______________________________________ SYNDICATE ZMAGAZINE Publisher/Editor Assistant Editor Ron Kovacs Steve Godun ______________________________________ Issue #108 May 30, 1988 ______________________________________ American Publishing Enterprises, Inc Post Office Box 74 Middlesex, New Jersey 08846-0074 BBS: (201) 968-8148 300/1200 ______________________________________ Contents ______________________________________ |*|Publishers Desk |*|User Group ProFile |*|A Tour Of Federated Dept Store |*|Antic's Final Report From COMDEX |*|Atari News and Feature Articles |*|MAC Report |*|New Publication |_|___________________________________ Publishers Desk Ron Kovacs ______________________________________ I hope your holiday weekend has been relaxing. If you are in the northeast, I am sure you are enjoying the great weather! After 18 days of rain in May, we need the break! Our newest publication, Amiga Report is close to release. Please pass the word to your Amiga friends! Two BBS systems have been added to the list this week: Crooked Dragon Inn 312-690-2211 Hologram 201-727-1914 I am commenting in this weeks issue of ST-Report about the commentary made by Clayton Walnum in the latest ST-Log magazine. I wont repeat it all here, but if your interested, check out the latest issue (#37) of ST-Report. In this issue is a list of all our current publications. Some have yet to see daylight, but are scheduled for release very soon. The Atari Source Business directory is slotted for release in July. Details are included here. On to summer! Thanks for the great support! ______________________________________ ZMag's User Group ProFile ______________________________________ P.A.C.E. in the Sunshine State ============================== It's been a long day and you're ready for a little relaxation. Your fingers move deftly over the familiar power switches of your computer equipment. The drive whirs and the lights of your modem jump to life. It's the equivalent of -Miller time- to us telecommunications afficionados, and as the modem dials your favorite board you can feel the day's tensions slip away. If that board happens to be a Z-Mag carrier, you're especially lucky because not only do you get all the benefits of your local BBS but you also get the latest free Atari information that's distributed on such a large scale. I am, of course, referring to the very news -paper- you're reading right now. By now, you might be wondering what this introduction is leading up to. Z-Mag is starting to do User Group profiles and as one of the very few all 8-bit groups in the nation, we get to be one of the first clubs included in this new section. -We- are the Pinellas Atari Computer Enthusiasts of Florida or P.A.C.E. for short. As Editor of our newsletter, I get to do the introductions. Two other members of our group will tell you a little about us. So without further ado, here's Patricia Forcier, one of our founding members, who will give you a bit of our history and Dave Redfern who will tell you about one of our S.I.G.s. In June of 1985, like most Atari groups across the country, P.A.C.E. began with a handful of Atarians (5 to be exact) interested in sharing and gaining knowledge of their favorite past-time. Getting the word out and organizing the users took nearly five months and three meeting location changes. While the initial meetings weren't very structured, it was clear there was a definate need and plenty of local Atarians to make P.A.C.E. a viable group. Unfortunately, the early days encountered some negative aspects with rapid officer turnover and 16-bit vs. 8-bit incompatability. Eventhough the STs split off to form their own group, our club continued to grow despite the lack of Atari Corporation and local retailer support at that time. People enjoying the friendships and hands-on experience that belonging to a group like P.A.C.E. can provide kept our membership increasing. We have never charged an admission for our monthly meetings or raised our initial $10.00 family membership fee. We also have an extensive Public Domain library that is kept in immaculate order by our Librarian, Joan Raia. These incentives have contributed to keep and gain members for the past three years, taking us from the original five Atarians to a yearly average of seventy-five. Since Thomas Davis took on the responsibilities of Newsletter Editor over two years ago, newsletters have gone from one page publications to a full scale, graphic PACESETTER (as it's titled) with specialized articles, interviews and product reviews. He initiated our trade program and we now send and receive newsletters with many clubs around the U.S. While I've been with P.A.C.E. since its inception, I still see us as a unique club. Yes, we have all the common features of any computer group but we are also known for our social blow-outs, such as our infamous picnics. Whether braving the chill of winter or the sweltering heat of a Florida summer, PACERS will set aside their Ataris for a day of fun. That's one of the reasons they keep getting my ten bucks. Pat Forcier The Tech Heads. Not an