Atari/Atari Games VaxMail 1985 Jed Margolin ___________________________________________________________________________ From: KIM::SHEPPERD 4-JAN-1985 17:20 To: @SYS$MAIL:JUNK.UAF Subj: Printer in Rains's area There is another printer hooked up now in the phone closet near Rains's office. It's known as RAINS$PRINT and if you want it to be the default printer for you then put the following in your LOGIN.COM file: $ ASS 'f$log("RAINS$PRINT")' SYS$PRINT The physical name is TXD5:, but I advise against using that name cuz its probably gonna change (nothing stays the same around here if you hadn't noticed). This printer is quite a bit slower than the others but it may still be preferable to walking over to the hot DIO room. It is imperative that you keep the room tidy. Paper fragments must be kept outside the room and due to the fragile nature of the telephone hookups, please be careful when walking around in there. An accident could wipe out the phones in that area for several days (maybe even weeks) which I think you'd find very inconvenient. ds ___________________________________________________________________________ From: KIM::SUTTLES 8-JAN-1985 12:37 To: @SYS$MAIL:JUNK Subj: Just when you were getting used to the way it worked... Due to popular demand, the utilities MAIDIR and MAILCK have been enhanced. This is a major release (rewritten from scratch), and probably has brand new bugs. As far as I know, the current usage is not affected at all (total upwards compatibility), unless you have one mail file in particular (DIR.MAI). Here's how to use the new stuff: In your LOGIN.COM file, you say $MAI*L :== @SYS$SYSDEVICE:[UTILITIES.COM]MAIDIR and from that time forth, when you invoke mail, a file (WAS MAIL.RVN, NOW DIR.MAI) is created which indicates the time you exited. Under the new version, the contents of this file is a directory of SYS$LOGIN:*.MAI;, so you can READ DIR to find out what categories you have filed stuff under. Somewhere AFTER the first definition (in your LOGIN.COM file), say: $ @SYS$SYSDEVICE:[UTILITIES.COM]MAILCK to automatically enter MAIL if you have received mail since you last exited the MAIL program. Note that it is possible to exit the program without reading all your new mail, so it is conceivable to have new mail and not auto-invoke MAIL. But if this happens, you set it up that way, presumably on purpose. You have not received any mail since you last exited MAIL. The really neat part is that you can also (or instead) say: $ @SYS$SYSDEVICE:[UTILITIES.COM]MAILCK device/directory_spec to check for new mail on other logins. This even works across the network, although you may find the time required for access to be restrictive. You might define the @...MAILCK part to be a word, and then CHECK [so-and-so] interactively. You can find out if the other accounts have mail, but it is not possible to read their mail (don't bother), so you are simply notified that there is "New mail in what-you-said". It's up to you to log in with your other account and read the mail. Incidentally, the DIR mail file will contain the directory as of the last time you exited MAIL. If you delete or rename files using DCL, these changes won't be seen until you exit mail again. The DIR file also does not have the standard MAIL format (FROM and TO lines are missing) so a MAIL DIRECTORY command will blow up (not my fault!). Take my word for it, there is only one message in the file. I do not reccommend FILEing that message anywhere. Another fine point: the MAIDIR command procedure takes an optional parameter. If it is absent, the DIR.MAI file will be typed out before the first MAIL prompt--this shows you where you have things FILEd. If this bothers you, you can supply anything for the first parameter, and it will be skipped. I reccommend "-Q" in case of further changes. This is not a change from the older version, and your LOGIN.COM definitions will work the same way as they have in the past. If you find that the changes I have made make you unable to use MAIL, please send me a mail message describing the problem. Have fun, and good luck. sas ___________________________________________________________________________ From: ERNIE::MARTINEZ 10-JAN-1985 13:40 To: @OURGANG Subj: Magazine Subscriptions If you are still receiving magazines addressed to 1501 McCarthy, a change of address needs to be sent to the publisher. It costs between 60 and 95 cents per magazine to have them forwarded to Sunnyvale. If you need help sending in changes of addresses, let me know. Carol P.S. Change the address to the one below: Atari Games, Inc. P.O. Box 3618 Sunnyvale, CA 94088-3618 (The street address is 1272 Borregas Avenue.) ___________________________________________________________________________ From: KIM::SUTTLES 11-JAN-1985 13:55 To: @SYS$MAIL:JUNK Subj: The new, but not improved, mail checker There are some problems with the new mail checker. It works fine in the applications it used to be used in; the (known) problems are all in the enhancements. To start with, when you check someone elses mail file, you have to have read access in order to find out the attributes (date of last modification is an attribute). So, you need to change the protection on your mail file in order for that to work--and then anyone can read your mail. I think that's icky. Then, for CHECKs across the network, DCL doesn't close the channels used to obtain the information about the file--so you wind up with 4 jobs started on the other node. This is a somewhat excessive overhead. These jobs stick around till you log off. Lastly, if circumstances are "right" (don't ask, I don't know for sure myself) you can get an RMS error, Dynamic Memory Exhausted. I checked into that and the suggested cure is to relink the program so that the control area is bigger. The program I'm using is DCL, and I'm not that eager to replace the current version. None of this happens if you are checking your own mail (which is all it used to do). I haven't decided whether or not to fix it, cuz of version 4 coming up (mail is different in V4...you will get a { L O N G } list of changes for V4 soon {maybe eventually, anyway}). It seems that the cure is to write a quick and dirty (or time-consuming and correct) program to do the checks and return a status. Sorry for the false alarm, but I'm sure somebody with a dirty mind once said it: Hope springs eternal in the human breast. Don't let it get you down. sas ___________________________________________________________________________ From: KIM::LIPSON 13-JAN-1985 13:04 To: @SYS$MAIL:JUNK Subj: mail reading for those of us usually on CHARM: you can use the aforementioned MAIL CHECK routine IF you do a kludge in your LOGIN.COM on KIM. If you add $SET PROT=W:RE DIR.MAI then CHARM::[WHATEVER] will be able to check your mail. ___________________________________________________________________________ From: KIM::LIPSON 13-JAN-1985 13:09 To: @SYS$MAIL:JUNK Subj: the problem with kludges - by the way, It doesn't do it in a very elegant way: if you DO get new mail, you get an error message %SYSTEM-F-NOPRIV, no privilege for attempted operation And if you've read all your mail, you don't get the error. Useful but UGLY. ___________________________________________________________________________ From: KIM::SUTTLES 14-JAN-1985 11:27 To: @SYS$MAIL:JUNK Subj: the patch to the kludge The correction to the protection of the directory file ($SET PROT=W:RE DIR.MAI) is indeed necessary to avoid a privilege violation. Unfortunately, the same kludge is necessary to the MAIL.MAI file, and I think the system resets the protection if new mail is received. I could have stuck these commands in the file that creates DIR.MAI but I expected to get a lot of flak for making your mail publicly accessible without telling you. Also, I'm pretty sure the system will change the protection back, so the error wouldn't go away. And on top of that, there is still the problem of the 4 processes (per $CHECK) that are created on the remote node. Public opinion poll: How many people (not accounts, PEOPLE) would use CHECK if it worked as intended? That is to say, if it didn't blow up, didn't advertise your mail, and also didn't use up multiple job slots forever? How many would use it if I couldn't avoid the advertising? Please respond to KIM::SUTTLES. sas ___________________________________________________________________________ From: KIM::WIEBENSON 30-JAN-1985 15:16:00.00 To: @SYS$MAIL:ENGINEER CC: Subj: 68010 DEV SYS UPDATE The new and improved Applied Microsystems Emulator EPROMS have been distributed to each and every station. Does it fix known bugs? Wow, does it ever! Does it reset and clobber the EEPROM? Wow, does it ever! Restore the settings to bring it out of the weeds. ___________________________________________________________________________ From: KIM::SHEPPERD 4-FEB-1985 15:45:43.16 To: @SYS$MAIL:JUNK CC: Subj: MAIL$nnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnn.MAI files Some of you may have noticed the presence of files in your home directory with the name MAIL$nnnnnnnnnnnnnnnn.MAI where the "n" is a arbitrary number. These files are created when your mail message is greater than 3 disk blocks (1500 bytes) in length. There's one file for each of your long messages. You can make MAIL put these files in a different directory if you want by issuing the command: MAIL> SET MAIL_DIRECTORY [.sub_directory_name] where the [.sub_directory_name] is one of your choosing. For example: MAIL> SET MAIL_DIRECTORY [.MAIL] will put "folder" files in the subdirectory [.MAIL] and out of your way. dms ___________________________________________________________________________ From: CHARM::AVL 7-FEB-1985 15:54:48.77 To: KIM::MARGOLIN CC: Subj: Here you go! PART NUMBER: 137414-001 DESC: IC,MICROPROCESSOR,16-BIT,8MHZ UOM: EA SC: P REV: 00 COST FIELD STD COST CUR COST VARIANCE ------------------------------ ------------ ------------ ------------ MATERIAL 0.000 0.000 0.000 LOWER LEVEL MATERIAL OVERHEAD 0.000 0.000 0.000 LOWER LEVEL DIRECT LABOR 0.000 0.000 0.000 LOWER LEVEL FIXED OVERHEAD 0.000 0.000 0.000 LOWER LEVEL VARIABLE OVERHEAD 0.000 0.000 0.000 LOWER LEVEL OUTSIDE PROCESSING 0.000 0.000 0.000 LOWER LEVEL OUTSIDE PROC OVH 0.000 0.000 0.000 THIS LEVEL MATERIAL OVERHEAD 0.000 0.000 0.000 THIS LEVEL DIRECT LABOR 0.000 0.000 0.000 THIS LEVEL FIXED OVERHEAD 0.000 0.000 0.000 THIS LEVEL VARIABLE OVERHEAD 0.000 0.000 0.000 THIS LEVEL OUTSIDE PROCESSING 0.000 0.000 0.000 THIS LEVEL OUTSIDE PROC OVH 0.000 0.000 0.000 PURCHASE COST (PER EA)* 20.500 27.150 6.650 PURCHASE COST OVERHEAD* 0.000 0.000 0.000 ------------ ------------ ------------ 20.500 27.150 6.650 PART NUMBER? * ___________________________________________________________________________ From: KIM::COX 11-FEB-1985 09:50:00.88 To: @SYS$MAIL:JUNK CC: Subj: A Fond Farewell Dear Friends, The time has come for me to move on. The two years I have spent with you have been educational, challenging, and enjoyable. My reasons for leaving are varied, and are directly related to the recent re-organization. I would have liked to stay, as I still think I can be challenged and the product is still interesting, but the enjoyment is gone. Reflecting on the past two years makes me kind of sad to leave. The Atari Coin-Op atmosphere was really radical for me at first, but it is an easy thing to get used to. John Ray was an excellent supervisor. The people are very talented and inspired. The product is fascinating, and has nothing to do with the DOD. I really enjoyed this stimulating environment. The job of Team Manager was a great experience for me, also. We worked on several exciting projects including MACHO44, FIREFOX, CRYSTAL CASTLES, and of course, SPOOK. We were breaking new ground with that one. I was real excited with our version of EVOLUTION, also. The work of game design is a really creative process, something I don't feel as much when I design hardware. Designing hardware is like looking for the answer to a question. When the answer comes, it feels like the answer was always there, and your work was spent in just discovering this existing information. Of course, there may be several answers to the same question, and discovering the best one is what differentiates engineers. Game design is a little more non-tangible. I still don't have a feeling for what makes a good game. Past versions of Gremlins indicate this fact very effectively. I really hope that Gremlins receives the attention it deserves from management as the next System II game. I'm sure that the current project team has the ability to pull it off. I believe that we cannot interact with someone without affecting the future course of their lives. My time here at Atari has affected me greatly, some positive, some negative. Here's hoping that I only touched you in a positive way. My last day is 2/15. Goodby. Ross Cox (xxx)-xxx-xxxx ___________________________________________________________________________ From: KIM::SHEPPERD 11-FEB-1985 10:02:37.39 To: @SYS$MAIL:ENGINEER.UAF CC: Subj: A new C Kim has VAX11C V2.0 installed on it. It is a field test version of the new release of C. DEBUG knows about it though, so it ought to be easier to fix your programs. We have a hot line (via modem) into the program developers back east, so let me know of any problems. You can look at SYS$LIBRARY:VAXCSPR.DAT for the current SPR's on the compiler and $ HELP CC RELEASE_NOTES for the differences between v1.x and 2.0. ds ___________________________________________________________________________ From: KIM::SUTTLES 11-FEB-1985 11:56:19.58 To: @SYS$MAIL:JUNK CC: Subj: documentation on version 4 differences (such that it is) There is a document (a LARGE document) in SYS$LIBRARY:VMSV4.DAT which is supposed to outline the areas in VMS that is different between version 3 systems and version 4 systems. It is not finished. (If you read it, this will be obvious.) We are still working on it in our spare time (I'm serious). Because of it's size, I ask that you do NOT copy the file anywhere; to look through it with an editor, use EDT/READ and you can do anything you want (search, etc). You can print it, but you probably won't want to until it is more complete. It only exists on kim and charm, since they are the only V4 systems. It will be updated as new chapters are finished. You will get announcements of same when same is announceable. And if you think this is hard to follow, just wait till you read the update descriptions. Incidentally, there are two tables of contents; one that shows the general outline, and one that is much more specific (hence longer). I intend to provide an index (eventually) but I am saving that for when the text is finished. Bug reports and typo detections are encouraged. Please reply to this address via vaxmail (only). sas ___________________________________________________________________________ From: KIM::SHEPPERD 11-FEB-1985 12:41:29.43 To: @SYS$MAIL:ENGINEER.UAF CC: Subj: More about C I forgot to mention in the last mail that there's three logical names that have to be made prior to linking C programs. What I suggest is that you put the following command in your login.com file (or better yet, in a C startup command file so as not to bother the links from other compilers). $ @SYS$LIBRARY:VAXCLINK ___________________________________________________________________________ From: KIM::MAHAR "Dr. Memory" 11-FEB-1985 16:34:13.58 To: @SYS$MAIL:ENGINEER.UAF CC: Subj: New 68000 assmebler There is a new assembler for the 68000. This assembler is 4 times faster than asm68. Part of the reason this assembler is so fast is because it is limited in what input it will accept. The only legal inputs are the output files from the Greenhill C compiler. Any other inputs and the results are not guaranteed. This assembler should be used to assemble Greenhill compiled programs only!!!! If you have assembly language programs for the 68000, PLEASE use asm68. This assembler does NOT support: Error checking of syntax or addressing modes. Complex expressions in an effective address. The * operator in an addressing mode. MACROs in any way shape or form. The short form of a register list for MOVEM. D1-D3/A1-A3 must be written: D1/D2/D3/A1/A2/A3 ORG or RORG, TTL or any other pseudo-op that Greenhill does not generate. In other words, if Greenhill didn't generate it, this assembler probably doesn't understand it. The output of the assembler is compatable with clnk. It does take about 10-15% longer to link files generated by this assembler. On the good side, This assembler is about 4-5 times faster than asm68. It should be look at as a second pass to the Greenhill compiler. In which case, your compiles will take about 50% longer but you can skip the assembly step. I recommend that a command file be created of the form: $NCC-R 'P1' $AS68K 'P1' $DEL 'P1'.ASM;* This way your directory doesn't get cluttered up with .asm files that are never reused. The compiler is then viewed as generating an .ol file instead of a .asm file. The name of the assembler is AS68K. It is a command on both kim and charm. The command syntax is: $as68k infile.asm outfile.ol It is not necessary to specify the extension on the input file. .asm is assummed. It is not necessary to specify the output file. infile.ol is assumed. From: KIM::SHEPPERD 13-FEB-1985 11:39:09.90 To: @SYS$MAIL:ENGINEER.UAF CC: Subj: New Fortran Kim has a new Fortran compiler and RTL. The compiler is a little slower to compile (taking between 10-25% longer) but is supposed to produce much faster executable images. The compiler is 3 times bigger so it needs 3 times as much memory to run without page faulting itself to death. Come and see me if you plan on using this compiler often. ds ___________________________________________________________________________ From: KIM::SUTTLES 14-FEB-1985 17:59:31.08 To: @KIM::SYS$MAIL:JUNK.UAF,@CHARM::SYS$MAIL:JUNK.UAF,SUTTLES CC: Subj: MAILCK and MAIDIR for version 4 MAIL Good news and bad news. The good news: MAILCK and MAIDIR have been updated to make more sense with VMS V4. The bad news: They only work as good as before (no known bugs fixed...network access still is not feasible). It now uses the logical name MAIL$LOGIN as the default for where to look instead of SYS$LOGIN. MAIL$LOGIN will translate to SYS$LOGIN if you don't override it. If you told mail to SET MAIL_DIRECTORY somewhere-else, you broke MAILCK. Here's how to fix it: In your LOGIN.COM, before you use either MAILCK or MAIDIR, do $ ASSIGN SYS$USERDISK:[username.maildir] MAIL$LOGIN: where [username.maildir] is where you told MAIL to put your stuff. You can delete the old DIR.MAI file in SYS$LOGIN. There aren't any new features other than that. If you try to tell mailck to check ANYWHERE IN PARTICULAR, it knows you are looking to see if another user (your pen name maybe?) got mail, and that you can't read it. So it won't even try. The logical name (mail$login) is the only way to get MAILCK to automatically invoke mail. Incidentally, if you want to check your own mail, but don't want to automatically invoke it, do a $CHECK MAIL$LOGIN: and it will just announce that you have new mail (but VMS does that already). To recap how to use them: (my mail directory is [SUTTLES.MAIL]) $ ASSIGN SYS$USERDISK:[SUTTLES.MAIL] MAIL$LOGIN: $ MAI*L :== @SYS$SYSDEVICE:[UTILITIES.COM]MAIDIR $ CHECK :== @SYS$SYSDEVICE:[UTILITIES.COM]MAILCK $ CHECK ! go into mail if I have any $ CHECK SYS$USERDISK:[SHEPPERD.MAIL] ! spy on my boss $ CHECK SYS$USERDISK:[OBRIEN.JUNK] ! her mail is in this directory Remember you have to know where they set their MAIL_DIRECTORY to. sas ___________________________________________________________________________ From: CHARM::MORRIS 19-FEB-1985 09:53:05.97 To: @SYS$MAIL:ENGINEER CC: Subj: Gensym, 68000 emulator symbol generator. There is a new version of GENSYM (or CSYM) available, it should be faster and it now allows downloadable symbols of upto 16 characters, it will truncate any symbols longer than that. Make the following assignment to use the new version. $ GENSYM:==$SYS$SYSDEVICE:[UTILITIES.EXE]GENSYM.EXE Please change your command files to use this version, so you will automatically get any updates, if you still link to [MAHAR],[MORRIS] or your own version we can not guarantee those version will always exist or work. Any bugs, or requests, see Jim. ___________________________________________________________________________ From: CHARM::MORRIS 19-FEB-1985 13:19:40.43 To: KIM::MARGOLIN CC: Subj: RE: Gensym, 68000 emulator symbol generator. The addresses should always be in HEX. Jim. ___________________________________________________________________________ From: CHARM::SHEPPERD 20-FEB-1985 21:15:59.34 To: @KIM::SYS$MAIL:ENGINEER.UAF CC: Subj: .LNK files Due to popular demand you can now put comments in .LNK files. They won't however appear on your link map (sorry about that). The /C (continue option) is optional and no longer required (it won't bomb anymore if you put a /C on the last line either). The comments are delimited with an exclamation mark and everything to the right of the mark is assumed to be a comment. Tabs are equivalent to spaces. Blank lines are permitted anywhere in the file. ! This is an example of a .LNK file file1,file2,file3 !comments !more comments !still more comments file3,file4 !tabs are the same as spaces (blank lines are ok too) !the "!" doesn't have to be first on the line file5,file6 !filenames don't have to begin in col 1 There can't be any spaces BETWEEN filenames (file1,file2,... is ok but file1, file2, ... is not ok) but there can be spaces or tabs in front of the first name and behind the last name. The comments will not appear on the link map (sorry about that), but you can't have everything. The /C at the end of the line is optional. There can be any number of filenames on a line seperated with comma's but the names can still be no longer than 6 chars. ds ___________________________________________________________________________ From: ERNIE::CAMERON 21-FEB-1985 11:46:29.77 To: @SYS$MAIL:JUNK CC: Subj: WARNER STOCK CERTIFICATES IF YOU ARE EXPECTING WARNER STOCK CERTIFICATES AND HAVEN'T RECEIVED THEM YET, READ ON.......... WARNERS IS STUPIDLY (OR NEGLIGENTLY) SENDING YOUR STOCK TO ADDRESSES THAT ARE OVER TWO YEARS OLD. IF YOU HAVE MOVED IN THE LAST TWO YEARS YOUR STOCK IS "IN-THE-SYSTEM" OF THE UNITED STATES POSTAL SERVICE. IF YOU WANT TO EVER GET YOUR STOCK, CALL ROSALIE HYLAND AT WARNER COMM AT (212) 484-7873. (REMEMBER TO DIAL 8 FOR MCI). IF YOU GIVE HER YOUR NEW ADDRESS, WHICH THEY SHOULD HAVE ANYWAY, THEY WILL SEND IT AGAIN IN THE EVENT THE POST OFFICE RETURNS IT. THE STOCK WILL PROBABLY BE BACK DOWN TO $20/SHARE BY THE TIME WE GET IT. VERY SMART PLANNING, WARNER! ___________________________________________________________________________ From: KIM::HAYES 22-FEB-1985 15:38:50.38 To: @SYS$MAIL:JUNK CC: Subj: T-TH-TH-THAT'S ALL, FOLKS! Since there seems to be a tradition of goodbye speeches via VAXMAIL at ATARI, I too will bid you all a fond farewell this way. As a matter of fact, VAXMAIL is going to be one of the things I'll miss a lot when I'm no longer at ATARI; this is the neatest thing since CB radio for instant dissemination of juicy news tidbits, soliciting help for god-knows-what project...its even good for work-related stuff. I've really enjoyed these last two years; I've gotten to work on a variety of interesting projects and to go places I've never been (like Mexico City, Pajaro Dunes and Chicago.) I feel that I learned a little bit about computers and a lot about organization of information from the programmers and other animators I've worked with. My only real regret is that I can't stay long enough to see the projects I've put the most time into: PACKRAT, JAMMIN', and DUNGEONs, finished and selling like hotcakes. I want especially to express my appreciation to Lyle Rains, whom I've enjoyed working for very much, for being so gracious about my leaving, and to Yoko Takiyama, Chuck Swensen, Rich Moore, Peter Thompson, Robert Weatherby, and Ed Logg, who could also have made me feel guilty but didn't! I'm going to miss daily contact with them, as well as with my ex-cell-mate Barry, Susan Ginzu McBear, Samwise Comstock, John B. & Dave P. (the rude boys,) Nill Woble, the Mikes, Janey-Sue, Stephanie, Cynthia, Carol, Cindy G. (Women of ATARI, unite!) Mark (the little brother I never wanted), Jed, and ALL OF YOU except the cafeteria. I won't miss the cafeteria. At all. So I won't say "goodbye"; I'll just close by saying " you've always got a friend in the Magic Kingdom!" (dissolve to Sleeping Beauty's Castle; chubby figure sillouetted in doorway, waving; CAM pans up to night sky) (music fades in: "When you wish upon a star....") (roll credits) (fade to black) ___________________________________________________________________________ From: KIM::SUTTLES 22-FEB-1985 18:52:39.59 To: @SYS$MAIL:JUNK,SUTTLES CC: Subj: some new logical names and some heavy user stuff Hiya, VAX fans! At one time there was a cartoon posted in 1501 that read something like: "First you set default SYS$USERDISK:, then you type @SYS$SYSDEVICE:[UTILITIES.COM]NOLOG, then..." Well, we SYS$MANAGER types resemble that remark. So, we have an announcement: You can now use UTL$MAC: instead of SYS$SYSDEVICE:[UTILITIES]. You can now use UTL$COM: instead of SYS$SYSDEVICE:[UTILITIES.COM]. You can now use UTL$EXE: instead of SYS$SYSDEVICE:[UTILITIES.EXE]. These are on all 4 systems. You may edit your com files to make them shorter, or easier to read, or you may leave them alone, at your option. We will use the new names in future announcements of new utilities (even used ones) cuz they are easier for us to type, as well. ...and now.... I dunno if any of you have felt as limited as I have by DCL's constant refusal to believe in subroutines, but for those of you who have, there is: HLLDCL!!! (sorry, Greg) You can now include in your command files, the line: $ @UTL$COM:HLLDCL ! (told ya!) and you will have the symbols JSB, SUBR, and RSB defined. I picked these names so they wouldn't conflict with the GOSUB and RETURN command files of olden days. You can also pick