  
                  *---== ST REPORT ONLINE MAGAZINE ==---*
                         """""""""""""""""""""""""
                                       
                                       
                     "The Original Online ST Magazine"
                      _______________________________


  December 01, 1989                                       Vol III  No.116
  =======================================================================
  
                         ST Report Online Magazine
                        __________________________
                          Post Office Box   6672
                          Jacksonville,  Florida
                               32205 ~ 6672
  
                               R.F. Mariano
                            Publisher - Editor
                 _________________________________________
                   Voice: 904-783-3319  10 AM - 4 PM EDT
                  BBS:  904-786-4176   12-24-96 HST/14.4
                    FAX: 904-783-3319 12 AM - 6 AM EDT
                 _________________________________________
  
                          **  F-NET NODE 350  **
              Our support BBS carries ALL issues of STReport
                                    and
               An International list of private BBS systems
               carrying STReport for their users  enjoyment

    __________________________________________________________________ 
    
 > Issue: #116 STReport        The Online Magazine of Choice! 
   -------------------- 
     - The Editors' Podium                   - CPU REPORT LHARC/ARC
     - Kidpublisher Professional             - SYQUEST * NEW PRODUCTS *
     - SEAGATE * Industry Standard *         - Exploring Touchup 
     - Migraph's HAND SCANNER                - ST REPORT CONFIDENTIAL

            --====**** BILL TEAL SHOWS PC DITTO II! ****====---
               --==** GRAVIS TO CORRECT MEGA ST BUG! **==--


 =========================================================================
 STReport's support  BBS NODE  # 350  invites systems using Forem ST BBS to
 participate in  Forem BBS's  F-Net mail  network.   Or, Please  call # 350
 direct at 904-786-4176, and enjoy the excitement of exchanging ideas about
 the Atari ST computers through an excellent International ST mail network.
 =========================================================================
       AVAILABLE ON:      COMP-U-SERVE  ~  DELPHI  ~  GENIE  ~  BIX
 =========================================================================

    
 > The Editor's Podium

     We are in the home stretch  now, 25  days left  till Christmas... will
 there be  a STacy  under someone's  tree?  Who knows?  We do know that the
 Stacy will be reality very shortly and that to us is all that counts.   No
 more is it if...its now a matter of when.  

     Amazing times  we are  in, LHARC  has a  few folks befuddled, consider
 this, if we don't use it and not allow it to gain  in popularity,  it will
 never be  enhanced to  a point where most of us will be satisfied with its
 performance.   Even more amazing  are  those  who  attempt  to rationalize
 their apparent  dissatisfaction with  LZH files  by attempting to have the
 online sysops reverse their positions.  It is indeed gratifying to see the
 majority of users want the benefits LZH files will offer.

     In  maintaining  the  standard  of  having  the  best interests of our
 readers come first, STReport will be uploaded to the major services in two
 forms, LHARC  & ARC.  Even though it appears the users prefer LHARC (LZH),
 we felt it best  to allow  the reader  an opportunity  to compare  the two
 compression  programs  and  the  efficiency  each  program  has  to offer.
 Accordingly, for the next three weeks, STReport will  be uploaded  in both
 formats for your convenience.
  
     Our  humble   opinion  is   really  quite   uncomplicated,  anytime  a
 compression program makes a SMALLER downloadable file, then that's the one
 we  want  as  it  takes  less  time  to download a smaller file.  Thus, it
 translates into the users saving online time and dollars.

     Everyone of us enjoys what they do for us, we give them  heartburn and
 grief, and best of all, we expect them to be there all the time.  No, I am
 not talking about anyone's parents or  relatives.   The ever  faithful and
 serving  SysOps  of  the  online  services  deserve  our  heartfelt thanks
 everyday of the year but that would get old in hurry.   So... since  it is
 'that' time  of the  year, let's all join together and offer out thank you
 to the sysops of the online services.  Since there  are a  large number of
 good folks  doing this  monumental task, we ask that Ron Luks, Darlah Pine
 and Clayton Walnum pass  along our  best wishes  to all  the folks working
 with them to make our online lives a little bit nicer every day.

     Please enjoy  the holiday season and above all else, make this holiday
 season a fun filled, safe yuletide celebration.  Don't drink and drive.

                                             Ralph.....




                             "ATARI IS BACK!"



  **********************************************************************


                    :HOW TO GET YOUR OWN GENIE ACCOUNT:
                     _________________________________

      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.


                THE GENIE ATARI ST ROUNDTABLE - AN OVERVIEW
                ___________________________________________

 The Roundtable is an area of GEnie specifically  set aside  for owners and
 users of Atari ST computers, although all are welcome to participate.

 There are  three main  sections to the Roundtable: the Bulletin Board, the
 Software Library and the Real Time Conference area.

 The Bulletin Board contains messages from Roundtable members  on a variety
 of Topics,  organized under  several Categories.   These  messages are all
 Open and available for all to read (GEnie Mail should be used for private
 messages).  

 If you have a question, comment, hot rumor or an answer to  someone else's
 question, the Bulletin Board is the place to share it.

 The Software  Library is  where we  keep the  Public Domain software files
 that are available to all Roundtable members.   You can  'download' any of
 these files  to your own computer system by using a Terminal Program which
 uses the 'XMODEM' file-transfer method.  You can also share  your favorite
 Public Domain  programs and  files   with   other  Roundtable  members  by
 'uploading' them to the Software Library. Uploading on  GEnie is  FREE, so
 you are encouraged to participate and help your Roundtable grow.

 The Real  Time Conference  is an area where two or more Roundtable members
 may get together and 'talk' in    'real-time'.    You  can  participate in
 organized  conferences  with  special  guests,  drop in on our weekly Open
 COnference, or simply join  in  on  an  impromptu  chat  session.   Unlike
 posting messages  or Mail  for other  members to  read at some later time,
 everyone in the Conference area can see what you type immediately, and can
 respond to you right away, in an 'electronic conversation'.



  **********************************************************************






 > CPU REPORT     Exploring the compression routines.....
   ==========

   Issue # 43
   ----------


 by Michael Arthur


 Remember When....

       In January  1979, two MIT Graduates, Dan Bricklin and Bob Frankston,
 introduced Visicalc,  the first  electronic spreadsheet,  and how Software
 Arts (their company) sold 800,000 copies of it before being bought in 1985
 by Lotus Corporation, who discontinued Visicalc?


 CPU INSIGHTS
 =============

         Data Compression Algorithms of ARC.TTP, PKZIP, and LHarc
         --------------------------------------------------------


     Much of the typical  modem  user's  online  time  is  spent performing
 uploads or  downloads of files from BBS's, Online Services like Compuserve
 or GEnie, or Information  Networks like  Usenet or  Internet.   Given that
 this  always  takes  up  a  lot  of time, and usually costs a considerable
 amount of money, the need to  shorten the  time necessary  to perform file
 transfers, and  other modem  applications has  always been prevalent.  One
 innovation in this field has been  the development  of advanced Algorithms
 for compacting,  or compressing  data so  it takes up much less space, and
 packing multiple files into one Archive, or data  file, so  many files can
 be sent at one time.

     The current  technology, an  offspring of data encryption methods used
 in World War II, reduces the time it  takes to  transfer a  file through a
 modem, by  reducing the  size of the data itself.  Given the proliferation
 of many data compression methods (ARC, PKZIP, ZOO,  SIT, and  LHARC, for a
 few  examples)  that  try  to  provide  the  most efficient method of data
 compression, the topic has always been controversial in nature.

     Haruhiko Okumura provided  a  great  source  of  knowledge  about data
 compression algorithms  by writing this essay, which describes some of the
 effort involved in creating  a  data  compression  standard.    Except for
 modifications in its formatting, or presentation, and various notes placed
 in this text to provide more information on certain subjects,  the content
 of Haruhiko Okumura's text is identical....


 Introduction:  History of LHARC's Forefathers
 ---------------------------------------------

     In the  spring of 1988, I wrote a very simple data compression program
 named LZSS in C language, and uploaded it  to the  Science SIG  (forum) of
 PC-VAN, Japan's biggest personal computer network.  That program was based
 on Storer and Szymanski's slightly modified version of  one of  Lempel and
 Ziv's algorithms.   Despite its simplicity, for most files its compression
 outperformed the archivers then widely used.
   
     Kazuhiko Miki rewrote my LZSS in  Turbo Pascal  and assembly language,
 and soon made it evolve into a complete archiver, which he named LARC. The
 first versions of LZSS and LARC were rather  slow.   So I  rewrote my LZSS
 using a binary tree, and so did Miki.  Although LARC's encoding was slower
 than the fastest archiver available, its decoding was quite fast,  and its
 algorithm was  so simple that even self-extracting files (compressed files
 plus decoder) it created  were  usually  smaller  than non-self-extracting
 files from other archivers. 

     Soon many  hobby programmers joined the archiver project at the forum.
 Very many suggestions were made, and LARC was revised again and again.  By
 the summer  of 1988,  LARC's speed  and compression  have improved so much
 that LARC-compressed programs were beginning to be uploaded in many forums
 of PC-VAN and other networks. 

     In that summer I wrote another program, LZARI, which combined the LZSS
 algorithm with adaptive arithmetic  compression.   Although it  was slower
 than LZSS,  its compression  performance was amazing.  Miki, the author of
 LARC, uploaded LZARI to  NIFTY-Serve, another  big information  network in
 Japan.    In  NIFTY-Serve,  Haruyasu  Yoshizaki  replaced LZARI's adaptive
 arithmetic coding with a  version of  adaptive Huffman  coding to increase
 speed.   Based on  this algorithm, which he called LZHUF, he developed yet
 another archiver, LHarc. 


