Atari/Atari Games VaxMail 1990 Jed Margolin ___________________________________________________________________________ From: BERT::LTURNER 2-JAN-1990 15:43:12.18 To: @SYS$MAIL:EVERYBODY CC: LTURNER Subj: New Baby This is to annouce the arrival of a new addition at the Moore house. His name is Evan Alexander Bettencourt Moore. He was born on Saturday, December 30, at 10:21A. Weight -- 7 lbs 10 oz Height -- 20 1/2 inches Mother and baby are home and doing well. ___________________________________________________________________________ From: GAWD::MCCARTHY 3-JAN-1990 10:35:59.52 To: @sys$mail:hardware CC: MCCARTHY Subj: 32Kx8-45 Static RAM pricing. 32Kx8 45nS static RAM 1990 pricing. Motorola MCM6206P45 1K $18.00 5K $17.00 (Written quotation from Motorola) ___________________________________________________________________________ From: CHARM::ROTBERG "Professor of Gonzo" 4-JAN-1990 13:52:47.12 To: @STATUS CC: Subj: STUN Runner Status Report STUN RUNNER STUN RUNNER GAME DEVELOPMENT STATUS STUN RUNNER DATE: January 4, 1990 PL: ED ROTBERG DATE STARTED: 28 APR 88 9 JUN 88 PROJECT LEADER: HALLY START DATE: 2 MAY 88 LAB: STUN RUNNER (MULTISYNC) EXT: 1727 OR 1720 NUMBER : 511 TEAM NU | | SCHEDULE or | MISSED DATES | | | | | ------------------------------------------------------------------------ PROJECT START: < 2 MAY 88> 1ST REVIEW: < 6 JUL 88> 8 JUL 88 MULTISYNC PCB DEBUGGED < 1 AUG 88> 2ND REVIEW: < 2 SEP 88> 24 AUG 88 15 AUG 88 3RD REVIEW: < 10 NOV 88> 4 NOV 88 14 OCT 88 FOCUS GROUP: < 22 NOV 88> 16 NOV 88 4TH REVIEW: < 31 MAR 89> 20 JAN 89 13 JAN 89 FIELD TEST: < 14 APR 89> 7 APR 89 10 MAR 89 FIELD TEST #2: < 16 JUN 89> FIELD TEST #3: < 7 JUL 89> PROD RELEASE: < 4 AUG 89> 28 JUL 89 2 JUN 89 26 MAY 89 FGA: < 18 SEP 89> 25 SEP 89 15 SEP 89 21 JUL 89 This is the final status report for STUN Runner. Thank you for your patience! ___________________________________________________________________________ From: KIM::DURFEY 4-JAN-1990 15:36:33.68 To: @SYS$MAIL:JUNK CC: Subj: car for sale For Sale: 1990 Mazda Miata, Red, basic model $17,800 or best offer. See in parking lot today. erik X1755 ___________________________________________________________________________ From: MIKE::BELL "COMPONENT ENGINEERING, EXT 1750" 8-JAN-1990 09:29:49.49 To: MARGOLIN CC: Subj: CER's Users on MIKE may now submit Component Evaluation Requests on-line by typing 'CER' at the VAX system prompt ($). The program will prompt for information about the component, and forward the request to Component Engineering for processing. The user should be prepared to answer specific questions such as Atari part number, vendor part number, vendor contact and phone numbers. The program allows for several comment lines, in which the user may include whatever information may be appropriate. If additional information and/or samples are required, the Component Engineer assigned to each request will contact the requester if needed. The user will be notified when the CER has been completed, and the results of the evaluation. Users on BERT or ERNIE may also: RUN ERNIE$USERDISK:[SPECS]SUBMITCER ___________________________________________________________________________ From: KIM::MCCARTHY 8-JAN-1990 13:38:07.20 To: @SYS$MAIL:HARDWARE,JOE,LEON,POPKIN CC: MCCARTHY Subj: SOFTWARE UPDATE SCICARDS PLOT USERS : I have made some changes to SCIDPLOT and SDBATCHPLOT, to add alternate title format sheets. If I broke it, let me know. Pat. ___________________________________________________________________________ From: KIM::RAY 8-JAN-1990 17:28:05.15 To: @SYS$MAIL:ENGINEER CC: RAY Subj: Brainstorming -- Thursday -- 12:00 -- RSVP! This week's brainstorming session is the one you have all been waiting for!!! It is your chance to offer advice on how to: Improve the game development process Increase productivity Maximize creativity Make the work place more fun! Many of your ideas, generated during the '88 brainstorming season have been implemented: You asked to have the opportunity to see what other people are working on and to get feedback on what you are working on: Walkabout Friday. You felt like sometimes you put a lot of work into the Game Initiation packet, only to find that management did not agree with the direction you chose: Concept Approval prior to Initiation. You wanted to be able to dedicate someone to playing your game to look for bugs: Tengen and outside play- testers. You wanted more productive game reviews: Game playable in advance, review agendas. You wanted Marketing to be more involved throughout the whole project instead of just near the end: Weekly project meetings with Product Manager. You wanted RAM to simulate the graphics ROM for development: G1 has this feature. You wanted higher salaries, more vacation, and free lunches: Well, you can't have everything!! So RSVP to this VAX address by 9:00a.m. Wednesday (1/10) to sign up for this once-a-year opportunity! As usual, lunch will be provided in the luxurious Central Conference Room promptly at 12:00 noon, Thursday, 1/11/90. Thanks!! John ___________________________________________________________________________ From: BERT::RAINS 8-JAN-1990 17:30:59.06 To: @SYS$MAIL:HARDWARE,@SYS$MAIL:ALPHATEAM,@SYS$MAIL:NUTEAM CC: Subj: ".ROM" files and MIXIT I am working with Dave Shepperd on some code which will eventually become a portable mixit-style program (to run on VAX, UNIX, PCs, Ariums, or whatever). In looking over the various flavors of files supported by mixit and the PROM programmer utilities, the .ROM format stands out as a particularly arcane and difficult to implement file type. So I would like to know who is using .ROM format, for what purpose, and which features of the format are being used. Depending on the response, we may not implement .ROM format in the new program, or we may only implement a subset of .ROM format functionality (DON'T PANIC: the current VAX version of mixit would still be available for .ROM files). Please reply via VAXmail. Your silence will be interpreted as "don't-care bit" indicators. Lyle ___________________________________________________________________________ From: KIM::DURFEY 10-JAN-1990 17:19:10.48 To: @SYS$MAIL:JUNK CC: Subj: New name for Hard Drivin' We are looking for a new name to be used for the updated version of Hard Drivin'. Currently we are using Hard Drivin' 90 but are looking for something that does not date the game. Some suggestions so far: Harder Drivin' 20% Harder Drivin' Teen-aged Mutant Ninja Drivin' You get the idea. Also, we are looking for a logo or name for describing the link capability. Such as : Simu-link Linx What ever. Send any ideas to this address. Thanx erik ___________________________________________________________________________ From: GAWD::SUTTLES "Doctor DCL" 10-JAN-1990 17:30:41.39 To: @SYS$MAIL:EVERYBODY CC: SUTTLES Subj: Bug Enhancement Report (the first of many) With the recent upgrade of VMS, we got new features in almost every utility that VMS has. Some of you know about them from complaints about out-of-date command tables (we're working on a better solution for that). At any rate, MAIL is no exception; it has new stuff (bugs or features, you guess) too. Mail changed it's database quite a bit. It now keeps track of which printer you want (SET QUE TTxx, see the door of the printer room for details), and you can choose your editor, and you may opt to be asked for CC names or not. All of this stuff gets saved when you exit mail for the next time. Except for Wordmarc users, you don't have to wrap a command file around mail (MAIL$EDIT or MAIL$PRINT) in order to get it to do what you want. Go into mail and do a SHOW ALL to find out your environment. SET what you want different. Of course, it has a price. In the process, it lost track of the current message count for most accounts. Read all your messages, and then do a READ/NEW to A)display an error message and B)set the count to zero. Some time soon, we hope to let you know about some of the more helpful changes. Soon as we figure out if any are helpful... Watch this space for further details. the Dave (the Herculean) and Sometimes Steve show ___________________________________________________________________________ From: BERT::HUNT "THUNDER JAWS -- RUSTY & NATALIE" 10-JAN-1990 20:58:06.62 To: @SYS$MAIL:JUNK CC: Subj: PLAY IT NOW! ThunderJaws ThunderJaws ThunderJaws ThunderJaws ThunderJaws NEW AND IMPROVED!! The latest/greatest version of ThunderJaws is now available for playing in the Engineering common area... SEE the beautiful prisoners transformed into lizard creatures... FEEL the appreciation of said prisoners... FLY through the air on the new jetpacks (2 player games only)... HEAR the taunts of Madam Q... FIND new and exciting bugs... All this and more(!) are waiting for you NOW! This version is a pre-field-test version and should be very playable! Thank you for your support, The ThunderJaws Team ___________________________________________________________________________ To: Becky Depew Fr: Jed Margolin Re: Hard Drivin' (the Saturday Morning Cartoon Show) Dt: 11 January 1990 Main Characters: John: Race Car Driver in his late twenties; Terry: Teenage Boy, on the pit crew Jennifer: Teenage Girl, on the pit crew The series takes place during summer vacation which is why the teenagers are not in school. The Hard Drivin' team goes around the country competing in auto races. The auto races are not the focus of the show, but merely the backdrop because the team has adventures and battle bad guys. Like drug dealers. When things get really desperate John makes his way to an arcade with a Hard Drivin' Cockpit Game. He gets in it, starts it up, and recites a magic phrase. The Hard Drivin' Game is transformed into a real, jet powered car which John drives out through a wall of the arcade that has opened for him. Every show is resolved this way. There are lots of arcades, so there can be lots of ways for the Hard Drivin' car to make its exit. Most of the time John will be the hero but sometimes Terry or Jennifer will be the one. (It is especially important that Jennifer gets to do it, too.) Jed ___________________________________________________________________________ From: KIM::MARGOLIN 11-JAN-1990 16:07:02.46 To: OWENS CC: MARGOLIN Subj: Driver Sound Programmed Parts I am have been meaning to ask you about it but I got caught in a time crunch. We are building more Drivers in March, so, because Production has a lot of 27256s I changed the Driver Sound Board so it divides the Sound Wave Roms in two banks which can be independently selected to be 27512s or 27256s. Bank 1 contains eight sockets and Bank 2 contains four sockets. This is because the existing sound data takes four 27512s which will be replaced with eight 27256s. The Hard Drivin' upgrade kit will include additional ROMs ___________________________________________________________________________ From: BERT::OWENS 11-JAN-1990 16:15:59.46 To: KIM::MARGOLIN CC: Subj: RE: Driver Sound Programmed Parts If we are to make a 256 version of the sound roms, then we will need to do a formal release of these parts. I assume you have already selected the program part numbers for these new codes, (which is ok), what I need now is formal documentation and memory masters to complete the release. As an option you can submit a CER just to add the part numbers to the AVL, for the parts planners over in MFG and complete the release with memory masters at a later date. Let me know what you want to do. RLO ___________________________________________________________________________ From: KIM::MARGOLIN 11-JAN-1990 16:19:08.83 To: OWENS CC: MARGOLIN Subj: Driver Sound Programmed Parts I am have been meaning to ask you about it but I got caught in a time crunch. We are building more Drivers in March, so, because Production has a lot of 27256s I changed the Driver Sound Board so it divides the Sound Wave Roms in two banks which can be independently selected to be 27512s or 27256s. Bank 1 contains eight sockets and Bank 2 contains four sockets. This is because the existing sound data takes four 27512s which will be replaced with eight 27256s. The Hard Drivin' upgrade kit will include additional ROMs which will be 27512s in order to be compatible with the Sound Boards in the field as well as the new boards. The 27256s contain the same data as the 27512s in the last Rev only split up. I have prepared documentation which I will give you tomorrow (Friday) The other two parts are programmed GALs. I have a lot of questions about how programmed GALS are released and bought (because we buy them programmed). Do we provide them with a programmed part or a computer file? What if we want the security fuse blown? Do they test the devices with our test vectors or do they generate their own? (Do they test them with anybody's test vectors?) By the way, I have programmed the part's pn in the User Signature bits. Unfortunately the Data I/O cannot read them except as fuses in ones and zeros. Jed ___________________________________________________________________________ From: KIM::MARGOLIN 11-JAN-1990 16:41:40.83 To: RAY,MONCRIEF CC: MARGOLIN Subj: Productivity About your brainstorming memo. The single largest factor in determining productivity is the availability of tools. I am talking VAXes and PCs. Every second wasted waiting for the VAX to respond is irretrievably lost, not to mention unproductive. The VAXs have been steadily getting slower until last week when they went down a whole notch. Even so, there are still people running Makes and other processes on KIM that could be run on one of the Batch VAXes. Running these processes on KIM brings the system to its knees, so that even ordinary EDTs are impossible. Until the issues of computers is addressed, the issues of creativity are pretty much immaterial. This is not a request to attend the meeting. Thanks, Jed ___________________________________________________________________________ From: KIM::SUTTLES "Doctor DCL" 11-JAN-1990 19:16:51.31 To: @SYS$MAIL:EVERYBODY CC: SUTTLES Subj: more system stuff If you are one of those who works with command files, including your own login command file, you need to read DOK:UTL$.DOC . This applies particularly if you are the local guru (the one everybody asks "How come my computer ...") If you are one of those who asks the local guru, nevermind. If you don't know how to read the file, you don't need to, and won't want to. Its full of system stuff, and your guru will take care of you. sas ___________________________________________________________________________ From: BERT::LTURNER 15-JAN-1990 11:24:51.38 To: @SYS$MAIL:EVERYBODY CC: LTURNER Subj: New Baby Congratulations to Byron & Bing Sheppard on the arrival of their new son. Vital Information: When: Sat. Morning, Jan. 13 Weight: 6 lbs. 13 oz. Height: 20 1/2 in. Name: Calvin Mother and Baby are doing fine. ___________________________________________________________________________ From: GAWD::SHEPPERD 17-JAN-1990 13:57:15.96 To: @sys$mail:ee CC: SHEPPERD Subj: Excuse me, did you say you needed tail? Looking for tail? Seems like there's always a need for tail and the threshold of pain has been getting lower for those of us who want it but can't get it, so I