokey Player. It is
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available in the library under the file name -POKEPL.DCM.- A word of
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caution, the documentation to this file is very poor at best compared to
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the Antic version of the Pokey Player.)
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If you are into BASIC, after you create a Pokey Player song file, you can
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have BASIC load and play the song while the BASIC program is running. To
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get create music with BASIC -ain't no walk in the park.- On February 24th,
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I uploaded a music file entered in 100% Basic XE (BXE). The program is
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40448 bytes large. When I got done, I almost committed myself into a
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mental institution. Anyway, if you have BXE, download -IJCAL.BXE- and see
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for yourself.
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For those of you who are already into AMS, Lee Actor, the author of the
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AMS, has written software for the new -MIDIMAX- midi interface module.
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The name of the software is the -Midi Music System- (MMS). The potential
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is unbelievable. With the MMS and a Yamaha FB-01 synthesizer, one can
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enter an 8 note chord compared to a 4 note chord of the AMS. In addition,
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this synthesizer allows for 90 preset sounds (instruments) per note. All
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one has to do is to connect the Midimax to one's disk drive, plug one end
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of the synthesizer into the Midimax and the other end into one's stereo
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receiver. Don't run out and buy that Amiga just yet!
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Well, that's it folks! Be sure you use your local music store as a
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resource for any music theory problems. If you need any help with entering
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music into the AMS II editor or if you need help understanding the
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documentation to the Pokey Player, drop me a message via E-MAIL or in the
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forum. You can write to me at the following address:
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Robert N. Abrams
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5153 Kipp Way
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Carmichael, CA 95608
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73547,1552
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#############################
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MICHIGAN ATARI MAGAZINE
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The Replies
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#############################
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To close the subject, we are publishing the responses to ZMagazine from
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the editors of Michigan Atari Magazine. This has been a local event and
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covered by ZMagazine because we felt is was important for ALL user groups
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to know what is happening behind the scenes. Ron Kovacs requested
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answers to a few questions after the first response from MAM. In a voice
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conversation with Bill Rayl, he wanted to questions firmed up by a written
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response. What he received was an editorial reply and not the answers
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requested.
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Personally, we at ZMag DO NOT have any problems with MAM. We fell that it
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is a good production and worth the price. The part that bothers us the
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most is the avasive answers, unthruths passed on to us, and the seemingly
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disregard for the users of the groups it is courting.
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I am also under the impression that corrective measures are under way to
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get the user groups involved. We will update this story as required.
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Until then, let me state that it is NOT ZMag's intention to defame MAM.
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When we felt that there was injustice being served upon the members of the
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MAM group, we went after a story. What we received is printed below.
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Please make up your own minds and pass your input on to the editors of
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MAM.
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To the Editor (John Deegan), (Edited Transcript)
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I just happened to see ZMAG #122 on UseNet, and went back and found ZMAG
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#120 to see what it was you'd said about the -Michigan Atari Magazine.-
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Note that I am not -officially- involved in the publication of the
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magazine other than as a somewhat regular contributor, and sometimes
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sorter of Zip-code sorted bundles of the magazine, so this cannot be
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considered an -official- reply. However, I felt that there were so many
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inaccuracies in your Editorial that I felt someone should speak up.
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It's obvious from much of what you said that you have NOT seen an actual
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copy of the magazine. If you would care to send me your address, I'll see
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that you're sent a copy of the latest issue so that you can see what it
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really looks like. I live here in the area, and I haven't heard any of the
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rumors you allude to. This makes me have to wonder where you may have gotten
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your -facts.-
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(EDITOR) I have indeed copies of MAM and responded as I felt. Although
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the user groups are listed in the front, they are buried in the back and
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should be at the start of EACH issue.
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First of all, it is true that the price of the magazine has risen
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slightly. The people who publish the magazine have changed printers to
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produce a better publication for the readers. The paper used is of higher
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quality and the printer is able to get the magazine printed more quickly
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than the old printer, resulting in a faster -turnaround time.- This
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allows more time to get the magazine mailed out to the user groups, so
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they can get the issues more quickly. One result of these changes is a
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slight increase in cost to the user groups. I'm not 100% sure what the
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increase was, but I believe it was on the order of a whole 10 cents. I
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truly doubt that ANYONE, even Jack Tramiel could create a -financial
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monster- out of 10 cents an issue.
