INFO-ATARI16 Digest         Fri,  3 Nov 89       Volume 89 : Issue 600
 
Today's Topics:
                       atari-bashing/vaporware
                              ATW specs
               CMI update...  I got screwed royally...
                       Floppy media-change fix
                                 GDOS
                    I can't resist sending this...
                        Line-A help requested
                   questions, questions, questions
                          Rich Covert, V.D.
----------------------------------------------------------------------
 
Date: 2 Nov 89 16:08:56 GMT
From: thelake!steve@umn-cs.cs.umn.edu  (Steve Yelvington)
Subject: atari-bashing/vaporware
 
In article <46950eee.14a1f@force.UUCP>,
     covertr@force.UUCP (Richard E. Covert) writes ...
 
>Well, people saw, and touched the Atari CD-ROM drive years ago, and everybody
>would agree that it is VaporWare.
 
I believe I saw a disagreement about that within the last week. Maybe it
was vapor, too.
 
>People saw and touched the 1400XL 6 years ago (back in the old 8 bit days) and
>everybody would agree that it is VaporWare.
 
Yeah, I'm really upset about that. I'm also angry that Ford won't sell me
an Edsel. Those corporate buzzards! What's happening to civilization,
anyway? Next thing you know, they'll take Gunsmoke and Bonanza off TV. At
least we still have Lawrence Welk. What? What do you mean, he's ....
 
>Atari has a long history of VaporWare. Remember the ST that was going to use
>the 68020 cpu?? It never came out either.
 
That's the real reason I bought my ST -- because I read some half-baked
rumor in an Atari magazine based on an offhand comment from an Atari
executive that they were working on a bigger/faster/better ST that would
make mine obsolete. (Sheesh!)
 
>But, maybe I should fly to Germany to buy an Atari computer??
>With all of the US dealers dropping Atari it may not be long before
>you have to fly to Germany to buy an Atari computer!!
 
All of the U.S. dealers are dropping Atari? Now, there's a Weekly World
News cover for you:
 
                  IT'S A VAPOR CAPER!
                  PHANTOM ATARI DEALERS
                  SPOTTED ACROSS AMERICA
                           *
                  "My Dealer is Alive,"
                  Elvis tells reporter
                           *
                     Roseanne Barr's
                   love child gets Lynx
                     for Christmas
                           *
                    Space alien types
                     on tiny computer
                     no bigger than a
                       videotape
                           *
                    Two-headed computer
                  invades shopping mall;
                     "I'm a Viking,"
                      one proclaims
 
>I still say that a product that can't be purchased MONTHS or YEARS after
>it was announced is VAPORWARE. And the STacy, the Lynx,the 1040STE, and the
>TT/P are all 100% VaporWare!!
 
The STacy is overdue, but I don't think I'm going to pee all over myself
because of it. I have not seen any announcement from Atari of the U.S.
availability of the STE or the TT (MegaStation). They'll be here when
they're here. Go take a valium, or study Zen, or something.
 
>Or do you know where I can buy one of them today??
 
Yeah. The Lynx is available. This is from Fidonet:
 
|From:    Joseph Muha
|To:      Joseph Muha               Msg #201, 28-Oct-89 10:37am
|Subject: LYNX
|
|Norm, I called the Sears 800 number, they were clueless for a while, but then
|the put me through to Chicago and BOOM, they called me back in 5 minutes (no
|lie) and I placed my order. The LYNX is on SALE right now, listing at $159.00
|I got mine for $147.50 and it will be here in 10 days!@ Thank you , thank you,
|1000 times, THANK YOU. Also, the cartridges are on sale too. I ordered
|Gauntlet III, but that is on BACK ORDER. The catalog number for the LYNX from
|Sears is   49 TD 75425. You can call from their many 800 numbers or the local
|store as long as you have the catalog number. Again Norm, thanks, you just
|made my Christmas!!!!! ;-)
 
 
   -- Steve Yelvington, up at the lake in Minnesota
  ... pwcs.StPaul.GOV!stag!thelake!steve             (UUCP)
 
------------------------------
 
Date: 2 Nov 89 18:53:24 GMT
From: uokmax!metnet!p0.f30.n147.z1.FIDONET.ORG!Mark.Johnson@apple.com  (Mark
 Johnson)
Subject: ATW specs
 
Strange about the previous comment about the MAX speed of the "fully
loaded" ATW being only 10MIPS, since all the specs I've seen quote the
STOCK ATW as being 10MIPS and that each additional transputer card
installed (up to a limit) adds 7.5MIPS....
 