did something about it. If you are thinking what I think you are thinking, then think again. I'm talking about the tail of a file. It's sometimes handy to look at the tail end of a file, especially a .LOG file from a batch job in progress. Unix has a nifty program called TAIL which does just that so I wrote a version for VMS. It copies the last n RECORDS of the specified input file to the specified output file (defaulting to SYS$OUTPUT) making the output file attributes EXACTLY the same as those of the input. Currently it only supports standard sequential files, not indexed or relative (hardly anybody uses relative or indexed files). All the record formats are supported except UDF (undefined). The output file inherits the record attributes of the input file but they are otherwise ignored. It can read a .LOG file while it is being created during a batch job. Login or RESTART to get the symbol, then type: $ TAIL [/number] input_file [output_file] where [] denotes optional data. The [/number] defaults to /23 so you can get 1 screen's worth. The input_file is required and there are no defaults. The output file defaults to SYS$OUTPUT (your terminal). Some examples: $ TAIL BATCH.LOG !shows the last 23 lines of the .LOG file $ TAIL /100 BATCH.LOG !shows the last 100 lines $ TAIL /1 FRED.EXE FOO.EXE !copies the last block of fred to foo ds ___________________________________________________________________________ From: BERT::CLARK 18-JAN-1990 10:49:29.63 To: MARGOLIN CC: Subj: 3M'S 164PIN PQFP'S JED THE BEST THAT 3M CAN DO WITH THEIR SOCKET IS $13.25, AT THIS TIME. TOM C ___________________________________________________________________________ From: KIM::MARGOLIN 25-JAN-1990 13:57:17.57 To: MEYETTE CC: MARGOLIN Subj: AT Power Supply AT Power Supply ---------------- The supply we need must be in an AT compatible case and have the following voltages. The currents are minimums. +5V at 18A +12V at 6A -5V at 0.5A -12V at 0.5A It would be useful to compare the cost for the above supply with the supply we are using in our prototype which has: +5V at 22A +12V at 8A -5V at 0.5A -12V at 0.5A Jed ___________________________________________________________________________ From: BERT::SAMANIEGO "Steph" 26-JAN-1990 09:58:29.64 To: @SYS$MAIL:EVERYBODY CC: Subj: TEMP RECEPTIONIST As you all know by now I'm leaving to have my baby, today is my last day. Liane will be replacing me while I'm out. Please be helpful by letting her know who you are when you're answering a page, when you want her to page someone for you make sure you give her the extension you're at. I've noticed that some of you aren't checking your dial tone for message waiting and your messages are sitting up her for a long time. Please remember if you've left your office for any length of time to listen to your dial tone when you return, I know it,s aggravating to check your phone everytime and never have a message, but that's the way the new system works. It would be helpful if you introduced yourself to Liane when you're passing through the lobby. She's a pretty girl so I know some of you single guys will be tempted to STAND AROUND and SMALL talk her ear off, (you know who you are) but please don't. We want her to have a comfortable stay here at Atari, besides answering the phones will keep her busy enough. (said with a smile!) Thanks for your help and understanding see you in a couple of months. Stephanie ___________________________________________________________________________ From: BERT::JACKIE 26-JAN-1990 11:28:08.11 To: @SYS$MAIL:ENGINEER,JACKIE,FUJIHARA,BENZLER,MOMODA CC: Subj: 1990 TRADE SHOWS FOLLOWING ARE THE DATES OF THE 1990 TRADE SHOWS ACME - MARCH 9-11, CHICAGO AMOA - OCTOBER 25-27, NEW ORLEANS JAMA - TENTATIVE DATES SET FOR OCTOBER 3-5, TOKYO From: BERT::FUJIHARA 26-JAN-1990 15:26:29.89 To: @SYS$MAIL:ENGINEER CC: FUJIHARA Subj: COMPETITOR GAMES Per Linda B., who called from Golfland Milpitas (test site for Thunderjaws), Sega is testing a new 3-player game this weekend only: ALIEN BUSTERS: Fighting game combined with shooting. Theme is like a combo of the Aliens and Gremlins movies. She says it's not a bad game but supposedly they will be pulling it after the weekend. FINAL FIGHT: New Capcom game, is also there and earning fairly well. $329 this week placing it right behind the top 3 (Mutant Turtles, Cyberball, Hard Drivin'). This game is supposedly doing well right now in many locations. If you're in the area this weekend, check it out. Mary ___________________________________________________________________________ From: BERT::ALBAUGH "Dr. Bizarro" 29-JAN-1990 16:29:26.11 To: @SYS$MAIL:EE CC: Subj: Terminology survey Well, I'm confused, so I decided to turn to the august community of erstwhile scholars we know as sys$mail:ee to answer a question (or set of them). First a little background. When I started working on ASAP, I needed names for data items of 8, 16, and 32 bits. The first and last were relatively easy, 8 bits was the minimum addressable unit, so it was a byte. 32 bits was the size of all registers and the data bus so it was a word. That means 16 bits would be a halfword. This was simple, self- explanatory, and had historical precedent (IBM 360, PDP-10, etc). I toyed with the idea of calling them char, short, and int, but someone (I forget who) flamed me severely so I abandoned that approach. So loading 16 bits was done with a LDH (sign extend) or LDUH (zero-fill) while loading a whole machine word was LD. So far, so good. The fly in the ointment was that I was assembling with a set of macros for MAC65, and .word generated 16-bit data while .long generated 32-bit data. I cobbled up a version of MACAS to use .hword and .word respectively, but I have never been _real_ happy with this and am getting less so. When I ran the idea of reverting to the old definitions past the two Eds, they agreed, but went on to say I should _also_ re-name the instructions. Under the proposed scheme we would have: old new means LD LDL load a 32-bit machine word ST STL store a 32-bit machine word LEA LEAL load the effective address of a 32-bit word LDH LDW load a 16-bit halfword with sign extension LDUH LDUW load a 16-bit halfword with zero-fill STH STW store a 16-bit halfword LEAH LEAW load the effective address of a 16-bit halfword LDB LDB load an 8-bit byte with sign extension LDUB LDUB load an 8-bit byte with zero-fill STB STB store an 8-bit byte This leaves open the question of just what we should call the 32-bit entity in comments, circuit diagrams, etc. It _is_ a word, but we have pre-empted that (pardon the expression) word to mean something else. "long" means something to C programmers, but not neccesarily to everyone. Also there is the not-inconsiderable problem that my daughter's initials (LEA) would no longer be a valid mnemonic :-). Other than then over-40 references to words in the spec (and who knows how many in various programs) the proposed scheme has merit, but I am still bothered. So I'd like each of you who cares (or doesn't) to reply telling me: "I prefer the proposed way as stated" "I prefer the proposed way, except forget the gratuitous 'L's" "I prefer the current way" "I prefer C (char) and S (short) and whoever disagrees can eat my..." "I don't care (and promise not to whine and snivel about final choice)" Those giving one of the first two answers should also be prepared to fill in the blanks in the following sentence: "You should call 32-bit quantities ______ in the hardware documentation" Of course none of this would be neccesary if we hadn't all stopped learning after the PDP-11 or 8086, but as it confuses me too..... Thank you for your support. Maybe next week we can get into how I could have been so brain-damaged as to make the sucker little-endian, with a latched carry, and no _____-straddling memory-references (I need that term soon :-) Mike ___________________________________________________________________________ From: BERT::FUJIHARA 29-JAN-1990 16:49:00.28 To: @SYS$MAIL:JUNK CC: FUJIHARA Subj: GAME AWARDS Atari Games has recently been recognized for the outstanding quality of games produced in the past year. During the London ATE show, HARD DRIVIN' received the "Game of the Year" award from the British trade association and Atari Games was given an engraved crystal bowl which will be presented to the Hard Drivin' design team. Then, at the German IMA show, the association nominated both HARD DRIVIN' and TETRIS as "Best Video Game for 1989". This was the first time two games from the same company have ever shared this honor. Our German distributor, Nova, is often our #1 distributor in the world, and it is quite rare that a manufacturer is congratulated to this degree. On another front, one of the leading consumer video magazines, "Video Games and Computer Entertainment" awarded four of our games for Best of 1989: Hard Drivin' - Best simulator Cyberball 2072 - Best sports Escape - Most innovative Stunrunner - Best arcade game These awards will be published in the February issue, which has now been issued. Our games were selected based on a poll of the editorial staff at the magazine. I received individual wall plaques for these awards today and will arrange to have them prominently displayed in our lobby. Congratulations to all those who helped earned these terrific awards. Mary ___________________________________________________________________________ From: SANDY::MARGOLIN 30-JAN-1990 15:13:38.39 To: CLARK CC: MARGOLIN Subj: 320_15s Tom, Please put the following 320_15s on the AVL, TMS320E15FZL 44 pin, Ceramic Quad, windowed TMS320P15FNL 44 pin, PLCC, OTP TMS320E15JDL 40 pin DIP, Ceramic, windowed TMS320P15NL 40 pin DIP, Plastic, OTP Thanks, Jed ___________________________________________________________________________ From: GAWD::SUTTLES "Doctor DCL" 30-JAN-1990 15:24:24.97 To: @SYS$MAIL:JUNK CC: SUTTLES Subj: Oh no, more stuff for sale!! A number of people have asked me about a second phone line at their house, some for computers, some for a business, and some for their kids. You'll need to decide if it applies to you, but I just got a Radio Shack flyer that offers a two-line desk telephone for $40 (usually $60, when they stock them). You plug in one jack and buttons on the faceplate let you select line 1 or line 2, and there is a HOLD feature. It has last- number-redial, and can be set for rotary or touch-tone dialing. In appearance, it looks like our brown phones with extra buttons above the flash button. Unlike ours, they will work on the public network (at your house). They do not have the flash button, for those who buy those special services (message waiting and the like). Yes, this is Radio Shack. It is good enough to last out the warranty, but then it is guaranteed to break. On the other hand, a "good" one that WILL last a long time runs around $150, and doesn't have as many features. And yes, I'm thinking of getting one myself. sas ___________________________________________________________________________ From: MIKE::MARGOLIN 31-JAN-1990 16:23:04.40 To: ROBBINS CC: MARGOLIN Subj: part numbers Lori, These are the part numbers you needed for the DSK Board (formerly DSP32 Board) 137412-115 IC,Software_Protection,Type_0115,SLAPSTIC NCR 137665-1020 IC,OTP,PLD,20MHz,44P_PLCC TEXAS_INSTRUMENTS TMS320P15FNL The 137665-1020 will be socketed. I will try to find out the part number of the socket as soon as I can. Jed ___________________________________________________________________________ From: BERT::MEYETTE 31-JAN-1990 16:27:54.31 To: @SYS$MAIL:JUNK CC: Subj: Missing Pages Will the person who has Section 3 of the IBM AT Technical Reference Manual, containing the power supply specifications, please let me borrow it. Thnx, Rick Meyette, Ext. 1752 ___________________________________________________________________________ From: BERT::PETRICK "Jim Petrick" 1-FEB-1990 18:52:33.92 To: @SM:ENGINEER CC: Subj: ZMODEM, the second generation Here's the latest scoop on ZMODEM transfers. 1) I changed the program to use 1024 instead of 64 byte blocks to transfer. This should speed things up a bit. 2) The problem with some files not transferring seems to stem from the method used to upload the file to the VAX in the first place. I'm talking about .RAD files we tried as tests here. If the file is uploaded using NFT COPY on the PC, the PC looks at the first 512 bytes of the file, and if a carriage return is found, decides the file is a text file, and proceeds to transfer the file as text, creating a STREAM file on the VAX, which will cause ZMODEM to barf when trying to tranfer it. If no CR is found, the file is created with fixed length records. The sneaky thing here is that this error may or may not show up depending on the contents of the file. The way around this is to ALWAYS transfer BINARY files (like .RAD) to and from your PC using NFT COPY/BLOCK. This forces the file into the correct form on the VAX. Text files are OK to transfer without the /BLOCK option. If you have a file that won't transfer, a quick fix is to transfer it down to the PC via NFT COPY/BLOCK, then NFT COPY/BLOCK it back. This should fix the file so ZMODEM will work OK on it. Let me know if you run into any other problems using SZ or RZ. -- jim P.S. I'm going to stick in wildcard processing as soon as I get the chance. ___________________________________________________________________________ From: BERT::OHARA "gems - the giant killer" 2-FEB-1990 16:06:20.61 To: @SYS$MAIL:EVERYBODY CC: OHARA Subj: Temporary Disappearence Just a note from your friendly neighborhood mail/office supply/et al man to the effect that I will not be available to handle the mail or supply requests in my usual efficacious manner during the period betwixt and between 10 Feb 90 and 25 Feb 90. My last day will be Friday the 9th of February and Monday the 26th will be my first day back. Dennis Nale and Yvette will be handling mail. Supplies can be gotten by being extra nice to either Yvette, Sandi or perhaps June. Be good, Be nice gems ___________________________________________________________________________ From: BERT::FRANZELLA "Yvette" 5-FEB-1990 14:30:20.05 To: @SYS$MAIL:JUNK CC: Subj: message Whoever is interested in receiving their phone messages by vax, please vax a message to Liane letting her know. Thank you! ___________________________________________________________________________ From: KIM::MARGOLIN 5-FEB-1990 14:42:40.56 To: FRANZELLA CC: MARGOLIN Subj: I would like to receive my phone messages by vax, but when I tried to vax this message to Liane I was informed there is "no such user LIANE" . Does she have an alias? ___________________________________________________________________________ From: BERT::SAMANIEGO "Steph" 5-FEB-1990 14:44:35.36 To: @SYS$MAIL:JUNK CC: Subj: message Regarding vax mail messages - whenever you want to send a message to Liane please use "Samaniego". Thank You! ___________________________________________________________________________ From: SANDY::MARGOLIN 5-FEB-1990 15:07:46.79 To: SAMANIEGO CC: MARGOLIN Subj: Phone Messages I would like to receive my phone messages by Vax Mail. Jed ___________________________________________________________________________ From: CHARM::SUTTLES "Doctor DCL" 5-FEB-1990 15:46:45.00 To: MARGOLIN CC: SUTTLES Subj: the NEC Spinwriter PLEASE! DO NOT take your printouts from the middle of the pile without taking care of the pile. The baskets will only start to stack printouts if they are empty. They will continue to stack if you leave them alone (and luck is with them) but you, yes you, personally guarantee that every printout after the one you dig for will be mangled if you don't take care of the whole pile. This still applies if yours is the last job. If you can take the time to find your job, then you have time to empty the basket. If you don't, it still dumps the following listings on the floor. I find it interesting to note that every time this happens, ALL banner pages are removed which identify the culprit. I have had it with cleaning up the room after others; since I can tell who the culprit is by other means, I'll send them this annoying message for a few times, and if that doesn't work, I'll let the public know. None of this is new. sas ___________________________________________________________________________ From: SANDY::MARGOLIN 6-FEB-1990 13:20:32.99 To: SUTTLES CC: MARGOLIN Subj: NEC Spinwriter I am guilty. Yesterday, I removed a listing from the Spinwriter and did not remove, separate, and stack the couple of listings in the basket. One reason for this is because I am frequently unsuccessful in separating the paper without it tearing. I assume that people use the Spinwriter because they are going to use the printout for something reasonably important. I am surprised to learn that the output from the Spinwriter is so volumious that it spills out onto the floor. I am puzzled by your reference to the header sheets being missing, thereby making it difficult for you to trace the culprit. I have never seen the Spinwriter produce a header sheet. Are we both talking about the Spinwriter in the Printer Room or have I been missing something? I do observe proper printer etiquette regarding the Printronix printers. As long as we are on the subject of the Printer Room, it would be nice to have a working terminal in the Printer Room or its vicinity, for those times when something gets screwed up and I need to log on to get a listing. (My office is a long way from the Printer Room.) It would also be nice to add an additional terminal to the DIO Room so that both the 288 and the 29 can be used at the same time. Regards, Jed ___________________________________________________________________________ From: KIM::SUTTLES "Doctor DCL" 6-FEB-1990 13:43:08.94 To: SANDY::MARGOLIN CC: SUTTLES Subj: RE: NEC Spinwriter With reference to the header sheets, it is a stock message. As you correctly infer, the problem applies more often to the Printronix printers than it does to the spinwriter. However, as you also point out, anyone wanting printouts worthy of retention uses the spinwriter; unfortunately, this includes printouts of online documentation, and quite a few people use it for printing mail message, status reports, and general memos. It does indeed spill out onto the floor. It would cure the stacking problem if you would simply remove the detritus from the basket and put it on the shelves. It is assumed that when people pick up their listings, they check for a complete listing. Finding an appendix, it would only be reasonable to assume they would remove the others' listings from their own, and leave them for the others involved. The reason I sent the message (the reason I send it every time I do so) is because there were enough printouts following the missing one to cause problems. Admittedly, this is contrary to general supposition (nobody thinks we use that printer, but we go through more supplies for that one than both printronix combined. With regards to a terminal in the printer room, there is one. It is usually powered off because it has a problem with overheating. It is across from the Spinwriter. With regards to another terminal in the Data I/O room, there are already two in place. We have eight ports tied up with the current configuration, because we have to provide DIO support when either Kim or Charm is down; four ports are present for each system. In order to add a terminal to control the other DIO at the same time would require the addition of four more ports (a terminal and a device port on each of two systems). We don't have the wiring, the free ports, or any working terminals to support this, and we also lack the space to put the equipment if we did. Lastly, the usage is highly sporadic. The 29 can go for a week without any usage, and then the biggest obstacle to getting it is other people using it, not the 288. If you find a problem using the 29 because of 288 users, you might point out to them that there is another 288 near Ed Logg's lab, with an associated terminal. sas ___________________________________________________________________________ From: SANDY::MARGOLIN 6-FEB-1990 14:43:58.65 To: SUTTLES CC: MARGOLIN Subj: Spinwriter message Since you want me to handle Spinwriter listings already in the basket on those few times I use the Spinwriter, then fine, I will be happy to. Since you don't want to put in a separate terminal in the DIO Room for the 29, then fine, I will handle being frustrated when I come to use it and find it the 288 occupied by somebody whose ROMs are done but they are nowhere to be found. BUT, don't tell me the terminal in the Printer Room is functional, because it is NOT. Yesterday, I tried to use it; the screen is too dim. And even when it was working, it didn't work properly. Regards, Jed ___________________________________________________________________________ From: BERT::WOOD 6-FEB-1990 15:43:21.48 To: @SYS$MAIL:EVERYBODY CC: Subj: Company vehicle use It is now company policy that company employees are not--under any circumstances--permitted to use company-owned vehicles for personal use. Only those employees who are on the company's designated drivers' list will be permitted to drive company-owned vehicles for company business during scheduled work hours. This policy must be strictly enforced in order to limit the company's liability exposure and maintain good standing with our new insurance carrier. Dennis Wood ___________________________________________________________________________ From: KIM::BRAD 6-FEB-1990 15:46:49.98 To: @SYS$MAIL:ENGINEER CC: BRAD Subj: RE: Company vehicle use Alright, who left the beer cans in the van? ___________________________________________________________________________ From: GAWD::SHEPPERD 6-FEB-1990 16:08:16.12 To: @SYS$MAIL:EE CC: SHEPPERD Subj: New release of LLF I just released version 3.1 of LLF. It has a few bugs fixed from 3.0, mainly in handling exception conditions and reporting warnings where not really appropriate. ds ___________________________________________________________________________ From: SANDY::MARGOLIN 7-FEB-1990 13:19:49.31 To: MCCARTHY CC: MARGOLIN Subj: User Signature Fuses " To select the ABEL device file for the GAL follow these rules " 1. Registers are required. " Use the P16V8R. " 2. No registers, but feedback from 8 I/O pins is required. " Use the P16V8R. " 3. No registers, but feedback from 6 I/O pins is required. " Use the P16V8C. " 4. No registers or feedback, but 8 terms per output are required. " Use the P16V8S. The 16V8 has 64 bits available for user data, starting at fuse 2056. Unfortunately the Data I/O does not have a decent way of reading it. fuses "User Signature Word [2056..2087] = '052-'; [2088..2119] = '1139'; The 20V8 has 64 bits available for user data, starting at fuse 2568. fuses "User Signature Word [2568..2599] = '052-'; [2600..2631] = '1140'; I use the User Signature Word for the programmed part number. (052-1140 is 136052-1140.) Jed ___________________________________________________________________________ From: BERT::PETRICK "Jim Petrick" 7-FEB-1990 13:34:57.93 To: @SM:ENGINEER,@SM:ANIMATORS CC: Subj: ZMODEM updated Greetings, SZ, that nutty little ZMODEM file download program now supports full VMS wildcards for filenames. For instance, sz [petrick] ! This will send all files in the petrick dir. sz [-]*.com ! This sends all .COM files in the directory above the current directory. sz [...]puma.* ! Sends all files in any subdirectory of the current subdirectory that are named puma sz p* ! Sends all files starting with the letter p of any file type. Anyways, you get the idea. -- jim ___________________________________________________________________________ From: BERT::ROTBERG "Professor of Gonzo" 7-FEB-1990 15:55:53.49 To: @SYS$MAIL:ENGINEER CC: Subj: Somebody out there likes us!!! Path: dms!motcsd!apple!mips!zaphod.mps.ohio-state.edu!tut.cis.ohio-state.edu!unmvax!ariel!lazlo From: lazlo@ariel.unm.edu (Lazlo Nibble) Newsgroups: rec.games.video Subject: Re: Arcade classics Message-ID: <1523@ariel.unm.edu> Date: 7 Feb 90 06:28:08 GMT References: <3180@rouge.usl.edu> <13345@cbnewsc.ATT.COM> Reply-To: lazlo@ariel.unm.edu.UUCP (Lazlo Nibble) Distribution: usa Organization: (White Boyz Doin' The) Hot Death Mall Dog Lines: 22 While I can't say for sure that any of their more recent machines is destined to become an arcade classic in the sense that Donkey Kong, Pac-Man, and Asteroids did, I *will* say that the one company that's managed to stand for exceptional creativity and high quality games in the past four or five years has definitely been Atari. They've been on a stone-cold roll since Marble Madness and haven't let up since. I could wheel out titles in my sleep: Indiana Jones, 720, Road Runner, Toobin', APB, Xybots, Vindicators, Paperboy, Cyberball, S.T.U.N. Runner, Hard Drivin', Super Sprint, Escape From The Planet Of The Robot Monsters, Gauntlet, Tetris . . . there must be a dozen more . . . They're all wonderfully *different* games, lots of neat ideas, and not a SINGLE GODDAMN CHOP-SOCKEY/HAND-TO-HAND-STREET-COMBAT GAME IN THE BUNCH! A plague upon the houses of the manufacturers that are cranking out that sort of garbage month after month after month. Good lord, even Williams . . . Lazlo (lazlo@ariel.unm.edu) ------------------------------------ DISCLAIMER: "Hey, don't look at ME!" ___________________________________________________________________________ From: SANDY::MARGOLIN 7-FEB-1990 16:39:42.10 To: SHEPPERD CC: MARGOLIN Subj: TMS320 Macro Assembler ;This is what used to work: .TITLE DSOUND .ENABL USD,LC .INCLUDE TMS320.INC .ASECT .RADIX 16 .ENABL AMA ; Driver Sound Tests routines for TMS-320 ; ; Programmer: Jed Margolin ; ; Date: 8/5/85 ; ; Hardware: Driver Sound ; ; MAC65 ;------------------------------------------------------------------------------- ; Use: ; MAC65 TMS320.MAC/NP ; LINKM TMS320/NP ; LTO TMS320 ; This produces TMS320.OL with TMSCODE and TMSEND Labels ;------------------------------------------------------------------------------- : code ___________________________________________________________________________ From: GAWD::SHEPPERD 7-FEB-1990 17:13:22.32 To: MARGOLIN CC: SHEPPERD Subj: tms320 Change the following and should work: old: .INCLUDE TMS320.INC new: .INCLUDE UTL$MAC:TMS320.INC old: ; Use: old: ; MAC65 TMS320.MAC/NP old: ; LINKM TMS320/NP new: ; Use: new: ; MAC65 TMS320/LIS !/LIS only if you want a listing file new: ; LLF TMS320.OB/MAP !/MAP only if you want a map file ds ___________________________________________________________________________ From: SANDY::MARGOLIN 8-FEB-1990 14:13:42.32 To: SUTTLES CC: MARGOLIN Subj: My Phone There have been several times where people have called me from the Outside and my phone has not rung. I would like to be able to get Outside calls. Regards, Jed ___________________________________________________________________________ From: CHARM::SHEPPERD 8-FEB-1990 14:18:37.31 To: MARGOLIN CC: SHEPPERD Subj: TMS320 assembly procedure The old stuff: ;------------------------------------------------------------------------------- ; Use: ; MAC65 TMS320.MAC/NP ; LINKM TMS320/NP ; LTO TMS320 ; This produces TMS320.OL with TMSCODE and TMSEND Labels ;------------------------------------------------------------------------------- The new stuff: ;------------------------------------------------------------------------------- ; Use: ; MAC68K TMS320/LIS !/LIS only if you want a listing ; ^^^ use a different assembler ; The creates a TMS320.OB object file. ;------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Plus you have to add to and change a couple of things in your TMS320.MAC file: ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- New | Old -------------------------------- 80 ----------------------------------------- .psect TICODE | .=0 .globl TMSCODE | TMSBEGIN: | -------------------------------- 88 ----------------------------------------- .=TMSBEGIN+10 | .=10 -------------------------------- 94 ----------------------------------------- .=TMSBEGIN+30 | .=30 -------------------------------- 1168 --------------------------------------- TMSEND == .-TMSBEGIN | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- Then you can LLF the TMS320.OB file with your 68000 code directly BUT you will need to include it in an options file: TMS320.OPT: FILE (TMS320.OB additional_68k_files_to_link ...) LOCATE (TICODE_ : 0x0000 TO 0x3FFF OUTPUT 0x????) DECLARE (TMSCODE 0x????) where the ???? is the address in 68k address space where you want the TMS320 code to reside. (NOTE that the section name is TICODE_ with a trailing underscore, even though the .psect name in the .MAC file doesn't have a trailing underscore). The global symbol TMSCODE is set in the options file by the DECLARE directive and TMSEND is set by the assembler. ds ___________________________________________________________________________ From: SANDY::MARGOLIN 8-FEB-1990 15:30:35.51 To: SHEPPERD CC: MARGOLIN Subj: TMS320 I made the changes in TMS320.MAC and it seems to run, except that it insists on assembling statements even after '.END' on TMS320.OPT: I would like the TMS code to appear after the program segment like it did before. The following is my old locate file: locate(PROGRAM TICODE: #1000); locate(VECTORS: #0000); locate($$seg14 : #0FFC000 TO #0FFCFFF ); Does this need to change and what is 0x0000 TO 0x3FFF and do I need to fill in the 'x'? How do I tell it there is an .OPT file and whom would I tell? TMS320.OPT: FILE (TMS320.OB additional_68k_files_to_link ...) LOCATE (TICODE_ : 0x0000 TO 0x3FFF OUTPUT 0x????) DECLARE (TMSCODE 0x????) The following is how I used to link it. Does it need to change? $ LLF DSOUND,TMS320,STUB,dsound.lc/opt/sym/map $ EXIT Jed ___________________________________________________________________________ From: KIM::SHEPPERD 8-FEB-1990 15:59:51.83 To: SANDY::MARGOLIN CC: SHEPPERD Subj: RE: TMS320 >I made the changes in TMS320.MAC and it seems to run, except that it insists >on assembling statements even after '.END' .END is only advisory (it's a comment as far as the assembler is concerned) except if there's a label on it in which case the label is read to be the program start address. >on TMS320.OPT: I would like the TMS code to appear after the program segment > like it did before. The following is my old locate file: Oh. This will require some more work. I'll have to fix a problem in LLF in order for you to do that. > locate(PROGRAM TICODE: #1000); > locate(VECTORS: #0000); > locate($$seg14 : #0FFC000 TO #0FFCFFF ); > >Does this need to change and what is 0x0000 TO 0x3FFF and do I need to >fill in the 'x'? 