Hit highlighting works inconsistently: it either shows entirely correct hit highlights or none at all when there should be highlights.
- Some queries work out of the box, some do not.
- Some queries that do not work suddenly work when specifying fields.
This query for atari yields hit highlights correctly.
Query: /select?fl=subject,body&hl.fl=subject,body&hl=on&indent=on&q=atari&wt=json
Response:
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"indent":"on",
"fl":"subject,body",
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"response":{"numFound":598,"start":0,"docs":[
{
"body":"\n\nPer Karen Witte:\n\t1. Copyrights will be registered in the name of Atari\n\t Games, Inc. The notice line on our game screens\n\t and in printed material should read:\n\t \n\t\tCopyright 19__ Atari Games, Inc. All rights reserved.\n\n\t2. Trademarks will be registered in the name of:\n\n\t\tAtari Games, a division of Atari Games, Inc.\n\n\t3. Contracts should be entered into in the name of\n\t \"Atari Games, a division of Atari Games, Inc.\"\n\n\t4. We cannot use the name \"Atari\" alone. It must be\n\t distinguished from Atari Corp. and the sale agreement\n\t requires that we use \"Atari Games\" or \"Atari Games, Inc.\".\n\t We should also use WCI attribution line somewhere on the\n\t graphics containing our logo as a further distinction.\n\t This is per New York and I'll keep you posted if it\n\t changes.",
"subject":"Company Name"},
{
"body":"\n\nO.K., HERE'S YOUR LAST CHANCE. WE ARE ABOUT TO PUBLISH OUR NEXT ISSUE\n OF THE ATARI NEWSLETTER AND WE STILL DON'T HAVE A NAME FOR IT.\n\nFROM THE LIST BELOW, CHOOSE YOUR FAVORITE(S) AND LET ME KNOW WHICH ONE(S)\nTHEY ARE. IF YOU HAVE ANY SUGGESTIONS, DON'T BE BASHFUL, SHARE THEM WITH\nME.\n\n 1. GREAT MOMENTS OF ATARI\n 2. THE ATARI WIRE\n 3. ATARI HEADLINES\n 4. LIFE AT ATARI\n 5. THE ATARI STORY\n\nLET ME HEAR FROM YOU.\nSANDI",
"subject":"NAME FOR NEWSLETTER"},
{
"body":"\n\nEffective September 1, 1987 Atari Games completed its purchase of Barrel\nof Fun. The arcade operations will now be run by a wholly-owned\nsubsidiary of Atari Games called Atari Operations, Inc. Atari\nOperations will continue in its efforts to expand the arcade operations.\nDick Adams, formerly President of Barrel of Fun, will now be joining\nAtari and will be responsible for the day-to-day operations of the\nsubsidiary as Vice President of Atari Operations.\n - Dennis Wood",
"subject":"Barrel of Fun acquisition"},
{
"body":"\n\nTHE PERSONNEL DEPARTMENT IS UPDATING THE ATARI POLICY AND \nPROCEDURES MANUAL. PARTS OF THE WARNER ATARI POLICY MANUAL\nARE BEING INCORPORATED WITH THE CURRENT POLICIES OF ATARI GAMES\nCORPORATION. THE TARGET DATE FOR COMPLETION IS YEAR-END.\n\nSANDI",
"subject":"ATARI POLICIES"},
{
"body":"\n\nHOW'S ABOUT THIS?\nATARI GAMES : 20 YEARS OF HOME GROWN FUN!\nATARI GAMES : 20 YEARS OF PERFECTION!\n20 YEARS OF ATARI GAMES......NOT A BAD BEGINNING!",
"subject":"SLOGAN"},
{
"body":"\n\nThe following AVL files are now generated each night in ASCII format, suitable\nfor scanning with the DCL SEARCH command. These files may be SEARCHed from \nany node on the network. Each file includes the Atari part number, generic\npart number, description, manufacturers, manufacturers part numbers and status\nas listed in the AVL at the end of each weekday. They will not contain changes\nmade after 6:00 PM. \n\n FILE CONTENTS\n ATARI$AVL:ACTIVE.LIS ACTIVE PARTS\n ATARI$AVL:INACTIVE.LIS INACTIVE PARTS\n ATARI$AVL:MEMORY.LIS ACTIVE MEMORY MASTERS\n ATARI$AVL:OBSOLETE.LIS CONVERTED PARTS\n ATARI$AVL:PROMO.LIS PROMOTIONAL ITEMS\n ATARI$AVL:SPARE.LIS SPARE PARTS\n\nFor more information on the SEARCH command, type HELP SEARCH at the system \nprompt ($).",
"subject":"SEARCHING the AVL"},
{
"body":"\n\n ATARI GAMES WINS LAWSUIT FILED BY AUSTRALIAN\n OVER GAME DISTRIBUTION RIGHTS\n\nMILPITAS, CA August 8, 1990 - Atari Games Corporation today announced\nit has won a jury verdict in a two year old lawsuit brought by \nAustralia's largest video game distributor/operator over the right\nto exclusively distribute the entire line of Atari Games' arcade\nproducts in Australia.\n\nAvel Pty. Ltd., one of several Australian video game companies owned\nby Malcolm Steinberg, filed a lawsuit in September 1988 claiming that\nAtari Games had breached an oral and implied contract that would have\ngiven Avel exclusive distribution rights for all Atari products in\nAustralia for an unlimited period of time. Atari Games, which had for\nmany years granted distribution rights to Avel only on a game-by-game \nbasis, conuntered that Avel's claims were simply self-serving fabrications.\nAvel was seeking $3.6 million inn compensatory damages as well as\nunspecified punitive damages.\n\nA two week trial, heard by a jury in the U. S. Federal District Court\nin San Francisco, ended on August 2, 1990 with an unanimous verdict\nin favor of Atari Games on all claims brought by Avel.\n\n\"Atari Games has been a leader in the video game industry for many\nyears and has excellent long-term relationships with all of its\ndistributors throughout the world,\" stated a company spokesperson.\n\n\"Atari Games was shockedf and disa\n\"Atari Games was shockedf and disa\n\"Atari Games was shocked and disappointed when Malcolm Steinberg\ninstigated this unwarranted lawsuit to create rights he did not\nhave. As an importer/operator, we believe a conflict of interest\nexisted that had a negative impact on the distribution of Atari\nGames product in Australia,\" the spokesperson said. Steinberg\nadmitted during the trial that his companies control sixty percent\nof Australia's video game market.",
"subject":"Lawsuit"},
{
"body":"\n\nIf you find slogan humor distressful -- PLEASE read no further...\n\nI thought we might be able to borrow some perfectly good, if slightly used\nslogans:\n\n\tATARI -- The Right Choice\n\n\tATARI -- We Bring Good Things to Life\n\n\tATARI -- Oh, What a Feeling!\n\nand lastly\n\n\tATARI 20 year anniversary -- Let's All Be There!\n\n\t\t\t\t\tBonnie Smithson",
"subject":"More SLOGAN Humor"},
{
"body":"\n\nI am pleased to announce the signing of a definitive agreement\nby Atari Games to repurchase 100% of the Atari Games stock now\nowned by Namco. As a result of this transaction, Namco will\nalso receive Atari Operations Inc. after paying additional cash \nand other consideration to Atari Games. Atari Operations Inc.\noperates more than 40 video game arcades in the Western and\nSoutheastern United States.\n\nOnce completed, the transaction leaves Time Warner Inc. as\nthe only major outstanding shareholder of Atari Games. The\nsale of Atari Operations will not have any impact on personnel\nat Atari Games or Tengen Inc. This transaction is subject to\nthe approval of both companies' boards of directors. Such\napproval is expected shortly.\n\nI'm telling you this now but please keep this information \nCompany Confidential until a formal press release has been\nissued by both companies. This formal press release is\nexpected at the end of next week.",
"subject":"Atari Games Repurchases Stock of Major Shareholder"},
{
"body":"\n\nTHE BEWITCHING HOUR IS FAST APPROACHING -\n\nTo continue yet another Atari tradition - Atari Games will sponsor a\nHALLOWEEN COSTUME CONTEST AND CARVED PUMPKIN JUDGING in the Cafeteria\non Wednesday, Oct. 31 from 11:30 to 1:00.\n\nAs an accompaniment to the contests, Atari will be having the traditional\nPOTLUCk. Atari will provide the main course and employees are asked to\ncontribute sodas, desserts, and munchies. Please sign up with your \nDepartment Secretary.\n\nExperience says Atarians are a pretty creative bunch, so put your\nthinking caps on and come up with the best costume ever!\n\n\nMark your calendars - Wednesday, October 31\n 11:30 am - l:00 pm\n Atari Games Cafeteria\n\nAtari Games Rec Committee",
"subject":"THE TRADITION CONTINUES"}]
},
"highlighting":{
"29a8e7a43d2663d04609bd973c58bf30bac76515":{
"body":["\n\nPer Karen Witte:\n\t1. Copyrights will be registered in the name of <em>Atari</em>\n\t Games, Inc"]},
"00a5adeb29a1b0ebcc7f7b8c21f974f74412d6ba":{
"body":["\n\nO.K., HERE'S YOUR LAST CHANCE. WE ARE ABOUT TO PUBLISH OUR NEXT ISSUE\n OF THE <em>ATARI</em> NEWSLETTER"]},
"843835264fbf85528247499c8605a8ada6b46d12":{
"body":["\n\nEffective September 1, 1987 <em>Atari</em> Games completed its purchase of Barrel\nof Fun. The arcade"]},
"0e12863442f0618aca64d428a0031cdc58a0e94b":{
"subject":["<em>ATARI</em> POLICIES"],
"body":["\n\nTHE PERSONNEL DEPARTMENT IS UPDATING THE <em>ATARI</em> POLICY AND \nPROCEDURES MANUAL. PARTS"]},
"94705eae4424a70bca536b840bc6c13422afe485":{
"body":["\n\nHOW'S ABOUT THIS?\n<em>ATARI</em> GAMES : 20 YEARS OF HOME GROWN FUN!\n<em>ATARI</em> GAMES : 20 YEARS OF PERFECTION"]},
"42ba6c0b321a68dd1f704383b2ae252c2c2d0e40":{
"body":[" the <em>Atari</em> part number, generic\npart number, description, manufacturers, manufacturers part numbers"]},
"3ac0a3ae1781579b72f883b4d99434354d2b13d4":{
"body":["\n\n <em>ATARI</em> GAMES WINS LAWSUIT FILED BY AUSTRALIAN\n OVER GAME DISTRIBUTION"]},
"c074d4b7564de3824cb20b6c05b45661e1a848bc":{
"body":[" to borrow some perfectly good, if slightly used\nslogans:\n\n\t<em>ATARI</em> -- The Right Choice\n\n\t<em>ATARI</em> -- We Bring"]},
"f24a86b2b1d0071201fe1443d039bec30601e5bf":{
"subject":["<em>Atari</em> Games Repurchases Stock of Major Shareholder"],
"body":["\n\nI am pleased to announce the signing of a definitive agreement\nby <em>Atari</em> Games to repurchase 100"]},
"18b65d8618935861baa3a02cb577eb172f812279":{
"body":["\n\nTHE BEWITCHING HOUR IS FAST APPROACHING -\n\nTo continue yet another <em>Atari</em> tradition - <em>Atari</em>"]}}}This query for boscole does not yield any hit highlights even though they exist in the results.