 Data Compression Algorithms, Lempel-Ziv, and ARC.TTP
 ----------------------------------------------------

       In what follows, I will review several of these algorithms and
 supply simplified codes in C language.


 1.  RLL Encoding

     Replacing several  (usually 8  or 4)  "space" characters  by one "tab"
 character is a very primitive method for data compression.  Another simple
 method is Run-Length coding  , which  encodes the  message "AAABBBBAACCCC"
 into "3A4B2A4C", for example.


 2. LZSS coding

     This scheme  is initiated  by Ziv and Lempel [1].  A slightly modified
 version is described by Storer and Szymanski [2].  An implementation using
 a binary  tree is  proposed by  Bell [3].   The algorithm is quite simple:
 Keep a ring buffer,  which  initially  contains  "space"  characters only.
 Read several  letters from the file to the buffer.  Then search the buffer
 for the longest string that matches  the letters  just read,  and send its
 length and position in the buffer. 

     If the  buffer size  is 4096  bytes, the position can be encoded in 12
 bits.  If we represent the  match  length  in  four  bits,  the <position,
 length> pair  is two bytes long.  If the longest match is no more than two
 characters, then we send just one character without  encoding, and restart
 the process with the next letter.  We must send one extra bit each time to
 tell the decoder whether we are  sending a  <position, length>  pair or an
 unencoded character. 


 3. LZW coding
  
     This scheme  was devised  by Ziv and Lempel [4], and modified by Welch
 [5].  The LZW coding has been adopted by most  of the  existing archivers,
 such as  ARC and PKZIP.  The algorithm can be made relatively fast, and is
 suitable for hardware implementation as well.  A  Pascal program  for this
 algorithm is given in Storer's book [6]. 


     The algorithm  can be  outlined as  follows: Prepare  a table that can
 contain several  thousand items.   Initially  register in  its 0th through
 255th positions  the usual  256 characters.  Read several letters from the
 file to be encoded, and search the table for the  longest match.   Suppose
 the longest  match is  given by  the string  "ABC".   Send the position of
 "ABC" in the table.  Read the next character from the file.  If it is "D",
 then register  a new  string "ABCD"  in the table, and restart the process
 with the letter "D".  If the table becomes full,  discard the  oldest item
 or, preferably, the least used. 


 4. Huffman coding

     Classical  Huffman  coding  is  invented  by  Huffman  [7].   A fairly
 readable account is given in  Sedgewick  [8].    Suppose  the  text  to be
 encoded is  "ABABACA", with four A's, two B's, and a C.  We represent this
 situation as follows:

                                 4    2    1
                                 |    |    |
                                 A    B    C

     Combine the least frequent two characters  into one,  resulting in the
 new frequency 2 + 1 = 3:

                                 4      3
                                 |     /  \
                                 A    B    C

     Repeat the above step until the whole characters combine into a tree:

                                     7
                                   /  \
                                  /     3
                                 /    /  \
                                A    B    C

     Start at  the top  ("root") of  this encoding  tree, and travel to the
 character you want to encode.  If you go left, send a  "0"; otherwise send
 a "1". Thus, "A" is encoded by "0", "B" by "10", "C" by "11".  Altogether,
 "ABABACA" will be encoded  into ten  bits, "0100100110".   To  decode this
 code,  the  decoder  must  know  the  encoding  tree,  which  must be sent
 separately.

     A modification to this  classical Huffman  coding is  the adaptive, or
 dynamic, Huffman  coding.   See, e.g.,  Gallager [9].  In this method, the
 encoder and the decoder processes the first letter of the  text as  if the
 frequency of  each character  in the  file were one, say.  After the first
 letter has been processed,  both parties  increment the  frequency of that
 character by  one.   For example,  if the  first letter  is 'C', then freq
 ['C'] becomes two, whereas every other  frequencies are  still one.   Then
 the both  parties modify  the encoding  tree accordingly.  Then the second
 letter will be encoded and decoded, and so on.


 5. Arithmetic coding

     The original concept of arithmetic coding is proposed by P. Elias.  An
 implementation in C language is described by Witten and others [10]. 

     Although  the  Huffman  coding  is  optimal  if each character must be
 encoded into a fixed (integer) number of bits,  arithmetic coding  wins if
 no such restriction is made.

     As an  example we  shall encode  "AABA" using  arithmetic coding.  For
 simplicity suppose we know beforehand that  the probabilities  for "A" and
 "B" to appear in the text are 3/4 and 1/4, respectively.

     Initially, consider an interval:

                             0 <= x < 1.

     Since the  first character  is "A" whose probability is 3/4, we shrink
 the interval to the lower 3/4:

                             0 <= x < 3/4.

     The next character is "A" again, so we take the lower 3/4:

                             0 <= x < 9/16.

     Next comes "B" whose probability is 1/4, so we take the upper 1/4:

                             27/64 <= x < 9/16,

     Because "B" is the second element in our alphabet, {A, B}.  The last
 character is "A" and the interval is

                             27/64 <= x < 135/256,

     which can be written in binary notation

                             0.011011 <= x < 0.10000111.

     Choose from this interval any number that can be represented in fewest
 bits, say  0.1, and  send the  bits to  the right of "0."; in this case we
 send only one bit, "1".  Thus we have encoded  four letters  into one bit!
 With the  Huffman coding, four letters could not be encoded into less than
 four bits. 

     To decode the code "1", we just reverse the process:  First, we supply
 the "0."  to the  right of  the received  code "1",  resulting in "0.1" in
 binary notation, or 1/2.  Since  this number  is in  the first  3/4 of the
 initial interval  0 <= x < 1, the first character must be "A".  Shrink the
 interval into the lower 3/4.  In this new interval, the number 1/2 lies in
 the lower  3/4 part, so the second character is again "A", and so on.  The
 number of letters in the original  file  must  be  sent  separately  (or a
 special 'EOF' character must be appended at the end of the file).

     The  algorithm  described  above  requires  that  both  the sender and
 receiver know  the  probability  distribution  for  the  characters.   The
 adaptive  version  of  the  algorithm  removes  this  restriction by first
 supposing uniform  or  any  agreed-upon  distribution  of  characters that
 approximates  the  true  distribution,  and then updating the distribution
 after each character is sent and received.


 6. LZARI

     In each  step  the  LZSS  algorithm  sends  either  a  character  or a
 <position, length>  pair.  Among these, perhaps character "e" appears more
 frequently than "x", and a <position,  length> pair  of length  3 might be
 commoner than one of length 18, say.  Thus, if we encode the more frequent
 in fewer bits and the less frequent in more bits, the total  length of the
 encoded text  will be diminished.  This consideration suggests that we use
 Huffman or arithmetic coding, preferably of  an adaptive  kind, along with
 LZSS.   This is  easier said  than done,  because there  are many possible
 <position, length> combinations.   Adaptive compression  must keep running
 statistics  of  frequency  distribution.    Too many items make statistics
 unreliable.


           LZARI, and the Creation of a Data Compression Program
           -----------------------------------------------------

     What follows is not even an approximate solution to the  problem posed
 above, but anyway this was what I did in the summer of 1988. 

     I extended  the character set from 256 to three-hundred or so in size,
 and let characters 0 through 255  be the  usual 8-bit  characters, whereas
 characters 253  + n represent that what follows is a position of string of
 length n, where n = 3, 4 , ....  These extended set of  characters will be
 encoded with adaptive arithmetic compression.

     I also  observed that  longest-match strings  tend to be the ones that
 were read relatively recently.    Therefore,  recent  positions  should be
 encoded into  fewer bits.   Since  4096 positions  are too  many to encode
 adaptively,   I fixed  the probability  distribution of  the positions "by
 hand".  The  distribution  function  given  in the accompanying LZARI.C is
 rather tentative;  it  is  not  based  on  thorough  experimentation.   In
 retrospect, I could encode adaptively the most significant 6 bits, say, or
 perhaps  by  some  more  ingenious  method  adapt  the  parameters  of the
 distribution function to the running statistics.

     At any  rate, the present version of LZARI treats the positions rather
 separately, so that  the  overall  compression  is  by  no  means optimal.
 Furthermore,  the  string  length  threshold above which strings are coded
 into <position, length> pairs  is  fixed,  but  logically  its  value must
 change according  to the  length of  the <position,  length> pair we would
 get.


 7. LZHUF

     LZHUF, the algorithm of Haruyasu Yoshizaki's  archiver LHarc, replaces
 LZARI's adaptive  arithmetic coding  with adaptive Huffman.  LZHUF encodes
 the most significant 6  bits of  the position  in its  4096-byte buffer by
 table lookup.   More  recent, and hence more probable, positions are coded
 in less bits.  On the other hand, the remaining 6 bits are sent verbatim.

     Because Huffman coding encodes each  letter  into  a  fixed  number of
 bits,  table  lookup  can  be  easily  implemented.   Though theoretically
 Huffman cannot  exceed  arithmetic  compression,  the  difference  is very
 slight, and LZHUF is fairly fast. 


 References:
 -----------

   [1] J. Ziv and A. Lempel, IEEE Trans. IT-23, 337-343 (1977).

   [2] J. A. Storer and T. G. Szymanski, J. ACM, 29, 928-951
       (1982).

