HDTenEightyP/NetNews huggingface dataset:
From: rvenable@helix.nih.gov (Richard M. Venable)
Subject: Re: Some realism in the flame wars, please!
Organization: National Institutes of Health, Bethesda
Date: Sat, 23 Jan 1993 19:27:42 GMT

In article <rwa.727736721@aupair.cs.athabascau.ca> rwa@aupair.cs.athabascau.ca (Ross Alexander) writes:
>wells_s@kosmos.wcc.govt.nz (Steve Wells) writes:
>
>>OS/2 does NOT HAVE 'TRUE' multitasking!
>>Multi-tasking is running 2 or more processes AT THE EXACT SAME TIME!
>>You can't do this without a chip to do it, or without halving the
>>speed of the machine for each extra process!  (e.g. every program
>>you wish to multi-task!)
>
>This is a use of the term `multi-tasking' with which I was not
>previously acquainted.  In fact, the entire field of Computing Science
>is not aquainted with it.  You are describing multi-processing.  Have
>you considered taking a few CS courses?  Just basic survey courses
>would be helpful, by the sound of your posts.  They're easy credits;

So, Mr. CS Expert, why don't YOU tell all us ignorant folks what TRUE
multitasking is, instead of blasting somebody who at least has part of
it right?  Why not explain why "multiprocessing" keeps being invoked
here, when essentially single processor systems are being discussed?
I always thought Unix was a multitasking operating system, since it
can run 2 or more processes simultaneously.  True, it is unequal
sharing due to process priorities, and there is also overhead to
consider, but one component of multitasking is certainly the ability
to run 2 or more processes (or tasks) at the same time, at least as
it appears to the user.  Sure, this has to be time-sliced on a single
processor system so it's only apparently simultaneous, but the comment
on halving the time should have given you a clue that multiprocessing
was not being discussed.  The Falcon may have a couple coprocessors,
but I wouldn't characterize it as a system capable of TRUE multiprocessing,
so I can't understand why people keep bringing it up.

If you have something useful to contribute, please do so; but sniping at
someone who doesn't have your obviously superior background in Computer
Science without sharing your expertise seems a bit nasty, IMHO.

-----------------------------------------------------------------
 Rick Venable                  |    "Eschew
 FDA/CBER Biophysics Lab       |   Obfuscation"  
 rvenable@helix.nih.gov        |         -- the Phantom Nerd   
-----------------------------------------------------------------
From: alien@clinet.fi (Risto Juvonen)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.atari.st
Subject: Re: RayShade on Atari?
Date: 27 Jan 93 21:18:16 GMT
Organization: Clinet, Espoo, Finland.
NNTP-Posting-Host: clinet.fi

doucet@ripolin.laas.fr (Jean-Etienne Doucet) writes:
>PoV is on the cover disk of the Feb'93 issue of the (French) STart Micro Mag.
>I haven't tried it, all I know is that 2 Megs are required.

 What's PoV? What I can do with it? Modeller?

>	+-------------------------+-------------------------+
>	|   Jean-Etienne DOUCET   |       LAAS - CNRS       |
>	|   doucet@laas.laas.fr   |   Toulouse   FRANCE     |
>	+-------------------------+-------------------------+

       _/_/_/_/    _/        _/   _/_/_/_/     _/      _/
      _/    _/    _/        _/   _/           _/_/    _/
     _/_/_/_/    _/        _/   _/_/_/       _/  _/  _/
    _/    _/    _/        _/   _/           _/    _/_/
   _/    _/    _/_/_/_/  _/   _/_/_/_/     _/      _/
                               VISUAL ART PRODUCTION

Risto Juvonen               Internet: alien@clinet.fi
Merisotilaantori 3 c 26     Fidonet:  @SMACK! (2:220/110.0)
00160 Helsinki, Finland     tel.358-(9)0-654804
------------------- Generation X --------------------------
Newsgroups: comp.sys.atari.st
Subject: Re: Help ! SPECTRE vs. Mac
From: paul@jupiter.ame.arizona.edu (Paul Harris)
Date: 25 Jan 93 12:19:25 MST
Reply-To: paul@jupiter.ame.arizona.edu
Distribution: world,local
Organization: University of Arizona