your own names, by specifying them in that order. You MAY NOT NEST routines called this way. If you want to, you have to execute HLLDCL a second time, and provide a whole new vocabulary to it, as in: $ @UTL$COM:HLLDCL CALL ROUTINE RET To use these new words, you MUST enclose them in tic marks: $! Assuming: $! Assuming: $! $ @HLLDCL $! $ @HLLDCL CALL ROUTINE RET $! then this is legal: $! then this is legal: $! $ 'jsr' routine_name $! $ 'call' my_routine $! $ . $! $ . $! $ . $! $ . $! $ . $! $ . $! $ exit $! $ exit $! $ $! $ $! $routine_name: 'subr' $! $my_routine: 'routine' $! $ . $! $ . $! $ . $! $ . $! $ . $! $ . $! $ 'rsb' $! $ 'ret' Notice that the two examples use different vocabularies: the first allows the default vocabulary (identical to @HLLDCL JSR SUBR RSB) and the second calls out different verbs to be defined. Notice the tic marks! Because of the different vocabularies, ROUTINE_NAME may 'CALL' MY_ROUTINE MY_ROUTINE may 'JSR' ROUTINE_NAME, but not both (circular recursion). You can multiply this technique to any practical limit. Pairs must match (in the examples, you must 'RSB' from a 'JSB' and 'RET' from a 'CALL'). The definition of the routine must also be from the same set (you must 'JSB' to a 'SUBR', not to a 'ROUTINE'). Oh, yeah, the command file generates a label that is a 16-digit decimal number that is supposed to be unique each time you execute it (it is built from the current time of day in hundredths of seconds). So, don't use any 16-digit numeric-only labels in the command procedures you wanna use HLLDCL within. (Is that a reasonable restriction??) The whole thing hinges on how DCL handles labels in command procedures, and relies pretty heavily on symbol substitution (by the way, the symbols so defined are defined as globals...they will live past the exit of your command file, so don't use words like DIR or SET {you won't do it twice, anyways}). The inner workings are kinda hard to explain, so I won't. Rest easy, though, the things it relies on are documented and therefore supported, so we can complain to DEC if it breaks. Also, the whole thing is tested pretty thoroughly, cuz I couldn't believe there really was a way to do what I wanted, that has been under my nose for all this time. Have fun, and let me know if you have any problems (so I can avoid them). sas ___________________________________________________________________________ From: KIM::MAHAR "Dr. Memory" 26-FEB-1985 13:20:47.14 To: @SYS$MAIL:ENGINEER.DIS CC: Subj: new as68k There is a new version of as68k on both kim and charm. This fixes an opscure local variable bug that I'm sure none of you have run into yet. As68k also recognizes statements of the form: DC.B 'Hi there',10,'how are you' This is new to as68k. Before it only would accept statements of the form: DC.B 'Hi there' or DC.B 10,20,$30 You can now mix constants with ascii strings. This helps with making asciz strings. i.e. DC.B 'This is a test',0 If you have any problems, feel free to write or phone mpm ___________________________________________________________________________ From: KIM::MAHAR "Dr. Memory" 28-FEB-1985 21:36:03.76 To: @SYS$MAIL:ENGINEER CC: Subj: New Green Hills C compiler. There is a new version of Green Hills C. This version generally produces a little bit better code then the one were now using. There is an exception, However, some subtraction expressions are worse. This is because the old version was a little bit cavalier about lossing precision. The new version took an overly cautious approach to the problem. There is supposed to be yet another new version in a few weeks which does the right thing. Why get a new version when we are going to get a better one in a few weeks? You may ask. Well, This version fixes a bug in pointer arithmetic that allows you to link in external constants. This is of the form: extern SND1; #define SOUND1 (byte)&SND1 The symbol SND1 is an external sound number generated and linked in. This way you don't have to edit your .h file every time you get new sounds. There is a bug in version 1.7.1 that prevents you from doing this nice trick. The new version (1.7.6) fixes that. I've tried 1.7.6 and it seem to generate OK code. For all of My modules, it was a little bit smaller. For a packrat module (Player.c) It was a little bit bigger. In general, The code should be better with this new version. How do you get the new version? Change the definition of NCC in your login.com file to: NCC :== $sys$sysdevice:[green.1v7v8]cc68 If you have any problems with this new version, Contact Me asap. mpm ___________________________________________________________________________ From: KIM::BATTLE 1-MAR-1985 11:26:02.65 To: MARGOLIN CC: Subj: state rom generator 1) it is done 2) your directory is locked, so i couldnt insert your file 3) the generator is in [battle.jed]tcstat.mac 4) i can go thru it later with you. it is general so other state roms could use it too G R ___________________________________________________________________________ From: KIM::MAHAR "Dr. Memory" 1-MAR-1985 14:17:00.06 To: @SYS$MAIL:ENGINEER CC: Subj: NEW C COMPILER Last night I sent you all a message about the new Green Hills C compiler. After more testing, I have found that it generates slightly larger code. About 1%-2%. We are scheduled to get a better version in a few weeks. If you can wait, please do. If you have a bug, try this version. Otherwise continue to use the current version. mpm ___________________________________________________________________________ From: KIM::SHEPPERD 5-MAR-1985 23:07:30.30 To: @sys$mail:everybody.uaf CC: Subj: The fastest login in the west Has anybody noticed that Kim is kinda S-L-O-W sometimes? This is actually due to a couple of things: one is that that you guys are using Kim to do lots of hard work (this is good, keep it up). The other is that VMS 4 and its associated processes gobble up about 2Mb of memory out of an available total of 4. This is about 1000 pages more than under VMS 3 (once again proves that software grows to fill the available space) and as a consequence, programs running on Kim do a lot more page faulting. What's even worse is that most of these additional page faults are "hard" in that they are resolved by disk accesses. There is (or will be shortly) a document called DOK:PAGES.DOC that describes in some detail how VMS manages its memory. Read it if you're intrested. In the meantime you can take it on blind faith that Kim needs more memory to reduce these page fault rates, which in turn will make it run faster. There are two ways to achieve this goal, one by hardware and one by software. The hardware solution costs about $40k (buy more memory) and there's no chance of gettin that kind of money. The software solution is to reduce the demand on Kim's memory. One can achieve this by restricting access (boo-hiss), kicking off users (blech) or by having the users help VMS manage its memory. Its this last method that I want to try so I've written up a little program to do just that. You guys have to help out by getting into the habit of running this program yourself. I've tried to make it as easy as possible for you to do this by setting up all the VT100 type terminals for "applications keypad" and defining the keypad 0 key to "RUN SLEEP". All you have to do is press the 0 key on the keypad if you expect not to be doing any work at your terminal for anywhere from a few seconds to several hours. To wake up your terminal again, just type any key which can if fact be the first character of your next command. For the blue box development system people, DOWNC automatically chains to SLEEP at program termination. (For all those who have already defined their keypad 0 key to mean something else, sorry about that, your definition wins so you'll have to define some other key sequence to SLEEP. You can require that your password be entered to "wake up" your terminal by running SLEEPWP which is done easily by pressing the PF1 (gold) followed by the 0 key. Please understand that you're not giving up anything in either performance or functionality in doing this, it only improves system performance for everyone by allowing programs to use more memory TEMPORARILY. You get back all the pages you freed up (plus more if you need them) as soon as you "wake up". You may think "Why should I give my pages? I want to keep them all!" Actually, if the system gets real busy, it'll take ALL your pages away from you whether you are sleeping or not. It is NOT possible to hoard pages. But by sleeping, you volunteer your pages for somebody else saving the system the trouble of being sneaky about taking them from you. Also, don't expect Kim to suddenly get 10 times faster. I realistically expect that it will change from S----L----O----W to a mere S---L---O---W, but every little bit helps in this case. As an added bonus, ZAP_THE_USER will leave your process alone if you are running sleep and the process(es) sleeping with password won't get zapped at 23:30. You can use sleep with password in lieu of logging out, which makes logging back in as fast as just typing your password. But please don't sleep with password on public terminals since it will prevent users who don't know your password from using them. You will notice that Sleep says who it's waiting for, so if you inadvertantly lock up, say the VT100 in the DIO room, you will surely be hunted down and set upon by an angry mob of users. Should you find that you've done such a foul deed, SUICIDE from any other terminal will quickly solve the problem. Lucky for us so far, we can correct such breaches of honor by comitting SUICIDE with a few keystrokes at our terminal instead of the more conventional everlasting method requiring the use of a blade. ___________________________________________________________________________ From: KIM::MAHAR "Dr. Memory" 6-MAR-1985 10:57:58.02 To: @SYS$MAIL:ENGINEER CC: Subj: New as68k There is a new version of as68k on Kim and Charm. This version generates variable length record files instead of stream-LF. This means that they can be copied over the NET. mpm ___________________________________________________________________________ From: KIM::MAHAR "Dr. Memory" 8-MAR-1985 10:54:59.99 To: @SYS$MAIL:ENGINEER CC: Subj: Yet another release of as68k There is a new version of as68k. This version will assemble the output of PBEXTRACT. IF this fails, let me know asap. mpm ___________________________________________________________________________ From: ERNIE::SLADE 11-MAR-1985 08:31:40.39 To: @SYS$MAIL:JUNK CC: Subj: A WORD TO THE WISE For those of you who, like myself, leave your wallet and/or purse in your desk, BEWARE!!! Friday night, after the Beer Bust, I returned to my office to pick up my stuff, and found a Janitor reading one of my magazines. He quickly left and on my way out the front lobby I thought I had better check my wallet. You guessed it: $20 lighter. Soooo, if you're gonna leave them, lock them! Howard ___________________________________________________________________________ From: KIM::JANITOR 11-MAR-1985 14:08:11.31 To: @SYS$MAIL:JUNK CC: Subj: A WORD FROM THE WISE FRIDAY NIGHT AFTER THE BEER BUST, AS I WAS POLISHING HOWARD SLADE'S DESK, I NOTICED HOWARD IN THE BROOM CLOSET. AS I APPROACHED, HE LEFT IN A HURRY. I THOUGHT I HAD BETTER CHECK MY BUCKETS AND I FOUND THAT ONE OF THEM WAS ABOUT 16 OUNCES HEAVIER. SOOO IF YOUR GOING TO LEAVE YOUR BUCKETS AROUND WHEN HOWARD IS DRINKING; LOCK THEM UP. ___________________________________________________________________________ From: KIM::STUBBEN 11-MAR-1985 14:44:45.71 To: @SYS$MAIL:JUNK CC: Subj: NAMCO VISITORS WE HAVE NOT BEEN VERY FORMAL ABOUT OUR INTRODUCTION OF THE NAMCO ENGINEERING VISITORS, SO HERE'S THE SCOOP. MR. NAKAMURA IS THE DIRECTOR OF ENGINEERING - EQUIVALENT TO OUR V.P. LEVEL. HE IS THE SON-IN-LAW OF THE MR. NAKAMURA WHO IS FOUNDER AND MAJORITY OWNER. (IN JAPAN, WHEN YOU MARRY INTO A FAMILY OF HIGHER STATUS, YOU HAVE THE OPTION TO TAKE THAT NAME IF YOU ARE THE HUSBAND. MR. HIRAOKA IS A SECTION MANAGER (LIKE OUR DIRECTOR LEVEL), WHO REPORTS TO NAKAMURA JUNIOR. HE HAS A H/W AND S/W BACKGROUND. MR. TASHIRO IS A SECTION MANAGER ALSO, AND REPORTS TO NAKAMURA JUNIOR. HE IS A GAME DESIGNER, PREVIOUSLY. MR. OZAWA IS THE SECTION MANAGER OF THE ELECTRO-MECHANICAL SECTION. THIS IS LIKE OUR MECHANICAL GROUP, BUT SINCE NAMCO ALSO BUILDS MECHANICAL PRODUCTS, I SUSPECT IT IS A LARGER GROUP. TED JINNO IS AN ACCOUNTANT FROM NAMCO AMERICA, WHO IS SERVING AS TRANSLATOR ALONG WITH OUR OWN KEN HATA. THIS GROUP WILL BE HERE PROBABLY THROUGH WEDNESDAY, IF YOU WANT TO TALK TO THEM - DON'T BE BASHFUL. ___________________________________________________________________________ From: KIM::SUTTLES 15-MAR-1985 11:22:06.24 To: @SYS$MAIL:ENGINEER.UAF,@CHARM::SYS$MAIL:ENGINEER.UAF,SUTTLES CC: Subj: Due to public command, EDT.COM has (yet again) been changed... Last time I changed EDT.COM, I added some filespec defaulting, which was, to say the least, not appreciated. By most. But some people want the new way (oops). So, here's the compromise. Beleive it or not, it is just as easy/hard for the system to do it this way as the other way; I just didn't choose this way the first time. How it comes up with the filespec to edit is this: First, it extracts the filespec you supplied, if any. Next, it applies defaults from the global symbol USER$_FILE_DEFEXT. This symbol might be set to ".MAC" or ".C" in your login.com file. Next, it applies defaults from the global symbol EDT$MEMORY (if it exists yet). Then it extracts just the name and extension from the result and makes that the new value of the global symbol EDT$MEMORY. Finally, it invokes the editor on the fully-specified file (device and directory too). So, if you want the default to ALWAYS be such-and-such, give that value to USER$_FILE_DEFEXT. If you want the default to be what it was last time, leave USER$_FILE_DEFEXT undefined. You can stick a filename in USER$_FILE_DEFEXT if you want a default filename too, but this might break other stuff. For which I will take no responsibility. The advantage of all this noise is that if you use EDT.COM, you guarantee that you won't step on anybody elses edit, unless they go out of their way to fool EDT.COM, or you both start your edits more-or-less simultaneously (on the order of a second or so apart). If there should be discovered a way to break this protection, PLEASE LET ME KNOW since a fair number of people (you just wouldn't BELEIVE how many) depend on this protection. FYI, here is the comment block at the beginning of the file which is supposed to give an overview of the algorithm. $! Apply filespec defaults: $! Take filespec user supplied (command line must first be parsed) $! Apply "''USER$_FILE_DEFEXT'" as default $! Apply "''EDT$MEMORY'" as default $! save resultant name and extension (only) as EDT$MEMORY $! Check for other people editing same file: $! Determine journal filespec $! Check for journal file's existence $! if journal file is open, abort $! if not /RECOVER, abort $! Select EDT initializer file: $! Select filename (EDTVT100, EDTVT52, or EDTINI) $! If file exists in UTL$COM:, select that $! If file exists in SYS$LOGIN:, select that $! If file exists in current default directory, select that $! Invoke editor. From: KIM::SUTTLES 20-MAR-1985 09:45:30.43 To: @SYS$MAIL:ENGINEER.UAF,@CHARM::SYS$MAIL:ENGINEER.UAF,SUTTLES CC: Subj: EDT.COM again It has been pointed out that since I forced the journal file to be created in the same directory as the file being edited, you can't @EDT somebody else's file /READ cuz you can't create the journal file. So I changed it (surprise!). \ As of this morning, /READ will imply /NOJOURNAL. If you want a journal file with a /READ, use /READ/JOURNAL or /JOURNAL/READ (order doesn't matter). The location for the journal file will be your current default directory. Or you can specify a filename on the journal switch, ie, /JOURNAL=SYS$LOGIN: or some such. Because the primary purpose of the com file is to provide protection against two people in the same directory editing the same file, when you use the com file and cause no journal file to be created (this is what it checks for) a warning is printed on the terminal to let you know that you should be careful. This applies to the /READ qualifier as well. Contrary to popular opinion, the com file does NOT exist to generate junk mail. Just works out that way. sas ___________________________________________________________________________ From: KIM::TAKIYAMA 22-MAR-1985 10:44:18.38 To: @SYS$MAIL:JUNK CC: Subj: "Graduation" from Atari (March 22, 1985) This is going to be rather long as I have spent 7 1/4 years here. It is time to say my farewells. I leave in good company. TO: Dan Van (or Dan Ban Elderen) Who always aggravated me by asking the one question I didn't have an answer for; who after many years of teasing Taco, couldn't remember if Taco was Mexican or Japanese and had to ask me; and who affectionately called me "the little nipper". (It was meant to be affectionate, wasn't it?) TO: George Opperman (The Kraut): Who I constantly told if it hadn't been for the German's, we'd have won the war. Georgie, you finally learned my name as Yoko and not Kyoko and now I am leaving. TO: Pete "Taco" Takaichi: Who when I first came to the company, in conversation, thought I was speaking Japanese to him when it actually was English - the word he misunderstood was "culture". (Remember, Pete?) TO: Ricky Moncrief (Mr. Bedroom Eyes): Who in conversation always tried to embarrass me, but got embarrassed instead. (Carol and Carrie can attest to that.) Anyway try to be good. TO: Dave Sherman: Who supplied my little pudgy body with tea and cookies (and even sympathy when my dog died 6 years ago). TO: Mike Albaugh: Who gave me my U.S. Daily Requirement of hugs, some days in the past, it was the only gesture that kept me going. TO: Morgan Hoff: Who provided me with such "intellectual" entertainment any much more. TO: Dave Shepperd: Who I tried to emulate and who tried his very best to teach me to be a programmer when I grew up, and who always bailed me out when I screwed up my computer (which was often). TO: Rich Moore: Who was ever constant and positive in his attitude when things got bad. TO: Mike Mahar: Who never failed to stop by to say good morning and who functioned as my EDT instructor. TO: Susan McBride: Who made it her job to bother me at every opportunity but who made up for it by sharing with me her coffee ice cream. You always made me laugh. TO: Mary Johnson, Otto DeRuntz and Gerry Lichac: We've been to Adcotech, now Atari - we may be together again one day. What company should I choose? TO: Carol Martinez: Who gave me a bad time at every opportunity and whom I will always remember when I eat at Taco Bell. You made my life a lot easier at times. TO: Erik Durfey: (Also known as my baby brother) I won't be around for your birthday this time. Have a Happy Birthday. I still feel we look alike - we just got the "yellow" color reversed. You have blond hair and I have yellow skin! Love, Jen TO: Cyndy Grossman: Who's life I enjoyed being a part of and who saved my sanity many times over the last three years. TO: Lorie Carbello: Who I now, bequeath my son, please take care of him for me. TO: Wyle B. Wains: My son the engineer, Mr. Excitement, Hollywood Rains - We'll keep in touch you and I, but I feel you should know how truly grateful I was to work for you, with you, and sometimes even against you. Both you and Atari afforded me great opportunities and personal growth. I am forever in your debt. To you a very fond goodbye. P.S. I still feel the Decmation Word Processor cannot compare to the Wang. I know, defiant until the end! I never did learn to say your name either. TO ALL THESE PEOPLE A SPECIAL THANK YOU. TO THE REST OF ENGINEERING, I THANK YOU AND WISH YOU ALL VERY WELL AND MUCH SUCCESS. I HOPE I WILL FIND A COMPANY WITH AT LEAST HALF OF THE KIND OF PEOPLE I HAVE MET HERE. IT HAS TRULY BEEN A PLEASURE, NOT TO MENTION A DEFINITE EXPERIENCE. Warmest regards, Yoko ___________________________________________________________________________ From: CHARM::BELL 22-MAR-1985 12:33:50.72 To: @SYS$MAIL:JUNK CC: Subj: Log off Well it's time to log off for the last time. Thanks for the use of the toys! Since the first day, I never did believe that I was getting paid for this anyway. I have to admit, I loved every minute of it. I will continue to maintain the Alumni Phone List on my bulletin board (xxx-xxx-xxxx) so those of you with modems can always call for a bit of the "old Atari". My special thanks to Dave, Steve, Steph... I hope you can understand what I wrote. If your ever in Washington DC, be sure to stop by the Smithsonian and visit the Pong on display there...chances are 1 in 3 that it was one of mine. ___________________________________________________________________________ From: KIM::SINKOVIC 22-MAR-1985 14:01:42.63 To: @SYS$MAIL:JUNK CC: Subj: I can take a hint ! For those of you who missed my LAST farewell message, here's Rev. 2: I can honestly say the time I spent working here has been the most demanding but also the most rewarding. Most of the people who work here are Really Good, and working with Good people can make having to deal with all the other bullshit worthwhile. Good luck to all of you who are left here to carry on. I hope to be enshrined in the Atari Hall of Fame for being laid off, by the same group, twice in seven months. If not the Hall of Fame then perhaps the Believe It Or Not. See you all on the ski slopes, Linda Sinkovic ___________________________________________________________________________ From: KIM::PETROKA 22-MAR-1985 15:53:46.09 To: @SYS$MAIL:JUNK CC: Subj: so long and thanks for all the donuts ___________________________________________________________________________ From: KIM::WATMORE 25-MAR-1985 11:01:34.22 To: @SYS$MAIL:JUNK CC: Subj: Why am I still here? Well, it's cheerio from me. No, this is not a breakfast cereal commercial - it's my way of saying goodbye. I've really enjoyed working here at Atari and it's been a wonderful introduction to California and the U.S.A. There's lots that I'm going to miss: parties, doughnuts, Evolution, the Beermeister, Stubben's pipe, Drobney's mutterings, searching for coffee/sugar/cream in the mornings, rumors (they all seem to be true!), moving office regularly, finding photocopiers that work, "now you have a friend in the paper business" every five minutes, dodging falling (asbestos?) ceiling tiles, Vax mail, cafeteria tables, Mario Brothers and the best bunch of foreigners this side of London! Here's the catch - I'm not going just yet. Since my status in the U.S. is questionable without Atari's employment, Atari have been decent enough to keep me on until I get my green card (permanent residence visa) which should be in about a month or so's time. So there's plenty of time for you all to say goodbye to me (via Vax mail if you like). Good luck for the future. Cheerio, Paul Watmore ___________________________________________________________________________ From: KIM::VICKERS 27-MAR-1985 17:41:45.31 To: ALBAUGH,BRAD,MARGOLIN,MONCRIEF,RAINS,WHITEBOOK CC: Subj: Sound Pong PONG - THE AUDIO GAME This is a 1- or 2-player game, which uses the bat ranging circuit for the controllers (designed into ping-pong paddles), and an audio motion object circuit with headphones. There would be a very small ping-pong looking table (foosball sized or smaller), with the paddles on relatively short and destruction-resistant cables. At the beginning of the game the players are given various choices by voice synthesis. Choices such as difficulty of game and headphone loudness are made by raising and lowering the paddles. 1) Type of game A.) Competitive ping-pong B.) Cooperative ping-pong (joint score, object being to keep the ball in play for as long as possible) C.) Juggling? (with 1-4 objects) D.) Other variants 2) Type of motion object A) Ping-pong ball which makes whooshing noise which moves spatially to let you know where the ball is B) Tennis ball C) Mack truck D) UFO - sci fi E) Baby chick (peep peep peep...BGAAAWK...peep peep peep...) F) Other objects 3) Difficulty (speed) of game The speed of the game will normally be slower than a normal pong game, since it will take longer to figure out where the ball is and how it's moving. 4) Headphone loudness 5) Other factors (gravity, etc.) Once the game choices are made, the game play begins. The voice will tell one player to serve. The game processor must keep track of whether the paddle hit the ball, and if so, how hard and in what direction. The processor won't know how the paddle was angled, so it will assume it was orthogonal (or whatever) to the ball. This allows a spin to be put on the ball, if we want to carry this that far, by hitting the ball while moving the paddle in a slight sideways direction. The processor bounces the ball off the court in 3-d and into the other player's court. There could be a small speaker mounted on each paddle, which could make the sound of hitting the ping-pong ball, to give the players tactile feedback and to entertain bystanders. There could also be a speaker on the table, for the bystanders. There will be separate sounds for each player when the ball bounces off a paddle, or bounces off the court, or dribbles to a stop, etc. There will be as many subtle audio cues as possible. The sound of the ball's collision with the paddle or the court will vary in loudness and brightness depending on the speed and possibly the angle of the collision. The pitch of the ball's motion could have a slight doppler shift depending on velocity. The critical factor for game play will be how accurately we can inform the player of the ball's distance and spatial position while it is in flight. The main distance cue is the proportion of direct vs. reverberant sound. The main left-right cue will be small time-delays between the left and right channels. The up-down cue is the most difficult, as it depends upon differences in frequency response due to the filtering caused by the shape of the external ear. Some research would need to be done to find out how easily this latter effect can be simulated. The audio motion object simulator might consist of the following: 1) One or more Yamaha sound chips 2) Delay controller, which would preferably be 1 or more microprocessors (6502), if speed constraints allow. The controller would keep track of where the RAM delay pointers are, read in and scale data from various locations, add it together, and save it to another location, depending on left-right time delay, percentage of direct and reverberant sound, and percentage of filtered sound. 