   [3] T. C. Bell, IEEE Trans. COM-34, 1176-1182 (1986).

   [4] J. Ziv and A. Lempel, IEEE Trans. IT-24, 530-536 (1978).

   [5] T. A. Welch, Computer, 17, No.6, 8-19 (1984).

   [6] J. A. Storer, Data Compression: Methods and Theory
       (Computer Science Press, 1988).

   [7] D. A. Huffman, Proc IRE 40, 1098-1101 (1952).

   [8] R. Sedgewick, Algorithms, 2nd ed. (Addison-Wesley, 1988).

   [9] R. G. Gallager, IEEE Trans. IT-24, 668-674 (1978).

  [10] I. E. Witten, R. M. Neal, and J. G. Cleary, Commun. ACM
       30, 520-540 (1987).


 But ponder, if you will, these questions:


 1)   Are LHarc's  benefits (comparative  to ARC)  best realized with large
     files, and if so, should this be the  only use  for LHarc,  given that
     ARC is already a solid and usable standard for the ST?

 2)  Given that 8-voice stereo sound were the capabilities of the Amy sound
     chip, which Atari had been developing since 1984, is the sound chip in
     the  Atari  STE  and  68030  TT (which has these capabilities) the Amy
     chip, which was a piece of Atari vaporware even older  than the CD-ROM
     for the ST?




 CPU Systems Roundup XVI
 ========================


          MicroChannel, OS/2 1.2, and New Features of Old Offerings
          ---------------------------------------------------------

     IBM  has  recently  revealed  several features of its MicroChannel Bus
 Architecture (used in its PS/2 line of computers)  which, though inherent,
 provide new  potential for the success of the MicroChannel, and the defeat
 of the EISA Bus Architecture now  being  supported  by  several  major IBM
 Clone Makers, including Compaq and HP.  These features include:

     -  New  32-bit  data  streaming  procedures,  which  would  allow  the
     MicroChannel to transfer data at 40  Megabytes per  second, instead of
     the current 20 Megs per second, by sending blocks of data quicker than
     before using its independent address and data buses.

     - A 64-bit data transfer mode,  which uses  a 64-bit  wide address and
     data bus,  along with  multiplexing (for sending data across the extra
     bus area when it is idle), to allow 64 bit data transfer.   This would
     double the data transfer rate to 80 Megabytes per second.

     - Also,  future extensions to the MicroChannel will double the rate at
     which blocks are sent through the  bus (by  reducing the  "pause time"
     between block  transmissions from the current 200 nanoseconds, and the
     100  nanosecond  time  allowed  by  the   new  32-bit   data  transfer
     procedures, to only 50 nanoseconds).  This will allow the MicroChannel
     to move data along its bus at over 160 Megabytes per second....

     While that may sound excessive, given that LAN Networks using  the new
     FDDI  standard  (for  connecting  LANs using Optical Fiber lines) will
     have data transfer rates of 100 Megabytes per second, that Intel 80860
     chip can compute 120 operations per second, and that future microchips
     made out of gallium arsenide will be able to run at 150 MHZ....

     - Data Address Parity  Checking, which  will provide  a form  of error
     protection by ensuring that data which is sent through the 
     MicroChannel is  not corrupted or damaged.  This feature was described
     in more depth by IBM, who had simply mentioned it previously.

     - Synchronous Data Checking, which  will  enable  the  MicroChannel to
     isolate and  shut down devices which are malfunctioning or not working
     properly.

     - Synchronous Control Block Architecture, which  lets the MicroChannel
     manage the  devices hooked  up to it like a Local Area Network handles
     nodes hooked up to it, with multimaster (or busmastering) cards 
     controlling the system....


     IBM also announced that  OS/2  Standard  Edition  Version  1.2,  a new
 version of OS/2, would be shipping soon.  Some of its new features are:

     - Faster  system performance, and the ability to run comfortably in 2 
     Megs of RAM.  OS/2 currently needs 3-4 Megs of RAM to be fully 
     functional....

     - Fast  File  System,  for  greatly  increased  disk  performance, and
     support  for  larger  hard  disk  volumes.    This  will be especially
     important for Virtual Memory under OS/2, which depends heavily on disk
     accessing....

     -  An  Icon  Area  for  Presentation  Manager  to  store  Custom Icons
     representing OS/2 Applications.   This  resembles  the  NextStep GUI's
     Dock, where applications can be placed for easy access. 

     - Hypertext-based Help system, for providing comprehensive help on the
     user interface at a 'click  or  a  keystroke,  and  an  Online Command
     sequence for  information on all commands, and proper command syntax. 
     This resembles  NextStep's  Digital  Librarian,  with  its  ability to
     search for data using keywords.  Digital Librarian can also be used by
     NextStep  applications,  for  powerful  database  versatility.   Since
     Microsoft MAY decide to do the same with OS/2's new hypertext 
     system....


     IBM  also  announced  that  developer  kits  for OS/2 Standard Edition
 Version 2.0 will be available by  Spring  1990.    OS/2  Version  2.0 will
 utilize the  80386 and  80486 to  let OS/2 multitask multiple DOS and OS/2
 programs at the same  time, provide  32-bit addressing  for OS/2 programs,
 and be  optimized for the 80386, for even greater system speed.  Given the
 new capabilities of  MicroChannel,  IBM's  Hardware  Architecture  for the
 Nineties, and  OS/2, IBM's  operating System  for the  1990s, does IBM now
 have a better chance to increase  its dominance  of the  microcomputer and
 workstation market in the coming decade?




 CPU REPORT CONFIDENTIAL
 =======================


 London, England     Comcen has recently launched two CD-ROM disks for the
 ---------------     IBM and Macintosh.  C Add-Pack, the first CD-ROM, is a
                     disk with over 1000 examples of C source code, for a
                     broad range of programming needs.  The second disk,
                     the Graphics Add-Pack, comes with over 2000 items of
                     "clip art" in GIF or MacPaint format, for use in
                     Desktop Publishing.  Cost:  $1000.00 each....

 Morristown, NJ      AT&T has made an agreement with Sun Microsystems to
 --------------      use Sun's SPARC-based workstations as front ends for
                     graphics supercomputing applications (like medical
                     imaging, simulations, etc.), and as aids in monitoring
                     their phone networks.

                     In this agreement, they also intend to work together
                     in a Partnership, in order to gain contracts for
                     government systems, telecommunications services, and
                     other major computer-related endeavors.  Interestingly
                     enough, one of the reasons that several major Unix
                     vendors formed the Open Software Foundation (OSF) last
                     year was AT&T/Sun's growing relationship....

 Las Vegas, NV       Xerox recently announced Ventura Publisher for OS/2, a
 -------------       new version which both uses the Presentation Manager
                     user interface, and supports OS/2's IPC facilities for
                     exchanging data between OS/2 apps.  It will require
                     3 Megs of RAM to run.  Cost:  $1000.00....

                     However, while it will be available by the Summer of
                     1990, along with a Professional Extension for specific
                     Desktop Publishing needs, Aldus Pagemaker, its main
                     competition in the DOS world, is already out for OS/2.

 Tokyo, Japan        Hitachi is in the process of developing a test
 ------------        production line for its experimental 16-Megabit DRAM
                     memory chips, to be completed by Spring 1990.  This
                     comes only a few months after Hitachi (as well as many
                     other companies) started making 4 Megabit DRAM chips
                     in quantity.  While 16-Megabit DRAM chips may have
                     great potential, since some companies have already
                     shown plans for 64-Megabit DRAM chips....







    __________________________________________________________________




 > MIGRAPH!! STR Review  Touch up and a hand scanner.. GOOD STUFF!
   ====================




                                 Migraph Hand Scanner and Touch-Up
                                 =================================




 by Daniel Stidham


     For me,  like many  of you, money is a hard-earned return on a crucial
 investment of time and effort. I've never won the lottery, nor have I ever
 been on  the receiving  end of  a generous  inheritance.  My wife's maiden
 name has none of those familiar  capitalistic overtones  like Rockefeller,
 DuPont, Procter, or Gamble.  No, except for the time I won the office pool
 for  having  three-of-a-kind  on  my  check's  serial  number,  I've never
 experienced any  of that  good old fashioned American easy money. Not that
 I'm complaining(well, maybe a little); if I didn't have to work for it, it
 probably wouldn't have the same sentimental value.

     Therefore when  I purchase  a product  I try to make my buck go as far
 and work as hard as I can; that  new gadget  may represent  a week  or two
 worth of  hard, hassle-filled  labor.  Accordingly when that product fails
 me I become understandably upset and  feel victimized  as I  watch several
 hours, days,  or weeks  worth of  my time  and labor  get sucked into that
 black hole  of  broken  promises  and  worthlessness.    Conversely,  I am
 appreciative and  loyal to  those companies and developers who, in respect
 of the consumer and of themselves, try to cultivate a  wholesome, healthy,
 and equitable  relationship by delivering excellent product for a fair and
 reasonable price.  They have taken me seriously and I'll do the same.

