=========================================================================
 
INFO-ATARI16 Digest         Thu, 15 Feb 90       Volume 90 : Issue  211
 
Today's Topics:
                         A better GIF viewer
                  Database of PD-programs in the net
                            Fine scrollin'
                     Genie <-> Usenet 2-way trial
                              Net Access
                              PCDITTO II
                   Piggybacking RAM into the 1040ST
                      Reading from a data stream
                     Re Help with Opus and Bstat
                            Right Way?????
                         ST mice & longevity
                         The 'PHANTOM TYPIST'
                The ATARI ELITE ST ORG. of Pittsburgh.
                             zoo problems
----------------------------------------------------------------------
 
Date: 15 Feb 90 07:26:59 GMT
From: portal!portal!cup.portal.com!Bob_BobR_Retelle@apple.com
Subject: A better GIF viewer
Message-ID: <26944@cup.portal.com>
 
John Jung asked about a "better" GIF viewer...
 
There's one written in GFA BASIC called GIFNEO which does exactly as John
suggested...  if the original picture is larger than the ST lo-res screen,
it lets you scroll around the picture, with the ST screen as a "window" onto
the full GIF picture...
 
Unfortunately, it's VERY slow to convert the GIF pic, and once converted, the
scrolling is EXTREMELY slow.
 
It  DOES  do a very good job of converting the colors though, and allows savi
the ST screen window as a NEO format file.
 
GIFNEO is available on CompuServe, and BBSs all over the world...
 
However, as Mickey Boyd suggested, probably the best GIF converter I've
used is the DIGISPEC program from Trio Engineering.  It does compress a
larger GIF file down to fit the ST screen, and can cut off the top and
bottom (although it does let you choose where to center the final picture),
and will only save the final picture in SPECTRUM format (which can be a waste
if the picture is only 320x200x16colors, as a regular ST lo-res picture is),
but again as Mickey mentioned, it allows you to control the Brightnes
Contrast and Color Balance of the picture.  You can then convert the SPC
picture into a regular DEGAS format for the smaller filesize, if you wish.
 
It's fast, can be run as an ACCessory, and is available as a separate
program package from your local Atari software dealer...
 
BobR
 
------------------------------
 
Date: 90/02/15 11:26 MEZ
From: Thomas Neser <So01%Dmarum8.Bitnet@Forsythe.Stanford.EDU>
Subject: Database of PD-programs in the net
 
Dear netters,
wouldn't it be a good idea to built up a database on prog-a16@ueoguelph
where to store any information about PD in the net. Of course in categor
ies as there are games, graphics, word-processing, DTP, statistics etc.
if anybody is interested he could mail me wehre he has got the program
from, what it does and his expertiences, so that we can built up a help
file.
Thomas Neser <So01@Dmarum8.Bitnet>
 
------------------------------
 
Date: 16 Feb 90 01:04:29 GMT
From: rochester!kodak!elmgate!jdg@louie.udel.edu  (Jeff Gortatowsky CUST)
Subject: Fine scrollin'
Message-ID: <1205@elmgate.UUCP>
 
Well, a few reponses are in. And, A few of my Own experiments.
I have tried the VDI raster form functions. And, the results were
poor (specially movin' the entire screen (over itself if you will, boy,
is it POKEY!). So, I decided to go straight to the BLIT Line-a function.
After some finaglin' I got it working, It too is unacceptable, and the
screen gets all funky unless one VSyncs(). So, I decided, to see what'd
happen if I just Blit one plane (What we are doing here, BTW, is taking
3 logical displays (making up a "playfield") if you will, in low-res,
that are to be horizontally scrolled either left or right, smoothly, and
at a decent rate of speed) and It too was unacceptable. All of "my"
tests of the scrolling have been all "on screen", which, If a blit has
any brains about should "make a difference" (as in my tests, the source
& dest rects overlap). And it's a REAL sad performer, matter o' fact,
I'd bet bottom dollar that it could be DRASTICALLY speeded up. This
eve I will try from my actual playfield. One reply I recieved (of all 2
so far) stated troubles with sprites. Using the BLIT I'd see no real
problems. The obvious way to implement color sprites (an virtually any
size (though collisions can be another matter)) is to take your image,
Shift it all the way left in your buffer (so your "lead pixel") aligns
on a word boundary (or long word) and start shiftin the image through
each and every permutation of the 16/32 bits, then all one need do
is bleam the proper permutation onto/into your screen/buffer et el.
All one need do is find the pixel index into the word/longword where
ones coordinates lay, use it as an index to your sprite permutations.
Zippity aye' it works too, I've done it. It's quite simple actually,
just a little memory hungry and that can be finagled if one wishes
to do an on the fly RLE or some such item. I have never pushed it
(never had the need) over the amount of 16 32 bit sprites, but, the
performance is more than adequete.
 