 
 
--
Mark Johnson - via FidoNet node 1:147/10
UUCP: ...!att!occrsh!uokmax!metnet!30.0!Mark.Johnson
INTERNET: Mark.Johnson@p0.f30.n147.z1.FIDONET.ORG
 
------------------------------
 
Date: 2 Nov 89 21:30:42 GMT
From: att!drutx!druwy!med@ucbvax.Berkeley.EDU  (Myron E. Drapal)
Subject: CMI update...  I got screwed royally...
 
in article <883@uhnix2.uh.edu>, uace0@uhnix2.uh.edu (Michael B. Vederman) says:
>
> <stuff deleted>
>
> So now, CMI has my $300 and my ST!!!!  I am fuming mad, and would suggest that
> if anyone else out there is even considering doing business with this company
> to completely put it out of your mind!!!
>
> I have since contacted my local postal inspector and discussed the matter with
> him, and since the US Mail was involved, they are extremely interested in
> following up with mail fraud action...
 
I sincerely hope that you have better luck with the Postal Inspector than
I did (read that as *NO* help at all!).  I got stung by Hippo for an
EPROM programmer that never did work.  They ended up with the programmer
and about $200 of my cash, and the Postal Inspector was of *ABSOLUTELY*
no help.  We exchanged correspondence for about 6-8 months (with some
up close and personal interactions as well), and that was enough time
for Hippo to be totally gone, with no hope to recover any of my losses.
 
I do suspect, however, that you may have slightly better luck getting
your ounce (I guess I should say pound ;-)) of flesh from CMI, since
they still sell in the Amiga market as well (unless they've really
gone belly up).
 
>
> - mike
>
> The opinions expressed are my own, and do not in anyway reflect those of
> Double Click Software or any other living person...
>
 
                                        Myron Drapal
                                        med@druwy.att.com
 
------------------------------
 
Date: 2 Nov 89 18:56:08 GMT
From: uokmax!metnet!p0.f30.n147.z1.FIDONET.ORG!Mark.Johnson@apple.com  (Mark
 Johnson)
Subject: Floppy media-change fix
 
For the time being, any time you swap disk, be sure to either press the
ESC key or click on the top shaded bar of the item selector before
saving/reading to the new floppy. This forces a directory update of the
newly-inserted disk and will be a nice work-around until you can get to
a hardware solution.
 
.
 
 
 
--
Mark Johnson - via FidoNet node 1:147/10
UUCP: ...!att!occrsh!uokmax!metnet!30.0!Mark.Johnson
INTERNET: Mark.Johnson@p0.f30.n147.z1.FIDONET.ORG
 
------------------------------
 
Date: 2 Nov 89 18:48:02 GMT
From: uokmax!metnet!p0.f30.n147.z1.FIDONET.ORG!Mark.Johnson@apple.com  (Mark
 Johnson)
Subject: GDOS
 
GDOS is explained fairly well in several manuals that come with
GDOS-based applications for the ST.
 
 
 
--
Mark Johnson - via FidoNet node 1:147/10
UUCP: ...!att!occrsh!uokmax!metnet!30.0!Mark.Johnson
INTERNET: Mark.Johnson@p0.f30.n147.z1.FIDONET.ORG
 
------------------------------
 
Date: 3 Nov 89 04:37:47 GMT
From: phoenix@g.ms.uky.edu  (R'ykandar Korra'ti)
Subject: I can't resist sending this...
 