     In the ST community  we  are  fortunate  to  have  a  relatively large
 percentage of  companies and developers of the latter identity.  There are
 a handful,  however, that  shine a  little brighter  than the  rest and of
 those, one in particular seems to be in a class all its own -- Migraph,Inc
 of Federal Way, Washington. Recently I plunked down  400+ dollars  of that
 hard-earned return  and purchased  their latest  composium -- a software &
 hardware  combination,  The  Migraph  Hand  Scanner   and  Touch-Up  image
 processor.     Briefly,  Touch-Up  is  a  GEM-based,  full-featured,  high
 resolution, virtual page, bit image creation and editing design tool (take
 my word  for it!  -- we'll  decipher this  later).  Touch-Up has a special
 mode within it that allows you to interface  marvelously with  the Migraph
 Hand Scanner, allowing line-art and halftone images to be scanned directly
 into the program for immediate editing.  I have explored nearly every nook
 and cranny of this dynamic duo for almost two months now and if pressed to
 give it just one adjective, it  would be  _professional_.   But I protest;
 let me  qualify that  adjective --  allow me  a modifier. The Migraph Hand
 Scanner/Touch-Up package is, in two words, _thoroughly professional_.


             "IT WAS THE LITTLE THINGS THAT CHARMED ME,
                  INDEED HIS CHARM SHOWED THROUGH 
                      IN THE LITTLE THINGS." 

                                   - my wife ..on why she married me


     One  of  the  earmarks  of  a   professional  effort,   a  _thoroughly
 professional_  effort,  is  attention  to  detail. Fussing over the little
 things underlies a conscientious approach to program development  and user
 consideration.  In  Migraph's  undertaking  I found many examples of this.
 You may think that they are minor but they speak  to me  and tell  me that
 I'm important  and not to be taken for granted.  For instance, the package
 that it  came  in  was  very  attractive  and  contemporary  -- definitely
 designed to  sell itself off the software dealer's shelf.  My registration
 cards(one for Touch-Up and  one  for  the  scanner)  both  had  the serial
 numbers  already  stamped  on  them(no  searching  through  manuals and on
 hardware) and the cards were of the business  reply, no  postage necessary
 variety. Mailing the cards in qualifies you for a free newsletter and free
 technical support.  The scanner hardware was meticulously packed with each
 component in  a separate custom-fitted bubble pack, and, in what I thought
 was a  nice little  touch, they  had a  black protective  cap covering the
 scanner's cartridge  connector to keep it clean and to assure no damage to
 the pins or the  connecting  sheath.   The manual  came in  a good-looking
 three  ring  binder/slip-case  library  shelf combination.  Because of its
 sturdy design you can set the binder upright while learning the program to
 avoid goose-necking while at the keyboard.


                      Speaking of the manual...

     It would  be tragic  to have  such a  powerful tool and not be able to
 navigate  it  due  to   hard   to   read,   unorganized,   and  inaccurate
 documentation.  But such is not the case here.  Liz Mitchell ought to take
 up ST manual writing for a living.  I know many of  her ST  brethren would
 benefit  from  the  thorough,  accurate,  and easy-to-understand rendering
 presented in the Migraph manual.   The manual  is meticulous  and modular,
 assuming little  and providing quick and easy access to specific functions
 within _each_ Migraph mode -- be it drawing, clip, text,  lightning, file,
 or scan  modes.   A very thorough contents section points you to each mode
 and the particular functions within each  mode.   Since some  functions in
 different modes  perform the  same tasks,  it would  have been tempting to
 explain them once and then have the reader  do a  little cross-referencing
 if the  function he  looked up  had already  been explained earlier in the
 book.  This would have been adequate but Liz and  Migraph decided  to make
 manual-flipping  quick  and  easy  by duplicating function explanations in
 their separate modes(call it user consideration).  Generally, instructions
 are  given  in  step  1,  step  2, step 3 fashion with _plenty_ of helpful
 illustrations and  screen shots.   There  are special  chapters devoted to
 those  who  want  to  'get  up  and running' with the scanner and software
 quickly, without first having to learn every intricacy of the program.  On
 to the software...


                         The Touch-Up low-down....

     Touch-Up (ver.  1.56) resides  on my  Mega 2 mono/color system with an
 Atari SLM804 laser printer.  Touch-Up requires at least one  meg of memory
 and  a   double-sided  disk   drive;  indeed  the  program  comes  on  two
 double-sided disks.   Believe  it  or  not  T-Up  will  run  in  all three
 resolutions  although  monochrome  is  recommended (will also run with the
 Moniterm by Viking); if you must  use a  color monitor  Migraph recommends
 you run  under low  resolution as  both high and low rez use square pixels
 (1:1 ratio,height to width).  Medium rez pixels have a 2:1 ratio  and will
 distort your screen image.  But no matter the screen rez your picture will
 not be limited to screen size as T-Up is a virtual-page program.  You will
 find that  in low  rez your  icons will  not appear within their boxes and
 using the drop-down menus will be necessary.  Almost all icon tools have a
 drop-down menu  alternative, so  you may use the method that's easiest for
 you.
                            
     Touch-Up will load, edit, and save images of any size  and resolution.
 You are  limited only  by computer memory and hard drive size.  If you run
 out of computer memory Touch-Up uses an ingenious method called hard drive
 paging to  swap portions  of the image into and out of ram.  If you have a
 Mega you shouldn't be  affected too  much by  program swapping,  but it is
 invaluable for  1 meg  machines.  T-Up will import Degas, Tiny, Tiff, IMG,
 GEM, PCX, Neochrome,  MacPaint,  and  Printmaster  formats  while  it will
 export  high   resolution  images   in  IMG,  IFF,  ILBM,  GIF,  MacPaint,
 Printmaster, Degas, and PCX.   As  you can  see T-Up  can manipulate files
 from all major platforms and will allow you to increase the source of your
 ST DTP clipart.


                 Dots per inch, the real story...         

     One of T-Up's major strengths lies  in the  fact that  it is presently
 the only  ST program that can edit and manipulate IMG files.  What are the
 advantages of IMG files? They are resolution independent  and guarantee in
 their  format  the  best  possible  resolution  per  output device.  Image
 files(IMG) are also not limited to a single screen of  data like  Degas or
 Neochrome.  You  can,  therefore,  create,  edit,  or scan an image at the
 optimum resolution for your printer or project without worrying over pixel
 supply. For  instance, ST  monochrome mode  is 640 * 400 pixels.  Since my
 output device is capable of 300 dpi (dots per inch or _printer pixels_ per
 inch),  you  can  see  where,  if  I  were creating or scanning at 300 dpi
 resolution, I would be limited to  a printed  image size  of approximately
 2.15 inches(640/300)wide by 1.33 inches high(400/300).  The Migraph screen
 is only a   _representation_ of  my printer  page. To  _represent_ a laser
 printer (or  any other printer, such as the Deskjet, that has 300 dpi rez)
 the screen  needs  4  full  inches  for  every  1  inch  on  the laser(300
 dpi-printer/75 dpi  screen).  Without Touch-Up's virtual-page capabilities
 the largest 300 dpi image I could create on the  ST mono  monitor would be
 2.15 inches by 1.33 inches.  As you can see virtual-page representation is
 very valuable indeed.  Without it the only way I  could increase  the size
 of my  300 dpi images beyond the aforementioned limit, would be to stretch
 them inside of my DTP program  after import,  causing major  jaggie blues.
 So, the next time you see your friendly Migraph Touch-Up programmer, thank
 him for virtual-page capabilities!        


                          Modes of operation....

     When you first boot-up Touch-Up you will find  yourself in  draw mode.
 In draw  mode you  can create and edit objects at various zoom levels with
 the exception of full page zoom.  You create your object(box, circle, arc,
 ellipse, bezier  and b-spline  curves or  free-hand) first as a proto-type
 and then, when you are satisfied  with it  and have  found a  place on the
 page for it (by moving it around with the mouse) you may paste it with the
 press of the right mouse button.  Every  object has  a fill  pattern, line
 style, and  shadowing(if you want just an outline drawing and nothing else
 you would choose a white fill, transparent writing  mode, and  no shadow).
 At anytime  you may  save your  favorite settings  by clicking on the word
 defaults under the tools icon.  A paint can icon can also be used  to fill
 an object  or the  entire page with whatever pattern was last chosen under
 the pattern icon.


                          No mirrors used here...

     Clip mode is quite the magical  editing tool.  While in  clip mode you
 may select  any portion of your image by creating a box around it with the
 mouse and left-clicker.  Once chosen any of the operations  chosen in clip
 mode such  as outline,  clean-up, mirror, flip, rotate, slant, or bolding,
 act only on the chosen clip area.  My favorite  editing tool  in clip mode
 is by  far, flip.   Many times I have found myself with a piece of clipart
 that(who)had the wrong orientation -- eg.  I needed the man to look to the
 left and  not to  the right,  I needed the horse to exit stage left but he
 insisted stage right.   Now all  I have  to do  is load  the uncooperative
 piece  into  Touch-Up,  put  a  box  around it and say "Flip, dadgummit!".
 Within a few seconds, miracle of miracles, my man is looking east  and not
 west,  and  my  horse  is  running  left  and not right, all with no image
 distortion. 

     Text  mode  includes  icons  that  allow  you  effortless  choosing of
 typeface,   size(in   pixels   not   points),   fill   pattern,  and  text
 attributes(such as  italics).   Once this  is done  you click  on the text
 label icon and you are presented with a dialog box to enter your text into
 a buffer, up to thirty five characters long.  Clicking on Ok takes you out
 of  the  buffer  and  pressing  the  left  mouse  button while on the page
 presents you with a  box  that  approximates  the  height  and  width (and
 descender area)  of your  text object(very nice!).  Move your mouse around
 to the perfect spot on the page, click the left button again and your text
 object is  placed on  the page as a graphic object that you may do with as
 you please.  The key to remember here is that the text cannot be edited as
 text(no  backspacing,  changing  of  attributes  or style, etc.)once it is
 pasted onto the page, it is now living happily on  the page  as a _graphic
 object_.

