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INFO-ATARI16 Digest         Wed, 31 Jan 90       Volume 90 : Issue  134
 
Today's Topics:
                               Atari ST
                  Computer Music/ Software Synthesis
                         Fancy Screen Savers
                  IBM PC / ATARI ST Disk Screwed Up
                          PUBLISHING PARTNER
                   ST S/ware Rental Places (2 msgs)
              subscribe info-atari16 Jeffrey Contompasis
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Date: 31 Jan 90 20:11:27 GMT
From: netnews.upenn.edu!cps3xx!schultz@rutgers.edu  (David Schultz)
Subject: Atari ST
Message-ID: <6220@cps3xx.UUCP>
 
I just sold my Compaq "Luggable" and am looking to
 *UPGRADE* to an Atari.  I am looking for:
 
Atari 520 ST
(Expanded to 1 meg RAM)
(Preferably with RF port)
 
or
 
Atari 1040 ST
 
I need at least one external drive.
(Or a drive casing with power supply)
 
( I want to do some big projects as soon as I acclimate myself
to the Atari.  The 1 meg is a must.)
 
Please E-mail info and prices.
 
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Internet:       schultz@cpsin.cps.msu.edu
                schultzd@frith.egr.msu.edu
 
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Date: 31 Jan 90 20:13:18 GMT
From: mailrus!accuvax.nwu.edu!acns.nwu.edu!galanter@tut.cis.ohio-state.edu
 (Philip Galanter)
Subject: Computer Music/ Software Synthesis
Message-ID: <3378@accuvax.nwu.edu>
 
In article <18943@dartvax.Dartmouth.EDU> squibby@eleazar.dartmouth.edu
(Clark L. Breyman) writes:
>  Question: Is there a public domain port of any software synthesis
>         packages: cmusic, Csound, CARL Toolkit, Cmix ... for the ST?
>
>         If the ports aren't PD, how do the distributors handle the
copyright
>         portion as UCSD & MIT and Princeton own the stuff?
>
>         Is there a decent soundfile system for the ST? At what price?
>         ADC's or just DACS? Variable Sampling Rate?
>
>         Thanks,
>         Clark
 
Not sure about the Csound stuff...but in terms of hardware Hybrid Arts
makes direct to disc recording stuff for the ST/Mega that you could
perhaps get documentation on to use for soundfiles.  Also DigiDesign has
announced 'SoundTools" for the ST/Mega which could be used.  Also there is
a 45 Meg removable disk drive (based on Syquest (?) drives) available for
the Atari that would be good for sound files...should allow for about 4
minutes of CD quality audio.
 
Phil
 
 
 
|| Philip Galanter, Manager \\ 627 Dartmouth Place //   AppleLink: A42    \\
|| Advanced Technology Group \\ Evanston IL 60208 // Compuserve: 76474,154 \\
|| Northwestern Univ. - ACNS  \\ (708)-491-4050  //  galanter@acns.nwu.edu  \\
 
------------------------------
 
Date: 31 Jan 90 07:41:39 GMT
From: zephyr.ens.tek.com!orca.wv.tek.com!pogo!bluneski@beaver.cs.washington.edu
 (Bob Luneski)
Subject: Fancy Screen Savers
Message-ID: <8471@pogo.WV.TEK.COM>
 
On the subject of fancy screen savers...
 
There is a very nice one on Genie called STARSTRK.ARC (file #13445) that
displays random starbust pattern. Stars are in color on a color monitor
It's very nice on a mono monitor because you don't just get the black/white
reversal but a real screen saver. The downsides: 1) it's a ACC rather than
a autofolder item(i.e. it takes one of the six precious spots) 2) the idle
timeout length is hardwired to 3 minutes. All in all it's the best(and
certainly the most entertaining) screen saver around.
 
****************************************************************************
*  Bob Luneski  :-?                              bluneski@pogo.WV.TEK.COM  *
*                                                                          *
*  The opinions expressed herein are my own and in no way reflect the      *
*  opinions of Tektronix, Inc.                                             *
****************************************************************************
 
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Date: 28 Jan 90 22:11:53 GMT
From:
 zephyr.ens.tek.com!tektronix!percy!parsely!bucket!leonard@beaver.cs.washington.
 edu  (Leonard Erickson)
Subject: IBM PC / ATARI ST Disk Screwed Up
Message-ID: <1938@bucket.UUCP>
 
I'd say that the machine with the 1.44 Meg  drive is badly broken.
--
Leonard Erickson                ...!tektronix!reed!percival!bucket!leonard
CIS: [70465,203]
"I'm all in favor of keeping dangerous weapons out of the hands of fools.
Let's start with typewriters." -- Solomon Short
 
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Date: Wed, 31 Jan 90 16:54:49 AST
From: Alyre CHIASSON <CHIASSA%UDEM.BITNET@Forsythe.Stanford.EDU>
Subject: PUBLISHING PARTNER
Message-ID: <ID1021.D900131.T165449.CHIASSA@UDEM>
 
I now have a STAR NX-2400 (EP-LQ compatible) printer that I
would like to use with PUBLISHING PARTNER. If you have such
a driver could you a) let me know it exist and b) send me
a copy if it has
been released for distribution. Normally, I would call the
closest BBS (SECTOR, Halifax, N.S.) but they had a recent
fire and may not setup another BBS in the immediate future.
Thanks
 
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Date: 31 Jan 90 20:57:47 GMT
From: silver!stowe@iuvax.cs.indiana.edu  (stowe)
Subject: ST S/ware Rental Places
Message-ID: <34490@iuvax.cs.indiana.edu>
 
In article <1X1P|=@rpi.edu> kudla@pawl.rpi.edu (Robert J. Kudla) writes:
 >In <34325@iuvax.cs.indiana.edu> stowe@silver.ucs.indiana.edu (stowe) writes:
 >
 >-> Caveat emptor.  Let the buyer beware.  If you are in an area where
 >-> there is no dealer, learn to read... magazines, the network,
 >-> information services, bulletin boards... there is no dearth of
 >-> information available to the user who is truly interested in
 >-> finding it.  In the Age of Information, there is no excuse for
 >-> buying blind except perhaps laziness... and stupidity.
 
