ZMAGAZINE Issue #119 August 17, 1988 Copyright (c) 1988 APEInc. [Credits and Publishing info at bottom of issue] ***** TABLE OF CONTENTS ***** [*] Editors Desk [*] Open Letter To Atari [*] ICD Update [*] 8 Bit Sources [*] Technical Corner WICO>ST [*] GEnie Ymodem Transferring [*] Atari User Group Application [*] ST Report Confidential [*] Information Column [*] Survey #2 DEEGANS DESK by John Deegan (Editor) All user group officers take notice that you are requested to fill out and return a NEW registration form for Atari. We have included it in this weeks ZMAG. Fill it out completely and mail it off today! SURVEY UPDATE As requested in ZMAG115, we have received response and appreciate the readers comments. This week I have updated and re-phrased a few of the questions and would appreciate your response. Please send them via EMAIL or letter carrier to the address at the bottom of the issue. I have acted on a few of the requests and will continue as warranted in future editions. A few requests commented on the header information at the top of each issue. This week I have designed a simple less attractive tile page. If you have any comments on this, PLEASE let me know. I have put all this information at the bottom of this issue. USER GROUP UPDATE Still in development is our newest column on User Group Newsletters. However, I would like to inform you of one User Group worth your time persuing for atleast a newsletter subscription. MAGIC in Warren Michigan (Michigan Atari General Information Confrence) The monthly newsletter, -The Sourcer's Apprentice- contains news, reviews, commentary and advertising. Ron Kovacs sent me a few newsletters recently received for review. If you are a reader of Michigan Atari Magazine and remember the small newsletter format they used, you should recognize a similiar format here. Norm Browne has collected some interesting material, most of which is original. Good technical articles along with helpful programming hints. We plan on persuing MAGIC for a user group spotlight in a future edition, so we will save a more detailed review at that time. If you are interested in receiving the MAGIC newsletter, please write to: Michigan Atari General Information Confrence 28111 Imperial Drive Box M Warren, Michigan 48093-4281 Meetings are first Tuesday of each month and start at 7:30pm. Annual dues are just $15.00. If you are interested in membership please fill out the following application duplicated from the newsletter. M.A.G.I.C Membership Application Name:________________________________________ Address:_____________________________________ City, State, Zip Code:_______________________ Phone:_______________ Computer:______________ Disk Drive:__________ Printer:_______________ Modem:_______________ Other:_________________ Primary area of interest:____________________ Next week a quick look at Miami Valley Atari Compter Enthusiasts. FEEDBACK TO ZMAG Ron Kovacs has offered voice line feedback for a limited time. The BBS line used for the Syndicate BBS will become active 8/15/88 for voice call feedback to ZMag and ST-Report. We currently DO NOT have a staff online to answer the phone, however, Ron will be there from time to time and will answer. This line will be active for a short time until the BBS is set-up for 24 hour operation again. So, for the next few weeks you may take advantage and call us with your comments. Please note that the calls will not be answered between the hours of 12 midnight thru 5pm daily. No collect calls will be accepted. ===] J.D. [=== ------------------------------------------------------------------------ AN OPEN LETTER TO ATARI CORP Here's a proposal for Atari. It seems to me (from what I've heard at the superworkstation company I'm working for this summer and experienced during three years at Stanford University) that there are a few things Atari needs to do now to avoid _losing_ market share as well as to gain more. This starts out sounding negative, but ends up positive so bear with me. Any replies are welcomed. Dear Atari: 1. Even people who _know_ about the Atari ST computers see them as stagnant, especially as far as graphics are concerned. Someone who works with me (and is very familiar with Macintosh II computers) was shocked to hear that we only had 512 colors available. His response was -Do you mean at one time?