In article 7704@nessie.mcc.ac.uk, danny@nessie.mcc.ac.uk (Danny Graham) writes:
> Hello there,
> 
> I'm considering upgrading to an Apple Mac but I understand that there is a
> plug in cartridge that will turn my ST into an Apple Mac.
> My question is : How good is it ? How transparent to the user is it ?
> Should I buy it or upgrade ?
> 
> Thankyou for your time (in advance),
> 
> Danny

Spectre GCR from Gadgets by Small plus a set of Mac ROMS will cost you about $500,
which will effectively turn your ST into a Mac-Plus (mono--no color options yet).
It currently runs System 6.0.5 pretty good--no system 7.  And almost all the Mac software I've tried (besides a few games) has worked flawlessly.  It's very 
transparent to the user, once you  get used to different control keys and taking
floppy disks out yourself.

For your ST, I'd say you need at least 2M RAM and a hard drive (as for any Mac).
And of course you need a Mono monitor.

---

-Paul Harris                       @ @ 
paul@jupiter.ame.arizona.edu      \___/


Xref: sparky comp.sys.atari.st:20930 rec.games.hack:8269
From: cherborth@semprini.tdkcs.waterloo.on.ca (Chris Herborth)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.atari.st,rec.games.hack
Distribution: world
Organization: InterZONE Design
Subject: NetHack 3.0j, MiNT 0.95 (ATARI ST)
Keywords: atari, mint, multi-tasking, font, help, volunteer, win, cash, prizes
Summary: I want someone to do my dirty work for me.
Reply-To: cherborth@semprini.tdkcs.waterloo.on.ca
X-Software: HERMES GUS 1.04 Rev. Sep  5 1992
Date: Sat, 23 Jan 1993 14:58:42 EST


[Atari ST specific message here...  Most rec.games.hack readers can
ignore it.]

NetHack 3.0j (Atari version ported by Eric Smith) works quite nicely in
a TOSwin window under the MiNT multitasking kernel...

Now all we need is for someone to create a GDOS font something like the
one hackfnt.prg installs...  I'm going to make a Warp-9 version of that
font for users of this excellent screen accelarator.  I'm afraid it
won't make things look any nicer under TOSwin, but...

If anyone knows of any GDOS font creation utilities, or if anyone would
like to volunteer to create a GDOS font for NetHack, _please_ email me. 
Thanks.
-- 
-------------------========================================-------------------
Chris Herborth
cherborth@semprini.tdkcs.waterloo.on.ca
From: mfallero@doc.bmd.trw.com
Newsgroups: comp.sys.atari.st
Subject: Re: NEWSFLASH : FALCON RELEASED
Date: 22 Jan 93 13:45:01 MST

In article <1993Jan20.131541.7755@ugle.unit.no>, stigvi@Lise.Unit.NO (Stig Vidar Hovland) writes:
> In article <jorngh.366.727480750@dhhalden.no>, jorngh@dhhalden.no (JORN GUNNAR HALONEN) writes:
>  > 
>  > Yeah, you read right ! Two Falcons were actually released
>  > in UK yesterday, it was supposed to be three but one machine
>  > was D.O.A. The UK Atari manager was nevertheless pleased and
>  > stated that this proves Atari's dedication to the market. He
>  > also gave hopes of five (yes five !) new machines in the next
>  > few months, and an additional 30 (!) cute beasts if he managed
>  > to sell his flat in south London. The production barracks in
>  > Iraq is currently working in high gear too keep up with the
>    ^^^^ 
>  > demands.
>  > 
>  > And a last thing, this is a rumour. It may not be entirely true.
>  > 
> 
> If UN and USA could stop bombing these barracks, we probably would see
> more Falcons in the (near) future.
> 
> Stig Vidar Hovland - stigvi@lise.unit.no

Well, STig,
  I'll tell President Clinton to stop the bombing because you want
to buy a new computer.  I'm sure he'll see that your new Falcon is
much more important that forcing Saddam to comply with the treaty
Iraq signed at the end of Desert Storm.

The following has nothing to do with computers but:
I participated in NATO exercises in Norway during the mid/late 70's 
when I was in the Marines and have to say that I think that 
Norwegian women are the most beautiful and healthy looking I've ever seen.