3) A RAM (on the order of 10K words.) 4) A DAC, analog multiplexer, (processor-controlled) lowpass filters, and A-D's for doing the frequency-response up-down cuing. This would ideally be done in software if we had something fast enough to do it. Alternatively, we could skip the up-down cuing simulation and just raise and lower the frequency of the ball to indicate where it is vertically. But the realism would be lost. Another possibility is changing Yamaha parameters in real time to correspond to the change in frequency response between up and down. This is the section for which much research must be done. 5) Quality low-pass filters for the output. This circuit will be somewhat expensive, but there is no overhead for a monitor and video hardware. Even if some of the audio parameters are somewhat arbitrary, so long as enough information is present, the skill may be learnable and perfectible. The speech synthesis could carry on a running play-by-play, or could say to each player what the other player is supposedly saying. Once the basic game play and motion object circuitry are designed, many variations can be easily added. A similar hardware could be used for a Star Wars type light saber game. The player puts on his blast helmet and uses the light saber, with bat ranging circuit, to battle the floating training orb. ___________________________________________________________________________ From: ERNIE::DAMERY 28-MAR-1985 11:31:04.35 To: @SYS$MAIL:ENGINEER CC: Subj: SYSTEM I GAMES: IDENTIFICATION BYTE All system I games are required to initialize a byte in the configuration area (Addr. 1006E specifically) to a certain value. The utility system on the main board interrogates this byte to determine if a new game cart has been installed and clears the EEROM accordingly. For more information see the documentation file on the VAX at KIM::DRA0:[SYSTEM1.DOC]SYSTEM1.DOC. The following values for the byte at 1006E have been assigned. All new System I games should contact Lori Carrabello (X2845) for assignment of a number. Diagnostic Cart: 255 Pack Rat: 00 Marble Madness: 01 Temple of Doom: 02 Evolution: 03 Off-Road: 04 Chris Downend and Rich Moore Dist: All programmers in Alpha, Delta, Omega and Rick Moncrief. ___________________________________________________________________________ From: KIM::RIVERA 29-MAR-1985 09:36:50.34 To: KIM::MARGOLIN,RIVERA CC: Subj: calculations Just some quickie ideas that might speed up the calcs 1) The ground objects (sets of points all with same orientation, with lines drawn from a common set of points) were much faster than normal object calcs. 2) all normal objects are symmetrical around at least one plane. Thus nine mults for the first point, then THREE more for the second. This may speed up normal objects by a third. More planes of symmetry mean more savings. E. G. for a simple plane body and wings, old is (9+9+9+9)=36 mults. 2-plane symmetry is (9+3+3+3)=18 mults ==>twice speed. 3) Historically, in Star Wars we ran out of room for the vectors at the same time as blinking started and excessive calcs(assuming all ground objects). Remember that our ground objects were excessively simple. You are right that the calcs are the slowest. Vector is slow(blinking) only during alphanumerics and banners (large pre-stored pictures). 4) if vector was faster(and this includes converting points to relative vector) then each ship could be done not only in brite outline, but also with internal trusses, brite trusses near player, dim trusses away from player. This would give the whole outline, with obvious direction cues. g r ___________________________________________________________________________ From: ERNIE::MARTINEZ 11-APR-1985 11:50:02.81 To: @OURGANG CC: Subj: See below TO: GROUP ALPHA FROM: DOWNEND SUBJECT: EXPANDED ROLE FOR MARKET RESEARCH PRODUCT MANAGERS. Mary, Linda and Don have been playing a larger role in bringing our products to the Market. The attached description formalizes the role of the Product Manager. The Product Manager role overlaps and complements the Project Leader role. The Product Manager carries the project into the Marketplace and makes sure it is presented in the best possible way to maximize sales. To accomplish this of course requires an intimate feel for the strengths and weaknesses of the product; Hence, the Product Managers need to interact with the project during the development. Please be sure to include the Product Manager as part of the team when setting up meetings and developing the product. Calfee used to say the a game sold itself, i.e., the collections determined success or failure of the game regardless of any Sales or Marketing effort. That may have been true when intial orders for a game ran close to 10,000, but in the current marketplace we desparately need the the Marketing follow-through of a Product Manager to even get a few thousand games out there - only then can a game begin to sell itself. - Chris Downend Mary Fujihara has developed the following description: PRODUCT MANAGER FUNCTION Overall Goals * Assist managment in defining and maintaining appropriate product mix. * Provide engineering teams with current market data and player trends to be used in developing new start ups and designing game play features. * Provide objective assessment of product potential throughout the deve- lopment process and communicate to teams to reach mutually defined goals. * Drive product to market through sales and distribution, with advertising and promotion responsibilities. FUNCTIONAL RESPONSIBILITIES Product Initiation * Briefing with available programmer/team on current product mix and focus. * Review of current market trends and successful features of top games and player behavior. * Evaluate marketability of new product proposals once concept and game specs defined (target players, locations, price point, potential sales). * If licensed properties available for consideration, review parameters and potential application of property. Product Development * Coordinate with project leader on timing and goals for each phase in development (e.g., goals for reviews). * Follow up with project leader on action items from reviews. * Establish timing and objective of focus groups and field tests. * Provide development recommendations as result of focus and player surveys. * Maintain product logic/focus throughout development. Product Release * Recommend marketing release decision based on earnings history and product need/demand. * Responsible for game manuals. * Recommend factory settings. Product Marketing * Review game graphics and packaging. * Recommend launch strategy (timing, samples, introduction method). * Allocate advertising budget and programs for print materials, trade ads, promotional events. * Drive product introductions to the field and any secondary merchandising campaigns. * Work with sales team on product posture, positioning approach, key selling features, and earnings performance. Additional Functions * Coordinate the evaluation and testing of all potential licensed games (primarily test boards from Japan). * Responsible for evaluation and review of outside game submissions. ___________________________________________________________________________ From: KIM::SHEPPERD 12-APR-1985 11:33:59.95 To: MARGOLIN CC: Subj: [.asm20a] has been copied to sys$sysdevice:[asm20a] ___________________________________________________________________________ From: CHARM::AVL 17-APR-1985 14:22:40.39 To: KIM::MARGOLIN CC: Subj: [avl.avl]avlno99.txt I just created this new text file for the AVL. It's yours to search at your own risk, that is, anything associated with the vendors and vendor part numbers might not show up in a search. That's because this list shows the Atari part number and description once only, listing vendor sources on the following lines. So if you search for an Atari part number you'll find it with only one vendor, though there could be multiple vendors. If you search for a generic part number (ex: 23128) you'll find the Atari part number and those vendors with the generic pn as a part of their vendor part number. If the generic part number you're looking for isn't listed in the generic field of the part description you'll find either nothing, or vendor part numbers only (no Atari pn) (unless the vendor pn is listed on the same line as the Atari pn and part description). You could even come up with something that has the string you were looking for, but isn't the part you had in mind. So as long as you're aware of the risks and/or don't care about vendors at all, this is a much faster way to search for parts, especially since it finds more than one string in the same time span. I almost forget to explain the name of the file. Since most of us in engineering don't care about spare parts I left them out of this list, thus it's called avlno99.txt (99-xxx are spare parts). If you do need to look at spare parts, search [avl.avl]avl99.txt. (oops, forget should be forgot but I don't want to type all this again.) That's all unless I think of something else! Chris (ps. please pass this on to Carol too, I could copy avlno99.txt to ERNIE.) ___________________________________________________________________________ From: KIM::HARPER 17-APR-1985 16:31:30.97 To: @SYS$MAIL:JUNK CC: Subj: LOCK-OUT IF you have a locking office or lab... AND IF you have no key for the above mentioned work space... AND IF you have been LOCKED-OUT by janitors doing their job correctly... THEN, this message is for you: I have discovered a secret phrase in code that will should keep your door unlocked during the night. It is: Por favor, NO CERRAR LA PUERTA. I also have been good enough to print a number of these phrases on small sheets of paper, suitable for mounting near a doornob. IF you would like one, THEN come and see me. Dennis ___________________________________________________________________________ From: CHARM::AVL 17-APR-1985 18:22:34.07 To: KIM::MARGOLIN CC: Subj: bbs's (thank Jeff for this!) BULLETIN BOARD SYSTEMS = No carrier on last attempt sorted by area code 13-FEB-1985 Phone Number System Name Comments ____________ _______________________________________________________________ 201 391 5519 AMIS -JOLLY ROGER 201 542 8706 THE ELECTRONIC PRISON 201 689 0492 XANTH 202 276 8342 ARMUDIC Washington DC 202 364 8617 Aladins Lamp 205 928 2515 AMIS -PURPLE 12 206 574 5438 AMIS -Action BBS Wash 206 763 8879 SEACOM 80 207 455 6894 PC CONNECTION 208 383 9547 AMIS -BOISE USERS 208 466 4769 B.E.B.B.S. 208 667 9630 FIREFOX BBS 208 772 9421 AMIS -I PACE 209 225 3460 The Rock Shop 209 835 3361 AMIS -BUFFER ZONE 212 598 0719 ARMUDIC New York 213 271 0224 FoReM Twilight Zone 213 638 3204 AMIS -Los Angeles 213 701 7670 FoReM Software Bank 213 783 8373 AMIS -L.A.A.C.E. 213 822 3553 FoReM Funny Pharm IV 213 993 7006 FoReM M.O.S.C.I.A. 213 305 7843 Venice Beach 215 659 3562 CARNIVL Search System 216 582 2797 ARMUDIC Ohio 301 299 6202 FoReM Risky Business 301 344 9156 NASA GAS Net 301 424 4112 ACA BBS 301 474 7591 FoReM Ricky Moose 301 540 8379 FoReM The Funhouse 301 540 9362 FoReM US Army BBS 301 587 2132 ARMUDIC Maryland 301 871 1027 FoReM Amuse II 301 871 1094 Forem The BBS 301 881 3007 FoReM Amuse 301 963 2991 FoReM Risky Business 303 574 2307 SHAMUS 303 758 6233 AMIS -Denver 305 266 6178 AMIS -S.A.R BBS 305 335 1426 PHANTASM 305 439 5754 SiMMS SB RCP/M (002) 305 557 6984 AMIS -LODE RUNNERS 305 574 8566 FoReM Risky Business 305 830 0315 WAVELENGTH DIMENSION 305 878 1422 SWAP SHOP 312 397 0871 PET BBS COMMODORE 313 274 3940 AMIS -MACE West 313 589 0996 AMIS -MACE 403 482 6854 RCP/M COMPUTRON 404 252 9438 ATABBS Georgia 404 434 1168 ATABBS Georgia 405 681 6929 FoReM Tebbtowi 405 765 2598 FoReM Triad BBS 408 226 1005 apple Temple #2 408 227 9366 NOMAD ][ 408 238 9621 DATATEC 007, RCPM/RBBS San Jose CA & 408 241 0769 BULLET 80 408 243 3142 BREAKDANCER SEMI BBS 408 247 2853 SANTA ClARA RBBS/RCPM 408 247 2930 OBS 408 247 4536 NIGHT HAWK 408 248 5135 DARK TOWER 408 249 6946 RATS NEST vernon anderson 408 251 3178 FoReM Temple of Doom 408 252 9198 AMIS -FOUNDATION 408 253 3066 RCPM/RBBS Games, San Jose, Ca no answer 408 253 5123 THE IRON MAIDEN 408 253 8527 General Store blaa 408 255 8919 Bullet 80, Cupertino CA no answer 408 259 4030 APPLE TRIVIA 408 259 7194 GHOST SHIP 408 263 1345 THE WANG BANG BBS 408 263 2588 Oxgate 002 RCP/M Milpitas 408 263 3475 SILLY BILLY 408 267 3558 AMIS -STARBASE 408 267 9728 STAR SHOPPE 408 268 2660 THE CONVENT 408 279 8086 AMIS -COMIC SHOP 408 281 7059 PicoNet #4 Wizard's Keep RBBS RCP/M 408 287 7380 THE AUDIO CAVE 408 287 9996 Doghouse 408 288 9949 MBBS San Jose 408 289 9151 FoReM Modem Magazine 408 293 6207 AMIS -FLY BY NIGHT 408 296 0912 NIGHTHAWK (FIDO NETWORK) 408 296 5078 Skyhouse Systems 408 298 6930 FoReM Itsy Bitsy Hobby my board folks! 408 338 9511 Stuart Boulder Creek Hobby 40 meg Apple nice 408 353 1836 COMPUCAT 408 354 5934 OxGate 001 Monte Sereno, CA 408 374 3974 BYTE BANDITS (TRON) Campbell 408 378 7474 POTPOURRI BBS & RCP/M Oxgate 012, San Jose, CA 408 378 8733 OxGate dBASE II RCPM, Campbell CA& 408 379 8086 Atlas Micro Associates "MCI" RCP/M RBBS 408 384 3806 AMIS -Deathstar 408 475 7101 (7161?) Conf Tree 408 578 6185 RCP/M RBBS Skyhouse Systems, San Jose CA& 408 688 9629 Mines of Moriah RBBS Santa Cruz, Aptos CA 408 729 5023 AMIS -Gar's Kingdom 408 730 8733 SIMMS 003: Baylist RCP/M 408 732 1079 AMIS -VanVision 408 732 9190 SIMMS 001: Silicon Valley Interchange RCP/M 408 733 1364 Metal RCPM RBBS # ? Sunnyvale CA (IES) 408 733 6809 Color 80 408 736 7356 Dial ur Match If you can get on...DYM only 408 737 7284 S Bug TRS 80 408 739 5370 apple Shoalin Temple 408 773 9326 moon beam dennis moon 408 779 1254 FoReM The Mushroom 408 867 1243 OXGATE SARATOGA #1 408 867 7982 Scavengers RBBS San Jose WEEKDAYS ONLY no answer 408 926 8767 Cal/Tex99 TI99 ??? 408 942 8164 AMIS -TBBS 408 945 1569 AMIS -RAM PAGE BBS 408 946 2179 Greene Machine 2 Milpitas no answer 408 946 2286 South Bay TRS 80 User Group, Sunnyvale CA busy 408 996 7464 DRAGONS LAIR pretty nice 408 997 0440 SHOALIN TEMPLE 408 997 2790 Comps for Christ better than it used to be... 412 655 2652 ARMUDIC Pittsburg PA 414 352 2772 MIL ATARI 415 282 6138 AMIS -GGBBS 415 284 9524 ABBS Lafayette, CA 415 327 8876 Living BBS, Menlo Park, CA 415 349 3126 INFO NET Foster City, Ca 415 367 1339 IAC Message Base, Menlo Park, Ca! 415 383 0473 RCPM/RBBS, Marin County, Ca ew 415 462 7419 PMS Pleasanton, Ca! 415 469 8111 CBBS South of Market, San Francisco, CA so 415 493 7691 PMS Palo Alto, CA 415 526 7733 CONFERENCE TREE #1, Berkeley, CA 415 538 3580 CONFERENCE TREE #3, Hayward, CA 415 552 8268 Kinky Kumputer, San Francisco, CA so 415 585 6334 ABBS Apple Core, San Francisco, Ca 415 587 8062 AMIS -ABACUS 415 591 5509 Oasis BBS, San Francisco, CA$! 415 647 9524 Kinky Kumputer, San Francisco, CA so 415 651 4147 AARDWOLF EXPRESS TBBS Fremont CA 415 658 2919 CBBS Lambda, Berkeley, CA so 415 668 2052 AMIS -EBBS 415 668 5365 FOREM THE OASIS 415 757 9013 RIVER CITY EXCHANGE 415 775 2384 PIRATES BAY 415 794 9314 ABBS Computerland, Fremont, CA 415 796 5402 BOOT HILL 415 845 2079 HMS Horny Message System, Oakland, Ca so 415 851 3453 PMS Portola Valley, CA 415 863 4703 ABBS/PCnet, San Francisco, CA 415 871 9382 FoReM U.N.I.T. 415 881 4479 THE ALLIANCE EXPRESS 415 881 5662 ABBS Hayward, CA 415 889 8506 AMIS -ANOLABBS 415 895 5706 AMIS -THE WOLVES DEN 415 928 0641 CONFERENCE TREE #2, San Francisco, CA 415 941 9573 VANAMIS OUTER LIMITS 415 949 2563 Metal RCPM RBBS # ? Palo Alto CA 415 961 1990 REALM OF ROGUES 415 961 2655 APPLE BAUDVILLE 415 965 4097 Metal RCPM RBBS # 1, Mt View CA& 415 967 0946 AMIS -METAL SHOPPE 416 499 7023 IBM HOSTCOM 416 624 5431 PET BBS WORDPRO 502 247 3286 BOSCOW TRON 502 658 3447 AMIS -K.I.T.T 503 343 4352 ARMUDIC ACE Oregon 504 272 8314 THE HOME GROWN BBS 504 273 3116 RCP/M STAN JR. 504 275 6930 TERMINALLY ILL 504 291 4970 THE TRADING POST 504 293 5009 CITY MORGUE 504 293 6774 THE ICE CREAM CASTLE 504 654 6384 EPSILON NINE 504 766 6010 CAJUN ATARI 504 769 0923 COPYRIGHTED SOFTWARE 504 769 2483 THE TIGER BBS 504 775 0969 BAT BOARD 504 775 2004 SPACE STATION ATARI 504 926 9290 THE DARK TOWER 509 534 3661 amis 509 575 7704 ATABBS Washington 509 582 5217 AMIS -A2 D2 BBS 512 342 6299 BORBER PATROL 512 658 7223 SAN ANTONIO ATARI EXC 513 541 8507 THE OUTER LIMITS 515 961 8881 AMIS -Middle America 516 626 6990 CHAMEL Chameleon 602 272 1623 AMIS -P.A.B.B.S. 602 326 1186 ZANDOR 9PM 6AM 602 790 8805 FoReM TWILIGHT ZONE(?) 602 840 9109 AMIS -CompuWizard 602 956 7143 FoReM The Elephant 602 991 0144 GBBS GARDEN OF EDEN 609 429 8140 MOUNT OLYMPUS 609 451 7475 C.C.B.B.S. 609 546 9343 TIMELORD II 609 625 4633 FLYING CIRCUS 609 751 0569 OUR GANG 609 858 8861 HITCH HIKERS GUIDE 616 241 1971 AMIS -Michigan 617 738 5051 TIMECOR Intl Modem Ex 619 246 7950 AMIS -BLACK STAR 619 942 7092 AMIS -U.F.P. 703 978 3516 APDEN The Clubhouse 704 252 2145 FoReM Castle Darkskull 707 545 0746 SURVIVAL COMM FORUM 707 884 4221 Critical Mass RCPM/RBBS, Ogalala CA! 713 682 0191 MILLIWAYS 714 731 6523 AMIS ACAOC 714 772 9671 AMIS -SOFTWARE CELLAR 714 973 2086 ARMUDIC Santa Ana 801 789 6439 AMIS -R.G.O.B.B.S. 805 526 5660 PIPE LINE 805 922 6630 FoReM SCBS BBS 809 781 0350 COMMODORE 812 299 9891 T.H.A.T.S. 813 324 4416 AMIS -SSPSSP 813 596 4437 AMIS -SPACE 813 734 7837 ACTION ACTION 813 952 0705 FOREM SPECTRUM II 816 587 9543 AMIS -Kansas City 817 532 2981 FoReM Centex 817 595 3195 AMIS -COMP U TALK 818 346 8889 AMIS -WARRIORS CASTLE 818 761 6342 banshee - mark 818 887 7738 THE CEMETERY 818 998 2544 TIME ZONE BBS 907 338 1462 AMIS -FROST BYTE 913 642 1743 AMIS -EXPRESSWAY 914 225 2471 EL TRADING PLACE ___________________________________________________________________________ From: KIM::VANELDREN 26-APR-1985 13:31:49.69 To: MARGOLIN CC: Subj: ANONYMOUS MEMOS I don't have any recollection of the memos you referred to. Could you get me copies of a few of these memos so I could look into it and try and teach the writer(s) some manners?? ___________________________________________________________________________ From: KIM::MARGOLIN 1-MAY-1985 18:51:29.03 To: VANELDREN,MARGOLIN CC: Subj: Namco Power Supply To: Dan Van Eldren Fr: Jed Margolin Re: Namco Power Supply Dt: 5/1/85 To put things into perspective I have converted the costs into dollars. I have used the conversion that 12,740 Y = $51.00 . 1K 5K ------------- ----------------- Switch Bracket 120 Y $ 0.48 120 Y $ 0.48 Transformer 3,000 Y $12.00 2,800 Y $11.20 Switcher 5,250 Y $21.00 5,280 Y $21.00 Filter 540 Y $ 2.16 470 Y $ 1.88 Audio PCB 3,210 Y $12.84 3,100 Y $12.40 Metal Base 620 Y $ 2.48 620 Y $ 2.48 ------- ------ ------- ------- 12,740 Y $50.96 12,360 Y $49.44 I do not believe there is any way we can match these prices with a unit that we design, purchase the parts for, and build. I must raise the following questions about the Namco supply: 1. Will the switching power supply operate over a range of 102-135 VAC or must it be redesigned? 2. Will the switching power supply operate at an installation ambient of 55 degrees Celsius without derating? 3. Both the switching power supply and the audio amplifier board are single-sided. In the past we have avoided the use of single-sided boards because the the parts have a tendency to fall off due to vibration during shipping. Would that be a problem with this supply? 4. Normally the remote voltage sense lines are connected at the game board. Here they are jumpered together at the supply. Was this done on purpose or is this an error? 5. System I and System II were designed to use +15 VDC and -15 VDC for the audio. This supply contains a 7812 and a 7912 which normally produce +12 VDC and -12 VDC. Are they used in a circuit that raises their outputs to +15 VDC and -15 VDC or do they actually produce +12 VDC and -12 VDC? (System I can probably use +12VDC and -12VDC but Doug does not think it would be satisfactory for System II.) 6. Is the heat sink containing the audio amplifiers and the regulators large enough to operate satisfactorily at an installation ambient of 55 degrees Celsius? 7. Does the transformer have an acceptable temperature rise? Ours are Class 105 transformers with a maximum heat rise of 55 degrees Celsius. This allows them to operate at a game installation temperature of 38 degrees with a 12 degree rise to the inside of the cabinet. 8. How much will it cost to change the transformer to operate at 120 VAC? 9. In order to operate at 220 VAC and 240 VAC, either the power supply must be redesigned or we will have to use an auto-transformer which I believe would cost $14. 9. How much would the Namco supply REALLY cost if we were to use it? Now about our supply (Power Base and Regulator/Audio III): 1. $80 sounds a little high. My guess is that it would cost $70 if we bought the parts intelligently instead of scrapping the parts and then buying them back at a premium. Or paying a premium because of inadequate lead time. 2. If the Regulator/Audio III could use two cheap trimpots for $0.20 each instead of the Dual Audio taper pot that we pay $2.00 for, we could save $1.60 . (The pot wasn't supposed to cost that much; somehow Purchasing has managed to do it.) 3. If I could produce a supply that operated at only 120 VAC I could reduce the transformer cost by $4.00 and the harness cost by $2.00 . Caveat: At Atari there is no way to find out how much things will REALLY cost ahead of time. There is not even a way to find out how much things have REALLY cost in the past. I think you should buy the power supplies from Namco and be done with it. Jed ___________________________________________________________________________ From: KIM::NAKAJIMA 3-MAY-1985 19:36:18.01 To: @SYS$MAIL:JUNK CC: Subj: HI GUYS. NOTHING IMPORTANT. ' THIS IS MY FIRST MESSAGE OUT THRU JUNK MAIL. SINCE I WOULD LIKE TO GET TO KNOW EVERYONE (UNLESS YOU DON'T WANT ME TO GET TO KNOW YOU LIKE VERONICA IN LA LAST SUMMER) I HAVE DECIDED TO HAVE TEA-SOFT DRINKS-COCKIE-CAKE SESSIONS WITH YOU GUYS WITH POSSBLE BS... (PLEASE EXCUSE MY INCORRECT SPELLING AND GRAMMER AND SO FORTH.) IN THE NEXT FEW MONTHS, I WILL BE ASKING SMALL GROUP TO GATHER IN THE CONFERANCE ROOM FOR ABOUT ONE HOUR SO AS LONG AS IT DOES NOT INTERFERE WITH YOUR WORK. SINCE I DON'T KNOW WHO TO START WITH I JUST HAVE TO ASK PEOPLE RANDOMLY. IF IT IS ALL POSSIBLE, I WOULD LIKE TO HAVE THIS GATHERING ONCE A WEEK MAYBE ONCE TWO WEEKS. SO PLEASE BE PATIENT AS I HOPE TO INVITE ALL OF YOU BEFORE LONG. LASTLY, JUST BECAUSE I AM ON THE VAX SYSTEM, DO NOT CENSOR YOUR FUTURE MESSAGES. UNCENSORED MESSAGES ARE THE ONES ACTUALLY FUN TO READ. HIDE' SEE YOU GUYS.. ___________________________________________________________________________ From: ERNIE::MARTINEZ 9-MAY-1985 09:54:32.81 To: @SYS$MAIL:JUNK CC: Subj: Building Access Hours Inter-Office Memo Atari Games Corporation To: All Engineering Employees From: Dan Van Elderen & Lyle Rains Subject: Building Access Hours Date: May 8, 1985 Due to the significant cost savings of reducing the building access hours to 1272 during evenings and weekends, we are considering limiting "standard" access hours to Monday-Friday, 7:00 a.m. - 10:00 p.m. We would propose having no security guards on evenings and weekends. The majority of lights and non-critical air conditioning would also be switched off during these times. The projected cost savings of such a change are approximately $95K on an annual basis. During "non-standard" access hours, building access would only be via Schlage card entrance through the front lobby door, if your Schlage card was appropriately programmed. We have the capability of programming individual cards on both a general and specific instance basis to allow this "non- standard" access. Depending on the specific area an individual was planning on working in during non-standard hours, he might be required to throw a breaker switch to get lights in his specific work area. All power receptacles (wall outlets) will be left powered on at all times; also all major computer systems would continue to be left powered on. Please respond with any input you may care to make regarding these proposed changes. Also please respond with any general and/or specific requirements you may have for non-standard hours of access. Please send all responses to either Carol or Lori by this Friday, as we are considering the implementation of something similar to the above proposal on Friday, May 17. DVE,LVR/clm ___________________________________________________________________________ From: KIM::WIEBENSON 9-MAY-1985 10:39:03.96 To: @SYS$MAIL:JUNK CC: Subj: The Big Trade-off OR Birth Control in a Can If you like to drink sodas, but don't want the sugar or calories, fortunately for you there's diet sodas. In the past the trade-off was that saccarin could cause cancer. Today the trade-off is that women who drink diet sodas may stop ovulating, for that has been found to be one of the effects of Nutra-Sweet[TM]. Of course it's totally up to you whether you see this as a feature or a bug.... ___________________________________________________________________________ From: KIM::SUTTLES 13-MAY-1985 13:46:22.14 To: @SYS$MAIL:ENGINEER,SUTTLES CC: Subj: computer utilization For those of you guys who have noticed the many differences between batch and interactive, there may be a solution in sight. There are now two words (on kim & charm only) AT and BATCH, which do the desired command in batch, PUTTING THE LOG FILE in the current default directory, and setting the current default directory for the batch job to be the same as the interactive job's default was. AT is used in place of an @ sign, when you are gonna execute a command file anyways. BATCH is used for symbols or DCL commands (you can also type another @ sign). Both of them are implemented as command files. Each takes its list of parameters, and examines each parameter in turn. Until it finds a parameter that does NOT start with a slash, the com file collects switches; these are assumed to be qualifiers for batch (like /NONOTIFY or /PRINT or /NOLOG). As soon as it finds one that does NOT start with a slash, the rest of the line is assumed to be the command to execute (an @ sign is prepended in the case of AT). The defaults for batch submission are /LOG='default'BATCH/NOPRINT/NOTIFY (/NOPRINT implies, since the log file won't be printed, it won't automatically get deleted either). As usual, if any of my bugs should be caught unkilled, I will disavow any knowlege or retractions. sas ___________________________________________________________________________ From: KIM::VANELDREN 14-MAY-1985 12:21:20.11 To: @SYS$MAIL:JUNK CC: Subj: MACHO-BRAIN MICRO-MOUSE I have a functioning proto of Namco's Mappy MicroMouse. This product is marketed by Namco in Japan as a hobbyist kit (ala Heathkit) for building and programming your own MicroMouse Maze contestant. The original MicroMouse Maze contests originated in the U.S. several years ago. Though the level of popularity and interest in it has faded recently in the U.S., the contest concept has received enthusuastic support and an avid following in Japan by both hobbyists and corporations. Mr. Nakamura, as president of Namco, is one of the major corporate supporters of this movement in Japan, and serves on the Executive Committee that is trying to organize and sponsor both national and international contests thru-out Japan and the world. I suspect it is this pet project interest of Mr. Nakamura that led to Namco's develop- ment and marketing of the Mappy MicroMouse. Anyway..... We now have a mechanically functioning prototype with reasonable mechanical capabilities but no smarts. Other than a simple selftest program and a couple simple motion algorithms (i.e. left-hand rule), the kit comes basically "unprogrammed". Soooo, if anybody out there has an interest in AI or just plain thinks they're clever or just wants to goof around, you're welcome and encouraged to borrow the rodent and see what you can make it do. Some English instructions, batteries, and any required Eproms included. And if you can guarantee a successful maze completion in less than 30 seconds, we'll consider sending you to Japan this summer to compete in the international contest being held at the Tskuba Expo 85 Science Exhibit. (The most recent contest winner had a best time of 30.13 seconds. See article in IEEE "The Insitute" June, 1985.) Dan Van ___________________________________________________________________________ From: KIM::DROBNY 14-MAY-1985 14:19:30.53 To: @SYS$MAIL:JUNK CC: Subj: DIO Users For those of us that use the Data I/O, If you havent noticed, our system 19 (Thats the one that burns many different types of ROMS) had burned out its cooling fan. So now it gets about 4 or 5 if not 10 times hotter than when the fan was running. Well I just installed one of our "White Box" fans in it so it will be running cooler than no fan at all. However, this fan is not quite as powerful as the fan that was originally in it, so PLEASE! when your done using system 19 PLEASE! shut it off before you leave. We take for granted how nice that piece of equipement is. Have you ever tried to burn an 82S129 on the system 29? You cant! If your in the DIO room and it appears nobody is using sys19, the on-off switch is in the back on the lower left side (But also make sure nobody's using it) For a more reliable system 19..............this is Buddy Flyback ___________________________________________________________________________ From: ERNIE::OBRIEN 22-MAY-1985 10:12:13.47 To: @SYS$MAIL:ENGINEER CC: Subj: New Marketing Mail list Now you can send junk mail (or serious mail, too) to the marketing staff (Fujihara,Benzler, and Traeger) with one easy filename! To do this, type @sys$mail:marketres after the To: prompt in the mail utility. Happy Mailing, Steph ___________________________________________________________________________ From: KIM::DOWNEND 22-MAY-1985 10:36:12.61 To: CERNY,COMSTOCK,LY,MARGOLIN,HOFF,ALBAUGH,MOORE,DURFEY CC: Subj: FEEDBACK ON BONUS SPLIT Back in mid-April I sent out a solicitation for input on the Marble Madness Bonus Split. To date, I have had minimal feedback, and I want to insure that everyone has an opportunity to express their opinion. The committee meets Thursday afternoon so don't delay. Thanks, Chris Downend P.S. Please respond in writing via paper or VAX mail to KIM::DOWNEND. ___________________________________________________________________________ From: KIM::MARGOLIN 28-MAY-1985 12:32:12.66 To: MOORE,MARGOLIN CC: Subj: New Product New Product Jed Margolin 5/28/85 This is a box with a microphone connected to it. You can plug headphones into it or you can hook it up to your stereo. Mode 1: You hum into the microphone (or play a kazoo), the box determines the pitch and uses it to control a Yamaha chip set. The play has a wide choice of instrument voices. Mode 2: As in Mode 1, however, it is "recorded". The player can then play it back while recording additional tracks. The tracks can be different instruments. If it is cheap enough it can be marketed for kids as a toy. It can also be marketed for people who play single note instruments (such as clarinet, flute, saxophone) who have not be able to use synthesizer technology if they did not also play a keyboard. Hardware: 1. It will be powered by a transformer lump (To make it easier to do UL) 2. The electronics will be: 6502 RAM (Perhaps Non-volatile) ROM Yamaha chip set Membrane switch pad, with illumiunated switch positions Cheap Pitch Extraction Circuitry (This is the key element) 3. It should come with a cheap microphone and a kazoo so people can start using it right out of the box. ___________________________________________________________________________ From: KIM::DOWNEND 3-JUN-1985 09:54:48.18 To: MONCRIEF,PATTEN,DURFEY,MARGOLIN CC: Subj: Switching Power Supply Status At the 5/31/85 Status Meeting, Material Control informed us of their intent to sell off all existing inventory of parts for the Atari Switching Power Supply that are unique to the Atari Switching Power Supply. Please be advised that this unspecified list of parts are no longer in inventory. -Chris Downend P.S. I was asked to pass along the message, so don't bug me about what the unique parts are - ask Rod Peterson if ___________________________________________________________________________ From: KIM::ALBAUGH 3-JUN-1985 11:06:58.15 To: @SYS$MAIL:JUNK CC: Subj: Business Ethics I was thinking, while I drove to work this morning, about starting a "special-interest group" on ethics. As if to settle my internal debate, the radio announced that Scientific Games Inc., recently named the supplier of tickets to the California State Lottery, had started building a factory in Gilroy months before the initiative passed. To those of you still unfamiliar with the issue, SGI (a division of Bally) wrote the initiative (i.e., their lawyer drafted a "model" which was adopted by the "citizens group" which actually sponsored the proposition), and contributed heavily to the campaign. There was a time limit in the initiative which could only have been met by contracting with SGI, but Gov. Dukmejian ignored it and took a bit of heat for that, although the lottery directors of most of the existing lotteries said publicly that it was an unreasonably tight schedule. Anyway, the limit wasn't needed to secure the contract for SGI. Now, the question for debate is: Given that SGI did all this legally, filing the proper funding disclosures etc., was their action ethical. More broadly: Is a company ETHICALLY bound to respect more than the letter of campaign funding laws when pushing legislation which would be directly beneficial to it. I would like to hear from any of you who are interested in such questions (perhaps not including this particular one). I will create a distribution list so we can carry on with a "forum" without clogging "JUNK". Side note to industry watchers- The "factory in Gilroy" sounds like Bally found a use for the old Sente factory, no? Mike ___________________________________________________________________________ From: ERNIE::TRAEGER 10-JUN-1985 15:20:06.34 To: @SYS$MAIL:JUNK CC: Subj: UPCOMING BRAINSTORM JUST THOUGHT THAT I'D PASS AL;ONG THIS LIOTTLE TID-BIT OF INFORMATION I SAW IN A RECENT EDITION OF AMERICAN DEMOGRAPHICS. IT MAY BE SOMETHING WE SHOULD THINK ABOUT AS WE CONSIDER NEW IDEAS AND CONCEPTS: "THE NUMBER OF PEOPLE AGED 13 TO 24- THE HIGHEST PER CAPITA CONSUMERS OF SOFT DRINKS- IS NOW SHRINKING, WHILE THE NUMBER OF 325 TO 44 YUUEAREAR OLDS IS GROWING RAPIDLY. SOFT DRINK MANUFACTUREERERS WHO ANTICIPATED THIS TREND HAVE SHIFTED THEIR MARKETING STRATEGIES TO APPEAL TO THE OLDER AGE GROUP WITH DIET AND CAFFEINE- FREE SOFT DRINKS. THEY ARE ALSO P ."---TAKEN FROM AN ARTICLE ON AMERICAN DRINKING TRENDS AS WELL IN AN EARLIER SECTION OF THE MAGAZINE, THIS PRE-AMBLE APPEARED: "WELLS-GARDENER ELECTRONICS CORPORATION INVESTED TOO HEAVILY IN COLOR VIDEO MONITORS FOR VIDEO GAMES JUST WHEN THE MARKET A SHRINKING TEENAGE POPULATION COULD NOT SUSTAIN THE D4EMAND VIDEO GAME CRAZE".." WHILE THIS MAGAZINE TENDS TO OVERSTATE THE MEANING AND IMPORTANCE OF DEMOGRAPHISIC RESEARCH OCCASIONALLY, THEY DO MAKE A GOOD POINT. THE CYCLKE IS CURRENTLY TOWARDS THE OLDER END OF THE POPULATION AND AWAY FROM KIDS...ARE THEIRRE AREAS THAT WE CAN EXPLOIT THIS TREND FOR OUR OWN GOALS? THE BAR MARKET, STRATEGY GAMES FOR OLDER PLAYERS NOT SKILLED IN HAND/EYE, ETC.? MAUBE YBE WE SHOULD MAKE A VIDEO GAME WITH NEUTRA-SWEET, NO"? DT ___________________________________________________________________________ From: KIM::ALBAUGH 12-JUN-1985 10:04:21.13 To: @SYS$MAIL:JUNK CC: Subj: New Twist on FreeWare Just got through talking to Rob Fulop (some of you old-timers may remember him). He is currently working at Buy-Video (not sure of the spelling), and pushing something called soft-ads. One example: He wrote a program for the IBM PC which is sort of a "travel advisor", to help people plan vacations. The program is "sponsored" by American Express, so it leans toward their services and those of Hilton Hotels, Hertz, etc. (who pay Amex for the plug). The disk is sent out with Amex cards and included free in "specially marked boxes" of Verbatim Diskettes. Verbatim is happy to distribute, because it is adding value to the blank diskette. Amex is happy because its customers like the program, and, by extension, Amex. the customers are happy because the program is useful, not ONLY an ad. Rob is happy because Amex paid him. Perhaps some of you brain-stormers will get some inspiration from all this happiness. Mike ___________________________________________________________________________ From: KIM::MARGOLIN 12-JUN-1985 16:59:11.05 To: MARGOLIN CC: Subj: I talked to Bob Fry today and asked him when the guy was coming in to fix the ventilation in the office area. Fry said that the guy had already looked at it and concluded that it was already putting out as much air as it was capable of. I told Fry that there used to be a lot more air than there was now and why was it all of a sudden incapable of putting out at least as much as it used to? Fry said that the guy had already looked at it and concluded that it was already putting out as much air as it was capable of. I told Fry that there used to be a lot more air than there was now and why was it all of a sudden incapable of putting out at least as much as it used to? Had he checked the right area? Fry said that the guy had already looked at it and concluded that it was already putting out as much air as it was capable of. I asked him why he woudn't answer my question. Fry said that the guy had already looked at it and concluded that it was already putting out as much air as it was capable of. He then advised me to set up a meeting with you and me and him because he wasn't going to talk to me anymore. He then said goodbye and hung up. This is the same man who earlier this year feigned surprise that the ventilation system wasn't working saying, "Nobody ever told me," (making Rick out to be a liar) and said that I should talk to him directly if there was a problem. Since then, Fry has been completely unresponsive to my requests. It has always been: 1. The thermostat just needs to be adjusted. 2. The system needs a few days to settle. 3. Why didn't you tell me sooner. 4. The system can't be made to work any better. Sometimes there is air and sometimes there isn't. Sometimes the temperature is ok and sometimes it isn't. Sometimes it seems to be directly related to the temperature outside and sometimes it doesn't. There are two major problems: 1. The system needs to be properly adjusted. 2. Bob Fry I would like you to take care of this matter before you go on vaction because Fry is obviously not going to do anything for me and I don't think I can stand it for another two weeks. Jed ___________________________________________________________________________ From: KIM::SALWITZ 13-JUN-1985 09:43:23.16 To: @SYS$MAIL:JUNK CC: Subj: Ronny made me do it. YECCH. 1) Yesterday the congress voted to send 24 million in aid to the Contras. ... this is the policy of a free democratic nation! 2) The "arms talks" ( I use that term loosely) are dead.dead.dead. ... the Reagan administration will not discuss space weapondry. Of course any 4 year old child can see that any Earth Bound arms control is useless without discussion of space weapons. ... That good old M.X. sure is a great barganing chip! 3) The Senate (with the Reagan administration's strong push) aproved millions for the research and production of Nerve gas weapons. ... More maddness. 4) The D.E.A. wants ( and will get ) 140 more million dollars to fight drugs. ... There are starving Americans. 5) Secratary Winberger wants the ALLEGED navy spies shot. ... Oh GOODY.. more state run killings. Sorry,Sorry,Sorry.. I just had to relay this tabloid of the current performance of the Reagan administration. I promise to relay good news when it happens. But don't expect any for at least 3 1/2 years. This administration is incapable of creative thought. Ronald Reagan is making all the errors that history would show him (if he looked) to avoid. ... PS: Don't say.. " The federal government did such and such to those poor people" Say.. " The Reagan administration did such and such to those poor people" ___________________________________________________________________________ From: KIM::WOOD 14-JUN-1985 10:56:40.66 To: MARGOLIN CC: Subj: ventilation Dan Van has told me about your complaint with the ventilation system and/or Bob. I tried to give you a call to discuss the matter. Can you give me a call today before close of business? Thanks. Regards DW ___________________________________________________________________________ From: KIM::MARGOLIN 14-JUN-1985 14:49:26.37 To: @SYS$MAIL:ENGINEER CC: Subj: 3D ALGORITHMS, PART 2 The second installment of 3D algorithms is now in SYS$SYSDEVICE:[GENERAL]math3D2.doc . It covers the use of Magic Tics and the generation of Terrain Objects, the Horizon, and Runway Lights. The figures referred to in the Horizon section are not available yet. If you want a copy let me know. Please direct any comments on this material to me. Jed ___________________________________________________________________________ From: KIM::RUNNER 14-JUN-1985 16:04:08.58 To: MARGOLIN,RUNNER CC: Subj: math3d 1) thanks for the mention. 2) a "even more 'more complicated'" tic for faster rotations involve adding 165 tics for 10.5507 degrees. that is, 14/165 is .895 78/165 is 4.986 and 165/165 is 10.55 I get the impression that there are other even higher angles that have common factors, but the 10.55 is the only other one I have written down. I think at these faster angles problems should start showing up cuz of associative order changes between the Primary set and the Working copy. G R ___________________________________________________________________________ From: ERNIE::TRAEGER 18-JUN-1985 13:29:32.30 To: @ SYS$MAIL:JUNK CC: Subj: GENERAL B.S. LATEST COLLECTION INFORMATION IS CONFIRMING THE DROP IN EARNINGS OF "COMMSNANDO". FOR EXCAAMPLE, IN IT'S FIRST FIVE WEEKS AT FASCINATION ARCADE IN N>CN>Y>C>. .Y.C., "COMMANDO" EARNED A TOTAL OF $3860.75...IT'S FIRST TWO WEEKS WERE QUITE IMPRESSIVE IMPRESSIVE...EARNING OVER $1000.00 EACH WEEK. HOWEVER, LOOKING AT "PAPERBOY" WE SEE THAT IT EARNED $4135.25 FOR IT'S FIRST FIVE SWEEKS...THAT IS ABOUT 275.00 MORE THAN "COMMANDO". THE BOTTOM LINE IS THAT "PAPERBOY " IS A MORE CONSISTENT LONG TERM EARNER... UNFORTUNATELY, THE COST DIFFERENCE BETWEEN THE TWO PIECES MAKES "COMMANDO" SEEM LIKE A BETTER BUY...WE MUST CONVINCE OUR OPERATORS THAT WHEN THEY BUY TH"THE BOIYY", THEY ARE GETTING A SOLID MONEY EARNER FOR THE LONG STRETCH, A GOOD LONG-TERM INVESTMENT. REGARDING THE NEW GAME "MAYHEM" (THE BALL BLAZER RIP-OFF) COLLECTOIONS ARE NOT THAT GREAT SO IT'S NO BIG DEAL...HOWEVER, ONE GAME THAT OLOOKS LIKE A SLEEPER IS PITFALL !!II--IT'S BEEN DOING REAL WELL AND CONSISTENT AT THAT. THE LATEST VS. PRODUCTS--HOAGANS ALLEY AND DUCK HUNT MAKE ME SCARED... THESE GAMES TOGETHER IN A SPLIT SCREEN VS. SYSTEM ARE DOING OVER $1000.00 A WEEK AT FASCINATION ARCADE IN N.Y. THE PRICE FOR EACH ONE ((WITH GUNS): A REAL CHEAP 195$195.00...THESE THINGS CAN PAY FOR THEMSELVES IN ONE DAY!! EVEEN IF THEY DROP IN EARNINGS REAL QUICK, AT THAT PRICE IST'S A GREAT BUY. THATS ALL WEEK  [C  FIR NOIWOR NOW... DT ___________________________________________________________________________ From: ERNIE::TRAEGER 19-JUN-1985 14:36:37.71 To: @ SYS$MAIL:JUNK CC: Subj: METRO-CROSS EARNINGS UPDATE LATEST METRO EARNINGS: GI: #1 GAUNTLET--UNGODLY AMOUNTS #2 COMMANDO -- 263.00 #3 THE BOY -- 207.00 #4 FU -- 118.00 #5 SPY HUNT -- 109.00 #6 METRO-CROSS-101.00 NOTE: SOMETIMES THE JUMP CONTROL IS A LITTLE FLAKEY AM UNSURE IF IT IS IN HARDWARE OR SOFTWARE...ALSO, MAY BE SOME PLAYER BURN OUT AS LEVEL 6 PLATEAU IS TOUGH TO GET BY. OAKRIDGE LANES: #1 METRO-CROSS -- 158.00 (THIS IS IT'S SECOND WEEK HERE) #2 JACKS TO OPEN- 120.00 #3 POLE POSITION- 86.00 TOTAL GROSS--777.00 DT ___________________________________________________________________________ From: KIM::SUTTLES 19-JUN-1985 16:26:55.43 To: MCCARTHY,MARGOLIN,CC::CHARM::AVL,US,SUTTLES CC: Subj: READAVL (on charm) and REM-E-QIOERR stuff I looked into the problem, and I think I know what is causing it. Unfortunately, there isn't much I can do about it. I am reasonably certain that DEC has been bit by their own bug. The system service to sense terminal characteristics is supposed to return stuff you can send to the set characteristics service; it doesn't. All the information is there, but it takes a page of code to rearrange it properly. I begin to suspect that DEC isn't aware of this. The program seems to continue to function after the error, so I suggest that you ignore it until they fix it. I will let them know about it. sas ___________________________________________________________________________ From: KIM::MCCARTHY 25-JUN-1985 11:13:24.51 To: @SYS$MAIL:ENGINEER,MCCARTHY CC: Subj: ex Those of you using 68010 Cpu may be interested in the following potential pitfall. Problem description. : The program goes out to lunch when returning from interrupt. (RTE instruntion) Whats happening : The 68010 gets confused as to whether it is executing autovectored interrupts or not. Solution : DTACK should not be asserted while VPA is asserted. For some unknown reason, this bug has not shown up on System I. However, on Gauntlet, using almost the same circuitry, the problem showed up immediately. System IV has had some occurances of the same problem. Pat McC. ___________________________________________________________________________ From: ERNIE::CARRABELLO 25-JUN-1985 11:30:19.66 To: @SYS$MAIL:JUNK CC: Subj: Credit Union Don't forget the credit union is closing this week. Friday will be the last day to withdraw any money, otherwise you have to call the Burbank office. Also if you have payroll deduction to your credit union account this weeks deduction has already been processed so don't close your account completely otherwise there won't be any place for the money to go. You'll have to leave a little in there and then call Burbank to close it out completely. Lori ___________________________________________________________________________ From: KIM::DOWNEND 25-JUN-1985 12:23:58.38 To: @SYS$MAIL:ENGINEER CC: Subj: AMS 68010 PODS Please be EXTREMELY CAREFUL handling the Applied Microsystems emulation pods. Right now 3 of our 13 development system are down due to flakey pods. So far we have been unsuccessful getting them repaired by Applied Microsystems. Please avoid hanging them by their cables or other abusive behavior. As a matter of operating procedure, please think of the pods as your gonads when you have to touch a pod. Apparently the gold pind on the 64-pin connector that plugs into the 68010 socket on the target PCB are particularly snssitive. [that should read "gold pins" rather than "gold pind".] - Chris ___________________________________________________________________________ From: ERNIE::TRAEGER 3-JUL-1985 11:48:52.28 To: @ SYS$MAIL:JUNK CC: Subj: OUR HELP IS NEEDED!! I GOT WIND OF SOMETHING RECENTLY THAT I THINK WE MAY BE ABLE TO HELP OUT ON...YOU KNOW SOPHIE AND OMAR, THE CAFETERIA PEOPLE? WELL, THEY ARE IN A BAD WAY CURRENTLY AND COULD USE SOME HELP. HERE'S THE STORY: THEY ARE FROM IRAN (YOU KNOW, THAT CRAZY PLACE WHERE TERRORISM IS A NATIONAL PASTIME). ANYWAYS, THEY ARE DESPERATELY TRYING TO GET THEIR MOTHER OUT OF THEIR BEFORE THE  (I MEAN THERE) BEFORE THE AYATOLLAH ((?) DECLARES WAR ON MOTHERHOOD. WHAT HAPPENED WAS THAT THEY CAME TO ATARI SEEKING A LOAN IN ORDER TO GET SOME DOUGH TO GET THEIR MOM OVER HERE PRONTO. THEY ARE CURRENTLY TRYING TO GET BANK LOANS, SELL THEIR CAR, ETC. IN ORDER TO RAISE SOME CASH (I THINK THE TOTAL REQUIRED IS CLOSE TO $8,000.00) WHAT I AM PROPOSING IS THAT WE START A DONATION POOL TO RUN THROUGHOUT NEXT WEEK, IN ORDER TO HELP THEM GENERATE SOME CASH. WE CAN EACH CONTRIBUTE WHATEVER WE CAN GIVE AND AT THE END OF THE WEEK WE WILL TURN OVER ALL THE MONIES COLLECTED DIRECTLY TO THEM. PLEASE SEE EITHER SANDY BROWN OR MYSELF IN ORDER TO CONTRIBUTE. BY THE WAY, I HAVE NOT TOLD OMAR OR SOPHIE WHAT WE ARE DOING SO YOU MAY WANT TO KEEP A LID ON IT FOR NOW. THEY MAY GET A LITTLE EMBARRAED BY THE WHOLE THING...BUT THEY DO REALLY NEED OUR HELP. ONE THOUGHT I HAVE IS TO SACRIFICE OUR DOUGHNUTS NEXT FRIDAY AND PUT THAT MONEY INTO THE FUND...ANY OTHER IDEAS LIKE THAT WOULD BE MOST WELCOME. ANOTHER POSSIBILITY IS TO WORK LARGER DONATIONS OUT AS A LOAN...THEY ORIGINALLY ASKED SHANE ABOUT LOANING MONEY FROM ATARI...I'M SURE THEY WOULD PAY BACK ANY MONEY'S GIVEN, ESPECIALLY IF IT WAS A LARGE AMOUNT. ANYWAY, PLEASE SEND ME ANY THOUGHTS YOU HAVE REGARDING THIS IDEA, ASAP. I WILL GET BACK TO YOU SOON ABOUT DETAILS FOR THE FUND RAISER THAT WILL RUN NEXT WEEK. THANK YOU IN ADVANCE DT ___________________________________________________________________________ From: ERNIE::CAMERON 3-JUL-1985 13:56:34.78 To: @SYS$MAIL:JUNK CC: Subj: NEWS FLASH STUDIES HAVE PROVEN THAT DOLPHINS ARE AS SMART AS MAN. THAT'S PRETTY AMAZING CONSIDERING THAT THEY ONLY STUDIED THE ONES WHO WERE DUMB ENOUGH TO GET CAPTURED! ___________________________________________________________________________ From: CHARM::DND 3-JUL-1985 14:55:33.24 To: @SYS$MAIL:ENGINEER CC: Subj: AMS RAM errors For those of you out there using the Applied Micro Systems 68010 Dev Sys, the following applys to YOU. If you have internal memory problems, that is internal to the AMS, then there is a simple way to determine which chip is bad, if you decide it is a chip. There is a file in CHARM::[DND]AMSMEM.DOC which contains a picture of the RAM board and a list of which parts are at which addresses. This list is for a 256K Dev Sys. MOst of you out there have 128K systems with two RAM boards, each with 64K, The board lay out is the same, the address spacing is probably, although I have not checked it out, $1000 instead of $4000. Bye Now Bob ___________________________________________________________________________ From: CHARM::MORRIS 10-JUL-1985 10:53:34.29 To: @SYS$MAIL:ENGINEER CC: Subj: New greenhills c compiler. There is a new version of greenhills 68000 c compiler (V1.7.17) available on kim & charm. To use it make the following definition:- $ ncc:== $sys$sysdevice:[green.1v7v17]ccom.exe This appears to produce better code than the old one (V1.7.1). (It certainly fixes a number of bugs that have been found in the old one) There are two optimise switches available in this version -o & -o2. The first does some good things, the second will probably upset certain things (like volatile variables etc). The documentation for the new version is in SYS$SYSDEVICE:[GREEN.1V7V17.DOC]. *** WARNINGS *** The only gotcha (that I know of) is that it will produce a call to ldivt in the following case:- /* generic case of assigning to a pointer to a short */ test() { short *a,b,c,d; *a= (b * c / d); /* this produces JSR ldivt */ } The fix is :- /* cast the whole of the right side of the expression to short */ test() { short *a,b,c,d; *a= (short)(b * c / d); /* this uses DIV */ } I would be interested in getting feedback on changes in code size and speed so I can tell greenhills. Any bugs let me know. Jim (x2827). ___________________________________________________________________________ From: KIM::SALWITZ 10-JUL-1985 11:21:20.48 To: @SYS$MAIL:JUNK CC: Subj: new T-11 devsys rev. *** SYSTEM II STUFF *** There is a new DEVT11.LDA file available now. I have changed the downloader to accomidate mmu offsets not equal to 10000 octal. This should come in handy when you use more than 16 pages or when you set up your roms to use smaller page increments. The old ROMS should work fine as long as you only use 10k