Query: /select?fl=subject,body&hl.fl=subject,body&hl=on&indent=on&q=boscole&wt=json
Response:
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{
"body":"\n\n\tBoscole is dead... Long live Boscole!!!!!!!!!!!",
"subject":"BOSCOLE III"},
{
"body":"\n\nWell, a touch of sanity (old school style) at last. Actually, \nI, too, have been very pleased with my Mgmnt Disc boni, but \nit also pleases me that my boss thinks I do some decent work\nand can show it in that way. But it certainly comes under\nthe heading of \"cake frosting\".\n\nWhat I hope comes out of this is a greater commitment to \nquality of product--- that's what really feeds us all.\nThere are still too many guys saying \"I don't care, it's\ngood enough, I just wanna get it out of here!\" Those are \nthe ones who burn my butt!",
"subject":"RE: BOSCOLE MCMLXXXIV"},
{
"body":"\n\n I would like to know what percentage of the Coin-op designers agree with \nJeff Boscole's views about computerized gambling. I have only recently come \ninto Coin-op so I am hardly an expert. Nevertheless, it seems to me that \nan electronic gambling machine that is designed to be marketed only in \nareas that gambling is legal should be vastly more fun than current slot \nmachines (and head & shoulders above the electronic poker and black jack \ngames). I would think that this would translate into vast sums of money.\n Perhaps this opinion shows that my moral fiber is loose weave or perhaps \ngambling isn't really that profitable. Either way, I hope that someone more \nexperienced in Coin-op games will reply and set me straight.\n\nDave",
"subject":"Boscole & gambling--I don't get it"},
{
"body":"\n\nHello again. \n\n\tI am overwhelmed. What a can of worms!! Jeff Boscole would be proud.\nUnfortunately, I don't have time to respond to everything that has been\nbroadcast in MAIL recently. Nor should I, after all, I am supposed to be an\nex-trouble maker. Still, I am glad that so many of you took the trouble to\nwrite down what is on your mind, and then broadcasting it. Scary, but\nworthwhile. \n\n\tThis message is going to the JUNK mailing list, as did the Jeff Boscole\nmemorial letter. I was unaware that JUNK included via DECNET a number of other\nVAXes. If I had known, I would have sent the JBML to JUNK anyway. I feel no\nneed for secrecy. Better to be in the open than to create inaccurate rumors. \nIf you JUNK readers out there are not interested, just type del<RETURN> after\nthe first page of a message and the message disappears.\n\n\tSomeone pointed out to me that it is my responsibility to inform the\nJUNK subscribers of the prompt responses by John Ray, Chris Downend, and Lyle\nRains to the concerns voiced by the earlier MAIL. These responses were mailed\nto ENGINEERING.UAF, a mailing list which includes only Kim Newvax users. A\nprintout of some of these responses is posted in the home-computer section of\n1501.\n\n\tPlease don't blame me if you feel left out of the discussion. Fight for\nroyalties if you feel that you deserve them. Fight for getting credit for\nyour work. I am all for personalizing all of industry, everyone should put\ntheir name to their work, good or bad. Above all fight for quality. Quality\nsells, or are we in it just to make a quick buck? If you feel envious that we\nin engineering receive royalties, consider that we (in coin-op) don't make\nmillions, only thousands, if we are lucky. We earn these royalties by working\nday and night, sometimes it seems putting our whole lives into it. Even for a\nsuccessfull game designer, half the time the things don't even see production.\nUsually that means a year or two down the drain. If you are unsuccessful you\nget no royalties, only the nagging question: why didn't it work? If the game\nsells, you don't know why either. Either way, you don't feel secure about the\nwhole thing. And nobody knows where the industry will be three years from now.\nCan you blame us then for fighting for our second in the spotlight while the\npower is still on? Without game designers Atari would not exist, just like\nwithout a screenplay you'd have a pretty dull movie.\n\n\"A video game is not a toaster\"\n\n\t\tSincerely,\n\t\t\t\tFranz X Lanzinger",
"subject":"?"},
{
"body":"\n\n\tFor those of you who knew Jeff Boscole, you knew what a nut that guy \ncould be in his letter writting. For those of you on his \"mailing list\", \nyou need no more proof than to read his 6 letters a week (of some 6 pages \neach).\n\tFor those of you who did not know Jeff, most of his writtings should\nbe taken lightly, with an open mind and a good sense of humor. In most cases\nhis letters simply run on and on and usually say very little!\n\n\tHowever, I just received a letter (ANOTHER!!!!) from Jeff written to\nthe Washington State Lottery Commision regarding computer gambling! If you\nreceived your own copy, you may stop reading now. If you did not... I thought\na number of you might just like to see this one. Not bad and all on one piece\nof paper:\n\nDear Commisioners:\n\nI worked for several years as a professional video-game designer\nat Atari, Inc., and I'd like to register sentiment regarding the\n\"newly operational\" computer gambling system, curiously concidental\nwith WPPSS #2 fire up.\n\nThe video-game industry is not without ethical standards; in fact,\nby some, it is regarded as within the domain of \"medical electronics.\"\nAs game designers, we were carefully instructed to conform to rather\nsevere standards of discipline. One of these stiff regulations\nconcerned this area of \"computer gambling\" as our video-games could\nnot be sold in many states across the nation if the game in any way\ncould be construed as a gambling device. You will notice, for\nexample, that no game offers \"bonus games\" as a reward for playing\nproficiency; we could merely offer \"bonus lives\" or \"bonus time\".\n\nThere is another reason for these stringent gambling prohibitions.\nWithin the programming profession there is an unwritten code of ethics\nderived in part from our attitudes about electronics and computer\nscience. We feel that the nature of the computer itself is antithetical\nto the concept of gambling, and to promote this confustion within\nthe public mind may become contra-indicative to the interests of\njustice and education. Philosophically, that arrangement destroys\nsome fundamental cybernetic relationships by mixing up the sacred\nwith the profane. Of course computers can produce pseudo-random\nnumbers, however, there are many of us who, very frankly, do not\nwant to see machines used for any gambling purposes, or to receive\nany such approval and authorization from the state. Also, we feel\nthat any centralized processing arrangement incorrectly pprtrays the\nessence of computer science, somewhat analogous to the fundamental\nstatements of economics which also disallow and centralization of\neconomic theory. I am acquainted with the accounts of numerous cases\nwithin the courts in various scattered locations currently disputing\nthe issue of gambling at remote terminals within literary discussions\npertinent to our contemporary industry. As we believe computer\ngambling is a perversion of the design architecture, we do not support\nit, and those court cases may very likely find computer gambling\ninappropriate.\n\nMany other more suitable methods are available for exposing\npublic consciousness to the awesome power of a computer. Also,\nwe feel that some of the fun is subtracted from gambling by\nhaving a machine automate the gambling process. Along these\nlines, I an aware, for example, that some brokerage houses tried\ncomputer-regression forecasting on Wall Street and utilized some\nartificial-intelligence automated trabsaction routines. Since\nthen, I understand that many of these former computer-linkups\nhave been pulled off-line, as the stock brokers found their own\ntrading processes more adequate and perhaps more reliable.\n\nAlso, there is a danger that computer gambling might instill a\npsychic disestablishmentarianism which could very easily lead to\nsocial disestablishmentarianism and the annihilation of our legal\nsystem.\n\n\t\t\t\t\tSincerly,\n\t\t\t\t\t Jeff Boscole\n\n(this was cc to a large list, including 2 TV stations)\n\n\tPersonally, I think Jeff did a great job here. There may indeed\nbe hope for him in the everyday world after all!!\n\t-Owen-",
"subject":"Jeff Boscole...there is hope"},
{
"body":"\n\n\tI'll jump in at his point in the discussion re: BONUS.\n\n\tMany of you may not know this, but after devoting my first year here\nto developing the graphics and gameplay on a game which sucessfully made it \nintoproduction (MAJOR HAVOC), I was quite suprised to find out accidentally \nduring an unrelated hallway encounter that I WAS NOT BEING CONSULTED AND/OR \nEVEN INFORMED AS TO BONUS DISTRIBUTION. Of course, this problem has since been\nrectified. However, if I had not inadventantly asked JUST THE RIGHT, SPECIFIC\nQUESTION to the RIGHT PERSON at the RIGHT TIME, it would have been too late\nto DO anything at all about \n BONUS!\n\n\tIn addition, during the negotiations on that delicate subject of\nBONUS PARTICIPATION, several unexpected suprises kept poking up their noses.\nWhat this means is, of course, that the system as it has been known in the\npast is now in a period of flux. From my standpoint, that's all for the better.\n\tNow, in the aforementioned BONUS MEMO which makes provision for \nmodifications as management decides is fitting and proper, I would like to point\nout that it makes a special and specific mention of the broadening of the CORE\nGROUP CONCEPT to include the new significant contributors to today's modern\ncoin-op games, i.e. ANIMATORS. Of course, it doesn't guarantee that just any\nlackluster tell-me-what-to-do-and-I'll-draw-it-for-you attitude will be rewarded\nindiscriminately, but creative incentive and contribution to a game is something\nthat JUST CAN'T BE IGNORED... unless one wants to supress creativity it must \nhave room to flourish and IT MUST BE PROPERLY NOURISHED. (This means BONUS)\n\n\tSo, if the GOLDEN HANDCUFFS don't fit right anymore they should be\nreshaped to fit with the loving skill of the patient craftsperson... but they\nshould be fixed right.\n\n\t\t\t\t\tThanx,\n\t\t\t\t\t\tBarry",
"subject":"BOSCOLE II"},
{
"body":"\n\nJust got a piece of mail with ' [O ' in it. This normaly happens when you\nare sending mail and make an error, and then try to correct it with the Editing\nkeys. The mail editor just doesn't understand those little arrow keys or the\nkeypad ones either. But there are a couple of ways to beat them little guys\nand have full editing capabilities while writing them long 'Boscole-ish' works\nof art.\n\n\n1. You want to keep a copy for later use and/or modification:\n\n step a)\tCreate the file and \"EDIT\" it with your favorite editor.\n step b)\tEnter \"MAIL\" and type S or SEND leave a space and then\n \t\ttype the name of your file. Ex: SEND FROBOSH.MAC\n\n \tThis will send the file to all those you select on the 'TO:' line.\n\n\n2. You just want to use the 'EDT' editor and don't care about keeping a copy:\n\n step a)\tEnter \"MAIL\" and type S or SEND followed immediately by /edit.\n \t\tEx: SEND/EDIT\n\n step b)\tMail will place you in the EDT editor and allow you to edit\n \t\tto your hearts content. When you finish, simply do a normal\n \t\texit from EDT.\n\n3. You want to use the 'EDT' editor and don't care about keeping a copy, but\n you would like to send something you have already created (some code or\n a copy of some file) and add a message to it or even modify it before you\n mail it.\n\n step a)\tEnter \"MAIL\" and type S or SEND followed immediately by /edit\n \t\tand then a space and the name of the file you want to include.\n \t\tEx: SEND/EDIT FROBAHS.LST\n\n step b)\tMail will place you in the EDT editor and allow you to edit\n \t\tto your hearts content. When you finish, simply do a normal\n \t\texit from EDT.\n\nGood luck and have fun.\nREZ/rez",