0x is another way of specifying hex (it's the C syntax for hexidecimal). The 0 to 3FFF is to locate the TMS320 program in TMS320 address space (0-3FFF or whatever) and the OUTPUT is to locate that block of code into the 68000's address space. LLF won't do what you want directly, I'll have to figure something out. In the meantime, you can put the TMS320 code somewhere in the 68000's address space that doesn't conflict with the 68000's program. You might make your option file (DSOUND.LC) look like: FILE (DSOUND STUB TMS320.OB) locate(PROGRAM : #1000 TO 7FFF); locate(VECTORS : #0000); locate($$seg14 : #0FFC000 TO #0FFCFFF ); LOCATE (TICODE_ : 0x0000 TO 0x3FFF OUTPUT 0x8000) DECLARE (TMSCODE 0x8000) Change the 7FFF and 8000 to whatever is appropriate (wherever there is room for the TMS code). Then you link it with: $ LLF dsound.lc/opt/sym/map $ EXIT ds ___________________________________________________________________________ From: SANDY::MARGOLIN 8-FEB-1990 16:33:17.60 To: SHEPPERD CC: MARGOLIN Subj: TMS320 I changed DSOUND.LC to: FILE (DSOUND STUB TMS320.OB) locate(PROGRAM : #1000 TO 7FFF); locate(VECTORS : #0000); locate($$seg14 : #0FFC000 TO #0FFCFFF ); LOCATE (TICODE_ : 0x0000 TO 0x3FFF OUTPUT 0x8000) DECLARE (TMSCODE 0x8000) and ran $ LLF dsound.lc/opt/sym/map $ EXIT and got: $ @LNK %LLF-E-ERROR,Segment is not present in object code locate(PROGRAM : #1000 TO 7FFF); ^ %LLF-E-ERROR,Expected ':' here, assumed DECLARE (TMSCODE 0x8000) ^ %LLF-W-WARN,Segment {VECTORS } at 00000000 overlays another segment or reserved mem %LLF-I-INFO,Completed with 2 error(s) and 1 warning(s) MARGOLIN job terminated at 8-FEB-1990 16:27:52.85 Accounting information: Buffered I/O count: 183 Peak working set size: 930 Direct I/O count: 202 Peak page file size: 3319 Page faults: 4226 Mounted volumes: 0 Charged CPU time: 0 00:00:07.88 Elapsed time: 0 00:00:21.31 Jed ___________________________________________________________________________ From: KIM::SHEPPERD 8-FEB-1990 16:58:15.37 To: SANDY::MARGOLIN CC: SHEPPERD Subj: RE: TMS320 > FILE (DSOUND STUB TMS320.OB) > locate(PROGRAM : #1000 TO 7FFF); ^ need a # or 0x here > [...] > DECLARE (TMSCODE 0x8000) ^ apparently need a : here. > >%LLF-W-WARN,Segment {VECTORS } at 00000000 overlays another segment or reserved mem To fix this (or at least make LLF shut up about it), you'll need to make a small change to TMS320.MAC: new old ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- .GLOBL TMSCODE | .ASECT .PSECT TICODE | TMSBEGIN: | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- .=TMSBEGIN | .=0000 ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- .=TMSBEGIN | .globl TMSCODE | .psect TICODE | TMSBEGIN: ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- ds ___________________________________________________________________________ From: KIM::SHEPPERD 8-FEB-1990 18:02:21.93 To: MARGOLIN CC: SHEPPERD Subj: Assemble and link TMS320 again. It ought to work From: SANDY::MARGOLIN 8-FEB-1990 18:25:33.15 To: SHEPPERD CC: MARGOLIN Subj: Thank You It seems to work. Thank you. Jed ___________________________________________________________________________ From: BERT::LIANE 9-FEB-1990 08:03:24.37 To: @SYS$MAIL:JUNK CC: Subj: JUST A REMINDER: You have two days left (today and Monday) to place your flower order for Valentine's Day delivery on Wednesday the 14th. Orders must be paid for by Monday for those of you who have already ordered. Checks are accepted and need to be written out to "The Flowerman". THANKS! Liane ___________________________________________________________________________ From: KIM::KHODADADI "Farrokh Khodadadi" 9-FEB-1990 13:29:35.42 To: @SYS$MAIL:JUNK CC: Subj: in search of the comfort zone Forget the comfort zone. I'ld be happy with a themostat control around here that would work right. On the other hand, I should be used too this kind of stuff comming from the other building I thought the grass looked greener on this side. Ha... Is it just me or is it hot in here? Farrohk ___________________________________________________________________________ From: SANDY::MARGOLIN 9-FEB-1990 14:12:42.14 To: SHEPPERD CC: MARGOLIN Subj: It broke After adding some code it assembles ok but gives the following message during LLF: $ LNK %LLF-E-ERROR,.TEST expression computed true: ;DMA too big %LLF-E-ERROR,.TEST expression computed true: ;DMA too big %LLF-E-ERROR,.TEST expression computed true: ;DMA too big %LLF-I-INFO,Completed with 3 error(s) and 0 warning(s) MARGOLIN job terminated at 9-FEB-1990 14:08:47.68 Accounting information: Buffered I/O count: 181 Peak working set size: 1040 Direct I/O count: 180 Peak page file size: 3352 Page faults: 4032 Mounted volumes: 0 Charged CPU time: 0 00:00:08.35 Elapsed time: 0 00:00:19.70 Jed ___________________________________________________________________________ From: BERT::ALBAUGH "Dr. Bizarro" 9-FEB-1990 14:54:24.66 To: @SYS$MAIL:EE CC: Subj: GreenHills Structure padding In the process of defining some offsets in an assembly program to reference a structure in 'C', I did a little experiment and was (a bit) surprised. You may be aware of the padding needed when a structure contains elements larger than a byte. What you may not be aware of is that GreenHills (by default) applies that padding even to structures that do _not_ contain any elements larger than a byte. That is, the following C: struct three_byte { char a; char b; char c; } foo[2] = { {1,2,3},{4,5,6} }; will normally produce the following assembly: foo: DC.B 1 DC.B 2 DC.B 3 DCB.B 1,0 ; <- note bogus padding byte DC.B 4 DC.B 5 DC.B 6 DCB.B 1,0 ; <- Yep, another one This has the dual disadvantage of complicating structure passing to GNU CC (which only pads if it should), and increasing the size of your data tables for no good reason. Fortunately, I have since discovered that -x132 will tell the compiler not to do that. Now all I need to do is change my definition of ncc and re-compile all my sources that reference structures with only char elements. Oh well, the devil finds work for idle hands. In case you are interested, I do not (offhand) know of any "US" routines that would be broken by this. Mike ___________________________________________________________________________ From: CHARM::SHEPPERD 9-FEB-1990 19:15:17.40 To: SANDY::MARGOLIN CC: SHEPPERD Subj: RE: It broke The .TEST is an assembler directive that instructs LLF to check the value of an expression and print the accompanying error message if the test is true. The TMS320.INC file has a .TEST directive in the OOP (One Operand Instruction) primative which checks that the value of the one operand is less than 128. The assembler doesn't flag the error because I had you put the ram variables in a relocatable .PSECT so you wouldn't get the LLF warning about overlapping sections and therefore it doesn't know what the value of the variables are until link time. Until I can figure out a way around this, you'll either have to live with an LLF warning or not finding out about ram "out of range" until link time. There is another bug, however, since LLF is also supposed to give you the line number in the source file where the .TEST directive was given. Damn. ds ___________________________________________________________________________ From: SANDY::MARGOLIN 9-FEB-1990 19:19:12.27 To: CHARM::SHEPPERD CC: MARGOLIN Subj: RE: It broke ok ___________________________________________________________________________ From: BERT::CAMERON "OF SISKEL, EBERT, & CAMERON" 12-FEB-1990 12:47:12.56 To: @SYS$MAIL:JUNK CC: Subj: FOR SALE FOR SALE ONE MIKE TYSON PUNCHING BAG - SLIGHTLY USED- $19.95 ___________________________________________________________________________ From: BERT::CLARK 13-FEB-1990 11:28:21.37 To: MCCARTHY,MONCRIEF,MARGOLIN CC: Subj: DISCONTINUED USE OF A PART NUMBER SINCE WE ARE USING MORE CMOS SRAMS, I HAVE GONE AHEAD AND DISCONTINUED THE USE OF PART NUMBER 137558-XXX FOR NEW DESIGNS, AND REPLACED IT WITH PART NUMBER 137535-XXX AND 137667-XXX. THE TITLES ARE: 137535-XXX IC,SRAM,CMOS,8KX8,XXNS,28P,.6DIP 137667-XXX IC,SRAM,CMOS,8KX8,XXNS,28P,.3DIP NOTE: "XX" IS THE SPEED OF THE DEVICE PART NUMBER 137558-XXX CALLS OUT NMOS PARTS, AND BY GOING TO CMOS, WE CAN SAVE MONEY AND IMPROVE THE DELIVERY TIME ON THE PARTS. ALSO, SAVE IN POWER. IF THERE IS ANY PROBLEMS WITH THIS, PLEASE FEEL FEE TO CONTACT ME. TOM C ___________________________________________________________________________ From: KIM::HUBBERSTEY 13-FEB-1990 12:02:34.24 To: @SYS$MAIL:EE CC: HUBBERSTEY Subj: Possible EEPROM problem SOFTWARE TYPES: There is a race condition involving the EEPROM unlock circuit. This can be cured with a very simple software change. See your hardware guy to see if this is a problem with your hardware. HARDWARE TYPES: A typical EEPROM lock circuit is shown below: /UNLOCK ____ | +---o---+ | S | GND --|D Q|---- /OE | | | | /WL --|> | | | +-------+ The problem is that /UNLOCK and /WL occur at the same time, plus or minus a gate delay or two. If the path for /WL is slightly slower, the EEPROM will not get unlocked. The solution is to do the unlock with a byte write to the high byte only. This suppresses /WL and the problem goes away. ___________________________________________________________________________ From: SANDY::MARGOLIN 13-FEB-1990 13:15:57.32 To: CLARK CC: MARGOLIN Subj: Power AT Power Supply ---------------- The supply we need must be in an AT compatible case and have the following voltages. The currents are minimums. +5V at 18A +12V at 6A -5V at 0.5A (I told Rick Meyette that 0.3A is ok) -12V at 0.5A (I told Rick Meyette that 0.3A is ok) It would be useful to compare the cost for the above supply with the supply we are using in our prototype which has: +5V at 22A +12V at 8A -5V at 0.5A -12V at 0.5A Jed ___________________________________________________________________________ From: BERT::CLARK 13-FEB-1990 13:21:28.75 To: MARGOLIN CC: Subj: "AT" POWER THANKS TOM ___________________________________________________________________________ From: BERT::CLARK 13-FEB-1990 16:03:08.39 To: @SYS$MAIL:ENGINEER CC: Subj: VOICE-ACTIVATED-ROM'S ANYONE INTERESTED IN TALKING TO A BILL BRADFORD FROM MOSEL, ON VOICE ACTIVATED ROM'S, LET ME KNOW BY 10AM TOMARROW, FEB 14. I CAN ARRANGE TIME WITH HIM ON FRIDAY. THANKS TOM C ___________________________________________________________________________ From: SANDY::MARGOLIN 13-FEB-1990 16:43:06.85 To: BERT::CLARK CC: MARGOLIN Subj: RE: VOICE-ACTIVATED-ROM'S what is a voice activated ROM? ___________________________________________________________________________ From: BERT::CLARK 14-FEB-1990 07:15:55.87 To: @SYS$MAIL:ENGINEER CC: Subj: VOICE ACTIVATED ROM'S SORRY FOR THOSE WHO DO NOT KNOW WHAT A VOICE- ACTIVATED-ROM IS. THEY HAVE MAINLY USED IN TOY'S LIKE, THE BASEBALL THAT WHEN THROWN MAKES THE SOUND OF BREAKING GLASS. ANY SOUND CAN BE PROGRAMMED INTO THE DEVICE AND THE WAY I UNDERSTAND IT, IT CAN BE ACTIVATED BY DIFFERENT MEANS, EVEN BY VOICE. THERE COULD BE SOME INTERESTING GAMES FROM THIS I WOULD THINK. . ___________________________________________________________________________ From: BERT::LIANE 14-FEB-1990 09:38:34.26 To: @SYS$MAIL:JUNK CC: Subj: HAPPY VALENTINE'S DAY! For those of you who ordered flowers, "The Flowerman" said they will be delivered around noon today. Please don't forget to pick them up and please help me out by telling me your name and what you ordered. I'm still trying to remember the faces with the names. THANK YOU! LIANE ___________________________________________________________________________ From: BERT::LIANE 14-FEB-1990 09:54:11.21 To: @SYS$MAIL:JUNK CC: Subj: MESSAGE STEPHANIE HAD A BABY BOY!!!!!!!! ___________________________________________________________________________ From: BERT::LIANE 14-FEB-1990 10:47:47.57 To: MARGOLIN CC: Subj: MESSAGE HI JED. YOUR DENTIST OFFICE CALLED AND HAS SET AN APPT. FOR YOU FOR TOMORROW AT 1 PM. PLEASE CALL MARGARET TO CONFIRM OR CANCEL AT 323-1381. LIANE ___________________________________________________________________________ From: CHARM::HARPER 14-FEB-1990 14:22:04.60 To: @SYS$MAIL:JUNK CC: Subj: Teeth Games If you've been at Atari a number of years you might be able to help me... A dentist friend of mine contacted me and says he's interested in using computers to teach young children about good dental habits. He wants to design a game that is fun to play, but also would instruct the kids how to brush correctly (don't forget to floss!). He said he heard of an old game written by someone at Atari called "Plaque Wars" or "Plak Wars" or something just as original. I seem to recall hearing about this, but I just can't place it. It was probably written for the old 800 computer. If you know ANYTHING about this program, I would appreciate the information, and it's for a good cause! Thanks! Dennis Harper ___________________________________________________________________________ From: GAWD::HUNT "THUNDER JAWS -- RUSTY & NATALIE" 14-FEB-1990 15:52:46.19 To: @SYS$MAIL:JUNK CC: Subj: New Version of ThunderJaws... The latest ThunderJaws is now playable in the Eng. common area... FEEL the crush of the turbines and filters... RIDE the Great Green Gondola (if you can find it)... SLIP past the deadly Pulsar Rays... JUMP onto the "Spinning Blades of Death" (and survive!) SEE the lightning and HEAR the thunder! Again, as always, all new and previously unreported bugs earn you... BIG BUG BONUS POINTS. Collect the whole set! The ThunderJaws Team ___________________________________________________________________________ From: BERT::CAMERON "OF SISKEL, EBERT, & CAMERON" 15-FEB-1990 13:44:01.48 To: @SYS$MAIL:JUNK CC: Subj: movies Tonight, two good flicks at the same time! Channel 2 - 8 pm: "Something Wild" with the now famous Melanie Griffith and Jeff Daniels. She picks him up and takes him for the ride of his life. Great musical score, too, for all you lovers of Live 105 Modern Rock. Channel 44 - 8 pm:"At Close Range" with Christopher Walken and Sean Penn. The elder of the two plays a crazed criminal that his boys to follow him into his line of work. The film is a moody psycological thriller of sorts. (fill in the blank on line two - "wants")oops! A very interesting movie about the power of influence a father can have over his son and what happens if he loses that power. ___________________________________________________________________________ From: BERT::LIANE 15-FEB-1990 14:26:59.68 To: @SYS$MAIL:JUNK CC: Subj: MESSAGE UPDATE ON STEPANIE'S BABY BOY. HIS NAME IS DAVID ANDREW AND HE WEIGHED 7 POUNDS 8 OZ. AND IS 20 INCHES LONG. THEY'RE BOTH DONING FINE AND THEY'LL BE HOME TOMORROW. LIANE ___________________________________________________________________________ From: BERT::LIANE 15-FEB-1990 15:28:08.37 To: @SYS$MAIL:JUNK CC: Subj: MESSAGE OOPS! MY LAST MESSAGE HAD A TYPING ERROR. IT SHOULD BE "DOING" NOT "DONING" O.K., I'M FAR FROM PERFECT... LIANE ___________________________________________________________________________ From: KIM::MARGOLIN 15-FEB-1990 18:46:33.09 To: CLARK CC: MARGOLIN Subj: 44 pin PLCC Socket I need a production style 44 pin PLCC socket to check the board layout before we go out for film and have boards made. Could you get me one today, please? Jed ___________________________________________________________________________ From: GAWD::HUNT "THUNDER JAWS -- RUSTY & NATALIE" 15-FEB-1990 22:53:44.13 To: @SYS$MAIL:ENGINEER CC: Subj: COME PLAY THUNDERJAWS!!! NEW AND IMPROVED VERSION!!! THUNDERJAWS THUNDERJAWS THUNDERJAWS THUNDERJAWS THUNDERJAWS THUNDERJAWS THUNDERJAWS THUNDERJAWS THUNDERJAWS THUNDERJAWS THUNDERJAWS THUNDERJAWS THUNDERJAWS THUNDERJAWS THUNDERJAWS THUNDERJAWS THUNDERJAWS THUNDERJAWS is going out on Field Test TODAY!!! Please play the game out in the common area and tell us if you find any bugs, especially in wave 3, the tube and geothermal plant waves. Also, if you happen to kill the oil derrick monster at the same time it kills you, watch what happens and let me know. Reporting this oil monster circumstance is worth TWO BUG BONUS POINTS, bug or no bug. So get out there and earn those points. Norm is in the lead with 4, Kelly and Glen are next with 2. Norm and Kelly are on vacation, so now is the perfect time to try and catch them!! Thanks, The ThunderJaws Team minus Rusty ___________________________________________________________________________ From: BERT::CAMERON "OF SISKEL, EBERT, & CAMERON" 16-FEB-1990 09:06:01.98 To: @SYS$MAIL:JUNK CC: Subj: HOW TO BE A TOTAL TATER It's going to be a cold rainy yuchy evening. Maybe the best thing to do is just put on your fez and slippers, hop on the sofa, and follow this line-up: 1. First, check out the photo on page 1 of the San Jose Merc; George Bush doing his Jimmy Swaggert impersonation. 