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Secondly, I'm at a loss to explain what you meant when you said -the
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advertising isn't the best.- In a review in ST-Report, your -sister
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publication,- the national advertising was praised as being one of the high
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points, lending much credibility to the magazine.
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(EDITOR) ST-Report and ZMag have different editors and different opinions
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on topics. That point is not relevant here.
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Quoting from the masthead, on Page 2, -The Michigan Atari Magazine is a
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monthly magazine which also serves as the official newsletter of several
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independant Atari User Groups and is not affiliated with Atari Corp. in any
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way.-
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The magazine is specifically organized to avoid the clutter that would
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result from simply stapling a bunch of different user group newsletters
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together. The -Feature Articles- from ALL the different club newsletters are
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put FIRST in the magazine, to make an -interesting to read- publication.
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Bob Retelle
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(EDITOR) I have removed most of the clutter and babbling performed by Bob
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Retelle because of 1) Previous publication, 2) Not the Editor of MAM.
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ZMAG/Ron Kovacs
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The editorial pertaining to the Michigan Atari Magazine which appeared in ZMAG
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#120 has recently come to our attention, and we are deeply concerned about
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what your editor, Mr. Deegan, has written. Mr. Deegan seems to be getting his
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information from a less than reputable, uninformed source.
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By now, you have also seen the reply to Mr. Deegan from Bob Retelle, a member
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of two of the nine User Groups participating in the magazine. Bob has, in our
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opinion, done a thorough job of answering most of Mr. Deegan's negative
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commentary. We ask that you print both Bob Retelle's reply (we've passed a
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copy along to you in case you somehow missed it) and this letter.
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Mr. Deegan first says that -User Group material is buried in the back of the
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issues.- It is true that club news and minutes appear after all
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general-interest articles (excluding the Last Hacks humor column which appears
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on the last inside page of MAM). However, the club information is not
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-buried.- MAM is organized such that feature articles appear first because
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those are of more general interest to all MAM readers, not all of which are
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members of participating clubs. Participating clubs are given credit on each
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article byline when such articles are written by a club member. We feel MAM
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is now much better organized than it was more than a year ago when club news
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and general articles were jumbled together. And, from what we've heard from
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all participating groups, the overwhelming majority of our readers agree.
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We are not -piling the main support of the magazine in the back- of each issue
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as Mr. Deegan claims. Nearly 100 percent of the articles in MAM come from the
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participating clubs. As Bob Retelle put it, -the User Group material IS the
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magazine.-
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On another point, Mr. Deegan states -the price of the magazine has risen a few
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cents,- and goes on to say that we are greedily -looking into the heavens and
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producing a financial monster.- Again, your editor shows his lack of
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knowledge.
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(EDITOR) Please READ the following paragraph and see if you can make
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sense of it. Note the sentence marked with /*/.
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The magazine price will be increasing slightly to User Groups starting in
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October (Mr. Deegan's commentary appeared in August). How much is the
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magazine cost going up? Let's look at some figures. Participating User Group
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members, until October, receive MAM for 80 cents an issue. That cost will
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increase to 95 cents per issue. Printing cost for MAM at 36 pages including
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cover (the smallest the magazine has been since December, 1987) is 73 cents
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per issue. Mailing cost for each copy is 18.6 cents. Add that up and you get
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91.6 cents. That's our minimum production cost as of August. The increased
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cost is due to higher postal rates and a change in printers.
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/*/ All this information, minus the exact price-per-issue details was
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presented to all participating club presidents in August. Since the
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increase to clubs isn't effective until October's issue, clubs were given
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over 60 days notice of the increase. Obviously, we are taking a loss of
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over 10 cents per issue to give clubs that 60 days notice.
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And that's at 36 pages. MAM generally runs 40 pages per issue and it looks as
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if the October issue will be at least 44 pages. It doesn't take a Wall Street
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Wizard to figure out that we aren't going to be quitting our -real- jobs to
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live off the profits from MAM. If we were in this for the money, we would
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have gotten out of it long ago!