"subject":"Editing before you send mail."},
{
"subject":"The first annual Jeff Boscole Memorial letter",
"body":"\n\nThis letter is dedicated to Jeff Boscole, someone who wasn't afraid\nof sounding obscure, to speak his mind, to be strange, to be brilliant, \nto play games, and to use MAIL to its fullest. I don't remember when\nhe left, but it was quite a few months ago.\n\n To anyone who cares, but especially to game designers with more clout than\nFXL, and to any and all people in power at Atari (not just coin-op):\n\n Recently I have spent an inordinate amount of time trying to instigate\nimprovements in royalties, designer credits, and game testing procedures. I\nhave had little success. I hereby apologize for all of the negative feelings\nand anger that I am emanating because of this. After all, things are pretty\ngood here, and certainly better than at many companies. I do not however\napologize or regret my negative feelings about the recent release of the\nCrystal Castles 2600 Cartridge. (In case you don't know, the cartridge was\nreleased without the approval of the coin-op design team, or anybody else\nin coin-op as far as I know).\n\n This is pure theft!\n\nAnd I do not even know who to blame for this!! It isn't the programmer, who is\nabout as mad (or worse) as I am about this situation. He was given a unmakable\nrelease deadline (4 days instead of 3 weeks from when he was told). The game is\nmuch worse because of this (according to the programmer Peter Niday). He had\nno choice in the matter. Yet another unfinished, hurried, poorly tested game\nfrom Atari. Won't we ever learn? \n\nGames under license from other companies get reviewed by representatives of\nthat company (Williams and Namco specifically). But games developed in-house\nare treated like they are in the public domain, while the original design team\nof in-house games is treated like dirt.\n\n This is not an isolated incident either. Atarisoft, as a matter of policy,\ntakes Atari Coin-op games, lets outside companies \"convert\" them for home\ncomputers (like Commodore 64, Vic-20, Apple 2, TI-99 and IBM-PC), and then\nproduces them, all without the creative input or advice of the original design\nteams (just talk to Ed Logg about Centipede, or ? about Battlezone). Atarisoft\ndoes not ask anyone over here at coin-op for approval for the final version,\nbut they do show the final version of the game to someone in the legal\ndepartment. On the more positive side, there is a chance that Atarisoft will\ncontribute to the Engineering Product Bonus Plan in a manner similar to 2600,\n5200 and 800 products. Wouldn't it be nice to have that guaranteed and in\nwriting? And shouldn't there be designer credits on Atarisoft products?\n\n It's ironic that my name is on the packaging of the 2600 Crystal Castles\ncart, a product which I only saw an early version of. Yet when I told people\nthat the message (\"programmed by Franz Lanzinger\") appeared in level 10 in the\ncoin-op version I was told to take it out, or I loose an amount of bonus to be\ndetermined. Boy did that make me mad !!! I complained vocally, but only to be\npromised that a designer credit policy would be worked on. This policy is still\n\"being worked on\" eight months later. Now really. It's not that hard to do,\njust look at movies, books, not to mention Stern, Mylstar, Simutrek, Sente,\neven 2600 carts. If there were a policy right now, credits could be in in time\nfor the Crystal Castles kits. As it is, I am still mad about the whole thing.\nImagine Speven Spielberg directing a film, but not getting credit. How would\nhe feel? Are we cogs in a machine? I am not a number !!! This isn't 1984!!\n(well OK, maybe it is).\n\n While I'm at it I would like to get one more thing off my chest (right\non!!). You may know that the current \"coin-op engineering product bonus plan\"\n(shouldn't it really be called a royalty plan ?) is out of date. The most\nrecent legally binding document (if it is legally binding) is dated March 26,\n1982, and it expired at the end of 1983. It is my understanding by reading\nthat memo that the bonus plan is still in effect, but it can now be \" extended,\nenhanced, discontinued or otherwise modified to meet management objectives \".\nIn other words, Atari has the legal right to screw us any time they want.\nPersonally, I would feel much more secure, happy, and motivated to work hard,\nif there were an updated royalty plan without a gaping loophole like that.\nAfter all, there are plenty of precedents for people getting screwed here.\n\n I am tired of fighting a brick wall. So I will resign myself to the facts\nof life at Atari. These facts seem to be that change is virtually impossible\nwhen suggested by a single empoyee, but mindbogglingly fast if management wants\nit. And I will continue to feel bitter now and then (like right now for\ninstance).\n\n How do you feel about all this? How do you feel about 40% 30% 30% (the\n\"golden handcuffs\")? How do you feel about 1% under 10M, 2% over 10M? How do\nyou feel about designer credits? How do you feel about the delays in actual\npayment of royalties? (I still don't have a cent for Crystal Castles, and it\nhas been seven months since it started to earn millions for Atari).\n\n What can you, anyone who cares, do to make me, Joe Piscopo (oops, make that\nFranz Lanzinger) feel less bitter? Well, misery loves company. Please tell me,\nbetter yet, tell your favorite manager, supervisor, or even CEO, how you feel\nabout these issues. It may not change a thing, but maybe your powers of\npersuasion will succeed where mine failed.\n\n Until next year, (when I will write the second annual Jeff Boscole memorial\nletter)\n\t\t\tFXL\n\t\t\t(the X stands for \"eX trouble maker\")\n\nP.S. please send your answers to @SYS$MAIL:JUNK, or to someone in a position\nto take action, best would be both.\n\nP.P.S. If there are any inaccuracies, please let me know. The facts are to\nthe best of my recollection, some of it is hearsay."},
{
"body":"\n Another Jeff Boscole Memorial letter, in response to FXL's letter on\nJan 30, 1984.\n\n I was unaware of any policies regarding 2600, Home computer, or any other\ncomputer system, nor was I told of any. All I was told about was a bonus\nplan if the game I worked on was turned into a cartridge. This DOES tend to \nsay that the creating team will have no say in the cartridge. I, for one, \nwould like to have some say in the final version of the game, since I feel \nvery strongly about my game. \n\n Since I haven't been impressed by the results of VCS's releases, I DON'T\nwant them to butcher, maim or mutilate my game for whatever reason. I\ncan fully sympathize with Franz, since he put a lot of time and effort into\nhis game. By the time my game goes into production (knock on wood), I will\nhave put at least a year of my life into that game. I don't want someone\nto come along, and rip me off. I don't really care about royalties from the\nother games, I just don't want to have to apologize to anyone about a \ngame that has my name in it, on it, or associated with it.\n\n Also, since I haven't heard anything from management about the bonus plan\nlately, I can only assume that Franz's research is correct. Since I happen\nto have a Team Leader that I feel I can trust, I'm not too worried about\ngetting screwed on the bonus. That doesn't mean that there shouldn't be\nsomething in writing. Something my mother taught me - \n\n\t\"If you really mean what you what you are saying, \n then you won't mind putting it in writing.\"\n\n\n While I'm still flaming, I feel that it WOULD be nice to have my name\nappear in my game somewhere. It would really be nice to be allowed to\ndo this, since Star Wars had the names of the people appear on every odd\nwave going into the death star. It seems a little inconsistant to me that\nthe Star Wars project could have their names, and Crystal Castles couldn't.\nFor some reason, that appears to be favoritism, not policy.\n\n\n Return flames gladly accepted.\n\n Peter Thompson.\n\n\nP.S. If anyone can show me a good game for the 2600 that we produced, I\nwill fully apologize, and then go out and buy it.",
"subject":"Another flame"},
{
"subject":"BOSCOLE MCMLXXXIV",
"body":"\n\n\tI have been watching these soaps with some interest. I find a wry\nhumor in them which might just be unique, and would like to share this with\nyou.\n\nSome background context:\n\tAt all the places where I worked before (in a \"production\" shop,\neither as an applications programmer or as a systems programmer), there was\nno bonus program. I was considered to be a very low level of management,\nand thusly was paid a salary. Consistent with that, if the job required\nextra effort, I was expected to put out that extra effort, cuz it was my\njob. That was part of the commitment. When things went well for the\ncompany, I enjoyed better job security. When things didn't go as well\nfor the company, I did my best to correct that where I could. It was part\nof my job. It wasn't till I came to Atari that I was involved in any\nbonus plan at all.\n\n\tSince I do not contribute directly to the end product, I am not\neligible for bonuses of the type that is currently under fire. To keep\nme from grumbling about it, and to prevent me \"defecting\" to games\nprogramming, I am under a \"management discretionary\" bonus program. This\ntranslates to: If I do a good job, I get a good bonus. If I don't, I don't.\n\n\tMy first bonus at Atari really blew my socks off. I had no idea\nwhat to expect; I was anticipating a $25 or $50 Christmas gift. (On the\nother hand, you guys that are handing out the bucks, now I know, and now\nI would take it poorly.) It is still nothing close to the product bonuses\nthat you guys are so upset about. No, I am not going to give any more hints\nthan that.\n\nNow for the things that amuse me:\n\tMy overwhelming reaction is simple. A bonus is a bonus. I get\npaid to do my job. I am not entitled to a bonus, by definition, unless\nI do my job better than is expected (and no such thing as a sliding curve).\nIf I happen to be better than the average joe, and stay that way consistently,\nI wouldn't want managements expectations to rise to my superior level,\nIN MY CASE ONLY. After all, if I was worse than the average joe, their\nexpectations might sink (\"Don't give it to Suttles, he'll screw it up\")\nbut their standards wouldn't--I would just be a little less likely to\nsurvive any layoffs. A \"bonus\" is like a tip in a restaraunt--the\nwaitress cannot rely on it, it isn't automatic, and she can destroy any\nchance of getting one by just not trying hard enough...which can be a\ndirect result of believing that the tip is a fixed amount and guaranteed.\n\n\tYou guys are unbelievably lucky. I can't speak for the rest of the\nBay Area, but in the places I worked before (in the MidWest), such a feud\nas this could not happen. People who have the gall (guts if it worked) to\nstand up in a crowd and shout \"management is screwing us\" usually find that\nfrom that instant onward, management is SCRUPULOUSLY honest and consistent.\nThey ensure they make no mistakes, and fire the sucker by the book.\n\n\tOur management here is constrained by circumstance not to point out\nwhat I think is obvious (a bonus is a bonus). But they are NOT constrained\nto agree with the outspoken few (even tho there were a lot of letters, there\nare lots more who haven't spoken up). They are not required to support either\nthe point of view of the people. They have a company to run. They have to\nmake the company profitable, which takes a LOT of justification to \"give away\"\nbonus money of any quantity. They could quite legitimately tell you guys\n\"TOUGH &^$%@\" (sorry, Ed), and be quite within their legal, AND MORAL rights.\n\n\tThe point is that I can't fully put myself behind the revolution,\nalthough I would DEFINITELY like to see everyone come out happy. (If you\nthink I'm going to say bonuses are revolting, think again!) It is only\nhere at Atari that such a discussion could come out well, and there ain't\nthat many places where such a discussion could exist at all.\n\n\tTwo final points: NOBODY wants to put out a shoddy product, or\neven a product that is less than it could be. And did anyone consider that\nsince the merge, a lot of the people against whom the shoddy products are\nblamed, are on the mailing lists?\n\n\tPersonal note to DanVan: When do I get the other half of my money?\n\n\nSteve Suttles"}]