- Then when he heard sixteen at one time, his interest ended. It shouldn't be too difficult to modify SHIFTER and the MMU to provide, say, 256 colors in low rez, and sixteen in medium from a palette of 4096 or more. While you're at it, how about making the MMU support 8 or 16 meg? For the graphics, all you have to do is read more information at a time. You could still support the same monitors. Or how about gray scaling on the graphics, even using the same resolutions as the current ST monitors, you'd sell twice as many computers and regain the interest of the academic world. 2. The same people see the ST as a dead end. It's not even possible to upgrade the memory without soldering or buying -special trick- boards which plug into all sorts of different sockets. How about using SIMM's like everyone else, Atari? You could make ST's easy to expand (what a concept!). I find it hard to believe that even your -high end- Mega computers can't be expanded. (And many others too.) 3. Three cheers for the GDOS installation program! That's the right way to go. For one thing, GDOS is a very advanced system as graphics go. biggest problem has been that people can't figure out how to use it. Your installation program makes that easy! I couldn't believe what a simple matter it was to change from high resoultion to medium resoultion fonts on my boot disk. One thing I really think you do need is outline fonts, though. People familiar with Macintosh expect to have a good number of fonts available. This is easy when your printer fonts are the same as your screen fonts, (as in the Macintosh computer), but to be device independent has its price in memory. If you can implement scalable outline fonts _in_ _addition_ _to_ raster fonts (like current GDOS fonts), people with little memory will be able to use a variety of fonts, and those with more memory will still be able to enjoy the speed of raster fonts. All this without rewriting anything but the device drivers and GDOS! 4. Few people know that Atari makes computers, and many of those who do don't think very much of them. I suggest that you make up a large number of bumper or window stickers that have a brightly colored Fugi on them with the words -Atari Personal Computers- or something to that effect. You might want a picture of an ST and a MEGA. I see people all over with Apple stickers on their cars, and I think that if you distributed these, free of charge, to user groups and people who wrote requesting them (even on GEnie) you would get widespread, -advertising without the price.- Be sure to put the word computer on them! 5. Finally, a good educational discount is essential! When students get a computer, that's often what their parents end up with, and that's the computer they'll lean towards when _they_ are making the purchasing decisions for their company when they graduate. To get this going, you will need to compete with Apple. Atari will probably need to donate a few computers and a laser printer or at least offer them a deal they can't refuse. Stanford students buy Macintoshes not only because they can find them (at a very good price) at the Stanford bookstore, but also because they can go to the library and print their papers on an Imagewriter there (or, for a price, on an Apple LaserWriter). Please keep in mind that these opinions have been formulated over my very nearly three years as an ST owner. I believe in my computer's potential, and in that of Atari, but other people still need convincing. Don't rest on your laurels, Atari! The Amiga already has more flexible graphics, and the 2000 model's memory, CPU, and graphics are upgradeable! Steve Whitney S.WHITNEY Editor Note: We felt this letter made some very strong