 
INFO-ATARI16 Digest         Thu, 21 Dec 89       Volume 89 : Issue  845
 
Today's Topics:
                     Another redirection question
              Automatic window activation - pros & cons?
                            Cartridge port
                         Changing the A drive
        Copyrights and Commercial Networks and Usenet (2 msgs)
                    How to know we are in TOS 1.0?
                  USENET -> GEnie uplink now working
----------------------------------------------------------------------
 
Date: 21 Dec 89 00:12:27 GMT
From: nis!pwcs!stag!daemon@UMN-CS.CS.UMN.EDU  (John Stanley)
Subject: Another redirection question
Message-ID: <1989Dec21.001227.10622@stag.UUCP>
 
[piet@cs.ruu.nl (Piet van Oostrum) writes...]
> In article <1787@ncrcce.StPaul.NCR.COM>, rogers@ncrcce (Bob Rogers) writes:
 
>  `I've tried a similar technique using the ST's "con:" device in place of
>  `/dev/tty but to no avail.  Can anyone offer a solution?
>
> Fforce (0, -1) or Fforce (0, Fopen ("con:", 0));
 
  The first one should work, but the 2nd one has a few problems.  Better to
use Fforce(0, (int)Fopen("con:", 0)); if you have to use this method. The
example Piet gave will (on many compilers) push a long onto the stack where
Fforce expects an int...  Fopen "really" returns a long for some librarys..
 
  In actual practice, I'd avoid using the 2nd form altogether since it
uses up a file handle that isn't going to be freeded until the program
exits.  Do a bunch of these calls and you'd suddenly discover your
program couldn't open any more files...
 
---
  John Stanley <john@dynasoft.UUCP>
Software Consultant / Dynasoft Systems
 
------------------------------
 
Date: 21 Dec 89 12:09:45 GMT
From: mcsun!ukc!dcl-cs!gdt!gdr!exspes@uunet.uu.net  (P E Smee)
Subject: Automatic window activation - pros & cons?
Message-ID: <1989Dec21.120945.11694@gdt.bath.ac.uk>
 
I would think this would be acceptable only if you modified the concept
to be somewhat like Sun-windows -- that is, JUST moving the mouse
pointer into a window would not 'top' it, but it would be auto-topped
if you then DID anything -- hit a keyboard key, press a mouse button,
...   The auto-top would NOT eat the key or mouse press, but would top
the window and then pass the key or mouse-press through to it.
--
Paul Smee, Univ of Bristol Comp Centre, Bristol BS8 1TW, Tel +44 272 303132
 Smee@bristol.ac.uk  :-)  (..!uunet!ukc!gdr.bath.ac.uk!exspes if you MUST)
 
------------------------------
 
Date: 21 Dec 89 18:31:52 GMT
From:
 cs.utexas.edu!jarvis.csri.toronto.edu!utgpu!watserv1!watcgl!electro!ignac@tut.c
 is.ohio-state.edu  (Ignac Kolenko)
Subject: Cartridge port
Message-ID: <1242@electro.UUCP>
 
In article <21556@uflorida.cis.ufl.EDU> rs0@beach.cis.ufl.edu (Bob Slaughter)
 writes:
>I am looking for info on using the cartridge port as an I/O port.  I
>need D0-D8, A0-A15, and how the port does read vs. write (MEMR* and
>MEMW* lines line an InTel, or R/W* with clock strobe ala 6502).  The
>docs that come with the ST have the pinouts for most of these, but the
>port direction control is not clear at all from their diagram.  If you
>have to know, this is related to C/MRI project from Model Railroader
>(Computer/Model Railroad Interface), as now reprinted in Bruce Chubb's
>"How to Build a Universal Computer Interface".  I know the port can be
>written to, otherwise how do you set all those nice clock carts? :)  I
 
 
 
nope. its a read only port. hence the Atari name: ROM Cartridge Port. :-)
 
but you can develop ways of tricking the cartridge port to allow you to
do a write, which is basically how the clock cards are set on the ST. an
easy way of doing this is decoding a read from any address in, say the
$FA0000 range to be a 16 bit write to the cart port. thus, whatever address
with $FA in the upper 8 address bits can be turned into a write pulse,
(ROM4 is the strobe that's generated by the mmu i think) and use the
lower 16 bits of the address bus as the fudged data bus. not too pretty but
it works great.
 