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"body":"\n\n\tBoscole is dead... Long live Boscole!!!!!!!!!!!",
"subject":"BOSCOLE III"},
{
"body":"\n\n I would like to know what percentage of the Coin-op designers agree with \nJeff Boscole's views about computerized gambling. I have only recently come \ninto Coin-op so I am hardly an expert. Nevertheless, it seems to me that \nan electronic gambling machine that is designed to be marketed only in \nareas that gambling is legal should be vastly more fun than current slot \nmachines (and head & shoulders above the electronic poker and black jack \ngames). I would think that this would translate into vast sums of money.\n Perhaps this opinion shows that my moral fiber is loose weave or perhaps \ngambling isn't really that profitable. Either way, I hope that someone more \nexperienced in Coin-op games will reply and set me straight.\n\nDave",
"subject":"Boscole & gambling--I don't get it"},
{
"body":"\n\nHello again. \n\n\tI am overwhelmed. What a can of worms!! Jeff Boscole would be proud.\nUnfortunately, I don't have time to respond to everything that has been\nbroadcast in MAIL recently. Nor should I, after all, I am supposed to be an\nex-trouble maker. Still, I am glad that so many of you took the trouble to\nwrite down what is on your mind, and then broadcasting it. Scary, but\nworthwhile. \n\n\tThis message is going to the JUNK mailing list, as did the Jeff Boscole\nmemorial letter. I was unaware that JUNK included via DECNET a number of other\nVAXes. If I had known, I would have sent the JBML to JUNK anyway. I feel no\nneed for secrecy. Better to be in the open than to create inaccurate rumors. \nIf you JUNK readers out there are not interested, just type del<RETURN> after\nthe first page of a message and the message disappears.\n\n\tSomeone pointed out to me that it is my responsibility to inform the\nJUNK subscribers of the prompt responses by John Ray, Chris Downend, and Lyle\nRains to the concerns voiced by the earlier MAIL. These responses were mailed\nto ENGINEERING.UAF, a mailing list which includes only Kim Newvax users. A\nprintout of some of these responses is posted in the home-computer section of\n1501.\n\n\tPlease don't blame me if you feel left out of the discussion. Fight for\nroyalties if you feel that you deserve them. Fight for getting credit for\nyour work. I am all for personalizing all of industry, everyone should put\ntheir name to their work, good or bad. Above all fight for quality. Quality\nsells, or are we in it just to make a quick buck? If you feel envious that we\nin engineering receive royalties, consider that we (in coin-op) don't make\nmillions, only thousands, if we are lucky. We earn these royalties by working\nday and night, sometimes it seems putting our whole lives into it. Even for a\nsuccessfull game designer, half the time the things don't even see production.\nUsually that means a year or two down the drain. If you are unsuccessful you\nget no royalties, only the nagging question: why didn't it work? If the game\nsells, you don't know why either. Either way, you don't feel secure about the\nwhole thing. And nobody knows where the industry will be three years from now.\nCan you blame us then for fighting for our second in the spotlight while the\npower is still on? Without game designers Atari would not exist, just like\nwithout a screenplay you'd have a pretty dull movie.\n\n\"A video game is not a toaster\"\n\n\t\tSincerely,\n\t\t\t\tFranz X Lanzinger",
"subject":"?"},
{
"body":"\n\nJust got a piece of mail with ' [O ' in it. This normaly happens when you\nare sending mail and make an error, and then try to correct it with the Editing\nkeys. The mail editor just doesn't understand those little arrow keys or the\nkeypad ones either. But there are a couple of ways to beat them little guys\nand have full editing capabilities while writing them long 'Boscole-ish' works\nof art.\n\n\n1. You want to keep a copy for later use and/or modification:\n\n step a)\tCreate the file and \"EDIT\" it with your favorite editor.\n step b)\tEnter \"MAIL\" and type S or SEND leave a space and then\n \t\ttype the name of your file. Ex: SEND FROBOSH.MAC\n\n \tThis will send the file to all those you select on the 'TO:' line.\n\n\n2. You just want to use the 'EDT' editor and don't care about keeping a copy:\n\n step a)\tEnter \"MAIL\" and type S or SEND followed immediately by /edit.\n \t\tEx: SEND/EDIT\n\n step b)\tMail will place you in the EDT editor and allow you to edit\n \t\tto your hearts content. When you finish, simply do a normal\n \t\texit from EDT.\n\n3. You want to use the 'EDT' editor and don't care about keeping a copy, but\n you would like to send something you have already created (some code or\n a copy of some file) and add a message to it or even modify it before you\n mail it.\n\n step a)\tEnter \"MAIL\" and type S or SEND followed immediately by /edit\n \t\tand then a space and the name of the file you want to include.\n \t\tEx: SEND/EDIT FROBAHS.LST\n\n step b)\tMail will place you in the EDT editor and allow you to edit\n \t\tto your hearts content. When you finish, simply do a normal\n \t\texit from EDT.\n\nGood luck and have fun.\nREZ/rez",
"subject":"Editing before you send mail."},
{
"body":"\n\n\tFor those of you who knew Jeff Boscole, you knew what a nut that guy \ncould be in his letter writting. For those of you on his \"mailing list\", \nyou need no more proof than to read his 6 letters a week (of some 6 pages \neach).\n\tFor those of you who did not know Jeff, most of his writtings should\nbe taken lightly, with an open mind and a good sense of humor. In most cases\nhis letters simply run on and on and usually say very little!\n\n\tHowever, I just received a letter (ANOTHER!!!!) from Jeff written to\nthe Washington State Lottery Commision regarding computer gambling! If you\nreceived your own copy, you may stop reading now. If you did not... I thought\na number of you might just like to see this one. Not bad and all on one piece\nof paper:\n\nDear Commisioners:\n\nI worked for several years as a professional video-game designer\nat Atari, Inc., and I'd like to register sentiment regarding the\n\"newly operational\" computer gambling system, curiously concidental\nwith WPPSS #2 fire up.\n\nThe video-game industry is not without ethical standards; in fact,\nby some, it is regarded as within the domain of \"medical electronics.\"\nAs game designers, we were carefully instructed to conform to rather\nsevere standards of discipline. One of these stiff regulations\nconcerned this area of \"computer gambling\" as our video-games could\nnot be sold in many states across the nation if the game in any way\ncould be construed as a gambling device. You will notice, for\nexample, that no game offers \"bonus games\" as a reward for playing\nproficiency; we could merely offer \"bonus lives\" or \"bonus time\".\n\nThere is another reason for these stringent gambling prohibitions.\nWithin the programming profession there is an unwritten code of ethics\nderived in part from our attitudes about electronics and computer\nscience. We feel that the nature of the computer itself is antithetical\nto the concept of gambling, and to promote this confustion within\nthe public mind may become contra-indicative to the interests of\njustice and education. Philosophically, that arrangement destroys\nsome fundamental cybernetic relationships by mixing up the sacred\nwith the profane. Of course computers can produce pseudo-random\nnumbers, however, there are many of us who, very frankly, do not\nwant to see machines used for any gambling purposes, or to receive\nany such approval and authorization from the state. Also, we feel\nthat any centralized processing arrangement incorrectly pprtrays the\nessence of computer science, somewhat analogous to the fundamental\nstatements of economics which also disallow and centralization of\neconomic theory. I am acquainted with the accounts of numerous cases\nwithin the courts in various scattered locations currently disputing\nthe issue of gambling at remote terminals within literary discussions\npertinent to our contemporary industry. As we believe computer\ngambling is a perversion of the design architecture, we do not support\nit, and those court cases may very likely find computer gambling\ninappropriate.\n\nMany other more suitable methods are available for exposing\npublic consciousness to the awesome power of a computer. Also,\nwe feel that some of the fun is subtracted from gambling by\nhaving a machine automate the gambling process. Along these\nlines, I an aware, for example, that some brokerage houses tried\ncomputer-regression forecasting on Wall Street and utilized some\nartificial-intelligence automated trabsaction routines. Since\nthen, I understand that many of these former computer-linkups\nhave been pulled off-line, as the stock brokers found their own\ntrading processes more adequate and perhaps more reliable.\n\nAlso, there is a danger that computer gambling might instill a\npsychic disestablishmentarianism which could very easily lead to\nsocial disestablishmentarianism and the annihilation of our legal\nsystem.\n\n\t\t\t\t\tSincerly,\n\t\t\t\t\t Jeff Boscole\n\n(this was cc to a large list, including 2 TV stations)\n\n\tPersonally, I think Jeff did a great job here. There may indeed\nbe hope for him in the everyday world after all!!\n\t-Owen-",
"subject":"Jeff Boscole...there is hope"},
{
"body":"\n Another Jeff Boscole Memorial letter, in response to FXL's letter on\nJan 30, 1984.\n\n I was unaware of any policies regarding 2600, Home computer, or any other\ncomputer system, nor was I told of any. All I was told about was a bonus\nplan if the game I worked on was turned into a cartridge. This DOES tend to \nsay that the creating team will have no say in the cartridge. I, for one, \nwould like to have some say in the final version of the game, since I feel \nvery strongly about my game. \n\n Since I haven't been impressed by the results of VCS's releases, I DON'T\nwant them to butcher, maim or mutilate my game for whatever reason. I\ncan fully sympathize with Franz, since he put a lot of time and effort into\nhis game. By the time my game goes into production (knock on wood), I will\nhave put at least a year of my life into that game. I don't want someone\nto come along, and rip me off. I don't really care about royalties from the\nother games, I just don't want to have to apologize to anyone about a \ngame that has my name in it, on it, or associated with it.\n\n Also, since I haven't heard anything from management about the bonus plan\nlately, I can only assume that Franz's research is correct. Since I happen\nto have a Team Leader that I feel I can trust, I'm not too worried about\ngetting screwed on the bonus. That doesn't mean that there shouldn't be\nsomething in writing. Something my mother taught me - \n\n\t\"If you really mean what you what you are saying, \n then you won't mind putting it in writing.\"\n\n\n While I'm still flaming, I feel that it WOULD be nice to have my name\nappear in my game somewhere. It would really be nice to be allowed to\ndo this, since Star Wars had the names of the people appear on every odd\nwave going into the death star. It seems a little inconsistant to me that\nthe Star Wars project could have their names, and Crystal Castles couldn't.\nFor some reason, that appears to be favoritism, not policy.\n\n\n Return flames gladly accepted.\n\n Peter Thompson.\n\n\nP.S. If anyone can show me a good game for the 2600 that we produced, I\nwill fully apologize, and then go out and buy it.",