Mark Falleroni
TRW Defense Systems
Ogden Engineering Operations
Ogden, Utah 84403

Newsgroups: comp.sys.atari.st
From: runehy@dhhalden.no (RUNE HYLDMO)
Subject: Re: FALCON is DEAD.... NOT, IBM is...
Organization: Ostfold College
Date: Tue, 26 Jan 1993 09:08:34 GMT

In article <1993Jan22.115450.24837@dcs.warwick.ac.uk> leo@dcs.warwick.ac.uk (Leo Hendry) writes:
>From: leo@dcs.warwick.ac.uk (Leo Hendry)
>Subject: Re: FALCON is DEAD!
>Date: Fri, 22 Jan 1993 11:54:50 GMT
>In article <1993Jan21.154134.14631@sae.com> malay@sae.com writes:
>>In article 9301204372@ritz.mordor.com, ritz@ritz.mordor.com (Christopher Mauritz) writes:
>>>AL RASHID SHAHIR (alrashi@ecf.toronto.edu) wrote:
>>>
>>>OS/2> Oh yes, you say the future is in IBM? Fat chance from a
>>>OS/2> company just about to fold!!!
>>>
>>>Bahahahahaha!  IBM is the largest computer manufacturer in the
>>>world.  It is so entertaining hearing a user of Atari products
>>>predicting the "fold"ing of IBM.  I think I'm going to have to put
>>>that one in my .sig.
>>>
>>>Chris
>>
>>Just to clear something up - IBM does NOT sell the most computers in the
>>world - in fact, IBM is lucky to be number 3 - Apple outsold everybody in
>>1992. If you add IBM machines + clones then total machines sold will be
>>more than everybody else sells - but the clone manufacturers are going to
>>be the death of IBM as a PC manufacturer - why do you think they need to
>>layoff so many people - why did they record nasty losses for 1992???
>                                             ^^^^^
>You call $7.2 billion "nasty"?  That has got to be the understatement of
>the year.  Here in the UK we are worrying about 3 1/2 entire countries being
>.038 billion pounds short a year!
>  Well OK, I am using the strict definition of a billion for the UK budget
>deficit and an American billion for IBM, but still $7 200 000 000.00 is the
>biggest corporate loss in the history of the known universe.
>
>- Leo

Here in Norway it took a company called Datavarehuset 6 months to from they 
launched their IBM-clone until they outsold IBM. Which they also are doing 
today. Party on....

Greets

Rune Hyldmo
Newsgroups: comp.sys.atari.st
From: tbrown@cis.ohio-state.edu (ted croft brown)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.atari.st
Subject: Re: Falcon, Falcon who has got a Falcon
Date: 27 Jan 1993 16:55:27 -0500
Organization: The Ohio State University Dept. of Computer and Info. Science
NNTP-Posting-Host: tortoise.cis.ohio-state.edu

In article <1k63fcINNovo@falcon.natinst.com> glens@natinst.com (Glen Sescila) writes:
>In article <1k56veINNpf7@tortoise.cis.ohio-state.edu> tbrown@cis.ohio-state.edu (ted croft brown) writes:
>>
>>This is not true for some Local Bus machines.  The Local Bus is wide enough
>>to support a graphics card with enough bus leftover to snarf stuff off the
>>harddrive at amazing speeds.
>
>	But software (games) can't really be written to use local bus video.
>The software (games) vendors need to target the largest maket which is still
>(and probably will be for a very long time) video on the ISA bus.  I know
>local bus video is software transparent to VGA but the games will be 'timed'
>for VGA on the ISA.


Yes that's true.  You can't take advantage of a feature unless you can be
assured it's there (which is a deadly assumption when it's Local Bus (of
some time, they aren't all the same) and an PC).  But it will affect the
users perception of GUI use (windows, OS/2, NeXTStep 486).

As I said a similar problem seem to crop up using IDE harddrives.  They 
never expected to run them off a bus faster than 8Mhz so never designed them
to handle more than that.