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Finally, on the subject of -leaving the User Groups behind- Mr. Deegan accuses
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us of -no longer representing- our participating clubs and states that we
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-give the impression- that we don't care about those clubs. Being members of
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two of the participating clubs, and both of us having served as officers in
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these clubs, we take personal offense at Mr. Deegan's remarks. Has Mr. Deegan
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contacted a number of the clubs in Michigan to qualify him to print such
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comments? The phone numbers for these clubs are available in MAM, but it's
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highly questionable that Mr. Deegan has EVER read the magazine as he claims.
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If he had, he would know that we DO list participating clubs on the second
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page of the magazine, the Table of Contents, along with page numbers where
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each club's section begins.
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What is Mr. Deegan's basis for his comdemnation? He cites a recent decrease
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in size of User Group minutes and club news as proof that we are -leaving the
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User Groups behind.- Nothing could be further from the truth. The decrease
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is due to the simple FACT that many of the participating clubs DO NOT meet
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during the summer months, and hence DO NOT send in much information. This is
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true of many user groups across the country, not just those participating in
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MAM.
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In our opinion, your editor's unprofessional commentary has greatly diminished
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ZMAG's reputation. If Mr. Deegan had a copy of Michigan Atari Magazine, why
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did he not call us to get answers to his questions? Our voice and BBS number
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is printed on the back cover and on the Editorial page. Had he contacted us,
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as any responsible editor would have, this could all have been avoided and
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none of us would have a -sour taste- in our mouths.
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|
|
|
Bill and Pattie Rayl
|
|
Michigan Atari Magazine
|
|
3487 Braeburn Circle
|
|
Ann Arbor, MI 48108
|
|
(313) 973-8825 voice
|
|
(313) 973-9137 BBS
|
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|
|
TO: MAM FROM: Ron Kovacs
|
|
|
|
As you see Mr. Deegan is still around and will continue to provide
|
|
editorship of ZMag. I involved myself in this shortly after this reply
|
|
and see that you are NOT sincere in your response. I have allowed
|
|
disection of your editorial to prove our point that you are (as ST-Report
|
|
editor Rex Reade would say..) double talking here and seemingly offended
|
|
by a 2 paragraph statement 8 weeks ago.
|
|
|
|
I sent you a few questions via Delphi and received the following as a
|
|
response. You have NOT answered my questions directly and took it upon
|
|
yourself not to do so. This alone tells us that you do not wish to
|
|
respond honestly to our questions. We leave your response with any
|
|
commentary as the final episode and wish you the best of luck. Please
|
|
note that we will consider the matter closed unless moire information is
|
|
received and we feel it is worthy of space.
|
|
|
|
#1 7-OCT-1988 23:27:16 NEWMAIL
|
|
From: BOS1B::UNICORNPUB
|
|
To: RONKOVACS
|
|
Subj: Reply to questions
|
|
|
|
Ron,
|
|
|
|
It is easiest to answer your questions in a few paragraphs, rather than
|
|
one by one. Unicorn Publications, which produces the Michigan Atari
|
|
Magazine (MAM), is a company and is not controlled by any outside
|
|
organization. As stated in each issue of MAM, Michigan Atari Magazine is
|
|
a monthly publication of Unicorn Publications which also serves as the
|
|
official newsletter of the majority of Atari user groups in the state.
|
|
|
|
Michigan Atari Magazine was first produced under the editorship of John
|
|
Nagy with the help of the CHAOS user group in Lansing, Michigan. In August
|
|
of 1987, John approached us about taking on production of the magazine. We
|
|
personally contacted all the other participating clubs to hear what they
|
|
wanted out of MAM and what they liked or disliked about the publication
|
|
and the way it was produced in the past.
|
|
|
|
Since taking over publication of MAM beginning with the December, 1987
|
|
issue, Unicorn Publications has regularly contacted officers of the
|
|
participating clubs. In these conversations, the officers discuss with us
|
|
any concerns they have about the magazine itself and their club's
|
|
relationship with the publication.