--
Jeff Gortatowsky-Eastman Kodak Company  .....sun!sunrock!elmgate!jdg
(716)-726-0084
Eastman Kodak makes film not comments.  Therefore these comments are mine
not theirs.
 
------------------------------
 
Date: 15 Feb 90 08:08:18 GMT
From: portal!portal!cup.portal.com!Bob_BobR_Retelle@apple.com
Subject: Genie <-> Usenet 2-way trial
Message-ID: <26945@cup.portal.com>
 
Richard Covert asks:
>Also, is there anyway to get linked to GEnie's files?? I d/l quite a bit of
>GEnie files and it gets expensive!!
 
Forget it, Richard... the people who run GEnie are motivated by one thing,
and one thing only, and it begins with a capital  $$
 
They are no more likely to allow you access to their files (which account
for 60-75% of their revenue) for free, than they are likely to subscribe
to any minimal code of ethics...
 
Letting you read <giggle> and <tee hee> messages won't cost them anything,
and might even be written off as advertising for their real product, which
is the download libraries.
 
BobR
 
------------------------------
 
Date: 15 Feb 90 22:42:08 GMT
From: brunix!rjd@uunet.uu.net  (Rob Demillo)
Subject: Net Access
Message-ID: <29472@brunix.UUCP>
 
In article <18304@laurel.athertn.Atherton.COM> alex@Atherton.COM (Alex Leavens)
 writes:
>This was originally mail for Rob DeMillo (if he's still
>out there), but netmail keeps bouncing it.  In addition,
>it's got some info that other people might find useful...
>
>Rob,
>Dave Beckemeyer sells a UUCP package that works with
>his Multi-tasking C-shell.
 
Alex ---
 
Thanks for the suggestion. Fortunately, I was granted a
repreive, and I can keep my account.
 
However, the course of action you suggested (Beckmeyer's
C-Shell and UUCP code) is exactly what I intend to do
just for fun. (I have to wait until I buy a TT or STe first, so
my current ST can be freed up...)
 
Thanks for all the help...
 
 
 - 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!"
 
------------------------------
 
Date: 15 Feb 90 15:42:53 GMT
From: isc-br!lawrence@uunet.uu.net  (Lawrence Kelly)
Subject: PCDITTO II
Message-ID: <2745@isc-br.ISC-BR.COM>
 
In article <3703@uafhp.uark.edu> dhe@uafhcx.uucp (David Ewing) writes:
>
>that I'd ask....What's the current status on PCDITTO II?  The last I heard it
>was halted from shipping because of a bug that make it fail on certain ST's.
 
As far as the bug is concerned, you heard correctly.  Avante Garde recently
(2-12-90) posted a message on Genie confirming a timing problem between the
PCD II and the 68000 on the ST.
 
The proposed solution is to replace two PALS on the PCD II board (U27 and U15).
These are socketed and shouldn't be a problem.  They want those with problems to
remove them, mail them to AG and *then* they will send replacement chips.  I
 think
they have it backward.  They should send out the fix first.  PALS are dirt cheap
and readily available.
 
Since I don't have my PCD II yet, I'm hoping that it will arrive soon with the
 new
PALS and will run fine.
 
If you want an exercise in frustration, try calling AG at (904) 221-2904 9:00 a,
to 5:00 pm M-F.  I did.  It took me two days to get through.
 
Thos few who have a working PCD II say it's worth the wait.  Let's hope so.
SuperCharger is looking real good, but it's $399.
 
Shalom, lawrence
 
------------------------------
 
Date: 14 Feb 90 05:37:55 GMT
From:
 usenet.ins.cwru.edu!mailrus!hellgate.utah.edu!cc.utah.edu!cc.usu.edu!slh85@tut.
 cis.ohio-state.edu
Subject: Piggybacking RAM into the 1040ST
Message-ID: <18502@cc.usu.edu>
 
A couple of days ago I read a message about piggybacking RAM chips onto the
ones already in my 1040ST. It mentioned connecting a single line into the MMU.
Is this possible, and if so which line on the MMU should I connect to.
 
Thanks.
 
Kurt Olsen (SLH85@CC.USU.EDU)
 
------------------------------
 
Date: 16 Feb 90 00:22:57 GMT
From:
 zaphod.mps.ohio-state.edu!rpi!uupsi!rodan!rodan.acs.syr.edu!dinapoli@tut.cis.oh
 io-state.edu  (Ron DiNapoli)
Subject: Reading from a data stream
Message-ID: <2099@rodan.acs.syr.edu>
 
I am interested in reading a serial stream going at 230K bits/sec into
my ST.  I've been thinking of using the drive port (documentation says
it moves at 250K bits/sec) but I am not sure it will work.  I'd like to
avoid using the internal expansion bus...  any ideas?
 