2. Watch the tape of the movie that you didn't watch last night. 3. Invite all your campy friends over, gather up all your unused coathangers, and watch "Mommie Dearest" on channel 44 @ 8 pm. 4. Then quickly switch channels to channel 9 and watch Sidney Poitier and Shelley Winters in "A Patch of Blue". Shelley Winters plays mommie dearest to a blind girl, who in 1965, can't see that Sidney is black and that anything is wrong with him befriending her. It is a heartwarming tale and Shelley Winters is meaner than Joan Crawford could ever be. Sidney Poitier is great, as always. The movie starts at 10:30. ___________________________________________________________________________ From: BERT::PEREZ "Ralph Perez" 20-FEB-1990 08:56:20.95 To: @SYS$MAIL:ENGINEER CC: Subj: HELP I have an IBM PC and I need DOS 3.3 to run my modem. Does anyone out there have a copy of IBM DOS 3.3 or know if there is a way to run MS DOS on an IBM? I would mucho appreciato any helpo! Gracias, Ralph ___________________________________________________________________________ From: BERT::LIANE 20-FEB-1990 09:04:51.30 To: MARGOLIN CC: Subj: MESSAGE HI JED. JOHN BELAMY FROM AMP CALLED AT 8:45 AM AND WOULD LIKE YOU TO RETURN HIS CALL AT 255-3830. LIANE ___________________________________________________________________________ From: KIM::ROWE "Rofo" 21-FEB-1990 13:55:15.98 To: @SYS$MAIL:JUNK CC: Subj: DAY CARE URGENT!!!! Looking for day care for two year old starting next week. please call Rob Rowe 434-1745 or (home)945-0153 ___________________________________________________________________________ From: SANDY::MARGOLIN 22-FEB-1990 12:58:38.11 To: CLARK CC: MARGOLIN Subj: DSP32C Tom, We just received a copy of the bug list for the F32 and F33 versions. In the process of fixing the bugs in the F32 they introduced new bugs in the F33. We can live with the bugs in the F32. We cannot live with the bugs in the F33. The entry in the AVL is for the F33. Please change it to call out the F32. From: 137661-080 IC,CMOS,DSP,80ns,164P,PQFP,25mil AT&T_MICROELECTRONICS M-WE-DSP32C-F33-080 137661-100 IC,CMOS,DSP,100ns,164P,PQFP,25mil AT&T_MICROELECTRONICS M-WE-DSP32C-F33-100 To: 137661-080 IC,CMOS,DSP,80ns,164P,PQFP,25mil AT&T_MICROELECTRONICS M-WE-DSP32C-F32-080 137661-100 IC,CMOS,DSP,100ns,164P,PQFP,25mil AT&T_MICROELECTRONICS M-WE-DSP32C-F32-100 Thanks, Jed ___________________________________________________________________________ From: MIKE::WILLIAMSON 22-FEB-1990 15:04:58.38 To: @SYS$MAIL:JUNK,WILLIAMSON CC: Subj: I HAVE A PACKAGE IN RECEIVING FROM DESIGNER MOULDING WITH NO NAME OR PO NUMBER. THE PACKAGE CONTAINS DIFFERENT COLORED MOLDING SAMPLES. IF IT IS YOURS OR SOMEBODY YOU KNOW PLEASE CONTACT ME AT EXT. 3934 THANK-YOU ___________________________________________________________________________ From: GAWD::SUTTLES "Doctor DCL" 22-FEB-1990 15:25:30.08 To: @SYS$MAIL:EE,@SYS$MAIL:MARKETING CC: SUTTLES Subj: printer problems, and temporary solution The printer known as MKT$PRINT (near James O'Hara's office) is broken. I've arranged for most stuff that would go there to go to RAINS$PRINT (in the old PPS equipment room, across from the animators), which is a similar type of printer. If you need help finding it, Dennis Nale is posting a map on the old printer. When it is fixed, things will quietly revert to the way they were before. If you have problems sending stuff (it doesn't come out at all), see me, and we'll come up with a workaround for that application. sas ___________________________________________________________________________ From: SANDY::MARGOLIN 22-FEB-1990 20:36:44.87 To: MARGOLIN CC: MARGOLIN Subj: hello test this message is deliberately left non-empty. ___________________________________________________________________________ From: BERT::OHARA "gems - the giant killer" 23-FEB-1990 15:48:31.19 To: @SYS$MAIL:JUNK CC: OHARA Subj: Rumours concerning me I'm gone Thank You to all of you who've made this job bearable if not an always a pleasure. I wish you well. farewell James Brendan O'Hara ___________________________________________________________________________ From: KIM::DOWNEND 26-FEB-1990 10:53:04.13 To: @SYS$MAIL:ENGINEER CC: Subj: Farewell Lunch - Dave Theurer As you may know, Dave Theurer volunteered for the layoff. Join us for a farewell lunch on Wednesday, 2/28/90 at 12 Noon. RSVP to Downend. Details forthcoming - probably Mexican or pizza for lunch. John Salwitz is arranging for a plaque commemerating Dave's products: Soccer, Missile Command, Tempest, I Robot, and APB. Am I missing any? ___________________________________________________________________________ From: BERT::WOOD 26-FEB-1990 15:46:23.87 To: @SYS$MAIL:EVERYBODY CC: Subj: COMPANY MEETING Mr. Nakajima will hold a meeting for all employees on Tuesday, February 27, at 2:00 p.m. in the cafeteria. Please plan to attend. Dennis Wood ___________________________________________________________________________ From: BERT::LTURNER 26-FEB-1990 17:34:48.89 To: @SYS$MAIL:MOOREGANG CC: LTURNER Subj: Engineering Meeting There are two meetings scheduled by Rich Moore for Wednesday, Feb. 28. The first meeting is at 10:00A in the Engineering Common Area for all engineering departments except Design Services. The second meeting will be at 11:00A in the Central Conference Room for only Design Services. ___________________________________________________________________________ From: KIM::BRAD 26-FEB-1990 19:14:11.68 To: @SYS$MAIL:EE CC: BRAD Subj: What now? Well, they've left... We feel either sad because they are gone, or guilty for staying behind and not volunteering instead. I'm sure most of them will do just fine (or perhaps better) out there in the 'real world'. But now we should start thinking of the future and how to turn this company around. I'm not much for sending out messages but I am one for asking for ideas and contributions from people. I personally feel that the ones receiving this message are the salvation of this company. We need to start planning for the future and this forum seems to be a good place to start. I suppose it would do no good to complain about the past and the lack of cooperation from upper management (complaining has never worked in the past). But, I'm going to jump on my soapbox for the remainder of this paragraph: Through the years I've heard at almost every 'large' meeting complaints about the lack of communication from management to the masses. Complaints about the absence of an explanation of what our company's strategic plan is (or if there really is one!). I've never heard an explanation, and I bet that when we meet again we still won't hear one. How can we work for the common good if we don't know what the common good is? I admit that they have a VERY tough job. And, we are somewhat at the mercy of the volatile industry we're in. And, I also admit that engineering management has made great strides in developing good constructive methods to help in the creation of products (we've seen better brainstorming meetings, the start of concept approval meetings, pitch sessions -- I think that Rich Moore, Chris Downend and John Ray really care about us and the company). These changes have made projects run smoother and we really produce a better product. I guess my biggest complaint is the lack of general direction and explanation of our stragetic plans. [stepping off of soapbox] Yeah, I guess I'm sticking my neck out a bit since I'm one of the managers (but lower management... LOWER!). It would seem that I should keep my mouth shut and go with the flow. But, I can't. I feel that we all should be heard. We all should have a say in where OUR company is going. So, I'm soliciting ideas, comments and anything that you feel would contribute to help our situation. Several ideas have been talked about in the past but never really considered by management (trying out other markets, creating new ones, there's more but I won't list them here -- we have a lot of creative people in this company!). We can revisit those ideas and/or any other topic you wish to discuss. All I ask is that you stay lite on complaints and heavy on suggestions AND that you send your messages to '@sys$mail:ee' and not to me. Remember: be constructive. I tend to agree that complaining about an issue is of no use unless it's done in a constructive manner (for instance, if you complain about an item, let's hear your ideas for improvement). Lastly I'll leave you with this long quote from Charles Swindoll's "Growing Strong in the Seasons of Life": " Edward Roy had a problem. Earthy, but not earth-shattering. Not very enjoable to talk about at dinner either, but big enough to make the man struggle through a few sleepless nights. He ran a lowly business - JIFFY JOHN of Pompano Beach, Florida. Five hundred portable toilets for rent. Band concerts, construction sites, church picnics, outdoor gatherings of any size could rent his product. But that wasn't Ed's problem. As expected, when he started his business in 1982, lots of folks in Florida needed a place to be alone when they were caught out in the open. Rentals were up. That was good and bad. Now he had to figure out what to do with all the sewage... that was the problem. Many a man would've thrown his hands in the air in exasperation and spent half his profit to have somebody haul off his product's product. Not Ed. There had to be a better way. In his search for a solution, he found a solar-heating process that turned sewage into fertilizer. Then came a masterstroke of marketing: instead of trying to sell the technology directly to local Florida communities, his company expanded and began to operate three $3 million plants itself. Under this new arrangement, the company would treat sewage for a fee and convert it into fertilizer, which was, in turn, sold for a substantial profit. A limited partnership soon produced the cash - the JIFFY INDUSTRIES, INC. provided a good tax shelter. I suppose we could say Edward Roy literally turned his problem into a project. And what a project! Jiffy stock turned in the year's best performance on any American exchange, rising from 92 cents a share to a whopping $16.50 - a spectacular 1,693 percent gain. Newsweek magazine recently reported that "with dozens of states suffering from a surfeit of sewage... Jiffy's 'Anaerobic Digester' is catching on everywhere." .... Gross though it may seem, I doubt that I'll ever forget the problem Edward Roy had with his johns. He simply refused to let all that stuff get the best of him. What a lesson for all of us! Life is difficult... really very little more than an endless series of problems. Do we want to moan and groan about them or face them? Do we want to teach the next generation the disciplines involved in accepting and solving them or encourage them to run and hide from them? I appreciate and agree with Scott Peck, M.D., who wrote: ... it is in this whole process of meeting and solving problems that life has meaning. Problems are the cutting edge that distinguishes between success and failure. Problems call forth our courage and our wisdom. It is only because of problems that we grow mentally and spiritually.... It is through the pain of confronting and resolving problems that we learn. As Benjamin Franklin said, "Those things that hurt, instruct." " - brad - ___________________________________________________________________________ From: KIM::BRAD 27-FEB-1990 08:32:05.50 To: @SYS$MAIL:EE CC: BRAD Subj: EARGANOMIX If you missed the last Computer Chronicles it will be shown today at 11am in the audio/animation theatre. TOPIC: Ergonomic design in the computer-user workplace. (ya know, it's about those necessary items that companies feel are too extravagant to purchase for you. But, if they don't in 10 years we'll all end up looking and walking like George Burns..) - brad - ps. the tape lasts about 20 minutes ___________________________________________________________________________ From: BERT::CLARK 27-FEB-1990 08:51:10.15 To: MCCARTHY,CLARK,HOFF,MARGOLIN CC: Subj: DUPLICATE PLCC PART NUMBERS We are presently carrying three part numbers for PLCC sockets. they are P/N 179252-XXX, 179250-XXX and 179237-XXX. Only, part number 179237-XXX shows any WHERE-USED, while, part numbers 179237-XXX and 179252-XXX shows any stock. I would like to inactivate for new designs part numbers 179250-XXX and 179252 -XXX. This would require that the stock for part number 179252-084 be sold off or exchanged for credit. this stock is from 3M/TEXTOOL and needs a special tool to remove the PLCC from the socket (Note: the sources for part number 179237 all use the same tool and 3M/TEXTOOL is changing over to the same style socket). We presently have 1250 pieces in stock of the 84 pin socket. If we want to use them we can, but remember they need a special tool. On part number 179252; I believe that this was established for SHOWVIEW and only called out the AMP sockets. After Geoff Barker and I ran shock tests for Morgan, it was determined that other manufactures could be used in his application. I would add AMP to part number 179237-XXX. If everyone is in agreement, I would like to do this, this week. Any questions, please feel free to contact me. THANKS TOM C ___________________________________________________________________________ From: BERT::FRYE 27-FEB-1990 09:42:32.14 To: @SYS$MAIL:EVERYBODY CC: Subj: EARLY LUNCH DUE TO THE PRESIDENT'S MEETING THIS AFTERNOON, THE CAFETERIA WILL STOP SERVING LUNCH AT 1 PM TODAY