especially glamorous name. It doesn't exactly inspire confidence, but that's what they call us. As a matter of fact, that's what WE call us. I don't remember whose bright idea tagged us with it, it was probably Thomas. Barring all that, the Tech Heads are an offshoot or SIG of P.A.C.E. It was suggested that there were members of PACE that would be interested in learning more about the insides of their Ataris. We decided to form a SIG and promptly set up our first meeting. If nothing else, we call meetings at the drop of a hat and people show up. That alone says a lot for our members. Trying not to leave anyone behind or feeling left out, we decided on an informal meeting where anyone could bring up a problem, show their own modifications, or just listen and learn; but we try to stress involvement. We felt a 'hands on' type of atmosphere would be most desirable and at our next meeting we'll be building a simple voice digitizer to teach soldering, component identification, and most of all, to get our members involved with an interesting project. Also on the future agenda is a demonstration of the VOM (Volt-Ohm-Milliampmeter) and how to use it. The most important thing is keeping our members interested in what we are doing. There are no delusions of grandeur in this group. Sometimes it's real hard to tell who's running the meeting. It's usually the guy (or girl) who's doing the most talking at the time. That's right, this is not an all male group. Our Pacettes (Tech Headettes??) are interested in the hardware aspects of computing also. All in all, the Tech Heads have had 5 meetings so far and I believe we are headed in the right direction. A desire to learn a little and have a good time are our only requirements and as I've said, our turnouts so far have been excellent. Now if we can just get someone to suggest a more glamorous name for us. I mean, it's bad enough being a TECH HEAD, but when the -HEAD TECHNOPOD'S- name is BOZO, I mean really!! Dave Redfern There's P.A.C.E. in a nutshell. Adding my two cents worth, I must say that while I also own an ST and belong to that group, too; I enjoy our club immeasurably more. I don't mean to start any new wars here but 8-bitters seem to know how to have more fun and take themselves less seriously, at least in our neck of the woods. If ya'll (a little -southern- thrown in for good measure) want more information on our club or wish to start an information exchange, please write to me at 332 Hamilton Drive, Safety Harbor FL, 34695-9998 or call my BBS, The Harbor Lights, at 813-726-3449. Thomas P. Davis ______________________________________ A Tour of Federated Jack Lee ______________________________________ One of the big news of interest in the Atari world was when Atari Corporation bought the Federated Group, a chain of stores that specializes in home electronics. Currently, Federated has 65, give or take a few, stores in California, Arizona, Texas, and Kansas. Like most Atarians, I thought, -Oh, good!! This will really give Atari the opportunity to sell their computers in an excellent way.- One day, I decided to check out a Federated store to see what they had. Lucky for me, I was in California at the time, attending school, and there just happened to be one near from where I was residing. My eager anticipation to see the store sort of dwindled as soon as I saw the building. It looked dead. The large windows were all tinted, so you could see what the heck was inside unless you were right in front of it. The building was all white. And it weren't for the Federated sign next to the parking entrance, one might think the place was one of those old business buildings and the people moved out. Anyway, I went in. It looked nice, but I wonder what they did with all the space. It wasn't exactly empty, just too many large gaps between the electronics on display. There all sorts of stereos, TV's, radios, etc. I checked the prices to see how competitive Federated was going to be. I went up to a display case, where it had portable CD players and Walkmans. The prices were a little outrageous. No wait, it was really outrageous. A Sony CD Discman was selling for $399! Granted, there are a lot of different types of models, but I know what they are. That same Discman I saw can be found for a lot less in catalog showrooms, like $229. Hmmmm. Then I saw a Sony Walkman selling for $179. It was a small unit, which offered stereo cassette player, FM/AM stereo, auto-reverse, Dolby B, metal tape capability. It also came with a nickel cadium rechargeable battery with recharger (it runs on one AA battery). It was selling for $189. $189?!?!! I have the same exact model, which I got on sale for $120. I decided to heck with this and came for what I really wanted to see. I walked over to the computer section. There were two 520 ST's on display, as well as a 1040ST. The latter had MIDI software in it, but there was nothing connected! There were also a 2600, 130XE, and XE Game System displayed, and even the new XF551 drive and SX-212 modem. There were a whole bunch of neatly stacked boxes of all the 8-bit