"subject":"Another flame"},
{
"subject":"The first annual Jeff Boscole Memorial letter",
"body":"\n\nThis letter is dedicated to Jeff Boscole, someone who wasn't afraid\nof sounding obscure, to speak his mind, to be strange, to be brilliant, \nto play games, and to use MAIL to its fullest. I don't remember when\nhe left, but it was quite a few months ago.\n\n To anyone who cares, but especially to game designers with more clout than\nFXL, and to any and all people in power at Atari (not just coin-op):\n\n Recently I have spent an inordinate amount of time trying to instigate\nimprovements in royalties, designer credits, and game testing procedures. I\nhave had little success. I hereby apologize for all of the negative feelings\nand anger that I am emanating because of this. After all, things are pretty\ngood here, and certainly better than at many companies. I do not however\napologize or regret my negative feelings about the recent release of the\nCrystal Castles 2600 Cartridge. (In case you don't know, the cartridge was\nreleased without the approval of the coin-op design team, or anybody else\nin coin-op as far as I know).\n\n This is pure theft!\n\nAnd I do not even know who to blame for this!! It isn't the programmer, who is\nabout as mad (or worse) as I am about this situation. He was given a unmakable\nrelease deadline (4 days instead of 3 weeks from when he was told). The game is\nmuch worse because of this (according to the programmer Peter Niday). He had\nno choice in the matter. Yet another unfinished, hurried, poorly tested game\nfrom Atari. Won't we ever learn? \n\nGames under license from other companies get reviewed by representatives of\nthat company (Williams and Namco specifically). But games developed in-house\nare treated like they are in the public domain, while the original design team\nof in-house games is treated like dirt.\n\n This is not an isolated incident either. Atarisoft, as a matter of policy,\ntakes Atari Coin-op games, lets outside companies \"convert\" them for home\ncomputers (like Commodore 64, Vic-20, Apple 2, TI-99 and IBM-PC), and then\nproduces them, all without the creative input or advice of the original design\nteams (just talk to Ed Logg about Centipede, or ? about Battlezone). Atarisoft\ndoes not ask anyone over here at coin-op for approval for the final version,\nbut they do show the final version of the game to someone in the legal\ndepartment. On the more positive side, there is a chance that Atarisoft will\ncontribute to the Engineering Product Bonus Plan in a manner similar to 2600,\n5200 and 800 products. Wouldn't it be nice to have that guaranteed and in\nwriting? And shouldn't there be designer credits on Atarisoft products?\n\n It's ironic that my name is on the packaging of the 2600 Crystal Castles\ncart, a product which I only saw an early version of. Yet when I told people\nthat the message (\"programmed by Franz Lanzinger\") appeared in level 10 in the\ncoin-op version I was told to take it out, or I loose an amount of bonus to be\ndetermined. Boy did that make me mad !!! I complained vocally, but only to be\npromised that a designer credit policy would be worked on. This policy is still\n\"being worked on\" eight months later. Now really. It's not that hard to do,\njust look at movies, books, not to mention Stern, Mylstar, Simutrek, Sente,\neven 2600 carts. If there were a policy right now, credits could be in in time\nfor the Crystal Castles kits. As it is, I am still mad about the whole thing.\nImagine Speven Spielberg directing a film, but not getting credit. How would\nhe feel? Are we cogs in a machine? I am not a number !!! This isn't 1984!!\n(well OK, maybe it is).\n\n While I'm at it I would like to get one more thing off my chest (right\non!!). You may know that the current \"coin-op engineering product bonus plan\"\n(shouldn't it really be called a royalty plan ?) is out of date. The most\nrecent legally binding document (if it is legally binding) is dated March 26,\n1982, and it expired at the end of 1983. It is my understanding by reading\nthat memo that the bonus plan is still in effect, but it can now be \" extended,\nenhanced, discontinued or otherwise modified to meet management objectives \".\nIn other words, Atari has the legal right to screw us any time they want.\nPersonally, I would feel much more secure, happy, and motivated to work hard,\nif there were an updated royalty plan without a gaping loophole like that.\nAfter all, there are plenty of precedents for people getting screwed here.\n\n I am tired of fighting a brick wall. So I will resign myself to the facts\nof life at Atari. These facts seem to be that change is virtually impossible\nwhen suggested by a single empoyee, but mindbogglingly fast if management wants\nit. And I will continue to feel bitter now and then (like right now for\ninstance).\n\n How do you feel about all this? How do you feel about 40% 30% 30% (the\n\"golden handcuffs\")? How do you feel about 1% under 10M, 2% over 10M? How do\nyou feel about designer credits? How do you feel about the delays in actual\npayment of royalties? (I still don't have a cent for Crystal Castles, and it\nhas been seven months since it started to earn millions for Atari).\n\n What can you, anyone who cares, do to make me, Joe Piscopo (oops, make that\nFranz Lanzinger) feel less bitter? Well, misery loves company. Please tell me,\nbetter yet, tell your favorite manager, supervisor, or even CEO, how you feel\nabout these issues. It may not change a thing, but maybe your powers of\npersuasion will succeed where mine failed.\n\n Until next year, (when I will write the second annual Jeff Boscole memorial\nletter)\n\t\t\tFXL\n\t\t\t(the X stands for \"eX trouble maker\")\n\nP.S. please send your answers to @SYS$MAIL:JUNK, or to someone in a position\nto take action, best would be both.\n\nP.P.S. If there are any inaccuracies, please let me know. The facts are to\nthe best of my recollection, some of it is hearsay."},
{
"subject":"J.B. MEMORIAL II",
"body":"\n\njeff boscole lives!!!!\nlong may vacillating versimilitudes of veracity persist??!!\n\n\tSUNDAY night i watched a 60 minutes article on a minneapolis ordinance\nto define pornography as \"... any material,printed or viewed, which portrays\nwomen as the subject of violence and domination by men, in a sexual context\"\n( not an exact quote) . Under this ordinance, purveyors of any material of this\nnature could be sued in civil court, for violating the civil rights of the \nperson suing. \n\tDuring the ensuing \"debate\" between the A.C.L.U. representative and the \nproponents of the bill, I was impressed by how very sick and degraded our \nsociety has become. Keep in mind that the main thrust of this bill is against\nso-called \"snuff films\", magazines that show women tied up (naked) with guns to \ntheir heads,etc. etc. ad nauseum. this was not an ordinance against portrayal \nof non violent sex between consenting adults. it was not the old \"moral major-\nityitis\" at work again. this ordinance was drafted by liberal,\"rabid\" feminist\ntypes that are clearly not a threat as far as general cencorship goes.\n\tStill, with all that , they actually found some idiot to get up and \ndefend the \"right of expression\" of these perverts. the old \"where will it end\"\nargument was pulled out and waved in our faces once again. there was no reason-\nable debate of the specific merits of this particular bill, but silly generic\ndebate on freedom of speech. \n\n\tTo me this is a good example of the thinking that could ultimately lead\nto the downfall of the U.S. as we know it. I call it \"fear of the grayzone\",\nand it has been responsible for innumerable follies throughout history.\nlet me point out a few other areas where this is a problem:\n\t1) it is currently legal to abort a fetus up to the end of the 2nd\ntrimester (~week 27) strictly as a matter of convenience, as opposed to medical\nnecessity. on the other hand, it is possible to save a premature infant as \nearly as the 24th week. this has lead to \"wrongful life\" suits when an abortion\nfails, the fetus lives, and is kept alive by new medical technology. a prime\nexample of a gray area in action. but instead of dealing with a real problem,\nthere will be an endless debate between those who see humanity in a lump of\ntissue called a fertilized egg, and those who thoughtlessly consider the womans\nright of selfdetermination as paramount, no matter the costs ethically.\n\t2) in the current political debate on El Salavador, the right and the \nleft wing in this country have been polarized to almost the same extent as the \nactual participants. the left refuses to see (potential or real) manipulation\nof a just cause by our enemies, and the right refuses to see death squads and \nmassive political corruption in the current power elite of El Salvador. the \ninvalid \"black or white\" political extrapolations from the politics of this \ncountry to the very different conditions of another country is a pattern that\nblinds us to any valid considerations of how the gray areas in the politics of\nthe other country need to be addressed. we need to break this pattern lest the\nintolerance each side associates with in the other countries politics feed \nback to our political arena and start a violence cycle in this country.\nit will do us no good if the conservatives in this country are percieved as\nnascient fascists by the left and the liberals are percieved as leninist symps\nby the right. we need to appreciate the culture of \"tolerance of the gray area\"\nthat still persists in this country despite our stupid neglect. \n\n\t3)etc there are examples in almost every aspect of life and\n\t4)etc i don't want to go on too long.\n\nTHE POINT is that our society is a finely tuned and balanced system, it is not\npurely one way or the other. this is the thing we value about our country.\ntrying to impose rigid thought systems on a such fluidity just leads to \ndistortions. THAT INCLUDES the rigid thought that there are no reasonable \nbounds on the types of thoughts and actions that can be portrayed publically.\nfor a society to exist there is a \"least common denominator\", an intersection\nof ethics and morality that all people in that society need to agree on as \nthe public morality. I contend that a society that hasn't the nerve to resist\nincursions into this area of commonality by violent perverts and deviants that\ncan't resist an illgotten buck has too feeble a claim on existance and will\nsoon (within a century or so ) degenerate into fascistic moral repression, or\nbreak into total anarchy. \n\np.s. for those of you inclined to psuedo-mathematics I have formulated\n\nSHERMAN'S LAW OF MORAL MULTIPLICATIVITY:\n\n\tm1*m2*m3*m4*m5*m6.....*mN<=S<<<<M\n\nthat is,coefficients along each independent axis ( or variable ) describing a\nparticular ethical system when multiplied are less than or equal to a constant\ncoeffficient (S) which is itself much less than the percieved theoretical \nmaximum of the multiplication.\n\tin other words, to apply this equation to our legal system for example,\nthe more we view the legal system as a solution for attaining perfection in\nour society,and the more laws we pass, after a certain point mX=rootN of S ,\nwhere mX is a coefficient of social good in a particular area of law (such as\nmedical ethics), the coefficients in other areas will decline. this result \nreflects the inevitable implact of all areas of law on all other areas.\n\nTHE REAL measure of wisdom is to know the value of S, and thus know when to \nquit........and I'm not telling!!!!!!!\n\n\ncoming soon too your mail SHERMAN'S ETHICAL UNCERTAINTY PRINCIPLE.\n\npsuedosincerelyyours<<<<<<<<<dave>>>>>>>>>>>>>\n\np.p.s.\thint: S is not equal to 42. "},