ONLY. ___________________________________________________________________________ From: BERT::LIANE 27-FEB-1990 09:59:26.43 To: @SYS$MAIL:JUNK CC: Subj: THIS IS A CORRECTION TO BOB FRYE'S MESSAGE ABOUT THE EARLY LUNCH SCHEDULE. THE CAFETERIA WILL STOP SERVING AT 1 P.M. TODAY ONLY. THANKS! LIANE ___________________________________________________________________________ From: KIM::DROBNY "Buddy Flyback" 27-FEB-1990 10:21:02.72 To: @SYS$MAIL:EE CC: Subj: George Burns One thing you can say about George Burns is that he is way over 90 years old, and at that age, smokes 15 cigars a day. ___________________________________________________________________________ From: KIM::KHODADADI "Farrokh Khodadadi" 27-FEB-1990 11:54:06.35 To: @SYS$MAIL:EE CC: Subj: Eaeganomix and GEORGE BURNS From: KIM::DROBNY Subj: George Burns One thing you can say about George Burns is that he is way over 90 years old, and at that age, smokes 15 cigars a day. I know what you mean Cris, I mean if you live to be over 90, smoke all the cigars you want, and always have a bunch of babes bangi.. I mean hanging all over you, you must be doing something right. Brad, maybe it won't be so bad if we all look like good old "GEORGE BURNS" in ten years. Do you think George got his start here at ATARI? Are we gonna be working here for another ten years? I guess we'll find out today @ 2:00 Farrokh ___________________________________________________________________________ From: BERT::LTURNER 27-FEB-1990 15:27:46.27 To: @SYS$MAIL:MOOREGANG CC: LTURNER Subj: Engineering Meeting The Engineering Department Meetings scheduled for tomorrow have been cancelled due to a meeting conflict. Tentatively they will be held on Friday. More information later. ___________________________________________________________________________ From: MIKE::BELL "COMPONENT ENGINEERING, EXT 1750" 27-FEB-1990 17:06:11.00 To: BELL,MARGOLIN,OWENS CC: Subj: CER-7445 - Completed From: MIKE::BELL "COMPONENT ENGINEERING, EXT 1750" 26-FEB-1990 13:29:00.16 To: AVL CC: Subj: AUTO-CER ============================================================================== ATARI GAMES CORP COMPONENT EVALUATION REQUEST CER# 7445 ============================================================================== REQUESTED ACTION: NEW PART APPLICATION: PROJECT: HD THE RACE USED ON ASSEMBLY: PART NUMBER: GENERIC: DESCRIPTION: IC,Pr_Memory_Masters,Hard_Drivin/Race MANUFACTURER: MFG P/N: CONTACT: PHONE: COMMENTS: CC: MARGOLIN,OWENS ============================================================================== ENGINEERING REPLY/NOTES: Jed, in the future, please login to node mike and type CER at the system prompt to submit new CER's. Sending me regular email only serves to delay processing of your requests. ref: 136052 (Hard Drivin) 136068 (HD Compact) 136078 (HD/Race-Compact) ============================================================================== AVL DESCRIPTION | PART NUMBER | IC,Pr_Memory_Masters,Hard_Drivin/Race | 136077-XXXX ============================================================================== DISPOSITION: x_APPROVED __DISQUALIFIED __TEMPORARY APPROVAL __REJECTED __OBSOLETE __RESTRICTED APPROVAL AVL ACTION: __ADD VENDOR x_RESERVE NEW P/N __REVISION __REMOVE VENDOR __CONVERT P/N __STATIC SENSITIVE ============================================================================== ASSIGNED TO: DATE APPROVED DATE JB 2/27/90 ============================================================================== ___________________________________________________________________________ From: MIKE::BELL "COMPONENT ENGINEERING, EXT 1750" 27-FEB-1990 17:07:00.99 To: BELL,MARGOLIN,OWENS CC: Subj: CER-7446 - Completed From: MIKE::BELL "COMPONENT ENGINEERING, EXT 1750" 26-FEB-1990 13:31:31.50 To: AVL CC: Subj: AUTO-CER ============================================================================== ATARI GAMES CORP COMPONENT EVALUATION REQUEST CER# 7446 ============================================================================== REQUESTED ACTION: NEW PART APPLICATION: PROJECT: HD RACE/COMPACT USED ON ASSEMBLY: PART NUMBER: GENERIC: DESCRIPTION: IC,Pr_Memory_Masters,Hard_Drivin/Race,Compact MANUFACTURER: MFG P/N: CONTACT: PHONE: COMMENTS: CC:MARGOLIN,OWENS ============================================================================== ENGINEERING REPLY/NOTES: ref: 136052 (Hard Drivin) 136068 (HD Compact) 136077 (HD/Race-Cockpit) ============================================================================== AVL DESCRIPTION | PART NUMBER | IC,Pr_Memory_Masters,Hard_Drivin/Race,Compact | 136078-XXXX ============================================================================== DISPOSITION: x_APPROVED __DISQUALIFIED __TEMPORARY APPROVAL __REJECTED __OBSOLETE __RESTRICTED APPROVAL AVL ACTION: __ADD VENDOR x_RESERVE NEW P/N __REVISION __REMOVE VENDOR __CONVERT P/N __STATIC SENSITIVE ============================================================================== ASSIGNED TO: DATE APPROVED DATE JB 2/27/90 ============================================================================== ___________________________________________________________________________ From: BERT::LTURNER 27-FEB-1990 17:57:10.19 To: @SYS$MAIL:MOOREGANG CC: LTURNER Subj: More Information The Engineering Meeting has been rescheduled for 3:00P on Wednesday, Feb. 28, in the cafeteria. All departments are to attend this meeting. ___________________________________________________________________________ From: KIM::MOSER 28-FEB-1990 15:02:31.26 To: @SYS$MAIL:JUNK CC: Subj: better late than never Born Today [only 17 days late] To Deborah Short and her husband Peter Crosman Miles Frederick Crosman born Feb.28 at 8:47 am 9 lb. 13 oz. 20 1/2 inches long Both Mom and baby are happy and healthy. The Animation Department is delighted with its new addition. ___________________________________________________________________________ From: SANDY::DAVE 28-FEB-1990 17:05:48.38 To: @SYS$MAIL:ENGINEER CC: Subj: A PROPOSAL FOR AN "ATARI EQUIPMENT ADVANTAGE PLAN" This is just off the top of my head (what a mess) but just to stimulate some discussion here goes. What if the company gave every engineer/programmer/animator an official capital equipment budget of say 5% of their base salary. This money could be spent on any equipment (within reason) that the person felt would aid them in achieving the goal of 25% more efficiency. The amount of paperwork to justify/wheadle/cajole this would be kept to an absolute minimum. people would be allowed to combine their allocations to make bigger group purchases. They would be allowed to carry over some percentage of the unused money into subsequent years. To assuage management fears of frivolous purchases perhaps people could be allowed to trade in their allocations for 20 cents on the dollar if they chose at the end of the fiscal year, reducing the incentive to squander. Finally, I bet some programmers and engineers would avail themselves of a feature where the company would match employee contriutions to the "plan" at a 3 to 1 rate for those "extra needs". I know that a vast majority of the people seeing this message would spend their allocation wisely and to the immense benefit of the company. I also feel that additional benefits such as employee admiration for managements enlightened attitude and the sense of being trusted and treated as professionals would accrue. SO THERE. WHAT DO UUUU THINK? ___________________________________________________________________________ From: KIM::BIKE "CYCLOTRON -- THE BMX RACING GAME" 28-FEB-1990 17:14:29.49 To: @SYS$MAIL:ENGINEER CC: BIKE Subj: ATARI EQUIPMENT ADVANTAGE PLAN The plan sounds very enticing, but I think we need some set of metrics which can be used to determine whether or not we are working 25% more efficiently as a result. How do we tell if it worked? Bonnie ___________________________________________________________________________ From: SANDY::MARGOLIN 28-FEB-1990 17:21:46.42 To: CLARK CC: MARGOLIN Subj: 1 Meg EPROMs For alternate sources to the TI TMS27C010-170 I suggest you start with parts that have the same pinout. There are three different style pinouts and I have chosen the one embodied by the 27C010 because it is compatible with 27C512s with minor addressing changes. I need 170 ns or faster. Regards, Jed ___________________________________________________________________________ From: KIM::COMSTOCK 28-FEB-1990 17:41:33.91 To: @SYS$MAIL:ENGINEER CC: Subj: Atari Equipment Advantage Plan Besides, how many want everybody to know what 5% of his/her salary is? We're all reasonably good at arithmetic. ___________________________________________________________________________ From: BERT::CLARK 1-MAR-1990 06:54:37.93 To: MARGOLIN CC: Subj: 27C010'S I CHAECKED A THIRD TIME AND ALL OF THESE VENDORS ARE PIN COMPATIBLE WITH TI'S PART. ALSO, THEY HAVE SPEEDS OF 170NS OR FASTER. I WILL DOUBLE CHECK ON THE COMPATIBLITY TO THE 512'S, BUT IT IS MY BELIEF THAT THEY ARE, BUT HAVE ONLY THE MINOR ADDRESSING CHANGES NEEDED TO MAKE IT A 1MEG. TOM ___________________________________________________________________________ From: MIKE::WILLIAMSON 1-MAR-1990 09:18:22.54 To: @SYS$MAIL:JUNK,WILLIAMSON CC: Subj: PACKAGES FROM RECEIVING THIS MESSAGE IS TO LET YOU KNOW HOW PARTS ARE HANDLED WHEN THEY COME IN FOR THE 675 BUILDING. REGUARDING SMALL PACKAGES THAT COME INTO RECEIVING THEY WILL BE DELIVERED BY DENNIS NALE WHEN HE MAKES HIS ROUNDS EACH DAY (CALL DENNIS FOR HIS SCHUDULE). FOR LARGE AND PALLET DELIVERIES, THE REQUESTER WILL BE CALLED AS SOON AS POSSIBLE AND ASKED WHERE TO DELIVER THE MATERIAL. FOR HOT PARTS YOU MUST CALL RECEIVING EXT.3934 AND GIVE ME INFORMATION ON WHAT TO LOOK FOR, I WILL MAKE A NOTE AND CALL YOU WHEN THE PACKAGE COMES IN. THANK-YOU STEVE ___________________________________________________________________________ From: KIM::DOWNEND 1-MAR-1990 10:57:09.45 To: @SYS$MAIL:ENGINEER CC: Subj: Atari Advantage program While we are dreamin' (I mean really dreamin here), I think that the equipment budget should be by department, with the manager/supervisor making the decision on where to spend the money for the group based on input from individuals. This protects sensitive information, gives mid-level managers some clout, and allows easier pooling for large purchases. 5% is way to low. Starting with a $40K annual salary (some make more, some make less), 5% yields $2k per year per person. For my group, I need to buy an Arium for each programmer at about $15k each (Ariums have quick downloads and offer source-level de-bugging; both improve productivity considerably). I need to buy 2-3 Mac's at about $6k each, and I need some new scopes (2-3K each) and a good logic analyzer for the 68000 at maybe $20k. So about $150K in round numbers would do it. Spreading that over 3 years, for $50k per year means I need more like 10% of the salaries for my group. Now we can all dream more accurately. ___________________________________________________________________________ From: KIM::KHODADADI "Farrokh Khodadadi" 1-MAR-1990 11:33:47.94 To: @SYS$MAIL:ENGINEER CC: Subj: ATARI $$$ $ expenditures While alot of you are trying to come up with an equipment advantage plan, and call it "DREEM'N " or just pushing to become more ( %25 ) efficient, I'm wondering about why $150 k is considered to be TOO LARGE an amount for finance to cough-up to fund our equipment needs.!??? Also, something else that's been bothering me for some time now is how ATARI and TENGEN can afford to provide our EXECs with luxury ( 560 SLs ) automobiles while they have a difficult time funding our essential equipment needs. I may be out of line on this one since I don't know for a fact that who pays for their Mercedeses and BMWs, but one would wonder about such lucrative accomodations. During early 80s, when CHRYSLER corporation was going through hard times LEE IOCOCA made a promise to the american public that he would turn things around and pay back the money we loaned his company. He did all that for an anual salary of $1 . Farrokh ___________________________________________________________________________ From: ICY::BRAD 1-MAR-1990 11:44:20.47 To: @SYS$MAIL:ENGINEER CC: I WAS WONDERING....,BRAD Subj: I was wondering.... If I added 25% hours to my work week.... I'd be working around 72 hours a week.... And I'm sure that your calculations would exceed mine! Question: If coin-operated games have been around for 2000 years, what slang did they give the industry? Answer: Denari-op ___________________________________________________________________________ From: SANDY::MARGOLIN 1-MAR-1990 13:11:25.63 To: CLARK CC: MARGOLIN Subj: 27C010s Some of the parts on the sheets you gave me were not compatible with the 27C010. Also, I don't understand why you think you have to check into the compatability with 27512s. The 27C010 has a particular pinout. Don't lump the part in with any other part with a different pinout. If you do, and we buy them, they won't work on my board, which I designed for 27C010s. Regards, Jed ___________________________________________________________________________ From: BERT::CAMERON "OF SISKEL, EBERT, & CAMERON" 1-MAR-1990 13:21:22.00 To: @SYS$MAIL:ENGINEER CC: Subj: LEE IOCOCA When Lee Iococo worked for only $1/year, he also bought almost all the stock in the company for about a dollar. There is always a hitch, Farrokh P.S. remember back when we used to be stockholders in our own parent company? ___________________________________________________________________________ From: ERNIE::PETRICK "Jim Petrick" 2-MAR-1990 14:14:15.96 To: @SM:ENGINEER,@SM:ANIMATORS CC: Subj: RADMOD has moved I have moved RADMOD.EXE to utl$exe:. You may have to change your login.com to deal with this. The line from your login.com should now look similar to this: $ RADMOD :== $ UTL$EXE:RADMOD.EXE Instead of something like this: $ RADMOD :== $ EE$USERDISK:[THEURER.PPS]RADMOD.EXE If you have a special version of RADMOD that you've been using, let me know so I can restore it where you can find it. I noticed ones called RADMODBLOOD, RADMOD2, RADMOD3 and a few other versions, but don't know if they are current or experimental versions. -- jim ___________________________________________________________________________ From: ERNIE::PETRICK "Jim Petrick" 2-MAR-1990 14:20:35.79 To: @SM:ENGINEER,@SM:ANIMATORS CC: Subj: New CELPROCESS version I have put a new version of CELPROCESS in utl$pps:. The new version has a fix to CLOSE REDUCTION that makes it actually work, thanks to R. Moore. There are also a couple more lines in the help that attempt to describe the params. -- jim ___________________________________________________________________________ From: ERNIE::PETRICK "Jim Petrick" 2-MAR-1990 14:48:51.69 To: @SM:ENGINEER,@SM:ANIMATORS CC: Subj: More Theurer stuff Ed Logg asked me about the other Theurer programs, such as TEK, VPIF, PBROTATE, PBREPLICATE. TEK is now in UTL$EXE: VPIF is now in UTL$EXE: PBROTATE -- correct me if I'm wrong, but these are obsolete PBREPLICATE I found PBREPLICATE in [theurer.pps.OBS] and couldn't even find PBROTATE. If these are truly not obsolete, let me know and I will move them to utl$PPS: Also, any other tools Dave has that you use should be moved out of his directory and