     File mode  is the  area of  the program devoted to the loading, saving
 and printing of files.  If you are loading a GEM file  you will  also have
 the option  of choosing  the pattern  resolution(75,150,300 dpi)of any GEM
 system pattern that might have  been  used  in  the  creation  of  the GEM
 picture.  Remember too that once the GEM file, an object oriented drawing,
 is loaded  into Touch-Up,  a bit-image  editor, it  has left  the world of
 vectors and  entered the  bit-image zone.   This  is why  a GEM file is on
 Touch-Up's list of imports but  is  absent  from  the  export  list; after
 editing it  must be saved in any of the bit-image formats listed.         


                         Quick-print vs. Outprint

     Within file mode is an icon choice, dedicated  to printing  your image
 without  having  to  leave  Touch-Up,  _if_  you have at least two megs of
 memory.  Mega owners  with  an  SLM804  laser  printer  do  not  need GDOS
 installed  to  use  this  option,  _although_ you will need to adjust your
 default maximum memory usage to the settings outlined in the manual.  This
 is  because  the  laser  requires  at  least  1  MB  to  print (Note: Some
 experimentation with  the values  may be  necessary.   Although the manual
 stated I would have to set my memory to 512k, I actually had to drop it to
 450k before my image would print.).  Quick-print is a nice luxury  if your
 memory can  afford it  as output is almost instantaneous.  The alternative
 to quick-print is outprint, Migraph's GDOS IMG printing program.  Touch-Up
 will shell  out to  Outprint once  you have  chosen it  from the drop-down
 menus and, when  you  are  finished  with  printing,  you  will  return to
 Touch-Up.   When I  was speaking  earlier in  my review about attention to
 detail, user consideration, and thorough professionalism, I had incredible
 features like this Outprint shell-out, in mind.  You will, of course, need
 to have  GDOS  installed  to  use  this  option(the  manual  has excellent
 instructions on how to set up GDOS for your particular system).


                     Unleash your imagination with...

     Lightning Mode,  a fun,  fully featured paint program.  Lightning mode
 is much faster than draw mode because everything is done in buffers.  As a
 result it  offers many  features not offered in other modes, making it one
 of the easiest and definitely most  creative areas  of Touch-Up.   Easy in
 that until  work is  pasted on  the page(either by pressing the F10 key or
 moving out of the present screen with the locator)you may use the UNDO key
 to erase  the last  function and shift-UNDO to erase everything done since
 the last time you pasted the buffer.  In lightning mode every  object that
 we explained  in draw mode can become a brush complete with patterns, line
 styles, and shadowing, _or_  you can  use the  lasso icon  to encircle any
 part  of  the  image  you  want  and  use  it  also  as a brush(I think an
 exclamation mark belongs here somewhere).  Incredible possibilities had me
 experimenting for  hours using  different brushes and fill patterns.  Also
 exclusively  within  this  mode  is  a  spray  feature  with  options  and
 performance unmatched  in any paint program I have seen.  You can actually
 spray a pattern  in  various  saturations(from  12%  to  100%)  in perfect
 vertical and  horizontal directions  or free-hand  if you choose -- again,
 the possibilities are endless.  FatBits is an option that will magnify a
 tiny portion of the screen so  that it  fills the  entire work  area.  The
 magnified area  is shown  in normal  size in the upper left-hand corner of
 the screen so that you may  see how  your pixel  editing is  affecting the
 image. 


                        Of Beziers and B-splines...

     Bezier and  B-splines are fancy names for sometimes very fancy curves.
 Bezier curves have a mandatory total of 4 control points  while a B-spline
 can have  from 3  to 32 control points and therefore can obviously produce
 more complex curves.  The  control  that  Touch-Up  allows  the  user when
 manipulating these curves, is fascinating.  You can instantaneously delete
 points, insert them, and move them around, allowing unlimited mastery over
 these beauties.   These are available in draw and lightning modes but they
 truly shine in the latter mode where they become complex brushes!   My jaw
 nearly  dropped  in  wonderment  as  I  discovered,  for hours on end, the
 incredible effects of painting with  these  beautiful  curves.    A simple
 bezier curve  became a  beautiful three-dimensional vase with one circular
 mouse motion.  Other  three-dimensional shapes  that I  had never  seen or
 imagined came  to life  before my  eyes.   Touch-Up is truly a master over
 Bezier and B-spline technology (maybe they  ought to  rename these curves,
 mi-graphs?).  On that note lets move on to the...


                           Migraph Hand Scanner

     The Migraph Hand Scanner scans line-art and halftones (photographs) at
 100, 200, true 300, or 400 dots per inch (dpi).  The  hardware comes  in 3
 pieces including the scanner itself, a compact cartridge interface, and an
 AC power pack that  connects into  the cartridge.   With  all power  off I
 inserted the  cartridge into its port, on the side and towards the back of
 the Mega (never plug this in while the  computer is  turned on!).   Next I
 plugged the scanner and the power pack into the cartridge; with that I was
 finished installing the hardware!  (Note: I had a little problem getting a
 clean cart  connection the first few times and eventually had to raise the
 Mega up off the table by placing 4 bad disks under each  corner; don't ask
 me  what  I  was  doing  with  4  bad disks laying around but they came in
 handy).  

     After turning the computer on and booting Touch-Up, I entered the scan
 mode by clicking on an icon of the scanner.  According to the manual I set
 my software and hardware at the same resolution and then  chose full width
 at 4  inches height for my scanning area.  Since I was scanning some black
 and white ink drawings out of a book I set my document setting on the side
 of the  scanner to  Letter(this is  the setting to use for line-art, there
 are also three dither settings for halftones represented  by small, medium
 and large  dots).   All set to go, I then clicked on the icon for scanning
 to full-page(as opposed to scanning into  a  clip  area).    Touch-Up then
 warned me of overwriting the existing image to which I hit the return key.
 Looking over the top of the scanner I  noticed a  long, thin,  green light
 appear in the scanner window.  I aligned the light over the image, pressed
 and held in the start button on the side of  the scanner  and proceeded to
 slowly  move  the  scanner,  without  any  guides,  down the length of the
 drawing.  A small round green dot just  below the  scanner window remained
 solid throughout  the scan  indicating to me that I was not going too fast
 (it flickers if you are scanning  too fast  for it  to gather  the 100-400
 dots per  inch needed  as dictated  by the scanner and software settings).
 When I  had scanned  down 4  inches(as set  in the  software) the scanning
 light  went  off  and  within  2  seconds,  the  image in my book appeared
 magically on my monitor.  The first time you do this you are awe-struck to
 say the least. "This is neat!", I exclaimed and immediately I showed it to
 my wife, my 8 year old girl, my 2 year  old toddler,  my 2  month old baby
 boy, and my three gold fish.

     In the  last month  or so,  I have  become quite the scanning fool and
 have made the following observations.  Before I got the  product I thought
 that scanning  would be  a fun but touch-and-go proposition, subject to an
 exacting and rigid discipline.  I  couldn't  have  been  further  from the
 truth.   I have  found it very easy to keep the scanner in a straight line
 and have had the little round light flicker at me only once.  Most  of the
 time I  keep the  contrast dial  on the  scanner set  in the middle and my
 scanned images have been echoed to  my monitor  with _incredible_ clarity.
 I rarely have to use the clean up tools available within the clip mode due
 to very clean and crisp scans.  I have  seen scanners  on MS-DOS computers
 but their output doesn't come close to matching the Migraph Hand Scanner. 


                           Some scanner facts...

 The  Migraph  Hand  Scanner  has  a  large  4  1/8  inch  scanning window.
 Depending on computer memory, image resolution and scanning  width you can
 scan an image from 2 to 14 inches in height.  The scanner has three dither
 settings.  Normally the small dots  setting provides  the best  output for
 halftones but  experimentation with  dpi, contrast, and dither settings is
 easily afforded by the scanner's speedy operation.  The scanner  turns off
 automatically when not in use so as to avoid damage. 


                      True 300 and 400 dpi settings?

     Logically you may reason that Migraph is saying that most, if not all,
 hand scanners only simulate 300 and 400 dpi scanning and this is _exactly_
 the case.   Other scanners have only one bank of sensors that receive only
 200 dots of data per inch.  They use a  mirroring type  algorithm in their
 software to  _simulate_ 300  and 400 dpi.  The Migraph Hand Scanner on the
 other hand has two banks of these sensors and can therefore receive  up to
 400 actual  dots of  data per inch! How do they do it?  Well certainly not
 with mirrors.                   

     To try  and help  you get  a practical  grasp on  the peculiarities of
 different  resolutions(dpi)  as  they  relate  specifically to the scanned
 output of the Migraph Hand Scanner, I have prepared a comparison table.  I
 ran a  test that  consisted of  scanning the same image(the witch line-art
 sample in the  Touch_Up  manual)  at  all  4  resolution  settings  on the
 scanner(100,200,300, and  400 dpi).   For  each scan  my scanning area was
 full width at 4 inches of height.  After each scan I saved the  picture in
 IMG format  under a  different file name and before I moved on to the next
 scan I printed it out on the Atari  laser through  the quick-print option.
 I  then  measured  each  scan  by  by file size, printed width and printed
 height. 

