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Atari/Atari Games VaxMail 1987 Jed Margolin
___________________________________________________________________________
From: KIM::RAINS 2-JAN-1987 10:27:26.19
To: @sys$mail:engineer
CC:
Subj: Computer Health Note #3
VAX-edrin Headache #3
You've been poking around somewhere in another directory (something like
SYS$USERDISK:[FRED.STUFF.MORESTUFF.EVENMORESTUFF]) and now you have found
something you want to get back to or reference with out so much directory name
baggage. Sure, it doesn't happen often, but when it does, what a pain! Well,
take the recommended dose of the new and improved Name Directory command (ND
for short).
ND allows you to give the current directory an easy to remember (and easy
to type) logical name by simply saying:
$ ND EASYNAME
Now you can refer to the file you are interested in by referencing
EASYNAME:FILENAME, or you can go to other directories and come back with a
GOSUB EASYNAME.
You can use the DEASSIGN command to free up any logical names you have
created with ND. These temporary logical names automatically go away when
you log out.
You create this complex command by putting the following symbol
definition in your LOGIN.COM file:
$ ND :== ASSIGN 'F$ENV("DEFAULT")
One small caveat, though. The use of logical names has a certain downside
because the system will translate them even when you don't mean to. I would
not suggest naming a directory with the same name as a command. So names like
MAIL are probably not a good idea (although MAILDIR should be fine).
___________________________________________________________________________
From: KIM::RAINS 2-JAN-1987 10:49:15.06
To: @sys$mail:engineer
CC:
Subj: Computer Health Note #4
VAX-edrin Headache #4
So you say that you send a lot of mail to JUNK and ENGINEER, and you're
tired of waiting forever for the DCL prompt to come back?? Well what you need
is a command that will spawn off at separate task to send the mail and leave
you free to do other things.
Just so happens, I have this one already bottled and called POST. First,
you edit your mail message with a standard editor (EDT, TPU, VI, etc.) and
then you issue the command:
$ POST MESSAGE.TXT "@SYS$MAIL:JUNK"/SUBJ="Blah, Blah, Blah..."
After a few seconds, you'll get a spawn message and your DCL prompt will
return. You will be informed when the posting is complete, but you won't have
to wait for it before you go on to other things.
To use POST, you need the following symbol definition in your LOGIN.COM:
$ POST :== SPAWN/NOWAIT/INPUT=NL:/NOTIFY MAIL
WARNING: WHEN YOU LOG OUT WITH SPAWNED SUBPROCESSES ACTIVE, YOU KILL THE
SUBPROCESSES. SO IF YOU LOG OUT WHILE POST IS STILL RUNNING, NOT ALL THE MAIL
WILL GET DELIVERED.
___________________________________________________________________________
From: KIM::RAINS 2-JAN-1987 17:29:51.46
To: @sys$mail:engineer
CC:
Subj: Computer Health Note #3 Revisited
VAX-edrin Headache #3 Revisited: Untested Code
If you tried using ND (Name Directory), you probably found it doesn't
work. The logical name gets set to your home directory. I had originally
implemented this command as a .COM file and it worked. The translation into a
simple symbol assignment doesn't (at least not the way I did it). What WILL
work is to create a file called ND.COM in your home directory which contains
the single line:
$ ASSIGN 'F$ENV("DEFAULT") 'p1
Now put the following corrected symbol definition into your LOGIN.COM file:
$ ND :== @SYS$LOGIN:ND
Sorry about that.
___________________________________________________________________________
From: SANDY::DAVE 2-JAN-1987 19:24:31.32
To: @SYS$MAIL:JUNK
CC:
Subj: THUMBS DOWN
WELL I DECIDED TO SPLURGE FOR NEW YEARS EVE. I MADE THE RESERVATIONS MONTHS IN
ADVANCE. I CALLED AHEAD 1/2 HOUR BEFORE TO SEE IF THEY WERE BEHIND SCHEDULE.
I WAS TOLD ABOUT 10 MINUTES. SO I SHOWED UP ON TIME. I WAITED 50 MINUTES BEFORE
I LEFT. ALL I RECIEVED WAS VERY INSINCERE APOLOGIES, AND THE STATEMENT (I QUOTE)
" WELL BY THE TIME YOU GET ANY WHERE ELSE IT WILL BE JUST AS LONG A WAIT".
SO WHERE WAS THIS, YOU ASK. A DIVE CALLED "LE MOUTON NOIR"
THIS PLACE HAS GOOD FOOD, BUT I REFUSE TO WAIT FOR THE PRIVILEGE OF BEING
REAMED OUT IN THE POCKET BOOK. GOOD FOOD DOES NOT MAKE UP FOR AN ATMOSPHERE
OF HOSTILE SNOBBERY.
P.S. THIS IS NOT A SNAP JUDGEMENT, AS ON A PREVIOUS VISIT FOR A SPECIAL
OCCASION I WAITED MORE THAN AN HOUR AFTER BEING SEATED TO RECIEVE
(AN ADMITTEDLY GOOD) DINNER.
YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED.
___________________________________________________________________________
From: KIM::RAINS 5-JAN-1987 13:07:15.19
To: @SYS$MAIL:ENGINEER
CC:
Subj: Computer Health Note #4 Revisited
VAX-edrin Headache #4 Revisted: New, Improved Version
After consulting with Steve Suttles, we have a more robust version of the
POST command which works as a batch job rather than a spawned process. It
corrects many of the problems and deficiencies of the old version (which, quoth
Suttles, "...only works if everything is right.").
The new command is used by putting the following symbol definition in your
LOGIN.COM file:
$ POST :== @UTL$COM:POST
The calling format is different from the old POST command. The new
format is:
$ POST MESSAGE.TXT DISTRIBUTION "SUBJECT" /ETC
where: MESSAGE.TXT is the text of your message (.TXT is the default extension).
DISTRIBUTION is a comma-separated list WITHOUT EMBEDDED SPACES OR QUOTES
listing the recipients of your message.
"SUBJECT" is a quoted string with the subject text.
/ETC is miscellaneous switches and qualifiers of the MAIL command.
A batch log is sent to MAIL$LOGIN:POST.LOG, so you can see any problems
which may have occurred. (MAIL$LOGIN is where your mail files are.)
___________________________________________________________________________
From: KIM::RAINS 6-JAN-1987 17:11:09.61
To: @SYS$MAIL:ENGINEER
CC:
Subj: TO BREAKOUT OWNERS OR DESIGNERS
We are looking for Coin-op versions of BREAKOUT and SUPER BREAKOUT and any
technical or creative design information relating to them. This is in regard
to a possible copyright infringement action. Anyone with hardware or design
documentation please contact Dennis Wood at X3765, or reply to me via VAXmail.
-Lyle
___________________________________________________________________________
From: KIM::DOWNEND 6-JAN-1987 17:53:23.98
To: @SYS$MAIL:ENGINEER
CC:
Subj: Contest update
As you may recall, Atari sponsered a contest based on Gauntlet II. The
player had to complete a secret task in a secret room in order to receive
a secret code number. The player then submitted the code number to Atari, and
if it was valid, then their name was entered into a drawing for prizes
totaling over 10,000 dollars in savings bonds. Linda has been administrating
the contest which officially closed 12/19/86. A drawing was to be held
yesterday, but Linda would like to try to reach contestants with invalid
entries to confirm whether they botched up a legitimate entry or were just
taking a wild guess. The drawing will occur tommorrow though, regardless.
We have 417 entries from 349 unique individuals plus 35 invalid entries.
About 3000 Gauntlet II kits were sold into the domestic base of 8000 units.
(THESE ARE CONFIDENTIAL NUMBERS - FOR ATARI PERSONNEL ONLY !!)
And the winners are...
...to be continued
___________________________________________________________________________
From: KIM::SHEPPERD 8-JAN-1987 16:15:37.28
To: @sys$mail:engineer,@sys$mail:wpuser,SHEPPERD
CC:
Subj: New prompts
Have you ever wished the system would display the current default directory
name somewhere so you could easily tell where you were? Well, now there's
a utility to do just that, compliments of LVR. It'll change the prompt
string to include the current directory spec (no device or node name) to a
maximum specifed length or 32 chars whichever is less. For example, it
makes my prompt string look like:
[SHEPPERD] K$ !for my home directory
[UTILITIES.COM] K$ !for UTL$COM:
It constructs the "K$" by extracting the first character from the node name (K
for KIM, E for ERNIE, etc.) and sticking on a dollar sign and a space. You can
change that by defining the string you want to the global symbol PROMPT$TAIL.
You can limit the total size of the generated prompt string (so as not to eat up
too much of your command line space) by defining a value less than 32 to the
global symbol PROMPT$MAXLEN. The utility attempts to squeeze the rightmost
directory names into the space allocated and will truncate to the left all that
won't fit but replacing it with one of "[...", "[.." or "[." depending
on how much room there is.
To use this feature, you must execute UTL$COM:PROMPT sometime after you've
logged in (such as in your LOGIN.COM file). Then you must use the set default
commands SD, CD, DC, GOBACK or WHERE (GOSUB and RETURN are obsolete now because
VMS has DCL commands called GOSUB for go to subroutine and RETURN for return
from subroutine). For example, place the following commands in your LOGIN.COM
file:
$ CD :== @UTL$COM:CD !Change Directory (what GOSUB used to do)
$ SD :== @UTL$COM:SD !Set Default directory
$ DC :== @UTL$COM:GOBACK !change directory back
$ WHE*RE :== @UTL$COM:WHERE !display the set default history
$ PROMPT$MAXLEN == 20 !only if you want to limit the string length
$ PROMPT$TAIL == "What now boss? " !only if you want something different
$ @UTL$COM:PROMPT !setup the prompt stuff
CD and SD don't require full directory specs to change directories. The
procedures will attempt to figure out what directory you are talking about
by looking around both up and down from the current place in the
directory tree. You also needn't specify the "[]"'s nor dots. For example,
$ SD TEST
will hunt around in your directory tree looking for a [.TEST] directory.
SD with no argument simply displays the current default directory. CD is
similar to SD except that it remembers the directory from which you came
and the next CD you execute without an argument will return you to the
previously set directory. DC does a GOBACK to the directory you just
returned from. WHERE shows the complete history (stack) of where you've
been and from where you came. Try them, you'll like them.
Note that if you change your default directory with the DCL command
SET DEFAULT either explicitly or via a command file instead of using the
CD, SD or DC commands, the prompt string will not change so it won't
reflect the current directory. WHERE will always update the prompt string
as will @UTL$COM:PROMPT.
Report trouble to KIM::RAINS.
ds
___________________________________________________________________________
From: KIM::MARGOLIN 13-JAN-1987 15:56:38.87
To: ERNIE::TOLONEN,MARGOLIN
CC:
Subj: Atari 401K Plan
I have a question about Atari's 401K Plan as described in the recent handout
entitled "WELLS FARGO BANK RETIREMENT ADVANTAGE PLANS SUMMARY PLAN DESCRIPTION
FOR THE RETIREMENT ADVANTAGE PLAN OF ATARI GAMES CORPORATION."
In Section 16 (HOW AND WHEN ARE BENEFITS PAID?) under the heading "Benefits
Earned Under This Plan" it states:
"Following your termination of employment, your vested account balances
will be distributed to you in a lump sum, in periodic payments over a specified
term, or in a combination of both methods."
My question involves the next sentence:
"Plan assets allocable to your accounts will be valued as of the
Valuation Date (see Question 8) coinciding with or immediately preceeding
the distribution."
Question 8 says that the Valuation Date is the last day of the sixth and twelfth
months of the Plan year. I assume this means June 30 and December 31. (Please
correct me if I am wrong.)
Therefore, according to the Plan, if I contribute $5,000 to the Plan in the
next five months and leave before June 30, my Plan assets allocable to my
account will be valued as of December 31, 1986.
What happens to my $5,000?
What happens to the company contribution?
(Who is the Plan Administrator?)
Jed
___________________________________________________________________________
From: ERNIE::TOLONEN 13-JAN-1987 17:13:10.04
To: KIM::MARGOLIN
CC:
Subj: 401(K) PLAN
DEAR JED,
I THINK YOU ARE THE ONLY PERSON IN THE COMPANY WHO READ THAT DOCUMENT!!
I WILL ANSWER YOUR QUESTIONS IN REVERSE ORDER.
THE PLAN ADMINISTRATORS ARE DENNIS, JOHN KLEIN AND HIDE.
YOU WOULD NOT LOSE ANY MONEY YOU PUT INTO YOUR PLAN, BUT I WILL HAVE TO GET
MORE INFORMATION FOR FOR YOU ABOUT THAT WORDING IN THE PLAN. I UNDERSTAND
THE QUESTION. LET ME GET BACK TO YOU TOMORROW WITH A COMPLETE ANSWER.
THANKS,
JUDY
___________________________________________________________________________
From: KIM::SALWITZ 15-JAN-1987 17:58:47.27
To: @SYS$MAIL:ENGINEER
CC:
Subj: renumber that macro!
For all you macro users.
How many times have you spent your precious work time looking for a
new slot for a local label. You know.. trying to remember if you used
45$ or not.. Have I got the program for you. Direct from the Pete Lipson
school of better C learning: MACRNM.EXE! This fine C program will
renumber your otherwize sloppy local labels for free!