{
"subject":"The hell of hacking ... or, the subcellar of Hacker's Heaven",
"body":"\n\n\t\t This missive is dedicated to (and\n\t\tdone in) the style of Jeff Boscole, who,\n\t\tdedicated or not, was done in, in\n\t\tinimicable style. \n\n There has been a fair amount of debate about the PREMAKE utility.\nI am seriously considering a veterinarian to eliminate the planarians.\n\n MAKE was originally a UNIX utility, used to conditionally build\nprograms from their component parts, if (and only if) any one or more\nof the parts was newer (more recently changed) than the \"target\".\nDefinitionwise, the TARGET is the unit currently being built, and it\nDEPENDS on those units (files) which are inputs to the program doing\nthe build (compiler, assembler or linker). The target of one step is\nquite possibly depended upon in subsequent steps in the build of a\nparticular program. This is indeed the case with current workings of\n68000 \"C\" development. The executable binary is dependent on one or\nmore object modules, each of which is dependent on one or more assembly\nlanguage sources, each of which is dependent on one or more compiler\nsources.\n\n As you can see from the not-quite-nonsense spouted so far, MAKE as\noriginally conceived is not intuitively obvious in function, when the\ndetails are known. It is intended to be fed an input file, called a\nmakefile, which is a list of the dependencies to be resolved, and the\ncommand text neccesary to resolve each.\n\n There is an infinite number of applications for the Unix version of\nMAKE. It was designed for a system with several potential sources for\na given module, and several layers of dependencies for a specific utility.\nI am not prepared to describe nor debate the use or usefullness of MAKE;\nI do feel compelled to point out that it is a convenience tool; a simple\ncommand file (in fact, simpler than the corresponding makefile in every case)\ncan rebuild the desired end module unconditionally. The primary advantage\nof MAKE is in the elimination of CPU time that can be pinpointed as non\nessential, and hence user time in waiting for the processes that are not\nentirely neccesary. In our own case, this would reduce the load on the\nVAX a tiny bit.\n\n Landon Dyer's incarnation of MAKE assumed MACxx development, and I\ncannot say for certain, but I expect it was MAC65 only.\n\n There is also a version written in C by Eddie Babcock. I don't know\na whole lot about it either, but since Landon's was written in DCL, Eddie's\nwill have the advantage of speed at least, and probably quite a bit of utility\nas well.\n\n The whole purpose of PREMAKE was to allow users of MAKE to cheat. There\nare header files for virtually every sizable project, containing such\ninformation as copyright notices, authorship, identity, and documentation,\nwhich matter not a whit to the execution of the program in which they are\nincluded. Yet for all the same reasons as these, they must be included in\neach and every module at the source level. Global options, such as debugging\nflags, are also included here, to make the unit easier to develop. Here is\nthe problem with mixing these non-code items (which are subject to change\ndue to many sources, legal, managerial, and financial, not to mention\nwhimsical) and developmental stuff you put there BECAUSE you intend to\nchange it: unless the changes will directly affect the function of a\nmodule in which they are included, you don't really want to reassemble (or\nwhatever) the source unless and until you are ready to release. There is\nno way that the computer can know and/or correlate all of these things.\nLook how much fun you had, and you KNOW how the system works!\n\n So, in order to reduce the time between iterative versions (hackings)\n{RE-CURSE: 1) See recurse. 2) What happens when you rehurt yourself.}\nyou can cheat. Avoid non-essential compiles / assemblies with MAKE.\nAvoid redundant assemblies by eliminating non-code header file dependencies.\nWhen such a header file will cause an effect in the generated code, use\nPREMAKE to search for the inclusion directives and renew the date on the\nsource module, forcing MAKE to recognise the change.\n\n To reduce the clamor for change in PREMAKE, it has been changed.\nPREMAKE is implemented as a DCL command file, and is now used with three\nparameters: the file type of the sources, the required text of the\ninclusion directive, and the filespec that has changed, and requires\nrecompilation. For the MACXX assemblers, which is assumed to be the\nmajority case, PREMAKE is defined at login time as:\n PREMAKE :== @SYS$SYSDEVICE:[UTILITIES.COM]PREMAKE .MAC .INCLU\n \t... and you use it as $ PREMAKE HEADER or $PREMAKE HEADER.MAC\nif HEADER.MAC is the file with the changes. For C programmers, you\ncan either redefine PREMAKE or invent you own word as in:\n PREMAKE :== @SYS$SYSDEVICE:[UTILITIES.COM]PREMAKE .C #INCLUDE\n \t... and the default extension will be .C; PREMAKE will search\n\"*.C;\" for #INCLUDE and your filename on the same line. If your filename\nis a .C file, the extension needn't be specified to be recognised.\n\n Of course, anything costs. Because of making it general for languages,\nthe second search was eliminated. It used to search for .COPY as well as\n.INCLU (.INCLU is all you need for .INCLUDE to be recognised), but now it\ndoes only the .INCLU directive. If you want to search for .COPY, you will\nhave to define your own word, and do it as well as PREMAKE. It still does\nnot nest. PREMAKE still only checks *.MAC; files in the current directory.\n\n As usual, if you or any of your operatives should get burned, I will\ndisavow any responsibility for my actions. Bug reports should be sent to\nthis address.\n\nsas"},
{
"body":"\nto: Franz\nfrom: Chris Downend\nSubject: Response to Boscole Memorial Letter\n\nFirst of all, rest assured the issues you mention ARE being \nworked on - they are constant topics at meetings I attend.\nEverybody seems to be involved in making decisions these \ndays. This ensures all viewpoints are heard but with a horrible \nspeed penalty.\n \nThe solution is to keep plugging away and enlist support as \nyou have! By the way Franz, you are certinly a valued \nemployee with clout - one thing Atari undeniably \nvalues is people that can produce successful products and \nyou have certainly done that with Crystal Castles.\n\nI have unique perspective on the situation since I \nhave programmed games at the \"bottom\" and at the \nsame time I have seen the decision-making process\nat the \"top\" - I can empathize with both sides.\n\nOne word of caution though, I note that you suggest dialogue\nthru VAX and the \"Junk\" heading which routes the text to \neverybody on the VAX including employees who do not \nshare in the Product Bonus (royalty) and they just \nmight not appreciate hearing about our lofty concerns\nabout credits and amounts of bonus since they \nget neither. May I suggest the @sys$mail:engineer.uaf heading or a \nsimilar restricted audience. Management must be sensitive to \nthe feelings and desires of many diverse groups inside \nEngineering and this complicates and lengthens the decision-making \nprocess. A snap decision to address the issue bothering \none party may upset another party - management has to \nconsider the whole picture sometimes.\n\nOn Royalities: Yep, Atari can screw us anytime they want. \nI do not think they would for fear of a lot of people \nleaving. The Company has to protect itself. Please realize \nthat thru much of 1983, Atari paid bonuses \neven though Coin-op was not making money - we \nwere operating in the RED and still paying bonuses ! Now thats\ncommitment. Of course that cannot go on for too long or else the \nwhole Company goes down. That's the reason Atari has escape \nvalves built in to Bonus plans - it's not really too \nscrew the employee, but instead to protect the well-being \nof the Company.\nThat's the price you pay for the luxury of a steady salary \nand a ready-made work environment including PEOPLE and\ntechnical support. Personally, I have not been screwed, \nand in fact I have found that Atari has handsomely rewarded hard work \nand a willingness to support the Company. Maybe my expectations are \nlower than those who feel screwed - or maybe they valued themselves \nmore than they were really worth. \nManagement does care and Changes are in the \nworks, they just take a long time especially when the players \nkeep changing( J. Ray becomes Director, then Calfee leaves, then\nFarrand leaves etc. - you have to keep re-educating the new players).\nChanges ARE underway (no promsies, but people want to fix \n\tthese things if possible):\n\t-get rid of golden handcuffs\n\t-generate an advance close to initial production \n\nAs for the \"millions\" Atari made on Crystal Castles, well \nlets see:\n\tsales as of 1/13/84: 4363 uprts; 450 cocktails\n\tsales revenue (approx): $2095*4363 + 1695*500 = $9.98M\n\t\t[price was reduced in DEC(?) to $1000(?)]\n\tcost of goods sold(fully burdened):$971*4363+971*500=$4.73M\n\tEngineering Expense for Crystal Castles: about $1M\n\tEngineering Expense for games that don't make it: unknown\n\tSales/Marketing Expense: unknown\n\tEngineering Bonus expense:(.015*9.98M)=.15M\n\tPre-tax Income: 9.98-(4.73+1+.15)= $4.1M\n\tAfter taxes (50%):\t\t$2.05M\nSo the Company retains earnings of a couple of million to get thru\nthe many dry spells this industry faces or to buy new equipment etc.\nAlso note that Atari had to build about a 1000 games to break even \non the Engineering costs. Thus, profit doesn't really appear until\n1000 games are built, but Atari pays bonus anyway. I agree 7 months \nis a bit long to wait, but Atari has not made all that much and the \nproduct was not profitable until long after the intial production \nstarted. Product Bonus was paid quarterly at one time; we should go \nback to that scheme.\n\nAs for the 1% or 2%, I don't see a problem there - after all, Atari \ndoesn't start making any significant money on a product till a few \nthousand are sold so it makes sense to reduce bonus funding till\na thresold is crossed. I would however like to see another \nthreshold at about $50M when the percentage increases to 5%. A game \nthat can generate that much sales is a spectacular achievement \nfor the creators and they deserve the reward at that point. \n\nThe Quality of 2600 carts is the pits - no doubt about it. The \nsystem was introduced in 1977 so it is SEVEN years old. I think \nBreakout and Space Invaders are decent renditions of the \ncoin-op originals and those are 1976 and 1979 games respectively.\nBut with 14 million 2600's out there, financial issues outweigh \nasthetic issues.\nI don't think the public would even buy Crystal Castles on a 2600 \nso everybody loses - you and Atari. Again, we've got new \nmanagement and they have to learn from their own mistakes. By the \nway, Calfee knew the 2600 Crystal Castles was lousy and tried \nto stop it, but he was overuled. When Marketing wanted to do the \nsame thing with Millipede (release the cart with a bug), Steve \nhad to go all the way to J.J. Morgan. Fortunately, Morgan \nagreed with Steve and the release was postponed. One thing to \nremember though, Coin-op profits are small potatoes compared with \nComsumer profits so every decision is heavily weighted toward \nmaximizing profit in the Consumer arena. So, anticipate feeling \nscrewed with respect to the quality of carts - it won't change - too \nmuch money is a stake. The virtue of Coin-op is extensive \ncreative freedom (in game design and hardware base) \nsince original work is the lifeblood of the \nIndustry. Coin-op also gives you bearable schedules allowing you to do a\nsatisfying job. And to my knowledge, Coin-op has yet to sacrifice \nquality to get an on-time delivery. Firefox was supposed to start \nproduction 1/23/84; millions in parts are all staged ready for \nproduction, but it has not started (1/31/84) because the software \nis not ready.\n \n\nNow for Credits: Coin-op credits are more complex than Consumer \ncredits since more people are involved and people get their \nfeelings hurt if they are left out and they feel they contributed \njust as much as so-and-so and so-and-so got their name on the game...\nsee my point? John Ray has been working on this as well as \ntrying to learn about being a Director and managing the \nProject Office. Maybe its could have happened faster, but John \nmanages by concensus which takes even more time.\nJohn has apparently sent his recommendation to Van Elderen/Paul/Farrand\nfor appproval prior to publishing the rules for \ncredits on the audio-visual portion of the product.\nHow does seven names in video for the\naudio-visual portion strike you?? We do not want 8kbytes of \nEPROM used up putting 500 credits in the game.\nBy the way, Star Wars got their names in the game because they did it \nand did not tell anybody about it. If your ethics were equally \nlow, Franz, you could have done it in Crystal Castles too.\n \nWhat's all this mean? I don't know. I hope it helps though.\n\n\t\t\t\t\t- Chris Downend "}]