-- 
Ted Brown		tbrown@cis.ohio-state.edu
			tbrown@magnus.acs.ohio-state.edu
From: wbdst+@pitt.edu (William B Dwinnell)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.atari.st
Subject: Re: RayShade on Atari?
Date: 27 Jan 93 03:39:14 GMT
Organization: University of Pittsburgh


For that matter, has anyone compilerd (sorry, I meant 'compiled')
PoV for the Atari?
From: 01mbmccabe@leo.bsuvc.bsu.edu
Newsgroups: comp.sys.atari.st
Subject: Re: Falcon, Falcon who has got a Falcon
Date: 22 Jan 93 21:21:13 GMT
Organization: Ball State University, Muncie, In - Univ. Computing Svc's

>>Why have Atari made the Falcon a 32-bit machine with only a 16-bit data bus.
>>Surely, this will mean it only runs half as fast as it should.
> 
> No.
> 
> Certainly, a 32-bit CPU <-> RAM databus is superior to the 16-bit bus,
> but "half as fast" is far from accurate...  
> 
> You see, the CPU doesn't spend all it's time accessing memory.  Many
> instructions involve no memory access at all.  Others access memory,
> but also spend a lot of time processing the instruction.  And if an
> instruction or data is already in the on-chip cache, it will be just as
> fast regardless of the bus width.  
> 
> A 16-bit bus is slower than a 32-bit bus, but it is also cheaper - just
> as the architecture for a 16MHz chip is much cheaper than for a 32MHz
> chip.  

can someone make a list of typical sorts of programs that would be really
"memory-intensive" so as to really suffer from this 16-bit memory bus?

				-Matt
Newsgroups: comp.sys.atari.st
From: sjg@phlim.ph.kcl.ac.uk (Simon Gornall)
Subject: Re: Julian Reschke involved with MultiTOS d
Organization: Kings College London Image Processing Group
Date: Thu, 28 Jan 1993 10:03:48 GMT
X-Posted-From: phlem.ph.kcl.ac.uk
NNTP-Posting-Host: sol.ctr.columbia.edu

In article <1993Jan27.123750.12979@cs.ruu.nl>, avgroeni@cs.ruu.nl (Annius Groenink) writes:
} 
} No, it's just that the English still don't accept Canada as a nation.

One cannot believe that ones perception could be so dim. Still, where
is said pink blob ?

:-)
-- 
________________________________________________________________________________
\    Simon Gornall - Kings College London. Email: sjg@phlim.ph.kcl.ac.uk       /
/        - finger sjg@137.73.4.24 for info on the MiNT distrib kit -           \
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Xref: sparky comp.sys.atari.st:21251 comp.sys.atari.st.tech:6937
From: mjl-b@minster.york.ac.uk
Newsgroups: comp.sys.atari.st,comp.sys.atari.st.tech
Subject: New Version of ST Blank
Date: 28 Jan 93 16:44:24 GMT
Organization: Department of Computer Science, University of York, England

People might like to know that the latest version of ST Blank, V2.0.1, and
its assembler source have been posted to comp.(sources|binaries).a.st and
uploaded to atari.archive.umich.edu. I only posted them today, so give the
files some time to appear in the various places.

Changes from version 2.0.0 (posted just before Christmas) are:

1) The AUTO folder part doesn't crash if there's no .INF file
2) The dialogues have been tidied up and now look better in medium and low
resolution.
3) There's an "about" dialogue as well (purely for aesthetic reasons!)

Mat

| Mathew Lodge                      | "But my Lord! I've been in your family |
| mjl-b@minster.york.ac.uk          | since 1532!"    "So has syphilis"      |
| Langwith College, Uni of York, UK |  -- Blackadder II                      |
Newsgroups: comp.sys.atari.st
From: hutch@bellman.lanl.gov (John Hutchinson)
Subject: Re: TOS2.06 from CodeHead.
Reply-To: hutch@bellman.lanl.gov
Organization: Los Alamos National Laboratory
Date: Tue, 26 Jan 1993 17:31:28 GMT

In article 19624@monu6.cc.monash.edu.au, rdt154k@monu6.cc.monash.edu.au (Mr N Benci) writes:
>Can anyone please provide information regarding TOS2.06.
>I need a contact number + fax number + an address as to where
>I can purchase from. Also what is the current cost of the
>MEGA BUS version.