Heres all you do:
In your login.com assignment section:
$RENUM :== $KIM::SYS$USERDISK:[SALWITZ.C]MACRNM.EXE
Then..
After you have spent countless hours creating alot of unsightly unsequenced
local labels you run my program:
$RENUM filename[.MAC] [delta] [base]
Where:
filename[.MAC] -> is your MAC11,MAC65,MAC69 filename
( .MAC extension not neccessary..
we throw that in at no added cost!)
[delta] -> is the (optional!) delta between labels..
ie: 1,10,100..
(we default to 10 at no added cost!)
[base]-> is the (optional!) base of each label
set.
(we default to 10 at no added cost!)
So act today.. don't delay friend.. this offer is limited to
one macro file per run!
send complaints to:
JFS
this address
this address
___________________________________________________________________________
From: KIM::ALBAUGH "Dr. Bizarro" 20-JAN-1987 16:26:14.97
To: MARGOLIN
CC:
Subj:
$ tab = " "
$ tab[0,7] = 9
$ if f$extract(0,1,''P1') .eqs. tab then goto gottab
$ beep no tab
$ exit
$ gottab: beep yes tab
___________________________________________________________________________
From: KIM::SUTTLES 28-JAN-1987 18:17:33.55
To: @SYS$MAIL:EVERYBODY
CC:
Subj: The PURGE
Shortage of disk space has become a problem that we (the systems
group) can't ignore any longer. So here's what we're doing: When you log in,
your disk usage will be checked against your quota, and if what's left is 20%
or less, you will be notified. You will also be notified if the disk has 10%
or less of its available room. You may be well under your quota and still run
out of room if everyone else has filled up the disk. So, if it looks like disk
space might be a problem soon, you will be notified when you log in. It is up
to you to determine if the available space is adequate for your needs or not.
Now, this has all been said before, except for the courtesy of warning
you to look out for the low ceiling. Also, all those new disk drives have
lengthened (greatly) the time required for backups. Every other weekend, we
make a tape copy of everything on all the computers, and put it in a fireproof
safe. Or try. It has started not to fit.
So, in order to A) reduce the tape storage requirements, B) reduce the
time spent for backups, and C) reduce the number of incidents where available
disk space falls to zero:
WE ARE DELETING ALL YOUR FILES
=== ========
... at least all of them that are out of date. BEFORE (yes, BEFORE)
the biweekly backups are done, we will automatically do a PURGE of all files
on all disks, retaining only the TWO (2) versions that are the most recent. We
have come up with exactly one instance where this would be inconvenient, and
we are willing to forgo the loss of information in that case. The reason we
chose two versions is simple: one is not enough, and three is too many.
Note that this is scheduled to occur only on weekends. The first
weekend that we will automatically purge will be about February 21st. This
gives you about three and a half weeks to see if the files you have superceded
have any remaining value to you. Note also that it will be done BEFORE the
backup, so the old versions will be gone. The files will still be maintained
on the daily backups, but they have a short retention period. You have been
warned.
Notice that this only applies to files that have already been
superceded two or more times. We don't expect any problems, but it's only
fair to let you know. You may, if you wish, address complaints to this mail
address (KIM::SUTTLES), and I will ignore them at my earliest opportunity,
unless you want to learn how to do backups, all day, every other Saturday.
-sas
___________________________________________________________________________
From: KIM::DOWNEND 29-JAN-1987 15:12:33.74
To: @SYS$MAIL:ENGINEER
CC:
Subj: new employee
We have a new programmer starting on Monday 2/2/87.
Please welcome Ed Rotberg back to Atari.
Ed worked here at Atari from 1979 to 1981. He programmed Baseball, and
Battlezone among other things. Then he started his own company, Videa. Then
Videa was bought by Sente. Then Sente was bought by Bally.
Consequently, Ed has in-depth technical and product expertise in the coin-op
game field.
Ed will be joining us in a technical capacity as a senior staff level Software
Engineer with nearly 14 years experience since receiving his BSEE from
the University of Michigan. Ed will be programming and projectleading a coin-op
game project.
Ed's office will be just outside Cyndy's office. He will be using the old
Roadrunner lab for game development. Norm has chosen to move (his option) his
office out of the lab and into the office near Dave Ralstons office.
I am happy to have Ed join our staff - please extend him a warm welcome...let's
see, how do you exorcise evil "Sente" spirits?...
___________________________________________________________________________
From: KIM::FRYE 2-FEB-1987 11:13:54.10
To: @SYS$MAIL:EVERYBODY
Subj: SECURITY, GAMES, AND PLANTS
Some major changes are being made with-in our facilities which in one
way or another will affect all employees. These changes have been
approved and will be put into effect at this time.
SECURITY
To beef up our warehouse security, the two gates separating the manuf-
acturing warehouse from the engineering portion will be kept locked at
all times. The locks have been rekeyed, employees requiring access
through these gates must check out the key from the main lobby.
GAMES
A program has been undertaken to restore our archive games to working
condition whereby they will be retained as archives and at the same
time be available for use by the employees.
The front lobby of 675 will be utilized for this purpose.
All archive games
will be marked with an "ARCHIVE GAME" sticker, and
any game so marked will not be permitted to leave the building.
PLANTS
A decision has been made as to the disposition of our interior plants.
Our plants for the most part are deteriorating adding little
enhancement to our buildings. During the pass two years, several
methods have been tried in hopes of up-grading, but have failed.
In September we aquired the services of an interior landscape con-
sultant to evaluate our plant problems. The results of his survey
allowed us two choices: One being to overhaul (transplant, feed,
and maintain) our existing plants. This sounded pretty good until
we were told that only about twenty-five plants out of all the
plants in the building were worth the efford.
Our second choice, which we decided had more merit, was to remove
all the plants from the buildings and replace them with new ones.
Going along with our second choice created still another problem.
To replace plant for plant would not be an equitable solution as
many of our employees do not have plants in their offices or work
stations.
Giving careful consideration to all aspects, we feel we have arrived
at a conclusion befitting all our employees. The following guide
lines will be put into effect for both the manufacturing and
engineering buildings.
1. New plants will be placed in all common areas, lobbies,
cafeteria, lunnch rooms, and executive offices.
2. Employees are permitted to have personal plants in their
offices and/or immediate work area. The maintenance of
these plants will be the responsibility of the employee.
3. All "Atari" plants (with containers) are to be removed
from our buildings, no exceptions please. Employees
wishing to take their "Atari" plant home are encouraged
to do so with the stipulation that their plant not find
its' way back into our buildings. (Just think, this
would make a nice Valentine's gift for that someone
special).
Our new plants are expected to start arriving shortly after
Valentine's Day. We ask that all the plants be removed by Friday,
February 13th. (How about that for timing ?) Any "Atari" plants
remaining in the buildings after this date will be disposed of.
So I won't be accused of a Saint Valentine's Day massacre, the
clean-up will begin the following Monday.
Three final items:
Please be careful when removing plants from the building, plastic
bags if needed can be obtained from the main lobby.
The plants located in our main lobby and cafeteria are to remain
until replaced with new ones.
Finally, if you have a persoal plant that fits the description of
an "Atari" plant, please contact me for conformation.
Thanks again for your support. Bob
___________________________________________________________________________
From: CHARM::FCDOOM 2-FEB-1987 12:45:05.43
To: @SYS$MAIL:JUNK
CC:
Subj: plant confusion
- so if I take my plant home, then bring it back in, everything's ok????
but if I leave it here and don't let it visit my house, it's doomed?????
___________________________________________________________________________
From: KIM::MCCARTHY 3-FEB-1987 13:21:58.24
To: @sys$mail:engineer,MCCARTHY
CC:
Subj: Audio pot alternative
There have been some complaints in recent times about the quality of the
dual audio pot. (At low volume setting the two channels are badly
unbalanced.)
Also, this pot is difficult to source. (Only two sources, both with long
lead times.)
Also, this pot is not cheap ($2.25-$2.50).
??? IDEA ???
Replace the pot with a 256 position electronic audio volume control. The
components would be : 2 DAC-08 ICs (one for each channel) $0.80 each, 1
74ls273 @ $0.30 and about 8 discrete compoments ($0.01 each). Total component
cost is $2.00 and about $0.16 for the extra board space.
How it would work.
Putting the game into self-test after power-on would cause a volume
adjust screen to come up. The volume would be adjusted using the regular
control panel controls (maybe while the game goes thru an attract sequence
with audio enabled). The volume level would be stored in the game EEPROM.
On power-on the volume level would be set from the EEPROM.
I am considering this as a direct possibility on the new SA (stand alone)
Audio board currently in development for Catacombs and probably a few other
games. The only disadvantage that I see is operator familiarity and ease
of use. I am sure that many of you see other problems.
What do YOU think.
Replies to theis address will be appreciated.
Pat Mc Carthy.
___________________________________________________________________________
From: ERNIE::DENCKER "Andrea Dencker" 3-FEB-1987 14:26:36.31
To: @SYS$MAIL:JUNK,DENCKER
CC:
Subj: IBM PC (or Macintosh) program for creating banners
Bob Frye asked me if we had the capability of printing banners on
any computer printer in our buildings. I'm talking about the programs in
which you enter the message you want repeated many times, and a dot-matrix
or other printer spews out those words in a 20-foot-long "sign." I am
aware only of the Sideways and Banner programs for the IBM PC.
Do we have anything like this program tucked away on one of our
VAXes or PCs? If you do, contact Bob directly. He needs it for some special
purpose.
Andrea
___________________________________________________________________________
From: KIM::MARGOLIN 4-FEB-1987 13:01:29.83
To: SHEPPERD,MARGOLIN
CC:
Subj: DCL
Dave,
Please try the following:
WRITE SYS$OUTPUT %XFF439EB1/%X10000
WRITE SYS$OUTPUT %XFFFFFF43
Jed
___________________________________________________________________________
From: KIM::SHEPPERD 4-FEB-1987 13:32:14.52
To: MARGOLIN,SHEPPERD
CC:
Subj: DCL
So?
%XFF439EB2 = -12345678.
%X10000 = 65536.
-12345678/65536 = -188.38 in either Hex or Decimal
%XFFFFFF43 = -189.00 in either radix.
Conclusion: %XFF430000 is not equal to %XFF439EB2.
Dividing is not the same as and will not produce the same result as shifting
right. It looks as though you wanted to (-12345678. & -65536.)/65536. which is
the only way you can make sure a shift and divide will produce the same result.
If, on the other hand, you wanted a result in Hex, you should have used FAO:
write sys$output fao("!XL",%XFF439EB2/%X10000)
ds
___________________________________________________________________________
From: KIM::MARGOLIN 4-FEB-1987 13:37:07.40
To: KIM::SHEPPERD,MARGOLIN
CC:
Subj: RE: DCL
Aha. Thank you.
Jed
___________________________________________________________________________
From: ERNIE::CAMERON 4-FEB-1987 16:00:28.24
To: @SYS$MAIL:JUNK
CC:
Subj: GOOD-BYE AND FAIRWELL
SAD FAIRWELLS
IT IS WITH GREAT REGRETS THAT I SAY GOOD-BYE. NO, I'M NOT LEAVING, BUT
MY PLANT IS.
MY PLANT AND I HAVE SHARED AN OFFICE TOGETHER FOR EIGHT LOVING YEARS.
SURE, THERE WERE GOOD TIMES AND BAD TIMES, BUT WE STUCK IT OUT. SHE ALMOST
DIDN'T SURVIVE HAVING "PROFESSIONAL" CARE, BUT SHE'S BACK TO GOOD HEALTH
NOW.
SO, SHE'S BEEN FIRED, TERMINATED, ASKED TO GO. WHERE WILL SHE GO? SHE
WILL GO HOME WITH ME, DEFEATED AND BROKEN. I KNOW SHE WILL DIE THERE. SHE
IS USED TO FLUORESCENT LIGHT, NOISE AND STRESS. THE QUIET DARKNESS WILL END
HER LIFE.
AND WHAT WILL HAPPEN TO ME WITH NO DAILY COMPANION AT MY SIDE? IT IS
TRULY A SAD STORY
TRYING NOT TO SOB,
CAROLE
___________________________________________________________________________
From: KIM::MARGOLIN 4-FEB-1987 16:16:34.14
To: ERNIE::CAMERON,BEHENSKY,ERNIE::MOTT,CHARM::SHEPPERD,ALBAUGH,DURFEY,MARGOLIN
CC:
Subj: Doors
From: KIM::JED 2-FEB-1987 11:13
To: @SYS$MAIL:EVERYBODY
Subj: SECURITY, GAMES, AND PLANTS
Some major changes are being made with-in our facilities which in one
way or another will affect all employees. These changes have been
approved and will be put into effect at this time.
DOORS
A decision has been made as to the disposition of our interior doors.
Our doors for the most part are deteriorating adding little
enhancement to our buildings. During the pass two years, several
methods have been tried in hopes of up-grading, but have failed.
In September we aquired the services of an interior landscape con-
sultant to evaluate our door problems. The results of his survey
allowed us two choices: One being to overhaul (transplant, feed,
and maintain) our existing doors. This sounded pretty good until
we were told that only about twenty-five doors out of all the
doors in the building were worth the efford.