(the addresses are off the top of my head, and may be wrong. mebbe someone
else can verify for me)
 
 
 
--
=====Ignac A. Kolenko (The Ig)           watmath!watcgl!electro!ignac=====
     co-author of QuickST, and the entire line of Quick Shareware!!!!
       "I don't care if I don't win, 'cause I don't care if I fail"
             from 'Youth Of Today' by SUBURBAN DISTORTION
 
------------------------------
 
Date: 21 Dec 89 20:11:52 GMT
From: cs.utexas.edu!jarvis.csri.toronto.edu!utgpu!barry@tut.cis.ohio-state.edu
 (Barry Lay)
Subject: Changing the A drive
Message-ID: <1989Dec21.201152.4270@gpu.utcs.utoronto.ca>
 
I have the following problem.  I have a Mega 4 ST with a dead internal disk
drive.  Fortunately, my hard disk autoboots, so I am not out of business,
but I occasionally like to play a game which has to boot from a floppy disk
(Falcon).  Is there a way to get the Atari to think that an external drive is
drive A?  I tried installing the external drive in the place for the internal
one, but it just spun and didn't boot.  The connectors look the same for both,
but the small connector (power?) had to be plugged in the other way around
because the indexing slot was in a different place on the external drive.
Since the light came on I presume that it was getting power ok.
 
So, does anybody have any ideas for what to do while waiting for the drive
to be fixed?  If someone has figured out how to get Falcon to run from a
hard disk, that would be nice, too.
 
Barry
 
------------------------------
 
Date: 21 Dec 89 19:41:49 GMT
From: giza.cis.ohio-state.edu!karl@tut.cis.ohio-state.edu  (Karl Kleinpaste)
Subject: Copyrights and Commercial Networks and Usenet
Message-ID: <KARL.89Dec21144149@giza.cis.ohio-state.edu>
 
canada@crash.cts.com writes:
   This is the part that concerns me the most.  According to an author who
   specializes in books on copyrights:
        ``The matter of Dave violating or not violating the law is totally
        up to USENET, not the attorney general.  You see, these laws are
        not enforced unless someone cries "fowl".
 
Flamingo!  Er, ostrich!  No, I mean, uh, loon!  Yeah, that's it.
LOON!
 
(For the humor-impaired, :-)
 
--Karl
 
------------------------------
 
Date: 21 Dec 89 18:21:51 GMT
From: zaphod.mps.ohio-state.edu!usc!sdsu!crash!canada@tut.cis.ohio-state.edu
 (Diane Barlow Close)
Subject: Copyrights and Commercial Networks and Usenet
Message-ID: <957@crash.cts.com>
 
In article <1989Dec21.041439.24056@murdoch.acc.Virginia.EDU>
 gl8f@bessel.acc.Virginia.EDU (Greg Lindahl) writes:
 
>One thing I did ask Dave Small to clarify, though, was GEnie's
>compilation copyright. Obviously they cannot claim a compilation
>copyright on the compilation of comp.sys.atari.st articles, so they
>will be unable to stop GEnie subscribers from downloading all the
>c.s.a.st articles and putting them up on BBSes and whatnot.
 
This is the part that concerns me the most.  According to an author who
specializes in books on copyrights:
 
     ``The matter of Dave violating or not violating the law is totally
     up to USENET, not the attorney general.  You see, these laws are
     not enforced unless someone cries "fowl".  I assume USENET does
     not mind if their messages are reproduced and put on another
     system.
 