hardware. But once again, some of the prices were off. They were selling leftover 800XL's, still in their boxes, for $149. Huh? The XE Game System was selling for the same price, and yet you would get a lot more for the money. The 130XE was selling for $179, and I got mine for $99 (through a special sale from a mail order company). The other Atari game machines (2600, 7800) were selling about $10 more than let's say, at Toys R' Us. Ummm, what's going on? The XF-551 was selling for a whopping $229, and well, I didn't bother to see the price of the SX-212. Something was wrong, though, because apparently I was invisible to the store employees. No one came up to me and asked if I needed assistance. In fact, the store was practically empty with customers. I was there for at least a half hour, wandering around looking at this and that, but to no avail. It didn't really matter, I was only there to browse, not buy! The software section had, shall we say, -fair- prices, and a -big- selection. Well, the Atari 8-bit software was mostly oldies for Atari, Inc. Things like Pac-Man, Space Invaders, Pilot, etc. A tiny selection of new software was hidden in the mass. The ST software selection had a wider selection, so that was no problem. Having decided I had enough and because I had to study for my next mid-term, I started to walk out. But as I was leaving, something caught my eye. It was another computer that I overlooked before. I looked at it warily, and couldn't believe my eyes. I came up closer to make sure I wasn't hallucinating. I rubbed my eyes to make sure dust wasn't obstructing my vision. I looked and double looked to see my fear come true. Right in front of me was an Amiga 500 computer!!!! An Atari owned store selling the competition's computer??? Aaarrrggghhh!!! And as the title character in the arcade game, Paperboy would say, -Oh, man- that's BOGUS!!!-. ______________________________________ Antic Final Comdex Report ______________________________________ ANTIC PUBLISHING INC., COPYRIGHT 1988 REPRINTED BY PERMISSION. ATARI SEES ITS UNIT NEAR BREAKEVEN According to Reuters, though losses from Federated Group continue to hurt earnings, Atari said it expects Federated to just about break even in the second and third quarters and a modest profit in the fourth quarter. Atari also said it is reducing costs and improving product mix, margins and sales. Without Federated, Atari said it would have earned $15.3 million, or 26 cents per share, on sales of $97.7 million in 1988. Atari's net income was $5.67 million, or 10 cents per share, on net sales of $169.23 million for the first quarter, down from $15.26 million, or 26 cents, on sales of $65.13 million a year earlier. Last year's results included a gain of $5.89 million. Additionally, the company said the Atari computer and video game segment generated -significant- increases in sales volume. The continuing shortage of Dynamic Random Access Memory, however, has had a negative impact on sales, but Atari expects the DRAM shortage and related high cost will begin to ease later this year. REPORT FROM ATLANTA, PART IV Closing day of Spring 1988 Comdex by Andrew Reese START Editor (Atlanta, Georgia, May 13, 1988) The numbers held up well as the Spring, 1988 version of Comdex came to a close. Floor traffic stayed high and the Atlanta airport resembled Manhattan at rush hour. There was general agreement that the hottest item shown at Comdex was a new Dell PS/2 clone and the hottest giveaway was a yellow nylon bag with a logo of -WingZ,- a new Mac II integrated spreadsheet package. The WingZ pavilion with their flashy Leonard Nimoy-narrated laser, sound and light show was just across the way from the Atari booth and the lines stayed long for the entire show. MIDI software publishers were well represented in the Atari booth itself with Hybrid Arts, Dr. T, Passport, Sonus and Midisoft all showing their wares. Announced today by Frank Foster of Hybrid Arts is their new ADAP II. To be shown in June at the Consumer Electronics Show (CES), ADAP II, which stands for Analog-to-Digital Audio Processor, is the first Random Access Editing System for Digital Audio Tapes (DAT). It will be available this summer and carries a $3,000 price tag for the hardware and software package. It requires a minimum of 1 meg of RAM in an ST (or a Mega, of course) and a Hard Drive. The hardware consists of the sampler and a coprocessor box. Just like the present ADAP, it allows 80 seconds of stereo to be stored in a digital form on a 20 Meg hard drive. A truly professional package and the first allowing DAT editing...and only on the ST! A.L. Hospers Jr. of Dr. T's was demonstrating their Multi-Program Environment (MPE) system for MIDI. It's a shell for Dr. T's line of MIDI software, but it's more than just a shell, because it allows for interactive data sharing among the programs. Version 1.6 of the Keyboard Controlled Sequencer (KCS) is shipping now at $249 with MPE and new edit features. You can play around with 55,000 notes in a one meg ST and still have a sequencer, MPE and three patch editors in RAM at the same