and valid points for the Atari Genius Designers to ponder..thanks Steve, maybe ..just maybe they may listen or perhaps a third party developer will release an expansion cabinet that will allow us to use expansion cards etc... ------------------------------------------------------------------------ ICD UPDATE NOTICE to all 8-bit Atari Users: This is a report of the progress of the much anticipated SpartaDOS X. =================================== As of 8/11/88 SpartaDOS X (SDX) is 99% completed. Over the next few days we will be finishing the new MENU and tying up a few loose ends. We still have much work to complete on the manual but we expect to be shipping in September. Outside beta testers have been working with SDX for almost 1 month and it has been thoroughly tested in house much longer than that. SDX includes 64K of the tightest machine code ever written. This is all in our special X cartridge which allows you to plug a language cartridge into the top. SDX has complete control over this cartridge allowing it to turn it on and off as desired. SDX offers the most free memory of any available DOS! Presently MEMLO can be as low as $0E22 with no handlers installed in an extended memory machine like the 130XE. 64K machines have MEMLO at $12D1. Of course handlers push MEMLO up but MEMLO should still be lower than SpartaDOS 2.3! High Speed data transfer is standard on stock Indus GT drives, Atari XF551 drives, US Doubler enhanced 1050 drives, and Happy 1050 drives. All densities are supported (single, dual, and double) single and double sided drives are supported from 40 to 80 tracks, 3 1/2, 5 1/4, and 8-. Hard drives on our Multi I/O are handled with ease! The files per directory limit has been increased to 1424 files! Support has been added for hidden files along with an archive bit for backup. SpartaDOS X now also supports the old 800 computer! An Axlon compatible RAM upgrade is required for it to be useful but it will actually work in a 48K machine with BASIC and other relocatable languages. With an AXLON type RAM board, MEMLO is below $1000! A 48K stock machine will have a MEMLO just above $3000. SpartaDOS X batch files now support parameter passing. 16 I/O channels are now included! 9 drive support allows D9: as a RAMDISK. Up to 1 MEG Ramdisks are supported aslong as they conform to 'standard' banking methods. ICD has developed ARC as part of SpartaDOS X! This is very close to the IBM version 5.22 of ARC by SEA. Many of the X cart routines are used for exceptional speed. SDX ARC is the fastest and most efficient file compactor available on an 8-bit computer. As a bonus, our ARC will De-ALF your ALFed files! ARC Usage: ARC cmd[opt] arcfn [flist] Where -cmd- is one of: a : add file(s) to archive m : move file(s) to archive u : update file(s) in archive f : freshen file(s) in archive d : delete file(s) from archive x,e : extract file(s) from archive p : copy file(s) to screen l : list file(s) in archive v : show storage method of file(s) Valid -opt- options are: b : retain backup copy of archive s : suppress compression (store only) w : suppress warning messages n : suppress notes and comments h : higher speed (screen off) g : encrypt/decrypt archive entry (followed by password - must be last option) -arcfn- is archive filename (drive, path, and ext are optional) -flist- is the list of files to extract, add, list, etc. in the archive. Wildcards are allowed in each filename. -*.