                   IMG File     Printed        Printed             
             DPI   Size(bytes)  Height(inches) Width(inches)
             -----------------------------------------------
            | 100 |   6201     |     14/16    |     15/16   |
             -----------------------------------------------
            | 200 |  17997     | 1 & 11/16    | 1 & 13/16   |
             -----------------------------------------------
            | 300 |  32653     | 2 &  9/16    | 2 & 11/16   |
             -----------------------------------------------
            | 400 |  49613     | 3 &  7/16    | 3 &  8/16   |
             -----------------------------------------------


     Generally speaking, there were no  jaggies  in  any  of  the pictures.
 With greater dpi came greater detail in a larger printed picture.  At each
 level the area of the picture increased fourfold. For instance the 200 dpi
 picture  was  4  times  the  size  of  the 100 dpi picture (and in greater
 detail); the 300 dpi picture was 4 times larger than  the 200  dpi picture
 and the  400 dpi was 4 times larger than the 300 dpi picture.  Taking this
 further, the 300 dpi inch picture wound up being 12 times the  size of the
 100 dpi picture.  Hmm   ..Get the picture?


                             In conclusion...

     Touch-Up seems  to be quite at peace with itself and the scanner.  Not
 _once_ did the program bomb itself out while interfacing with the scanner,
 entering  and  exiting  the  various  modes,  shelling  back  and forth to
 Outprint, or  while arguing  with me  about my  maximum memory allocation.
 Remember how  I had  to experiment  with defaults before I could get quick
 print to work?  I've seen this type  of interaction  eat many  a program's
 lunch!). 

     Touch-Up also gets an award for being quite the GEM thoroughbred; when
 they say GEM-based they mean it.  Never before have  I seen  an ST program
 take advantage  of GEM  like Touch-Up  does -- here we have a program that
 has rediscovered the right clicker for the benefit of a  very powerful and
 slick user-interface.   Because of the program's sophistication they could
 have easily copped out on GEM and stuck us with an interface  riddled with
 control, shift,  and alternate,  key-combo's.  Instead they stuck with the
 intuitiveness of GEM,  benefiting  both  the  beginning  _and_ experienced
 user. Thank you Migraph!   


                                Finally...

     The Migraph  Hand Scanner and Touch-Up package is a must for any small
 or large business  involved  with  desktop  publishing.    Once  you start
 availing yourself  to Touch-Up's  incredible editing,  design and creation
 tools for high-resolution images you will  conscientiously make  it a part
 of a  large percentage  of your  projects.  Time is money and the time and
 effort that Touch-up will save you will enable you to be a more productive
 DTP'er.   And if  you are  a professional DTP'er you already know that you
 _have_ to have a scanner; I won't belabor  the point  but I  will say that
 the  300+  net  cost  of  the scanner now puts scanning convenience within
 everyone's reach without compromising output quality.  And  for these same
 reasons  I  would  _highly_  recommend  this  package  to the serious home
 user(besides its a _whole_ heck of a lot of fun!).

     Believe it or not I feel  as though  I just  scratched the  surface of
 this incredible offering from Migraph.  I would need about 5 more sessions
 to do the product justice and indeed I may come back to it in  the future.
 In  the  mean  time  why  don't  you  save me the breath and experience it
 yourself!




                               Migraph Inc.
                          200 S. 333rd Suite 220
                          Federal Way, WA. 98003
                       (206)838-4677 - (800)223-3729





    ___________________________________________________________________




 > Kidpublisher Pro STR Review   Desk Top Publishing for all ages!
   ===========================




                                                  DTP for the Small Fry!!
                                                  =======================



 by R. E. Rosendale

  
     The latest kidprg (tm) by D. A. Brumleve  is Kidpublisher Professional
 a desktop  publishing program  for young writers, recommended for children
 ages 5-11.  The version number is 6.0 because there are earlier "careware"
 versions of Kidpublisher.

     What makes this version different from the earlier versions other than
 the word Professional being added is that it is an expanded, improved, and
 completely rewritten  version.  a faster word processor with word wrap and
 an underline function has been added.  There are now four font sets.  When
 you select  the font  icon you  will go  to a  font screen, click with the
 mouse on the portion of the screen to see the different styles.   When you
 have decided  which font it will automatically load (only one is usable at
 a time - no mixed fonts).  

     If there is any text already typed it will automatically change to the
 new font,  it is  recommended you  select your  desired font first so that
 there will not be any overflow of text at the  bottom of  the screen, i.e.
 starting with a small font and then changing to the large font will reduce
 the number of words allowed per  line or  page.   The drawing  program has
 been expanded  so that  besides Line, Box, Circle and Fill there is now an
 Undo feature.  

     The manual is written with the parent or teacher in mind and  there is
 a pull-out  instruction sheet  for the child to use, one side for the text
 editor and the other  side for  the drawing  program.   One of  the nicest
 features is  the addition of a title page so that if the child is making a
 booklet,  they  may  title  it,  give  the  author  credit  and  give  the
 illustrator credit.

     Other than  the title  page, each page is divided into two parts.  The
 top half for the drawing and the bottom  for the  text.   The ruled typing
 area provides  seven lines  of thirty-three  columns each.   If  a word is
 typed at the end of a line and the word is too long it will word wrap that
 word down  to the  next line.   The red cursor can be controlled by either
 the arrow keys or the mouse.   The  F1  -  F10  function  keys,  Esc, Tab,
 Control, Alternate, Help, Insert, and Clr/Home keys do not operate.

     The drawing  screen becomes active when Draw is selected on the typing
 screen, to return to the typing screen select  the Type  icon.   Of course
 the only  colors available  are Black on a White background, but here is a
 hint, if you select the solid black Fill pattern you can select  the Erase
 icon and  "draw" in  white.   For creativity,  the child  may want to hand
 color their pictures after  they are  printed.   The same  is true  if the
 outline font is selected.

     The Blank option in either the typing or drawing mode will present the
 user with an alert box, asking to erase the whole screen.

     Selecting the Page icon in either mode will move you to the  next page
 in the  same mode.   There are five text pages and five drawing pages.  If
 you are on page five and select page  again, you  will be  returned to the
 first page.   This  comes in handy to flip through the pages to remind you
 what you  have previously  done.   All five  pages remain  in memory until
 saved.

     When typing  and drawings  are complete  it is  time to either save or
 print the pages created, or both.  If saved, the  same story  and pictures
 will be loaded.  If your child wants to keep their collection of story/art
 masterpieces they will need multiple copies of the disk in order that each
 story will  autoload when  the disk  is booted.  This was done so that the
 child would not have to swap disks.  As an adult, I would have preferred a
 load feature  so that  each story  could be loaded from a folder named for
 the story.   The  Kidpublisher  Professional  package  does  contain extra
 labels.

     Kidpublisher Professional comes with a unique copying policy.  If you,
 as a parent, have  several children  in your  household, may  furnish each
 child a  copy of  the original disk.  If you are a school teacher and your
 students use Atari ST's at school.  You may furnish a copy for each one of
 the students.   If  however, little Johnny next door wants a copy, ask his
 parents get a copy of one of the earlier careware  versions or  buy a copy
 for their household.

 Kidpublisher Professional sells for $25 from:

                              D. A. Brumleve 
                              P. O. Box 4195 
                          Urbana, IL 61801-8820.






   _____________________________________________________________________




 > SYQUEST NEWS STR Spotlight   The LATEST info....
   ==========================



                                                  ON THE CUTTING EDGE
                                                  ===================



     The first  5 1/4 inch Winchester disk drive with its disks, read/write
 heads and  positioning  motors  sealed  in  a  self-contained, low-profile
 removable data  module is  announced by Syquest Technology Inc. of Fremont
 California.

     The unit is called the SQ5200,  the 175  mb (formatted)  SyQuest drive
 offers the convenience and flexibility of a removable cartridge Winchester
 disk  drive  and  the  versatility,  performance  and  storage  capacities
 associated with  conventional, high performance, fixed disk drives.  It is
 designed specifically for work  station  applications  requiring unlimited
 storage  capacities  and  single  workstations  supporting  multiple, high
 capacity users with private or dedicated data bases.  It is also  aimed at
 applications where  data security is a critical element in systems design,
 for high speed file back up and for data interchange.

     The SQ5200 incorporates fully  embedded SCSI  controllers for  ease of
 integration into  a wide  range of workstations and small business desktop
 computer systems.  Its design harkens  back to  the first  Winchester disk
 drive, the  14 inch IBM 3340 introduced in 1972, according to SyQuest vice
 president of sales and  marketing Arnold  Cooley.   "Until that  time disk
 drives incorporated  removable disk  packs," he said, "but the demands for
 more capacity led to the development  of a  new type  of drive,  the fixed
 disk Winchester."

     The desire  for data  storage devices that made provision for removing
 the disk, storing it or interchanging it with other drives remained strong
 among many users, however.  As a result, the IBM 3340 was designed so that
 the sealed  head/disk  assembly  containing  read/write  heads,  disks and
 actuators could  be removed  as a  single unit and interchanged with other
 drives.

     This feature disappeared  as  the  reliability  of  fixed  disk drives
 increased.     "Nonetheless,  there  has  always  been  a  large  body  of
 applications in which removability is a  key consideration,"  Cooley said.
 "Many of  these applications can be satisfied by the removable, fixed disk
 Winchester cartridge drives now on the market."  Use of the module concept
 also permits  the use  of multiple  disks in  a removable product for even
 more storage capacity, he added.  


