INFO-ATARI16 Digest         Wed,  7 Feb 90       Volume 90 : Issue  170
 
Today's Topics:
                          Abaq: where is it?
                                Gemini
            In DEFENSE of MAGNAVOX...Where's the Facts???
                             New SH205's
                         Notes for Europeans.
                             PC Emulators
                          PD Music Players?
                       ST S/ware Rental Places
                      Uniterm metafiles (2 msgs)
           Using Atari mono-monitor as a composite monitor
----------------------------------------------------------------------
 
Date: 7 Feb 90 08:17:49 GMT
From: linus!nixbur!nixpbe!mboen@think.com  (Martin Boening)
Subject: Abaq: where is it?
Message-ID: <1188@nixpbe.UUCP>
 
It isn't Abaq anymore, its ATW now, the Atari Transputer Workstation.
So if you or anybody else is still looking for info on the Abaq, forget
it. Look around for infos on the ATW instead.
 
Greetings
Martin Boening
--
Email: in the   USA ->  ...!uunet!philabs!linus!nixbur!mboening.pad
       outside  USA ->  ?...!mcvax?!unido!nixpbe!mboening.pad
Paper Mail: Martin Boening, Nixdorf Computer AG, DS-CC22,
            Pontanusstr. 55, 4790 Paderborn, W.-Germany
 
------------------------------
 
Date: 7 Feb 90 16:52:20 GMT
From: mcsun!ukc!icdoc!syma!grahamt@uunet.uu.net  (Graham Thomas)
Subject: Gemini
Message-ID: <2132@syma.sussex.ac.uk>
 
From article <9002051409.AA00372@hugin.math.dmswwu>, by ONM65@DMSWWU1A.BITNET
 (Operator Stefan):
> Hello, world!
>
> I've read some messages descibing the new desktop named
> GEMINI and I realized, that now's the time to mail some
> words of explanation.
>
The Gemini desktop as described in the rest of the above message sounds
a lot like NeoDesk.  Has anyone been able to compare them yet, and with
what results?
 
Graham
--
Graham Thomas, SPRU, Mantell Building, U of Sussex, Brighton, BN1 9RF, UK
 JANET: grahamt@uk.ac.sussex.syma  EARN/BITNET: grahamt@syma.sussex.ac.uk
 ARPA:  grahamt%syma.sussex.ac.uk@nsfnet-relay.ac.uk
 UUCP:  grahamt@syma.uucp          Phone: +44 273 686758
 
------------------------------
 
Date: 8 Feb 90 01:42:52 GMT
From: agate!stew.ssl.berkeley.edu!johnf@ucbvax.Berkeley.EDU  (John Flanagan)
Subject: In DEFENSE of MAGNAVOX...Where's the Facts???
Message-ID: <1990Feb8.014252.7817@agate.berkeley.edu>
 
Didn't know people could get so defensive about their monitors.
 
In article <3787@cuphub.cup.edu> kar7481@cuphub.cup.edu (Dan
 Karbowsky;AtariEliteOfPghPa bbs412-384-5609) writes:
>In article <1990Jan30.182032.26630@agate.berkeley.edu>,
 johnf@stew.ssl.berkeley.edu (John Flanagan) writes:
>> If this is the same monitor which was being sold under the Commodore
>> nameplate as the 1084 for a while, it is junk.  Ask any 1084 owner
>
>WHY is it "JUNK"? maybe you could enlighten me(us) on this...
 
There are two main problems that Magnavox/1084 owners have had:
 
1) It frequently goes blurry in interlace mode.  This may not matter
   to Atari owners, since they don't use interlace mode, but I use it all
   the time and I have to live with this flaw every day.  I've brought
   it to the repair shop, and they can't figure it out.
 
2) The picture on the monitor snaps every couple of minutes.  This seems
   to be curable.
 
In addition, there have been several reports in the comp.sys.amiga about
bad solder joints being found inside the monitor, which have caused
intermittent failures.
 