*- is assumed if no filename is given. Future options for SpartaDOS X are: a Developers Tool Kit, Database program, and XEP80 handler if there is enough demand for it. For ordering information call or write: ICD, Inc. 1220 Rock Street Rockford, IL 61101 Attn: SDX 815-968-2228 ------------------------------------------------------------------------ 8 BIT SOURCES Ctsy CompuServe These sources of support are arranged alphabetically by product: Advanced Music System II (AMS II): LOTSABYTES 15445 Ventura Blvd. Suite 10H Sherman Oaks, CA 91413 Atari DOS 2.5 master disk & docs: Atari Customer Relations P.O.Box 61657 Sunnyvale, CA 94088 attn: DOS 2.5 AtariWriter (original) printer drivers: Gary Furr P.O.Box 1073 Mountain View, CA 94042 ATR-8000 interface: SWP, Inc. 1000 W. Fuller Fort Worth, TX 76115 (817)924-7759 Indus GT disk drives: Future Systems, Inc. 9811 Owensmouth, Suite 9 Chatsworth, CA 91311 Lightspeed C Compiler: Clearstar Softechnologies Omega Soft P.O.Box 140 Rt. 2, Box 135-D Harrells, NC 28444 (919) 532-2359 MYDOS operating system: Charles W. Marslett WORDMARK Systems 2705 Pinewood Dr. Garland, TX 75042 PERCOM disk drives: Computer Service Land, Inc. 14506-B Lee Road Chantilly, VA 22021 (703) 631-4949 TRAK disk drives: Electronic Connexion 101 East Alex Bell Rd, Ste 126 Centerville, OH 45459 Various replacement parts: B&C Computervisions 3283 Kifer Road Santa Clara, CA 95051 (408) 749-1003 Best Electronics 2021 The Alameda Suite 290 San Jose, CA 95126 (408) 243-6950 American Techna-Vision 15338 Inverness St. San Leandro, CA 94579 WEFAX chip (XR2211): JDR Microdevices 110 Knowles Dr. Los Gatos, CA 95030 1-800-538-5000 ZMAGAZINE Back Issues: Syndicate Publishing Corp. Post Office Box 74 Middlesex, New Jersey 08846-0074 Attn: Archives ------------------------------------------------------------------------ TECHNICAL CORNER (Wico Trackball & Atari ST) by George Robbins Per request, I am reposting the original article on converting WICO and perhaps Atari 2600 trackballs to mouse-compatible devices. While I have not tried the conversion, what the original author describes seems to be quite reasonable. One other approach that might be easier would be to obtain a spare mouse, extract the little logic board and attach it to the various LEDs, photo- sensors and switches... The original article in comp.sys.amiga describes how to convert WICO and Atari 2600 track balls to work with the Amiga. Converting for the Atari ST is essentially the same, except for some disagreement between Atari and CBM on which quadrature signals go to which -joystick- lines. Pin Amiga Atari === ===== ===== 1 Vertical X-B 2 Horizontal X-A 3 Vertical-Quatrature Y-A 4 Horizontal-Quadrature Y-B 5 Pot X N.C. 6 Left Button Left Button 7 +5V +5V 8 Ground Ground 9 Pot Y-Right Button Right Button As you can see, the pin-outs are compatible enough that no harm will result if the two are interchanged, however since the quadrature outputs don't match up you will get pointless twitching instead of useful motion. Simply switch the wires going to pins 1 thru 4 until you get it right. A minor problem is that the WICO trackballs are discontinued, so unless you already know where to find one, you may have problems. Original (corrected) article from blgardne@esunix.UUCP (Blaine Gardner): Title: Wico trackball mouse VERSION 2.0 (BUG FIX & ATARI NOTE) Ok, here it is, sorry I took so long to post it. I have tried to make this understandable, if you don't know what an LM 339 or a DB9 is, maybe you shouldn't try this. --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Wico track ball modification. Converting the Wico track ball into an Amiga mouse compatible track ball is a fairly simple procedure. But if you are uncomfortable with a soldering iron, get some competent help. You could damage your Amiga if you make a mistake when assembling this project! You could also void your Amiga warranty! You will definitly void your trackball warranty! YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED!!! Ok, now that that's out of the way here are the gory details. The stock trackball contains a small pc board, this will be removed and replaced with one containing an LM 339 quad comparator. The comparator simply converts the output of the opto-coupler to a TTL level pulse. Both the X and Y axis use two emitter-detector pairs. The output of each of these detectors is fed through one of the comparators. The output of the comparator is then fed to the Amiga's mouse port. Since the output of the trackball will be identical to the mouse's output, the modified trackball will work with ALL software that