Our second choice, which we decided had more merit, was to remove
all the doors from the buildings and replace them with new ones.
Going along with our second choice created still another problem.
To replace door for door would not be an equitable solution as
many of our employees do not have doors in their offices or work
stations.
Giving careful consideration to all aspects, we feel we have arrived
at a conclusion befitting all our employees. The following guide
lines will be put into effect for both the manufacturing and
engineering buildings.
1. New doors will be placed in all common areas, lobbies,
cafeteria, lunnch rooms, and executive offices.
2. Employees are permitted to have personal doors in their
offices and/or immediate work area. The maintenance of
these doors will be the responsibility of the employee.
3. All "Atari" doors (with containers) are to be removed
from our buildings, no exceptions please. Employees
wishing to take their "Atari" door home are encouraged
to do so with the stipulation that their door not find
its' way back into our buildings. (Just think, this
would make a nice Valentine's gift for that someone
special).
Our new doors are expected to start arriving shortly after
Valentine's Day. We ask that all the doors be removed by Friday,
February 13th. (How about that for timing ?) Any "Atari" doors
remaining in the buildings after this date will be disposed of.
So I won't be accused of a Saint Valentine's Day massacre, the
clean-up will begin the following Monday.
Three final items:
Please be careful when removing doors from the building, plastic
bags if needed can be obtained from the main lobby.
The doors located in our main lobby and cafeteria are to remain
until replaced with new ones.
Finally, if you have a persoal door that fits the description of
an "Atari" door, please contact me for conformation.
Thanks again for your support. Jed
___________________________________________________________________________
From: KIM::DOWNEND 4-FEB-1987 18:16:09.67
To: STEMPLER,MCCARTHY,MARGOLIN,SNYDER,HOFF,MOORE
CC:
Subj: Nice feature for our Hardware
It would be very nice if Hardware designs allowed for RAM to be placed in the
Program EPROM sockets during development. Applied Microsystems charges several
thousand dollars for 128k bytes of Emulation RAM. If we could put a piggy back
board in the EPROM sockets and run a couple of jumper wires to bring R/W to the
piggy back, we could give the programmers lots of emulation RAM for cheap. 32k
by 8-bit SRAMS cost $15-20 quantity one. Four of them are needed to make
128k...so for less than $100, we can replace what Applied Microsystems charges
several thousand dollars for.
I would like to see this feature added to PCB's as well as wirewraps if it
didn't cost to much. I imagine all that needs to be done is to make the EPROM
address space writable and bring the appropriate R/W signal to a buffer capable
of driving the new load. This signal would also have to be accessible to the
piggy-back board. Gary Stempler suggested a jumper pin as used on SystemI to
configure the progam space for 27128/27256. This could then be eliminated in
production.
___________________________________________________________________________
From: KIM::FRYE 5-FEB-1987 09:11:53.97
To: @SYS$MAIL:VANGANG,RAINSGANG,KIM::WOOD,ERNIE::EVELYN
CC:
Subj: WAREHOUSE SECURITY
As a result of the new security restraints placed on the warehouse, I
have received complaints primarily due to inconvenience. I agree that
that the gates being locked is a nuisance, as I access the warehouse
more so then others.
The decision to strengthen our warehouse security came as a result of
the east side door being left opened four times in a one week period.
At the present time, we are involved in adding additional security
measures which are due to be completed this month. Once completed,
the system may allow us to re-evaluate our present situation with
respects to the warehouse.
Until then, your cooperation is appreciated, Thanks, Bob.
___________________________________________________________________________
From: KIM::RUSTY 5-FEB-1987 12:00:35.52
To: @SYS$MAIL:JUNK,RUSTY
CC:
Subj: Radar trap on McCarthy...
Well, Milpitas is at it again...
Careful! Heading N on McCarthy toward 237, the motorcycle cops are
sitting in wait just past where the speed limit is posted at 25mph.
One cop is sitting just around the sharp right corner (out of sight
behind the large pile of dirt) and will pull you over based on what
his partner who is sitting behind the fence on the incompleted road
to the left tells him is radar gun says. They had a regular production
line going last night and were completely invisible in the dark (the
cop with the radar gun did not have any of his lights on).
Fortunetely I was stuck behind some slow traffic and did not get
caught (this time). But beware, next time could be costly!
Rusty
___________________________________________________________________________
From: KIM::MARGOLIN 5-FEB-1987 13:09:01.93
To: FRYE,WOOD,VANELDREN,MONCRIEF,MARGOLIN
CC:
Subj: Locked Gates
The locked gates would be especially inconvenient in the event of a fire.
(At least for those of us in Moncrief's group.)
Jed
___________________________________________________________________________
From: KIM::FRYE 5-FEB-1987 13:21:06.68
To: KIM::MARGOLIN,WOOD
CC:
Subj: warehouse
Jed, the warehouse is not a legal fire exit from your office area.
This is why the fence was permitted in the warehouse.
___________________________________________________________________________
From: CHARM::ROTBERG "Professor of Gonzo" 5-FEB-1987 14:38:57.60
To: @SYS$MAIL:ENGINEER
CC:
Subj: Be the first on your block...
Yo!
Here are some definitions to (further) customize TPU to add a few features
that I have grown to love on other EDT systems. The funtions added are:
GOLD/Q quit
GOLD/ctrl_Z exit
GOLD/ctrl_W toggle between 80 columns and 132 columns
GOLD/B go to buffer ( = )
GOLD/backspace flip the preceeding two characters
Here is the code to add to your local TPUINI.TPU file:
!
procedure edr$flip !flip preceeding 2 characters
move_horizontal(-1);
edt$delete_char;
move_horizontal(-1);
edt$undelete_char;
move_horizontal(2);
endprocedure
!
procedure edr$set_screen !toggle screen size
if edr$scr_size = 80
then
edr$scr_size := 132;
else
edr$scr_size := 80;
endif;
set(width,main_window,edr$scr_size);
set(width,aux_window,edr$scr_size);
set(width,message_window,edr$scr_size);
endprocedure
!
procedure edr$buffer ! support routine for GOLD/ctrl_B
LOCAL buffer_ptr ,
create_variable_string,
term_char,
buffer_name ;
! This is to move to a new buffer and map it to the main window. If
! the buffer does not exist, create it with the NO_WRITE attribute.
! Get the name from the user.
buffer_name:=read_line('Buffer: '); ! get line from user
edit (buffer_name, trim, upper, OFF); !bite off all white space
if (buffer_name = edt$x_empty)
then
message ('No buffer specified');
return 0;
endif;
! IF it exists just map to it.
buffer_ptr := edt$find_buffer(buffer_name);
if buffer_ptr = 0
then
edt$x_make_buf_var := buffer_name;
create_variable_string := edt$x_make_buf_var + "_buffer := create_buffer(edt$x_make_buf_var)";
execute (create_variable_string);
! Now get the pointer back, we know it is the last buffer in the list
buffer_ptr := get_info (buffers,'last');
! SET (NO_WRITE, buffer_ptr, ON);
set(eob_text, buffer_ptr, '[End of '+buffer_name+']');
endif;
map(current_window,buffer_ptr);
return 1;
endprocedure
!
!
edr$scr_size := 80;
!
!
define_key('edr$buffer',key_name('B',shift_key),"switch buffer");
define_key('quit',key_name('Q',shift_key),"quick quit");
define_key('edr$flip',key_name(bs_key,shift_key),"flip");
define_key('dms$exit',key_name(ctrl_z_key,shift_key),"quick exit");
define_key('edr$set_screen',
key_name(ctrl_w_key,shift_key),"toggle size");
!
Good Luck --
Ed R.
___________________________________________________________________________
From: KIM::DROBNY "Buddy Flyback" 6-FEB-1987 14:23:52.31
To: @SYS$MAIL:ENGINEER
CC:
Subj: AMS 68010's
For those of you that use or maintain any of our AMS 68010
systems, I have in my possession a complete set of schematics of the
hardeware. I have actually had them for a while but never used them
until yesterday when I came across a problem in one of the "Probe Tip"
Pods. These schematics proved extremely valuable for I was able to
fix the problem for about $1.59 instead of the minimum $1000 that
Applied would charge us. So if you need them or would like to make a copy,
see me, but be prepared to stand in front of the copy machine for
awhile for there are alot of pages to be copied. By the way, I have the only
copy in the building so we must keep track of them or back to the $1000
purchase reqs. that are always so much fun to push for signatures.
Be There, Aloha.
___________________________________________________________________________
From: ERNIE::BENZLER 9-FEB-1987 09:51:01.19
To: @SYS$MAIL:EVERYBODY,BENZLER
CC:
Subj: ATARI GAMES HOME SOFTWARE SALES
If you haven't already heard the news (and even if you have), Atari is
number one (and number two!) in European home game software sales!!!
(Of course, we're talking bout Atari Games-designed coin-op product that
has been licensed to European home software companies.)
As far as we know this is an unprecedented event. Never before has one
company held both the number one and number two places in sales at the same
time.
Gauntlet, released by U. S. Gold, became the number one selling game
across Europe for the '86 Christmas season; this is the highest achievement in
the computer games industry in the European market. (Last year the top
selling game at Christmas was Commando and in '84 it was Ghost Busters.) When
the Christmas numbers were compiled, Gauntlet had sales well in excess of
100,000 units of software. As Gauntlet continues to sell during the next few
months, it is expected to become the best selling game in two years!
In addition, Paperboy, distributed by Elite Systems, became the number
two game at Christmas, also selling in excess of 100,000 units.
The success of Gauntlet and Paperboy have created a great deal of
interest in other products from Atari Games. Indiana Jones and Road Runner
have been licensed, on very favorable terms, to U.S. Gold. Super Sprint and
720 are currently subject to various offers from major European software
publishers. Even the three Star Wars games and I, Robot are now being sought
after by certain publishers, despite the market's normal orientation towards
"current" properties.
So pat yourselves on the back and let's keep up the good work!
___________________________________________________________________________
From: KIM::SYSTEM 10-FEB-1987 11:22:09.03
To: @sys$mail:everybody.uaf
CC:
Subj: System down time
You may have noticed that you sometimes get hardware errors (parity errors
etc). This is due to a cancer in disk drive DUA1:. According to a newspaper
article, the drive suffers from excessive lubricant build-up on the heads
which causes read/write errors. The drive maker, Fujitsu, has claimed to have
solved the problem, however, the company from whom we bought it, Emulex,
claims they haven't. We have been told that Fujitsu will either send us a
new drive of the same kind with the problem fixed, or a different kind that
we can use until they can find one that doesn't have that problem. In either
case, it'll be a few days before we get it. So in the meantime we are going
to remove the drive from the system completely. In order to do this, we need
to move 500,000 blocks worth of files off of Kim's userdisk to Charm's.
The system will need to be shutdown for about 3-4 hours to rebuild the
currently 2 volume disk to a 1 volume disk. This procedure will begin
this evening (tues 10-Feb-1986) beginning at about 6pm.
ds
___________________________________________________________________________
From: KIM::SHEPPERD 10-FEB-1987 18:09:46.18
To: @sys$mail:Engineer,SHEPPERD
CC:
Subj: New and improved LLF
LLF v2.0 has been released on Kim and Charm. UTL$COM:LLF.NEW_FEATURES
describes the differences between v1.5 and v2.0 and UTL$COM:LLF.DOC
describes all the features of LLF.
If you haven't logged out and in again since tues at 6pm, then you'll
need to:
$SET COMMAND UTL$COM:LLF
to get LLF to work at all. Let me know of any difficulties.
ds
___________________________________________________________________________
From: KIM::MARGOLIN 10-FEB-1987 18:49:34.57
To: KIM::SHEPPERD,MARGOLIN
CC:
Subj: RE: New and improved LLF
I have logged out and in again and it doesn't work.
PS - I was working on a program when the linker stopped working.
Jed
___________________________________________________________________________
From: KIM::ALBAUGH "Dr. Bizarro" 11-FEB-1987 13:21:12.44
To: MARGOLIN
CC:
Subj:
From: KIM::SHEPPERD 10-FEB-1987 19:42
To: SUTTLES,ALBAUGH,SHEPPERD
Subj: LLF
I released LLF v2.0 yesterday. If there anyone has trouble with it, you can
do the following assignment to get the old one back:
$ ASS UTL$ARCHIVE: LLF$EXE:
I suggest that you not make that a system logical because if others are NOT
having trouble with LLF and have started using its new features, then their
programs will break.
ds
___________________________________________________________________________
From: KIM::MARGOLIN 11-FEB-1987 13:41:35.05
To: KIM::SHEPPERD,MARGOLIN
CC:
Subj: RE: New and improved LLF
Ignore Previous Message.
___________________________________________________________________________
From: KIM::MCCARTHY 11-FEB-1987 15:58:23.61
To: @SYS$MAIL:ENGINEER,MCCARTHY
CC:
Subj: digital volume reply
Thank you for your comments and suggestions on the digital volume control
suggestion. Those replys can be seen in [mccarthy.psu]dacpot.txt.
The biggest concern voiced was "lack of familiarity and ease of use". The
other major concern was "what if the 6502 goes crazy and turns up the
volume to the max".