|
|
|
|
Publication of the Michigan Atari Magazine is our primary function, and
|
|
it is very important to us that the clubs involved are happy with the
|
|
magazine. At the same time, we must also produce a magazine that is
|
|
attractive to advertisers and to readers outside of the participating
|
|
groups. In essence, Unicorn Publications is committed to producing a
|
|
viable magazine that is both affordable to the user groups and attractive
|
|
to everyone.
|
|
|
|
Michigan Atari Magazine provides the participating clubs with a means to
|
|
share views and information. MAM also gives these clubs an opportunity
|
|
to reach non-members, through non-club subscribers and sales of the
|
|
magazine in an ever-increasing number of stores.
|
|
|
|
As Unicorn Publications, we believe the approach we have taken in
|
|
producing MAM is working to the satisfaction of most participants. In
|
|
fact, only one club has -complained- about the -paper type- of the
|
|
magazine's pages. Changing of printers was a necessity due to our
|
|
previous printer closing up shop to pursue a career in printer brokering.
|
|
Due to recent price increases in printing costs and increased postal
|
|
rates, we were forced to look at a number of alternatives to cover these
|
|
increases. The options of increasing advertising rates, club rates or a
|
|
combination of these two were our only real alternatives (other than
|
|
losing money month after month until the magazine simply died). We
|
|
looked first at our ad rates.
|
|
|
|
Unfortunately, we could not raise our ad rates and stay competitive on a
|
|
per-person basis in the national market. We then contacted the clubs to
|
|
inform them of the situation and that it looked as if there would be a
|
|
cost increase of 15 cents per issue. We gave each participating user
|
|
group's president at least two months to discuss the matter with their
|
|
club.
|
|
|
|
It seems that at least a few members of one participating club took
|
|
issue with this and instead of contacting us, they decided to use your
|
|
publication to voice their concerns. We have contacted the participating
|
|
club presidents concerning Mr. Deegan's editorial comments. From our
|
|
conversations with all the clubs, it is clear that the majority of clubs
|
|
are quite happy with the magazine and with our production of it.
|
|
|
|
We are committed to producing a viable magazine that all participating
|
|
clubs can be proud of. Our goal is to publish a magazine that -pays its
|
|
own bills,- and, at the same time, is affordable to all who wish to be a
|
|
part of MAM, especially the participating user groups.
|
|
|
|
Our job at Unicorn Publications is to produce MAM in a way that keeps our
|
|
participating clubs participating and happy. We consider this matter
|
|
between Unicorn Publications/Michigan Atari Magazine and APEInc./ZMAG to
|
|
be closed, pending publication of this reply in your on-line magazine.
|
|
|
|
Bill Rayl & Pattie Snyder-Rayl Unicorn Publications
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
************************************
|
|
* The TORONTO ATARI FEDERATION *
|
|
* Presents: ----- *
|
|
* Sunday *
|
|
* THE November 6th *
|
|
* FIRST 10am to 6pm *
|
|
* CANADIAN at the [YYZ] *
|
|
* ATARI USERS Airport Hilton *
|
|
* CONVENTION 5875 Airport Rd *
|
|
* *
|
|
* Software/Hardware Vendors, Atari *
|
|
* Canada, PD Software, New Product *
|
|
* Demonstrations, Seminars, Users' *
|
|
* Groups, Developers and MORE!! *
|
|
* *
|
|
* $5.00 -Adults, $3.00 -Children. *
|
|
* *
|
|
* For more TAF information call: *
|
|
* 235-0318 [BBS] 425-5357 [msg] *
|
|
************************************
|
|
|
|
#############################
|
|
NeXT Press Release
|
|
#############################
|
|
|
|
NeXT Inc. introduces a new type of computer system aimed at higher
|
|
education
|
|
|
|
- NeXT Inc., of Palo Alto, Wednesday unveiled the NeXT Computer System,
|
|
designed to meet the demanding and diverse needs of higher education. The
|
|
system encompasses the best attributes of workstations and personal
|
|
computers, adds features previously found only on mainframes and
|
|
introduces entirely new innovations.