uses the mouse. Here we go! Remove the 6 (six) screws from the bottom of the trackball case and open it (right-side-up please). In the lower-right corner there is a small pc board with two connectors. Remove the board & connectors. You can toss the board, and the cable that has the joystick connector. (The cable only has 7 wires and we need 8. You can scrounge the 11 pin male header off of the board.) Cut a piece of perf board the same size as the original board. Just make sure it fits in the same place as the original. The plastic grooves will hold it perfectly. Two cautions here: make sure the top can be screwed down without hanging up on the new board, and make sure all your components will clear the standoff near the board! Using the (crude) schematics below, wire up the circuit. You will need to drill a hole in the case to mount a second switch (for the right button). Make sure the second switch will clear all existing hardware! Wire the second switch between ground and pin 9 on the DB 9 connector. It is a good idea to place a medium sized capacitor (10-20 uf) across +5 and ground where power enters the perf board. Parts List: Wico Trackball #72-4545 Wico Corporation Consumer Division 6400 W. Gross Point Road Niles, Illinois 60648 800-323-4014 Joystick Extension Cord Radio Shack #276-1978 LM 339 Quad Comparator Radio Shack #276-1712 14 pin DIP Socket Radio Shack #276-1999 Soft-Touch Switch Radio Shack #275-1566 Perf Board 11 pin Male Header (can be removed from Wico) 10 - 20 microfarad capacitor (12V or higher) Resistors (1/4 or 1/8 Watt, 5% tolerance) 280 Ohm (4 each) 3.3K Ohm (4 each) 6.8K Ohm (4 each) 100K Ohm (4 each) Wico TrackBall Internal Connector (Color code assumes Wico is consistent in their wiring.) 1 Pushbutton White 2 +5 (Y-axis) Red 3 +5 (X-axis) Red 4 Ground (Pushbutton) White 5 Ground (X-axis) Black 6 Ground (Y-axis) Black 7 N/C --- 8 Y-axis output Violet 9 Y-axis output Blue 10 X-axis output Green 11 X-axis output Yellow Pinouts for LM 339 ------------------------ | 14 13 12 11 10 9 8 | ) | |. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 | ------------------------ 1 Output 2 2 Output 1 3 +5 Volts 4 Input 1- 5 Input 1+ 6 Input 2- 7 Input 2+ 8 Input 3- 9 Input 3+ 10 Input 4- 11 Input 4+ 12 Ground 13 Output 4 14 Output 3 Amiga Mouse Connector (DB 9 Female) ------------- \ 5 4 3 2 1 / \ 9 8 7 6 / --------- 1 V pulse 2 H pulse 3 VQ pulse 4 HQ pulse 5 N/C 6 Button 1 (Left) 7 + 5 Volts 8 Ground 9 Button 2 (Right) Connections from Wico | Connections from LM 339 11 pin socket to LM 339 | to DB9 (Mouse port connector) | Wico -> LM 339 | LM 339 --> DB9 ---- ------ | ------ --- 1 (to pin 6 on DB9) | 2 1 2 3 \__+5 Volts | 13 2 3 3 / | 1 3 4 12 \ | 14 4 5 12 >--Ground | N/C 5 6 12 / | (pin 1 on Wico) 6 7 N/C | +5 Volts 7 8 4 | Ground 8 9 6 | 9 10 10 | 11 8 | --------------------------------------- O +5 Volts O +5 Volts | | \ \ 3.3K Ohm / / 6.8 K Ohm \ 100K Ohm \ | | +-----/\/\/\/-------+ | | /| | | | / +|---+------+ (Pins 5,7,9,11) | /1/4 | | Output to /__|________/ LM | | Amiga \ \ 339 | \ (Pins 1,2,13,14) \ | / 280 Ohm \ -|--+ \ \| | | | | | | Input from ball >-------+ ----- (Pins 4,6,8,10) | --- | - \ 3.3K Ohm / \ | | | ----- --- - There it is! The above information was obtained from the Amiga Hardware Reference Manual, and from tearing apart my mouse & trackball and trace- ing out the schematics myself. (Mostly from tearing my hardware apart!) Any errors in the above information are mine (but for a few hours work they can be yours too! |^) ), not Evans & Sutherland's. They are kind enough to pay me to play with their computers, they have no control over my ramblings here on usenet. The above infomation is the correct version. In my first posting + 5 volts and button 2 were switched on the DB9 pinouts. There have been a lot of inquiries about doing the same modification on the Atari 2600 trackball. I hadn't seen the Atari untill two days ago, but I can now tell you that the same procedure will work for it. In fact it is a little easier on the