Ron DiNapoli
 
------------------------------
 
Date: 90/02/15 11:26 MEZ
From: Thomas Neser <So01%Dmarum8.Bitnet@Forsythe.Stanford.EDU>
Subject: Re Help with Opus and Bstat
 
Dear netters,
Thnaks to the man who sent me the nice gwbasro of version 2. Unfortu-
nately i had this before and the Bstatprogramm of Prof. Liebowitz was
not in gwbasic 2. Another man asked me where i had the gemini from and
i can only say i haven't it from the net, but of  friend of mine. The
problem i have with bstat seems to be with the corrupted gwbasro in the
arc, with could come from net problems. The way of the arc i must take
is normally IBM - Siemens BS2000 - PC - ST. Of course someone has got
the bstat and could mail me a correct version of gwbasro. The problem
with opus chart features seems to come from the bad gdos version i have.
Of course the printer driver of the gdos, which came with gemini are bad
I tried to use the gdos of timeworks publisher, but no better results.
Of course someone in the net has a pure version of gdos or it is some-
where in the net.
Any information is appreciated
Thomas Neser <So01@Dmarum8.Bitnet>
P.S.: To TEX
I think best way is to put TEX in the server on Ueguelph. If someone
can give me the postal adress of the admin i can send him the disks.
 
------------------------------
 
Date: 15 Feb 90 07:14:41 GMT
From: portal!portal!cup.portal.com!Bob_BobR_Retelle@apple.com
Subject: Right Way?????
Message-ID: <26943@cup.portal.com>
 
Yer in a Jungle, it's getting dark, you see a signpost and a native...
 
You ask him if his name is Sam Tramiel, and if he says yes, you don't believe
a word he says, and take the opposite path from whatever he says, to safety..
 
BobR
 
------------------------------
 
Date: 14 Feb 90 11:10:37 GMT
From: hp-sdd!ncr-sd!ncrlnk!ncrwic!wsucsa!mwjester@hplabs.hpl.hp.com
Subject: ST mice & longevity
Message-ID: <13257@wsucsa.uucp>
 
In article <9002122041.AA18144@fsucs.cs.fsu.edu>,
    boyd@fsucs.cs.fsu.edu (Mickey Boyd) writes:
>
>    1.  To my knowledge, there are three types of ST mice around.  The
>        very first ones were marked as being from Germany.  The next
>        batch is made in Taiwan (I think), and has a sliding mouse-ball
>        door, and plain metal rollers which get all gummy with heavy use.
>        The new ones have a rotating ball door, and have white plastic
>        covers on the metal rods, and do not seem to collect nearly as
>        much gunk.  Are there any more types?
>
>    2.  I happen to own one of the new ones (fat plastic roller covers).  It
>        has laughed at my attempts to wear it out.  It doesn't make any of
>        the weird noises that I hear from the older types (after some use).
>        Are my Microsoft plans unfounded?  Has Atari actually produced a
>        long lasting mouse?  Mine seems to feel smoother than the older types,
>        buttons feel the same.
>
> Enquiring minds want to know!!
 
My mouse (early 86 vintage) appears to be of the second type (metal rollers,
sliding door); it is marked as made in Japan.  About 2 years ago I had to
degunk the rollers (simple operation: Qtips and rubbing alcohol), but that's
the only maintenance it ever needed. BTW, up until then I had only used the
mouse on a bare desktop; shortly after that I acquired a mouse pad and have
since had no gunk problems, although why this should be so is not entirely
clear to me.
 
Max J.
 
------------------------------
 
Date: 14 Feb 90 14:44:21 GMT
From: ingr!b11!jmack@uunet.uu.net  (Cery McCormick)
Subject: The 'PHANTOM TYPIST'
Message-ID: <7448@b11.ingr.com>
 
In article <3832@harrier.ukc.ac.uk>, jbww@ukc.ac.uk (J.B.W.Webber) writes:
> In article <13352@watcgl.waterloo.edu> wsflinn@watcgl.waterloo.edu (Scott
 Flinn) writes:
> >
> >Has anybody else noticed any correlation between rapid sequences of
> >keystrokes (involving multiple backspaces) and the appearance of the Phantom?
 
        On the Atari, when you hit a key, the keyboard uP sends a 'make'
code via interrupt to the 68000. When you let off of a key, a 'break' code
is sent. If for some reason (fast typing?) the 'break' code for a key
never gets sent, the 68000 will think that the key is still being pressed
down.
        I ran into this problem when trying to disable all interrupts for
a long period of time. The 'break' code got lost and so the keys just kept
coming until you pressed another one.
        Is this a resonable explanation??
 