time, but if you want to add in Dr. T's impressive scoring software, better have more than 2 megs of RAM. All in all, a very powerful and impressive package. Passport's Master Tracks Pro Version 2.1 was unveiled at Comdex. With enhancements over their already powerful Version 2.0, Passport remains in the hunt for ST MIDI leadership. Master Tracks uses a unique interface for editing and allows the musician to lay down up to 64 tracks. Watch for new developments from Passport in the very near future. Superscore, the 32-track sequencer and scoring program from Sonus, made its first Comdex appearance. This is a powerful program designed to let the musician polish his/her work and then print out a finished score on an Epson-compatible printer. It's priced at $249 and shipping now. Midisoft Corp. showed their Advanced Edition of Midisoft Studio, due for June release. Midisoft has added new event editing features, programmable tempo changes and support for the emerging standard MIDI file format, while still retaining the clarity for which the Standard Edition has become known. Only $149. An editorial aside here: your editor doesn't come from a MIDI background. In fact, many who know me would say that I don't even come from a musical background. But be that as it may, seeing these five fine packages side- by-side impressed me with three things. First, they each use a distinctive approach to the tasks, so that whichever interface you prefer and whatever your needs, one of these packages will fill the bill. Second, I was impressed by the level of activity in this segment of the ST market; the ST has forged into the overall lead in the MIDI industry in no small measure due to the efforts of these and other inventive ST publishers. Finally, I was struck by the incredible power these packages give the musician or even non-musician. I think that even I could knock out something listenable with one of these -- and that's no small accomplishment. Cheers for these guys who have made a name for the ST. There were a number of new printers at the show. The trend continues to be more power for less money as proces for 24-pin printers drop below the $500 level. But the most spectacular printer at the show had to be the new Tektronix 4693D, a full-color wax printer that produced thick, but gorgeous pictures. Unfortunately, the price was $8,495...and Tektronix has produced drivers only for the IBM, Mac and Amiga so far. I'm sure that an ST driver could be produced without too much trouble, if the ST market would support it. We'll just have to see what happens as Atari increases its push into the business markets. Well, that's about it from Atlanta. There were more booths and more products than one person could possibly see in four days, so I'm sure that I missed a few. But my feet will vouch for what I hope was a valiant effort! It was a success as far as lining up some good writers for the pages of START and Antic, however. Watch for the likes of George Miller (formerly of the now defunct Compute's ST magazine), Denis Labreque (one of Passport's musical geniuses) and Kenneth George (wizard of the ST Accelerator) to grace our pages in the months to come. And oh, did we find some great topics to cover! Like... well, we better just keep things under wraps for now. ______________________________________ Atari News Update/Features Page ______________________________________ Compiled by Steve Godun Several Atari User Groups have been making significant contributions to charity, making donations of hardware, software, training, support, and cash funds. Two of these user groups, the Chicago Land Atari Users Group (CLAUG) and the San Leandro Computer Club (SLCC), in northern California, have contributed significantly to local Children's Hospitals and other charitable organizations. This year CLAUG has raised $2,000 which will be presented to Children's Memorial Hospital in Chicago during the Children's Miracle Network telethon, a nationally broadcast event June 4-5. -All funds raised through the telethon go to patient care services,- said a hospital spokesperson. -We've established this endowment because Children's Memorial Hospital has an open-door policy -- we provide for all children who need care, and we want to continue that.- Marty Conroy, CLAUG special events coordinator, said the group has been working with Children's Memorial Hospital for several yaers. CLAUG raised the money with a series of two auctions, selling a variety of computer hardware and software. These items included the group's outdated software library, products donated by local dealers, and several game systems donated by Atari Corporation itself. The group has been commended by Antic Magazine as one of Atari's best user groups. It boasts of over 300 members, with regular attendance at a meeting of 60 to 100 people. Atari donated equipment to a number of Children's Hospitals several years ago. It was then that user groups across the country were first asked to get involved in training and support of the hospital's collection of 8-bit computers. Located in the Child Life section of the Hospital which coordinates recreational activities, the hospital's 65XE and 1050 disk drive, printer and monitor, are part of a mobile unit, able to travel to different parts of the hospital. -Atari was kind enough to donate the equipment,- said Tina Alcaraz of Children's Memorial Hospital's Child Life unit, -but we need software. We do have video games, but we'd like to see the children get involved in word processing, databases, and educational programs.