Atari trackball because the LM339 is already present. Just remove all the components from the board except the 339, the supply voltage filter (inductor + electrolytic cap near the 6 pin header), and resistors R9 - R18. Actually you'll have to remove those too because they are the wrong values, and the 339 socket blocks several traces that need to be cut. (As I remember 430K and 10K should be swapped for 100K and 3.3K respectively.) The biggest problem is that Atari wired the 339 as a non-inverting comparator, and Amiga uses an inverting comparator. So you'll have to CUT AND JUMPER (those that flinched may leave the room) to get the inverted configuration (see above data for the correct circuit). I don't plan to do a detailed plan for the Atari trackball, if the above information doesn't mean much, don't try it yourself. This general plan should work for all trackballs that use a pair of opto- couplers on each axis. The old TG trackball for the Apple II (and probably other computers) will NOT work since it uses a pair of pots. I hope this helps all you hardware hackers that can't live without a real trackball. Have fun, and don't blow up your Amiga! -- George Robbins - now working for, uucp: ihnp4|seismo|rutgers!cbmvax!grr but no way officially representing arpa: cbmvax!grr@seismo.css.GOV Commodore, Engineering Department fone: 215-431-9255 (only by moonlite) ------------------------------------------------------------------------ YMODEM DOWNLOADING ON GENIE Ctsy GEnie Services by Marty Albert (GEnie SysOp) (C) 1988 by Atari Corporation, GEnie, and the Atari Roundtables. May be reprinted only with this notice intact. The Atari Roundtables on GEnie are *official* information services of Atari Corporation. To sign up for GEnie service, call (with modem) 800-638-8369. Upon connection type HHH (RETURN after that). Wait for the U#= prompt. Type XJM11877,GEnie and hit RETURN. The system will prompt you for your information. FILE NAMES Due to the recent implimentation of Ymodem downloads on GEnie, we must place a few rules in effect for the names of files uploaded to and posted in the Atari 8-bit RoundTable Libraries. These rules are so designed to allow the Ymodem terminal programs to correctly open and save the downloaded file. When you do a Ymodem download, GEnie sends the file name exactly as it appears in the directory of files. If the terminal program receives a file name that is not a -legal- Atari file name, one of two things will happen: 1> The file will not be saved at all and the transfer may abort. 2> The file will be saved with a -bad- name and you will not be able to access and use the file. In either case, the file would be worthless and you would have just wasted your time and money doing a download. This is far from what you had in mind when you decided to download the file! NOTICE ALL FILES UPLOADED TO THE ATARI 8-BIT ROUNDTABLE LIBRARIES MUST FOLLOW THESE RULES! ANY FILES THAT HAVE ILLEGAL NAMES WILL BE RENAMED BY THE SYSOPS TO COMPLY WITH THE RULES AS STATED BELOW! The rules are simple and, we hope, not too restrictive. Please make sure that your uploaded files meet the requirements when you upload them. RULES #1. File names may not contain any spaces. #2. File names may not contain any punctuation marks other than a single period <.> to seperate the file name and extender ala Atari DOS . EXCEPTION -- Files that state clearly that they are for use with SpartaDOS *only* may have the underline character < _ > in them. #3. File names must start with a letter as the first character. #4. File names may be any length up to the maximum that GEnie supports. (Your DOS will drop anything more than eight characters before the period) #5. The extender should be as per the help file FILETYPE.HLP and should be descriptive of the type of file that you are uploading. #6. If you are uploading several related files, be sure that the names you select will each be different when only the first eight characters and the extension are considered. (ie; FILETEST1.TXT and