>I have had NO PROBLEMS WHATSOEVER with mine. (It is a year newer than the
>Commodore-1084 model that Magnavox made--but for all intents and purposes,
>it's the same monitor...)
 
Great.  I don't claim that every single monitor is bad, but they do
seem to have had a pretty big quality control problem there
for a while.  Maybe they've since fixed it.
 
>Maybe you should do your research a little better commode-door owner!
>
>PHILLIPS CORP. IS THE PARENT COMPANY OF MAGNAVOX!!!
 
Oh well, I was only guessing.  I thought I'd heard that Philips was
the new manufacturer.  Maybe not.  Even if they are, there is no reason
that a company couldn't have one bad model and another perfectly good one.
 
Look, I was only trying to warn you of the experiences we Amiga owners
have had with one of the monitors that were being mentioned as possible
replacements for the Atari monitor.  Why did that warrant such a violent
reaction?
 
John Flanagan                           Space Sciences Laboratory
johnf@soc1.ssl.berkeley.edu             University of California
(...!ucbvax!soc1.ssl!johnf)             Berkeley, CA 94720
Manners Maketh Man.                     (415) 643-6308
 
------------------------------
 
Date: 7 Feb 90 15:48:43 GMT
From: pallas!lbert359@uunet.uu.net  (Lee Bertagnolli)
Subject: New SH205's
Message-ID: <273@pallas.athenanet.com>
 
For sale:
 
Two *brand new, never been out of the box* Atari SH205 disk drives.
Make an offer...
 
Lee Bertagnolli
?uunet?!pallas!lbert359
lbert359@athenanet.com
 
------------------------------
 
Date: Tue, 6 Feb 90  14:45 GMT
From: Jan Ameij <AMEIJ%vax.oxford.ac.uk@NSFnet-Relay.AC.UK>
Subject: Notes for Europeans.
 
Hello.
 
This is a quick note to those European subscribers who through their ignorance
are clogging up this newletter.
 
1) (Un)subscription. Do this through a listserver. The one I use is
   listserv@finhutc. If in doubt send your request to your nearest one and it
   will forward it. The message required is "(un)subscribe info-a16". Do not
   send such messages to the list itself - it only gives us a good laugh at
   your ignorance.
 
2) Submission. Send them to info-atari16@wsmr-simtel20.army.mil. It's up to
   you to find out how to get things there. UK users send it through
   uk.ac.nsfnet-relay. do not send things to Stanford, as they then get
   broadcast in uncollated form. Again, we snigger at your ignorance.
 
Got it? If not, a) ask someone who knows about these things and b) ask yourself
if you are really suited to this form of communication. Perhaps it would be
better to learn a little more first?
 
 
 
                                                Jan Ameij.
 
 
 
------------------------------
 
Date: 17 Jan 90 05:14:50 GMT
From: mailrus!uflorida!winnie!zach!la062594@ames.arc.nasa.gov  ( John Karp)
Subject: PC Emulators
Message-ID: <745@winnie.fit.edu>
 
For all who are curious about PC-DITTO II, yes it is finally shipping, however
if you haven't received yours yet, don't holold your breath...  Mine came in the
 mail a few days ago, and as was mentioned in a previous bulletin, neither
mine, nor anyone else's final release version actually works.  Apparently
there is a defective chip on the board, which the manufacturer didn't catch.
AVANT GARDE SYSTEMS is currently working on this problem, and has decided to
postpone any mention of shipping until this problem has been rectified, which
seems to make sense.  My computer works fine in ST mode with the board
 installedso I just pretend it never came.  AVANT GARDE has promised to keep
 GENIE users
informed of the staus of the fix, and as soon as I know something else I will
post the info to the net.  While I admit that I was annoyed about being sent a
board that didn't work, I was able to reach Avant Garde by phone, and they were
very courteous and helpful.  They promised to find the problem withtin the next
 few days, and said that I had the option of returning the board for a full
refund if I prefer.  Not suffering from IBMitis, I don't mind waiting a few
more days for a working emulator.
 