},
"highlighting":{
"f91699aa32d6d08cea025b2d7a17d7a0cdd6a53f":{
"subject":["<em>BOSCOLE</em> III"],
"body":["\n\n\t<em>Boscole</em> is dead... Long live <em>Boscole</em>!!!!!!!!!!!"]},
"44c8f6ec4b06a0dd5970c1cf1e663b816dba265e":{
"subject":["<em>Boscole</em> & gambling--I don't get it"],
"body":["\n\n I would like to know what percentage of the Coin-op designers agree with \nJeff <em>Boscole's</em> views"]},
"9ef3ac0bb27858ab70599cfe97f36a3fbebd1b71":{
"body":["\n\nHello again. \n\n\tI am overwhelmed. What a can of worms!! Jeff <em>Boscole</em> would be proud"]},
"a0047b82c2306ddc1f7df3e2e03833c82f0b9f1e":{
"body":[" little guys\nand have full editing capabilities while writing them long '<em>Boscole</em>-ish' works\nof art.\n\n\n1"]},
"b0bf8b68afd68b12e9d1933fb1c48d3ee9279902":{
"subject":["Jeff <em>Boscole</em>...there is hope"],
"body":["\n\n\tFor those of you who knew Jeff <em>Boscole</em>, you knew what a nut that guy \ncould be in his letter"]},
"0d8ad1302c7b22b8446d6e281140c6745bb16f56":{
"body":["\n Another Jeff <em>Boscole</em> Memorial letter, in response to FXL's letter on\nJan 30, 1984.\n\n I"]},
"5c59fe955ea4ea9e0a2366f3db3b76afd703852d":{
"subject":["The first annual Jeff <em>Boscole</em> Memorial letter"],
"body":["\n\nThis letter is dedicated to Jeff <em>Boscole</em>, someone who wasn't afraid\nof sounding obscure, to speak"]},
"252e4c4378e2976bd9149022ddd4d8f23fd8af29":{
"body":["\n\njeff <em>boscole</em> lives!!!!\nlong may vacillating versimilitudes of veracity persist??!!\n\n\tSUNDAY night"]},
"fd95e67ad5cdce552835ff0d30dffd2df05a54cf":{
"body":["\n\n\t\t This missive is dedicated to (and\n\t\tdone in) the style of Jeff <em>Boscole</em>, who,\n\t\tdedicated"]},
"4e181bf1df76c9c389bfaeb9a60694c590049ce3":{
"body":["\nto: Franz\nfrom: Chris Downend\nSubject: Response to <em>Boscole</em> Memorial Letter\n\nFirst of all, rest"]}}}Interestingly, searching for boscole atari returns highlights for atari but not boscole:
Query: /select?hl.fl=subject,body&hl=on&indent=on&q=boscole%20atari&wt=json
Response:
{
"responseHeader":{
"status":0,
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"params":{
"q":"boscole atari",
"hl":"on",
"indent":"on",
"hl.fl":"subject,body",
"wt":"json"}},
"response":{"numFound":606,"start":0,"docs":[
{
"body":"\n\n\tBoscole is dead... Long live Boscole!!!!!!!!!!!",
"from":"KIM::WHITEBOOK",
"sent_at":"1984-08-05T09:35:00Z",
"to":"@SYS$MAIL:ENGINEER",
"chronological_pos":140,
"id":"f91699aa32d6d08cea025b2d7a17d7a0cdd6a53f",
"subject":"BOSCOLE III",
"_version_":1572844553047638017},
{
"body":"\n\nWell, a touch of sanity (old school style) at last. Actually, \nI, too, have been very pleased with my Mgmnt Disc boni, but \nit also pleases me that my boss thinks I do some decent work\nand can show it in that way. But it certainly comes under\nthe heading of \"cake frosting\".\n\nWhat I hope comes out of this is a greater commitment to \nquality of product--- that's what really feeds us all.\nThere are still too many guys saying \"I don't care, it's\ngood enough, I just wanna get it out of here!\" Those are \nthe ones who burn my butt!",
"from":"KIM::RICE",
"sent_at":"1984-02-02T15:17:00Z",
"to":"@SYS$MAIL:ENGINEER.UAF",
"chronological_pos":40,
"id":"57dad7e8a5ae1e6029cf4e35b04732b7055a9bb6",
"subject":"RE: BOSCOLE MCMLXXXIV",
"_version_":1572844553013035008},
{
"body":"\n\n I would like to know what percentage of the Coin-op designers agree with \nJeff Boscole's views about computerized gambling. I have only recently come \ninto Coin-op so I am hardly an expert. Nevertheless, it seems to me that \nan electronic gambling machine that is designed to be marketed only in \nareas that gambling is legal should be vastly more fun than current slot \nmachines (and head & shoulders above the electronic poker and black jack \ngames). I would think that this would translate into vast sums of money.\n Perhaps this opinion shows that my moral fiber is loose weave or perhaps \ngambling isn't really that profitable. Either way, I hope that someone more \nexperienced in Coin-op games will reply and set me straight.\n\nDave",
"from":"KIM::MENCONI",
"sent_at":"1984-03-12T14:43:00Z",
"to":"@SYS$MAIL:JUNK",
"chronological_pos":76,
"id":"44c8f6ec4b06a0dd5970c1cf1e663b816dba265e",
"subject":"Boscole & gambling--I don't get it",
"_version_":1572844553026666497},
{
"from":"KIM::FXL",
"sent_at":"1984-01-30T02:01:00Z",
"to":"@SYS$MAIL:JUNK",
"chronological_pos":32,
"id":"5c59fe955ea4ea9e0a2366f3db3b76afd703852d",
"subject":"The first annual Jeff Boscole Memorial letter",
"body":"\n\nThis letter is dedicated to Jeff Boscole, someone who wasn't afraid\nof sounding obscure, to speak his mind, to be strange, to be brilliant, \nto play games, and to use MAIL to its fullest. I don't remember when\nhe left, but it was quite a few months ago.\n\n To anyone who cares, but especially to game designers with more clout than\nFXL, and to any and all people in power at Atari (not just coin-op):\n\n Recently I have spent an inordinate amount of time trying to instigate\nimprovements in royalties, designer credits, and game testing procedures. I\nhave had little success. I hereby apologize for all of the negative feelings\nand anger that I am emanating because of this. After all, things are pretty\ngood here, and certainly better than at many companies. I do not however\napologize or regret my negative feelings about the recent release of the\nCrystal Castles 2600 Cartridge. (In case you don't know, the cartridge was\nreleased without the approval of the coin-op design team, or anybody else\nin coin-op as far as I know).\n\n This is pure theft!\n\nAnd I do not even know who to blame for this!! It isn't the programmer, who is\nabout as mad (or worse) as I am about this situation. He was given a unmakable\nrelease deadline (4 days instead of 3 weeks from when he was told). The game is\nmuch worse because of this (according to the programmer Peter Niday). He had\nno choice in the matter. Yet another unfinished, hurried, poorly tested game\nfrom Atari. Won't we ever learn? \n\nGames under license from other companies get reviewed by representatives of\nthat company (Williams and Namco specifically). But games developed in-house\nare treated like they are in the public domain, while the original design team\nof in-house games is treated like dirt.\n\n This is not an isolated incident either. Atarisoft, as a matter of policy,\ntakes Atari Coin-op games, lets outside companies \"convert\" them for home\ncomputers (like Commodore 64, Vic-20, Apple 2, TI-99 and IBM-PC), and then\nproduces them, all without the creative input or advice of the original design\nteams (just talk to Ed Logg about Centipede, or ? about Battlezone). Atarisoft\ndoes not ask anyone over here at coin-op for approval for the final version,\nbut they do show the final version of the game to someone in the legal\ndepartment. On the more positive side, there is a chance that Atarisoft will\ncontribute to the Engineering Product Bonus Plan in a manner similar to 2600,\n5200 and 800 products. Wouldn't it be nice to have that guaranteed and in\nwriting? And shouldn't there be designer credits on Atarisoft products?\n\n It's ironic that my name is on the packaging of the 2600 Crystal Castles\ncart, a product which I only saw an early version of. Yet when I told people\nthat the message (\"programmed by Franz Lanzinger\") appeared in level 10 in the\ncoin-op version I was told to take it out, or I loose an amount of bonus to be\ndetermined. Boy did that make me mad !!! I complained vocally, but only to be\npromised that a designer credit policy would be worked on. This policy is still\n\"being worked on\" eight months later. Now really. It's not that hard to do,\njust look at movies, books, not to mention Stern, Mylstar, Simutrek, Sente,\neven 2600 carts. If there were a policy right now, credits could be in in time\nfor the Crystal Castles kits. As it is, I am still mad about the whole thing.\nImagine Speven Spielberg directing a film, but not getting credit. How would\nhe feel? Are we cogs in a machine? I am not a number !!! This isn't 1984!!\n(well OK, maybe it is).\n\n While I'm at it I would like to get one more thing off my chest (right\non!!). You may know that the current \"coin-op engineering product bonus plan\"\n(shouldn't it really be called a royalty plan ?) is out of date. The most\nrecent legally binding document (if it is legally binding) is dated March 26,\n1982, and it expired at the end of 1983. It is my understanding by reading\nthat memo that the bonus plan is still in effect, but it can now be \" extended,\nenhanced, discontinued or otherwise modified to meet management objectives \".\nIn other words, Atari has the legal right to screw us any time they want.\nPersonally, I would feel much more secure, happy, and motivated to work hard,\nif there were an updated royalty plan without a gaping loophole like that.\nAfter all, there are plenty of precedents for people getting screwed here.\n\n I am tired of fighting a brick wall. So I will resign myself to the facts\nof life at Atari. These facts seem to be that change is virtually impossible\nwhen suggested by a single empoyee, but mindbogglingly fast if management wants\nit. And I will continue to feel bitter now and then (like right now for\ninstance).\n\n How do you feel about all this? How do you feel about 40% 30% 30% (the\n\"golden handcuffs\")? How do you feel about 1% under 10M, 2% over 10M? How do\nyou feel about designer credits? How do you feel about the delays in actual\npayment of royalties? (I still don't have a cent for Crystal Castles, and it\nhas been seven months since it started to earn millions for Atari).\n\n What can you, anyone who cares, do to make me, Joe Piscopo (oops, make that\nFranz Lanzinger) feel less bitter? Well, misery loves company. Please tell me,\nbetter yet, tell your favorite manager, supervisor, or even CEO, how you feel\nabout these issues. It may not change a thing, but maybe your powers of\npersuasion will succeed where mine failed.\n\n Until next year, (when I will write the second annual Jeff Boscole memorial\nletter)\n\t\t\tFXL\n\t\t\t(the X stands for \"eX trouble maker\")\n\nP.S. please send your answers to @SYS$MAIL:JUNK, or to someone in a position\nto take action, best would be both.\n\nP.P.S. If there are any inaccuracies, please let me know. The facts are to\nthe best of my recollection, some of it is hearsay.",