     The SyQuest 5200 series data module drives incorporate  a rotary voice
 coil  actuator  to  handle  head  positioning, and operate at average seek
 times of 19 milliseconds.  They can handle asynchronous transfer  rates as
 high as  1.25 mb per second.  Synchronous transfer rates between drive and
 system can reach 5 mb per second.  The data module itself slips in and out
 of the  drive chassis  and is  hooked to  the printed circuit board via an
 electrical connector at the rear of the module.

              Other key specifications of the SQ5200 include:

               Track density                      1407 tpi
               Tracks per surface                 1747
               Recording density                  25,065 bpi
               Flux density                       16,710 fci
               Recording method                   2,7 RLL
               MTBF                               60,000 hours
               Start/stop cycles                  20,000 minimum
               Dimensions                         1 x 5.25 x 8
               Power (Idle)                       9 watts

     The  SQ5200  is  priced  at  $690.00  including  data  module,  in OEM
 quantities.    Evaluation  versions  will  be available at the end of this
 year; production versions will be available in the first quarter of 1990.

     SyQuest Technology Inc. was  founded  in  1982  and  has  shipped over
 300,000 drives  and 1  million cartridges.  The company maintains a 76,000
 sq ft.  manufacturing and  administrative facility  in Fremont California,
 and an  8500 sq  ft facility  in Singapore.  A 40,000 sq ft. manufacturing
 facility in Singapore will be brought online in January 1990.  The company
 is privately held.

 Editor Note:
 Both  the  5.25  inch  175mb  unit  and  the  new 3.5 inch 42mb units were
 operating and on display at Comdex/Fall '89 show in Las Vegas.

     The SyQuest 3.5 inch  unit called  the SQ355  is 42mb  (formatted) and
 provides the  same basic  benefits at  all the  fine units  in the SyQuest
 family of fine products.  The SQ 355 is expected  to boost  versatility in
 most all the laptops available.

     The SQ  355 operates at an average seek time of 19 milliseconds and is
 equipped with either a 16 bit AT interface or an embedded SCSI controller.

                        Key specifications include:

               Track density                      1407 tpi
               Tracks per surface                 1257
               Recording density                  23,736 bpi
               Flux density                       15,824 fci
               Recording method                   2,7 RLL
               Data Xfer Rate SCSI Asyn           1.25 mb sec
               Data Xfer Rate SCSI Sync           4.0 mb sec
               Data Xfer Rate AT                  2.5 mb sec
               Data Xfer Rate Buffer xfer         4.0 mb sec
               MTBF                               50,000 hours
               Start/stop cycles                  10,000 minimum
               Dimensions                         1 x 4 x 5.75

     The SQ 355 is priced at 290.00 including cartridge in  OEM quantities.
 Evaluation  versions  of  this  unit  will  be  available during the first
 quarter of 1990.





        ___________________________________________________________





 > BRANCH SOFTWARE STR Spotlight  A bright, NEW company supports Atari!
   =============================




               Branch Always Software is ready for business!
               =============================================



 December 1, 1989

     Branch Always Software is proud to announce its  entry into  the Atari
 ST  retail  software  market.    Branch Always Software was founded by two
 programmers you  already know  well, Ignac  A. Kolenko  and Darek Mihocka,
 authors of several popular public domain and shareware programs.

     The  goal  of  our  company  is  to provide all ST users with low cost
 quality software that runs on  all  Atari  ST  systems,  whether  for 512K
 machines or  4 meg  machines. We  write software for the exact same reason
 you bought an Atari  ST in  the first  place: to  provide power  without a
 large price.

     Up until  now, our  software was  available only  as shareware. But we
 understand that not all users have access to bulletin boards and that some
 users want the convenience of being able to buy software through a dealer.

     Our  first  product,  Quick  ST,  is  now  shipping  to  Atari dealers
 throughout the United States and Canada, which includes  3 programs  for a
 price of only $19.95 US.

     The  package  contains  Quick  ST  version 1.7, Quick Index, and Quick
 View, as well as some of our previously released public domain software.

     Quick  ST  increases  the  speed  at  which  the  ST  performs  screen
 operations, such  as printing  text to  the screen,  scrolling the screen,
 drawing windows and dialog  boxes,  and  reducing  the  overhead  of other
 graphics operations.

     The result  is that  your Atari ST appears to run faster and smoother.
 Quick ST runs from the AUTO folder and so does not use  any desk accessory
 slots or  require interaction with the user.  It is completely transparent
 to other applications, and uses only 10K to 20K of memory.

     Quick Index is  the  de  facto  benchmarking  software  for  the Atari
 ST/STE/TT line  of computers.   Its  11 different  tests show the relative
 speed of your system in such  categories as  CPU speed,  disk drive speed,
 and TOS  efficiency.   It is  already widely used to test various hardware
 upgrades, such as accelerator boards, memory caches, and hard disks.

     Quick View is a  very useful  text file  reader.   It quickly displays
 text files,  forwards and  backwards, and  is very handy for reading large
 README files, online magazines, and even source code.  It can run from the
 desktop,  from  a  command  line  shell,  or  as an installed application.
 Simply double click on a text file and Quick View automatically loads.

     If your dealer does not yet carry Quick ST, ask  him to  order it from
 distributors such  as Horizon  Computers or  Pacific Software  Supply.  In
 Canada, or overseas, they can order directly from  Branch Always Software.
 We also offer discounts to user groups. Write or call for details.

     We at  Branch Always Software know that the best ways to attract users
 to our products are  to keep  prices low  and have  our products available
 when  advertized.    This  means  that  we  won't waste our money on fancy
 packaging or big glossy magazine ads.  But it does mean that you can go to
 your dealer and buy Quick ST now, not next quarter or next summer.

     We will  not make any vaporware announcements, so when we are actually
 shipping our next product,  we will  announce it,  and product  demos will
 also be uploaded to Compuserve and GEnie.

     In the  meantime, we'd  like to  wish everyone a safe an happy holiday
 season, and we hope to see everybody back in 1990.

     If you are a software developer and would like to market your software
 through us,  give us  a call.   We  are looking for other quality low cost
 software to bring to Atari users.

                          Branch Always Software
                          PO Box 2624, Station B
                        Kitchener, Ontario  N2H 6N2
                                  Canada

                           phone: (519)-570-4340
                         FAX: available in January

                          Compuserve: 73657,2714
                               GEnie: DAREKM
                Usenet: uunet!watcgl!electro!brasoft!ignac
                   or uunet!watcgl!electro!brasoft!darek

                           Quick ST 1.7: $19.95





  _______________________________________________________________________






 > SEAGATE! STR Spotlight       The origin of ST506/412 standard.
   ======================


                                             A GROWTH INDUSTRY SHINES!
                                             =========================



 by R.F. Mariano




     It seems like only yesterday that Seagate set out to  create the first
 5.25 hard  disc drive  for PCs.  Its amazing to see that a decade has gone
 by since they opened up shop in Scots Valley, California.

     The advent of the personal computer  in  the  '70s  the  most powerful
 initiative.  This new, powerhouse of a desktop machine provided users with
 unheard of capabilities and opportunities.  Seagate seemed to recognize an
 opportunity of  their own;  "A chance to apply their expertise in floppies
 and large hard disc drives  to  small  hard  disc  drives  for  these very
 popular and capable computers.

     The first  generation of  personal computers used floppy disks or tape
 drives for loading and storage of data and programs.   While adequate, the
 capacity and severe speed limitations left users wanting more.. much more.
 And so, in steps Seagate, they decided to apply the  storage principles of
 the 8"  Winchester drive,  but shrink the size and price.  Thus, providing
 the users with a high speed,  high  capacity  and  less  expensive storage
 solution.

     In mid 1980, Seagate unveiled the ST506, the world's first full height
 5.25 inch hard  disc  drive  for  personal  computers.  (notice  ST506? An
 industry standard) ..  With a huge 5 mb of formatted capacity and a rather
 hefty price tag, compared to today's standards, of $1500.00, this  was the
 greatest thing  to hit  the computer industry since software itself.  This
 first model hit a blistering seek rate of  85 msecs  and carried  a meager
 11,000 hours MTBF rate.   Hard discs have certainly come a long, long way.

     As the  userbase began  to snap up these jewels of storage, the volume
 caused the prices to  become  more  reasonable,  $900.00  or approximately
 $180.00 per  megabyte.   The demand  for this  device was nothing short of
 phenomenal and as a  result, the  Seagate name  and industry  standard was
 firmly established.   Thus,  the ST506/ designation.  The users were quick
 to appreciate the benefits of a hard disc drive in their personal systems.
 However, they  soon realized  the need  for more storage.  Therefore in no
 time at  all,  Seagate  increased  the  areal  density  and  in  1982 they
 introduced the  ST412.   [ST506/412 - look familiar?]  The basic interface
 of these models have remained fully an industry standard.

     A major factor that has seen monumental change is the  cost to produce
 a hard  disc drive.   As the technologies and manufacturing processes have
 advanced, and as market  consumption has  steadily increased,  prices have
 dropped dramatically.   In  response to  the demand for higher quality and
 lower prices, Seagate, almost  six  years  ago,  decided  to  divide their
 operations three  ways, the  United States,  Singapore and  Bangkok.  This
 manuever enhanced the production costs appreciably.