As stated before I basically agree that ease of use is a major issue. The
best solution I have is to put either a two way return to center toggle
switch or else two buttons inside the coin door, for VOLUME UP and VOLUME
DOWN. I am considering membrane switches for this purpose (plus the extra
functions of 'aux credit' switch and 'enter self test' switch. This
membrane panel would either stick to the audio PCB, or it could be remotely
mounted (stuck to a cleat) near the coin door. With this arrangement, there
is no need to enter self test to set volume.
I am also looking into the idea of an interlock on the volume latch to
avoid the problem of the 6505 going crazy. Two writes would be required to
change the volume level.
Here is a summary of the other changes that are being made to the original
design, based on the well attended design review held on Jan 15.
. The address bus buffers were removed, (deemed not necessary)
. The data bus buffer was removed, (deemed not necessary)
. The spare 27256 ROM socket was removed. More than 32k bytes of program
memory requires the use of a 27512.
. The IRQ counter chain design was not altered. (The alternatives suggested
were either not feasable or were too costly.)
. IRQ acknowledge was added. (This was inadvertently left out)
. The audio op-amps supply voltages were heavily filtered.
. The CPU can be run from either 1.79 Mhz or 3.58 Mhz. When run from 3.58
Mhz, the cpu must be a 65c02 (cmos version).
. The Bank select and address decode circuitry was simplified to a single
PAL ic.
Pat.
___________________________________________________________________________
From: ERNIE::ARVIDSON 13-FEB-1987 07:53:26.88
To: @SYS$MAIL:ENGINEER,ARVIDSON
CC:
Subj: National Semiconductor.
National Semiconductor is no longer represented by BayTech (Wade
Miracle) who, in my opinion gave us poor service. Atari's account is now
handled directly from National; the salesperson is Henri De Roule. He's
anxious to make a presentation to those interested in their microcontrollers,
graphics chips or memory support devices. Can I have a show of hands from
those of you who are interested in a presentation or if you just need new data
books?
erwin
ps: Henri's phone is (408) 730-3009 or 730-0632.
___________________________________________________________________________
From: ERNIE::TOLONEN 13-FEB-1987 11:32:10.20
To: @SYS$MAIL:EVERYBODY
CC:
Subj:
Performance evaluations with merit increase will go into effect on
March 1, 1987. The proposed range for the merit increase is
2% - 6%, depending on performance.
Thanks,
Judy
___________________________________________________________________________
From: ERNIE::ARVIDSON 17-FEB-1987 15:46:23.45
To: KIM::MARGOLIN,ARVIDSON
CC:
Subj: PLCC Extraction Tools.
Jed, here is a list of the extraction tools that I know of.
Burndy is probably the best and can be obtained thru Schweber Electronics,
(408) 748-4700.
EXTRACTION TOOLS
Manufacturer & PN Cost Notes
AMP $25 Tool may damage IC package leads.
* BURNDY QILEXT-1 $15 Appears to be the best tool.
JAE $5 Don't know anything about this one.
TEXTOOL/3M 400-6230-01 FREE. Requires prying chip package out;
will not work with most other sockets.
* Recommended.
___________________________________________________________________________
From: KIM::FRYE 18-FEB-1987 14:44:49.12
To: @SYS$MAIL:EVERYBODY
CC:
Subj: REALITY
IT'S GOING TO HAPPEN THIS SATURDAY AT ATARI. OUR NEW PLANTS WILL BE
HERE, AND THAT LEAVES 48 HOURS REMAINING ON OUR REQUEST TO HAVE ALL
ATARI PLANTS REMOVED FROM THE BUILDINGS. CAUTION, DON'T WAIT TILL
SATURDAY TO TAKE YOUR PLANT HOME, IT WILL BE GONE. SINCE I'VE RE-
CEIVED ONLY A FEW CALLS AS TO PERSONAL PLANTS, IT LOOKS LIKE I'LL BE
BUSY SATURDAY. AS TO THE PEOPLE WHO CONTACTED ME, YOUR PLANTS ARE
SAFE.
JUST A REMINDER, THE 'ATARI' PLANTS ARE NOT 'RETURNABLE'
A WORD ON THE NEW PLANTS:
THE PLANTS WILL BE PLACED THROUGH OUT OUR BUILDING, THE LOCATION AND
SIZE OF THE PLANTS ARE THOSE OF THE INTERIOR PLANT CONSULTANT, AND
MOST IMPORTANTLY, THESE PLANTS DO NOT BELONG TO ATARI.
COME MONDAY, YOUR SUPPORT WILL HAVE MADE OUR BUILDINGS A LITTLE
MORE CHEERFUL.
THANKS, BOB
print
___________________________________________________________________________
From: KIM::FRYE 23-FEB-1987 09:18:54.37
To: @SYS$MAIL:JUNK
CC:
Subj: What's in a name?
In case you missed S.J.Mercury business section on Sunday, there was an
editorial by James J. Mitchell, regarding companies changing their names.
He referred to his friend Bernie Chin, president of Name-It-Right, a
leading corporate identity consulting firm, who stated that Atari was a
prospect for a name change.
"Atari," Bernie said. "It's a completely different company from what it
used to be. Its strength isn't video games, but that's what the name
means to the public. It should be changed to something strong, some-
thing that means computers, something like Tramiel & Sons."
I took the liberty to send a copy of this article to yours truly,
hoping that he will give the "REAL ATARI" it's name back.
Tks.,Bob
___________________________________________________________________________
From: KIM::FRYE 23-MAR-1987 10:36:47.81
To: @SYS$MAIL:JUNK
CC:
Subj: CONTRACTORS IN HOUSE
Tomorrow, 3/23 Cal-Air will be in our building to work on our A/C system.
They will be installing a transfer system for the main lobby which should
correct our door closing problems. The main door between design services
and the lobby may be blocked off for a while to complete this work.
The second work area involves enineering, just outside the conference
room, through Gary Stempler's office, the printer room and into the
computer room. A return duct will be installed down the hallway in
front of the printer room.
Cal-Air is sensitive to our engineering routine and will make every
efford to complete this job with the least amount of disruption and
are hoping for completion in one day. Thanks, Bob
___________________________________________________________________________
From: CHARM::LOGG 25-FEB-1987 09:44:40.38
To: @SYS$MAIL:ENGINEER
CC:
Subj:
File: CHARM::[LOGG.AMS]DNL.DOC
Date: 12/5/86
The AMS fast download has been upgraded. The changes are shown below.
Dave Shepperd will soon release a new DOWND which pass the symbol table to the
AMS as TEKHEX records. This means one download will load the symbols and data.
1. The AMS will now print any characters that are not part of a TEKHEX
or LDA record. For example, if you started the download (pressed
<ESC><ESC>) before the LLF finished, then any LLF messages will be
displayed. In addition, the sentinel "%" for the TEKHEX record will
be displayed at the beginning of each record.
2. The AMS will now count the number of "." and generate a <CR><LF> when
the count exceeds 80. The terminal no longer need be set on WRAP.
In case you missed all the information on the fast downloader, here it
is again. There is no need to give up compatibility with old HEX files. The
new downloader will support extended TEKHEX, LDA and SYM files. To get the new
downloader do the following:
1. Burn 2 27128-3 EPROMs from the file CHARM::[LOGG.AMS]U55U56D128.LDA
starting at 4000 and ending at BFFF. Label them LOGG-U55 and
LOGG-U56 with the current date. Please label the outside of the
AMS so that we do not send the AMS out for service with these
EPROMs.
2. Replace the new U55 and U56 EPROMs with the ones in the AMS. They
can be found on the PCB connected to the ribbon cable. On power
up you will notice that there are CRC errors. Please ignore these.
When I know how to CRC the EPROMs I will release a new version.
The current version has a CRC value of 273D.
3. In your LOGIN.COM file define the symbol DNL. Please see the DOWND
documentation if you need more information. For example, it is
possible to tell DOWND to download several files at once. More
importantly one can tell DOWND not to load all the uninitialized
data by specifying the starting and ending addresses.
DNL :== MCR DOWND /DELAY=0 /RECORD=250 /ADD=start:end
4. To use the new downloader, perform the following steps. The AMS will
display a "." for each record read successfully. The letter "X"
will be displayed when an transmission error occurs. But don't
worry because the downloader will ask the VAX to retransmit the last
record. A sample download is:
>DNL type this on the AMS as usual
$ DNL filename.xxx<ESC><ESC> download filename.xxx
.................... "." for each record read
> successful completion
If there are any problems report them to me at x1732 or via VAXMAIL at
CHARM::LOGG and I will try to correct them immediately. If you have other
ideas let me know so that I can try them out or document them here in this
file. For those of you that would like to improve on the download time even
further. The following can be done:
1. To speed up communication to the VAX, have the Systems Group set the
terminal to 8 bit NOPARITY. It will also be necessary to change the
AMS too by typing "SET #12,0", "SET #22,0", and "SAV". This will
reduce downloading by approximately 1/11 (from 11 bits per character
to 10 bits).
2. As a last resort, you can break the download data into several
sections and load them separately. This is only helpful if a small
number of these sections are being modified at any one time.
The current performance of the new downloader is shown in the following
table. Please note that your mileage may vary. For your information, it takes
the VAX approximately 5 to 6 milliseconds to receive the ACK and start
transmission of the next record. For this reason, it is desirable to have the
record size as large as possible. There is a buffer in the AMS that holds
the record sent by the VAX and I could not determine its size. This means
I don't know how large a record it takes to blow up the AMS. For now, it seems
to work fine with a record size of 250 and we cannot do much better with a
larger record size, so let's use that size until someone determines the real
buffer size.
TYPE TEKHEX.HEX 56.0 seconds with parity set at 9600 Baud
TYPE TEKHEX.HEX 50.5 seconds with no parity at 9600 Baud
DNL TEKHEX.HEX/rec=32 29.3 seconds with no parity at 9600 Baud
DNL TEKHEX.HEX/rec=64 22.5 seconds with no parity at 9600 Baud
DNL TEKHEX.HEX/rec=96 20.8 seconds with no parity at 9600 Baud
DNL TEKHEX.HEX/rec=128 19.9 seconds with no parity at 9600 Baud
DNL TEKHEX.HEX/rec=200 19.2 seconds with no parity at 9600 Baud
DNL TEKHEX.HEX/rec=250 18.7 seconds with no parity at 9600 Baud
DNL TEKHEX.HEX/rec=300 19.1 seconds with no parity at 9600 Baud
DNL TEKHEX.HEX/rec=400 18.8 seconds with no parity at 9600 Baud
DNL TEKHEX.HEX/rec=500 18.9 seconds with no parity at 9600 Baud
DNL TEKHEX.HEX/rec=infinte 17.1 seconds in theory at 9600 Baud
___________________________________________________________________________
From: CHARM::SHEPPERD 25-FEB-1987 10:23:28.46
To: @SYS$MAIL:ENGINEER
CC:
Subj: DOWND
A new version of DOWND has been released. This one, in conjunction with
Logg's new AMS Eproms, will allow for downloading symbols. It works
just the same as the old DOWND except it has two new options:
/NOSYMBOL - if you don't want symbols downloaded
/SYMBOL_ONLY - if you want only symbols (no data)
It will normally download symbols if there are any in the .HEX or .VLDA
file(s).
ds
___________________________________________________________________________
From: KIM::FRYE 2-MAR-1987 11:38:51.91
To: @SYS$MAIL:JUNK
CC:
Subj: KEY
ANYONE HAVING A KEY #LL-228, I NEED TO HAVE THE USE OF IT FOR A FEW MIN.
THANKS,BOB
___________________________________________________________________________
From: ERNIE::BENZLER 2-MAR-1987 12:53:26.48
To: @SYS$MAIL:JUNK,BENZLER
CC:
Subj: A MESSAGE FROM THE RECREATION COMMITTEE
ATARI GAMES LOGO/SLOGAN CONTEST
No, we are not trying to come up with a new logo to replace the renown Atari
"fuji" symbol. In fact, we truly wish that the OTHER Atari would take
another name and give us back the exclusive right to use the name Atari and
the logo that has represented OUR technologically innovative and creative
entertainment products.
But enough editorializing...
We want you and yours to put on your creative thinking caps and design some
artwork and a phrase that describes the spirit of Atari Games and symbolizes
our standing as the pioneer of and our continued leadership in the video games
industry.
At our 10th birthday the slogan was simple and full of hope for the future:
"The next decade." Well, we have survived half of that "next decade" and
things look pretty good for the five years to come. Coin Op, the REAL Atari,
is more than just a survivor!
June 27, 1987 marks our 15th birthday. Not a bad accomplishment in this crazy
silicon valley. And we mean to celebrate! (Remember, here at Atari we take
fun seriously!) A real honest-to-goodness, old fashioned birthday party is
planned for that date. We hope that every single Atari employee and every
member of their immediate family will be present for the festivities. (But
you'll hear more about the party at a later date...)
What we want now is your creative input. The logo and slogan that one of you
Atarians comes up with will be used for all sorts of public relations stuff,
both inside and outside of our industry. Aside from the birthday celebration
mentioned earlier, we have been promised the cover of RePlay Magazine for the
month of June, PlayMeter and other trade publications will, at the very least,
feature stories about our company, we will have a birthday theme for our
May/June distributor meeting, and we will seek coverage from the local
newspapers and television stations. In other words, we are going to make a
BIG DEAL out of this!