- The Teacher's Classroom and Child Psychiatry units of the hospital also have Atari computers. The SLCC has been working with Oakland Children's Hospital for about three years. Said Bob Barton, president, -We've done a lot for our community, and we'll continue to do so.- The Hospital currently owns a 130XE computer and a small collection of software, primarily games. User group volunteers have provided a cart for the system, so the computer/monitor system can be easily transported to bedsides as well as locked when not in use. Said Barton, -We needed a mobile unit so we could reach the children who can't get out of bed.- The machine is used by many of the youngsters at Children's Hospital, some of them too ill to leave their rooms. -The computer is an additional outlet for them (the kids) to latch on to, so they learn something,- said Barton. -They use it a lot...more now that we put together the roll-around stand.- The SLCC has also been working with the Home for Battered Boys in San Francisco. -We've done charitable drives for toys, clothing, and food through community churches as well,- said Barton. The user group channels many of their community projects through a local church chosen at random. SLCC has over 400 members, with approximately 100 people participating on a regular basis. Members come from all over the eastern portion of the San Francisco Bay Area. ---==========--- Atari's 1987 Annual Report was mailed to stockholders earlier this month, just weeks after the company appeared on the Fortune 500 list for the first time. Net sales for the corporation, including the Federated Group chain of consumer electronics stores acquired late last year, net sales were $493 million, an increase of 91%. This placed Atari as #484 among US corporations in total sales, according to Fortune magazine. Without the inclusion of Federated's figures, Atari's net sales were a record $363.8 million, an icrease of 42%. Operating income was $72 million, in increase of 49%, and income before extraordinary item was $46.6 million. Earnings (before extraordinary item) were $0.80 per share, compared to $0.53 in 1986, an increase of 51%. In the Fortune survey, Atari ranked #264 in net profits, #400 in total assets, #414 in stockholder's equity, #337 in market value, #42 in profit as a percentage of sales, #61 in profit as a percentage of assets, #19 in profit as a percentage of stockholder's equity, and #53 in total return to investors. The annual report focused on the growth of Atari's markets overseas. Atari opened new subsidiaries in Sweden, Spain, Australia, and Mexico. There has been a dramatic increase in European sales of the Atari 520ST and 1040ST computers. Demand in 1987 rose so sharply that the US marketing assault has been postponed as Atari strives to increase production capacities. The situation is expected to improve this year. Atari shipped a number of new products in the last year, including the new Mega line of computers and the SLM804 laser printer. Video games were in high demand, and sales of the new XE Game System did well, as well as a number of new software titles. According to the Annual Report, Atari is planning on expanding the ST computer line further by introducing a 32-bit system driven by a 68030 Motorola microprocessor. This powerful workstation would feature on-chip memory management and cache providing extremely fast internal RAM operations. With an industry-standard Unix operating system, the machine would be fully supported by existing software for office automation, engineering, and database management. The 68030 system is targeted for shipping in the fourth quarter of 1988. Atari also anticipates releasing the long-awaited CD-ROM later this year. The unit will offer both audio and read-only data for users requiring large amounts of data. Each condensed disk can hold up to 540 megabytes of information! Also, Atari is still looking to acquire, or form a strategic alliance with, a semiconductor manufacturing plant. In part, this would solve the crucial DRAM (Dynamic Random Access Memory) ship shortage currently gripping the company and the industry. ______________________________________ MAC Report ______________________________________ W I N D Y C I T Y O P E N S 9 6 0 0 B A U D M A C B O A R D Desktoppers II opened its doors for the first time on Saturday, 21 May 88. Desktoppers II is strictly a MacInotosh board operating on a an IBM AT. This is the second board operating in Chicago by Randy Bennett and Chuck Maddox. It is a FREE/Shareware board with 80+ megs of disk space. There are currently over 1360 files up and available for