John P. Karp
 
------------------------------
 
Date: 8 Feb 90 02:52:16 GMT
From: mentor.cc.purdue.edu!g4r@purdue.edu  (Drew Burnett)
Subject: PD Music Players?
Message-ID: <7220@mentor.cc.purdue.edu>
 
   Can anyone recommend a good PDware music program to play the mass of .sng
files that I have accumulated?  I would prefer a program that would work in
mono instead of color, but I could go with color if necessary ...
 
Thanks in advance.
 
 
--
-------------------------------------------------------------
| Andy Burnett              |   The more things change,     |
| g4r@mentor.cc.purdue.edu  |   the more they stay insane.  |
-------------------------------------------------------------
 
------------------------------
 
Date: 7 Feb 90 22:09:48 GMT
From: cs.utexas.edu!asuvax!hrc!force!covertr@tut.cis.ohio-state.edu  (Richard E.
 Covert)
Subject: ST S/ware Rental Places
Message-ID: <48822c87.14a1f@force.UUCP>
 
In article <28201@brunix.UUCP>, rjd@cs.brown.edu (Rob Demillo) writes:
>
> The reason I can say this is because I have attended ST User Group
> meetings in three different communities. In all three cases, the
> scene is entirely the same: a brief meeting is held, some software
> is demoed, then what can only be described as an orgy of software
> piracy begins. Its mallicious, its organized, and its massive.
> There is usually two or three double disked STs set up, with an
> operator at each. Club members bring their own diskettes, and they
> are free to choose from a menu that not only includes public domain
> and shareware, but also commercial copies of Lattice C, Word Perfect,
> Games (there are copy protection buster programs available for all to
> use), spredsheets, business software, etc etc etc...
        ~~~~~~~~~~~  spreadsheets?? <grin>
 
>
> I have *never* seen anything like it. When I brought it up to those
> present, the attitude was pretty similar to what I've seen on this
> net: either alot of snickering "why shouldn't we?" to "Hey, we have to
> test this tuff out before we buy it, don't we?" Quite literally
> 100's of copies of commercial software left the premises on those
> evenings.
>
> I have been to IBM and Amiga user gorup meetings, and I have
> *never* seen that type of blatant theft. Sure, there were some
> mumbled exchanges of unlabeled disks between people, but nothing
> on the scale or magnitude that I have seen at Atari meetings.
>
> The only Atari meetings where I have not seen that activity are meetings
> conducted by the BCS is Boston.
>
>
>  - Rob DeMillo                        | Internet: rjd@brown.cs.edu
 
 
Well, all I can say is that WE DON'T DO THAT at PHAST!!!
 
I repeat
WE DON'T DO THAT at PHAST!!!WE DON'T DO THAT at PHAST!!!
WE DON'T DO THAT at PHAST!!!
WE DON'T DO THAT at PHAST!!!
 
I have never heard of Atari clubs doing that. When I lived in Denver I attended
both 8bit and ST clubs, and in neither club was Piracy allowed!!! In fact,
it was never even mentioned in the Denver clubs.
 
And I know for a fact that we don't pirate software in Phoenix. I work as a full
 time
programmer and there is NO WAY that I would be President of a Club that allowed,
or even tolerated, Piracy.
 
I don't know how many other clubs do allow that, but you can attend any of our
club meetings, which are always held on the Second Saturday of the month, and
see for yourself!!
 
 
In fact, I am trying to get Special Interest Groups started so that we can
split up after the demos (gotta wow the folks with the latest games :-) )
and talk about favorite programs. I sent out a survey this week to all members
to find out what they what in a meeting.
 
.
.
.
.
.
 