into the UTL directories. He has a huge collection of .EXE files that I'm not even going to guess what they're for, so if you have some you use tell me and I'll save them from eventual disappearance from the VAX. -- jim ___________________________________________________________________________ From: CHARM::LOGG 5-MAR-1990 09:37:23.32 To: MONCRIEF,MARGOLIN CC: Subj: DS II PCBs Rick; I would like to make a request to get 2 DSII PCBs installed on my development stations before April 7. I would also like to get two RAM PCBs to go with them. I am expecting a considerable amount of graphics soon and I want to download them rather than burn EPROMs. I am willing to live with no audio for several months. When can I get these? I have asked Max to install the fast background which has never been installed on Stun Hardware with 288 lines. At the same time he was to install the new No-Lag code. I hope this does not cause any delays in his schedule. I have also asked Eric to correct one of the feedback joystick PCBs. It drifts to the left. Do you know any experienced helicopter pilots or instructors? Rob Rowe knows a test pilot at NASA but I would like a local second source to ask questions on handling and especially the feedback aspects. Thanks ___________________________________________________________________________ From: BERT::BROWN 5-MAR-1990 12:27:50.01 To: @SYS$MAIL:JUNK CC: BROWN Subj: A BABY KANE MAKING HIS DEBUTE OVER THE WEEK-END WAS: CHARLES BRANDON KANE WEIGHING IN AT 7 LBS 7 OZ 19 INCHES BORN ON MARCH 4 PARENTS: TERI AND BERRY MOTHER AND WEE ONE ARE DOING FINE. LABOR WAS FAIRLY EASY AND RELATIVELY SHORT.BERRY SAID IT WAS THE CHILI NACHOS HE FED HER FOR LUNCH THAT DID IT!! ___________________________________________________________________________ From: CHARM::LOGG 5-MAR-1990 15:56:52.63 To: MONCRIEF,MARGOLIN CC: Subj: DSII or RAM PCBs? Rick; I talked to Max today and he suggested that I wait before I get the DSII PCBs. It would be great if I could use 2 RAM PCBs. If these are not available or if it is not easy to connect them to the ADSP, then give Karen the schematics to do 2 wirewraps for me. Thanks ___________________________________________________________________________ From: BERT::FUJIHARA 6-MAR-1990 12:35:17.81 To: @SYS$MAIL:ENGINEER,HAYES,STEWART,SHIRLEY CC: FUJIHARA Subj: COMPETITOR INFO The latest issue of RePlay reveals even more new product info for ACME. (Anne Hayes distributed a recap of other known competitor products which was circulated to all ACME attendees this week.) -Fabtek has "Sports Match" which is Tetris, but the tiles are sports- related. ???? -Leland has a 3-player game called Pig Out which gives some indication of game play... -Grand Products will debut a new tavern piece called Slick Shot which combines a mini pool table with video game play. -Meltec has a new redemption called Lunar Golf which is supposedly doing well. Sega also has a new 3-player dedicated driving piece called Rough Racer which is likely to be at ACME. This was rumored to be a very low-key show but it now appears that there will be an abundance of new products. Mary ___________________________________________________________________________ From: CHARM::LOGG 8-MAR-1990 09:42:14.43 To: MARGOLIN,BEHENSKY CC: Subj: ADC never complete Yesterday I tried to run my program and it hung in READPOTS waiting for the last pot conversion to finish. Resets of the PCB did not help. I had to enter Jed's self test and then retry my program before it would run. There is something I am not reseting and I would like to know what it is and why it is not my code now and where it should be. Thanks ___________________________________________________________________________ From: ERNIE::RAY 9-MAR-1990 18:07:26.10 To: @SYS$MAIL:ENGINEER CC: RAY Subj: Productivity Brainstorm Report I have finished documenting and collecting feedback from the productivity brainstorms in January. Since they are about 5 pages for each session, I decided not to take up valuable disk space by sending the results to each of you. Instead, I encourage you to read the document [ray]bsprod.doc. I have them posted on my bulletin board -- feel free to copy them or mark them with YOUR comments. Or, send me mail with your comments. I have also given Rich and Chris hard copies. I will refer to these ideas as I have spare time to tackle those areas I can contribute to. I hope others will too. Thank you to all of you who contributed these ideas!! John ___________________________________________________________________________ From: CHARM::LOGG 12-MAR-1990 11:40:34.70 To: MARGOLIN,MONCRIEF CC: Subj: WW RAM PCBs Jed; I have both RAM PCBs. One seems to work fine and one fails the RAM test. Could you get the board debugged? Thanks ___________________________________________________________________________ From: MIKE::BELL "COMPONENT ENGINEERING, EXT 1750" 12-MAR-1990 16:17:57.66 To: OWENS,MARGOLIN,BEHENSKY CC: Subj: 136052 - HARD_DRIVIN MEMORY MASTERS 136052 - HARD DRIVIN MEMORY MASTERS 12-Mar-1990 Page 1 PART NUMBER DESCRIPTION 136052-0101 IC,Pr_EPROM,Hard_Drivin,137444-250,10H 136052-0102 IC,Pr_EPROM,Hard_Drivin,137444-250,10J 136052-0103 IC,Pr_EPROM,Hard_Drivin,137444-250,10K 136052-0104 IC,Pr_EPROM,Hard_Drivin,137444-250,10L 136052-0105 IC,Pr_EPROM,Hard_Drivin,137444-200,200R 136052-0106 IC,Pr_EPROM,Hard_Drivin,137444-200,200S 136052-0107 IC,Pr_EPROM,Hard_Drivin,137444-200,200T 136052-0108 IC,Pr_EPROM,Hard_Drivin,137444-200,200U 136052-0109 IC,Pr_EPROM,Hard_Drivin,137444-200,200V 136052-0110 IC,Pr_EPROM,Hard_Drivin,137444-200,200W 136052-0111 IC,Pr_EPROM,Hard_Drivin,137444-200,200X 136052-0112 IC,Pr_EPROM,Hard_Drivin,137444-200,200Y 136052-0113 IC,Pr_EPROM,Hard_Drivin,137444-200,210R 136052-0114 IC,Pr_EPROM,Hard_Drivin,137444-200,210S 136052-0115 IC,Pr_EPROM,Hard_Drivin,137444-200,210T 136052-0116 IC,Pr_EPROM,Hard_Drivin,137444-200,210U 136052-0117 IC,Pr_EPROM,Hard_Drivin,137444-200,210V 136052-0118 IC,Pr_EPROM,Hard_Drivin,137444-200,210W 136052-0119 IC,Pr_EPROM,Hard_Drivin,137444-200,210X 136052-0120 IC,Pr_EPROM,Hard_Drivin,137444-200,210Y 136052-0121 IC,Pr_EPROM,Hard_Drivin,137396-200,45N 136052-0122 IC,Pr_EPROM,Hard_Drivin,137396-200,70N 136052-0123 IC,Pr_EPROM,Hard_Drivin,137444-250,65A 136052-0124 IC,Pr_EPROM,Hard_Drivin,137444-250,55A 136052-0125 IC,Pr_EPROM,Hard_Drivin,137444-250,45A 136052-0126 IC,Pr_EPROM,Hard_Drivin,137444-250,30A 136052-0127 IC,Pr_EPROM,Hard_Drivin,137444-250,20A 136052-0128 IC,Pr_EPROM,Hard_Drivin,137444-250,5A 136052-0129 IC,Pr_EPROM,Hard_Drivin,137444-250,65C 136052-0130 IC,Pr_EPROM,Hard_Drivin,137444-250,55C 136052-0131 IC,Pr_EPROM,Hard_Drivin,137444-250,45C 136052-0132 IC,Pr_EPROM,Hard_Drivin,137444-250,30C 136052-0133 IC,Pr_EPROM,Hard_Drivin,137444-250,20C 136052-0134 IC,Pr_EPROM,Hard_Drivin,137444-250,5C 136052-1101 IC,Pr_EPROM,Hard_Drivin,137444-250,10H 136052-1102 IC,Pr_EPROM,Hard_Drivin,137444-250,10J 136052-1103 IC,Pr_EPROM,Hard_Drivin,137444-250,10K 136052-1104 IC,Pr_EPROM,Hard_Drivin,137444-250,10L 136052-1105 IC,Pr_EPROM,Hard_Drivin,137444-200,200R 136052-1106 IC,Pr_EPROM,Hard_Drivin,137444-200,200S 136052-1110 IC,Pr_EPROM,Hard_Drivin,137444-200,200W 136052-1111 IC,Pr_EPROM,Hard_Drivin,137444-200,200X 136052-1113 IC,Pr_EPROM,Hard_Drivin,137444-200,210R 136052-1114 IC,Pr_EPROM,Hard_Drivin,137444-200,210S 136052-1118 IC,Pr_EPROM,Hard_Drivin,137444-200,210W 136052-1119 IC,Pr_EPROM,Hard_Drivin,137444-200,210X 136052-1121 IC,Pr_EPROM,Hard_Drivin,137396-200,45N 136052-1122 IC,Pr_EPROM,Hard_Drivin,137396-200,70N 136052-1123 IC,Pr_EPROM,Hard_Drivin,137444-250,65A 136052-1124 IC,Pr_EPROM,Hard_Drivin,137444-250,55A 136052-1125 IC,Pr_EPROM,Hard_Drivin,137444-250,45A 136052-1126 IC,Pr_EPROM,Hard_Drivin,137444-250,30A 136052-1135 IC,Pr_EPROM,Hard_Drivin,137454-250,10H 136052 - HARD DRIVIN MEMORY MASTERS 12-Mar-1990 Page 2 PART NUMBER DESCRIPTION 136052-1136 IC,Pr_EPROM,Hard_Drivin,137454-250,10K 136052-1137 IC,Pr_EPROM,Hard_Drivin,137454-250,10J 136052-1138 IC,Pr_EPROM,Hard_Drivin,137454-250,10L 136052-1139 IC,Pr_GAL,Hard_Drivin,137646-025,95A 136052-1140 IC,Pr_GAL,Hard_Drivin,137646-025,95C 136052-1141 IC,Pr_EPROM,Hard_Drivin,137447-250,65A 136052-1142 IC,Pr_EPROM,Hard_Drivin,137447-250,55A 136052-1143 IC,Pr_EPROM,Hard_Drivin,137447-250,45A 136052-1144 IC,Pr_EPROM,Hard_Drivin,137447-250,30A 136052-1145 IC,Pr_EPROM,Hard_Drivin,137447-250,20A 136052-1146 IC,Pr_EPROM,Hard_Drivin,137447-250,5A 136052-1147 IC,Pr_EPROM,Hard_Drivin,137447-250,65C 136052-1148 IC,Pr_EPROM,Hard_Drivin,137447-250,55C 136052-2105 IC,Pr_EPROM,Hard_Drivin,137444-200,200R 136052-2106 IC,Pr_EPROM,Hard_Drivin,137444-200,200S 136052-2113 IC,Pr_EPROM,Hard_Drivin,137444-200,210R 136052-2114 IC,Pr_EPROM,Hard_Drivin,137444-200,210S 136052-2121 IC,Pr_EPROM,Hard_Drivin,137447-200,45N 136052-2122 IC,Pr_EPROM,Hard_Drivin,137447-200,70N 136052-3105 IC,Pr_EPROM,Hard_Drivin,137444-200,200R 136052-3113 IC,Pr_EPROM,Hard_Drivin,137444-200,210R 136052-3121 IC,Pr_EPROM,Hard_Drivin,137447-200,45N 136052-3122 IC,Pr_EPROM,Hard_Drivin,137447-200,70N 136052-3125 IC,Pr_EPROM,Hard_Drivin,137444-250,45A 136052-4205 IC,Pr_EPROM,Hard_Drivin,137444-200,200R 136052-4206 IC,Pr_EPROM,Hard_Drivin,137444-200,200S 136052-4210 IC,Pr_EPROM,Hard_Drivin,137444-200,200W 136052-4211 IC,Pr_EPROM,Hard_Drivin,137444-200,200X 136052-4213 IC,Pr_EPROM,Hard_Drivin,137444-200,210R 136052-4214 IC,Pr_EPROM,Hard_Drivin,137444-200,210S 136052-4218 IC,Pr_EPROM,Hard_Drivin,137444-200,210W 136052-4219 IC,Pr_EPROM,Hard_Drivin,137444-200,210X 136052-5105 IC,Pr_EPROM,Hard_Drivin,137444-200,200R 136052-5106 IC,Pr_EPROM,Hard_Drivin,137444-200,200S 136052-5110 IC,Pr_EPROM,Hard_Drivin,137444-200,200W 136052-5111 IC,Pr_EPROM,Hard_Drivin,137444-200,200X 136052-5113 IC,Pr_EPROM,Hard_Drivin,137444-200,210R 136052-5118 IC,Pr_EPROM,Hard_Drivin,137444-200,210W 136052-5119 IC,Pr_EPROM,Hard_Drivin,137444-200,210X 136052-5910 IC,Pr_EPROM,Hard_Drivin,137444-200,200W 136052-5911 IC,Pr_EPROM,Hard_Drivin,137444-200,200X 136052-5918 IC,Pr_EPROM,Hard_Drivin,137444-200,210W 136052-5919 IC,Pr_EPROM,Hard_Drivin,137444-200,210X 136052-6805 IC,Pr_EPROM,Hard_Drivin,137444-200,200R 136052-6806 IC,Pr_EPROM,Hard_Drivin,137444-200,200S 136052-6807 IC,Pr_EPROM,Hard_Drivin,137444-200,200T 136052-6810 IC,Pr_EPROM,Hard_Drivin,137444-200,200W 136052-6811 IC,Pr_EPROM,Hard_Drivin,137444-200,200X 136052-6813 IC,Pr_EPROM,Hard_Drivin,137444-200,210R 136052-6814 IC,Pr_EPROM,Hard_Drivin,137444-200,210S 136052-6815 IC,Pr_EPROM,Hard_Drivin,137444-200,210T 136052-6818 IC,Pr_EPROM,Hard_Drivin,137444-200,210W 136052-6819 IC,Pr_EPROM,Hard_Drivin,137444-200,210X 136052 - HARD DRIVIN MEMORY MASTERS 12-Mar-1990 Page 3 PART NUMBER DESCRIPTION 136052-6905 IC,Pr_EPROM,Hard_Drivin,137444-200,200R 136052-6906 IC,Pr_EPROM,Hard_Drivin,137444-200,200S 136052-6913 IC,Pr_EPROM,Hard_Drivin,137444-200,210R 136052-6914 IC,Pr_EPROM,Hard_Drivin,137444-200,210S 136052-7105 IC,Pr_EPROM,Hard_Drivin,137444-200,200R 136052-7113 IC,Pr_EPROM,Hard_Drivin,137444-200,210R 136052-7205 IC,Pr_EPROM,Hard_Drivin,137444-200,200R 136052-7213 IC,Pr_EPROM,Hard_Drivin,137444-200,210R 136052-7805 IC,Pr_EPROM,Hard_Drivin,137444-200,200R 136052-7813 IC,Pr_EPROM,Hard_Drivin,137444-200,210R 136052-7905 IC,Pr_EPROM,Hard_Drivin,137444-200,200R 136052-7913 IC,Pr_EPROM,Hard_Drivin,137444-200,210R ___________________________________________________________________________ From: CHARM::LOGG 13-MAR-1990 10:04:50.21 To: MARGOLIN,MONCRIEF CC: Subj: I am down Jed; This morning my development system died. I found that I cannot read my self test EPROMs. The starting PC and SP are incorrect and change depending on the time of day. I wonder if there is a bus conflict with the new RAM PCB? I will try checking the self test EPROMs, but I will need someone to look at this since Eric is gone. Thanks ___________________________________________________________________________ From: BERT::CLARK 14-MAR-1990 11:31:04.28 To: RAY,BRYANT,MARGOLIN CC: Subj: DEVIATION #939 Deviation Authorization NO. 939 was completed without component engineerings signature. As it turned out, part number 37-82S123 was inactivated back in Oct 1988. These parts could have a quality problem, due to storage conditions. If it is not too late, I suggest that these parts be tested prior to being programmed, or preferably, not used at all! ___________________________________________________________________________ From: GAWD::RAY 14-MAR-1990 16:49:02.86 To: @SYS$MAIL:ENGINEER CC: RAY Subj: Atari Hall of Fame I am PROUD to be an ATARIAN!! I am proud that for more than a decade we have consistently designed the most innovative games in the world!! If you are also proud, and would like to share this pride with others, then read on.... At one of the recent brainstorming sessions, we discussed turning the Berlin Hall into the "Atari Hall of Fame". The intention is to put up posters, graphics, plaques, sell- sheets, etc. to display all of the games we have taken to production. We would also have a list of the people who worked on them. If you would like to help make this happen, then please RSVP to this VAXaddress. We need more ideas and volunteers to help organize this expression of our pride. In a week or so, I will schedule a lunchtime get-together (with those who reply) to discuss this plan further. Thanks!! John P.S. Thanks to John Salwitz for suggesting this! ___________________________________________________________________________ From: CHARM::ROTBERG "Professor of Gonzo" 15-MAR-1990 10:24:56.63 To: MONCRIEF,LOGG,BEHENSKY,MOTT,BIKE,MARGOLIN CC: Subj: Noname support request for Applied Research Rick, Here is my formal request list for your groups support for Ed Logg's helicopter game. These requests may or may not overlap what Ed L. has requested from you already. 