There are posters all around 675, 735 and 737 describing the contest, prizes,
etc. so the details won't be repeated here. Entry forms can be found in the
lobby of building 675. We want lots of entries to choose from. The
Recreation Committee will be selecting the winning entries (subject to
approval by the Executive Committee). So pick up your entry form today and
bring several copies home to your family! But for now...
Get back to work! (We need to keep those innovative leisure products rolling
off the line!)
Thanks for your attention,
-- THE MEMBERS OF THE RECREATION COMMITTEE
___________________________________________________________________________
From: KIM::HORN "Erich Von Horn" 6-MAR-1987 13:24:55.98
To: @SYS$MAIL:JUNK
CC:
Subj: HELP! Does anyone know of a place for rent?
My landlord is selling my house and I need to relocate. I am looking
for a place in one of the following areas:
Castro Valley Hayward Sunol Union City
Los Gatos Some hilly area within 20 miles of here
Some other place interesting
I need it by the end of April or before is better. I willing to pay up to
$360.00 per month, but would prefer about $300.00. Looking for a shared
situation or a small place for just me.
If you know of anything around that fits within the
above criti
criteria(oops!) please let me know.
Thanks,
Yours in Atari, Erich Horn
Office ext. 1765
Home phone [xxx]xxx-xxxx
Vax mail: KIM::HORN
___________________________________________________________________________
From: ERNIE::BROWN 6-MAR-1987 14:32:19.07
To: @SYS$MAIL:EVERYBODY,BROWN
CC:
Subj: NWNL CLAIM FORMS
LATELY, NWNL HAS BEEN ENCLOSING THE WRONG MEDICAL AND DENTAL CLAIM FORMS
WITH THE "EXPLANATION OF BENEFITS" SHEET THAT IS SENT TO US AFTER A CLAIM
HAS BEEN SUBMITTED. OUR CLAIM FORM IS WHITE AND IS THE ONLY ONE WE SHOULD
USE. IF YOU RECEIVE A TAN COLORED FORM, DESTROY IT; IT IS PRE-PRINTED
FOR ATARI (US) CORP AND WILL ONLY INCREASE THE CONFUSION IF IT IS USED
FOR OUR CLAIM USAGE.
I HAVE TALKED WITH OUR CLAIM REP, WHO WAS ALREADY AWARE OF THE PROBLEM
AND HE SAYS HE WILL TRY TO RESOLVE THE MATTER.
SANDI
HUMAN RESOURCE
___________________________________________________________________________
From: KIM::DROBNY "Buddy Flyback" 10-MAR-1987 14:23:54.73
To: @SYS$MAIL:JUNK
CC:
Subj: Sandy Feet
If you dont play volleyball at lunchtime, this message is not
for you and to you I apologize. But if your a male, (as in his, or him)
and you play volleyball at lunch, I am asking you to stop and find a
way to leave the court behind you when your done, and not drag half of
it back into the shower-room with you!!!! It is EXTREMELY IRRITATING
to go in to take a shower and have your tootsies fill with sand. I
am sure you can find a way to keep the sand outside where it belongs.
Thanks or else, Frank Burns
___________________________________________________________________________
From: KIM::SHEPPERD 10-MAR-1987 21:11:45.79
To: @sys$mail:engineer,SHEPPERD
CC:
Subj: What's new?
Just when you thought you had it all figured out, we go and change everything.
What has been changed:
Each user on all the systems now has a unique UIC (User Identification Code)
which makes the cluster software officially released. You no longer need to use
DECnet to copy files back and forth between systems. You shouldn't even need to
copy files back and forth at all (except for backup purposes). For those of you
who have directories on other systems, you can access your files (for read and
write) from any system by using the device names of node$USERDISK (userdisk(s))
or node$SYSDEVICE (system disk) for example:
$ DIR KIM$USERDISK:[FRED]
Please avoid using the old (DECNET) method with KIM::, CHARM::, etc. We'd all
appreciate it and so will you. I suggest that you use logical names to point to
the various disks on which you may have directories. I think that you'll find
the cluster much more convenient especially with PRINT, IMI and DIO procedures.
The next thing we changed was the way the ques work on Kim and Charm (Sandy will
soon be joining this group). They operate from a common job que manager file so
each "knows" about the other's ques (both print and batch). Using the cluster
software we were able to make the two line printers spool from a common
SYS$PRINT. The consequence of this is that the items you asked to be printed on
Kim for example, may in fact be printed on Charm's line printer and visa-versa.
So, look in the baskets of either printer for your printout. At the moment, the
batch ques work the same as they always have. You can still reference them as
SYS$BATCH, etc. but they are really named KIM$BATCH or CHARM$BATCH, etc. As for
the letter quality printers, you can use the PRINT command from either Kim or
Charm to either the NEC spinwriter or the Diablo 630 in the common area:
$ PRINT/QUE=LQ0 your_file !NEC spinwriter
$ PRINT/QUE=RAINS$LQ your_file !Diablo
What will be changed:
I'm requesting input from everyone before I make the next major change. If you
have some serious objections, then maybe I won't do it this way:
I plan to combine all the user authorization files of all the systems into one
common file. After this is done, all users will have an account on ALL the
systems, however, each user's account will point to a single directory located
on what will be called his/her "home" system. For example, my home system would
be Kim, so which ever system I logged into, my default directory would be
KIM$USERDISK:[SHEPPERD] so the LOGIN.COM in that directory would be run at
login. Some one else's home directory may be on a different system. Those of you
with accounts on multiple systems will have to specify (if it isn't obvious to
me) which one they want as their home directory. There are some benefits to this
procedure at present, namely the IMI and DIO could be run by anyone without
having to have accounts on Kim and Charm nor would they have to copy files
around or change defaults or whatever. You would no longer need node names on
the mail distributions and indeed you should NOT put node names on the dist
lists, since everyone will have only one MAIL file (in or off of your home
directory) and all systems will know about all the users. This would make
sending mail quite a bit faster (probably almost as quick as sending to someone
on the same node as you). Kim and Charm's batch queues could be combined so that
batch jobs would be scheduled alternately between them to better even the load.
Techincally you could switch systems (via a SET HOST) if you found the one you
were on was too busy, however, you'd be jumping from the frying pan into the
fire if you switched from say, Kim to Ernie, Sandy or Mike during the day. I say
this is technically possible, but Ernie, Sandy and Mike don't have the same
software installed as Kim and Charm (and visa-versa) so your jobs probably
wouldn't run on those systems anyway. We will be adding more Kim's, Charm's and
Ernie's to the cluster in the next few months so the SET HOST scheme may become
more of a possibility. We plan to make the first new VAX a processor dedicated
to batch jobs. You'd still be able to SET HOST to it, but you may not want to if
it has 4 to 6 batch jobs running on it all the time. More about this as things
develop.
These features, however, do not come free. The cluster node that has the user
authorization, mail, network, job que and rightslist files has to remain up or
the whole cluster would grind to a halt (crash). I'm going to put those files on
the system with the highest reliability whichever one that might be. Accessing a
file through the cluster costs both CPU time and access time. The raw data rate
is roughly 1/2 of what it is via a locally connected disk and between 10 and 25%
of both systems invloved in the I/O dissappears during the transfer. We are not,
for most of the applications that we run on Kim and Charm anyway, anywhere near
being I/O bound so that might not even appear noticeable.
From: KIM::SHEPPERD 12-MAR-1987 15:53:33.92
To: @dups,SHEPPERD
CC:
Subj: One for all...
You guys currently have accounts on more than one system. Beginning on Monday
morning, EVERYONE will have an account on ALL the systems. This is available
because after that date there will be a single user authorization file. This
file will point your default login to a single node and no matter which system
you login on, you will always be pointing to that same "home" directory.
The consequence of this is that you will no longer be able to get at your MAIL
messages on a particular node by just logging on on that node. What you will
have to do (or even what you can do now) is, once in MAIL, type:
MAIL> SET FILE node$USERDISK:
where "node" is the node name on which you wish to read mail. If your mail
directories are not named the same on each different node, then you'll need to
specify the directory in addition to the node$USERDISK:. For example, in my
case, I've SET MAIL_DIR on all the nodes except ERNIE to [.MAIL] so I'd have
to type:
MAIL> SET FILE ERNIE$USERDISK:[SHEPPERD]
to get to my mail messages on ERNIE.
This also implies that only the LOGIN.COM file that is present in your home
directory will be run at login. If you have procedures that need to be run
differently on each node (as many of us do), then you'll need to use
conditional execution in your LOGIN.COM file such as:
$ node := 'f$getsyi("NODENAME") !see which node we are, trim spaces
$ kim = "IF node .EQS. ""KIM"" then "
$ _kim = "IF node .NES. ""KIM"" then "
$ charm = "IF node .EQS. ""CHARM"" then "
$ _charm = "IF node .NES. ""CHARM"" then "
$ kim $ do_kim_only_command
$ _kim $ do_command_only_if_not_kim
$ _kim _charm $ do_command_if_not_kim_and_not_charm
You get the picture?
ds
___________________________________________________________________________
From: KIM::SHEPPERD 14-MAR-1987 15:27:29.18
To: @SYS$MAIL:EVERYBODY,SHEPPERD
CC:
Subj: New mail procedures
Starting today, everybody has an account on every computer. This means that
MAIL "knows" about everyone on every node all the time. You no longer need
to specify a node name when mailing to someone, and you should remove all
references to node names in any .DIS files that you may have made. MAIL
will stil work if you use a node name, but you'll find to be MUCH faster
if you don't (and everyone else will benefit from the reduced CPU loads too).
ds
___________________________________________________________________________
From: KIM::FRYE 16-MAR-1987 15:51:03.20
To: @SYS$MAIL:JUNK
CC:
Subj: "The Sands Of Atari"
The SAND epidemic here at Atari is out of control.... First it invaded
our main lobby, then you could do the shuffle on the manufacturing floor,
and now the sand dunes in our showers. Where will it end?
I agree with Chris, the sand has got to go.
Since the ball has landed in my court, I've notified the landscape con-
tractor to install a hose bib (connection) in the patio area near the
volleyball court. This will allow the players to wash off their feet
befor entering the buildings.
An up-side-down hard brush will also be installed to clean the bottoms
of shoes.
Now the ball is back in your court, step on it, jump on it, drown it
or what ever, let's keep the sand out of our buildings.
Thanks, Bob
___________________________________________________________________________
From: KIM::SHEPPERD 16-MAR-1987 18:47:45.69
To: @NEWDUPS,SHEPPERD
CC:
Subj: Changes to the changes
Ok, ok, ok...It's back to the way it was (sort of). If you login to a system
where you have a local LOGIN.COM in a directory on the local USERDISK named the
same as it is on your home system, then the system will execute that login,
define SYS$LOGIN to point to that directory and SET DEFAULT to the new
SYS$LOGIN. If not then it'll execute your LOGIN.COM on your home node and leave
your default there. For example:
User FRED's home directory is KIM$USERDISK:[FRED]
He also owns the directory CHARM$USERDISK:[FRED] and it has
a LOGIN.COM file in it.
He also owns the directory ERNIE$USERDISK:[FRED] and it doesn't
have a LOGIN.COM file in it.
He has no directory on SANDY
If FRED logs in on CHARM, it'll execute the LOGIN.COM file in
CHARMUSER$DISK:[FRED] and set his default there too.
If he logs into ERNIE or SANDY, then, since there's no LOGIN.COM file,
it'll execute KIM$USERDISK:[FRED] and leave his default at KIM.
ds
___________________________________________________________________________
From: CHARM::SHEPPERD 17-MAR-1987 20:27:13.58
To: @SYS$MAIL:ENGINEER,SHEPPERD
CC:
Subj: DOWND
More changes. DOWND used to blow up if you tried to download too big of
a file, now it'll try to download what it can instead. It may still exit
with error status on KIM until Kim can be re-booted to reset an errant
sysgen parameter.
There is a problem with DCL in that it won't return to the requesting
program the complete command line if using the MCR facility. You MUST
follow the program name with whitespace to delimit user stuff from
DCL stuff. For example, in the case:
$ DNL := MCR DOWND
$ DNL/ADDR=0:1000 fred !or
$ MCR DOWND/ADDR=0:1000 fred
DCL will use the expression DOWND/ADDR=0:1000 (which is what the expression
will be after the DNL symbol substitution) as the filename of the program to
run and will "eat" the /ADDR=0:1000. DOWND asks DCL for the remaining
command line parameters and is given only "fred".
You can get around this by one of the following ways:
$ DNL /ADDR=0:1000 fred !always follow the DNL with a space or
^ this space is important
$ MCR DOWND /ADDR=0:1000 fred !ditto
^ watch this space
$ DNL = "MCR DOWND " !define DNL with a trailing space or
^ this space is important
$ DNL := $DOWND !define DNL as a foreign command
The setup time for DOWND increases linearly with the size of the input file
in ADDRESS SPACE, not necessarily with the quantiy of data. This is because
it builds a memory image of the data to be loaded. If you compile 1 byte at
address 0 and one byte at address 1000 (hex), the file is assumed to be 65k
bytes big even though there's only 2 bytes in memory. Two things happen as
a result of this. One is you may exceed your virtual memory quota (most people
have about 8Mb of quota). The second is the excessive time it'll take VMS to
deliver n megabytes of virtual memory. If you know what the address limits
are of the data you want to download (or MIXIT, it has the same restrictions),
then specify them. It's fastest if you specify both a lower and upper limit.
