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INFO-ATARI16 Digest         Fri, 23 Feb 90       Volume 90 : Issue  251
 
Today's Topics:
            "ATARI ELITE..."-- * PLEASE CHANGE SUBJECT!!!
                            4 Meg upgrades
                      Make my STe sweat...?????
                      Need answers for questions
                 Overscan (was Re: Editor Wanted!!!)
    Re~2: Club pirating orgies (planting viruses: The Amiga Lamer
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Date: 23 Feb 90 19:03:13 GMT
From: bu.edu!dartvax!eleazar.dartmouth.edu!dav@eddie.mit.edu  (William David
 Haas)
Subject: "ATARI ELITE..."-- * PLEASE CHANGE SUBJECT!!!
Message-ID: <19666@dartvax.Dartmouth.EDU>
 
<[Dan and a lot of other people talk about Piracy/Software Thieves and
<User Groups.  Dan complains about their user group being defamed because
<it has the word Elite in the name.]
 
<Dan,
 
 
<it's also a very difficult (read: impossible) task to redefine a term that
<has been so closely associated with software theft for probably 10 years now.
<There are many terms that people use as a cloak to cover up their real
<meaning.  The word "elite" is one that software thieves use.  Unfortunately
<for your user group, having that word in the name will probably forever
<associate your group with software theft in the minds of people.  I don't
<know when or how your group was named, but it was not the best choice for
<that reason alone.  Perhaps the group once began as a theft group and has
<since changed its ways, I don't know, but it's unlikely that as long as
<it retains "Elite" in the name that people will not think of software theft.
<Perhaps (and sadly) your group should consider a name change.
 
 
Thats funny... I thought Elite! was a space game.
The word is being used wrong...  lets wipe out the thieves and we wont
have the problem.
 
;)
 
(Yeah.. I know.. easier said than done).
 
------------------------------
 
Date: 23 Feb 90 19:25:30 GMT
From:
 elroy.jpl.nasa.gov!usc!zaphod.mps.ohio-state.edu!uwm.edu!carroll1!dnewton@decwr
 l.dec.com  (Dave Newton the Late)
Subject: 4 Meg upgrades
Message-ID: <1239@carroll1.cc.edu>
 
   I've got a 1040STfm that I'd like to upgrade to 4 Meg so I can use g++.
I'd like any information on upgrade kits, i.e. company, price, can it go from
2 Meg to 4 Meg without throwing away some chips, etc.
   If there is sufficient interest I will summarize to the net.
   Thanks in advance...
 
--
David L. Newton                 |           uunet!marque!carroll1!dnewton
(414) 524-7343 (work)           |              dnewton@carroll1.cc.edu
(414) 524-6809 (home)           |           100 NE Ave, Waukesha WI 53186
 
------------------------------
 
Date: 23 Feb 90 06:46:19 GMT
From:
 imagen!atari!portal!portal!cup.portal.com!Bob_BobR_Retelle@ucbvax.Berkeley.EDU
Subject: Make my STe sweat...?????
Message-ID: <27242@cup.portal.com>
 
Paul Sears asked:
>I am new on this  newsgroup.  I have an Atari 520ST upgraded to 1 meg.  I am
>aware of the new products that Atari is planning on releasing but this STe i
>new to me.   I have only heard of the TT and the Stacey Laptop - unless the
>is the same as the Stacey....  Someone give me some info...
 
The STE is a minor upgrade to the original ST series.  It is externally
a 1040 ST with the letter "e" at the end of the model number and several
new ports and plugs.
 
Internally, the machine has been completely redesigned with a few added
features in addition to the standard ST.
 
There is a two channel PCM digital sound system, which allows almost CD
quality stereo sound in addition to the standard Yamaha sound chip through
the monitor speaker.  The PCM sound comes out two RCA style jacks on the back
of the STE and can be used to drive a stereo system.
 