------------------------------
 
Date: 16 Feb 90 00:10:22 GMT
From:
 zaphod.mps.ohio-state.edu!uwm.edu!cs.utexas.edu!jarvis.csri.toronto.edu!neat.cs
 .toronto.edu!omicron.cs.fsu.edu!fsucs.cs.fsu.edu!boyd@tut.cis.ohio-state.edu
 (Mickey Boyd)
Subject: The ATARI ELITE ST ORG. of Pittsburgh.
Message-ID: <9002160011.AA02563@fsucs.cs.fsu.edu>
 
In article <2993@water.waterloo.edu>, ljdickey@water.waterloo.edu (L.J.Dickey)
 writes:
>
>With some trepidation, i dare to rush in.  (Mr Karbowsky, flames to /dev/null.)
>
>More than one person has said to me that they thought this board
>(The ATARI ELITE ST ORG. of Pittsburgh) has pirated software.
>
>In the past maybe this was so, maybe not.
>Does anyone have some concrete evidence?
>
>Mr D.Karbowsky denies it is so:
>
>In article <4125@cuphub.cup.edu> kar7481@cuphub.cup.edu (Dan
 Karbowsky;AtariEliteOfPghPa bbs412-384-5609) writes:
>
>       [ nasties deleted ]
>
> | The Auto-Boss/Atari-Elite ST-BBS is *NOT* a pirate board.  Why would you
> | assume such anyway???
>
>       [ more nasties deleted ]
>
>If this is a prirate board, perhaps it should be shut down.
>If not, accusers should stop throwing stones.
>
>
>Does the board give the impression of being a Pirate Board?
>Does it promise expensive software?
>
>Or, I wonder, is there another board in the neighborhood that has
>a similar name?
>
>
>
>--
>    L. J. Dickey, Faculty of Mathematics, University of Waterloo.
>       ljdickey@water.UWaterloo.ca     ljdickey@water.BITNET
>       ljdickey@water.UUCP             ..!uunet!watmath!water!ljdickey
>       ljdickey@water.waterloo.edu
 
I believe the confusion was caused by the word ELITE in the name.  Most
pirate boards appear to be normal unless one has 'elite' access.  Then
the pirated programs can be downloaded.  The section of software that is
pirated (on the BBS HD) is usually called the 'elite' section.  You would
be suprised at the number of so-called 'normal' boards that are actually
pirate boards of some degree.  As always, this is IMHO.
 
 
--
 
    -----------------------------------------------------------------------
    ---------------------------------+-------------------------------------
              Mickey Boyd            |    "Nobody can be exactly like me.
         FSU Computer Science        |      Even I have trouble doing it."
      mail:  boyd@fsucs.cs.fsu.edu   |              - Tallulah Bankhead
    ---------------------------------+-------------------------------------
    -----------------------------------------------------------------------
 
------------------------------
 
Date: 14 Feb 90 11:03:11 GMT
From: hp-sdd!ncr-sd!ncrlnk!ncrwic!wsucsa!mwjester@hplabs.hpl.hp.com
Subject: zoo problems
Message-ID: <13255@wsucsa.uucp>
 
In article <9221@cbnewsm.ATT.COM>, wao@cbnewsm.ATT.COM (william.a.oswald)
 writes:
> Has anyone on the net successfully unpacked a zoo file
> (anything.zoo) using any of the available zoo programs?
> I have down loaded several .zoo files using XMODEM and
> KERMIT and have tried to unpack them using several ZOO
> programs (booz for example). Nothing works. I always
> get a CRC error.
>
> Thanks
> Bill wao@cbnewsm.att.com
>      wao@aloft.att.com
 
I originally got zoo from terminator (the file zoobin.arc, if I recall) and
have had very few problems...and these problems have been caused by doing a
file transfer in the wrong mode.  A typical sequence for me might be:
 
ftp a file from an internet site to the local VAX
kermit the file from VAX to ST (using Uniterm)
unzoo the file
 
As long as I remember to use binary as the type, things come out OK.  For the
FTP part, this usually means SET TYPE I; on the VAX end of Kermit, it's SET
FILE TYPE BINARY.  In Uniterm, binary is an option on the Kermit dialog box.
One check that helps when FTPing - the number of bytes transferred should be
equal to the filesize (if the host lists sizes in bytes, e.g.Unix).  If the
counts don't match, you _will_ get CRC errors.
 
Hope this helps - feel free to email with questions.
 
Max J.
 
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End of INFO-ATARI16 Digest V90 Issue #211
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