It's slightly faster still if you specify to exclude symbols (/NOSYM), even if
the file you are downloading has no symbols in it.
On a similar note, when using MIXIT, I suggest that you select a binary file
format wherever possible; VLDA is the most flexible. Not only are the files
smaller, but MIXIT, DIO, IMI and DOWND can process them many times faster
than they can the TEKHEX and ROM formats. A number of you are taking .HEX
files, MIXIT'ng them into .ROM files then doing something else with them.
If that something else doesn't involve editing or assembling, then you should
be MIXIT'ng them into a VLDA file (VLDA files can be appended).
ds
___________________________________________________________________________
From: KIM::SHEPPERD 18-MAR-1987 18:49:39.97
To: @SYS$MAIL:ENGINEER,SHEPPERD
CC:
Subj: Take a BATCH of this...
There's a new batch que on Kim and Charm that you are free to use which will
alternately submit jobs on each system in order to balance the batch job load. I
highly recommend that you use this, or at least try it a few times to see if it
really works. After a breakin period, I will make the procedure the default. In
your LOGIN.COM (at least those on Kim and Charm), place:
$ assign 780_BATCH SYS$BATCH
or, if you'd rather not "break" SYS$BATCH, then do submits as:
$ SUBMIT/QUE=780_BATCH bla_bla...
or,
$ SUB*MIT :== SUBMIT/QUE=780_BATCH/NOTIFY...etc.
If you are one of those people with directories on both Kim and Charm, then
read on...
There could be a problem if you submit a job on Kim, it starts up on Charm
executes your LOGIN.COM file on Charm and that LOGIN.COM doesn't setup the same
environment as you've setup on Kim. Your batch job may fail because some symbol
or logical name hasn't been defined as expected or some such thing. When
we first went to common system authorization file, I chose to force everyone
to use a LOGIN.COM file in a "home" directory in order to remove these kinds
of problems, but that caused other problems instead. Soooo, I put it back the
way it was. Now with the BATCH system, it becomes yet again slightly different.
(I think this is how operating systems get so confused; the designers have to
use bandaids to make the system compatable and really make a mess of
things).
What happens in BATCH is the system finds which disk the file you have submitted
lives on. It then "pretends" to have logged in on that system for the purposes
of looking for your LOGIN.COM and setting SYS$LOGIN. This will not work under
all circumstances, such as submitting a .COM file that lives on a different
node. Also the node conditionals that you may have in your LOGIN.COM file
will NOT be fooled by this. Anyway, try it. I will probably work fine for your
simple day to day stuff such as compiles, links etc.
___________________________________________________________________________
From: SANDY::DAVE 23-MAR-1987 10:30:45.21
To: @SYS$MAIL:JUNK
CC:
Subj: A RECOMMENDATION
EVERY SUNDAY NIGHT FROM 8 TO 10 PM THERE'S A GREAT SHOW CALLED
"NEW VISIONS" ON THE VH-1 MUSIC CHANNEL (10-B ON GILL CABLE)
IT FEATURES FUSION JAZZ, JAPANESE JAZZ, JAZZ JAZZ, AND JUST PLAIN BIZARRE
VIDEOS YOU WILL PROBABLY SEE NO WHERE ELSE. TRY IMAGINING A MIX OF
SPYROGYRA
SADAO WATANABE
MARK EGAN
FRANK ZAPPA
FRESH AIRE/WINDOM HILL
MILES DAVIS
JEAN LUC PONTY
ETC.
AND ONE OF THE BEST FEATURES IS THAT EACH WEEK THEY HAVE ONE OF THESE GUYS
AS THE GUEST V-J, SO ITS GOT A DIFFERENT ANGLE EACH TIME.
CZECH IT OUT!!!!!!!!!!!!
___________________________________________________________________________
From: KIM::MARGOLIN 23-MAR-1987 16:28:05.30
To: ERNIE::BROWN,MARGOLIN
CC:
Subj: RE: CONTEST DEADLINE
New Slogan:
" Come Play With Us"
Jed
___________________________________________________________________________
From: KIM::DOWNEND 25-MAR-1987 17:16:46.03
To: @SYS$MAIL:ENGINEER
CC:
Subj: 680x0 Processor Prices
I just received some price quotes from Mary B. on 680x0 processors.
Since they are quoting leadtimes, I assume they are available now.
-----------------------------------------------------------------
8 mHz, 5000 qty.
plastic ceramic
-------- --------
68000 MOTOROLA 6.75 - 6 WEEKS
SIGNETICS 3.10 5.10 ?
HITACHI 8.20 ?
68010 MOTOROLA 14.55 24.80 2-4 WEEKS
------------------------------------------------------------------
WOW! Components will get the plastic parts qualified ASAP. Be sure to call out
the P/N for the plastic parts in future designs. Programmers should REALLY
consider 68000's over 68010's since it can mean another $10.00 savings!
___________________________________________________________________________
From: ERNIE::ARVIDSON 26-MAR-1987 07:32:09.05
To: @SYS$MAIL:ENGINEER
CC:
Subj: Reply to "680x0 Processor Prices"
Another reason to strongly consider the 68000 over the 68010 is
that as far as I know, only Motorola makes the 68010. Signetics, contrary
to the 68010 data in their book, will most likely never produce this.
Another source for the 68000 is Thomson Components Mostek. Their salesperson
claimed last week that they are very competitive. He will bring databooks,
availability and more details soon.
erwin
___________________________________________________________________________
From: KIM::FRYE 1-APR-1987 15:53:48.96
To: @SYS$MAIL:EVERYBODY
CC:
Subj: POWER SHUTDOWN
PG&E HAS INFORMED ME THAT ON SUNDAY, APRIL 12 THIS BUSINESS PARK WILL BE
WITHOUT ELECTRICITY FROM 6AM TO 4:30PM.
PG&E WILL BE ADDING ADDITIONAL VOLTAGE TO THIS AREA AS WELL AS INSTALLING
A NEW TRANSFORMER FOR OUR BUILDING.
PG&E WILL RECONFIRM THIS DATE AT WHICH TIME I WILL DO THE SAME, (KEEP IN
MIND, THERE WILL BE NO ACCESS INTO OUR BUILDING DURING THE SHUTDOWN).
___________________________________________________________________________
From: KIM::DOWNEND 1-APR-1987 18:11:15.56
To: @SYS$MAIL:ENGINEER
CC:
Subj: FYI: Surface-mount IC's - PCB processing
The Atari PCB line is building about 650 NAMCO-designed Rolling Thunder
PC Boards. Each Rolling Thunder PCB has (2) surface mount devices (SMD).
They are plastic flat packs with gull-wing leads. Each SMD has 80 pins
on 20-25 mil centers; there are 24 leads on two sides and 16 leads on the
other two sides.
Normally, the SMD's are attached first, using "vapor-phase" or "re-flow"
equipment, and then the pin-in-hole parts are wave-soldered as a second step.
To do this successfully however, requires the use of certain types of fluxs
during wave-solder and a FREON wash after wave-solder. Since Atari does not
have the right flux/wash, we cannot use that processing method. Instead, the
PCB's will be wave soldered here at Atari as usual, then the PCB's will be sent
out to have the SMD's attached as a second step. They will hand-solder each pin
of the SMD. The Cost: $3.00 per PCB ($1.50 per part).
___________________________________________________________________________
From: CHARM::SHEPPERD 1-APR-1987 20:27:12.00
To: @SYS$MAIL:ENGINEER,SHEPPERD
CC:
Subj: downd
I noticed that the AMS dev sys Xoff's the vax after a DOWND before it
has a chance to type out the stats, so it doesn't run SLEEP. I fixed
that by making it not type out the stats anymore. After the download
it quietly goes to sleep without any messages. If for some reason
you want to see the stats, you can include a /STAT on the command
line.
ds
___________________________________________________________________________
From: KIM::FRYE 9-APR-1987 09:45:59.61
To: @SYS$MAIL:EVERYBODY
CC:
Subj: FACILITIES BITS & PIECES
POWER SHUTDOWN Just a reminder, the power will be off for both 675 and
735 on Sunday, 4/12, from 6 am to 4:30 pm. All perishables should be re-
moved from department refrigerators and this would be an opportune time to
defrost.
MEN'S SHOWERS Both showers are running full force.
VOLLEYBALL Because of your concerned effords in keeping the sand out
of the building, a mini foot shower has been installed in the patio.
FOCUS ROOM Auditors will be using the focus room starting Monday and
through the end of April.
Thanks, Bob
___________________________________________________________________________
From: ERNIE::GROSSMAN 9-APR-1987 10:19:25.95
To: @SYS$MAIL:ENGINEER
CC:
Subj: VTI Application Notes
Morgan Hoff has asked me to make-up a new binder to be housed in the
CAD Lab - "VTI Application Notes"
Included in that binder will be three sets of notes -
"Final Verification of Cell-Based IC Designs
Using Cell Layout"
"Test Generation Guidelines"
"Power and Clock Distribution in Cell-Based IC Designs"
___________________________________________________________________________
From: SANDY::DAVE 9-APR-1987 14:44:35.28
To: @SYS$MAIL:JUNK
CC:
Subj: IT FIGURES
SO YOU SAY YOU'RE CONFUSED BY RECENT EVENTS FOREIGN EVENTS WISE???
YOU'D LIKE TO KNOW IF THE PEOPLE IN CHARGE ARE REALLY THAT STUPID???
WELL BUNKY, I HAVE FIGURED IT OUT!! YOU SEE ITS LIKE THIS:
FACT #1 : ITS BEEN WELL KNOWN THAT THE NEW SOVIET EMBASSY IS SITTING
IN A VERY ADVANTAGEOUS LOCATION TO RECIEVE ALL SORTS OF MICROWAVE PHONE
LINKS, AND HAS DIRECT LINE OF SIGHT ON A NUMBER OF IMPORTANT GOV'T BUILDINGS.
FACT #2 : ITS BEEN WELL KNOWN BUT UNDER REPORTED, THAT OUR NEW
EMBASSY BUILDING IS BEING RIDDLED WITH BUGS AS IT IS CONSTRUCTED.
FACT #3 : IT IS COMMON KNOWLEDGE THAT THE STAFF AT THE US MOSCOW
EMBASSY IS ALMOST EXCLUSIVELY KGB AND FRIENDS.
SO MY THEORY IS THAT THE MARINE GUARD WAS UNDER ORDERS TO FRATERNIZE
SO AS TO CREATE ENOUGH OF A SCANDAL THAT THE FACT OUR NEW EMBASSY WAS BEING
BUGGED COULD DRAGGED IN AS PART OF THE MEDIA EVENT. ALL THIS TO GIVE THE
PREZ ENOUGH OF AN EXCUSE TO SAY " THE SOVIETS CAN NOT OCCUPY THEIR EMBASSY,
UNTIL WE RECIEVE A NEW, BUG FREE EMBASSY"; AN EVENT THAT WILL NOT HAPPEN
FOR A LONG, LONG TIME.
OF COURSE, THIS SCENARIO WOULD BE TRANSPARENT UNLESS WE HAD ALREADY
DEMONSTRATED OUR INCOMPETENCE WITH THE IRAN IMBROGLIO.
SO REST EASY MY FRIENDS. IRAN DIDN'T USE US TO STING THE RUSS-IONS
AND THE ISRAELIS, WE USED THE IRANIANS TO STING THE RUSSIANS AND IN THE
PROCESS LENGTHEN THE IRAN-IRAQ WAR, WHICH RON'S PERSONAL FRIEND
ADNON KASHOGGHI WANTS TO CONTINUE, SO HE CAN KEEP SELLING THEM ARMS!!
MY HAT IS OFF TO COL. OLIVER FOR THIS BRILLIANT MASTER STROKE.
P.S. IT IS NO COINCIDENCE THAT OLIVER N. IS A MARINE>>>>>>
___________________________________________________________________________
From: KIM::DOWNEND 13-APR-1987 12:28:54.31
To: @SYS$MAIL:ENGINEER
CC:
Subj: Surface mount correction
Put it in print and it's bound to be wrong. The 80-pin SMD's in Rolling
Thunder are being soldered on at a cost of $3.00 each, total of $6.00 per
board, not the originally quoted $1.50 each, $3.00 per board.
___________________________________________________________________________
From: ERNIE::DENCKER "Andrea Dencker" 13-APR-1987 19:40:42.52
To: @SYS$MAIL:JUNK,DENCKER
CC:
Subj: Telephone area codes (online info)
MAGICALLY QUICK SEARCH FUNCTION
If you are interested in having at your fingertips an answer to
the question "What part of the country is that telephone area
code?" or "What's the area code of Boston?", here's how to get it.
Simply insert this line into your LOGIN.COM file anywhere above the line
that reads $ EXIT:
$ AC :== SEARCH SYS$USERDISK:[DENCKER.MISC]AREA-CODES.LIS
or you can copy that AREA-CODES.LIS file over to your directory and call it
by your new name.