downloading. Desktoppers II uses a US Robotics 9600 baud modem and accepts calls at 300/1200/2400/ 9600 baud, 24-hours per day. Our modem has the new ER level 5. Makes downloading/uploading twice as fast. Our other board Desktoppers I operates as multiple lines and is a subscription board. It offers multiple lines, online conferencing and 160 megs of disk space. Full echo mail is also avilable on Desktoppers I. Our numbers are as follows: Desktoppers I - 312-356-3776 / 312-356-6420 (This line for registered users) Desktoppers BBS' is the home of MacDigest and Chuck Maddox's National MAC BBS list. Desktoppers II - 312-356-5241 ---=======--- Like most MUG editors your blood pressure probably goes up around deadline time every month. Trying to find consistently good material to publish is a real pain! I know how you feel! We have created the MUG NEWS SERVICE to help make your job easier. MNS is a clearinghouse for articles, reviews, clipart, and information about the Mac community that will come to you every month on a disk - FREE! This service will be provided to you free by software and hardware companies that will pay for the duplication of the disk and service. There is a catch! To acknowledge their support, you can do one of three things: drop a small (supplied) quarter-page ad in that issue of your newsletter, or promise to include the disk in your pubic domain library, or mention that some of the info in that month's newsletter was supplied by the company. Pretty easy & painless, right! As a bonus, if we use any material from your newsletter, we will pay you or the author a small honorarium. We are looking for new articles or reprints covering all that is Macintosh from Novice to Power User. Clip-Art, tutorials, and even contests will be included on the disk. If you would like your material to become part of the clearinghouse, please put us on your mailing list. If we decide to use any of your material we would call you for an electronic version. You retain copyright on your material and a statement, -Reprinted from ........- is tagged with the article. Again, we emphasize that this service is free to you. As an editor for the last four years, I have had it up to my ears trying to find things to publish in my club's newsletter. This News Service is an attempt to make my job as editor of the MECCA JOURNAL painless and I hope you find this service beneficial to you and your members. In a nutshell - every month you will receive a free disk full of articles, clip-art, and information on the Macintosh that you can use in your newsletter and/or MUG membership. All you have to do is agree to either use a supplied small ad by the company, or put the disk in your PD library, or mention the company in your newsletter. And, if we use any of your newsletter material (provided you put us on your mailing list), we will pay you or the author a small honorarium. If you are willing to receive this service, please fill out the enclosed agreement form and mail (Email or snail) it to me. Thanks. Don Rittner, UG0194 MUG NEWS SERVICE (MNS) Yes, I want to receive your free disk every month. I agree to the following (check all that applies): ____ I will include the supplied ad in the issue that contains reprinted material, and/or; ____ I will place the disk in our Public Domain library for all our members, and/or; ____I will mention that the company helped supply the reprinted information somewhere in the newsletter. ___Also, MUG NEWS SERVICE has my permission to reprint material from our newsletter to become part of the clearinghouse. I understand that any of our material used will receive a small honorarium. Editor __________________________ MUG_______________________________ MUG Newsletter________________________ Address_______________________________ City, State, & Zip____________________ Phone (day & night) __________________ __________________ We have __________members. Date_________________ PLEASE RESPOND BY JUNE 15, 1988. ______________________________________ APEInc Publications ______________________________________ Atari 8 Bit News and Reviews [ZMagazine] Atari ST, Mega News and Reviews [ST-Report] Amiga News and Reviews [Amiga Report] Magic-Sac/Macintosh News/Reviews [MAC Report] IBM PC/PC-Ditto News and Reviews [PC Report] The Atari Source ______________________________________ New Publication ______________________________________ We have scheduled July 1988 as the first month for release of the first Atari oriented Buisness Directory. We feel this is an excellant way to inform the modem population what you have to say about your products, publications, new software, etc.... We will update this publication on a monthly basis and all advertising will be arranged for three month runs. If you are interested in rates and more information, Please write to: APEInc, PO Box 74, Middlesex, NJ 08846 or call (201) 968-2024 between the hours of 10am and 9pm. ______________________________________ ZMagazine Issue #108 May 30, 1988 (c)1988 APEInc. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED ______________________________________