|
|
|
|
-NeXT's mission is to collaborate with higher education to develop
|
|
innovative, personal and affordable computer solutions for the next decade
|
|
and beyond,- said Steven P. Jobs, president and chief executive officer of
|
|
NeXT. -We began our product design process at key higher education
|
|
centers in this country, discovering what they wanted from a computer.
|
|
Based on what we heard, we have created a revolutionary learning and
|
|
research environment that represents what computing will be like in the
|
|
1990s.
|
|
|
|
-Currently, there is a revolution in software development and use on
|
|
college and university campuses, generating powerful concepts such as
|
|
simulated environments for both research and learning. The problem is that
|
|
higher education lacks a predictable computing target for software
|
|
developers, which slows emergence of practical products.
|
|
|
|
-NeXT intends to provide this target by raising the lowest common
|
|
denominator for standard capabilities in academic computing. In this way,
|
|
we will help spur the realization of some innovative and important
|
|
software ideas,- Jobs said.
|
|
|
|
NeXT saw the need in higher education for a computer that combined
|
|
qualities of workstations and personal computers, with cabilities far-
|
|
exceeding either. Specifically, the company took the workstation concepts
|
|
of built-in networking, large standard display screens, multitasking and
|
|
a robust application development environment, and designed and packaged
|
|
them in a one-foot cube with personal computer-like characteristics such
|
|
as affordability, efficient manufacturability and cool, quiet and
|
|
reliable use.
|
|
|
|
At the same time, NeXT recognized that significant innovations were
|
|
necessary to extend its computer system beyond a laundry list of
|
|
impressive features. NeXT chose to innovate in four main areas:
|
|
|
|
A mainframe on two chips:
|
|
The architectures of both workstations and personal computers contain
|
|
inherent bottlenecks to higher performance that cannot be resolved by
|
|
faster processors alone. To manage the flow of information within the
|
|
system to yield peak efficiency, NeXT designed the ICP and OSP, two
|
|
proprietary VLSI (very large-scale integration) chips that endow the
|
|
system with mainframe-like capabilities.
|
|
|
|
NextStep: Although UNIX provides powerful capabilities and is the most
|
|
prevalent operating system for higher education and research, the
|
|
complexity of UNIX-based computers has put them beyond the reach of almost
|
|
everyone except scientists and engineers. At the same time, developing
|
|
graphical application software has traditionally extracted an inordinate
|
|
amount of time and expertise.
|
|
|
|
NeXT has addressed both these problems with NextStep, an object-oriented
|
|
software environment. NextStep makes the power of UNIX accessible to all
|
|
users, while it also significantly reduces the time, expertise and
|
|
software code developers need to construct graphical, end-user
|
|
applications.
|
|
|
|
Personal Optical Storage and the Digital Library: The potential for
|
|
desktop computers to open the world's knowledge to an individual has been
|
|
restricted, in part, by inadequate mass storage and poor searching and
|
|
indexing capabilities. To break through these restrictions, NeXT used a
|
|
new storage technology called magneto-optics to create a removable, read/
|
|
write/erasable 256 Megabyte Optical Disk as the Computer System's standard
|
|
mass storage device.
|
|
|
|
The Optical Disk makes possible the concept of the -Digital Library,-
|
|
which can comprise on-line reference and literary works, musical scores or
|
|
images of photographic quality. Included with every system is a powerful
|
|
searching and indexing tool called the Digital Librarian and a -starter-
|
|
Digital Library.
|
|
|
|
Sound and Music: Sound is considered a vital communication medium. As a
|
|
result, NeXT has made sound capabilities integral to its computer system:
|
|
a microphone jack for input, CD-quality stereo output, a powerful 10 MIPS
|
|
(million insructions per second) Digital Signal Processor (DSP) and a
|
|
standard voice mail application. To encourage the development of
|
|
applications that include sound, music and voice, the system also includes
|
|
the SoundKit and MusicKit.