--
 Richard E. Covert, Lead Engineer of Software Tools Group
 AG Communications Systems, Phoenix AZ   (602) - 581-4652
 TCP/IP: covertr@gtephx
 UUCP: ?ncar!noao!asuvax | uunet!zardoz!hrc | att?!gtephx!covertr
 
------------------------------
 
Date: 7 Feb 90 01:27:15 GMT
From: eru!luth!sunic!mcsun!unido!tub!blnosz!ballier@bloom-beacon.mit.edu  (Ralph
 Ballier)
Subject: Uniterm metafiles
Message-ID: <286@blnosz.UUCP>
 
In article <9002040802.AA11879@ucbvax.Berkeley.EDU> WACKER@CERNVM.BITNET (Klaus
 Wacker) writes:
>
>[...]
>When I try to print directly from Uniterm by selecting 'Printer' rather
>than 'Metafile' after hitting Alt-F3, I get an alert box telling me
>'Unable to open VDI device'.
>[...]
I have the same problem like you ('Unable...'). I have written to Simon Poole,
but I have not got an answer.
 
Ralph
 
------------------------------
 
Date: 8 Feb 90 03:20:46 GMT
From:
 zaphod.mps.ohio-state.edu!uakari.primate.wisc.edu!caesar.cs.montana.edu!ming!ic
 su8053@think.com  (Craig Pratt)
Subject: Uniterm metafiles
Message-ID: <3095@caesar.cs.montana.edu>
 
In article <286@blnosz.UUCP> ballier@blnosz.UUCP (Ralph Ballier) writes:
>In article <9002040802.AA11879@ucbvax.Berkeley.EDU> WACKER@CERNVM.BITNET (Klaus
 Wacker) writes:
>>
>>[...]
>>When I try to print directly from Uniterm by selecting 'Printer' rather
>>than 'Metafile' after hitting Alt-F3, I get an alert box telling me
>>'Unable to open VDI device'.
>>[...]
>I have the same problem like you ('Unable...'). I have written to Simon Poole,
>but I have not got an answer.
>
>Ralph
 
I have used UniTerm to print and save Tek MetaFiles with no problem. It seems to
work depending upon which GDOS you're using.  Of course, the printer and
meta.sys file must be in your assign.sys file.  But, I have found that with
EXACTLY the same assign.sys file, UniTerm would print with my G+Plus but would
NOT work with the ACM GDOS included with the Gemini desktop.  Don't ask me why,
it's a mystery to me.  By the way, I finally discovered a program to convert
the .GEM files produced by UniTerm into the standard .GEM format.  If there are
enough requests I will post it to comp.binaries.atari.st.  It can be found on
GEnie as well.
 
Craig Pratt
BitNet: Craig.Pratt@msu3.oscs.montana.edu
GEnie: C.PRATT4
"The ships hung in the air in much the same way that bricks don't."
  Douglas Adams, _The_Hitchhiker's_Guide_to_the_Galaxy
 
------------------------------
 
Date: 8 Feb 90 01:24:23 GMT
From: pasteur!cory.Berkeley.EDU!etruscan@ucbvax.Berkeley.EDU  (D.J.
 Schmidt-Bandoni)
Subject: Using Atari mono-monitor as a composite monitor
Message-ID: <21880@pasteur.Berkeley.EDU>
 
Hi,
 
Does anyone know if the Atari monochrome monitor can be used as a
composite monitor?  I know this would require making a special cable,
but that's no problem as long as I know which pins are what.  Which
brings me to my next question; where can I obtain a pin layout for
my monitor?
 
I plan on using my Atari 800 again and need a composite monitor (old
one is broken).
 
If anyone knows where I can get a *cheap* used *color* composite
monitor (computer flea market?), please tell me.
 
--
Domenico Schmidt-Bandoni
etruscan@cory.berkeley.edu
..ucbvax!cory!etruscan
 
------------------------------
 
End of INFO-ATARI16 Digest V90 Issue #170
*****************************************