     If USENET doesn't mind, then there is no violation, because they
     have essentially licensed the use of their messages for other
     systems.  Technically, all BBS' messages are protected under law
     from reproduction, IF the system states that access to the system
     is conditional (ie: use of passwords).  Remember, an authored work
     is protected under copyright.  Each message is the property of the
     owner of the BBS.  It doesn't matter  if the BBS contains
     programs, messages, or "books", they are protected under copyright
     unless the author/owner claims they are public domain.
 
     Sure, it's wierd, but it's the LETTER of the law.  However, you
     know as well as I do, it would be stupid to enforce for just
     messages.
 
     I'm not saying Dave is a crook.  I happen to like his products
     and his magazine articles.  I'm just saying USENET could get him.
     I'm saying this to perhaps inform him, not to threaten him.
 
     -- Richard Kelsch
 
     P.S.  How do I know all of this?  Well, I spent 3 years
     researching computer law and talking to about every type of
     lawyer you can think of, so I can write my book.  My book is
     called "HACKING:  What's Legal & What's Not".  It's for sale
     at E. Arthur Brown Company.''
 
It certainly does seem unethical for a network such as GEnie to upload,
basically, public domain messages and then place an anthology copyright
on them.  In fact, maybe the restrictions will become even greater when
one considers the overall effect of GEnie's legal system.  What about
non-profit BBS's which have read-only nodes established with Usenet?
They may become liable to *GEnie* who owns the copyright ...I am not
saying that is the way it is, but that is the way it may become.
 
Regardless, the current GEnie-Usenet link does NOT represent an
exchange of information:  it is a hoarding of information.  Two things
must happen for this to become an exchange:  there must be a free
flow of messages between the two parties, all messages must carry a
permission to reprint, and the receiving party may not copyright
messages from the donor, or all messages must be placed in the public
domain.
--
Diane Barlow Close
      ?nosc, ucsd?!crash!canada
      canada@crash.cts.com
      Free Canada -- Trade Mulroney
 
------------------------------
 
Date: 21 Dec 89 12:06:02 GMT
From: mcsun!ukc!dcl-cs!gdt!gdr!exspes@uunet.uu.net  (P E Smee)
Subject: How to know we are in TOS 1.0?
Message-ID: <1989Dec21.120602.11181@gdt.bath.ac.uk>
 
In article <1903@atari.UUCP> apratt@atari.UUCP (Allan Pratt) writes:
>
>That doesn't matter.  If you paid to become a registered developer, you
>would be able to look this stuff up instead of bothering all of us! :-)
>You don't have to be a commercial developer to join the Atari developer
>program.  (I know I'm answering your question anyway -- think of it as
>advertising. (If you're a Net God, *don't* think of it as advertising!))
 
Your mileage may vary on this one, depending on which Atari subsidiary
you have to deal with.  I contacted Atari UK (some time ago, maybe I
should try again) about the developers kit, and was told that in
addition to the money I would have to inform them of my 'trading name',
and would have to agree to keep them informed of what I was using the
information to develop, so that they could ask me to stop if it
interfered with their own internal or contracted-out development.
 
The concept that I might just want it for fun didn't seem to be one
which they could grasp.  Since I was unable to comply with the first
condition, and unwilling to comply with the second on principle, I
dropped the idea.  (Though I occasionally toy with the idea of having
my mother buy me a US developers kit (she's in Pittsburgh PA) and
forwarding it to me.)
 
 
--
Paul Smee, Univ of Bristol Comp Centre, Bristol BS8 1TW, Tel +44 272 303132
 Smee@bristol.ac.uk  :-)  (..!uunet!ukc!gdr.bath.ac.uk!exspes if you MUST)
 
------------------------------
 
Date: 21 Dec 89 20:17:10 GMT
From: jlm@apple.com  (Jeff Morris)
Subject: USENET -> GEnie uplink now working
Message-ID: <5927@internal.Apple.COM>
 
I agree with Diane, also.  Usenet is not for profit.  GENIE is.  If they
were to make the Usenet items available without charge( 8~) ) then it's
OK.
 
My .02....
 
JLM
#include <std.disclaimer.h>
 
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End of INFO-ATARI16 Digest V89 Issue #845
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