|
|
|
|
The Sum is greater than the parts-
|
|
-Many of the NeXT Computer System's individual components represent major
|
|
technological breakthroughs,- Jobs said. -Taken in sum, they generate
|
|
capabilities and potential exceeding that of any existing category of
|
|
computer system.-
|
|
|
|
The sytem's basic hardware configuration includes the computer, a one-foot
|
|
cube that houses on a single board all the computer's highly integrated
|
|
silicon chips; the 256 Megabyate Optical Disk for editable storage and
|
|
retrieval of vast amounts of information; the 17-inch, extremely high-
|
|
resolution MegaPixel Display; and the 400 dpi Laser Printer, which is the
|
|
first affordable PostScript laser printer and the first low-cost laser
|
|
printer to provide 400 dots per inch (dpi) resolution.
|
|
|
|
Underlying all the system's capabilities is a small, powerful and
|
|
efficient set of computer chips, all of which are standard and fit onto a
|
|
single board. There are three high-performance processors in every
|
|
system.
|
|
|
|
The main processor is Motorola's top-of-the-line microprocessor, the
|
|
68030. Accompanying it is Motorola's 68882 Floating-Point Unit, for fast
|
|
mathematical computations. Both these chips run at 25 megahertz. The third
|
|
processor is a 10 MIPS Motorola 56001 Digital Signal Processor chip, for
|
|
real-time sound and array processing. The board can also support up to 16
|
|
megabytes (MB) of main memory.
|
|
|
|
Two proprietary VLSI chips, designed by NeXT, give the sytem its mainframe
|
|
-like qualities. The Integrated Channel Processor (ICP) manages the flow
|
|
of data among the central processing unit (the 68030), main memory and all
|
|
peripheral devices. By offloading the 68030 and ensuring the efficient
|
|
flow of data within the system, the ICP allows the 68030 to run at its
|
|
full rated capacity of 5 MIPS.
|
|
|
|
The ICP provides 12 dedicated DMA (direct memory access) channels,
|
|
including channels for Ethernet networking and for disks, monitor, printer
|
|
and other peripheral devices. The single ICP chip replaces several
|
|
hundred chips performing similar functions on a mainframe computer, and it
|
|
raises sustained system throughput to a level impossible with either
|
|
personal computer or workstation architectures.
|
|
|
|
The other VLSI chip, the Optical Storage Processor, controls the 256
|
|
Megabyte Optical Disk, making possible this new storage technology. The
|
|
Optical Disk combines the vast storage capacities, removability and
|
|
reliability of laser technology with the fast access and full read/write/
|
|
rase capabilities of Winchester (magnetic) technology. The Optical Disk
|
|
provides unprecedented information storage, manipulation and retrieval.
|
|
With the Optical Disk working in conjunction with the Digital Librarian,
|
|
a specially designed searching and indexing tool, users can almost
|
|
instantaneously locate any textual information, in any form, anywhere in
|
|
the computer. They can also browse through the system to uncover
|
|
information, ideas or connections between concepts.
|
|
|
|
Software as Part of the System
|
|
NeXT includes an unparalled amount of software in the price of every NeXT
|
|
Computer System. The software starts with Mach, an advanced multitasking
|
|
operating system compatible with 4.3BSD UNIX, which is the standard
|
|
operating system in higher education communities.
|
|
|
|
In addition, the NeXT Computer System includes NextStep, a complete
|
|
software environment consisting of four components: the Window Server,
|
|
the Workspace Manager, the Application Kit and the Interface Builder. The
|
|
object-oriented environment was developed with the Objective-C programming
|
|
language, from the Stepstone Corp.
|
|
|
|
NextStep solves the two major problems with UNIX-based systems: They are
|
|
too complex and difficult for most non-programmers to use, and they
|
|
require developers to spend an inordinate amount of time and expertise
|
|
creating graphical, end-user applications. For users, NextStep makes the
|
|
power of UNIX available by substituting a window-based, graphical and
|
|
intuitive interface for the traditional UNIX comand-line interface. For
|
|
developers, NextStep includes the Application Kit, a set of interacting
|
|
software -objects- for constructing applications.
|
|
|
|
Also included in NextStep is Interface Builder, a completely new kind of
|
|
software development tool. Interface Builder works graphically, letting
|
|
the developer construct an application by choosing from a palette of
|
|
available objects and using the mouse and keyboard to modify the objects
|
|
as needed, define the layout and establish connections between objects.
|
|
|
|
This process permits the rapid construction of graphical user interfaces
|
|
and makes application development accessible to a much larger community.