To use the "AC" command, type:
$ ac what-you're-looking-for For example: $ ac boston
$ ac 818
$ ac oregon
$ ac "new york"
Note that if you're looking for two words that are separated by a space, you
have to enclosed them with quote marks.
The resulting display on your screen will be all lines in the file
AREA-CODES.LIS that contain the characters you're searching for. The file
only has the largest city in most area codes; the rest you have to look up
in the phone book. The file does, however, mention the fact that three new
area codes will be created in 1988 in Colorado, Florida, and Massachusetts.
You can type the search string in uppercase or lowercase -- it doesn't
matter. If you don't like the "ac" command, you can make up a different
word, such as "area".
Remember, after you update your LOGIN.COM file, you have to type
$ RESTART to make the new command take effect (equivalent to logging out and
in again). No warranties of accuracy or fitness for a particular purpose
are expressed or implied.
Andrea
___________________________________________________________________________
From: KIM::DOWNEND 16-APR-1987 11:57:47.42
To: STEMPLER, SNYDER, MCCARTHY, LY, HOFF, MARGOLIN, ARVIDSON, MEYETTE
CC:
Subj: PLASTIC 68000'S
According to the Components Engineering Status report as of 4/15/87:
"Two Signetic plastic 68000 microprocessor samples were tested in a System I
game [running Road Blasters - 7.xx mHz clock] for 96 hours at 70 degrees
centigrade with no failures." I believe they were 8 mHz parts.
QUESTION: DO ANY OF YOU HAVE ANY OTHER TESTS YOU WOULD LIKE PERFORMED BEFORE
WE ADD THIS PART TO THE AVL?
If yes, then please get your input to Erwin by 4/21/87.
Erwin, if you do not receive any additional test requests, please add this
part to the AVL and give Gary Stempler and Doug Snyder the part number since
they have immediate applications.
Thanks, Chris
___________________________________________________________________________
From: KIM::SHEPPERD 18-APR-1987 15:21:16.38
To: @NEWTERM,SHEPPERD
CC:
Subj: Bad terminal lines
The TXG and TXH terminal ports on Kim crapped out so I moved all the terminals
that were connected to any of those lines to alternate ones. So if your
dev_sys (most were dev sys's) doesn't work, it may be because I hooked it
up wrong or unhooked a port that was recorded as being unused but it
really was.
The following lines were disconnected because they were recorded as being
unused:
TXB7: edt_user in the Rustbucket
TXD1: edt_user in the ceiling (??)
TXD7: edt_user in the Audio lab
TXF4: edt_user in the Rustbucket
TXF5: ams_68k in the Rustbucket
TXG6: blu_box in the Rustbucket
The following lines were moved:
From: To: Type Location
TXG0: TXF5: edt_user Klein's office
TXG1: TXI2: edt_user Shepperd's office
TXG2: TXA0: blu_box Margolin's lab
TXG4: TXA4: blu_box Morris's lab
TXG5: TXA5: blu_box Horn's lab
TXG7: TXA6: imi_prog IMI programmer
TXH0: TXA7: blu_box Audio dev sys I
TXH1: TXB7: ams_68k Audio Omnibyte I
TXH3: TXD1: blu_box Thrasher lab
TXH4: TXD3: blu_box Wiebenson's DND
TXH6: TXD7: blu_box Dawe's lab
TXH7: TXF4: blu_box Dungeon lab
ds
___________________________________________________________________________
From: KIM::FRYE 20-APR-1987 14:42:36.64
To: @SYS$MAIL:EVERYBODY
CC:
Subj: EARLY BIRD LUNCHERASE
Tomorrow, Tuesday we will need to shut off the cafeteria grills and hood
at 1:30 pm for cleaning and testing of the halon system. Be sure to get
your order in early. All other services will remain the same.
___________________________________________________________________________
From: ERNIE::CAMERON 20-APR-1987 14:49:01.79
To: @SYS$MAIL:JUNK
CC:
Subj:
DID YOU HEAR ABOUT THE FIRST CAFETERIA ON THE MOON?
GREAT FOOD....... NO ATMOSPHERE......
___________________________________________________________________________
From: SANDY::PAAUW 20-APR-1987 15:13:06.49
To: @SYS$MAIL:ENGINEER
CC:
Subj: VTI CAD TOOLS DOCUMENTATION AVAILABLE FOR V6R5
The V6R5 SOFTWARE RELEASE BULLETIN, V6R5 SOFTWARE STATUS BULLETIN, and a cover
letter for the V6R5 software are now in the black binder labelled "SOFTWARE
STATUS BULLETINS" in the cad lab. The cover letter lists some major changes
to V6R5 and also covers standard cell incompatibilities between V6R4 and V6R5.
-- DON
___________________________________________________________________________
From: ERNIE::EVELYN 21-APR-1987 08:14:01.30
To: @SYS$MAIL:JUNK
CC:
Subj: Secretary's Week
Just a reminder for those who might be interested:
Flower list is available in the lobby - order by Wednesday for
delivery on Thursday. Some of the specials - Large roses 2 doz $10.00
Baby roses 2 doz. $9.00 and Large carnations 2 doz. $10.00.
There is a complete list of all the flowers offered from the
Flowerman.
___________________________________________________________________________
From: KIM::FRYE 22-APR-1987 14:11:23.09
To: @SYS$MAIL:JUNK
CC:
Subj: BITS & PIECES.....
April 22, HAPPY SECRETARIAL DAY to all the bosses out there.....
From manufacturing..... Two gentlemen resembling Bartles & Jaymes are
looking into the possibility of a joint mafg. - engr. road blaster day.
Customer Service..... requesting that the perpetual volleyball trophy be
placed in their area for awhile.
Rec committee..... A road blaster for each employee ???
Egineering..... FOR SALE, ONE USED SKATE BOARD RAMP, disassembly extra.
___________________________________________________________________________
From: KIM::PPS 22-APR-1987 17:32:03.57
To: @sys$mail:engineer
CC:
Subj: Soliciting input on new PBUTIL
The PPS staff is in the process of designing an updated
utility to take the place of the current PBEXTRACT, PBREDUCE, and
PBFORM functions. This new utility will be written in C, will
handle the vertical reflect capability of our new hardwares, and
support all current features across horizontal & vertical
extractions. Additionally, this utility will include extensions
to work with the new .RAD file format to be used on the new
Animation Workstation (TAT for short). Since this utility will
support our graphic work into the 1990's, I am soliciting input
during this design phase; Any Suggestions ?
A final note, the .DAT & .PBR format will be replaced with
a more friendly file format, and a macro file include feature
will be implemented to allow for customized output formats.
Mr. PPS
___________________________________________________________________________
From: KIM::MCCARTHY 23-APR-1987 12:07:07.86
To: @sys$mail:engineer,MCCARTHY
CC:
Subj: Programming programmable logic
A purchase order is being put through to replace the 303A-001 DATA I/O
logicpak adaptor with the 303A-011A V02 adaptor. (We get a $50 refund for
trading in the old one.)
With the -011a we can program most makes of PALs and IFPLs. Without it we
cannot program any PALs. The only thing we loose is the ability to program
the Signetics 100 series (82S100 - 82S106). I have complete literature on
the -011A. Come by if you want to see it.
The assumption is being made that the ability to program the Signetics 100
series is no loss. If this is incorrect then speak quickly.
Pat McC.
___________________________________________________________________________
From: KIM::MARGOLIN 23-APR-1987 12:45:52.32
To: MCCARTHY,MARGOLIN
CC:
Subj: DIO
Are the 82S123, 129, 130, 131, 137, and 185 part of the Signetics 100 series
that we will no longer be able to program?
___________________________________________________________________________
From: KIM::MCCARTHY 23-APR-1987 19:38:59.97
To: KIM::MARGOLIN,MCCARTHY
CC:
Subj: RE: DIO
No. We will still be able to program all proms.
The 82S100 series refers to 82S100 through 82S103.
Pat.
___________________________________________________________________________
From: KIM::MCCARTHY 24-APR-1987 10:50:35.76
To: @SYS$MAIL:ENGINEER,MCCARTHY
CC:
Subj: programming logic part 2
I need to clarify my earlier message on programming programmaple logic.
The 82S100 series refers only to 82S100 through 82S103.
The LOGICPAK and its adaptors only program programmable logic (PLAs,IFPLs,
FPLA, PALs, etc.
PROMS are not affected in any way as they are programed using the UNIPAK.
I.E. You can still program 82S23,123,129,130,131,137,147,185 ETC.
Sorry for the confusion.
Pat.
___________________________________________________________________________
From: KIM::ALBAUGH "Dr. Bizarro" 28-APR-1987 16:22:38.02
To: @SYS$MAIL:ENGINEER
CC:
Subj: "new" as68k
I have just replaced as68k on both Kim and Charm. If it blows up
on you, change your symbol to use utl$exe:old_as68k instead. Then VaxMail
me a note giving particulars of the screwup. The new version adds two
features:
If you just say " as68k fred", it will look for fred.s and fred.asm
(in that order) rather than giving you a blank look.
If you use the -x1 switch, it will change all "move.l #sym,An" to
"lea sym,An", which is a wash in bytes and cycles, but which the Applied
Microsystems will properly disassemble. This feature was added to a custom
version (utl$exe:xas68k.exe) and has been used for some weeks by some Eds.
The current change is to make it switch selectable.
Mike
___________________________________________________________________________
From: KIM::FRYE 30-APR-1987 11:22:29.53
To: @SYS$MAIL:JUNK
CC:
Subj: LAUNDRY ROOM ?
It has been brought to my attention that the men's shower room has been
turned into a messy laundry room.
For the benefit of all, please remove excess clothing and towels when
through using the showers.
Wall lockers have been provited for this purpose and if needed, additional
lockers can be provited.
Thanks for your cooperation.
___________________________________________________________________________
From: ERNIE::FRYE 30-APR-1987 11:34:03.33
To: @SYS$MAIL:JUNK
CC:
Subj: CORRECTION
PROVITED SHOULD BE PROVIDED, SORRY
___________________________________________________________________________
From: CHARM::MORRIS 5-MAY-1987 13:28:16.25
To: @SYS$MAIL:ENGINEER
CC:
Subj: Greenhill C, Are you having trouble??
If your greenhills C compiler just stopped working see me.
Jim.
___________________________________________________________________________
From: KIM::ALBAUGH "Dr. Bizarro" 6-MAY-1987 17:09:25.38
To: @SYS$MAIL:ENGINEER
CC:
Subj: 680x0 Systems?
I'm attempting to put together a "generic" foundation/o.s./utility ROM
for Motorola 680x0 based game hardware. The idea is to get something that is
more-or-less standard from the programmer's (and operator's) point of view, and
relatively easily "ported" to new hardware. In doing this, I have become aware
of the following different hardware configurations for which games are being
actively developed. I would very much like to hear from anyone who knows about
the others that I know exist, with a description like that below:
Hardware name Contact Description
System I Ly/Albaugh The original Stamp/MO 68K hardware
Comes in at least three flavors
Gauntlet McCarthy/Flanagan Single-board/More M.O.s
Catacombs Snyder/Flanagan Cost reduced, Single board "System I"
Rasteroids Stempler/Rotberg Cost reduced/Interlaced/"med res"
System II/68 ??/Harper? System II (med res) with 68010 CPU
Tank...??? ??/Turner/Avellar Looks like Gauntlet so far?
??? ??/Kwinn/Salwitz? Dueling 68000's?
System IV ??/Morris May not be applicable
The most important info I need is the contact person for the hardware
and software.
Thanks in advance,
Mike
___________________________________________________________________________
From: KIM::MARGOLIN 6-MAY-1987 17:18:08.21
To: ALBAUGH,MARGOLIN
CC:
Subj: 680x0
System 4 exists but there are no plans to produce it.
Instead, we will be using:
GSP TURBO
which is a 68010 based design that uses a Texas Instruments
34010 GSP for Graphics. The "TURBO" is because of a clever
trick to get it to do Polygon Fills at 48 Mega-Pixels/sec.
The hardware has an Analog Devices ADSP-2100 to do math.
Jed
___________________________________________________________________________
From: KIM::MARGOLIN 7-MAY-1987 16:47:38.06
To: POPKIN,MARGOLIN
CC:
Subj:
Gary, I think this is the connector.
Atari Games Inc. Approved Vendors List -
7-MAY-1987 16:43:33
AVL Search for: 179157-060
P/N GENERIC DESCRIPTION
179157-060 CONNECTOR,HEADER,60CKT,RIGHT-ANGLE,.10_CENTERS
MANUFACTURER VENDOR P/N
BERG_ELECTRONICS/DUPONT 65823-126
Jed
___________________________________________________________________________
From: KIM::SHEPPERD 7-MAY-1987 17:09:14.20
To: @sys$mail:engineer,SHEPPERD
CC:
Subj: A new and improved LLF
I just released version 2.1 of LLF, so watch out. There were a number of
bugs in the cross-reference feature which should have caused an acc-vio
failure or at least jibberish to be printed if anyone had asked for one.
There is also a bug in the VAXC optimizer that I haven't been able to
isolate which may have caused some unusual problems. The latest version is
compiled with that level of optimization removed (so far, no problems).