"_version_":1572844553006743553},
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"body":"\n\nHello again. \n\n\tI am overwhelmed. What a can of worms!! Jeff Boscole would be proud.\nUnfortunately, I don't have time to respond to everything that has been\nbroadcast in MAIL recently. Nor should I, after all, I am supposed to be an\nex-trouble maker. Still, I am glad that so many of you took the trouble to\nwrite down what is on your mind, and then broadcasting it. Scary, but\nworthwhile. \n\n\tThis message is going to the JUNK mailing list, as did the Jeff Boscole\nmemorial letter. I was unaware that JUNK included via DECNET a number of other\nVAXes. If I had known, I would have sent the JBML to JUNK anyway. I feel no\nneed for secrecy. Better to be in the open than to create inaccurate rumors. \nIf you JUNK readers out there are not interested, just type del<RETURN> after\nthe first page of a message and the message disappears.\n\n\tSomeone pointed out to me that it is my responsibility to inform the\nJUNK subscribers of the prompt responses by John Ray, Chris Downend, and Lyle\nRains to the concerns voiced by the earlier MAIL. These responses were mailed\nto ENGINEERING.UAF, a mailing list which includes only Kim Newvax users. A\nprintout of some of these responses is posted in the home-computer section of\n1501.\n\n\tPlease don't blame me if you feel left out of the discussion. Fight for\nroyalties if you feel that you deserve them. Fight for getting credit for\nyour work. I am all for personalizing all of industry, everyone should put\ntheir name to their work, good or bad. Above all fight for quality. Quality\nsells, or are we in it just to make a quick buck? If you feel envious that we\nin engineering receive royalties, consider that we (in coin-op) don't make\nmillions, only thousands, if we are lucky. We earn these royalties by working\nday and night, sometimes it seems putting our whole lives into it. Even for a\nsuccessfull game designer, half the time the things don't even see production.\nUsually that means a year or two down the drain. If you are unsuccessful you\nget no royalties, only the nagging question: why didn't it work? If the game\nsells, you don't know why either. Either way, you don't feel secure about the\nwhole thing. And nobody knows where the industry will be three years from now.\nCan you blame us then for fighting for our second in the spotlight while the\npower is still on? Without game designers Atari would not exist, just like\nwithout a screenplay you'd have a pretty dull movie.\n\n\"A video game is not a toaster\"\n\n\t\tSincerely,\n\t\t\t\tFranz X Lanzinger",
"from":"KIM::FXL",
"sent_at":"1984-02-03T00:58:00Z",
"to":"@SYS$MAIL:JUNK",
"chronological_pos":43,
"id":"9ef3ac0bb27858ab70599cfe97f36a3fbebd1b71",
"subject":"?",
"_version_":1572844553014083585},
{
"body":"\n\n\tFor those of you who knew Jeff Boscole, you knew what a nut that guy \ncould be in his letter writting. For those of you on his \"mailing list\", \nyou need no more proof than to read his 6 letters a week (of some 6 pages \neach).\n\tFor those of you who did not know Jeff, most of his writtings should\nbe taken lightly, with an open mind and a good sense of humor. In most cases\nhis letters simply run on and on and usually say very little!\n\n\tHowever, I just received a letter (ANOTHER!!!!) from Jeff written to\nthe Washington State Lottery Commision regarding computer gambling! If you\nreceived your own copy, you may stop reading now. If you did not... I thought\na number of you might just like to see this one. Not bad and all on one piece\nof paper:\n\nDear Commisioners:\n\nI worked for several years as a professional video-game designer\nat Atari, Inc., and I'd like to register sentiment regarding the\n\"newly operational\" computer gambling system, curiously concidental\nwith WPPSS #2 fire up.\n\nThe video-game industry is not without ethical standards; in fact,\nby some, it is regarded as within the domain of \"medical electronics.\"\nAs game designers, we were carefully instructed to conform to rather\nsevere standards of discipline. One of these stiff regulations\nconcerned this area of \"computer gambling\" as our video-games could\nnot be sold in many states across the nation if the game in any way\ncould be construed as a gambling device. You will notice, for\nexample, that no game offers \"bonus games\" as a reward for playing\nproficiency; we could merely offer \"bonus lives\" or \"bonus time\".\n\nThere is another reason for these stringent gambling prohibitions.\nWithin the programming profession there is an unwritten code of ethics\nderived in part from our attitudes about electronics and computer\nscience. We feel that the nature of the computer itself is antithetical\nto the concept of gambling, and to promote this confustion within\nthe public mind may become contra-indicative to the interests of\njustice and education. Philosophically, that arrangement destroys\nsome fundamental cybernetic relationships by mixing up the sacred\nwith the profane. Of course computers can produce pseudo-random\nnumbers, however, there are many of us who, very frankly, do not\nwant to see machines used for any gambling purposes, or to receive\nany such approval and authorization from the state. Also, we feel\nthat any centralized processing arrangement incorrectly pprtrays the\nessence of computer science, somewhat analogous to the fundamental\nstatements of economics which also disallow and centralization of\neconomic theory. I am acquainted with the accounts of numerous cases\nwithin the courts in various scattered locations currently disputing\nthe issue of gambling at remote terminals within literary discussions\npertinent to our contemporary industry. As we believe computer\ngambling is a perversion of the design architecture, we do not support\nit, and those court cases may very likely find computer gambling\ninappropriate.\n\nMany other more suitable methods are available for exposing\npublic consciousness to the awesome power of a computer. Also,\nwe feel that some of the fun is subtracted from gambling by\nhaving a machine automate the gambling process. Along these\nlines, I an aware, for example, that some brokerage houses tried\ncomputer-regression forecasting on Wall Street and utilized some\nartificial-intelligence automated trabsaction routines. Since\nthen, I understand that many of these former computer-linkups\nhave been pulled off-line, as the stock brokers found their own\ntrading processes more adequate and perhaps more reliable.\n\nAlso, there is a danger that computer gambling might instill a\npsychic disestablishmentarianism which could very easily lead to\nsocial disestablishmentarianism and the annihilation of our legal\nsystem.\n\n\t\t\t\t\tSincerly,\n\t\t\t\t\t Jeff Boscole\n\n(this was cc to a large list, including 2 TV stations)\n\n\tPersonally, I think Jeff did a great job here. There may indeed\nbe hope for him in the everyday world after all!!\n\t-Owen-",
"from":"KIM::RUBIN",
"sent_at":"1984-03-12T11:27:00Z",
"to":"@SYS$MAIL:JUNK",
"chronological_pos":74,
"id":"b0bf8b68afd68b12e9d1933fb1c48d3ee9279902",
"subject":"Jeff Boscole...there is hope",
"_version_":1572844553025617921},
{
"body":"\n\nPer Karen Witte:\n\t1. Copyrights will be registered in the name of Atari\n\t Games, Inc. The notice line on our game screens\n\t and in printed material should read:\n\t \n\t\tCopyright 19__ Atari Games, Inc. All rights reserved.\n\n\t2. Trademarks will be registered in the name of:\n\n\t\tAtari Games, a division of Atari Games, Inc.\n\n\t3. Contracts should be entered into in the name of\n\t \"Atari Games, a division of Atari Games, Inc.\"\n\n\t4. We cannot use the name \"Atari\" alone. It must be\n\t distinguished from Atari Corp. and the sale agreement\n\t requires that we use \"Atari Games\" or \"Atari Games, Inc.\".\n\t We should also use WCI attribution line somewhere on the\n\t graphics containing our logo as a further distinction.\n\t This is per New York and I'll keep you posted if it\n\t changes.",
"from":"KIM::TAKIYAMA",
"sent_at":"1984-11-16T15:47:00Z",
"to":"@SYS$MAIL:JUNK",
"chronological_pos":190,
"id":"29a8e7a43d2663d04609bd973c58bf30bac76515",
"subject":"Company Name",
"_version_":1572844553066512384},
{
"body":"\n\nO.K., HERE'S YOUR LAST CHANCE. WE ARE ABOUT TO PUBLISH OUR NEXT ISSUE\n OF THE ATARI NEWSLETTER AND WE STILL DON'T HAVE A NAME FOR IT.\n\nFROM THE LIST BELOW, CHOOSE YOUR FAVORITE(S) AND LET ME KNOW WHICH ONE(S)\nTHEY ARE. IF YOU HAVE ANY SUGGESTIONS, DON'T BE BASHFUL, SHARE THEM WITH\nME.\n\n 1. GREAT MOMENTS OF ATARI\n 2. THE ATARI WIRE\n 3. ATARI HEADLINES\n 4. LIFE AT ATARI\n 5. THE ATARI STORY\n\nLET ME HEAR FROM YOU.\nSANDI",
"from":"ERNIE::BROWN",
"sent_at":"1987-08-06T17:38:09.500Z",
"to":"@SYS$MAIL:JUNK,BROWN ",
"chronological_pos":869,
"id":"00a5adeb29a1b0ebcc7f7b8c21f974f74412d6ba",
"subject":"NAME FOR NEWSLETTER",
"_version_":1572844553312927744},
{
"body":"\n\nEffective September 1, 1987 Atari Games completed its purchase of Barrel\nof Fun. The arcade operations will now be run by a wholly-owned\nsubsidiary of Atari Games called Atari Operations, Inc. Atari\nOperations will continue in its efforts to expand the arcade operations.\nDick Adams, formerly President of Barrel of Fun, will now be joining\nAtari and will be responsible for the day-to-day operations of the\nsubsidiary as Vice President of Atari Operations.\n - Dennis Wood",
"from":"ERNIE::WOOD",
"sent_at":"1987-09-04T12:27:27.350Z",
"to":"@SYS$MAIL:JUNK",
"chronological_pos":887,
"id":"843835264fbf85528247499c8605a8ada6b46d12",
"subject":"Barrel of Fun acquisition",
"_version_":1572844553318170625},
{
"body":"\n\nTHE PERSONNEL DEPARTMENT IS UPDATING THE ATARI POLICY AND \nPROCEDURES MANUAL. PARTS OF THE WARNER ATARI POLICY MANUAL\nARE BEING INCORPORATED WITH THE CURRENT POLICIES OF ATARI GAMES\nCORPORATION. THE TARGET DATE FOR COMPLETION IS YEAR-END.\n\nSANDI",
"from":"ERNIE::BROWN",
"sent_at":"1986-06-11T16:37:52.890Z",
"to":"@SYS$MAIL:EVERYBODY",
"chronological_pos":500,
"id":"0e12863442f0618aca64d428a0031cdc58a0e94b",
"subject":"ATARI POLICIES",
"_version_":1572844553196535812}]
},
"highlighting":{
"f91699aa32d6d08cea025b2d7a17d7a0cdd6a53f":{},
"57dad7e8a5ae1e6029cf4e35b04732b7055a9bb6":{},
"44c8f6ec4b06a0dd5970c1cf1e663b816dba265e":{},
"5c59fe955ea4ea9e0a2366f3db3b76afd703852d":{
"body":[" designers with more clout than\nFXL, and to any and all people in power at <em>Atari</em> (not just coin-op"]},
"9ef3ac0bb27858ab70599cfe97f36a3fbebd1b71":{
"body":[" then for fighting for our second in the spotlight while the\npower is still on? Without game designers <em>Atari</em> would"]},
"b0bf8b68afd68b12e9d1933fb1c48d3ee9279902":{
"body":[" designer\nat <em>Atari</em>, Inc., and I'd like to register sentiment regarding the\n\"newly operational\" computer"]},
"29a8e7a43d2663d04609bd973c58bf30bac76515":{
"body":["\n\nPer Karen Witte:\n\t1. Copyrights will be registered in the name of <em>Atari</em>\n\t Games, Inc"]},
"00a5adeb29a1b0ebcc7f7b8c21f974f74412d6ba":{
"body":["\n\nO.K., HERE'S YOUR LAST CHANCE. WE ARE ABOUT TO PUBLISH OUR NEXT ISSUE\n OF THE <em>ATARI</em> NEWSLETTER"]},
"843835264fbf85528247499c8605a8ada6b46d12":{
"body":["\n\nEffective September 1, 1987 <em>Atari</em> Games completed its purchase of Barrel\nof Fun. The arcade"]},
"0e12863442f0618aca64d428a0031cdc58a0e94b":{
"subject":["<em>ATARI</em> POLICIES"],
"body":["\n\nTHE PERSONNEL DEPARTMENT IS UPDATING THE <em>ATARI</em> POLICY AND \nPROCEDURES MANUAL. PARTS"]}}}
solrconfig.xmlhere: https://gist.github.com/voberoi/429d1b5fc85afdcf54ffb32e59a9cdb9