FILETEST2.TXT would end up having the same file name but FILE1TEST.TXT and FILE2TEST.TXT would be different) If this is the case, please consider using AlfCrunch or ARC to group the files into one larger file. DISCLAIMER The SysOps have made every effort to ensure that the file names now in use in the Atari 8-Bit RoundTable Library are fully compatable with the Ymodem download protocol. Each and every file has been examined and modified as needed to conform to the above rules. GEnie, the SysOps, and Atari Corp. assume no responsiblity for the failure of a file to download with Ymodem other than to rename the file as needed upon notice from a user that the file has failed to download. CONCLUSION If you find a file that for any reason will not download using Ymodem, please drop a note to MARTY.A or CRAIG.S.THOM as soon as possible! We will fix the file name and get back to you. If you have a question about how to download with Ymodem, please see the file called YMODEM.HLP. After reading this file, if you still have unanswered questions, please send GE-Mail to MARTY.A or CRAIG.S.THOM and we'll be happy to help you get started. ************************************** * NEW ATARI UG REGISTRATION * ************************************** Below, you will find the new -official- Registration Form Atari is requesting all Usergroups to complete and send in. Do this folks, show Atari just how many of us there are. It sure is nice to see Atari on the positive side of things again, the Usergroup News Letter is alive and well. YOU MUST COMPLETE THIS FORM TO RECEIVE THE NEWSLETTER. ATARI U.S.1988 * USER GROUP APPLICATION * ---------------------- USER GROUP NAME (IN FULL): ABBREVIATION OR ACRONYM: WHEN WAS THE GROUP FOUNDED (DATE): MAILING ADDRESS: NAME: ADDRESS: CITY/STATE/ZIP: PHONE NUMBER FOR GENERAL PUBLIC: NUMBER OF REGISTERED MEMBERS: WHAT ARE YOUR ANNUAL MEMBERSHIP DUES?: $__________ NUMBER OF MEETINGS PER YEAR: ARE THEY REGULARLY SCHEDULED?: YES / NO IF YES, WHEN: WHERE: DO YOU HAVE A BBS: YES / NO IF YES, WHAT IS THE NUMBER: HOURS OF OPERATION: DO YOU PUBLISH A NEWSLETTER? YES / NO IF YES, WHAT IS THE FREQUENCY OF PUBLICATION: NAME OF THE PUBLICATION: HOW MANY ISSUES HAVE YOU PUBLISHED IN THE LAST YEAR: WHAT IS YOUR AVERAGE PRINT RUN? DO YOU ACCEPT ADVERTISING? YES / NO IF YES, WHAT IS THE COST PER PAGE: NAME OF CONTACT PERSON FOR PUBLICATION: ADDRESS: CITY/STATE/ZIP: PHONE(S): WHO SHOULD POTENTIAL MEMBERS CONTACT FOR MEMBERSHIP: NAME: ADDRESS: CITY\STATE\ZIP: PHONE(S): DO YOU OFFER HELP OR SUPPORT FOR NEW USERS? YES / NO DO YOU HAVE A NEW USERS SPECIAL INTEREST GROUP? YES / NO DO YOU SUPPORT THE FOLLOWING ATARI SYSTEMS? GAME SYSTEMS: YES / NO 8-BITS: YES / NO ST: YES / NO MEGA: YES / NO PC: YES / NO OTHER: DO YOU HAVE SPECIAL INTEREST GROUPS OF EACH SYSTEM? YES / NO DO YOU HAVE SPECIAL MEETINGS FOR USERS OF EACH SYSTEM? YES / NO PLEASE LIST LOCAL SHOWS, AND APPROXIMATE DATES, IN WHICH YOUR GROUP ANTICIPATES PARTICIPATION: (I.E. LIBRARY, SHOPPING MALL, SCHOOL, OR LOCAL COMMUNITY COMPUTER SHOW): NAME _________________________ LOCATION DATE APPROXIMATE (EST) ATTENDANCE _______ NAME _________________________ LOCATION DATE APPROXIMATE ATTENDANCE THERE SHOULD BE ONE, AND ONLY ONE, ATARI CONTACT/USER GROUP SPOKESPERSON REPRESENTING YOUR GROUP; THE NAME OF THE EXECUTIVE CONTACT IS (FOR ATARI USE ONLY): NAME: GROUP TITLE: ADDRESS: CITY/STATE/ZIP: PHONE(S): NAME OF ATARI RETAILER WHO WILL SPONSOR OR OFFER AFFILIATION: RETAIL STORE NAME: CONTACT: THIS APPLICATION COMPLETED BY: NAME: SIGNATURE: DATE: PLEASE NOTE: FOR OFFICIAL ATARI USER GROUP AUTHORIZATION, THIS APPLICATION MUST BE COMPLETED IN FULL. PROOF OF MEMBERSHIP MUST ACCOMPANY APPLICATION. (PROOF OF MEMBERSHIP CAN BE ANY OF THE FOLLOWING: MEMBERSHIP NAMES AND ADDRESS, A GROUP MEETING PHOTO, OR ANY OTHER ITEM THAT WILL PROVE THAT YOUR MEMBERSHIP EXCEEDS THE MINIMUM REQUIREMENT.) PLEASE COMPLETE AND RETURN TO: USER GROUP COORDINATOR ATARI CORPORATION 1196 BORREGAS AVE SUNNYVALE CA 94086 ST REPORT CONFIDENTIAL #47 ========================== New York City The ST game system persists and does, for all intents and ------------- purposes, exist. Seems this firm was given the inside track to being the first one to be able to sell the -new- game system Sunnyvale The portable ST is a full scale reality, seems it's even --------- nicer than the one displayed at Hanover. Denver A number of dealers have unified and are preparing a formal ------ request to be sent to Atari asking for more sales oriented professional area representatives. Albany IBM has now gone after the midi market with a vengeance, ------ with a keyboard that has both the video and audio controllers built in and full audio spectrum available with full video potential also available. Sunnyvale Transputer system is a fact but not for the USA for many --------- months to come.. watch for it in Europe (UK) first. ========================================================================== Information Column Syndicate ZMagazine is published weekly by American Publishing Enterprises Inc. Opinions presented in this magazine are those of the original author and does not reflect the opinions of ZMagazine, APEInc or the editor. Oposing points of view are welcome and encouraged. You may send any reply to the following address: American Publishing Enterprises, Inc. Post Office Box 74 Middlesex, New Jersey 08846-0074 Attn: Issue #119 Syndicate ZMagazine Issue #119 is Copyright (c)1988 APEInc. All Rights Reserved. Reprint permission granted as long as Syndicate ZMag and the author are credited at the top of the article. Restrictive reprints are noted in any article. PUBLISHER: Ron Kovacs MANAGING EDITOR: R.F. Mariano ZMAG EDITOR: John Deegan ASSISTANT: Lisa Kovacs The following bulletin board systems are registered headquarter systems for distribution of ZMagazine. ZMAG NORTH (Launch Pad BBS) (201) 343-1426 ZMAG MIDWEST (Stairway To Heaven) (216) 784-0574 ZMAG SOUTH (Bounty Atari) (904) 786-4176 ZMAG WEST (Shadow Haven) (916) 962-2566 The Online Services have dedicated areas for distribution of ZMagazine. COMPUSERVE Go Atari8 - LIB 11 GEnie Atari8 - Library 13 DELPHI Group Atari - Database - News and Reviews THE SOURCE Coming Soon! ======================================================================== SURVEY UPDATE #2 August 17, 1988 Please send to the address below or leave email on the online services or any of the Headquarters systems. 1. How do you honestly feel about your 8 bit computer? 2. Do you feel that your 8 bit computer has a future? 3. Do you think the software publishers will ever produce any software for the Atari 8 bit worth buying? 4. If you call the online services, How do you presently feel about the serices provided, software availability, user base, and general rating you would give the services, on a scale of 1 to 10, 10 being excellant. 5. BBS System, Online Service you capture, download, read ZMagazine on. 6. Do you upload ZMagazine issues to another BBS system after you receive it? 7. Please select the possible choices for future release of Zmagazine, should it become available. Hard Copy (Magazine Format), Hard Copy (Newspaper Format), Disk Release, Single issue release or other prefrence. 8. Please list any changes you would like to see in ZMagazine. 9. How long have you been reading ZMagazine. Or first issue which captured your attention. 10. Please supply your age, sex, and city/state. 11. What is your general opinion of the magazines presently offered to the average 8 bit user. Antic, Analog, Compute, other... 12. Do you read the other magazines offered. ST-Report, Amy Report? 13. How long have you owned you Atari 8 bit computer? 14. Do you own other computers? 15. Please list any additional comments about ZMagazine. Send to: Syndicate ZMagazine Post Office Box 74 Middlesex, New Jersey 08846-0074 Attn: Survey #2 ------------------------------------------------------------------------ ZMagazine Issue #119 AUGUST 17, 1988 (c)1988 APEInc, SPC ------------------------------------------------------------------------