increments. - Default page select offset is 10000 octal (page 0 select=00000, page 1 select=10000.) However, if you want to use another offset between two consecutive pages you can... The bottom 4 bits of the page select word (address bits 16 thru 19) show the offset /1000. (ie: 1 = 1000, 2 = 2000,...). ex: Output address = 30004000 (hex) (default offset) Download address = 40000 octal MMU page offset = 10000 octal Page 3 (30000 octal) is selected for mmu page 0 Page 4 (40000 octal) is selected for mmu page 1 ex: Output address = 50024000 (hex) (non default offset) Download address = 40000 octal MMU page offset = 2000 octal Page 20. (50000 octal) is selected for mmu page 0 Page 21. (52000 octal) is selected for mmu page 1 enjoy.. jfs ___________________________________________________________________________ From: KIM::MARGOLIN 12-JUL-1985 18:05:37.03 To: MARGOLIN CC: Subj: To: Dennis Wood Fr: Jed Margolin Re: Revised Vaction Policy Dt: 7/12/85 Since the new vacation policy takes effect March 31, 1986 I assume that the "old" vacation policy will be in effect until then. Is this correct? Since I currently have almost 5 weeks of vacation accrued and my anniversary date is January 15 your memo indicates that if I don't take most of it (all but two weeks) before January 15, I will lose it. Is this correct? Now, about the "old" policy. The last memo that I have on vacation policy is dated 3/12/84 and was issued by Richard Stearns who was at that time the Human non-Resources Director. According to this memo, employees could not carry over more than two weeks of vacation time each CALENDER year, starting January 1, 1986. This is the first time I have heard about the anniversary date method. When was it changed to the employee's anniversary date? Jed ___________________________________________________________________________ From: ERNIE::CARRABELLO 15-JUL-1985 11:03:09.79 To: KIM::MARGOLIN CC: Subj: vacation Per Sandy Brown, the old policy (you can only carry over 2 weeks as of Jan. 1, 86) is voided out. You can now carry all of it over until March 31, 1986 (new policy) after that you can only carry 5 weeks. Lori ___________________________________________________________________________ From: ERNIE::CARRABELLO 15-JUL-1985 13:52:17.16 To: KIM::MARGOLIN CC: Subj: RE: vacation I'LL ASK. LORI ___________________________________________________________________________ From: ERNIE::CARRABELLO 15-JUL-1985 14:10:09.55 To: KIM::MARGOLIN CC: Subj: VACATION POLICY SINCE NO ONE ELSE HAS QUESTIONED SANDI, SHE FEELS THERE'S NO NEED FOR A MEMO. IF YOU HAVE ANY QUESTIONS, SHE SAID TO CALL OR SEE HER. LORI ___________________________________________________________________________ From: CHARM::SUTTLES 17-JUL-1985 21:59:10.16 To: @SYS$MAIL:ENGINEER,SUTTLES CC: Subj: kill a tree and learn, or save the forests and be stupid (good stuff!) To all you (VAX) C programmers and XEROX stockholders: I have available a small number (no more than ten at a time) of documentation sets for the (new) C on Kim and Charm. This amounts to a copy of the help text on Kim (that's where it started). I got lost trying to find my way through all the functions, and since you can't ask for help in the editor (except, of course, TECO), I needed a desktop reference. So, I dumped the help text and MUNGed it into a cross-referenced document. Since there isn't any other stuff available for version 2, I thought there might be some interest. Come by and claim one if you can use it. You will find them (if there are any left) in the Data I/O room, on the bookshelf by the door (right behind the public-use water cooler). Of course, if there aren't any left, you won't find them. You'll have to wait for the next batch. I will keep up the supply to meet the apparent demand. Don't bug me about them, or I won't. sas ___________________________________________________________________________ From: ERNIE::BROWN 19-AUG-1985 11:46:38.78 To: @SYS$MAIL:JUNK CC: Subj: COMPANY PICNIC I WANT TO THANK ALL YOU ATARIANS WHO WERE THERE SATURDAY TO HELP MAKE OUR COMPANY PICNIC A SUCCESS. I HAD MY DOUBTS THERE FOR AWHILE THANKS TO THE WEATHER, BUT IT CLEARED UP NICELY. THE WEATHER WAS ALSO TO BLAME FOR THE CANCELLATION OF THE DUNK TANK (AW SHUCKS!) I WANT OFFER CONGRATS TO OUR VOLLEYBALL TOURNAMENT TEAM WINNER FROM THE ENGINEERING DEPARTMENT. THE TEAM MEMBERS WERE: DAN VAN ELDEREN ED LOGG PETER LIPSON GARY POPKIN CAROL CAMERON ROBERT WEATHERBY ALSO CONGRATS TO OUR RAFFLE WINNERS: DAVE WIEBENSON PAPERBOY ARCADE GAME JUNE YAMAMOTO QUANTUM ARCADE GAME KAREN GRAHAM 1200XL COMPUTER GEORGE MILLINGTON PONG GAME (A REAL COLLECTORS ITEMS) I WELCOME ANY CONSTRUCTIVE COMMENTS/SUGGESTIONS REGARDING THE PICNIC (SITE, FOOD, ACTIVITIES, ETC.) SANDI ___________________________________________________________________________ From: CHARM::MORRIS 22-JUL-1985 10:39:22.23 To: @SYS$MAIL:ENGINEER CC: Subj: Greenhills C compiler version 1.7.18 Ok all you Guys 'n Girls, its another edition of :- "lets try the new Greenhills C compiler". We have (yet) another version (1.7.18). This one produces exactly the same code as the last version (1.7.17). but fixes some bugs that we hadn't found yet. I have checked that the code is the same, and it is. Sooo... please make the following change to your login.com (or wherever you do it). $ ncc:==$sys$sysdevice:[green.1v7v18]ccom.exe ! new one Please could everyone start using this version as we should get rid of the old versions. The new one has been used for a couple of weeks and doesn't seem to have any fatal bugs. I would prefer to have people make the change themselves, rather than putting the compiler in UTL$EXE and just change it when a new version comes in, as that could upset an unsuspecting programmer. It is necessary to use the latest version so we can get feedback to Greenhills on improvements, bugs etc. Any problems, comments etc. mail to this address. Thanks. Jim. ___________________________________________________________________________ From: CHARM::MORRIS 22-JUL-1985 10:50:59.35 To: @SYS$MAIL:ENGINEER CC: Subj: 68010 emulators. Could everyone who uses the Applied Microsystems 68010 emulator please check that their system boots up with V2.2S, and that you do not get a checksum error report on power up. It would be nice to get all the systems upgraded to the latest Revision. If yours is an old version see me for a new set of eproms. Thank you. Jim. ___________________________________________________________________________ From: KIM::SHEPPERD 22-JUL-1985 19:50:23.06 To: @SYS$MAIL:ENGINEER CC: Subj: BLISS16 querks A number of users have mentioned some of the goofy things that BLISS16 seems to do when you try to tell it to swap the bytes of a word or just to get the high byte of a word. I did some investigation into the matter and have concluded that, "yep, it does things goofy, so don't do that". There is a simple solution (if you haven't already thought of it): SOURCE : WORD; !the source word DEST : WORD; !the dest word REGISTER TMP : UNSIGNED BYTE; !get a fast temp byte TMP = .(SOURCE+1); !get the high byte DEST = .TMP; !put in the dest BLISS-16 generates pretty tight code for this type of thing. ds ___________________________________________________________________________ From: KIM::DOWNEND 23-JUL-1985 18:45:38.95 To: @SYS$MAIL:ENGINEER CC: Subj: I.C. Fab Costs Just F.Y.I. I talked to Jim Wallin and got the following information regarding CUSTOM I.C. WAFER FABRICATION: - DATE: 7/23/85 - VENDOR: NCR - LEADTIME: 3 WEEKS; TYPICALLY 6 WEEKS - MINIMUM ORDER: 25 WAFERS ( this is considered a production order) - TYPICAL YIELD: 22-23 WAFERS (at wafer level or die level?) - COST PER WAFER: $400.00 ------------------------------------------------------------------------ For Reference, Don Paauw says there are 1000 die on a wafer for both SLAPSTIC AND SLAGS. The cost per die is: ($400.00)/1000=$.40 per die, untested, uninspected Our minimum order quantity is: (25 wafers)*(1000 die)= 25000 die untested, uninspected In the case of SLAPSTIC which has (8) versions on one wafer, we get (25000 die)/(8 versions)= 3125 die of each version, untested -------------------------------------------------------------------------- These two devices are relatively small. Hence, yields have typically been in the 70-80% range. SLAGS had lower yields (50%) initially due to poor processing by the vendor. When I say that the yield is 70-80% I mean that 70-80% of the packaged parts received by Atari passed ELECTRICAL test and inspection. Typically, the vendor performs one to three optical inspections to screen out mal-formed die, reject die attach, and reject wire bonding. At this time I do not think Atari is paying for the creation of test programs to electrically test die at the wafer level (wafer probe..."Sentry Testing"). In summary, actual yield from fabricated die to functional part, will be less than 70-80% since die fallouts at the wafer fab and packaging vendors are not included. I have no data on yields in those two areas at this time. ___________________________________________________________________________ From: KIM::DOWNEND 29-AUG-1985 10:35:32.93 To: @ALPHAGANG.DIS CC: Subj: Work Hours Well guys this is kind of embarassing. It's 10:00 AM and there isn't much of Alpha-Gang around right now, and I don't know when to expect to see anybody. I think that shifted schedules are O.K. but I strongly believe that everybody's work-day should overlap a solid 4 hours or so. This allows for us to interact, share ideas, answer questions in our various areas of expertise etc. As a rule of Thumb, I think that a starting time between 6:30 AM and 9:30 AM is ideal. A normal work day is 8 hours plus an hour for lunch. I know most of us put in a lot more than 8 hours and I certainly don't want to discourage that through rigorous rules. Please send me a note specifying your typical work hours. Also, if you expect to miss your typical work hours, please call and let me know. My number is 747-2867; Karen's is 747-2765; otherwise just leave a message at the lobby. Thanks, Chris Downend ___________________________________________________________________________ From: KIM::ALBAUGH 29-JUL-1985 15:08:18.39 To: @SYS$MAIL:ENGINEER CC: Subj: Making changes... I have just placed a new version of make on UTL$EXE:. Those of you who have been using make with no problems should continue to do so. Those of you on whom make has died mysteriously should now have better (i.e. existant) error messages to guide you. Those of you who have not been using make at all should seriously consider it - read the file charm::sys$userdisk:[Albaugh.Make]make.man for info and then see me. You can save a lot of hassle this way. Bye- Mike ___________________________________________________________________________ From: KIM::SUTTLES 15-AUG-1985 19:03:41.10 To: @SYS$MAIL:ENGINEER.UAF,SUTTLES CC: Subj: New ASM68 (kim only, for now) I have very recently (a few minutes ago) finished a command parser for ASM68. The old method used to be done in DCL, and was very messy and slow. The new method is in assembly, is still messy, but it SHOULD be faster. Along the way, I found several bugs in Intermetric's stuff that I had to work around, plus the usual quota of DEC bugs. I think I caught them all, but you know me! As usual, if any of your programs should be caught, or killed, I will disavow any knowlege of my actions. All seriousness aside, if the new way doesn't work, you can use the old way by saying OLDASM68 instead of the (former and now new) ASM68 command. sas ___________________________________________________________________________ From: KIM::SUTTLES 15-AUG-1985 19:05:16.71 To: @SYS$MAIL:ENGINEER.UAF,SUTTLES CC: Subj: more of the same Oh yeah, if you do find bugs in my program, please tell me about them. ... gently. Guess who? ___________________________________________________________________________ From: KIM::SUTTLES 16-AUG-1985 17:43:05.32 To: @SYS$MAIL:ENGINEER,SUTTLES CC: Subj: More changes for the sake of change Per Jim Morris' request, I have changed ASM68 yet again. This time, I tried to trap errors and warnings from the compiler and return them so that command files executing the ASM68 command may successfully determine if the ASSEMBLER exited with an error (or warning) status. If they exit the program after complaining about errors without passing along the fact that they are exiting in an error (or warning) status, there isn't anything I can do. But at least the command file will tell you different things now, where it used to always say that everything was fine. sas ___________________________________________________________________________ From: CHARM::MORRIS 19-AUG-1985 14:33:41.10 To: @SYS$MAIL:ENGINEER CC: Subj: new intermetrics linker/locater/formatter/assembler There is a new release of the intermetrics assembler, linker, locater & formatter. The linker/locater now will allow sections with lengths greater than 65536. It seems to work ok, so please update your login.com files as follows:- $ @sys$sysdevice:[c68r3v0.com]cdefs.com ! setup intermetrics stuff If you encounter any problems please let me know, thanks. Jim. ___________________________________________________________________________ From: KIM::DOWNEND 21-AUG-1985 15:40:32.99 To: @ALPHAGANG.DIS CC: Subj: BONUS PLAN The much-heralded new "Atari Product Bonus Plan" is ready for Distribution. This new plan replaces the plan in effect since March 1982 (revised March 1983). The new plan will apply to all product sold since January 1, 1985. If you report directly or indirectly to Chris Downend, please see me anytime AFTER 5:00 PM, August 21, 1985, to get your very own copy of the 6-page plan. There will be a meeting at 10:30 AM, August 22, 1985 in the Lyle Rains Common Area where Dan Van and possibly Dennis Wood will be available to answer any questions. -Chris Downend ___________________________________________________________________________ From: KIM::ALBAUGH 23-AUG-1985 10:28:37.08 To: @SYS$MAIL:ENGINEER CC: Subj: "Features" of the new ASM68 As many of you may have already noticed, the new Intermetrics assembler for the 68000 has a few differences. You probably already know that you must say "BSET" rather than "BSET.B" or "BSET.L" ( also "BCLR" and "BTST" ), but you may not have noticed the change in the treatment of ADDQ and SUBQ. The assembler used to automatically convert, say, an "ADDA #4,SP" to an "ADDQ", or an "ADDQ #12,SP" to an "ADDA". It no longer does so. The latter case produces an (obscure) error message and the former produces EXACTLY what you asked for, which happens to be two bytes longer than the old automatic substitute and may well push branches out of range and other fun stuff. SO, it would well repay your efforts to check all your sources for compliance with the new rules to avoid some subtle and nasty problems. I should also point out that as of now you need to be sure to include the appropriate release of the assembler, as well as the compiler, when producing the archive tape for a released project. Incidentally, they also changed the starting number for symbols, so you can't easily compare .ol's. See me if you are baffled Mike P.S. I wrote this memo on the bus this morning (which may explain the choppiness), and am quite happy with my new toy, an Olivetti M10 portable computer. Techno-freaks (and people who would like to do their word-processing in formerly unlikely locales are invited to drop by and play with it. ___________________________________________________________________________ From: KIM::DND 23-AUG-1985 10:34:49.06 To: @SYS$MAIL:ENGINEER CC: Subj: 27128A It is important for all to know that when programming 27128 EPROMS that you take a good look at what the "real" part number is. There is a significant differance between an 27128 and a 27128A. The differance is basically that a 128 is programmed at 24v and a 128A is programmed at 12.5v. I think currently the only 128A's we have are AMD's. So if using AMD parts, take a good look at the number to see if it is an "A" or not. It is too easy to confuse. You can also tell by the fact that AMD also marks the 128A packages with a "12.5v PGM" at the bottom of the package. for your info Jerry Saunders ___________________________________________________________________________ From: KIM::DOWNEND 26-AUG-1985 17:38:30.16 To: @SYS$MAIL:ENGINEER CC: Subj: FYI: I.C. PACKAGING COSTS (EXCLUDES COST OF MAKING WAFER) FYI - IC PACKAGING INFO DATE: AUGUST 1985 VENDOR: AME DEVICE: GANG OF THRICE (FOUR LESS ONE) ORDER QUANTITY: 3000 EACH (9000 OR 12000 PACKAGED PARTS?) ORDER DATE: ? ( NO EARLIER THAN 8/13/85) DUE DATE: 9/6/85 PACKAGE: 40-PIN PLASTIC SERVICES: WAFER SCRIBE, SORT, DIE-ATTACH, WIRE BOND, ENCAPSULATE, LEAD FORM, MARK, PACK. COST: $.56 EACH .014 PLASTIC TUBE COST OF $.14; ABOUT $.014 PER PART. ----- $.574 TOTAL YIELD: 98% JIM WALLIN SAYS THIS IS WHAT THEY EXPECT FROM PAST EXPERIENCE. IN OTHER WORDS, IF WE SEND THEM 3000 DIE, WE'LL GET 98% OF THEM BACK AS PACKAGED PARTS. THIS IS BEFORE ELECTRICAL TEST. ___________________________________________________________________________ From: KIM::DOWNEND 29-AUG-1985 16:42:46.07 To: @SYS$MAIL:ENGINEER CC: Subj: Memory Hogs Well memory hogs, AMD has it for you - the 27C1024 CMOS EPROM. That's right, a megabit on a chip. It's organized as 65536 words by 16 bits. It comes in a 40-pin package. Access time is speced at 170nS. And it can be programmed in 49 seconds! It uses 1.5 um CMOS technology resulting in a die under 80,000 square mils. It should be in full production by third quarter 1985. No price info; but figure $200.00 or so through 1985 and 1986. Plus, they think the memory cell size can be shrunk even more yielding multi-million bit devices. ___________________________________________________________________________ From: KIM::DOWNEND 4-SEP-1985 12:39:00.11 To: @ALPHAGANG.DIS CC: Subj: Work Hours With the Holiday and all, I suspect many of you forgot to send me a note specifying your work hours. Kudos to the four of that responded so promptly. Here are the Guidelines (let me know if you think this is reasonable or unreasonable): - Shifted schedules are O.K. - Must include 4 hours in the core of the day for interaction - Ideal starting time is between 6:30 and 9:30 AM. - Normal work day is 8-hours plus an hour for lunch - Call and leave a message with Downend/Graham/Receptionist if you're going to be sick or Accidently detained. Here are the responses so far: Rivera: 9 am to 6 pm Lipson: 9:30 to 6:30 Ralston: 7:00 to 4:30-5:30 Drobny: 8:30 to 5:30 or 9-6 Downend: 9:00 to 6:00 Websters says kudos is: "fame and renown resulting from and act or achievement: prestige". The rest of you can have Kudos too - just send in your work hours! Thanks, Chris ___________________________________________________________________________ From: ERNIE::GRAHAM 5-SEP-1985 11:19:07.59 To: @SYS$MAIL:VANGANG CC: Subj: HELP!!!!!!! As the only secretary up here I'm starting to get a little overwhelmed. Though it's been great exercise I find I need some help....so, I'm asking if everyone in Electrical Engineering will pick up their own mail (the mail station is next to Dan's office), and to pick up phone messages from Evelyn in the lobby (you can give her a call once in a while). I really appreciate this, it will save me at least a couple trips around the building. Karen ___________________________________________________________________________ From: KIM::MCCARTHY 5-SEP-1985 18:37:40.75 To: @DIST2,MCCARTHY CC: Subj: remote sense on power supplies The question has arisen as to the necessity of sense lines on five volt switching power supplies. Background: Traditionally, we have designed our in-house power supplies with remote sense for the five volts output. We found this necessary because there was an appreciable difference between the voltage at the power supply and the voltage at the logic board, due to IR drop in the harness and in particular at the edge connector. As the board aged the voltage drop tended to get worse, due to dirt and wear on the edge connector. In recent times we have learned to make shorter harnesses and use connectors more suitable for power connections at the logic board. For example, on Gauntlet while drawing 5.5 - 6 amps, there is a difference of 90millivolts between the 5 volt power connections and the sense connections, measured at the power supply. This is not likely to change with age, as the connectors are better and tend to be self cleaning. The question then is. At what load current do we need remote sense on purchased power supplies. We have a sample of a japanese switching supply rated at 10amps. It does not have remote sense. It does have an accessable voltage adjustment pot. A similar model from the same company, rated at 20amps does have remote sense. Do we require remote sense for: all supplies all supplies supplying more than 5 amps all supplies supplying more than 10 amps we don't need remote sense Send your vote,comments,thoughts,suggestions,etc. to this address please. Pat. ___________________________________________________________________________ From: KIM::DOWNEND 5-SEP-1985 18:39:37.23 To: @SYS$MAIL:ENGINEER CC: Subj: POKEY INVENTORIES 5 SEP 85 POKEY STATUS WALLIN/BRODREICK TELL ME THAT ATARI GAMES BOUGHT A LARGE LOT OF POKEY WAFERS FROM ATARI CORP. FOR $.50 A DIE. APPARENTLY THESE ARE STILL AT THE WAFER LEVEL. AS WE NEED THEM, THEY HAVE BEEN SENDING THEM OUT TO BE PACKAGED. CURRENT INVENTORY OF DIE: 54,000+ CURRENT PACKAGED PARTS: 0 DIE AT VENDOR: ? PAAUW RECENTLY EXAMINED 1 WAFER AND NOTICED THAT ONLY 25% OF THE DIE WERE GOOD - THE OTHER 75% HAD A "RED DOT" INDICATING A FAILED PART. IF THIS YIELD HOLDS FOR ALL THE WAFERS THEN WE REALLY HAVE 54000/4=13500 DIE. LOOKS LIKE WE NEED TO: 1) VERIFY DIE YIELD 2) CHECK WITH ATARI CORP ON AVAILABILITY OF MORE POKEY DICE. 3) DESIGN IN A NEW SOUND CHIP IN ALL DESIGNS NOW ON PAPER, EG. SYSTEM 3D AND BEYOND COMMENTS?? ___________________________________________________________________________ From: KIM::DOWNEND 6-SEP-1985 13:01:02.53 To: @SYS$MAIL:ENGINEER CC: Subj: Revised POKEY inventory 5 SEP 85 POKEY STATUS - REVISED Well, when we went to verify POKEY die yield, we found that Atari Games has 54,000+ GOOD die. Dan Van has recommended that no further action is required at this time on POKEY or a replacement thereof. Here is a edited tabulation of various suggestions just for the record: Brad Fuller: Hope we don't use POKEY too much longer: most SFX are now done on YAMAHA. Would like to see either (2) YAMAHAs per game or (1) YAMAHA and AMY. Vickers (via Fuller): We have ability to make a new POKEY...we share rights to it with Atari Corp. is their recollection. Rivera: We could do our own simple version of POKEY with just the shift registers, control latches and square wave output and maybe get 8-12 channels (instead of 4) 1n a smaller (24-pin?) package. then the investment in RPM would still be useful. At any rate, I agree with Dan - no need to worry at this time with 54,000 good die in inventory. We will need to re-visit this in 9 months or so (6/86) when POKEY supplies will have been depleted by the GAUNTLET Production run!! ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ This is the original VAX message for reference: CURRENT INVENTORY OF DIE: 54,000+ PAAUW RECENTLY EXAMINED 1 WAFER AND NOTICED THAT ONLY 25% OF THE DIE WERE GOOD - THE OTHER 75% HAD A "RED DOT" INDICATING A FAILED PART. IF THIS YIELD HOLDS FOR ALL THE WAFERS THEN WE REALLY HAVE 54000/4=13500 DIE. LOOKS LIKE WE NEED TO: 1) VERIFY DIE YIELD 2) CHECK WITH ATARI CORP ON AVAILABILITY OF MORE POKEY DICE. 3) DESIGN IN A NEW SOUND CHIP IN ALL DESIGNS NOW ON PAPER, EG. SYSTEM 3D AND BEYOND ___________________________________________________________________________ From: CHARM::SHEPPERD 9-SEP-1985 12:26:24.01 To: @SYS$MAIL:ENGINEER CC: Subj: Shareable libraries... Those of you that have linked programs to the shareable libraries will have to re-link them. This happens with each new release of VMS and is an inconvience. For programs that are used by everybody (such as AS68K), it is worthwhile to link them shareable. For programs that are only run once in a while and/or by only one person, it isn't necessary to link them shareable and you can avoid having to re-link each time a new VMS or compiler is installed by NOT linking them shareable. In case you're confused, then the following in an options file are: VAXCRTL.EXE/SHARE !means to link to shareable library VAXCRTL !means to link to non-shareable library using C as an example. ds ___________________________________________________________________________ From: KIM::SHEPPERD 9-SEP-1985 18:03:48.55 To: @SYS$MAIL:ENGINEER CC: Subj: DIO volunteers anyone? I need some assistance. We have max'd out the capabilities of our DIO's. They currently each hold 64k bytes of memory and because of hardware limitations (who will ever need more than 64k?) cannot be upgraded to contain more. Since we are starting to use 27512's (64k bytes in one EPROM), this is cramping everyone's style. DIO tells me that we can buy (for a few thousand bucks) the latest and greatest model 29B which doesn't have the 64k limitation. We can also get their gang programmer which has 128k (not limited to, however) and 20 (count 'em, T-W-E-N-T-Y) sockets that each can be programmed with different data. The gang programmer is a model 121 and I've been lead to believe that production has (or had) several and one of them might be "extra". Here's where the volunteer stuff comes in. I need somebody to run this down, see what can be done and how much it'll cost, etc. The one(s) who use the DIO the most stand the most to gain by 'fixing' what we've got and/or making recommendations for what we should get in the future. Atari corp's production and engineering used IMI programmers which were better than the DIO's, so maybe you can hunt one of those down. Anybody got nuthin to do who wants to design and build a new one? ds ___________________________________________________________________________ From: CHARM::PAAUW 9-SEP-1985 18:38:39.19 To: @SYS$MAIL:ENGINEER CC: Subj: SYSTEM I CART 2 & COCKTAIL THE SPLIT SCREEN INTERRUPT ADDED TO THE LATEST CART BOARD CAUSES PROBLEMS IN ITS CURRENT CONFIGURATION. THE LEVEL 3 INTERRUPT CAN BE LOCKED ON IN TWO WAYS. FIRST, THE LATCH CAN POWER UP WITH AN INTERRUPT REQUEST OR, SECONDLY, IT CAN BE LEFT SET BY THE RAM TEST. THE INTERRUPT IS NORMALLY CLEARED BY THE FETCH OF THE SECOND LINE OF PICTURE CODE "FFFF". IN THE OLDER GAMES THIS OBVIOUSLY WILL NEVER OCCUR AND THE GAMES WOULD BE LOCKED UP. THE PROPOSED FIX IS AS FOLLOWS: SINCE POWER ON RESET IS NOT SENT TO THE CART, I AM PLANNING ON USING "SOUND RESET" TO INHIBIT THE LEVEL 3 INTERRUPT. THE INTERRUPT WILL BE ENABLED BY READING THE PORT AT ADDRESS 240,000. THIS SHOULD MAKE THE CIRCUIT COMPATIBLE WITH PROGRAMS THAT IGNORE IT (ASSUMING THAT A "SOUND RESET" IS ISSUED BEFORE LEVEL 3 INTERRUPTS ARE ENABLED ). PROGRAMS THAT USE THE INTERRUPT WILL HAVE TO ENABLE IT BY READING ADDRESS 240,00 BEFORE IT IS EXPECTED TO BE USED AND WILL HAVE TO RE-ENABLE IT AFTER EVERY SUBSEQUENT "SOUND RESET". IF THERE ARE ANY COMMENTS OR OBJECTIONS TO THIS, PLEASE LET ME KNOW ASAP. DON ___________________________________________________________________________ From: KIM::RUSTY 11-SEP-1985 11:48:35.32 To: @SYS$MAIL:JUNK,RUSTY CC: Subj: NEWSFLASH!!! Today, per Jim Wallen (straight from AMD along with our samples). The latest CURRENT price for 27512's is ... (ARE YOU READY!) $9.00 in production quantities (1000's) for -3s slightly higher (negotiable) for -2s LESS by year's end! Rusty ___________________________________________________________________________ From: KIM::SHEPPERD 12-SEP-1985 18:10:49.96 To: @SYS$MAIL:JUNK CC: Subj: Thieves... Ok, who took them? We're missing two CIT-101 terminals. One was in the analog lab and the other was in the main telephone closet downstairs sans keyboard. Please return them or tell me where they are. Thank you. ds ___________________________________________________________________________ From: KIM::SHEPPERD 16-SEP-1985 17:40:30.09 To: @SYS$MAIL:ENGINEER CC: Subj: Gulp....A new editor... Announcing a new editor: TPU for Text Processing Utility. There's a file UTL$MAC:NEWTPU.TXT that you can peruse at your convience with details about how to use it and stuff. ds ___________________________________________________________________________ From: CHARM::AVL 17-SEP-1985 13:31:30.94 To: KIM::MARGOLIN CC: Subj: Battery RAM I've assigned Atari P/N 137442-150 for the 'Zero Power' RAM chip on cer#3842. The only vendor listed is Mostek #MK48Z02B-15. If you need a copy of the CER or data, come on down and grab it. J Bell ___________________________________________________________________________ From: KIM::SHEPPERD 17-SEP-1985 19:50:44.46 To: @SYS$MAIL:ENGINEER CC: Subj: New section file for TPU I've updated the TPU section file in UTL$EXE. The new options are: You can exit via VAXTPU command EX, EXI or EXIT Type GOLD/I to include a file (prompts for filename) into the aux_buffer (it will do a Gold/W for you). Type GOLD/U to include a file to be updated at exit (Same as "include", except TPU will write a new version of the file if you make changes in the aux_buffer). Buffer and file names reported on the aux_window status line Changes upcoming (later): GOLD/F to cause current window to grow to full screen size Execute EDTEM commands with GOLD/7. Single key adjustment of aux window size (inc/dec). Tab adjust line mode command Vertical cursor movement accounting for tabs Probably others... ds ___________________________________________________________________________ From: KIM::DOWNEND 18-SEP-1985 12:11:43.95 To: @ALPHAGANG.DIS CC: Subj: AMOA Update The AMOA show is scheduled for 10/31-11/2/85 in Chicago this year. This of course is THE trade show for the Game and Coin-operated Industry. The name of the game this year is Cost Reduction. Hence, a new booth has been designed; you can see a Blueprint on the wall near Dan Van's office. This booth is 1/4 to 1/3 the size of the previous booth and has room for up to 12 games, an information booth, a conference room and a storage room. At this stage the game line-up is: (4) Gauntlets, (3) Temple of Dooms and either (2) Roadrunners or (2) Paperboys - depends on what shape Roadrunner is in by show time. There will be (2) overhead displays set up on Gauntlet and a third overhead display showing a video tape. All the games will come from production - Engineering will supply the 3 overhead displays and associated paraphernalia, and (2) roadrunner kits. (for a real surprise, read Websters definition of paraphernalia below...). Attendence will be extremely limited - around 25 people total with around half of that being Engineering Personnel. When you consider that the main purpose of a show is to sell games, I think having as much as half the attendees from Engineering is pretty good. At this point the Attendence list includes Opperman, Rains, Van Elderen, Moore, and Downend. Then each electrical team (Alpha and Omega) will be allowed to bring 4 team members each. With Gauntlet and Temple of Doom definitely at the show, four members from those projects have been invited: Bob Flanagan, Pat McCarthy, Peter Lipson, and Dave Ralston. All members of Alpha-team attending the show will fly out early Wednesday morning, Oct. 30th to help with set-up. We will be returning late Saturday night, Nov. 2nd. For those of you who are considering attending at your own expense, here are some numbers: - round-trip to Chicago: $238.00; from San Jose or San Francisco. Atari can make these reservations - please let me know. - One night lodging (sharing a room) - $50.00 Atari has reseved a larger than necessary block of rooms which will be held until 10/1/85 - please let me know if you're interested. --------------------------------------------------------------- Footnote: Webster's definition of Paraphernalia: 1: The separate real or personal property of a married woman that she can dispose of by will and sometimes according to common law during her life. 2: personal belongings 3: a) articles of equipment: furnishings b) accessory items ___________________________________________________________________________ From: KIM::SHEPPERD 19-SEP-1985 10:21:03.70 To: @SYS$MAIL:ENGINEER CC: Subj: DIO The DIO works again. I put in the auto-F/P select code so for EPROM's of 27128A and above, you don't have to be specific about either the device number or the manufacturer. I.E. to program a 27256 you can specify a DIO>DEVICE any_garbage_you_care_to_type_in because the DIO (somehow) can find out the EPROM type and manufacturer right from the EPROM (in socket 1) itself. My DIO programs will fall back to using the "any_garbage_..." if the DIO can't figure out what part is installed. ds ___________________________________________________________________________ From: KIM::WIEBENSON 21-SEP-1985 10:42:20.47 To: @SYS$MAIL:ENGINEER CC: Subj: High speed CMOS HC series IC's may be a magic cure for some of our noise problems associated with development system hookups. The noise immunity of these IC's is far better than Schmitt Triggers with the same delay. There is another series called HCT that should not be confused with HC because HCT input levels are the same as TTL and so offer little noise immunity. ___________________________________________________________________________ From: ERNIE::GRAHAM 23-SEP-1985 10:24:15.47 To: @SYS$MAIL:JUNK CC: Subj: We have the new PO Box for Milpitas so it would be a good idea to start changing the address on all those magazines you want to keep getting when we move. P.O. Box 361110 Milpitas, CA 95035 Changing the address now will save us money on forwarding them after we move. Karen Graham ___________________________________________________________________________ From: ERNIE::BROWN 23-SEP-1985 10:50:20.80 To: KIM::MARGOLIN CC: Subj: DENTAL CLAIM I GOT IN TOUCH WITH YOUR DENTAL REP AT JOHN HANCOK THIS MORNING AND UPON CHECKING THE COMPUTER, SHE SAID THAT THE LAST DENTAL CLAIM THEY HAD RECEIVED FROM YOU WAS IN JANUARY OF THIS YEAR. YOU MIGHT WANT TO CHECK WITH YOUR DENTIST'S OFFICE TO VERIFY THE ADDRESS TO WHICH THEY SENT THE CLAIM. THE CORRECT ADDRESS IS: CALL BOX 1501 BRYN MAR, PA 19010 SANDI ___________________________________________________________________________ From: CHARM::MURPHY 23-SEP-1985 12:49:55.12 To: @SYS$MAIL:JUNK CC: Subj: EVELYN WOODHEAD duz a unybudy haf a atare tap ricordr i kan yuz too lern howe too sped read? az sune az i lern howe too sped red i kan pa u bakc bi bing yr prsonl seckretryty fore az lhawng az u lik! ore i kan teech u howe too serf n yr bithtub r pla th bhinjo. izent ths phun? ___________________________________________________________________________ From: KIM::SHEPPERD 23-SEP-1985 17:54:38.10 To: @SYS$MAIL:ENGINEER CC: Subj: DIO and MIXIT updates MIXIT has been updated. The /WORD=n and /GROUP=m options now work (on input files only, those options on output filenames are ignored for now). DIO accepts n bit words (multiples of 8) and will try to program whole words into n/8 EPROMS. If word size times EPROM size is greater than the available memory in the DIO, it will automatically switch to programming 1 EPROM and will prompt for group number. A word about group numbers. From the VAX's and DIO's point of view, all words are organised the same, that is, bytes are stored in the file in increasing significance and bits within the each byte are mapped directly to the corresponding bit in the EPROM. In other words, higher addressed bytes are assumed higher significance in the word. The Gangpak will program n-byte words into n EPROMS simultaneously. Assuming 16 bit words, the Gangpak will program: fileoffset +0 +1 +2 +3 +4 +5 +6 ... ----------------------------------- socket # 1 2 1 2 1 2 1 ... If the word size were 24, then the Gangpak would program: fileoffset +0 +1 +2 +3 +4 +5 +6 ... ----------------------------------- socket # 1 2 3 1 2 3 1 ... MIXIT and DIO (in group mode) behave exactly the same. MIXIT will extract every nth byte from the input file starting with the group_number divided by 8. Presently the group_number is the power of 2 significance of the bit in the word and must be a multiple of 8. I.e. (in VAX/T11/6502 addressing) Group bits fileoffset (=byte number) 0 0-7 +0 8 8-15 +1 16 16-23 +2 24 24-31 +3 etc. If the majority would prefer that the group number be a byte number (0-3 in the above example), I would be willing to change it. The important thing to remember is that the 68000 operates contrary to this scheme. Bytes are addressed by DECREASING significance so the concept of low byte/high byte should not be used. Instead use the fileoffset value as an indicator of the EPROM contents (meaning I should really change the group code to be a byte number). ds ___________________________________________________________________________ From: KIM::RUNNER 24-SEP-1985 18:03:17.32 To: @SYS$MAIL:ENGINEER,RUNNER CC: Subj: Bad Bug in Vax C (and in some PPS utilities) Just a polite warning to anyone using any C programs: (i.e. I just got chomped upon by this bug): When using formatted input via VAX C, if you request a hex (i.e. %x) conversion, any solitary zero will be dropped from the input string. For example, if you type '0,4000' as an input address range, the '0' will be ignored, and the program will only see a single input item of '4000'. So far, at least two pps utilities (pbfmm and sys1gr) have this bug. A quick fix is to never allow zeros to be alone -- type 2 or more in a row and the C input routine will notice the number correctly. I.E. type the previous address range as '00,4000' and it should be read ok. G R ___________________________________________________________________________ From: ERNIE::TRAEGER 25-SEP-1985 17:43:04.19 To: @SYS$MAIL:JUNK CC: Subj: FEAR AND LOATHING ON THE COIN OP TRAIL FEAR AND LOATHING ON THE COIN-OP TRAIL FOR THE PAST SEVERAL WEEKS I HAVE BEEN TRAVELLING ACROSS THE LAND, TALKING WITH DISTRIBUTORS AND OPERATORS, AND LEARNING HOW TO SELL OUR PRODUCTS. THIS MEMO WILL TRY TO SUMMARIZE SOME OF THE THINGS I HAVE LEARNED DURING THESE TRAVELS. I. GENERAL INDUSTRY OVERVIEW IT DOES SEEM THAT THE INDUSTRY IS COMING BACK SOMEWHAT. MOST DISTRIBUTORS HAVE BEEN STATING THAT THEIR BUSINESS SEEMS TO BE PICKING UP SOMEWHAT AND THAT THE OPERATORS ARE STARTING TO BECOME MORE HUNGRY FOR PRODUCT THAN THEY HAVE BEEN IN SOME TIME. OPERATORS, TOO, HAVE BEEN SEEING MORE POSITIVE SIGNS. ON AVERAGE, I WOULD SAY THAT OPERATORS EARNINGS HAVE BEEN UP AROUND 5% OVER THE SAME PERIOD LAST YEAR. WHILE THIS DOES NOT APPEAR TO BE REAL HIGH OF AN INCREASE, IT'S A LOT BETTER THAN THE 20% DECLINES WE'VE SEEN THE PAST COUPLE OF YEARS. THE GENERAL FEELING AMONG OPERATORS AS TO THE COMEBACK OF THE INDUSTRY STEMS FROM A COUPLE DIFFERENT REASONINGS. FOR ONE, THE OPERATOR IS BEGINNING TO FEEL THAT MANUFACTURERS HAVE BEEN COMING OUT WITH BETTER PRODUCT LATELY... AND THIS PRODUCT IS STIMULATING INCREASED REVENUE. AS WELL, I THINK THE OPERATOR IS FEELING BETTER ABOUT THE MANUFACTURERS ABILITY TO PRODUCE GOOD PRODUCT AND REASONABLE PRICES. ESPECIALLY WELL LIKED ARE THE SEVERAL SYSTEMS AVAILABLE (NINTENDO'S AND OURS) AS WELL AS THE WIDE VARIETY OF LOW- PRICED KIT PRODUCT. GOING INTO THE AMOA, ONE THING IS CERTAIN...THE OPERATORS WHO ARE LEFT IN BUSINESS SEEM TO BE THE OLDER, ESTABLISHED GUYS WHO HAVE BEEN AROUND THE BLOCK A FEW TIMES. THEY SEEM PRETTY BUSINESS SMART AND WON'T JUST BUY ANYTHING THAT COMES OUT. THEY CONSIDER ROI ISSUES CAREFULLY AND MAKE DECISIONS BASED ON THE EFFECTS TO THEIR WHOLE ROUTE. THEY SEEM TO BE EXTREMELY PRICE SENSITIVE AND WILL USUALLY OPT FOR LOW PRICED WHOLE GAMES AND KITS TO COVER THEIR ENTIRE ROUTES RATHER THAN INVEST HUGE SUMS OF MONEY FOR A LOT OF HIGHER PRICED EQUIPMENT, EVEN THOUGH THAT EQUIPMENT MAY BE EARNING MORE THAN THE LOWER PRICED STUFF. II. WHAT'S HOT OUT THERE ONE OF THE HOTTEST THINGS GOING IN THE INDUSTRY RIGHT NOW IS CLASSIFIED AS "REDEMPTION EQUIPMENT". THESE ARE THOSE CRANE GAMES, ETC. THAT YOU PUT COINS INTO, MOVE A CRANE ARM AROUND, AND TRY TO PICK UP PRIZES LIKE LITTLE STUFFED ANIMALS, RUBBER SPIDERS, PLAYING CARDS, ETC. THESE THINGS ARE EARNING A TON OF MONEY ALL OVER THE COUNTRY (WHERE THEY'RE LEGAL) AND HAVE A LOT OF DISTRIBUTORS AND LARGER OPERATORS EXCITED. THEY ARE TYPICALLY QUITE EXPENSIVE (6-7,000 BUCKS) AND ALSO REQUIRE A WEEKLY INVESTMENT IN PRIZES BY THE OPERATOR. ANOTHER HOT CATEGORY, PARTICULARLY IN THE MID-WEST AND EAST COAST ARE "ACTION ORIENTED" PIECES SUCH AS SKEE-BALL AND ELECTRONIC DARTS... PARTICULARLY ELECTRONIC DARTS. IN THE MID-WEST SOME DISTRIBUTORS SHOW ROOMS LOOKED LIKE DART SUPPLY SHOPS WITH ALL SORTS OF DART ACCESSORIES FOR SALE. AS WELL, MANY DART LEAGUES HAVE FORMED IN THE BARS AND STREET LOCATIONS AND SEEM TO HAVE GREATLY SPURRED ON THE INTEREST OF ELECTRONIC, PUB-TIME DART ACTIVITY. INTERESTINGLY, DART ACTIVITY OUT ON THE WEST COAST IS NEXT TO NIL, WITH MOST THINKING THE CLIMATE HAS MUCH TO DO WITH IT'S LACK OF SUCCESS...BUT, WOW, IT'S BIG BACK EAST!! OPERATORS ALSO SEEM QUITE APPRECIATIVE OF THE SEVERAL CONVERSION SYSTEMS THAT HAVE BEEN PRODUCED. THEY DO SEEM TO FEEL THAT SYSTEMS ARE GOOD FOR THEIR BUSINESS AND THAT MANUFACTURERS HAVE REALLY ATTEMPTED TO HELP THEM WITH THE DEVELOPMENT OF SYSTEMS. ONE THING, HOLDING THEM BACK, HOWEVER, IS A VERY REAL APPREHENSION THAT SOME MANUFACTURERS ARE NOT AS DEDICATED TO SYSTEMS AS THEY WOULD CLAIM TO BE. IT WILL TAKE A LITTLE TIME TO PROVE TO OPERATORS THAT OUR SYSTEMS ARE FOR REAL, BUT THEY ARE COMING AROUND. THE RELEASE OF "DOOM" IS MEANING GREAT THINGS TO THE OPERATOR'S BELEIF THAT, HEY THE ATARI SYSTEM IS FOR REAL. WE MUST CONTINUE TO ENFORCE TO THE OPERATORS THAT WE ARE DEDICATED TO THE SYSTEM APPROACH, IF WE INTEND ON INCREASING THE BASE OF UNITS. WHILE SPEAKING OF WHAT IS HOT AND ON THE SUBJECT OF SYSTEMS, I WOULD BE REMISS IF I DIDN'T MENTION...NINTENDO. TO BE SURE, THESE GUYS ARE VERY HOT RIGHT NOW, AND OPERATORS ACROSS THE COUNTRY SEEM TO FEEL VERY STRONGLY THAT NINTENDO HAS DONE MORE FOR THEM THAN ANY MANUFACTURER IN THE PAST SEVERAL YEARS HAS. WHILE THEY WILL ADMIT THAT MOST OF THEIR GAMES ARE NOT THAT GREAT AS EARNERS, THEY ARE EAGER TO POINT OUT THEIR UNBELEIVABLEY LOW COST AND GREAT ROI BECAUSE OF THE LOW COST. THEY ALSO LOOK TO NINTENDO AS FIRST OUT WITH A SYSTEM AND HIGHLY SUPPORTIVE OF THEIR SYSTEM OFFERING MANY, MANY GAMES AT THIS POINT IN TIME COMPARED TO THE COMPETITION. ONE THING NINTENDO DID THAT REALLY WENT OVER BIG WITH OPERATORS WAS OFFERING THEIR UNISYSTEM AS A CONVERSION FOR OTHER GAMES, NAMELY DONKEY KONG. WHILE THEY INITIALLY STRUGGLED TO SELL BASE UNITS, IT SEEMS LIKE OFFERING THE SYSTEM FOR CONVERSION OF DONKEY KONG AT A REASONABLE PRICE REALLY DID THE TRICK. A FINAL WORD HERE, WOULD BE THAT IT DOES APPEAR THAT OLDER ORIENTED GAMES HAVE BEEN DOING QUITE WELL. SEVERAL OPERATORS AND DISTRIBUTORS TOLD ME THAT THEIR NUMBER ONE PIECE THIS YEAR HAS BEEN THE QUIZ GAME TRIV WHIZ. WHILE THIS GAME DOESN'T SHOW UP IN POLLS AND AT ARCADES, I THINK THAT OVER THE BROAD SPECTRUM, OPERATORS ACROSS THE COUNTRY WHOSE BREAD AND BUTTER ARE DEFINATELY THE BARS AND GIN MILLS, NOT ARCADES, WOULD MAKE THE SAME CLAIM AS DID OUR DISTRIBUTOR DAVE GILFOR, OF ACTIVE AMUSEMENTS IN PHILLY... ..."I THANK GOD FOR TRIVIA GAMES THIS YEAR!" III. COMPETITOR UPDATE HERE'S A BRIEF UPDATE AS TO NEW GAMES AND RUMORS I HEARD OUT ON THE ROAD, MOST OF THIS STUFF SHOULD SHOW UP AT AMOA. NINTENDO: NINTENDO HAS TWO NEW GAMES FOR THEIR UNISYSTEM. A SOCCER GAME THAT REALLY LOOKED LOUSY SHOULD NOT BE A FACTOR IN THE MARKETPLACE AT ALL, REGARDLESS OF COST. ANOTHER GAME MACH RIDER LOOKED REALLY PRETTY BAD, BUT MAY DO OK FOR THEIR SYSTEM..IT IS RATHER POOR QUALITY POLE POSITION ON MOTORCYCLE WITH SHOOTING AND OBSTACLE AVOIDANCE THROWN IN...STINKO! THERE IS ALSO RUMOR OF A ARM WRESTLING CONVERSION FOR THE BASE OF PUNCH OUT GAMES THAT ARE OUT THERE. APPARANTELY, HOWEVER, THE GAME IS NOT TESTING THAT WELL, AND SINCE IS NOT DEVELOPED BY THEIR HOME DESIGNERS FOR THE UNISYSTEM, MIGHT BE QUITE EXPENSIVE, I.E. SUPER PUNCH OUT. THE OTHER THING THEY HAVE DONE IS COME OUT WITH A CONVERSION SET-UP FOR PAC-MAN THAT ALLOWS THOSE OLD PAC-MAN GAMES TO BE CONVERTED INTO, YOU GUESSED IT, UNISYSTEMS. HOWEVER, THEY ARE HAVING SOME PROBLEMS WITH THIS CONCEPT AND OPERATORS ARE NOT EXACTLY GOING FOR IT AS THEY DID WITH THE DONKEY KONG UNISYSTEMS...THE PROBLEMS ARE FOURFOLD...THE PAC KIT IS EXPENSIVE (MORE THAN THE DONKEY VERSION AND ALMOST AS MUCH AS A NEW UNISYSTEM)...IT IS A VERY DIFFICULT CONVERSION...MANY OPERATORS ARE RELUCTANT TO CONVERT PAC MAN'S...AND MANY OF THE PAC MAN'S HAVE BURNED IN MAZES IN THE MONITORS AND THE CONVERSION'S LOOK REALLY POOR BEHIND THE PHOSPHUR BURNS. BALLY/SENTE: NOTHING REALLY TO REPORT HERE, EXCEPT FOR A FOUR PLAYER HAT TRICK THAT IS PRESENTED IN A NEW FOUR PLAYER TABLE TOP CONFIGURATION, NOT FOR THE EXISTING SENTE CABINET THAT ALREADY HAS BEEN CHANGED BEFORE. THIS SEEMS TO HAVE REALLY TICKED OFF OPERATORS AND DISTRIBUTORS WHO WERE HOPING THIS PIECE TO BE A CONVERSION FOR THEIR EXISTING SENTE SYSTEMS. BALLY HAS SHOWN NOTHING NEW EXCEPT FOR YET ANOTHER ARTICLE BY BOB MULLANE, THEIR CEO, IN BOTH CHICAGO PAPERS STATING THAT HE DID NOT OPTIMISTICALLY FEEL THAT BALLY WOULD BE A FORCE IN THE COIN-OP MARKETPLACE VERY MUCH LONGER...IN FACT HE SAID SOMETHING TO THE EFFECT THAT BRINGING BACK BALLY'S ENGINEERING FORCE TO ANYTHING LIKE IT ONCE WAS WOULD BE..."ALMOST IMPOSSIBLE." DATA EAST: THESE GUYS SEEM LIKE THEY WILL COOL-OFF SOON BECAUSE THEY DON'T SEEM TO HAVE ANYTHING TO GOOD UP THEIR SLEAVES...(MAYBE THAT'S WHY TOM PETTIT AND JOLLY BACKER JUST LEFT?)...BUT YOU NEVER CAN BE SURE WITH DATA EAST...THEY ALWAYS SEEM TO PULL RABBITS OUT OF THEIR HATS. THEY HAVE TESTED A SHOOTING GAME CALLED "SHOOT-OUT" THAT IS SUPPOSEDLY NOT DOING THAT GREAT AND IS ALLREADY APPARENTLY SELLING AT ROCK BOTTOM CLOSE- OUT PRICES. ALSO, WE KNOW THEY HAVE "TANK" WHICH WE HAD IN-HOUSE AND WERE NOT TO CRAZY ABOUT, RIGHT? WILLIAMS: THEY HAVE DONE IT AGAIN WITH ANOTHER SUPERB PIN-BALL GAME CALLED "COMET". THIS ONE IS REALLY, REALLY FUN TO PLAY AND OFFERS TONS OF ACTION UTILIZING AN AMUSEMENT PARK THEME. IT OFFERS GREAT SOUND EFFECTS AND THE FIRST EVER 1 MILLION POINT SHOT...WILL MAKE PEOPLE FORGET ABOUT SPACE SHUTTLE...ROGER SHARPE WILL LOVE IT (BUT IT DOES END ROGER!) AND HE'LL UNDOUBTEDLY CALL IT GAME OF THE SHOW AT THE UPCOMING AMOA. INCIDENTALLY, THE GAME IS ON TEST AT OUTER LIMITS MT. VIEW IF YOU WANT TO PLAY WITH IT. CINEMATRONICS: SURPRISINGLY, THESE GUYS ARE STILL AROUND...BUT PROBABLY JUST BARELY. THEY HAVE A SYSTEM OUT AND ARE SHOWING A PRETTY DECENT 2-PLAYER SOCCER GAME CALLED "POWER PLAY". IT IS PLAYED LIKE SOCCER BUT YOU CAN PUNCH OUT YOUR OPPONENT AND HIS GOALIE WITH A PUNCH BUTTON. HEARING THAT IT IS NOT DOING THAT GREAT ON TEST. I HAVE ALSO HEARD ABOUT A BASEBALL GAME APPARENTLY CALLED "WORLD SERIES: THE SEASON". DON'T KNOW ANYTHING ELSE ABOUT IT BUT THEIR SYSTEM DOES HAVE VERY GOOD GRAPHICS AND SOUND CAPABILITIES, JUDGING FROM THE SOCCER PIECE. KONAMI: THEY HAVE BEEN SHOWING A NEW CONVERSION FOR ANY RASTER GAME CALLED "RUSH N' ATTACK"...IT IS A RAMBO GAME ALL THE WAY AND IS REALLY PRETTY GOOD. YOU ARE TRYING TO RESCUE A BUNCH OF TIED UP GREEN BERETS AND ARE SNEAKING AROUND IN A RUSSIAN ARMY COMPLEX...IT'S COOL, YOU CAN KUNG-FU RUSSIANS, SHOOT RUSSIANS, GRENADE RUSSIANS AND EVEN FLAME THROW THE PANTS OFF OF THEM LITTLE COMMIE BASTARDS...REAGAN WILL LOVE IT...IT'S BEING CALLED "GREEN BERETS" IN EUROPE BECAUSE THEY'RE ALL SCARED OF THE RUSKIES OVER THERE. SEGA: APPARENTLY NOTHING NEW BESIDES HANG-ON, WHICH IS DOING PRETTY WELL BUT IS RATHER EXPENSIVE. THESE GUYS ARE ALSO HEAVILY IN TO DOING THE AFORE MENTIONED "REDEMPTION EQUIPMENT"...AND OFFER SEVERAL DIFFERENT TYPES OF CRANE GAMES CURRENTLY. ATARI: I MUST MENTION THE UNBELEIVABLE REACTION WE HAVE BEEN GETTING FOR "GAUNTLET". WORD IS DEFINATELY OUT THAT THE PIECE IS HOT AND THE WHOLE INDUSTRY SEEMS TO BE VERY EXCITED BY IT'S EXPECTED RELEASE. EVEN OUR MANUFACTURING COMPETITORS ARE SAYING THEY REALLY THINK THE PIECE IS A GOOD ONE. "TEMPLE" TOO IS REALLY DOING WELL AND SEEMS TO HAVE TAKEN THE MARKET AWAY FOR USED "MARBLE MADNESSES" ALMOST OVER NIGHT, AS OPERATORS SCRAMBLE TO GET CHEAP BASE UNITS TO CONVERT. WITH THE USED CABINET MARKET GONE, AND THE GAME DOING GREAT, WE SHOULD HAVE A REAL GOOD SHOT AT INCREASING THE BASE UNITS OF SYSTEM 1. THE BOY STILL HANGS! CHECK THE LATEST PLAY-METER POLL... IV. SUMMARY CONCLUSIONS WELL ALL THIS IS FINE AND DANDY, BUT THERE ARE SOME THINGS THAT CAN BE DERIVED FROM ALL THIS THAT WE MAY BE ABLE TO UTILIZE FOR PROFITABLE FUTURE PRODUCTS: 1.REDEMPTION EQUIPMENT PSYCHOLOGY: KIDS ARE FEEDING QUARTER AFTER QUARTER INTO THESE THINGS JUST TO GET A STUPID EL-CHEAPO PRIZE...SHOULD WE THINK MORE SERIOUSLY ABOUT TRYING TICKET DISPENSORS ON VIDEO GAMES TO AWARD PRIZES SOMEHOW TO PLAYERS? IT SURE SEEMS TO DO GREAT THINGS TO EARNINGS REPORTS!!! 2.MORE ACTION ORIENTED OR ACTIVE GAMES MAYBE THERE IS A WAY TO SOMEHOW COMBINE THE PHYSICAL ACTIVITY OF, SAY, A DART OR SKEEBALL GAME IN COMBINATION WITH VIDEO...GOLF IS REALLY BECOMING A POPULAR SPORT OF THE MASSES, REMEMBER THE GOLF TRAINER? 3.BAR GAMES: WE HAVE TALKED ABOUT IT BEFORE, BUT WE REALLY SHOULD CONSIDER DEVELOPING SOME ADULT ORIENTED PIECES...SOME SORT OF TRIVIA OR QUIZ GAME COULD BE SUCCESSFUL FOR A SYSTEM CONVERSION. 4. SYSTEMIZING OLDER EQUIPMENT: IT SURE WORKED FOR NINTENDO, AND IT WOULD PROBABLY WORK WELL FOR US. SOME OF THE OLD CENTIPEDES WOULD MAKE A GREAT BASE FOR SYSTEM 1 AND WE COULD POSSIBLY THEN OFFER A SYSTEM 1 CENTIPEDE/MILLIPEDE KIT FOR THOSE WHO WOULD WANT A SYSTEM BUT DON'T WANT TO GET RID OF THEIR CENTIPEDES. THAT'S ALL FOLKS...UNTIL NEXT TIME, DT ___________________________________________________________________________ From: KIM::SHEPPERD 27-SEP-1985 20:18:17.30 To: @SYS$MAIL:ENGINEER CC: Subj: TPU section file update 'tis the last update for many moons. The latest features of EDTEM are: (in addition to previously mentioned features) Gold/W - display aux window/make current window full screen Gold/up_arrow - goto aux window Gold/down_arrow - goto main window Gold/I - read a file into aux_buffer for INSPECTION (read_only) (NOT the same as INCLUDE file =AUX) Gold/U - read a file into aux_buffer for UPDATE (auto-write on exit or at next Gold/I or Gold/U) Gold/L - Learn the following key strokes (macro creation) Gold/R - Remember the previous keystrokes (macro end) Up_arrow/Down_arrow take into tabs into account (works like EDT). All EDTEM commands can be entered via Gold/KP7 (as well as TPU commands. Gold/KP7 EXIT is VAXTPU exit however.) Bells are turned off at EXIT ...working message on prompt line You can adjust the size of windows by entering the VAXTPU command: aux_size := bla_bla; !default is 8 (includes a status line) full_screen := whatever; !default is 22 = ! 