     If the P in TT/P stands for Plastic, will the T in TOS 1.6
stand for Tupperware?
                                                  - R'ykandar.
--
| R'ykandar Korra'ti, Editor, LOW ORBIT | phoenix@ms.uky.edu | CIS 72406,370 |
| Elfinkind, Unite! | phoenix@ukma.bitnet | PLink: Skywise | QLink: Bearclaw |
 
------------------------------
 
Date: 3 Nov 89 05:45:42 GMT
From:
 cs.utexas.edu!samsung!usc!merlin.usc.edu!nunki.usc.edu!jjung@tut.cis.ohio-state
.edu  (John Jung)
Subject: Line-A help requested
 
  Hi there. I'm trying to write a C application for the ST that copies a
raster block from a 32K buffer to the screen. According to the Laser C
documentation, all I need is:
 
        MFDB *source, *dest;
          :
        [MFDB's are assigned]
          :
        a_copyraster (source, dest);
 
  Problem is, I can't get it to work. I've verified that my MFDBs are set up
properly (they work fine with vro_cpyfm()). I've tried setting the various
line-a variables, to no effect. I'm out of ideas, and I need help.
 
  If anyone knows how to get this to work, I'd appreciate you writing a reply,
either by e-mail or by post. An actual example would be especially welcome.
Thanks for your time and patience.
 
                                                John
 
------------------------------
 
Date: 2 Nov 89 15:25:42 GMT
From:
 cs.utexas.edu!samsung!brutus.cs.uiuc.edu!rpi!crdgw1!ge-dab!peora!cmpfen!bob@tut
.cis.ohio-state.edu  (Bob Breum)
Subject: questions, questions, questions
 
covertr@force.UUCP (Richard E. Covert) writes:
>There are 2 main comerical Modem programs. FLASH is sold by ANTIC
>Software and Interlink by Intersect. I use FLASH exclusively because
>I like the builtin script and its editor. Also, FLASH is GEM based
>so I don't have to give up my favorite DAs (get MultiDesk real fast!!)
 
Flash is GEM-based?  Right.  Yeah, sure, you can summon up the menu
bar -- as long as you don't mind losing your terminal emulation screen
while you do so.  Flash is a refugee from the IBM PC world of user
interfaces, not a real GEM program.  You want a GEM terminal emulation
program?  Get ST-Talk Pro.  It's cheap, and it's a real GEM program.
 
Disclaimer:  I don't have any connection w/the ST-Talk people; I just
get disgusted with programmers who throw in a single menu bar or some
cutesy dialog boxes and think that they have written a GEM program.
Give me a break.
 
--
Computer Fenestrations                                                Bob Breum
Post Office Box 151             ?uiucuxc|hoptoad|petsd|ucf-cs?!peora!cmpfen!bob
Lake Monroe, FL 32747 USA
+1 407 322-3222 (if a modem answers, try 322-2002)         "C is the new BASIC"
 
------------------------------
 
Date: 02 Nov 89 22:54 GMT+0100
From: Carsten Schiers <schiers%imdm.uke.uni-hamburg.dbp.de@RELAY.CS.NET>
Subject: Rich Covert, V.D.
 
Hi there,
 
I suggest Rich Covert for the vaporman of the year. He might be touched
by his american girl-friend, but I can't buy him here in Europe.
 
Sorry for that, but I could not withhold this rubbish. Maybe, I got
infected by all this orgasmic intellectual discussions about Atari's
marketing practice.
 
Carsten.
 
Carsten Schiers
---------------------------------------------
DFNet:    schiers@imdm.uke.uni-hamburg.dbp.de
Usenet:   unido!imdm.uke.uni-hamburg.dbp.de!schiers
Bitnet:   schiers%imdm.uke.uni-hamburg.dbp.de@dfngate
Internet: schiers%imdm.uke.uni-hamburg.dbp.de@relay.cs.net
 
------------------------------
 
End of INFO-ATARI16 Digest V89 Issue #600
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