     Another major player in  the forming  of today's  market was  the vast
 change to  shape of  the distribution  channels.  No longer would there be
 only OEM sales.  Now dealers  were  stocking  the  devices  and installing
 them.   This type of dealer and value adders were a whole new ballgame for
 Seagate,  who  responded  by  creating  a  distribution  network  that was
 designed to compliment existing OEM agreements.

     Seagate soon  learned that  servicing a multitude of dealers was quite
 different from  a handful  of OEMs  and was  faced with  developing a full
 scale  service,   training  and   support  program  to  maximize  customer
 satisfaction worldwide.

     The eighties gave the users an  opportunity to  observe the  hard disc
 industry in a relatively short ten year period that experienced a shakeout
 the likes of which had never  been seen.   This  is evidenced  by the fact
 that very few, if any, of Seagate's original competitors are still around.
 Not only did Seagate survive the  tumult, they  have established products,
 technologies and  development resources  that are designed to keep Seagate
 at the forefront of the mass  storage, disc  industry for  the next decade
 and more. 






    ___________________________________________________________________




 > ST REPORT CONFIDENTIAL    Sayin' it like it is....
   ======================



 - British Columbia, CAN.   ******  GRAVIS TO FIX MEGA TIMING BUG!  ******
   ---------------------

  
     Gravis is  very much aware of the MEGA BOOTUP PROBLEMS and have stated
 they have SOLID PLANS  TO FIX  THE PROBLEM.   However,  they did  say that
 those users who own the new joystick and have not registered it must do so
 as soon as possible, if they expect to have the problem remedied.   In the
 meantime, to avoid the timing problem plug the joystick AFTER booting your
 Mega, they said.  While reflecting  on the  Gravis joystick,  Falcon flies
 great -  set auto  centering on  the stick,  mouse 2 option in the control
 menu, push the forward button once to center  - the  stick centers  on its
 own from  here on.  Give the stick a try on Shufflepuck Cafe - leave it in
 auto centering and set the handle tension  to  0.    This  takes  a little
 getting used  to, but  it works  great.  In addition, the reception of the
 Gravis joystick in Europe has been  first rate  all the  way.   Looks like
 they know  a good  thing when  they see  one.   If you have any questions,
 call: 604-434-7274, we did  and we  must say  "they are  extremely helpful
 folks".   Besides, who  said it was a bug? ...Its an undocumented feature!
 It checks timing.




 - Rockville, MD            ***** GEnie OPENS PORTFOLIO FILE LIBRARY *****
   -------------

     In  keeping  with  the  full  support  premise,  GEnie  and  its Atari
 Roundtables have  opened a  dedicated Portfolio  files library.  This move
 compliments the already functioning Category 35 area focusing  on messages
 posted pertaining  to the  Portfolio to  and from  users and Atari support
 personnel.




 - Chicago, IL.         ***** SEARS SEZ LYNX BACKORDERED 'TILL 12/24! *****
   ------------                              CHRISTMAS EVE???

     "T'was the night before Christmas and all through the house...."   The
 old familiar  expression may  have a  very empty  ring to  it this year if
 Santa can't deliver..  Indeed an upcoming generation will have a hard time
 forgetting the  BIG LETDOWN  if there  are no Lynx game machines under the
 tree.  Knowing this, its easy to understand why all of Santa's helpers are
 frantically getting  the job done to make sure there are NO tears in * any
 * youngster's eyes..  but backordered right to  Christmas Eve?   Atari sez
 12/21, in any case, its ...Kinda tight  but do-able ...

  



 - Washington, DC               *****  AMIGA COMPUTERS FOR UNCLE SAM  *****
   --------------


     Commodore  has  announced  their  negotiations  with  Uncle  Sam  were
 successful and they have been awarded a government contract.  The Pentagon
 will be  able to procure Amiga Computers for all branches of the military,
 they said.  It is also reported that NASA is part of the contract and will
 also require a number of Amiga computers.




 - Jacksonville, FL.           ******  PC DITTO IS ALIVE AND WELL!  ******
   -----------------

     Bill  Teal  of  Avant  Garde  paid  a  visit  to  Peripheral Vision in
 Jacksonville today and demonstrated PC - DITTO II.  According to the folks
 who attended,  the device  is as solid as a rock and performed flawlessly.
 Also noted  was the  fact that  those folks  who have  received the second
 postcard acknowledging  the prepaid order will be receiving their Ditto II
 very shortly.  Avant Garde  has  already  shipped  "review"  units  to the
 magazines.  So... rest easy folks, Bill Teal has come through. 






    ___________________________________________________________________




 > Hard Drive Info STReport InfoFile   Affordable Mass Storage
   ================================= 
  
  


                        NEW PRICES! & MORE MODELS!!
                       ============================

                      ABCO COMPUTER ELECTRONICS INC.
              P.O. Box 6672  Jacksonville, Florida 32236-6672
                                Est.  1985
                 _________________________________________

                   Voice: 904-783-3319  10 AM - 4 PM EDT
                     BBS: 904-786-4176   12-24-96 HST
                    FAX: 904-783-3319  12 PM - 6 AM EDT
                 _________________________________________
                                        
                   HARD DISK SYSTEMS TO FIT EVERY BUDGET
                   _____________________________________
                                        
   All systems are complete and ready to use, included at NO EXTRA COST
                 are clock/calendar and cooling blower(s).
                                        
              ALL ABCO HARD DISK SYSTEMS ARE FULLY EXPANDABLE
                 (you are NOT limited to two drives ONLY!)
                   (all cables and connectors installed)
                                        
                   RUGGED SEAGATE HARD DISK MECHANISMS 

   * ICD HOST ADAPTERS USED EXCLUSIVELY * OMTI HIGH SPEED CONTROLLERS *

         32mb #SG32238   549.00              42mb #SG44710   619.00
         51mb #SGN4951   629.00              65mb #SG60101   689.00
         80mb #SGN296    729.00             100mb #SG84011D  949.00
        130mb #SG1244D  1099.00             145mb #SG3A421  1110.00
        170mb #SGT41776 1389.00             260mb #SG1244Q  2169.00
                          320mb #SGN7788Q 3295.00

           Listed above are a sampling of the systems available.
      Prices also reflect various cabinet/power supply configurations
    (over sixty configurations are available, flexibility is unlimited)


        ********--> CALL for SPECIAL HOLIDAY DISCOUNTS <--********
                     """"""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""
                                     
           ***  ALL Units: Average Access Time: 24ms - 34ms  ***

    ALL UNITS COMPATIBLE WITH --> MAGIC SAC - PC-DITTO/II - SPECTRE/GCR
                                        
             LARGER units are available - (special order only)

        * Removable Media Devices NOW Available (44mb) Syquest 555 *
                      * SPECIAL INTRODUCTORY PRICES *

                    EXTRA CARTRIDGES: 97.95  (anytime)

               * SYQUEST 44MB (#555) REMOVABLE MEDIA DRIVE *

     - SYQUEST 44 MB removable media drive     - ICD ST Host Adapter
     - ICD Mass Storage Utility Software       - 3' DMA Cable 
     - Fan & Clock                             - Multi-Unit Power Supply
                          (1) 44 MB Syquest Cart.

                 Completely Assembled and READY TO RUN!  
                              ONLY $869.00  
  
 We would  offer floppy drives..  but Computer Shopper has 'em at the right
 price.  And.. you can plug 'em right into our cabinets and power supplies.
 Low-Boy  OR  Standard  Case  (designed  with room for another 3.5 OR 5.25"
 drive)  They're made for user expansion!  TRUE UPGRADE-ABILITY!
   
   * TWIN SYQUEST 44MB REMOVABLE MEDIA DRIVES ... PROGRAMMER'S DELIGHT *
                        SPECIALLY PRICED  $1529.00 

    * SYQUEST 44MB REMOVABLE MEDIA DRIVE AND HARD DRIVE COMBINATIONS *
         - Syquest 44 Model [555] and the following hard drives -
          50mb SQG51   $1299.00           30mb SQG38    $1219.00
          65mb SQG09   $1339.00           85mb SQG96    $1399.00
                       
                 LOWBOY - STANDARD - DUAL BLOWER CABINETS

       - Custom Walnut WOODEN Cabinets - TOWER - AT - XT Cabinets - 
                      ALL POWER SUPPLIES UL APPROVED

                       -* 12 month FULL Guarantee *-
                         (A FULL YEAR of COVERAGE)

                 Quantity & Usergroup Discounts Available!
                 _________________________________________

                     DEALERS and DISTRIBUTORS WANTED!

                 Personal and Company Checks are accepted.

                            ORDER YOURS TODAY!

                       904-783-3319    9am - 8pm EDT






      _______________________________________________________________



 > A "Quotable Quote"
   =================




         "We must all learn to crawl ...BEFORE we TRYING to run!"

                                           ... ALSOP'S FABLES





                             "ATARI IS BACK!"

 --------------------------------------------------------------------------
 ST-REPORT  Issue #116   "Your Independent News Source"   December 01, 1989
                    ALL RIGHTS RESERVED  copyright 1989
 --------------------------------------------------------------------------
 Views, Opinions and Articles Presented herein are not necessarily those of
 the  editors,  staff,  ST  Report  or CPU Report.  Reprint permission is
 hereby granted, unless otherwise noted.    All  reprints  must  include ST
 Report or  CPU Report  and the  author's name.   All information presented
 herein is believed correct, STReport or CPU Report, it's editors and staff
 are not responsible for any use or misuse of information contained herein.
 --------------------------------------------------------------------------