 >At any rate, I would hardly call the various software-review magazines
 >a plethora of information. To trust a reviewer completely is utter
 >stupidity; to trust two similar opinions might be all right, but it
 >still doesn't mean anything you buy will be your cup of tea. So,
 >without a demo, there are really two options: (1) don't bother buying
 >the software or (2) pirate it and if you really think it's worth the
 >$50, $100, etc, buy it then. At least, unless you're willing to just
 >toss $100 in the toilet every now and then when you buy a MagicSac
 >disguised as a Spectre.
 
As far as I'm concerned (and, hopefully, most of the people around here)
pirating is *NEVER* an option.  Piracy is theft.  Period.
 
I would never trust a single review, or for that matter, even two similar
reviews, however, a combination of factors will give the user an all-around
picture of the software.  Even still, life does not guarantee anything.
No matter how long you demo a package, you may well still get it home and
find it's not your cup of tea.
 
The main point is trusting the dealer from whom you buy your software,
even if they're not "local".  We have customers from all over the U.S.,
not just our local area.  As I stated in a portion of my posting that
was not quoted, returns are often a case-by-case basis.  If someone buys
a package from us and returns it, say, a week later with some legitimate
comments, criticisms, etc., about the package, there's no problem.  (For
example, we had a customer buy Weird Dreams... a few days later they came
back with it and some legitimate comments about why they did not enjoy
the game.  We issued a store credit which they saved and used against
some service they had done on the machine later.)  Now, if the customer
tries to return something every single time (or an extrodinary percentage
of the time), yes, then we're going to think twice about accepting the
return.
 
To give you an idea of how often this happens, though... in the two years
we've been open (and heaven-only-knows-how-many sales), I can think of
only 3 times off-hand when something has been returned because the customer
wasn't satisfied.  1)  Weird Dreams (as stated), 2)  A book that turned out
to be too elementary for the user's needs, and 3)  Migraph's Hand Scanner
(because the user couldn't find a way to import the resulting IMGs into
Art & Film Director without dithering his pen & ink drawings).  Now, there
could possibly be a few more, but certainly nothing extrodinary.
 
Choosing the right dealer honestly can make all the difference...  there
are some really good people out there.  Just as there's no need to buy
blindly, there's also no need to throw money away.
 
 
 
 
 
 
-=-=-                              -=-=-                                 -=-=-
stowe@silver.ucs.indiana.edu                    At night the Ice Weasels come.
-=-=-                              -=-=-                                 -=-=-
 
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Date: 31 Jan 90 20:18:43 GMT
From: matthews@umd5.umd.edu  (Mike Matthews)
Subject: ST S/ware Rental Places
Message-ID: <6061@umd5.umd.edu>
 
In article <27273@brunix.UUCP> rjd@cs.brown.edu (Rob Demillo) writes:
[stuff deleted]
>       (2) The Atari communities theft ratio is higher than
>               any other platform. (40-50% based on a two year
>               old Compute! article.) There could be many reasons
>               for this...my personal theory is that the Atari
>               community sprung (somewhat) out of the old
>               8 bit Atari community, where game theft was
>               rampant. Perhaps that philosophy held on into
>               the ST community.
>
[yes, this is an important issue, in response to the text I just deleted]
> - Rob DeMillo                 | Internet: rjd@brown.cs.edu
>   Brown University            | BITnet: DEMILLO%BRNPSG.SPAN@STAR.STANFORD.EDU
>   Planetary Science Group     | Reality: 401-273-0804 (home)
>"I say you *are* the Messiah, Lord! And I ought to know, I've followed a few!"
 
Compute! is a very unreliable source, quite frankly.  Matter of fact, there is
no reliable way of giving a percentage of users who are pirates, for any machine
(except maybe one that sells less than 100).  In the "recent" fiasco about
Spectrum Holobyte, the figures whoever it was who wrote the article (president
of SH or some high position) put in figures and misinterpreted them.  In that
article, the percentage of ST pirates was less than any other computer (IBM,
Apple).
 
It is my personal opinion, from my personal experiences and contacts, that the
percentage of ST pirates is far less than IBM and Apple (everybody I know who
has either of those brands of computers pirates; I know quite a few ST owners
who are honest... and quite a few who aren't).
 
And that doesn't mean diddly squat.
 
The only relevant fact is there is too much piracy in the ST community.
 
Mike
 
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Date: Wed, 31 Jan 90 16:02 EST
From: <JCONTOMP%TUFTS.BITNET@Forsythe.Stanford.EDU>
Subject: subscribe info-atari16 Jeffrey Contompasis
 
Subscribe JCONTOMP@TUFTS
 
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End of INFO-ATARI16 Digest V90 Issue #134
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