There are two new ports on the left side of the machine, both are DB-15
connectors.  These can be used for analog joysticks, paddles or even
light pens or light guns.  Atari does not currently offer anything to plug
into these ports, but is hoping third-party companies will take up the
challenge and come out with some nifty gizmos to utilize the new ports.
From what I've been able to gather, these ports are somewhat similar to the
A/D ports on the Atari 800.
 
The system incorporates some new graphics hardware, which allows selection of
colors from a pallatte of 4096 colors.  The resolution is the same as the
standard ST, and only 16 colors can still be displayed at one time, but it
will allow finer graduations of color, valuable for ditization (for one
example).  The graphics hardware also includes the ability to "fine-scroll"
the screen, eliminating the need for mass copying of data in software,
resulting in faster and cleaner animations.  The STE also comes with the
legendary blitter chip.
 
Probably the greatest departure from Atari policy of the past is the use
of standard SIMM modules for memory expansion.  The basic 1 Meg STE can
*easily*  be upgraded to 4 Megs, and rather inexpensively as well.  According
to Bob Brodie, Atari doesn't plan to sell very many 4160STEs (4 Meg units)
since it would be so easy to upgrade the 1040STE.
 
In my opinion, this change in policy regarding memory upgrading is one of
the most positive moves Atari has made in 5 years.  (The other of course
being hiring Bob Brodie...   :)
 
The STE is planned to replace the 520 and 1040 models sold through Atari
computer dealers, while the 520 will be sold through "mass marketers" like
Montgomery Ward and Target stores as part of a $399 package bundled with
a group of software packages to be called the "Atari Advantage" or the "Atari
Power Pack"  (they're not sure yet).
 
The STACEY is a completely different product... it's tranportable version
of the standard 1040ST.
 
The STACEY should be available once Conner, the hard disk manufacturer
corrects a bug in its drives, and the STE should be available in the US once
a new RF shield is passed by the FCC...
 
BobR
 
------------------------------
 
Date: 23 Feb 90 07:00:50 GMT
From:
 imagen!atari!portal!portal!cup.portal.com!Bob_BobR_Retelle@ucbvax.Berkeley.EDU
Subject: Need answers for questions
Message-ID: <27243@cup.portal.com>
 
Derrick Williams and Robert Gambs asked about a program which would display
color pictures on the medium-res desktop.
 
Coming soon from Darek Mihocka (co-father of the Quick ST Utilities and
father of the ST-Xformer 8-bit emulator) is  Quick ST II, his "software
blitter" which now not only speeds up text and GEM functions by several times
but also lets you load custom fill patterns for the desktop, or .PI2 and .PI3
Degas format pictures.
 
My monochrome desktop now displays a picture of Pattie Rayl, editor of the
Atari Interface Magazine...           :)
 
Quick ST II is a commercial version of the program Darek had previously
released as shareware. It's much faster, smaller, and more powerful. It's
price will be (I think..!)  $19.95    Watch for the ad in this month's
AIM magazine..!
 
BobR
 
------------------------------
 
Date: 23 Feb 90 20:56:25 GMT
From:
 cs.utexas.edu!uwm.edu!zaphod.mps.ohio-state.edu!math.lsa.umich.edu!hyc@CS.YALE.
 EDU  (Howard Chu)
Subject: Overscan (was Re: Editor Wanted!!!)
Message-ID: <11126@stag.math.lsa.umich.edu>
 
From a mail message from Mark O'Bryan @ gumby.cc.wmich.edu:
%Howard, could you post a list of what software you know of that works with
%the OverScan mod, either to the group or to me?
 