24 - 1 message line - 1 prompt line You'll need to do a couple of Gold/W's to make the new sizes take effect. There are no checks for legit values for these sizes, so if you set them to something goofy, you may get some pretty wierd displays. I'll fix bugs (maybe), but no more gizmos, please. ds ___________________________________________________________________________ From: KIM::SHEPPERD 28-SEP-1985 15:54:14.76 To: @SYS$MAIL:ENGINEER CC: Subj: Another TPU update I forgot to mention three additional items: Assign logical name TPU$EXT to the default file extension you use or will be using frequently, such as .C or .B16. The new EDTEM section file will apply this default to filenames to be edited. (The system defualt is "."). And left over from debug of the procedures: Gold/C does: compile(select_range);edt$reset; Gold/M toggles main_window between main_buffer and message_buffer if current_window is main_window. Incidently, only the last 20 messages are saved in message_buffer, not all since edit startup. ds ___________________________________________________________________________ From: ERNIE::BROWN 30-SEP-1985 09:04:05.37 To: @SYS$MAIL:JUNK CC: Subj: IN CASE YOU HAVEN'T NOTICED, EVELYN PEREZ IS MINUS HER BOW TIE. IN FACT, SHE IS TOTALLY OUT OF UNIFORM....SHE IS ACTUALLY SITTING BEHIND THE RECEPTIONIST DESK IN CIVIES. WELL, THERE IS AN ACCEPTABLE EXPLANATION FOR THIS; AS OF FRIDAY, EVELYN BECAME AN OFFICIAL ATARI EMPLOYEE! (HMMMM, I WONDER IF THE GOODIES WILL CONTINUE.) IF YOU HAVEN'T ALREADY DONE SO, GIVE EVELYN A BIG WELCOME! SANDI ___________________________________________________________________________ From: KIM::RAINS 30-SEP-1985 15:38:50.40 To: @SYS$MAIL:JUNK CC: Subj: The Amiga Cometh I have seen the advertising on the tube, and I assume they wouldn't blow those kind of bucks on vaporware, so I expect the computers to be hitting the retail shelves REAL SOON NOW. Since we are planning on using the Amiga as the hardware base for a new personal animation workstation for the animators, I am interested in getting a evaluation unit in here as soon as possible. Soooooo. . . if you hear of or actually witness an Amiga in a store in the area, let me know where and when so I can check it out. ___________________________________________________________________________ From: ERNIE::BROWN 1-OCT-1985 11:19:35.80 To: @SYS$MAIL:JUNK CC: Subj: HELP IF ANYONE KNOWS THE WHEREABOUTS OF JOE CODDINGTON, PLEASE EITHER LET ME KNOW OR GET IN CONTACT WITH HIM AND HAVE HIM CALL ME. THE LAST ADDRESS AND TELEPHONE NUMBER I HAVE FOR HIM IS NULL AND VOID AND IT WOULD BE BENEFICIAL TO HIM IF I FIND HIM. SANDI ___________________________________________________________________________ From: KIM::RAINS 1-OCT-1985 12:27:08.23 To: @SYS$MAIL:ENGINEER CC: Subj: to "C" hackers WARNING: A lesson which might be less painful for you if you learn it here: FILE *outfil; char c; /* output char */ int err; /* putc() result code */ . . . if ((err = putc(c, outfil)) == EOF) { perror(" Output error in putc() - disk full? "); return (ERROR); } . . . This will screw up on binary files when (c = 0xFF) is output, because putc() will return the sign extended argument, which will be EOF (-1) rather than 0xFF. You need to either check ferr(outfil) on EOF, or call putc(c & 0xFF, outfil) to suppress the sign extension. It ain't like getc()!! OLD NEWS: Also, since getc and putc() are #define macros on some systems (including UNIX), don't make calls like putc(*cp++, outfil), since the side effect will blow up in your face. Use fgetc() and fputc(), which make proper subroutine calls instead. ___________________________________________________________________________ From: KIM::DOWNEND 1-OCT-1985 17:53:49.41 To: @SYS$MAIL:ENGINEER CC: Subj: The Times they are a Changin' I found some old notes today: Dateline: October 1982 2732-300 EPROM's cost $4.50 2764-300 EPROM's cost $8.25 For Comparison: Dateline: October 1985 27128-300 EPROM's cost $1.90 27256-300 EPROM's cost $3.75 That says that the cost per bit is about ONE-TENTH of what is was 3 years ago! 14 cents for a 1000 bits in 1982; 1.4 cents for a 1000 bits in 1985; .14 cents for a 1000 bits in 1988???....271024 EPROMS for $1.43 Wow. ___________________________________________________________________________ From: CHARM::SHEPPERD 2-OCT-1985 17:53:39.54 To: @SYS$MAIL:ENGINEER CC: Subj: I lied... ...about the TPU section file being stable. I made one last (?) small change. It will look for a file pointed to by TPU$INIT: to do last minute setups. The file is assumed to be a .TPU file, is loaded into tpuinit_buffer and executed. If the execution succeeds without errors, then the tpuinit_buffer is deleted else it is left hanging around so you can edit it to fix it. Useful to do customising for particular jobs. You can use UTL$COM:EDTINIT.TPU as an example or as your setup file if'n you want. Assign TPU$INIT: to a directory and file (defaults to .TPU). ds ___________________________________________________________________________ From: KIM::DOWNEND 3-OCT-1985 10:16:00.13 To: @SYS$MAIL:ENGINEER CC: Subj: 6502 lives 6502 fans can upgrade to a 16-bit processor and still execute all existing code with a new processor from Western Design Center called the 65C816. - Designed by Bill Mensch - CMOS - 40 pin package - 16 Megabyte address space - emulates 6502 code "on-board" - Two companies have announced APPLE II upgrade boards based on it. For a little more info see article outside my office. ___________________________________________________________________________ From: ERNIE::BROWN 3-OCT-1985 14:02:06.83 To: KIM::MARGOLIN CC: Subj: THANKS FOR THE SUGGESTION FOR LOCATING CODDINGTON, BUT I THINK I HAVE FOUND A WAY TO GET IN TOUCH WITH HIM EITHER BY PHONE OR COMPUTER. SANDI ___________________________________________________________________________ From: CHARM::RITTER 4-OCT-1985 11:45:53.01 To: @SYS$MAIL:JUNK CC: Subj: ((P ^ ~P) ^ ~(P ^ ~P)) In that fine Atari tradition, I wax philosophical, before I leave this place. I have "tendered" my resignation. I look around and I still see an incredible collection of funky creative people. There is still some of "that old magic" that first impressed me when I joined Atari. I hope the kinds of games that come out of your heads continue to be far out. I think Atari will consistently put out several successful games a year, and I don't forsee any other place, not even Data East, being able to do that. Keep on doing that Voodoo you do. I hope the games will be leaders and not followers. For what it's worth, I personally like the kind of game that transports the player to a world previously unimagined, something a computer can do so well (eg, M.M.). I think accelerator is one of those types, and I wish it the best. I remember what first attracted me to video games was that ability to create a concrete abstract world. ( "concrete abstraction": I like that). But then that was the days of dancing geometric vector games. God how I hated Pac Man. I have this knack for liking unpopular games, and hating popular ones. Fred Silverman has a golden gut. I have a tin one. However, it's better to know what you like than to know what others like. Besides, Silverman is fatter than I am. I must say how much I enjoyed being part of The Last Starfighter team. One thing I have learned at Atari is that I function much better as a team member. I regret my situation on my current project, where I am the only implementor. I dont seem to very good in that role. (Yes, I'm bitching now). I have been on the interview trail the last 4 weeks, and I have discovered that there are more suitable environments for me than this one. "Let he who is without sin get stoned first". ___________________________________________________________________________ From: KIM::VICKERS 7-OCT-1985 10:50:35.14 To: MARGOLIN CC: Subj: Yamaha reset pulse width If this chip is like one of their other sound chips, the reset pulse width is probably minimum 80 cycles =~ 22 usec. Earl ___________________________________________________________________________ From: KIM::ALBAUGH 7-OCT-1985 16:07:46.82 To: @SYS$MAIL:ENGINEER CC: Subj: New Utility- QDF I have written a "Quick and Dirty Formatter" to translate an Intermetrics .AB file to an extended Tekhex .HEX file. It will also include the symbol table in a form palatable to the Applied Microsystems. To use it, first define a symbol like: QDF :== $ UTL$EXE:QDF in your login.com file (or wherever). Then format a file with: QDF filename This is a simplified form of: QDF infile[.AB] [outfile[.HEX]] [/S=[symfile[.SYM]]] [/W[=width]] which is what it will tell you if you say "QDF ?". A detailed explanation of switches and options is in DOK:QDF.DOC, but simply, the "infile", with default extension ".AB" is read and converted to extended tekhex which is written to the "outfile", with optional extension ".HEX". If the /S switch is present with a filename (default extension ".SYM"), the symbols will be output also. If only "/S" is present (no filename), the symbols will be included in outfile.HEX. The /W switch sets the width of the output lines. The default is 80 columns. "/W" alone (no parameter) is equivalent to "/W=132". The merged output should make downloading a little easier, and the longer lines (even 80 is longer than usual) should make it faster. QDF takes about 1/4 the time of CFOR, plus 5% more if symbols are included. I make no representation that this program is the general solution to all formatting needs, nor that it will prevent tooth decay in rats. It is intended as a quick substitute for CFOR and GENSYM. Mike ___________________________________________________________________________ From: KIM::SHEPPERD 8-OCT-1985 11:38:21.04 To: @SYS$MAIL:ENGINEER CC: Subj: An undocumented feature of TPU (aka bug) I didn't know it did this and it may cause you a problem later: At each edit startup, TPU automatically searches for, opens and reads in a file named TPUINI.TPU from the current default directory (SYS$DISK:[]). It does this after the the section file init and command file (if any) specified on a /COMMAND option has been read in. This means it is possible (if using UTL$EXE:DMSEDTSECINI) to have 3 startup command files: First - any specified by logical TPU$INIT: Second - any specified by /COMMAND at DCL level Third - a TPUINI.TPU file located in the current default directory. The TPUINI.TPU file can be a real problem if you've created a bad one (maybe an infinite loop in it or something), and try to use TPU to fix it! ds ___________________________________________________________________________ From: KIM::SUTTLES 10-OCT-1985 12:14:17.95 To: @SYS$MAIL:JUNK,SUTTLES CC: Subj: Commute time to Milpitas WARNING WARNING WARNING WARNING Do NOT try to reduce the commute time to Milpitas by hustling along Barber Lane. The speed limit is 40, and it is enforced routinely. Apparently this has become quite a profit center for the city of Milpitas--the cops are out there quite often. The stretch they watch seems to be under-rated; if you drive at what seems a comfortable speed, they will probably make you uncomfortable. As they say in some comic books, 'Nuff sed. WARNING WARNING WARNING WARNING Had this been an actual emergency, you would have been instructed in which direction to face to see it coming. This has been a public service message brought to you by the VAX Broadcasting System. ___________________________________________________________________________ From: ERNIE::GRAHAM 11-OCT-1985 11:34:46.88 To: @SYS$MAIL:VANGANG CC: Subj: Well, I'm preparing my retirement as the only secretary in Engineering. As I'm sure you know, Cyndy Grossman is returning on Monday as Dan and Lyle's secretary. It's been a hectic two months but we all made it! I just wanted to thank everyone for the support I received when I needed it. You responded when I hollered HELP! I'm sure I wasn't able to give you the amount of support you were used to but you understood the situation and never grumbled (at least where I could hear you!). I think this really showed we've still got that old Atari spirit. Anyway, this did give me a chance to get to know Electrical Engineering alot better and put some names and faces together for the first time. Special thanks to Design Services, who I'm sure felt orphaned at times. Anyway, it's all behind us now and HAPPY DAYS ARE HERE AGAIN, let's give a big cheer for CYNDY!!!!!! (It's been real, but I'm glad the cavalry finally arrived!) Karen ___________________________________________________________________________ From: KIM::ALBAUGH 14-OCT-1985 17:13:52.24 To: @SYS$MAIL:ENGINEER CC: Subj: Creeping Featuritis (Moose Turd Pie?) Per Messr Peter Lipson's request, I have added an option to QDF which will allow you to omit the RAM portion of your .HEX files. The switch is "/R" and is described in the updated DOK:QDF.DOC. Briefly, to format a file without RAM initialization use: $ QDF file/R=0-3FFFFF (assuming System I memory map). This little feature exacts a performance penalty of 4% whether you use it or not. That is, formats now take 26% as much time as CFOR did instead of 25%. If this is intolerable, duke it out with Lipson and let the winner tell me what to do about it. Have Fun, Mike ___________________________________________________________________________ From: KIM::RALSTON 17-OCT-1985 10:18:07.52 To: @SYS$MAIL:JUNK CC: Subj: PARTYDOWN....PARTYDOWN....PARTYDOWN....PARTYDOWN....PARTYDOWN AS SOME OF YOU MAY KNOW, DON "GEEK" TRAEGER IS LEAVING ATARI TO EITHER JOIN THE ARMY OR GO INTO PROFESSIONAL SKATEBOARDING. HIS LAST DAY IS TOMORROW (FRIDAY). WHAT BETTER REASON TO PARTYDOWN?!!!!!!!!!!! SO JOIN US FOR WHAT SHOULD PROVE TO BE THE UGLIEST OF SEND-OFFS. EVENT: JAHAMMADOW PARTY PLACE: ST. JAMES INFIRMARY (WE'VE GOT THE WHOLE BACK ROOM RESERVED) WHEN: FRIDAY, 11:45--CCH (COWS COME HOME) WHY: PARTYDOWN, PARTYDOWN ATTIRE: UGLY PLEASE R.S.V.P. PROMPTLY TO JACKIE SHERMAN (EXT. 2744). PLEASE HELP US SEND THE BIG BABY OFF RIGHT. (EVEN IF YOU DON'T CARE WHAT THE GEEK DOES, ST. JAMES HAS GREAT BURGERS.) ___________________________________________________________________________ From: ERNIE::MOTT 17-OCT-1985 14:55:44.36 To: @SYS$MAIL:JUNK CC: Subj: Who is this Mott person anyway? Yes, I really am the same person, but I decided to confuse everybody and change my name. Instead of sending mail to ERNIE::OBRIEN, you can reach me by sending mail to ERNIE::MOTT (my 'home' node). See, it's not really that confusing, and you don't have to type as many characters either! Stephanie Mott (aka O'Brien) (no, I didn't change my first name) ___________________________________________________________________________ From: ERNIE::TRAEGER 18-OCT-1985 18:38:55.61 To: @SYS$MAIL:JUNK CC: Subj: LATER DATES HI...I GUESS YOU'RE SUPPOSED TO DO ONE OF THESE HERE LETTERS TELLING WHY YOU'RE LEAVING, COMPLAINING ABOUT SOMETHING, ETC.,ETC. FRANKLY, I HAVE FOUND MOST OF THEM TO BE REALLY BORING AND VERY PRETENTIOUS, SO I'LL TRY NOT TO BE. IT IS TRUE I'M LEAVING, IT'S NOT TRUE THAT I HAVE SIGNED ON WITH THE CHICAGO BEARS AS A DEFENSIVE LINEMAN TO FILL THE VOID THAT WAS CREATED WHEN THEY MOVED WILLIAM "REFRIGERATOR" PERRY TO RUNNING BACK. ANYWAYS, I THINK I'M GOING AT A TIME WHEN ATARI HAS LOOKED BETTER THAN IT HAS IN THE THREE YEARS SINCE I HAVE BEEN HERE...DEFINATELY FROM A PRODUCT STANDPOINT...(NOT FROM A BEER BUST STANDPOINT THOUGH). I'M GOING TO TRY MY HAND AT CONSUMER MARKETING IN THE SOFTWARE FIELD...CONSUMER MARKETING IS SOMETHING I'VE ALWAYS WANTED TO TRY, AND THE COMPANY, ELECTRONIC ARTS, SEEMS LIKE A GOOD PLACE TO TRY IT OUT. (I HOPE I DON'T END UP DRIVING AROUND A MOBILE CAR WASH UNIT TO COMPANY PARKING LOTS, HOWEVER!) I THINK YOU ARE ALL DOING WONDERFULL THINGS HERE THAT ARE VERY CREATIVE AND ARE CLEARLY THE QUALITY LEADERS OF VIDEO GAME DESIGN IN THE WHOLE WORLD. I HOPE I HAVE BEEN ABLE TO CONTRIBUTE IN SOME WAY...I'LL MISS YOU ALL... TO CLOSE, I'D LIKE TO SAY: KEEP MAKING AWESOME GAMES (THAT I CAN LICENSE AT E/A!) NEVER MAKE A GAME WHERE YOU RUN OVER DOLLAR SIGNS AND... WHY A BIG SUIT? LATER DATES, DT ___________________________________________________________________________ From: KIM::RIVERA 21-OCT-1985 00:21:11.76 To: @SYS$MAIL:JUNK,RIVERA CC: Subj: New Programmer I would like to take this opportunity to introduce the latest addition to our programmer staff, Brion Dickinson. At his preliminary interview last Saturday at 6:30 am, it was obvious that he measured up to our 20" high standards. At 7 lbs 13 oz, I am sure that he will be a hefty addition to our team. Having just finished his term project (involving a rather laborious 9 month development cycle), it will be a few weeks before he shows up at work. Be sure to greet him then in person. G R ___________________________________________________________________________ From: ERNIE::ARVIDSON 21-OCT-1985 11:51:31.96 To: KIM::MARGOLIN CC: Subj: The fabulous battery operated static RAM. Jed, Sorry to inform you that I have just removed Mostek as the source for the 2K x 8, 150ns, static RAM with battery, our part number 137442-150. As you may have seen in the Mercury News, Mostek is going out of business. Erwin. ___________________________________________________________________________ From: KIM::VICKERS 21-OCT-1985 15:15:58.39 To: @SYS$MAIL:JUNK CC: Subj: Subgenius revival Yes, it's time to be spiritually uplifted again. The enigmatic Church of the Subgenius is making an appearance Saturday, November 9, at the Stone in San Francisco. That which began as a parody of fundamentalist Christianity now threatens to become the new religion of the masses. HEAR the profound words of J.R. "Bob" Dobbs SEE the launching of the bleeding head of Arnold Palmer SING along with moving anti-music hymns like "Told the Judge (to suck my ****)" Pull the wool over your own eyes. You will pay $$$ to know what you really believe. Only $7.50. Tickets available from Bass. See them now, while it's still optional. ___________________________________________________________________________ From: KIM::SHEPPERD 22-OCT-1985 21:41:14.49 To: @sys$mail:engineer CC: Subj: Screen mode debugger Some of you might appreciate a brief intro to the version 4 VMS debugger. DEBUG works with all VMS languages, so C, BASIC, FORTRAN and MACRO32 programmers can use it (even with mixed language programs). It is a powerful debugger, but quite wordy, which can sometimes be rather annoying. One of the best things about the debugger is screen mode monitoring. In order to make full use of the screen mode, you need to compile your programs /LIS/DEBUG and link them /DEBUG. This will cause symbols and references to the listing file to be loaded in the executable. DEBUG reads commands from DBG$INPUT and writes its output to DBG$OUTPUT which are, by default, assigned to SYS$INPUT and SYS$OUTPUT respectively. If your program expects input from SYS$INPUT and writes output to SYS$OUTPUT AND you re-assigned them to other than your terminal, you'll need to $ ASSIGN SYS$COMMAND DBG$INPUT $ ASSIGN SYS$COMMAND DBG$OUTPUT sometime before you start your debugging. The debugger will automatically startup when you run your program if you've linked it /DEBUG. The only module it will know about will be the first one specified in the link command. For example, a LINK command $ LINK ONE,TWO,THREE/DEBUG would create an image, ONE, with three modules in it: ONE, TWO and THREE. The debugger would know that there are 3 modules, but wouldn't know about any symbols and such about any but ONE. You need to type a SET MODULE xxx to the DBG> prompt to get additional modules. For you C programmers, debug becomes case sensitive at startup so you need to type module names in UPPERCASE or it'll give you a rasberry. DEBUG will attempt to open and execute a startup file pointed to by DBG$INIT (if any) so you can create a file putting in it any/all SET MODULE command(s) or anything else and point to it with DBG$INIT to speed things up a bit. (Note: most commands and options can be abbreviated to 3 characters, some can be abbreviated to 1 char such as EXAMINE, STEP, GO, etc.) You can break execution of your running program at anytime by typing ^Y (unless your program has disabled ^Y's) and typing DEBUG to DCL's $ prompt. Breakpoints: By setting breakpoints, you can suspend program execution at specified locations. The breakpoint is taken before the instruction at the specified address is executed. You set breakpoints with the SET BREAK command: DBG>SET BREAK [/qualifier] [address_expression - [,address_expression...]] [WHEN (expression)] - [DO (command_list)] DBG>CANCEL BREAK [/qualifier] [address_expression - [,address_expression...]] The qualifiers allowed on the SET/CANCEL BREAK are: /ALL !valid on CANCEL BREAK only /AFTER:n !break only after n occurances /BRANCH !break on all branches (no address_exp allowed) /CALL !break on all CALL's (no address_exp allowed) /EXCEPTION !break on all exceptions /INSTRUCTION !break on all instructions (single step macro) /INSTRUCT=(op_code,...) !break on selected instructions /LINE !break on each line (single step hll) /MODIFY !break on any memory write /RETURN !break on all RET instructions (subroutine return) /[NO]SILENT !displays no message when watchpoint hit /[NO]SOURCE !displays the source line that caused the hit /TEMPORARY !watchpoint is cancelled after first activated A breakpoint is a program location where the debugger performs the following actions: 1) Suspends program execution; 2) Checks the /AFTER count and resumes execution if the specified number of activations has not been reached; 3) Evaluates the WHEN clause (if any) and resumes execution if it evaluates FALSE in the current language; 4) Displays the name or address of the location where program execution has been suspended; 5) Executes the commands in the DO clause if one was specified; 6) Issues the DBG> prompt (if a DO command was not GO). Tracepoints: A TRACEPOINT is identical to a BREAKPOINT except that program execution always continues after the trace is reported. The syntax and options on the SET TRACEPOINT are the same as for the SET BREAK: DBG>SET TRACE [/qualifier] [address_expression - [,address_expression...]] [WHEN (expression)] - [DO (command_list)] DBG>CANCEL TRACE [/qualifier] [address_expression - [,address_expression...]] See the details on the SET BREAK command. Watchpoints: By setting a watchpoint, you can cause the program to stop whenever a particular variable or other memory area has been modified. When a watchpoint in your program is activated, the debugger suspends execution and reports the location of the variable modified, the initial and changed values of the variable and the instruction that caused the modification: DBG>SET WATCHPOINT [/qualifier] address_expression - [,address_expression...] [WHEN (expression)] - [DO (command_list)] DBG>CANCEL WATCHPOINT [/qualifier] [address_expression - [,address_expression...]] The qualifiers allowed on WATCHPOINTS are /AFTER:n !begin trace/watch after n occurances /[NO]SILENT !displays no message when watchpoint hit /[NO]SOURCE !displays the source line that caused the hit /TEMPORARY !watchpoint is cancelled after first activated WATCHPOINTS sound neater than they actually are. They only report on accesses that MODIFY locations, you cannot watch a location for READ access. The debugger causes the hardware to detect these modifications by setting the write protection on the location in question. A serious problem occurs due to the fact that the VAX's memory protection is effective to a granularity of 512 bytes (1 page). The modification is reported to DEBUG by the hardware via an ACCESS VIOLATION FAULT. Debug examines the addresses involved in the fault and decides whether it really is a fault or not. If the variable in question is surrounded by rapidly changing data, there will be many many faults making your program run V-E-R-Y S-L-O-W. There are further complications if you happen to have a disk buffer (or any buffer used by a VMS function) in the vacinity of a watchpoint variable. What happens in this instance is that VMS is given the ACCESS VIOLATION FAULT and it gives up with INVALID USER BUFFER which can really be misleading (Gee...what does "invalid user buffer" mean? and besides, it worked a couple of minutes ago...). Screen Mode Debugging: Type PF3 on a CIT-101 or VT100 to put the debugger in screen mode. You'll notice that it creates 3 windows. The top window displays the source (from the LIST file) including LINE numbers and is labled on the very top line with: ---SRC: module file_name --source-scroll----- The SRC labels the window, the "module file_name" indicates the file from where the currently displayed source came, the "source" flags the contents of the window as being source data and "scroll" means that the scroll keys will operate on this window (typing a keypad 3 will move the scroll word to the OUT window). The middle window is for debugger output and is labled with: ---OUT---output------------------------------- The bottom window is for command input. The pointer on the left side of the top window points to the next instruction that will be executed. The keypad has some predefined keys to do some useful things. Some of the most often used keys are listed here: (Gold = PF1, Blue = PF4, HELP = PF2, HELP = Gold/PF2, HELP = Blue/PF2) PF3 = Set mode screen !to setup in screen mode Gold/PF3 = Set mode noscreen !to turn off screen mode 8 = scroll window up !up_arrow function 2 = scroll window down !down_arrow function 3 = toggle scrolling from SRC to OUT !move scroll function to other window 5 = examine/source .0\%PC !display source at current PC - = make SRC window full screen Blue/- = put SRC and OUT windows up 0 = step to next instruction Gold/0 = step into subroutine !default is to step OVER subroutines Blue/0 = step over subroutine !if you changed the default to step/into , = GO There are tons and tons of options avaliable. The DEBUG manual is about the size of a Wards catalog, but you are welcome to brouse through it and order up all that you take a liking to. Happy debugging ds From: KIM::VICKERS 23-OCT-1985 11:26:35.33 To: @ODDGRP,RAINS,VANELDREN,MARGOLIN,ALBAUGH CC: Subj: Hummer Project Proposal - Hummer/Synkazoo 1. Brief Description This is a small hand-held musical instrument which analyzes the pitch and amplitude of humming, singing, or whistling, and controls the corresponding parameters of a built-in polyphonic synthesizer (Yamaha chip.) The user would be able to listen to a click track and overdub drum, bass, lead guitar, and various other instruments, turning the vocalist into a 1-man band. There would be output jacks for connecting the device to a home stereo or a guitar amplifier, and there would possibly be a built-in speaker. Also there would be a MIDI music synthesizer serial output, so that musicians could control their synthesizers with their voice. The instrument would preferably be powered by either batteries or an external transformer lump. Other features could include the option of quantizing each note to the nearest semi-tone, for people who aren't that great at singing or humming in tune. In this mode, vibrato could be selected, to substitute for the voice's natural vibrato. There could be an octave select switch, so you could play much higher or lower than you can hum. And there could be speed select as well, so you could hum a fast part slowly and double the speed on playback. The voice is the most expressive musical instrument, and with this product, it can be used to directly control a variety of synthesized instruments. 