|
|
NextStep uses the Display PostScript system to ensure true WYSIWYG (What
|
|
You See Is What You Get) between the screen and the printer. The Display
|
|
PostScript system includes a high-performance implementation of the Post
|
|
Script language, the de facto imaging standard for printing. It
|
|
simplifies the programming of graphical applications that support high-
|
|
quality printing.
|
|
|
|
To further aid developers, the NeXT Computer System includes the SoundKit,
|
|
MusicKit, array processing routines, assemblers, compilers, debuggers and
|
|
a terminal emulator.
|
|
|
|
Standard with each system, on the 256 Megabyte Optical Disk, is a basic
|
|
Digital Library. A Digital Library can contain complete reference works,
|
|
books, images or musical scores. The bundled library includes the
|
|
Webster's Ninth New Collegiate Dictionary, including definitions,
|
|
pronunciations and illustrations, not just spelling; Webster's Collegiate
|
|
Thesaurus; the Oxford Dictionary of Quotations; the Oxford University
|
|
Press edition of William Shakespeare; The Complete Works. NeXT technical
|
|
references and other pertinent technical references.
|
|
|
|
The NeXT Computer System also includes a rich set of bundled application
|
|
software. These applications include WriteNow, a full-featured word
|
|
processing program; Mathematica, a symbolic mathematics program; the
|
|
powerful NeXT SQL Database Server, from Sybase; Allegro CL Common Lisp;
|
|
Jot, a personal text database manager; and a graphical electronic mail
|
|
application with integrated voice mail capabilities.
|
|
|
|
NeXT has built its business plan and products to meet the needs of higher
|
|
education. The company determined these needs through close collaboration
|
|
with leaders at college and university campuses nationwide, uncovering the
|
|
gaps between current and ideal computer technology for this marketplace.
|
|
-Higher education is a huge market, certainly big enough in itself to grow
|
|
NeXT to critical mass,- said Dan'l Lewin, vice president of sales and
|
|
marketing and NeXT. -Beyond that, higher education is the most demanding
|
|
and diverse marketplace conceivable. It provides a real acid test. If we
|
|
can do well here, were can do well anywhere.
|
|
|
|
-The key is understanding and committing to a business model that works
|
|
the way higher education does, both in its generic form and as it varies
|
|
from campus to campus. That's where NeXT has the edge, because we are the
|
|
only computer company that has amassed both the market knowledge and the
|
|
technological ability to deliver the right computing tools,- Lewin said.
|
|
|
|
During 1988, NeXT will market its computer System directly to several
|
|
dozen of the nation's top institutions and software developers. NeXT
|
|
expects to appeal to higher education on the strength of its technology
|
|
tools and through the personal business relationships the company has
|
|
established with the higher education community.
|
|
|
|
Price and Availability
|
|
The standard NeXT Computer System configuration, which includes 8MB of
|
|
main memory, the 256 Megabyte Optical Disk, the MegaPixel Display,
|
|
keyboard, mouse and complete system software, will sell for $6,500. The
|
|
400 dpi Laser Printer will sell for $2,000. All prices quoted are for
|
|
higher education.
|
|
|
|
NeXT will ship systems to its key customers and developers starting this
|
|
quarter, and expects to ship systems with final software by the second
|
|
quarter of 1989 to a broader base of institutions and developers.
|
|
Available options to the standard configuration include 4 MB RAM expansion
|
|
modules (up to 16 MB total), 660 MB and 330 MB high-performance Winchester
|
|
drives, an Ethernet kit, blank Optical Disks and printer toner cartridges.
|
|
|
|
NeXT Inc., of Palo Alto, was founded in October 1985 by Steven P. Jobs,
|
|
co-founder and former chairman of Apple Computer Inc., and five other
|
|
individuals. The mission of the privately held company is to collaborate
|
|
with higher education to develop innovative, personal and affordable
|
|
computer solutions for the 1990s and beyond.
|
|
|
|
*************************************************************************
|
|
SYNDICATE ZMAGAZINE Issue #127 October 16, 1988 (c)1988 APEInc
|
|
*************************************************************************
|