I don't use an awful wide variety of software. Things I've used recently
with no hassles include - NeoDesk 2.05, Gulam, UnixWindows, WordFlair (demo),
most desk accessories, miscellaneous GEM programs. Notable hassles are
TurboST (all versions) and WordUp 2.0. I modified zmdm and Uniterm to get them
working properly. Some of the VDI routines clip in a 640x400 (or 640x200)
rectangle; I don't understand why only some do and others don't. (Maybe
G+Plus is saving me some of the time? I haven't tried removing that... Hm.)
Likewise with Line-A, so I don't know where the problem arises just yet.
I know some specific problems from Uniterm, which may also be happening in
other programs - for one, adding a 16 bit integer to any address register
is bad news. Adding to an address register always affects all 32 bits of
the register. If the 16 bit integer has the high bit set, it's treated
as a negative number, so the ADD becomes a SUBTRACT! This happens a lot
in code to calculate drawing offsets from a screen base, and needless to
say, it winds up drawing all over something it shouldn't have - usually
the stack. This is really Bomb city. This usually isn't a problem, since
the maximum offset would ordinarily be 32000 (a nice, safe, positive
integer...). But for larger screens, well... you get the picture.  ?-)
 
%
%I've thought about doing the OverScan mod a couple times (this is the hard-
%ware + software mod, right?), but have held off because I figured it was
 
Yep, hardware & software.
 
%of little use if nothing (i.e. most applications) would work with it.  I
%think I've still got all the files for this laying about somewhere.
%
%Does it seem worth the effort to you?  Has the hardware hack made your
%system any less reliable?  Did you install a switch to convert back to
%normal mode?  And to refresh my memory, what exactly are the extended
%pixel resolutions you get?
 
Hm. It wasn't a heck of a lot of effort, really. I like it, though now
I'm itching to get a multi-sync monitor attached, so I can expand even
further... With an SM124 monochrome monitor, you can get 688x480 pixels.
On the SC1224 color monitor, you get 720x280. I have a toggle switch
coming out the front of the machine to switch between overscan and normal
mode. When I'm into some heavy hacking, I usually use overscan so I get
more code onto a screen in a text editor. I don't think any games work
with it, so I have to switch it off for Falcon and Dungeon Master (for
example... ?-). On a multi-scan/multi-sync monitor, you should be able to
get 800x560 or something like that. (I don't remember the exact numbers
offhand.)
 
--
  -- Howard Chu @ University of Michigan
 
------------------------------
 
Date: 23 Feb 90 13:44:46 GMT
From: mcsun!ukc!axion!galadriel!stevep@uunet.uu.net  (Steve Paine)
Subject: Re~2: Club pirating orgies (planting viruses: The Amiga Lamer
Message-ID: <590@galadriel.bt.co.uk>
 
news@uncmed.med.unc.edu (Usenet News Account) writes:
>     The Amiga world is already the unfortunate victim of a virus that was
>apparantly meant as an attack on pirates called "lamers", hence the name
>Lamer Exterminator.  It works by screwing up diskcopies (only) by, I
>believe, writing the word "LAMER" to random blocks during a diskcopy.
>Needless to say this virus rapidly escaped the bounds of pirates and is in
>the general Amiga community.  I am not sure who I would consider the
>bigger scumbuckets,  big time pirates or destructive virus programmers,
>so it is hard to decide the lesser of these two evils.
 
Tell me about it. I got the LAMER virus from somewhere, and it got on to
one of my development disks. The worst thing about it was that I had just
bought a second hand disk drive and I put the disk error messages down to the
new drive needing allignment.
After some 2 MONTHS of extra backups (obviously making the problem worse)
I had so many errors that it was getting rediculous. Out came the disk editor
and there was the LAMER!LAMER!LAMER!LAMER block. SHIT! By using combinations
of backups the only thing I lost was time, but at least it taught me to
forget 'It will never happen to me' syndrome! - VIRUSX3.2 caught it on
over 70% of my disks after I started using it! To be honest i'm more
annoyed at myself for not having a virus exterminator than the mindless
berk who put it there in the first place.
 
        Thank you and goodnight!
 
Steve Paine.
 
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End of INFO-ATARI16 Digest V90 Issue #251
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