2. Market A. Musical toy users - these people would be attracted to the idea of a hand-held 1-man band electronic kazoo. These are the people who buy $200 Casio keyboards with built-in tacky rhythm, Mattel Syn-Drums, etc. B. Vocalists - these people could turn themselves into any instrument of the orchestra. C. Synthesizer owners - would view this as an inexpensive accessory that would allow them to do new and vastly more expressive effects. D. Other musicians - composers could try out how different musical lines work together, without having to write the music out and multi-track it. Players of other orchestral instruments could use those instruments to control the synthesizer. It seems like there is potentially a huge market, both fad- and non-fad- oriented, depending on the price. 3. Price - very rough estimates 6502 $1.50 RAM 8.00 ROM 1.50 Yamaha 9.00 (this is a smaller chip, 3 FM voice + built in GI chip which could be used for drums and click- track, plus a monophonic DAC) A-D 2.00 Mic 2.00 Speaker 1.50 Display 2.00 Switches 2.00 Electr. 7.00 misc. electronics Package 10.00 _____ $46.50 X 4 consumer markup _____ $186.00 The general consensus that was reached with people I've talked to is that the product probably needs to be under $200 to reach the broadest market. Future models could include more voices, more memory, more features, for more money. 4. Potential Problems A. Technical The only real technical difficulty other than cost-reduction is the pitch-tracking. There are many waveforms for which the pitch is undefined, and the 1.7 mHz 6502 has to figure out the pitch in real time. The issues are - how many pitch errors will be made, how objectionable will they be, will there be a noticable delay between when you hum and when you hear the output, and can it be done in real time. There is a product being sold for the Atari 800 which does many of these functions in real time, using only an external ADC, and using the 1 mHz 6502 to do the analysis. Fortunately, singing or humming is more strongly pitched than spoken voice, so the pitch analysis can be somewhat simpler. My feeling is that the technical difficulties will not be limiting factors. B. Legal Atari Inc. Corporate Research at one time long ago was talking about a similar idea (but without the MIDI-out or the advantage of being able to multi-track with a polyphonic Yamaha chip.) But you can't patent an idea, and although it would be tacky for us to use the same name, Hummer, that they were using, so sue us. A thornier problem is the fact that our current Yamaha contract, and presumably any future one we sign to purchase the cheaper chip, explicitly prohibits us from competing with Yamaha in the consumer music market. Ideally what would happen would be that we would design the product, do a non-disclosure agreement with them, demonstrate the product, and market the product as a joint venture using Yamaha's name and distribution channels. This is tricky, but I'm naive enough to think it could happen this way. The obvious question is what keeps them from taking the idea and doing it on their own, and the obvious answer is - not much. Still, we would be saving them from having to waste time going through the whole engineering development cycle. They've used independant programmers in the U.S before to write computer music software that they could have written themselves. We wouldn't be in much of a bargaining position concerning price, but we could always bluff that we could use some other chip that's almost as good. If worst came to worst, we could either find some other chip that's almost as good, or market the device primarily as a MIDI-controller. At least we would still have a product, although the market would be smaller. 5. Resources and time frame I currently have time-domain pitch and amplitude analysis software running on the Sound Processing System. This would need to be considerably tightened up and tested, and the algorithms transferred to 6502. Most of the 6502 development could be done with a System I or System II board, with an A-D input added. Final development would need the actual target hardware, with the cheap Yamaha chip in place of the one we are currently using. Dennis Harper is interested in doing the 6502 code, fortunately, and I can do most of the hardware design, as long as there are real engineers around to answer questions. 1. Project initiation meeting, and demonstration of humming, analysis, resynthesis and overdubbing with the Yamaha chip - 2-3 weeks 1. Modification and testing of analysis algorithms - 1-2 months 2. 6502 development (concurrent with hardware) - 3 months? 3. Slack - 1-2 months __________ ~6 months ___________________________________________________________________________ From: KIM::VANELDREN 25-OCT-1985 17:33:12.86 To: VICKERS,MARGOLIN CC: Subj: HUMMER I think the Hummer concept is a neat idea (even with that name) and am looking forward to seeing and hearing more about it when you're ready to demonstrate it. I think it's great that you (and others) are being creative in looking for technologically-related opportunities. With that attitude and initiative, I'm confident that we as an Engineering company can continue to be sucessful regardless of what happens to the "industries" around us. (How's that for a fool-hardy statement??) Anyway, keep on hummin'. Dan Van ___________________________________________________________________________ From: CHARM::AVL 28-OCT-1985 15:28:01.69 To: KIM::MARGOLIN CC: Subj: CER 3880 Your CER #3880, requesting that General Instrument part #DSP32010 be recognized as an alternate source for 137434-001, has been approved. ___________________________________________________________________________ From: CHARM::MORRIS 29-OCT-1985 09:29:30.58 To: @SYS$MAIL:ENGINEER CC: Subj: new asm68, clnk, cloc etc Ok, I have checked out the latest release of the Intermetrics stuff, and it's OK. so please change your initialisation as follows:- $ @SYS$SYSDEVICE:[C68R3V1.COM]CDEFS.COM ! SETUP INTERC STUFF Thanks. Jim. ___________________________________________________________________________ From: ERNIE::AVL 29-OCT-1985 10:10:50.57 To: @SYS$MAIL:JUNK CC: Subj: READAVL The Approved Vendors List will be moved from CHARM to ERNIE sometime between noon and 1PM on Tuesday. If you have defined a word in your LOGIN.COM file to access the AVL, you may have to make a modification to it.. Users with accounts on remote nodes (CHARM, or KIM) Type "SET HOST ERNIE" and login to ERNIE as "READAVL" (no password required). When you exit READAVL, you will be returned to your default node and directory. You may copy ERNIE::SYS$USERDISK:[AVL]READAVL.COM to your directory and define a word in your LOGIN.COM file to execute it. Example: $AVL :==@READAVL.COM Users with accounts on ERNIE: Type "@ATARI$AVL:LOGIN" at the VAX system prompt ($), or just add the line below to your LOGIN.COM file and then type "AVL" after your next login. $ AVL :==@ATARI$AVL:LOGIN Both of these methods will execute a menu driven program that will allow you to search the AVL and either save the results in a file in your own directory (if it's on ERNIE) or forward the results to your remote mailbox. ___________________________________________________________________________ From: KIM::MCCARTHY 1-NOV-1985 13:48:41.73 To: @SYS$MAIL:JUNK,MCCARTHY CC: Subj: show news The latest news from the show. Gauntlet : 6500 Domestic games sold. !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! 1000 Ireland games sold. !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Manufacturing looking at increasing production to 125 per day. We have lift-off. Are we having fun yet. ___________________________________________________________________________ From: KIM::VANELDREN 4-NOV-1985 14:48:00.15 To: @SYS$MAIL:JUNK CC: Subj: AMOA NEWS FLASH We're just back from AMOA and haven't had much time yet to really sort out all our thoughts and impressions and numerical results (number of games sold, etc., etc.), but there are some things that are so obvious to all who were there that I feel obliged to pass them on immediately. Without a doubt, Gauntlet was the runaway HIT of the show. And if Gauntlet was a "10", there wasn't even anything close to being a "9". In the entire 12 years of my association with Atari (and in attending the majority of trade shows that took place during those 12 years), I think it's safe to say that we have never had a more enthusiastic positive reaction to a product than we had to Gauntlet. Please accept the sincere thanks from an Atari loyalist to all of you who helped make the design, manufacturing, and sale of this product possible. I really wished every Atari employee could have been at the show in person, because then you could really have appreciated the often- expressed comment of operators and distributors alike: "It's sure good to see Atari back on top again where they belong." Even competitors were surprisingly complementary in a very positive way: "It's good to see a game like Gauntlet putting such a spark of excitement back into an industry that's been in hibernation for the last couple years." Reports of initial collections in the > $1,000 per week range were common on the show floor, as operators compared notes with us and other operators on what their very early testing results had been on Gauntlet. The highest reported earnings came from a mall arcade in Toronto, Canada, which had received their first Gauntlet 10 days before the AMOA Show began. The game had AVERAGED $500. PER DAY, earning $4500. in its first 9 days on location. Needless to say, this operator was quite satisfied with his "projected" ROI on Gauntlet. As I said earlier, Gauntlet was clearly perceived as the runaway "10" of the show. Listed below are my personal ratings of the "8"s, "7"s, and "6"s as I saw it. There were also probably another 20 to 30 "5's and under" beyond these, but I won't go to the trouble of listing them here. For a complete report and brochures on all that various products that were shown, see the '85 AMOA binder that I will be circulating thru-out the company in the next couple weeks. The "8"s: 1. Atari's "Temple of Doom" 2. Sega's "Choplifter" 3. Cinematronics "World Series" 4. Bally's "Sarge" 5. Konami's "Rush'N'Attack" 6. William's "Comet" Pinball The "7"s: 1. Taito's "Legend of Kage" 2. Taito's "Knuckle Joe" 3. Data East's "Shootout" 4. Capcom/Romstar's "Gunsmoke" The "6"s: 1. Taito/Digital Control's "Ghosts'n'Goblins" 2. Taito/Memetron's "Mat Mania" 3. Nichibitsu's "Terra Cresta" 4. Exidy's "Crack Shot" 5. Capcom/Romstar's "Tiger-Heli" 6. Bally/Sente's "Mini-Golf" 7. Data East's "Ring King" 8. Nintendo's "Arm Wrestling" The "Specials": 1. Taito's "Super Dead Heat" - 4 player 4-monitor driving game ala Sprint 4 2. Taito's "N.Y. Captor" - long distance (6-10 ft) video shooting game 3. Tatsumi/Data East's "Speed Buggy" - 3-monitor driving game ala TX-1 4. Bally/Sente's "4-Player Hat Trick" - Indy 4 style cabinet 5. Bally/Sente's "Stompin" - Nolan finally got someone to do his "foot- control dance machine" 6. Bally/Sente's "Sacman" - a generic Sac-1 kit to convert Pacman games 7. Nintendo's Pac Kit - a generic Uni-system to convert Pacman games Please remember, the above lists are only my personal subjective opinions, and based on past precedents, are probably not very accurate. The only things I am clearly sure of (from my typical Atari objective viewpoint) is that there was nothing there that came close to competing with Gauntlet, and nothing there that I felt was a better second than Temple. Product sales have clearly justified my appraisal of Gauntlet. I'm still waiting to see if they'll do the same on Temple. ___________________________________________________________________________ From: CHARM::MORRIS 6-NOV-1985 17:10:58.89 To: @SYS$MAIL:ENGINEER CC: Subj: WARNING INTERMETRICS CLBR ERROR DANGER DANGER The intermetrics library utility used to create a new version of the library file every time a modification was made to it. However now Intermetrics, in their infinite wisdom have decided to just update the existing version, nice! However the jerks leave a corrupted library file if CLBR is interrupted, (ie with control Y). So, WARNING do not control Y in the middle of a CLBR operation. Jim. ___________________________________________________________________________ From: CHARM::MORRIS 11-NOV-1985 17:26:48.11 To: @sys$mail:engineer CC: Subj: Upload for AMS 68010 emulator Have you ever wanted to get hardcopy from your DTB, DT or UPL's. Well now is your lucky day. When you need a DTB hardcopy, for instance, type:- $ UPL fred.txt Uploading text from AMS to file fred.txt, Type Control Z to terminate Then type to get back to the AMS and do:- > ON CPY To enable the auto upload. Now everything that appears on your terminal will also go to the VAX. So:- > DTB 0 TO #200 will send the last 200 lines of disassembled trace buffer to fred.txt. Once you have done everthing you want type:- > OFF CPY to disable the upload, then:- > TRA to get back to the VAX. Hit control Z and UPL will write all captured data to the file fred.txt:- Writing captured data to file fred.txt. Please wait.... Upload written to file fred.txt $ The file fred.txt will be a standard VAX text file, all control characters will be stripped from the input stream, and only linefeeds will cause a newline. This procedure can be used to capture anything from the AMS that you can get it to send to the terminal. ******************************************************************************* P.S. If for some reason you want a binary file with all data as it appears in the input stream, type:- $ UPL - fred.dat Uploading binary from AMS to file fred.dat, Type Control Z to terminate Now all data in the input stream will go to fred.dat. But remember that some control characters will be trapped by VMS. (ie ^Y, ^C, ^S, ^Q etc.) and ^Z of course will still terminate the input stream. To be really perverse and capture all binary data you must set your term to PASTHRU. See HELP SET TERM/PAS. But BEWARE!!!!!! ******************************************************************************** In the (unlikely!?) event of bugs mail: CHARM::MORRIS. Jim. ___________________________________________________________________________ From: KIM::SHEPPERD 11-NOV-1985 18:47:11.74 To: @SYS$MAIL:ENGINEER CC: Subj: You wanna help with debug... Announcing the long awaited program LLF (Link/Locate/Format) program. It appears to work, but until everybody tries all their perversions on it, I won't know if I caught all the bugs. It measures about 5 times faster (elapsed time) than the Intermetrics CLNK/CLOC/CFOR/GENSYM operation. I'm not sure how it matches up to CLNK/CLOC/QDF. I'm still working on it (evenings and weekends), so additional features and bug fixes will be addressed reasonably quickly. Minor enhancments to be added: symbol cross reference (for both defined and undefined symbols). additional filename input via the option file. Major enhancment to be added: System II support (accepting BLISS-16's output). To use it, do the usual @CDEFS that you've grown to known and love, then type (or have your makefile type): $ LLF file1[,file2,...][/qualfier...] Where file1...filen are your input filenames and /qualifier is one or more qualifiers. Command line restrictions: DCL allows up to 1024 characters for the command line with the following requirements: There be no more than 128 total elements (filenames,qualifiers, etc.); That any one element have no more than 255 characters; That the command line consist of NO MORE than 256 characters before being continued to additional lines (sorry, Greg). The following qualifiers can appear anywhere on the command line: Qualifiers Default value What it is, man ------------------ -------------- ------------------------- /OUTPUT[=filename] SYS$DISK:[].HEX output filename. This is defaulted and the name defaults to the same as the first input filename with a file type of .HEX. /MAP[=filename] SYS$DISK:[].MAP map output filename. The filename defaults to the OUTPUT filename with a file type of .MAP. /SYM[=filename] none Symbol name output. If this option is used with no value, then the symbols are included in the output (.HEX) file. If a value is supplied, then it becomes the name of a file into which the symbols are placed. The default file type in that case is .SYM. /SEC[=filename] none Section name output. If this option is used with no value, then the section names are included in the output (.HEX) file. If a value is supplied, then it becomes the name of a file into which the section names are placed. The default file type in that case is .SEC. The following qualifiers must be placed on their specific input filenames to identify the contents of that file: Qualifier Why I have to type this crap ----------- ----------------------------- /LIB Identifies the file as being a library file. The default file type assumed is .LIB. /OPT Identifies the file as being an option file. The default file type assumed is .OPT. At present, only 1 option file is accepted. All input filenames other than those identifed with a /LIB or /OPT have a default file type of .OL. The options file contents is nearly the same as the .LC file used with CLOC the difference being that LLF doesn't support the MEMORY command (yet). Examples: $ LLF game,main,interrupt,vectors,data1,data2 !simple link/loc/form $ LLF game,interrupt,data/map/sym !give symbols and map $ LLF /out=alice mary,jane,karen/lib,fun/opt $ LLF game,main,lib1/lib,lib2/lib,interrupt,vectors,lib3/lib Report bugs to this address ds ___________________________________________________________________________ From: KIM::SHEPPERD 13-NOV-1985 20:20:21.46 To: @SYS$MAIL:ENGINEER CC: Subj: Yet another TPU section file... There's a new TPU section file in UTL$EXE:. I also made some updates to the UTL$COM:EDTINIT.TPU file that turn on the "new" features of the section file. The new features in the section file are non-destructive, but the updated EDTINIT file disables PF2 and GOLD/PF2 (the graztifratz HELP keys). Take note if your using that init file. The new feature: Line mode command: ERROR [filename] which reads the file into the aux_buffer and positions the window over the first occurance of an error message. The cursor stays in the main window. The filename is optional and defaults to the name of the file in the main_buffer with a .LIS extension. The EDTINIT file examines the main input file type and sets a string that is used as an error message search string (i.e. %CC, %MACRO, etc.). Then the PF2 key is defined to be 'find next error'. Pressing the PF2 key will scroll the aux_window to the next occurance of the error string. The direction of the scroll is determined by the current_direction flag (set by the KP4 and KP5 keys). The line mode ERROR command can be abbreviated to no fewer than two letters (or else it becomes an EXIT!). FYI: the file fetch uses the GOLD/I mechanism, so if the aux_buffer has data in it, TPU may prompt for permission to blow away the old contents (a file entered via a GOLD/U will automatically be written out). ds ___________________________________________________________________________ From: KIM::SHEPPERD 25-NOV-1985 16:34:29.42 To: @SYS$MAIL:ENGINEER CC: Subj: AMS ports I changed all the AMS_68k ports to 9600 baud, eightbit and even parity. This makes them the same as EDT_USER (VT100/CIT-101 user) except AMS has /NOWRAP also set. This means you have to change your computer port setup on the AMS systems (if you haven't already) in order for this to work. I have been told by all users that the AMS, with the latest software EPROMs, works just fine at 9600, if this is not the case let me know. ds ___________________________________________________________________________ From: KIM::VANELDREN 27-NOV-1985 16:29:20.33 To: @SYS$MAIL:JUNK CC: Subj: GEORGE OPPERMAN This is probably the toughest piece of VAXMAIL I've ever had to send, so please bear with me if I'm not too eloquent. As many of you know, George Opperman was admitted to El Camino Hospital this past Sunday morning. He was diagnosed as having lung cancer in a very advanced stage. I have just been informed by his family that he passed away shortly before noon today. George's family (wife Pat, son Kevin, and daughter Heather) were able to spend the last couple days at his side. Other than some shortness of breath and a raspy voice, the last few days were quite miraculously pain-free, and he was able to enjoy the time with his family and many close friends and fellow workers who dropped by to encourage him. He and his family were especially grateful for this, and Pat has asked me to pass on her thanks to all of his "family" here. The family will not be making any final arrangements until Friday, but according to Pat, they will probably be scheduling a Memorial Service for some time early next week (Monday, Tuesday, or Wednesday). I will try and let everybody know the details of this by first thing Monday morning. I believe Tuesday will be the most likely day for this to be scheduled. Few people have given as much of their life to a company as George gave to Atari, and even fewer will leave behind the marks of permanence and beauty and art that George was able to leave. His going will leave a big hole in the lives of his family, his friends, his fellow workers, and a significant number of other people who were touched by his role here at Atari. George's family's home address, where they will all be for the next week or two is: 5869 Amapola Drive San Jose, Ca. 95129 I'm sure they would all appreciate your thoughts and your prayers. Dan Van ___________________________________________________________________________ From: KIM::SHEPPERD 6-DEC-1985 00:08:33.10 To: @SYS$MAIL:JUNK CC: Subj: modems The modems are alive and well. The phone numbers are listed in the Atari telephone "book", but here they are ifn you don't want to look them up: Ernie: 434-1770 !1 modem Kim: 434-1771 !2 modems Sandy: 434-1772 !1 modem (phantom computer just now) Charm: 434-1773 !2 modems Mike: 434-1774 !1 modem (another phantom computer) Those with multiple modems are on a hunt group, i.e. you'll get the first available modem by calling just that one number. ds ___________________________________________________________________________ From: KIM::DOWNEND 27-NOV-1985 17:07:15.52 To: @ALPHAGANG.DIS CC: Subj: Clean-up THIS WEEKEND IS CLEANUP WEEKEND! CLEAN-UP CREWS WILL BE SWEEPING THE BUILDING FOR EXCESS STUFF AND THEN CLEANING THE CARPETS. 1) IF YOU WANT TO KEEP ANYTHING THAT LOOKS LIKE EXCESS - TIE IT DOWN. 2) PLACE ALL YOUR TRASH IN AN OBVIOUS SPOT TO HAVE IT REMOVED. 3) REMOVE TAGS FROM FURNITURE YOU WANT TO KEEP. 4) GET EVERYTHING OUT OF BOXES AND COLLAPSE THE BOXES. 5) PUT YELLOW POST-ITS ON THE WALL WHERE YOU WANT THEM TO HANG PICTURES BULLETIN BOARDS AND GREASE BOARDS - IF MORE THAN ONE, NUMBER THEM. THE SCHLAGE SYSTEM IS SUPPOSED TO BE OPERATIONAL BY WEDNESDAY; PLAN ON IT HAPPENING MONDAY. UNTIL THE SCHLAGE SYSTEM IS IN, BUILDING ACCESS IS RESTRICTED TO 7 AM TO 10 PM. -CHRIS ___________________________________________________________________________ From: KIM::ALBAUGH 27-NOV-1985 18:03:36.06 To: @SYS$MAIL:JUNK CC: Subj: P___ing in the soup This is addressed to the person or persons who find it really amusing to dial up the paging port and blast us all out with "music" (or should I say Musak) or "Speech chip test?". The ability to use dial up paging is very valuable to some of us, and very likely to be eliminated if much more of this B.S. goes on. Perhaps you never work late and need to find a co- worker, perhaps you are always in your office when anyone needs to find you. Many of us do depend on paging and found it a real hassle to live without it, as we will be again. When we first had this option, many years ago, we also had a tacit agreement of "one paging joke per person per week". As I remember it, this worked out pretty well, especially since the jokes were verbal (hence identifiable) and really poor quality jokesters got straightend out by peer pressure. Of course, since you have opted for anonymous aural grafitti, we don't know who you are (yet) and must fume in silence (so far). In short: fun is fun, but have a little class and please don't screw it up for the rest of us. Mike ___________________________________________________________________________ From: KIM::DOWNEND 27-NOV-1985 18:09:33.26 To: @SYS$MAIL:JUNK CC: Subj: P_ssing in the Wind - it comes back at you... I heartily concur with Mike's message on the abuse of the pager - DON'T DO IT FOLKS! ___________________________________________________________________________ From: KIM::SUTTLES 27-NOV-1985 18:16:18.94 To: @SYS$MAIL:JUNK,SUTTLES CC: Subj: _iss___ in the soup This is to lend weight to Mike's soapbox with some factual information. The phone system has been under construction for the last two months, with various details being nailed down along the way. Paging should have been nailed down well over two months ago, but there was a political debate on the merits and demerits of public access to paging. It is still underway, which is why the paging access numbers have not been published (officially). Obviously, there is a leak. It is occasions when a select few demonstrate their lack of restraint that will (I GUARANTEE) blow it for everyone. It is also conceivable that access to the page will be granted/denied on an individual basis, and that abuse will only harm oneself. To some of us (myself included) public access to the page is a valuable asset. If you disagree, do so in person, without using the page to contact me. I've never heard Jed say it, but "Thank you or else". sas ___________________________________________________________________________ From: KIM::LIPSON 2-DEC-1985 09:35:59.88 To: @SYS$MAIL:JUNK CC: Subj: pisser replies Did I miss a general outbrake of page-abuse?? or are the three previous letters all resulting from one (ONE!) page of questionable (ok, bad) taste???? And that one on a Friday!! (the traditional day for the once-a-week for those who chose to abuse the system). AND on the first week with a new toy <<<