Nino, I cannot confirm he has any in stock, but I'd suggest you first check
with Phil Reeves at Paragon Computers Pty Ltd in Perth, WA (sorry, don't have
his phone number handy but directory assistance should get it for you). They
are the largest Atari dealer in Oz, to my knowledge, and a good place to start.

Failing that, you can check with CodeHead in the U.S.:

   CodeHead Technologies         voice 213-386-5735
   P.O. Box 74090                fax 213-386-5789
   Los Angeles, CA  90004
---

___________________________ John "HUTCH" Hutchinson _________________________
_________________ Fair Dinkum Technologies     Member - IAAD  _______________
________________ "No worries, mate... it's from Fair Dinkum!" _______________
____________ email: hutch@bellman.lanl.gov   GEnie: FAIR-DINKUM _____________


Newsgroups: comp.sys.atari.st
From: hutch@bellman.lanl.gov (John Hutchinson)
Subject: ** GEMULATOR For Sale **
Reply-To: hutch@bellman.lanl.gov
Organization: Los Alamos National Laboratory
Date: Fri, 22 Jan 1993 15:54:54 GMT

Here it is, folks, one each GEMULATOR board with TOS 2.06 ROMs intalled and
the latest version 2 software which really works well.

I've decided to hold on to my MegaSTe development machine for awhile longer,
therefore the Gemulator is going unused in my pc.  If someone here has 
decided to bail from the Atari market (too bad, IMHO) but doesn't want to
sacrifice all their existing Atari software, this is a worthy option.

I'll take $250 firm which is less than I have in the unit and is considerably
less than what they are priced at now.  This includes the $55 shareware s/w.

Any questions or interest, please send via email so we don't waste bandwidth
here in c.s.a.s.   Thanx.  
---

___________________________ John "HUTCH" Hutchinson _________________________
_________________ Fair Dinkum Technologies     Member - IAAD  _______________
________________ "No worries, mate... it's from Fair Dinkum!" _______________
____________ email: hutch@bellman.lanl.gov   GEnie: FAIR-DINKUM _____________
From: glens@natinst.com (Glen Sescila)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.atari.st
Subject: Re: 030 sync cycles (was : A1200 versus Falcon 030 once again)
Date: 22 Jan 1993 07:25:44 -0600
Organization: National Instruments, Austin, TX
NNTP-Posting-Host: falcon.natinst.com
Keywords: STERM

In article <1982@enst.enst.fr> elendir@inf.enst.fr writes:
>Joern Moe writes
>] In the falcon they use sync 
>] mode on a 16 bit bus. This gives a 4 clock cycle for each longword
>] access to the bus. This implies a 25% reduction in performance, not 50%.
>
> That is wrong. Synchrone cycles on the 68030 (i.e. those terminated by STERM  
>rather than DSACK) must be 32-bit wide. Refer to the 030 User s Manual. There  
>is no other way than DSACK to end a 16-bit wide exchange.
>
>Vincent.

 That is wrong.  The external hardware (external to the cpu) could do 2 16
bit cycles and pack them into 1 32 bit.  I'm not saying thats what the Falcon
does but be careful when you use words like 'never' and 'no other way'.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
"Now You're Playing With Power Without The Price!"  Glen Sescila   |||
                                                                  / | \
My opinions do not necessarily reflect those of my employer and probably are
exact opposites.	InterNet: glens@natinst.com
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
From: u0h36@keele.ac.uk (Adam Turnbull)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.atari.st
Subject: Re: floptical advice please!
Date: 22 Jan 93 15:28:00 GMT
Organization: Keele University, England
X-Newsreader: TIN [version 1.1 PL6]

Warwick Allison (warwick@cs.uq.oz.au) wrote:
: I'd like to hear those opinions.
: 
: I have been looking a tape back-up units, and my feeling is "old technology".
: 
: The *ONLY* use for a tape-backup unit is using tapes to backup file.
: 
: But a floptical could be used for less-often run programs, or other
: files that, while they don't really need to live on my hard-disk,
: I wouldn't want them OFF it and stuffed away on a tape somewhere.
: 
: My current set-up is an ICD host adaptor, a SCSI drive, and power
: supply (I opted against the "wire running from the ST's power-supply
: set-up for just this reason: adding more devices) - what do I
: need to add - just a floptical drive???
: 
: Any help would be ENORMOUSLY appreciated.
:

From what I gather, the floptical would be a good choice for you.
Although they're a bit more expensive than a tape drive (at least over
here) they do have the advantage that you can actually run stuff from
them - sort of halfway between a hard drive and a floppy. The disks
themselves are pretty cheap (about #15-20 for 21 meg), and I've heard
that 40 and 80 meg disks are in development, although if you'll need a
modified drive for this is unclear. Oh, and of course you'll be able to
run 720k and 1.44M floppies on it :)

The fact that they are slower than floppies is all that is putting me
off - I don't have an existing hard drive, and I don't think a floptical
would be up to the job of running gcc/mint/tcsh/latex and whatever at a
reasonable speed. I do like the idea of keeping related bunches of
programs all on one disk though - just pop in the disk corresponding to
what you're going to do tht session.

: Oh, also - whatever I do, it will need to be portable to the Falcon -
: I know the ICD adaptor will be pretty obsolete for the Falcon, since
: it has SCSI-II built in, but I'd like to avoid buying anything else
: that won't transport across.

I think they are. It should simply be a case of plugging it in, but I
suspect you'll need a PSU, and probably a case too.

Adam
From: jhauser@pine.CS.Berkeley.EDU (A Man Called John)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.atari.st
Subject: Re: Why Atari can't succeed in the United States
Date: 27 Jan 1993 02:27:27 GMT
Organization: University of California at Berkeley
NNTP-Posting-Host: pine.cs.berkeley.edu

In <1jsn8kINNd95@escargot.xx.rmit.OZ.AU>, UT writes:
> One case in point stood out - a new hand held game system
> (don't remember which) was to be carried by Toys R Us until Nintendo stepped in
> threatening supplies of its entertainment systems unless Toys R Us dropped the
> product. 

Isn't that illegal in my country?  (U.S.A.)

----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Repeal prohibition.  History repeats itself.  Repeal prohibition.  History r
John Hauser---jhauser@cs.berkeley.edu---Boy of DESTINY o o o o o o o o o o o
Xref: sparky comp.sys.atari.st:20729 comp.sys.atari.st.tech:6775
From: alexk@essex.ac.uk
Newsgroups: comp.sys.atari.st,comp.sys.atari.st.tech
Subject: Blitter s/w problem.
Date: 21 Jan 93 14:12:57 GMT
Reply-To: alexk@essex.ac.uk ()
Organization: University of Essex, Colchester, UK


	I have a problem using the blitter chip. The blitter appears to be
drawing to what it thinks is a med-rez screen when it is in fact a low-rez
screen. Ihave used XBIOS call 5 to set the rez, and screen addresses, and
is called every time I page flip. Does XBIOS 5 tell the blitter the number
of planes to use? I booted the machine in low-rez and ran my bit of code
straight away but it still thinks it's in med-rez.

	I used ST Internals for my source of info, and it doesn't tell you
to set _v_planes (first byte of bitblock), should I? My machine is an
'early' 1040 STe.

	Thanks,

	K.A.

------------------------------------------------------------------
Kevin Alexander.     | Pretentious Quote:  "Uzi Nine Millimetre" |
University of Essex. |                             (Shakespeare) |
alexk@essex.ac.uk.   | Disclaimer: I never wear fluffy slippers. |
Newsgroups: comp.sys.atari.st
From: nino@vmars.tuwien.ac.at (Marinos Yannikos)
Subject: Re: All these wars...
Organization: TU Wien, Vienna, Austria
Date: Thu, 21 Jan 1993 13:48:56 GMT

dmb@case.ai.mit.edu (David Baggett) writes:
: In article <1993Jan20.122015.25870@email.tuwien.ac.at> nino@vmars.tuwien.ac.at (Marinos Yannikos) writes:
: >I agree! A comp.sys.atari.st.advocacy group should be
: >created as soon as possible!
: 
: See news.announce.newgroups.  RUN THE VOTE.  We will all vote yes.
:

I would, but:
1. I have no experience whatsoever with such things.
2. I don't think my account will last very long if I get a couple of
   1000s votes! :-)

So, before I give it a try, is there anyone else willing to do this? 

-MY