The two most visible changes with this version of LLF are the sticky
directories on the input filenames and the FILE and LIBRARY commands
in the option file.
The sticky directories behave exactly the same as all the other VMS
commands; subsequent files in a list inherit the node, device and
directory of the file preceeding it. For instance:
$ LLF one,fred:two,three
the file "three" inherits the device and directory specified by the
logical name "fred:" on file two. If you don't want that, you need
to say:
$ LLF one,fred:two,sys$disk:[]three,four,...etc.
the SYS$DISK:[] will restore the default to the current default directory.
The FILE and LIBRARY commands in the option file allow for you to get around
the 1024 character limits placed on the DCL command line input. You can
specifiy as many files as you need and they will be processed in the order
that they appear in the FILE/LIBRARY directive(s) and also in the order
in which the option file appears in the command line input. For example,
an option file named FRED.OPT contains:
FILE ( one.ol two.ol )
LIBRARY ( three.lib )
FILE ( four.ol )
and a command input of $ LLF five,fred/opt,six will process the files
in the following order:
five,one,two,three/lib,four,six
As with command input, the default file types of .OL, .OBJ or .LIB will
be used on the files specified in the option file and the sticky directories
behave the same as on the command line except the directories are not
remembered across FILE or LIBRARY directives (i.e. each new FILE directive
starts with a default of SYS$DISK:[]).
___________________________________________________________________________
From: ERNIE::ARVIDSON 11-MAY-1987 16:41:28.43
To: MARGOLIN,ARVIDSON
CC:
Subj: Resistor Network, Ladder.
I talked to Glen Miller, the sales rep for MuRata. He would like to obtain
pricing. What was the small quantity that you wanted to order now? What production
quantities would you like pricing for? The question came up as to which values are
matched to 0.25%; we assume that 1K's are matched to each other and that 2K's are
matched to each other. Am I correct is assuming that the 1K's and 2K's are matched
to each other also? He said that these would have to be special ordered since none
of the resistors are matched to 0.25%.
erwin
___________________________________________________________________________
From: KIM::MARGOLIN 11-MAY-1987 17:48:22.82
To: ARVIDSON,MARGOLIN
CC:
Subj: R2R Resistor Network
Irwin, I am sending you a copy of my correspondance on the R2R Ladder Network.
The question of what matches within 0.25% has never come up before. In order
for this thing to work, each "R" must be within 0.25% of every other "R".
Since "R" is nominally 1K, 0.25% is 2.5 ohms so that each "R" is plus or minus
2.5 Ohms and each "2R" is plus or minus 5.0 Ohms. If the "R"s don't track
with the "2R"s, it doesn't work. The absolute tolerance on "R" is not critical,
only the relative tolerance.
2 April 1987
Atari Games Corp.
675 Sycamore Drive
P.O. Box 361110
Milpitas, CA 95035-1110
Richard Ponce de Leon
Brooks Technical Group
883 Stierlin Road
Mountain View, CA 94043
Dear Richard,
As Evelyn suggested I am faxing the drawing for the R2R Resistor
Network for which I would like a quote.
I would like the quote for quantities of 1K, 5K, 10K, and 25K.
I expect the game that I am considering this part for will be produced
in the 3rd Quarter this year.
I would also like cost and delivery information for 100 prototype
units.
Sincerely yours,
Jed Margolin
Senior Staff EE
Atari Games Corporation
4/22/87 From Richard Ponce de Leon
NRE for Soft Tooling and 10 prototypes - $250. [8-10 weeks]
NRE for Soft Tooling and 50 prototypes - $300. [8-10 weeks]
NRE for Hard Tooling - $250. [18 weeks]
25K 10K 5K 1K
----- ----- ----- -----
$0.38 $0.43 $0.49 $1.14
24 April 1987
Atari Games Corp.
675 Sycamore Drive
P.O. Box 361110
Milpitas, CA 95035-1110
Jim Calhoun
Moulthrop Sales
Dear Mr. Calhoun,
As Judy suggested I am faxing the drawing for the R2R Resistor
Network for which I would like a quote.
I would like the quote for quantities of 1K, 5K, 10K, and 25K.
I expect the game that I am considering this part for will be produced
in the 3rd Quarter this year.
I would also like cost and delivery information for 100 prototype
units.
I have included the quote from LTI that you got for us three years
ago but you may select whatever company you feel is most appropriate.
Sincerely yours,
Jed Margolin
Senior Staff EE
Atari Games Corporation
Phone: (408) 434-1730
FAX: (408) 434-3776
5/6/87 from Moulthrop Sales, Janet
LTI Resistor Network:
100 prototypes - $3.15 ea + $400 NRE 6-7 weeks ARO
1K 5K 10K 25K
----- ----- ----- -----
$0.63 $0.46 $0.43 $0.38
___________________________________________________________________________
From: KIM::DURFEY 12-MAY-1987 10:37:09.75
To: @SYS$MAIL:JUNK
CC:
Subj: Sick time
A person (non-exempt) has all 12 days of sick time acrued by the end of
the year. This person then contracts hepatitis and not wanting to loose
their two and a half weeks bonus sick pay, comes to work and infects the
entire company and then everyone has to go home.
just a thought
___________________________________________________________________________
From: KIM::MARGOLIN 18-MAY-1987 16:01:46.97
To: MONCRIEF,MARGOLIN
CC:
Subj: VRAMs
Rick,
The Hitachi Video RAMs are: HM53461P-15
The Mitsubishi VRAMs are: M5M4C264P-15
They are available from:
Diplomat Electronics
1310 Kifer Road
Sunnyvale, CA 94086
(408) 737-0204
The Salesman is Dave Appleman but he is usually not
in. Greg seems to do most of the real business.
(I have recently been in contact with them for an
updated quote.)
Jed
___________________________________________________________________________
From: KIM::FRYE 19-MAY-1987 08:54:18.85
To: @SYS$MAIL:EVERYBODY
CC:
Subj: COMPUTER ROOM A/C
THIS MESSAGE IS DIRECTED TO ALL PERSONNEL
HAVING ACCESS TO OUR MAIN COMPUTER ROOM.
Having recently completed installation
of a second a/c backup system for the
computer room, I would like to take this
time to define it's operation.
Should the main a/c unit for the comp-
uter room fail, a red lite located in
the center of the room on the hallway
wall will come on. Please follow the
instructions posted.
A test was conducted following the
compleation of this system. The results
showed that all the computer equipment
could remain running as the room temp
erature remained normal. The additional
backup air was supplied from a/c #2 and
no complaints were received from that
area during the four hour test.
Bob
___________________________________________________________________________
From: ERNIE::GROSSMAN 19-MAY-1987 13:45:08.02
To: @SYS$MAIL:JUNK
CC:
Subj:
W A N T E D
The staff of the all new, extremely exciting Atari Games
Newsletter is searching for "WANT ADS" to appear in this
publication.
If you have any items that you have wanted to buy, sell,
trade, or give away, you now have the opportunity to do that
in the official Atari Games Newsletter. The PREMIER edition
will be put out in June. So you must act fast to make sure
your ad appears in the first edition of this glossy, glitzy
new publication.
All ads need to be submitted to Cyndy Grossman (via Vax mail
"Grossman" or interoffice to 675) NO LATER THAN MAY 29.
So get busy and clean your attic, garage or the whole house
and advertise those items in the Atari Games Newsletter.
[Plans are to publish the newsletter on a bi-monthly basis
so this is NOT a one time offer but will be repeated in
July for inclusion in the Summer Vacation issue to be
published in August.]
___________________________________________________________________________
From: ERNIE::ARVIDSON 20-MAY-1987 17:00:08.08
To: MARGOLIN,ARVIDSON
CC:
Subj: Resistor Network, Ladder Configuration.
Jim Calhoun representing Panasonic tried to contact you to discuss
your requirements. The best that they would be able to do in the area of
matching is 0.5% instead of 0.25%. The absolute value tolerance would be 2%.
Jim wanted to find out if you could live with 0.5% matching.
erwin
___________________________________________________________________________
From: KIM::MARGOLIN 20-MAY-1987 18:14:31.68
To: ARVIDSON,MARGOLIN
CC:
Subj: R2R
I have quotes from Centralab and from LTI for R2R Networks which I
got as a response to my drawing which specified 0.25% matching.
For an 8 bit network, 0.25% gives an accuracy of 0.64 LSB.
0.5% would give an accuracy of 1.28 LSB. Since this figure is
greater than one LSB, there would be no point using 8 bits.
I want to stay with 0.25% matching, especially since we have quotes from
two companies who say they can do it.
The quote from LTI came via Moulthrop Sales which also employs a
gentleman by the name of Jim Calhoun. (Could he be the very same
Jim Calhoun referred to in your message?)
Jed
___________________________________________________________________________
From: ERNIE::ARVIDSON 21-MAY-1987 07:33:42.74
To: KIM::MARGOLIN,ARVIDSON
CC:
Subj: RE: R2R
OK on the 0.25%.
Yes, it's the same Jim Calhoun. I wonder why he didn't mention LTI.
Maybe he assumed that I knew about the LTI quote.
I'll watch for other potential sources.
erwin
___________________________________________________________________________
From: KIM::MCCARTHY 26-MAY-1987 17:34:13.95
To: @SYS$MAIL:ENGINEER,MCCARTHY
CC:
Subj: cost data
A costing of the more common components used on our PC boards is available.
Full instructions are given in the file
kim$userdisk:[MCCARTHY.costs]areadme.lis
To obtain a listing of all the components use
$ print kim$userdisk:[mccarthy.costs]*.lis
This costing information will be updated regularly.
___________________________________________________________________________
From: ERNIE::ARVIDSON 28-MAY-1987 16:32:51.43
To: MARGOLIN,ARVIDSON
CC:
Subj: R2R Ladder Network.
The Atari part number is 118015-001
___________________________________________________________________________
From: ERNIE::TERRI 29-MAY-1987 09:38:11.12
To: @SYS$MAIL:JUNK
CC:
Subj: Bye from Terri
To all of my friends here at Atari, I say Good-Bye.
I have been here for 14 1/2 years and now it's time
for a change. For those of you who didn't get a chance
to talk with me about my Sailing Trip to San Diego &
back, see Jess Melchor - he has a letter that I wrote
about my trip.
Bye, Terri Walters
___________________________________________________________________________
From: KIM::DOWNEND 29-MAY-1987 17:27:42.47
To: STEMPLER, MCCARTHY, PAAUW, HOFF, LY, SHERMAN, SNYDER, MARGOLIN, DROBNY, ROWE, LEVI, WIEBENSON, NGUYEN, DURFEY, DOWNEND, MOORE
CC:
Subj: LETA II precautions
Several months ago, we converted LETA to a CMOS Gate array and called it
LETA II. The old HMOS part is no longer available. It works fine (I think)
in Trackball/opto-coupler applications. Apparently, there are additional
circuit precautions needed if you plan to use it to read switches - the
fast transition of a switch together with the long control harness, causes
latch-up....see below...
...........................................................................
From: SANDY::PAAUW 29-MAY-1987 13:41
To: DOWNEND
Subj: leta II
Ed said that the program would crash due to the Leta. I checked with Doug and
he said that the switch inputs were ringing below ground, probably due to the
length of the cables. This can cause SCR latchup in CMOS and this was apparently
the case with the Leta's. The Leta chips would get very hot until power was
removed. This is a classic symptom of SCR latchup.
Doug replace the Leta with a lsttl part that also wouldn't work. The inputs
would occaisionally be asserted onto the data bus even when the chip was not
enabled. This would cause the program to crash. A Schottky part seems to be
able to handle the ringing and is working OK for now. Doug believes that
the cure for the ringing would be to place series resistors in series with
the input wires.
In any case, I believe that the problem goes farther than the Leta and that
SCR latchup is not surprising under these circumstances.
I just realized that I'm sending this only to you. Could you forward this
to the others and to myself? Thanks.
-- Don
___________________________________________________________________________
From: KIM::BRAD 1-JUN-1987 14:15:34.06
To: @SYS$MAIL:JUNK,BRAD
CC:
Subj: 2 column text utility
If you write text files often you may have found yourself frustrated
editing your file if it contained columns. Now there is a utility that will
take an ascii file and process it into two columns. To use this utility add
this line to your login.com:
$ col*umn :== $ utl$exe:2col
To use the utility, edit your ascii text file and include the
appropriate commands (see below). I suggest using EDT or TPU since it appears
re-editing an ascii file in WORDMARC is a pain. I mention re-editing because
you may want to go back to your text file and touch it up after you process it
thru the utility.
All commands should be preceded by a carriage return and followed by a
space. No more than one carriage return is allowed between column commands.
There are just a few commands in two catagories: 1) column commands and
2) formating commands.
The column commands are:
{L put following text in the Left column.
{R put following text in the Right column.
{N treat text as is [default].
} end the current column.
The formating commands are:
{CL<arg> set left margin by <arg> [default = 0].
{CR<arg> set beginning right column by <arg> [default = 40].
{CR<arg> set right margin by <arg> [default = 80].
{S<arg> set spacing between columns by <arg> [default = 5].
{P<arg> set spacing between paragraphs by <arg> [default = 1].
Process your text file after you have typed in the appropriate
commands by typing:
$ column
at the '