1) We need to either have a modified version of Max's universe CAD -> sector matrix conversion program, or access to said source so that I can modify it myself. I have spoken to Max and he is aware of the changes that we need which will support the wrap arounds scheme that we are planning to use. 2) We need a driver board modified for use as a universe cad tool. The modifications can be done by Farrohk, but appropriate documentation will be necessary. Also, since our object database is still very much in flux, a ram based system (as opposed to ROM) is highly desireable. Do we have Farrohk MTO this board set, or will you handle it? 3) One situation that continually arose during the development of S.T.U.N. Runner was that I would implement something, that you folks could use, or Max or Steph would implement something that would be very useful to us in our project. Alas, even though we often saw each other daily, informing each other of these new features & improvements did not happen in any orderly fashion. This was especially apparent at the end of the STUN when Max came over and added a whole bunch of error detection code to the system based upon changes that had been accumulated in teh Driver code over the time period after which we first go the system code from Applied. Now there are at least 3 projects using the same basic system. I propose that we meet to discuss ways in which this exchange of information can be made in a timely yet painless fashion, especially since none of the projects share any actual source files. This could go a long way towards speeding up development for all projects concerned. - Ed Rotberg - ___________________________________________________________________________ From: KIM::RAY 18-MAR-1990 21:33:11.17 To: @SYS$MAIL:ENGINEER CC: WOOD,DEPEW,RAY Subj: New Sega game at Milpitas Golfland -- "Columns" Columns appears to be a test game at Milpitas Golfland. It is in Sega's metal "Aero City" cabinet (like the one we got from them when we were looking at their Tetris). It is somewhat like a Tetris/KLAX combination -- things falling from the top of the screen, you guide them into holes in the bottom of the screen. Nice music, 2 independent, simultaneous players. All shapes falling (one at a time -- you can see the next piece) are three blocks tall, with a jewel in each block. The jewels are different colors -- you try to get three of the same color in a row -- vertically, horizontally, or diagonally (sound familiar?). When you get three (or more) in a row, they disappear. You can get some neat chain reactions (I didn't try for the "Big X"). It gets faster and faster until the shapes reach the top of the screen -- Game Over (like Tetris). They also had Bloxeed, a version of Tetris with special shapes (16ton, bomb, etc.) and 2 player competitive (if you get more than one line at a time, it sends the lines to your opponent). Sega did their normal first class job implementing both games. I did not play them long enough to form a longevity opinion. John ___________________________________________________________________________ From: BERT::LIANE 20-MAR-1990 14:44:49.99 To: @SYS$MAIL:JUNK CC: Subj: HI. Just for your information...Lorene is the new receptionist until Stephanie returns. Please help her out (name, X numbers etc.) and be patient like you have been with me. I'll be in Human Resources for awhile...Thanks so much! Liane ___________________________________________________________________________ From: KIM::DIEKNEITE 21-MAR-1990 09:04:52.44 To: @SYS$MAIL:JUNK CC: DIEKNEITE Subj: hypodermic syringe The audio group is looking for a syringe so that we can try filling a cartridge with ink on a bubble jet printer (thus saving substantial $$). I tried to buy one a Longs last night, but they wouldn't sell me one. Does anyone know where a syringe can be purchased? thanks, dd ___________________________________________________________________________ From: KIM::PIERCE 23-MAR-1990 14:18:26.99 To: @SYS$MAIL:EVERYBODY CC: Subj: PARTY! PARTY, PARTY, PARTY.... YEAH! In case you haven't noticed we have fallen behind in our customary celebrations of completed games. So it is time to play catch-up and have one big party for all of them. The games this party is to cover are : Vindicators, Tetris, Escape, Skull and Crossbones Stunrunner and Cyberball 2 (or whatever it was called) ( KLAX and Badlands will be saved for more party enjoyment later!) The party is a celebration of all the Atari Games employees, who have worked deligently to see that we produce the best products possible. It also will give everyone here the opportunity to meet some new faces and get reaquainted with some "oldtimers." Since we will have to get a lot of partying in all at once the Executive Committee has been nice enough to let us all leave early next Friday March 30th to get down this piece of business we have let slip for so long. But you must get all of your Reviews and Fieldtests scheduled that day taken care of before you leave. Let's not abuse this expensive favor. Sooo.. Be there on Friday March 30th at 2:30 pm 'til dark. at The BIG, TOO MANY GAMES TO NAME, ATARI BAR-b-QUE Party in ED LEVIN PARK (the one at the end of Calavares in Milpitas) at the SPIRNG VALLEY campsite. (Maps will be posted at the coffee stations next week.) Food, Beverages, Horseshoes and Volleyball will be provided. All other party devices like Frisbees, Aerobies, Softballs and Waterballoons will be welcomed. ( Execs say we must leave no sooner than 2:00 pm.) BE THERE! ___________________________________________________________________________ From: KIM::BRAD 26-MAR-1990 11:19:02.44 To: @SYS$MAIL:ENGINEER CC: BRAD Subj: SDI DATABASE FYI The US government has released databases relating to the Star Wars Project. If you're interested in obtaining the databases contact the Pentagon. Apparently the databases are available by modem. - brad - ___________________________________________________________________________ From: CHARM::BIKE "CYCLOTRON -- THE BMX RACING GAME" 27-MAR-1990 14:06:33.57 To: @REVIEW.DIS CC: BIKE Subj: Review You are invited to C Y C L O T R O N F I R S T R E V I E W When: Thursday, March 29, 2:00pm Where: We'll meet first in the Cyclotron Lab and then move to the Executive Conference Room. Please RSVP to this VAXmail address. ___________________________________________________________________________ From: ERNIE::SUTTLES "Doctor DCL" 28-MAR-1990 14:22:24.48 To: @SYS$MAIL:EVERYBODY CC: SUTTLES Subj: Phone shutdown (Holy Plug Puller, Batman!) Because of the power problems, I have to fix the phone systems (for 675, 735, and 1623) this weekend. I picked Saturday, March 31. I wrote up a memo describing the details, and it will be posted on the bulletin boards. To save disk space and keep you from falling asleep. I'll suggest you read it there. How's that, Ed? One favor, though: Tengen doesn't get junk mail. Please try to pass the word. sas ___________________________________________________________________________ From: CHARM::HARPER 28-MAR-1990 15:11:12.79 To: @SYS$MAIL:EE CC: Subj: Get Centered! If you use hall effect controls or pots in your video game, read on... How many of you programmers use the dreaded POTS.C routines? Well, I have a little goodie for you. Late one night, Andy and I were wrestling with some controller problems. It seemed we could not get the "automatic" centering to work. In fact, the actual centering code was never executed. We finally found this bug that I am sure is in some production games, don't let it be in yours! FIND THIS STATMENT: pots_midtmr[ bank ] = -1; /* count down in seconds */ CHANGE IT TO THIS: pots_midtmr[ bank ] -= 1; /* count down in seconds */ If you have this bug, it continually reset a countdown timer to minus 1 and NEVER takes the branch to the mid adjustment routine. Nifty, huh? -Dennis ___________________________________________________________________________ From: MIKE::AVL 28-MAR-1990 17:20:30.11 To: @SYS$MAIL:EVERYBODY CC: Subj: Introducing AVLNOTES Many users have asked for a way to get supplemental information on Atari parts and components via their terminals. Introducing AVLNOTES, a VMS help library. It works just like the VMS HELP library your accustomed to, but with new topics. At the "Topic >" prompt, you enter an Atari part number. As in any VMS help library, a question mark (?) will cause a list of available topics to be displayed, or you can type HELP for more detailed instructions. There are two (2) methods of accessing AVLNOTES. 1) No need to login to some obscure node, AVLNOTES will work from anywhere on our network! Just type: @AVLNOTE:AVLNOTES At the system prompt ($). You can define a word in your LOGIN.COM file to do this for you, such as: AVLN*OTES :==@AVLNOTE:AVLNOTES 2) On node MIKE, users of AVL will receive AVLNOTES whenever 'Display by Atari Part Number' is selected and the Atari part number searched for has a corresponding AVLNOTES entry. Users of ATARI$AVL:SEEAVL will receive AVLNOTES whenever a corresponding AVLNOTES entry exists. AVLNOTES only has a few entries at this time, but we're adding to it almost daily. If you wish to have a note added to any Atari part number, send your proposed note via EMAIL to anyone in Components Engineering (MEYETTE, CLARK, OWENS or BELL). ___________________________________________________________________________ From: BERT::LINDA "Evening Receptionist" 28-MAR-1990 20:25:30.97 To: @SYS$MAIL:EVERYBODY CC: Subj: QUARTERLY CLEANING The Maintenance Engineers will be waxing the Omega and Alpha labs, as well as, the corridor that runs from the engineer entrance to the warehouse on Saturday, March 31st. Please help in our spring cleaning efforts by moving objects that may impede their progress.(This includes any equipment in the corridor) If it is at all possible to avoid these areas, please do so. Thank You For Your Support, Bob Frye ___________________________________________________________________________ From: BERT::FRYE 29-MAR-1990 10:42:46.89 To: @SYS$MAIL:EVERYBODY CC: Subj: ATARI VS POWER OUTAGES P.G.&E. HAS JUST INFORMED ATARI THAT ALL POWER TO BUILDINGS 675 & 735 WILL BE SHUT OFF THIS SUNDAY 4/1/90 FROM 7 AM TO 5 PM. THE MAINTENANCE WORK P.G.&E. WILL BE DOING SHOULD ELIMINATE THE OUTAGES WE'VE BEEN HAVING. TWO THINGS.... DON'T FORGET TO POWER DOWN BEFOR YOU LEAVE THIS FRIDAY AND THIS MESSAGE HAS NOTHING TO DO WITH APRIL FOOLS' DAY. THANKS AGAIN ___________________________________________________________________________ From: MIKE::SHEPPERD 29-MAR-1990 12:07:16.86 To: @SYS$MAIL:EVERYBODY CC: SHEPPERD Subj: More about power and stuff Since there's gonna be no electricity on sunday, I'll stop by on saturday evening and shut off all the computers. I'll turn everything on again sunday night. On an unrelated note, for the last couple of days there's been some kind of automated dialer that is calling every number in the area looking for either a fax or a modem. This might be a hacker trying to break in to computers or some advertising company trying to find faxes so they can send adverts for their products. So, just to be safe, I've turned off the modems. I'll turn them on again later. ds ___________________________________________________________________________ From: KIM::KHODADADI "Farrokh Khodadadi" 5-APR-1990 13:12:43.66 To: @SYS$MAIL:EE CC: Subj: equipment Pat has asked me to look after the maintenance of lab tools/equipment. So I'm asking all you techs. and EEs to help me with this. I need to know for starters about any and all soldering stations which are extra or out of order so that I can fix, or throw them out and buy new ones. If any of you engineers have stuff around your office (like soldering irons, scopes, or meters) and you hardly ever use them, please come forward and share them with the rest of us. Drobny says we need to have a backpack that holds our scopes, meters and... so that no one can e can count on having the equipments when we need them steel our tools from our benches and we can count on having the right tool when we're called up to do a job. But carrying around all that stuff could break a techs. back. Instead I ask all you engineers/hackers/technical know it all/others, to simply remember that around here there are only a few technicians and we usually do a good job of keeping our tools in order but rather than becoming possessive with our tools (like a previous tech) we would rather if others respected the following: 1_ Tools belong to the LABS, they aren't much use to anyone when stashed away where no one can find them. 2_ If you want us techs to fix your stuff, don't borrow our stuff without asking, or at least leave a note and remember to bring the stuff back when you're done. We don't like to have to go looking for our tools. My older brother's a programmer and all my life I've had to protect my tools from his abuse. I sure hope I won't have the same problem at work too! Farrokh ___________________________________________________________________________ From: KIM::KHODADADI "Farrokh Khodadadi" 5-APR-1990 14:14:01.34 To: @SYS$MAIL:JUNK CC: Subj: lunch My response to your complaint is that you and the people in your department should not feel that you must eat the specials that are offered on TUE and THUR. And after all since Sophie's regular menue offers a wide variety, I'm sure you can find other items to your liking. Farrokh --------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: MIKE::THOMPSON 5-APR-1990 13:08:28.88 To: KHODADADI CC: Subj: LUNCH I HAVE SEEM SOME OF YOUR RECENT REVEIWS OF THE LUNCH BEING OFFER BY AL, I AM SURE YOU ENJOY THE FOOD BEING SERVED; BUT I THINK YOU SHOULD KNOW THAT MOST ATARI EMPLOYEE'S DO NOT SHARE YOUR VEIWS. I HAVE COMPLAINS FROM MY DEPARTMENT REGARDING THE SERVING OF FOOD FROM IRAN,AND WELL AS YOUR REVEIWS. I THINK IT GREAT THAT SOME OF OUR EMPLOYEE'S ARE ENJOYING THIS RECENT CHANGE IN THE MENU --------------------------------------------------------------------------- ___________________________________________________________________________ From: MIKE::THOMPSON 5-APR-1990 14:39:27.52 To: @SYS$MAIL:JUNK CC: Subj: Tuesdays and Thursdays Special Obviously Farrokh has decided to share our personal conversation concerning the cafeteria's serving of Iranian food on Tuesdays and Thursdays. I've received complaints from people in the adminstrative area as well as accounting about the outside customers using our subsidized facility for their benefit. In addition I have received complaints concerning the food in general. I would be interested to find out what vaxland users true feelings are in regards to the Tuesday and Thursday specials and outsiders using our cafeteria. I encourage Farrokh to also respond. ___________________________________________________________________________ From: SANDY::MARGOLIN 5-APR-1990 15:26:41.00 To: THOMPSON CC: MARGOLIN Subj: Cafeteria I patronized the cafeteria regularly until about two or three years ago when they were infested by ants and showed no interest in getting rid of the little buggers. I have not eaten there since then. I do occasionally purchase soft drinks from the machine in the front of the building. Unfortunately, the selections can be empty for days at a time. I avoid drinks with caffeine and the machine up front is the only one stocked with Sprite. None of the machines are stocked with 7-UP. I don't particularly mind Farrokh's menu messages. For worse are the insipid mesages concerning the Atari Survivor's Baseball Team. Since both of these have taken the form of continuing operations I suggest that mail distribution lists be created for those interested in receiving mail of that nature. Regards, Jed ___________________________________________________________________________ From: ERNIE::PETRICK "Jim Petrick" 5-APR-1990 16:31:13.65 To: @SM:JUNK CC: Subj: More food commentary I don't know Rick Thompson decided that MOST of the rest of us don't like the Tues and Thurs specials, but he sure didn't ask me. I'm happy to try something different instead of that ol' burger a day. So far, I've only been able to try the Iranian special a few times, and it has been good each time. Usually, when I get to the lunch room (about 12:30), the Iranian special is all gone. SOMEBODY must be eating it or it wouldn't sell. I'm sure Rick doesn't like it, but that doesn't mean we all hate it. Perhaps you should get out more if the lunch special offends you. They do have other items on the menu, and there is a whole range of food in the general vicinity. -- jim ___________________________________________________________________________ From: CHARM::MILTY 9-APR-1990 09:08:00.08 To: @SYS$MAIL: