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GEnieLamp Apple II - Vol.3, Issue 25
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|| |||||| |||||||| |||||| RESOURCE!
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~ WELCOME TO GEnieLamp APPLE II! ~
""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""
~ POLISHING GREEN APPLES: Hooked on Storage, Part 2 ~
~ HARDVIEW A2: A Visit with Jawaid Bazyar and discQuest GS ~
~ DR'S EXAMINING TABLE: Bard's Tale review ~
~ THE TREASURE HUNT: Some of the First 4000 Files ~
~ APPLE II HISTORY: Part 20/21b, Magazines ~
~ HOT NEWS, HOT FILES, HOT MESSAGES ~
\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\////////////////////////////////////
GEnieLamp Apple II ~ A T/TalkNET OnLine Publication ~ Vol.3, Issue 25
""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""
Editor....................................................Douglas Cuff
Publisher.............................................John F. Peters
Copy-Editor...........................................Bruce Maples
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~ Member Of The Digital Publishing Association ~
GE Mail: GENIELAMP Internet: genielamp@genie.geis.com FTP: sosi.com
////////////////////////////////////\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\
>>> WHAT'S HAPPENING IN THE APPLE II ROUNDTABLE? <<<
""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""
~ April 1, 1994 ~
FROM MY DESKTOP ......... [FRM] HEY MISTER POSTMAN ...... [HEY]
Notes From The Editor. Is That A Letter For Me?
HUMOR ONLINE ............ [HUM] REFLECTIONS ............. [REF]
We Shall C What We Shall C. The Future of Online Commerce.
BEGINNER'S CORNER ....... [BEG] TECH TALK ............... [TEC]
Polishing Green Apples. Hybrids of Apple II.
CowTOONS! ............... [MOO] DR'S EXAMINING TABLE .... [DRT]
No Cow Foolin'. Oldie Review: Bard's Tale.
THE TREASURE HUNT ....... [HUN] HARDVIEW A2 ............. [HAR]
Yours For the Downloading. discQuest GS w/ Jawaid Bazyar.
PAL NEWSLETTER .......... [PAL] APPLE II ................ [AII]
April 1994 Report. History Part 20/21b: Magazines.
LOG OFF ................. [LOG]
GEnieLamp Information.
[IDX]"""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""
READING GEnieLamp GEnieLamp has incorporated a unique indexing system
""""""""""""""""" to help make reading the magazine easier. To
utilize this system, load GEnieLamp into any ASCII word processor or
text editor. In the index you will find the following example:
HUMOR ONLINE ............ [HUM]
[*]GEnie Fun & Games.
To read this article, set your find or search command to [HUM].
If you want to scan all of the articles, search for [EOA]. [EOF] will
take you to the last page, whereas [IDX] will bring you back to the
index.
MESSAGE INFO To make it easy for you to respond to messages
"""""""""""" re-printed here in GEnieLamp, you will find all the
information you need immediately following the message. For example:
(SMITH, CAT6, TOP1, MSG:58/M475)
_____________| _____|__ _|___ |____ |_____________
|Name of sender CATegory TOPic Msg.# Page number|
In this example, to respond to Smith's message, log on to page
475 enter the bulletin board and set CAT 6. Enter your REPly in TOPic
1.
A message number that is surrounded by brackets indicates that
this message is a "target" message and is referring to a "chain" of two
or more messages that are following the same topic. For example: {58}.
ABOUT GEnie GEnie's monthly fee is $8.95 for which gives you up to
""""""""""" four hours of non-prime time access to most GEnie
services, such as software downloads, bulletin boards, GE Mail, an
Internet mail gateway, and chat lines, are allowed without charge.
GEnie's non-prime time connect rate is $3.00. To sign up for GEnie
service, call (with modem) 1-800-638-8369. Upon connection type HHH.
Wait for the U#= prompt. Type: JOINGENIE and hit RETURN. When you get
the prompt asking for the signup/offer code, type: DSD524 and hit
RETURN. The system will then prompt you for your information. Need
more information? Call GEnie's customer service line (voice) at
1-800-638-9636.
SPECIAL OFFER FOR GEnieLamp READERS! If you sign onto GEnie using the
"""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""" method outlined above you will
receive an *additional* six (6) free hours of standard connect time
(for a total of 10) to be used in the first month. Want more? Your
first month charge of $8.95 will be waived! Now there's no excuses!
*** GET INTO THE LAMP! ***
""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""
//////////////////////////////////////// GEnie_QWIK_QUOTE ////
/ /
/ RISC: Proof that less is more expensive. /
/ /
/////////////////////////////////////////// F.GREATOREX ////
[EOA]
[FRM]//////////////////////////////
FROM MY DESKTOP /
/////////////////////////////////
Notes From The Editor
"""""""""""""""""""""
by Douglas Cuff
[EDITOR.A2]
There's no doubt about it, my wife Tara should really be writing
these editorials. I'm sure we could overcome the technicality of her not
actually being the editor of GEnieLamp A2 if we tried.
Tara uses our Apple IIgs every day to log in to the UNIX-based system
at the university she attends. It requires her to enter her login name...
and it's case sensitive. So the daily ritual goes something like this:
She starts up SnowTerm, a shareware VT100 package, and dials the university
computer. She waits for the "Login:" prompt, rapidly types her account
name, and then groans as she sees it appear on the screen... all in
capitals. I've left the Caps Lock key down again. "Oh well," she sighs.
"Other wives have their toilet seats; I have my Caps Lock key."
Although I have three brothers and no sisters, I've always had
excellent toilet-seat manners. So how is it that the only time I leave the
Caps Lock key up is when I'm in a word processor? I admit my first
computer was an Apple II-Plus, but it's been 10 years since then. Like
most bad habits, mine has an unconscious element. As soon as I exit
AppleWorks, I hit Caps Lock with my thumb without even thinking about it.
Evidently I have a deep-rooted fear that any minute I may need to run some
software written for a 48K Apple II.
Even Tara's masterly condensing of the Caps Lock Key Condition pales
compared to her summary of the reaction in the Macintosh press to the
"death" of the Apple IIe. I showed her the vicious rejoicing that was
taking place on CompuServe and, while incredulous, was not too appalled to
quip, "Pretty Mac-y-avellian."
Is it any wonder I want her to take over my monthly editorial?
[*][*][*]
The silly season came early this year, and March did not deign to
come in either like a lion nor like a lamb, but chose to come in a like a
loony. That _has_ to be the explanation. How else do you explain such
comments in the A2 RoundTable as:
Knock, knock! Who's there? Grammar! Grammar who? Grammar
_whom_!
-- J.SCHONBLOM [J.ERIC]
and:
> Randy, don't you just _hate_ 5.25 disks...?
This is the essence of truth, refined into one pure
rhetorical question.
-- BRANDT [Randy]
And how about this mnemonic for people who don't understand which of the
Hewlett-Packard printers -- DeskJet or DeskWriter -- works well with an
Apple II?:
Simple enough to remember....
The GS can use the JET, the Mac has to WRITE ahead for
reservations :)
-- H.HISLOP [Harold]
Ken Lucke (K.LUCKE) and Harold Hislop (H.HISLOP) collaborated on "The
Case of the Hundreds of rBundles", a discussion that reads like a 1930s
American hard-boiled detective story:
It was a cold day in the city. The frozen ground felt like
peanut brittle. I felt like a cigarette. If you don't know what
a cigarette feels like, ya ain't missin nuttin. 'Specially after
they's been ground out.....
I'd had a busy week, trying to crack the Case of the Absent
Download. I was relaxin' in my office, plannin' to do a little
modemin' that night, but waiting for the rates to go down.
Eventually, Ken got around to detailing his problem, which was a Desktop
file that kept expanding whenever he ran Spectrum. Harold took up the
tale:
It was a rainy day in Trenton, so much that even the organic
frisbies were grounded... I had been perusing GEnie looking for
things that seemed out of whack when I stumbled into an old
nemesis... Finder 6.0x! The infamous (and somewhat nasty) bug in
it that tries to glom onto disk space had struck yet again!
Harold proposed a solution: lock your Desktop file. It could have ended
there. Evidently Ken doesn't like to be outdone (though, equally
obviously, he has no compunctions about being overdone):
It was another gritty, rainy day in the City of Seaside, all the
tourists were under cover. 'Cept fer one. Name of Harold.
Harold Hislop. Came into town on a big white horse, which is
kinda strange, even for a tourist town. Has this stethoscope
around his neck and a hundred or more cables of different types
and lengths trailing around him like Lady Godiva's hair. Said he
had the cure for ol' Mr. Spectrum.
Maybe all of the foregoing is due solely to spring fever. All I know
for sure is that I'm glad there's a phone line separating these people --
not just from me, but from each other! The mind boggles at the thought of
what some of these people will get up to during July's ICONference.
Still, as Hunter S. Thompson observed, "When the going gets weird,
the weird turn pro."
-- Doug Cuff
GEnie Mail: EDITOR.A2 Internet: editor.a2@genie.geis.com
__________________________________________________________
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.
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"The first Daffodil of Spring"
ASCII Art by Susie Oviatt
[SUSIE]
[EOA]
[HEY]//////////////////////////////
HEY MISTER POSTMAN /
/////////////////////////////////
Is That A Letter For Me?
""""""""""""""""""""""""
by Douglas Cuff
[EDITOR.A2]
o BULLETIN BOARD HOT SPOTS
o A2 POT-POURRI
o HOT TOPICS
o WHAT'S NEW
o THROUGH THE GRAPEVINE
o MESSAGE SPOTLIGHT
>>> BULLETIN BOARD HOT SPOTS <<<
""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""
[*] CAT2, TOP9 .............. Friends of Harold
[*] CAT10, TOP9 ............. IIgs Fax Software
[*] CAT13, TOP19 ............ Tool069 and Other Illegal Tools
[*] CAT13, TOP23 ............ BlueDisk and PC Transporter
[*] CAT29, TOP12 ............ HOT patches for GECoPilot
[*] CAT12, TOP8 ............. Hewlett-Packard DeskJet 520 & 560C
[*] CAT2, TOP13 ............. The Tinies!
[*] CAT6, TOP3 .............. The Tinies! (yep, again)
>>> A2 POT-POURRI <<<
"""""""""""""""""""""
APPLE IIGS RGB MONITOR FIX Any reasnably competent technician can fix
"""""""""""""""""""""""""" that problem for pennies (plus his or her
labor charges) with the following information....
1. The part that causes the problem when it fails is a "choke" or
"inductor" , it is mounted on a small circuit board attached to the back of
the monitor tube itself. This part looks like a small blue ceramic ball
with two leads coming out the bottom, and is color coded for 10
microhenries.
2. There are three of these items on that circuit board, and if any
one of them fails, the symptom is a screen all of one color, with total
loss of any controls of the monitor. The parts are identified by number,
and what color the screen is will tell you which one to replace....
L6R2 for a Red screen
L6G2 for a Green screen
L6B2 for a Blue screen
3. You can probably get a 10 microhenry choke at Radio Shack, or it
is available for $1.28 (plus a $5 Handling charge) from Digikey Corporation
at (800) 344-4539. They take Mastercard, Visa, and C.O.D.
The Digikey part number is M8025-ND.
4. After replacing this part, the monitor colors will need to be
readjusted via the small color trimpots on the same circuit board.
Gary R. Utter (GARY.UTTER, CAT12, TOP25, MSG:104/M645;1)
SHAREWARE UPDATE Dave Lyons is no longer accepting shareware fees on his
"""""""""""""""" software.
-- Eric S.
(aka Sheppy)
(E.SHEPHERD, CAT34, TOP9, MSG:281/M645;1)
APPLEWORKS WORD PROCESSOR AND NP > This concerns inserting 'NP' into word
"""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""" > processor documents I find that
> having done this the cursor jumps to some distance away for where the
> 'NP' was inserted so that it is no longer on the screen.
You've been bitten by a feature. AppleWorks 4.0 will not break a
paragraph with the np option. If you wish to do just that, just add a
carriage return to the end of the line just before the place you wish to
issue the new page command.
This new feature/bug has actually saved me time. When I see a page
splitting a paragraph that I don't want split (most of them are just these
type), I just issue the np command and continue onward knowing that the np
command was inserted at the end of the previous paragraph.
Quality Computers --- Power for performance.
(W.CARVER1, CAT42, TOP29, MSG:182/M645;1)
>>>>> I have some more information regarding the jumping cursor when
""""" inserting 'NP' options.
This again occurred when I was getting GEnieLamp ready to print.
I have found it occurs after using 'O-A K' to calculate the existing
breaks then doing 'O-A O' NP the cursor then moves to a variable distance
from the 'NP' always below it and in one case it was 42 lines below.
Note this only occurs if the 'NP' is inserted while the calculated
page breaks are still visible ie no other editing is done first. This is
annoying as I usually want to do other things at that point ie removing of
redundant blank lines at the top of the new page.
KenDawson [England]
(K.DAWSON2, CAT42, TOP29, MSG:276/M645;1)
>>>>> That may make a lot of sense. There was an AW3 bug with page breaks
""""" jumping, and I fixed it in AW4, but I may have only fixed the
ctrl-P entry point and not the OA-O NP, although I'd think they should use
the same code. I'll check it out.
(BRANDT, CAT42, TOP29, MSG:282/M645;1)
BROKEN HARDWARE Farmer Ken, your post to Harold give me the perfect
""""""""""""""" opportunity to say again..
Please, all user's/lovers of Apple II's, if you have any related
hardware that is no longer working, and not ecconomically repariable thru
commercial sources. DON'T trash it, don't just let sit in the cellar, or
the garage, untill it gets damaged further, or thrown out. Invest a few $
in the future, and in other Apple II users in need. Send them to one of us
who can and will perform component level salvage and repair, without
commercial labor charges. It really doesn't much matter which one of us
gets what, we communicate and exchange with each other on a need and have
basis regularly.
Please distribute this ideas as far and frequently as you can!
Many of the parts we can get through salvage are either not available
for purchase, not affordable for purchase, or simply take too much time to
track down for purchase (even when they are available and affordable).
Doug Pendleton --> Delivered by Co-Pilot, ProTerm & Woz IIGS System 6.01
Science and magic are interchangeable terms, dependant on the observer.
(H.PENDLETON2, CAT4, TOP17, MSG:292/M645;1)
>>>>> Just to amplify a little..
"""""
Hardware that you send to Doug or myself doesn't have to be Apple
related in all cases. Things like hard drives (SASI, SCSI, IDE) have _MANY_
parts in common, as do tape drives, power supplies, some keyboards, etc.
(Now that the BlueDisk controller is available, yes, even PC type floppy
drives and tape drives are desired!)
Also there have been numerous times where I have salvaged parts from
boards taken from other systems (PC, Mainframe, Industrial Controllers,
etc) that have been used to repair stuff that works on Apples.
Basicly, if it has _anything_ to do with a CPU controlled device, and
it's unusable by you, there is a VERY good chance that Doug or I can
salvage enough parts from it to fix items that are used on Apples to make
it worth our time and effort. (Who knows, _you_ may be the next person to
benifit from this :)
-Harold (H.HISLOP, CAT4, TOP17, MSG:293/M645;1)
SIMPLEXITY SOFTWARE Don't worry I got clever and found the old info and
""""""""""""""""""" phoned the old number. The new number is 714-776-3625
Michael E
(M.EWEN, CAT13, TOP24, MSG:156/M645;1)
OTHER MAIL SERVICES > Can someone tell me how to address an email to
""""""""""""""""""" > someone on AOL.
Sure, it's: username@aol.com
While we're at it, here are some other useful addresses for networks
which have email through the InterNet:
CompuServe -- xxxxx.xxxx@compuserve.com
where xxxxx.xxxx is the user number. Note that the "," is
replaced with a "."
MCI Mail -- 123-4567@mcimail.com
MCI Mail -- username@mcimail.com
Applelink -- username@applelink.apple.com
BIX -- username@dcibix.das.net
AT&T Mail -- username@attmail.com
Sprint Telemail -- username@sprint.com
EasyLink -- 62xxxxxxxx@eln.attmail.com
where xxxxxxx is the eight digit user number after the 62
BITNet -- username@domain.bitnet
The Bitnet domain is dependent on the user's area.
America Online -- username@aol.com
Delphi -- username@delphi.com
Prodigy -- username@prodigy.com
__!__
| Terrell Smith
| tsmith@ivcfnsc.fullfeed.com
(T.SMITH59, CAT10, TOP10, MSG:221/M645;1)
NOT A VIRUS DEPT., PART 1 Well I have found the source of my "Welcome
""""""""""""""""""""""""" Datacomp" problem!!!! I believe it was refered
to as "unlikely", but it is NOT on my hard drive ANYWHERE. It is coming
through my Vision Plus card that I purchased used recently! You say
"Pizza, How do you come to this conclusion!" I say simple! When I posted
about my problem here, I dissasembled my GS to take to a user group demo.
When I did that, I disconnected the line running to my VCR. The problem
has been gone since. Well today, I hiched up that cable again and left for
work. When I came home I had a screen full of "Welcome Datacomp, Welcome
Datacomp, Welcome Datacomp, Welcome Datacomp, Welcome Datacomp, Welcome
Datacomp, Welcome Datacomp, Welcome Datacomp, Welcome Datacomp, Welcome
Datacomp, Welcome Datacomp, Welcome Datacomp, Welcome Datacomp, Welcome
Datacomp, Welcome Datacomp" WELL you get the picture! So I disconnected
the cable to my VCR and left it for about an hour, nothing. I reconnected
the cable, and in an hour I had that message on my screen 4 times! WOW! So
at least I know where it's comming from [sort of].
Thanks for all the suggestions!
(EW.CHRISTIAN, CAT12, TOP16, MSG:50/M645;1)
THE APPLE II LED THE WAY Here's one of the better reminiscence articles
"""""""""""""""""""""""" I've seen since the official shut-down of the
Apple II by Apple in November. I found it in the March 1994 issue of the
Monsanto Apple Users Group newsletter, "MAUG Log", and was submitted to
that newsletter by Ralph Supinski from America Online by someone named
"Clyde III" (BTW, I'd like to know how to get in touch with that person if
anyone knows; is that an AOL user name, and what is the Internet gateway
address of AOL?)
-------------
What It Was All About
From: Clyde III
Years from now, when Power PCs are considered low-end machines, and
Macs and Pentiums have long since been forgotten, I hope they'll remember
the Apple II.
What the Apple II was all about:
The Apple II was about computing in color: the first computer with
built-in color video. The Mac tried to make black & white cool, but it
almost died on the vine for trying. Now that every computer uses color,
except for the cheap or light weight, will they remember that the Apple II
was the first one?
The Apple II was about the speed of disk drives: the first
micro-computer to use a disk drive. Remember cassette tapes? Could it
have been that they might today be using hard cassette drives, if not for
Woz and his Disk ][?
The Apple II was about fast startups and low memory overhead: the
only computer ever to use sensible floppy disk-based operating system. DOS
and ProDOS required nothing more than the juice from the plug and a closed
drive door to get up and running from a floppy. 'Nough said!
The Apple II was about business sense: the first spreadsheet that lit
the business world on fire. After Lotus and Microsoft knock each other out
fighting over this crown, will they remember that it was Visicalc on the
Apple II that first blew everyone away?
The Apple II was about integrated applications: when Mac's OS and
Windows are long gone, will they remember that it was AppleWorks that
showed the way?
The Apple II was about losing yourself in a computer game: the
greatest software was born on the Apple II. Ultimas I-V were created on the
Apple II. Wizardry was born on the Apple II. Sierra On-Line's first game
was programmed on an Apple II. Will they remember?
What the Apple II was all about was breaking open the door to
computing for the rest of us and giving us access to this most powerful and
wonderful of pursuits.
We will never forget.
Clyde
-------------
Steve Weyhrich <IX0YE>--<
(S.WEYHRICH, CAT2, TOP16, MSG:96/M645;1)
APPLE EMPLOYEES KNOW THE SCORE ][ just went by the group at Apple
"""""""""""""""""""""""""""""" I worked in last year, on Wednesday, to
help them out a bit (they couldn't quite figure out how to get a IIgs to
boot properly over AppleShare :) and even THEY were saying "It's too bad
these machines weren't supported better. Apple could have really sold a
lot of them." (: Of course, while Apple employees, they weren't speaking
for Apple, either. <grin>
-= Lunatic (:
(A2.LUNATIC, CAT5, TOP3, MSG:29/M645;1)
OKAY, BUT WHERE'S BEAVIS? Harold writes:
"""""""""""""""""""""""""
> (Yes folks, fNotButtHead really is the Apple assigned name for this
> particular flag bit in device driver files...)
Doncha' just love it? :-) I was soooooo mad when I had to make
changes to the GS/OS Device manager just to add a new Apple-defined status
call to device drivers because people ignored the rules. I won't name
cards, but a very fast caching SCSI card that I use in quite a few of my
machines broke terribly when I added the new feature. That card was the
single motivation for the name of the bit. I had to add it, and I named it.
:-)
Jim Murphy,
Macintosh System Software Hack/MacsBug engineer
(MURPH, CAT20, TOP12, MSG:255/M645;1)
ROM 1 GS MEMORY BUG? Dave, are you using large files? The ROM1 GS has a
"""""""""""""""""""" memory management bug that can cause data corruption
with large files. I believe the problem is solved by running System 6.0.1,
although I'm not sure. Of course, if you use UltraMacros, you'd have to be
careful about any inits you had installed.
(BRANDT, CAT17, TOP4, MSG:349/M645;1)
>>>>> Uh, this sounds like something that a couple hundred thousand of us
""""" might find worthy of further discussion. In what exactly does a
"large file" consist? Are only AW filed affected; are all AW filetypes
affected; does it occur only under certain "save" conditions? Does it only
show up when GS/OS is loaded, or is this a pure P8 thing as well?
I realize that you probably don't know the answer to all these
questions, but those of us who frequently manipulate valued data in
AppleWorks would appreciate any tips, suggestions or caveats that may
apply. On one of my (ROM 01) GSs I have occasionally experienced data
corruption of large database files (2000+ records). It is so infrequent and
sporadic that I have never been able to pin it on anything -- in fact I
have suspected random "burps" in the SCSI chain rather than anything in
AppleWorks or the GS itself. But hey, a "memory management bug" works for
me.
(D.CRUTCHER, CAT17, TOP4, MSG:351/M645;1)
>>>>> When you elucidate on the memory manager bug you refered to would
""""" you please include the Apple part number on the ROM_01 rom that
you've confirmed this problem with. (ie: 342-0077-A, 342-0077-B, etc)
I have reason to beleive (however this is NOT yet confirmed) that
Apple may have actually released more than one "flavor" of the ROM_01 roms
without publicly documenting it. This memory manager bug may, or may not
exist in all such suspected versions, and I'd like to gather as much info
on this possibility as I can before "jumping out of the frying pan and into
the fire" as it were.
Thanks!
-Harold
Resident solder slinger.
(H.HISLOP, CAT17, TOP4, MSG:354/M645;1)
<<<<< Okay, I opened up a can of worms. Here are the facts as I know
""""" them. I have a client in Brooklyn who handles his entire watch
repair business with AppleWorks. A couple of years ago I updated him to
DoubleData and TotalControl to increase his capacity. As he worked with
files up to 500k or so in size, he suddenly started having random
characters, often parentheses, appear in his files. He called me in a
panic, worried about the macros messing things up. We went back and forth
on it for weeks as he went crazy, having to do searches for weird
characters and hoping he'd catch the corruption each time.
Finally, he came up with a series of 100% reproducible steps, but
they worked flawlessly for me. Then he shipped me his hard drive and memory
card so I was running the same byte-for-byte programs on the same data, but
it still worked great. Suddenly it hit me that he had ROM 01 and I had ROM
03. I took his drive and card to a ROM 01 and there it was! He got rid of
both ROM 01 computers and his Laser, got three ROM 03 machines and has
never seen the problem since. I have no idea what the serial numbers were
on his ROM 01 computers, so I can't help there. I just know that the
problem could be demonstrated in minutes on any ROM 01, and never on a ROM
03.
Later he found an Apple tech note about a memory management bug which
is fixed by GSOS. He's convinced that was his problem, although I don't
believe we ever tried the steps under GSOS to see if that fixed it. This
bug was insidious, since he could run for days without a problem, then
suddenly end up with a trashed file when he was busiest.
(BRANDT, CAT17, TOP4, MSG:355/M645;1)
THE EASY (APPLEWORKS) WAY TO ADD LINEFEEDS Lloyd, an empty file _is_ just
"""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""" a receptacle, but it can be an
AppleWorks word processor receptacle, a text receptacle, or an MS-DOS text
receptacle. When you put your contents into an MS-DOS text file and save
it, the linefeeds are added because AW4 knows that the output has to be in
MS-DOS format. This means you can keep an empty MS-DOS shell file handy,
and any time you need MS-DOS output, you just dump your text in, change the
name and save. Presto! An instant MS-DOS text file.
(BRANDT, CAT17, TOP14, MSG:66/M645;1)
NOT A VIRUS DEPT., PART 2 I _Think_ I have just been hit by a virus!
""""""""""""""""""""""""" Doesn't seem to be an evil one, though.
What happened was I accidently quit CoPilot to go "Online & Quit" to
Spectrum. I realized that I didn't want to do that, just wanted to quit.
So as Spectrum was loading, I was holding down the Apple key in
anticipation of hitting "Q" to quit. When Spectrum's opening dialog
showed, I suddenly got, in the exact center of the screen, a smaller box
that had a nicely drawn British flag and the words "Made in Britain", and
the sound "Trumpets" played (even though it is NOT assigned to any of my
control panel sounds). I wasn't paying much attention until it hit, and
had already hit the "Q", and the Flag disappeared before I had any chance
to inspect it closely.
At first, I thought that this might be some sort of "Easter Egg" in
Spectrum (although why they would say "Made in Britain" was beyond me), but
I have NOT been able to duplicate this happening.
Since the words "Made in Britain" appeared to be part of the picture,
I have not tried searching for those words anywhere on my disks, but I
think I will try it anyway. I have added NOTHING to my system lately that
I didn't get online here on GEnie or commercially. No HD damage has
appeared, nothing else untowards has happened.
Anyone else ever seen this?
Ken Lucke (K.LUCKE, CAT12, TOP16, MSG:54/M645;1)
>>>>> Do you suppose the fact that the author, Ewen Wannop, is a resident
""""" of Great Britain might have any relevance?
Ain't now way this is a virus. Period.
(GARY.UTTER, CAT12, TOP16, MSG:55/M645;1)
<<<<< I have had it confirmed by Dave at Spectrum that this is an easter
""""" egg, and that I was the first to report it. No prize, though :(
Ken Lucke
(K.LUCKE, CAT12, TOP16, MSG:65/M645;1)
APPLE GRAPHICS TABLET INTERFERENCE Please, avoid the Apple Graphics
"""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""" Tablet if at all possible. While it
works quite well, it was removed from the market at the "request" of the
FCC as it really radiated a TON of radio and TV interference (could cause
problems well over a block away)
-Harold
Resident solder slinger.
(H.HISLOP, CAT6, TOP4, MSG:115/M645;1)
>>> HOT TOPICS <<<
""""""""""""""""""
GS FAX SOFTWARE BY WIFALL > Where will Pointless (no problem, I think),
""""""""""""""""""""""""" > and Harmonie (not in the picture even) fit
> in?
Harmonie will continue to work with your printer. The fax driver is
simply for another device that happens to be connected to your modem port
rather than to your printer port. ;-) It will appear as a 200 dpi printer
to GS/OS, so all existing software that works with today's printers will
automatically be able to fax documents. Pointless will continue to work as
it always has (in fact, you will *need* Pointless to create good looking
faxes).
Think of it this way: rather than sending a document to your own
printer, you are using someone else's fax machine as the "printer". :)
That's why implementing sendfax as a printer driver is the only reasonable
solution. Trying to fit send-receive fax into Spectrum or Proterm would be
a wasted effort since you have to fire up those program every time a fax
came in or you had one to send out. This way, the fax driver becomes
instantly available to any properly written GS/OS desktop program that uses
the Print Manager. Even something as old as my 1986 copy of DeluxePaint II
will now be able to fax graphic images. Who would have imagined this just
a few years ago? ;-)
-----|----- Sent by CoPilot (beta)
*>=====[_]L) for ANSITerm 2.1
-'-`-
(B.TAO, CAT10, TOP9, MSG:32/M645;1)
>>>>> My dad was kind enough to let me post something here to clear
""""" things up a bit.
First of all I would like to reinforce what Brian said that no one on
this topic speaks for me. So anything you hear here about my program is
going to be at best second hand and at worst simply rumors. With that
aside, let me try to answer a few questions on this topic about my program.
It will be GS specific and so will obviously require GS/OS. At this
stage it will only work with Class 2 compatible modems. In particular, any
modem that uses the rockwell chipset and supports Class 2 should work quite
well (I am developing the program using a Supra v.32bis) Current plans are
for a NDA for receiving and fax manipulation, and a print driver for
sending. Shell executables and/or any other form would be nice, but will
probably depend more on what type of deal I make with a publisher then
anything else (ie Yes, it will be commercial).
I'm not looking for any beta testers at this time. I don't have any
release date planned, and even if I did I wouldn't tell what it was. :) If
you want more information on exactly how the development is progressing I
suggest you read the gsfaxstat.txt file (I don't know if Brian uploaded
this or not, but you can get it on internet from grind.isca.uiowa.edu
apple2/caltech/uploads/gsfaxstat.txt via ftp) I will be updating that file
semi-regularly and making it available on internet (unless someone wants to
give me a free account here ;).
If you are planning on purchasing a faxmodem and you want it to work
with my program when it is released, make sure it is class 2 compatible. I
doubt I will ever get around to working on any Class 1 support. (Note: I
don't think the Supra144LC supports Class 2, but make sure to ask Supra or
find out.)
If you have any specific questions, I can answer them using this account
till I go back to school. (Translated this means anything posted after
friday night won't be replyed to by me. I can be contacted by internet
email at rwifall@nmsu.edu though. Read your GEnie user manual for help
sending internet email :) (friday night meaning March 11th)
Richard Wifall | Have you ever received a fax on your AppleIIgs?
rwifall@nmsu.edu | You will. But it won't be a product of AT&T.
(J.WIFALL, CAT10, TOP9, MSG:75/M645;1)
>>>>> Ummmmm. This makes one of the dumber guys ask, "What's the diff
""""" between Class 1, Class 2 and Class 3, etc.?"
Mature mind wishes to know...
Dave (D.MATTIS@GEnie.geis.com)
(D.MATTIS, CAT10, TOP9, MSG:77/M645;1)
>>>>> Dave - Ok, heres a quick primer in fax-speak. Class 1, 2 and 2.0
""""" refer to how the computer talks to the faxmodem in software. Class
1 is an official standard. Class 2 is not an official standard, but is
fairly well standardized among faxmodem makers. Class 2.0 is the offshoot
of Class 2 and is also an official standard.
Ok, now you're wondering what in the world this means to you? First
of all you can ignore Class 2.0 for awhile. There aren't any faxmodems
that I know of that actually support this standard yet. This leaves class
1 and class 2. The differences between them are basically that the class 1
command set requires that the computer do more of the work involved in a
fax transmission whereas in class 2, the modem does more of the work and
the computer does less. Class 2 is enough of a standard among the faxmodem
manufacturers that compatibility should not be a problem. There is no such
thing as class 3 at this time. I choose to support Class 2 at this time
because it is easier from my standpoint and I haven't really taken a good
look at what Class 1 requires.
Don't confuse "Class" with the "Group" designation of a fax-machine.
The Group designation determines what machines your fax will talk with
Basically every modern fax machine or fax modem is group 3 and should have
no problems communication with each other (outside of bugs in the
firmware).
BTW, I forgot to mention above, but the main reason that Class 2 is
fairly well standardized among faxmodem manufacturers is because many of
them use the rockwell chipset so they all should have the same
implementation.
Now on another note: Printing faxes..
If you own an HP DeskJet or some other high resolution printer,
you're in luck. I printed out a fax today using a HP DeskJet portable. (It
has the same internals as a DeskJet 500) and it looks _good_. Now if you
are unlucky enough to still use an ImageWriter II (like I am) then printing
faxes is not going to be a fun experience. Basically it boils down to the
fact that the ImageWriter II simply does not have a high enough resolution
to support printing faxes without some loss in quality. This means that in
order to print a fax on an ImageWriter II it must be scaled down first. To
put it frankly, the output does not look all that great. I may have to
offer the option of splitting a fax into multiple pages so that it can be
readable when printed on an IWII. (especially with small text)
I think thats all for now...
Richard (In disguise ;)
(J.WIFALL, CAT10, TOP9, MSG:79/M645;1)
TIMEOUT FAX A recent brochure from Quality indicated that TimeOut Fax was
""""""""""" coming soon. Does anyone know more about that? Hope it works
on the //e...
(J.GOODMAN10, CAT10, TOP9, MSG:28/M645;1)
>>>>> TRON
"""""
> On Quality and their fax software, the last thing I heard is that they
> had abandoned all their fax projects, it's funny how they keep
> advertising it though.
You might note that the IIGS version of the FAX software (which we
abandoned) is different from the FAX software that we advertised in the
AppleWorks flier. The IIGS fax software was a longterm project that the
author never finished. We felt that we couldn't keep our customers waiting
any longer and just cancelled our participation in it. That's not to say
it won't be finished in the future, or that we aren't interested in any
other products that might do the same thing.
Walker - QC (W.ARCHER2, CAT10, TOP9, MSG:55/M645;1)
>>> WHAT'S NEW <<<
""""""""""""""""""
AFTERWORK SCREEN SAVER RELEASED Just received AfterWork. I had trouble
""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""" with the 5.25 installer. After
installing, none of the UM.Inits loaded, only the AfterWork inits. I
checked the disk, and both the UM.inits and the MR.inits were there ok.
Then when AW started, it jumped to the "You must activate Inits and
reboot to use UM" message on the standard setting inits screen. Inits
_are_ activated. But OK, I'll bite, so I changed it to "no" then "yes" and
rebooted, just to be sure. Same thing.
Now, for the Installer to "find" the AW disk, I did find I needed to
change the AW Startup disk pathname from /AW back to /Appleworks. After
installing AfterWork, I renamed the disk /AW again. My inits are on a disk
named /Appleworks in another drive, to avoid swapping disks. Since the
standard settings have the init pathname, this ought to be OK, no? So why
din't the UM.inits load after the AfterWork inits?
My 5.25 AfterDark Installer disk shows an error on Track 16 Block B,
and the back of the disk (notched) is blank. No, it does have something on
it: it makes the drive head go beserk, which needs a reset to stop it.
I had no problems with the 3.5 installer on another machine with a
3.5 drive. However, the oa-x UM function no longer worked at all with
AfterWork installed. Is this normal? (I sure hope not.)
The various modules are GREAT! Especially Meltdown (I almost died
laughing, and can't wait to set the time to 1 minute while my son is
typing), Trickle (you should have seen the eyes of the people at work),
Fans, Lemming Lines, and Boxes. And to be able to add sound and change the
settings, Wow! One guy at work said, "Hey, I can't modify any Windows
screen blankers!" Another asked, "Can I get that for my screen?" "No,
sorry," I answered, "you have to have an _Apple_ to get this kind of
stuff."
BTW, I noticed that with the delay for blanking set to 1, it went
into AfterWork even while I was typing away. No big problem, just a
comment.
Randy and Matt are to be commended on a job well done. But how about
these questions?
__!__
| Terrell Smith
| tsmith@ivcfnsc.fullfeed.com
(T.SMITH59, CAT42, TOP29, MSG:162/M645;1)
TIMEOUT SHRINKIT SHIPS TimeOut ShrinkIt should be shipping today,
"""""""""""""""""""""" finally. (Got the manual done last week. <g>)
(QUALITY, CAT42, TOP29, MSG:194/M645;1)
>>>>> Actually, TIMEOUT SHRINKIT officially shipped this afternoon. :)
""""" Sorry for the delay.
Walker - Quality
(W.ARCHER2, CAT42, TOP29, MSG:206/M645;1)
ENHANCE SHIPS APPLE II TO II ALIVE Have you ordered from us in the past
"""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""" year? If not, you won't get our
catalogs and whatnot... usually. There are other ways to get on the
mailing list, namely by being on one of the other lists we rent.
We are mailing a separate Apple II catalog this time. All Apple II
stuff that is NOT related to education has been removed from Enhance. And
if you have told us that you are NOT a teacher, you will stop getting
Enhance since it does not have any Apple II home/consumer stuff.
(QUALITY, CAT42, TOP2, MSG:218/M645;1)
NEXUS RELEASED AS FREEWARE! It seems as if the Apple IIGS world is going
""""""""""""""""""""""""""" hyper over hypermedia.First HyperCard IIGS,
then...
Tracy Valleau, the author of Nexus, has just re-classified the status
of that hypermedia authoring system. Formerly costing $179, Nexus has just
become copyrighted freeware! In his distribution notes, Tracy says that the
freeware Nexus is the"exact same commercial program that won rave reviews
and an A+ Editor's Choice.
"Nexus allows you to link together standard text, graphics and sound
files. There is no need for you or your students to learn new graphic or
authoring software: just use the files and programs you already have.
"Using Nexus, you can open a text document, click on the word
'elephant' and Nexus will automatically retreive and display a picture of
an elephant (or more text about elephants, or play the sound of an
elephant.) This is all done without importing the files, changing their
format or even altering them in any way! Use it for interactive fiction;
multimedia based education and so on. The limit is the imagination."
Mr Valleau has stated that in order for any profit making
organization to distribute Nexus, written permission must first be
received. I have just written to Mr Valleau seeking that permission.
I have also spent the morning getting hyper about Nexus. Mr Valleau
had sent me a demo disk that is filled with Nexus created stacks, and after
looking at many of them, I feel that Nexus is a valuable addition to the
IIGS hypermedia arena. It may not be as powerful as HyperCard IIGS, and it
may not have as many bells and whistles as HyperStudio, but the price is
right and its ease of use will make Nexus a powerful hypermedia contender
in schools.
Shareware Solutions II would like to salute Tracy Valleau for making
Nexus available as copyrighted freeware!
Joe Kohn (J.KOHN, CAT28, TOP4, MSG:342/M645;1)
>>>>> Here comes Nexus
"""""
Mr Valleau has given Shareware Solutions II permission to distribute
both the Nexus program and the Nexus demo. He didn't want me to add the
sample Nexus files I already had to the program disk, so it looks like the
SSII Library will start off with both.
He also said that it would be just fine with him if Nexus were
uploaded here to the A2 Library. Since I mentioned this yesterday in email
to both Dean and Tim Tobin, let me ask them...do you want to upload it, or
should I?
As I like to joke, Shareware Solutions II sometimes takes on a life
of its own, and tells me what I should write about. It sure likes like the
major theme of issue #5 is going to be IIGS hypermedia.
Joe (J.KOHN, CAT28, TOP4, MSG:351/M645;1)
MAGIC NEWS GROUP ARRANGER [and it's FREE to registered owners of THE
""""""""""""""""""""""""" MAGIC NEWS GROUP READER]
by Gary Hayman
(c) Copyright 1994
Gary Hayman & Magical Software
[Versions for AppleWorks 3.0 with TimeOut Installed and AppleWorks 4
with TimeOut activated]
Those of you who already own Magical Software's THE MAGIC NEWS GROUP
READER (MNG READER) know of the great 'Subject thread' following features
that are included with that program.
All one needs to do is to register the thread in any message with a
SA-T)hread and subsequent presses of SA-N)ext will take you to the next
message in the thread (even replies) until there are no more messages in
that thread left. A press of SA-E)xit will exit the thread search and
return you to your starting message. If you want, you can use the
BA-T)hreadCount feature to actually tell you how many messages in the
thread from that point to the end of file.
Announcing a New Related Product THE MAGIC NEWS GROUP ARRANGER (MNG
'''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''' ARRANGER) takes your news group captures
and automatically sorts each message so that all same subject thread
messages appear one after the other. This is done by completely
re-arranging all the messages in the file - no simple task.
Now as you read your messages, with the MNG READER you will see
groups of subject thread messages -- all together. This will even increase
your speed in reading news group messages for if you enter a thread that
you are not interested in, the quick repeated pressing of SA-Down Arrow
will zip you through them without you having to read the contents of the
messages in the thread. The included 'Subject is Highlighted' feature of
the MNG READER aids in this task.
Once activated, the MNG ARRANGER does it's job and produces a new
file with the arranged messages in the proper order. MNG ARRANGER will
first count the number of messages in your file in order to later provide
you with a running status indicator of the number of messages out of the
total number have been processed. While it is doing this first task, it is
also checking to see if 'CS-ID: ' and 'Subject: ' are in the proper place
[flush left, separated by two lines]. If not, it will let you know and
provide you with the opportunity to hand correct the errant message(s).
When all is well, it will proceed to do its major task of finding and
moving. If you have hundreds of messages, you may want to grab a cup of
coffee as the MNG ARRANGER does it's automagical stuff - or just watch
while being hypnotized by the flashing screens. You can always check on the
progress by the text printed on the message line. As the messages are
transferred, the processing speed keeps on increasing.
Example To give you an example as how I use it to my advantage; I am
''''''' in and capture the Internet/USENET newsgroup messages of
'alt.magic'. I process the messages with MNG ARRANGER and read the new file
with MNG READER. I use the SA-C)lipping feature to extract messages or
portions of messages in which I am interested. I later use this clipped
file to post on a Magic BBS in the Washington DC area. By having subject
threads together, it provides a continuity for my clippings.
How Can You Get Your Copy Of The Magic News Group Arranger? Until further
''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''' notice, I
will furnish FREE OF CHARGE to all registered owners of the MNG READER, the
new MNG ARRANGER. If you are a registered owner you must request it by
sending email to me at:
ghayman@cap.gwu.edu
The file will be sent to you via email in a BINSCII format of some
Shrunk files. This means you must have one of the BINSCII programs (ProDos
or GS/OS) and one of the Shrink.It programs (ProDOS or GS/OS) in order to
process the file I send you. Using this technique, my turnaround time is
very rapid and you can receive your file in only minutes after I read your
email request and verify you as a registered owner of MNG READER. Also, and
this is a plus, I can send it to foreign countries with no international
border bother at all.
The MNG ARRANGER is designed as a TimeOut application that is to be
placed in your TO.APPLICATIONS directory (AW3) or TIMEOUT directory (AW4).
Since there are two different versions of the program (AW3 and AW4) you
must specify which one you desire. You may have both, however, please make
separate requests and on different dates please.
Running The Magic News Group Arranger Once installed in the proper
''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''' directory all you have to do is to
go to your TimeOut menus [OA-ESC], highlight MNG.ARRANGER, select it, and
let it do its thing. You will find your arranged news group messages in a
new file on your desktop named ARRANGED.
Another Related Program P.S. To let you in on a little secret. There is,
''''''''''''''''''''''' in existence (at this very moment), a third
module in this series -- THE MAGIC NEWS GROUP RESPONDER which I am still
playing with to ascertain if it would be of value to individuals other than
myself. In the future, I may release this module too.
NOTE: OA = Open Apple or Command key
SA = Solid Apple or Option key
BA = Both Apples or the Command & Option keys
The MAGIC NEWS GROUP READER & ARRANGER require AppleWorks 3.0 with
TimeOut installed or AppleWorks 4.x with TimeOut activated.
See previous messages for details about THE MAGIC NEWS GROUP READER
and its use for off line high speed reading of Internet/USENET News Group
messages. A 'received' format is required.
March 4, 1994
GARY HAYMAN
MAGICAL SOFTWARE
8255 Canning Terrace
Greenbelt, MD 20770
Phone: (301) 345-3230
Email: ghayman@cap.gwu.edu
(G.E.HAYMAN, CAT10, TOP10, MSG:226/M645;1)
>>> THROUGH THE GRAPEVINE <<<
"""""""""""""""""""""""""""""
THE ULTIMATE ULTRAMACORS BOOK? Doug, it's the compleat, concise, and
"""""""""""""""""""""""""""""" unabridged anthology, encyclopedia,
dictionary, reference, easy does it, yes, I can! book of UltraMacros. Items
are listed A to Z; if you want to learn about Display 0, just look up under
D and you'll get everything you ever wanted to know, and some you didn't
know you needed to know.
I do not have an official title yet. It is specific to AppleWorks 4.
Available after April 15.
(B.CADIEUX, CAT13, TOP15, MSG:223/M645;1)
<<<<< Gary, TEXAS II subscribers will be the first (and the only) ones to
""""" know.
(B.CADIEUX, CAT13, TOP15, MSG:226/M645;1)
BILL HEINEMAN GAMES OF SOFTDISK G-S? Don't pester us about Bill's games
"""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""" -- pester Bill. We have been trying
for MONTHS to get Bill to make final changes to his games and he is not.
Believe me, we want to publish those games as much as anyone, but we
can't publish them until they are complete.
Bryan (SOFTDISK.INC, CAT34, TOP4, MSG:117/M645;1)
APPLEWORKS GS 2.0 SETBACK? I called the other day and placed my order for
"""""""""""""""""""""""""" AWGS v2.0. I was informed at the time that
the new _projected_ release date is now July,'94. This is fine by me. My
only question is that when you first acquired the rights, a mention was
made about a version 1.2 to correct bugs, followed by the v2.0 for some
major enhancements. Has this changed?
Jeff - Delivered by CoPilot v2.1.1 and Spectrum v1.0
(J.CARR20, CAT42, TOP32, MSG:376/M645;1)
>>>>> Yeah, our programming force of extraordinary magnitude just sort of
""""" fell apart. The person we picked to lead it just didn't have the
full-time commitment for the job.
(QUALITY, CAT42, TOP32, MSG:377/M645;1)
DIGISOFT UPDATE Sorry for my couple week absence! I have been pretty
""""""""""""""" busy with school and other endeavors and now things are
back to normal.
Re: Art Contest
We are currently sorting and reviewing the entries received. If you
still would like to enter, that is okay - feel free to email us any more
art! We hope to reach a final decision within a few weeks; I will keep you
posted.
Re: DigiSoft CD
This is currently our top priority... We are putting a lot of work
into it and are making considerable progress. Stay tuned. It will have
everything we can find that is usable to an Apple II user, in all
uncompressed form.
<<Jim (DIGISOFT, CAT13, TOP29, MSG:86/M645;1)
ALL-TECH ONLINE? Speaking of All Tech, look forward to them being online
"""""""""""""""" in A2 in the near future. :)
(GARY.UTTER, CAT2, TOP19, MSG:187/M645;1)
WAITLESS ALMOST READY? Since we're in the AW 4 topic, I might add that
"""""""""""""""""""""" Dan Verkade is about done with WaitLess (those
California guys with their pointless names!), an AW 4 print spooler which
stores the print info on the desktop as fast as AW will kick it out, then
sends it to the printer during cursor blinks, allowing you to keep working
as the printing goes on in the background. Printing isn't faster, it's
probably slower, but you get your computer back much quicker, as Chuck
explained, and as the WaitLess name implies.
(BRANDT, CAT42, TOP29, MSG:286/M645;1)
SHAREWARE SOLUTIONS II UPDATE Several things have changed since I
""""""""""""""""""""""""""""" initially announced Shareware Solutions II
in May, 1993.
In my initial press release, I stated that SSII would be 12 pages in
length. As we all know, each issue has been 20 pages.
I also announced that I had high hopes that Shareware Solutions II,
after a few issues, would become a monthly publication. I had initially
thought that when I became more familiar with Desktop Publishing that I'd
be able to step up my production schedule.
After having produced 4 issues, I think I can safely say that it
would be a Herculean - if not impossible - task for any one person to
write, edit, layout, publish, fold, stamp and mail a 20 page newsletter on
a monthly basis. I'm comfortable now with the bi-monthly schedule, and have
come to the conclusion that Shareware Solutions II will remain a bi-monthly
newsletter. Actually, I came to that conclusion several months ago.
I just wanted to let everyone know that it is now official; Shareware
Solutions II is, and probably always will be, a bi-monthly publication.
When I first announced Shareware Solutions II, I stated that a
subscription was for 12 issues. Being a man of my word, I just wanted to
clarify that all current subscribers (with very few exceptions) will
receive those 12 issues of SSII. Your 12 issue subscription has effectively
become a 2 year subscription. I feel a need to clarify that now, as several
people have recently sent me subscription renewals; since you're a year too
early, I will be returning your checks to you.
Knowing now for a fact that SSII is a bi-monthly publication, I plan
to re-vamp the subscription fees to bring them more into line with what
other Apple II publications charge. Although nothing definite has been
determined, I'm thinking of offering two different subscription rates...
Plan A) This will be a one year, 6 issue subscription. People who
subscribe to Plan A will start their subscription with the then-current
issue.
Plan B) This will be similiar to the current "charter subscriber"
plan. It will be a 2 year, 12 issue subscription starting with the Premier
issue of Shareware Solutions II.
I have not yet set the rates for these new plans, but will think
about this a whole lot in the next week or two, and announce those new
rates here. Whatever they are, they will become effective on May 1, 1994.
Anyone subscribing to Shareware Solutions II between now and May 1,
1994 will still be able to take advantage of the Charter Subscriber Rates.
If you subscribe now, you will receive a package that includes the first 4
issues, and still have over a year left on your subscription.
Joe Kohn
Publisher, Shareware Solutions II
(J.KOHN, CAT28, TOP4, MSG:409/M645;1)
APPLIED ENGINEERING SWAN SONG? According to a good source...
""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""
As of Monday, March 25 1994, Applied Engineering has closed their
doors. (confirmed by their lawyer)
I have very mixed feelings about this.
1) AE finally got their just deserts for having sc*#ed all the Apple
// people who are the ones who really built the company in the first place.
2) Now where do people like Doug, Bill and myself go to get
replacement custom chips (PAL, GAL, Eprom, VLSI, etc) to repair AE
products????
If a whole bunch of Apple // users were to pool some funds real quick
there MIGHT be a chance that a bunch of these irreplacable chips, in house
documentation, source code, etc could be purchased before it gets lost, or
sold for salvage value. I am NOT in a position to pursue this possibility,
but maybe there are others here with the needed backround and finances to
pursue this possibility.
If this occurs, I
would be willing to make the effort to get to
Carrolton (etc) to sort thru a bunch of this hardware, doccumentation,
source code, etc so that prime repair parts (the really critical stuff) and
needed paperwork, etc could be obtained.
-Harold
Resident solder slinger.
(H.HISLOP, CAT5, TOP3, MSG:41/M645;1)
>>> MESSAGE SPOTLIGHT <<<
"""""""""""""""""""""""""
Category 2, Topic 9
Message 59 Mon Feb 28, 1994
D.JOHNSON106 [VACC Dave] at 23:53 EST
> in all the years that I have participated in online communications
> via various avenues, I have _never_ seen such an outpouring of good
> will towards another.
I think our goodwill toward Harold comes, not from the fact that he
fixes our broken toys, but from the fact that he personifies a quality that
seems to be in short supply these days. The old work ethic. Most of us in
this forum share this ethic, but we see a lot of the opposite all around
us. So many people these days (maybe it was always so) look for any excuse
to avoid work. Work is the enemy to them. But our friend Harold solicits
work to do for us at no charge so that he can feel useful. And useful he
is. I liken society to a machine. We are all cogs, gears, shafts and cams
in the machine. Some are just idlers, some carry their share of the load.
Some drive and some are driven. Quite a device.
VACC Dave .............
[*][*][*]
While on GEnie, do you spend most of your time downloading files?
If so, you may be missing out some excellent information in the Bulletin
Board area. The messages listed above only scratch the surface of
what's available and waiting for you in the bulletin board area.
If you are serious about your Apple II, the GEnieLamp staff strongly
urge you to give the bulletin board area a try. There are literally
thousands of messages posted from people like you from all over the
world.
[EOA]
[HUM]//////////////////////////////
HUMOR ONLINE /
/////////////////////////////////
Fun & Games On GEnie
""""""""""""""""""""
Captured from:
Wildcat Orphanage BBS
(719) 392-6631
>>> WE SHALL C WHAT WE SHALL C <<<
""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""
In the beginning there was ENIAC. And the ENIAC was without language
or form. And so was created Machine Code. And it was Good.
On the second day, Hex was created. And it was good.
On the third day, Assembly Language was created. And it was good.
On the fourth day, Fortran was created and it was good.
On the fifth day, man programmed in Fortran. And it was very good.
And it was spoken: "Thou may program in any of these, but the tree of
COBOL thou shall not partake for thou shalt surely pay for thine
transgressions."
But, there was a hacker in the woods who took the form of a mini and
spake to the man and said "Thou shalt not pay for thine transgressions, for
he knoweth that if thou partakest, thou shall have power to program large
and wonderful things that shall be readable by others!"
So, the man partook of COBOL.
And it was spoken: "Thou hast partaken of the tree of COBOL: Thou art
doomed to write hundred thousand line programs, be enslaved by IBM, and not
have other good programming options for years."
And it was so. Many years passed. IBM dominated. Programs grew
larger and larger. BASIC, Pascal, SNOBOL, PLI, Ada and many others came
and went. IBM dominated. And COBOL programs grew.
Then, as implied, a program came out of the telephone.
It spread to the universities who took it on and made it grow.
IBM tried to kill it many times, but after the PC was introduced, it
was inevitable. First, A. Written in Assembly, not COBOL. Then B which
was better that A. Then finally C took full form and shape.
With UNIX, it launched into the market seemingly impervious to
COBOL's domination. IBM tried again to kill it. Through security holes,
and portability, and unreadability IBM tried. But C could not be quashed.
The implied savior of programming everywhere had come!
And the great COBOL could finally start to be removed. Open systems
and high capacity graphic's aided and spurred C on until there was C for
DOS, C++, and finally, C for the IBM series 3090.
And it was very good.
//////////////////////////////////////// GEnie_QWIK_QUOTE ////
/ /
/ If "authority" fails to give a good answer when queried /
/ sincerly, then such "authority" is such in name only, /
/ and further investigation is warranted. /
/ /
/ Must be related to "Always listen to experts. /
/ They'll tell you what can't be done, and why. /
/ Then do it." (the motto of every Apple II /
/ programmer). :) /
/ /
////////////////////////////////////// H.HISLOP / B.TAO ////
[EOA]
[REF]//////////////////////////////
REFLECTIONS /
/////////////////////////////////
Thinking About Online Communications
""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""
by Phil Shapiro
[P.SHAPIRO1]
>>> THE FUTURE OF ONLINE COMMERCE <<<
"""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""
Our nation has always had a long and proud history of inventors and
tinkerers. From Benjamin Franklin and Thomas Jefferson, to Henry Ford and
Thomas Edison, to Orville and Wilbur Wright, to Steve Wozniak and Steve
Jobs -- the creative spirit of Americans emerges anew in each and every
generation.
Inventiveness is so much a part of our national culture that we even
have stores which cater specifically to the "do-it-yourself" spirit.
Almost every city in the nation has a few "home repair" stores, and every
small town in the nation has at least one Radio Shack store.
The usefulness of Radio Shack stores was brought home to me in a
personal way last month.
Without any warning, my Apple II monochrome monitor burned out. A
kind and helpful person in the local computer user group, Jon Hardis,
offered to take a look at it for no charge. Two weeks later I received a
phone call from Jon saying the monitor had been fixed. "All you really
needed was an inexpensive doo-dad replacement from Radio Shack," he
declared matter-of-factly.
The way he said the words "Radio Shack" implied that the burned-out
part in my monitor could be replaced with a commonplace device that any
self-respecting electronics hobbyist could obtain with a simple stroll down
to Radio Shack. Well, I don't hold myself out to be an electronics whiz by
any means, but I'm fascinated by the fact that he was able to repair my
monitor so easily. And to think that all he really needed was an
inexpensive doo-dad from Radio Shack.
But this episode also got me thinking about some not-so-positive
encounters I've had with Radio Shack. On more than a few occasions, I've
asked technical questions of Radio Shack in-store employees, only to be
given entirely erroneous answers in return.
To be sure, you could hardly expect every Radio Shack employee to be
knowledgeable about everything they have for sale in their stores. The
complexities of the products, and the complexity of the terminology
describing the products, are too much for anyone but an electronics
hobbyist to fully master.
Which is where online communications could come into play. Radio
Shack could take a leadership role in bringing online tech support to its
customers. Tandy doesn't need to hire an audio components expert for each
and every one of its stores. Rather, it could provide an audio components
expert online, with an Internet address that could easily be reached by
anyone with an account on GEnie, America Online, or CompuServe.
Likewise, Radio Shack could provide tech support for any of their
other products they sell. Note: I'm not just talking about post-sale tech
support. More than anything, Radio Shack needs pre-sale tech support.
And the tech support need not be narrowly focussed to a particular
product. Someone working on an electronics project should be able to
discuss that project online with a suitable Radio Shack expert, and then
receive recommendations and suggestions by that expert.
Imagine the possibilities: an ongoing online dialogue between a
techie guru and someone with a keen spirit of inventiveness. If Radio
Shack had had an online tech support service back in the 1960s, you can bet
that they would have received a barrage of questions from that pesky
youngster, Steve Wozniak.
By offering such an online service, Radio Shack would overcome the
problems they currently have with in-store employees who are unable to
answer tough technical questions. Not only that, Radio Shack would
dramatically reduce the quantity of returned merchandise -- merchandise
bought in error.
But more important, by implementing a free online tech support
service, Radio Shack could help foster and perpetuate the inventive spirit
that brought our county the electric light bulb, the airplane, the Model T,
and the Apple II.
The next generation of inventors are making their way through
elementary school today. And they have just a ton of questions they'd like
answered.
[Footnote: I called Tandy-Radio Shack's main office in Fort Worth,
Texas, to find out if they might already offer an online tech support
service. They told me the closest thing to such a service that they offer
is tech support for Tandy computers, via PC-Link.
If you're interested in seeing Radio Shack offer free pre-sale and
post-sale online tech support, take a minute to write a hard copy letter to
Tandy Corporation's director of customer relations, Ms. Lucille Frey. The
address for Tandy Corporation's executive offices is: 1800 One Tandy
Center, P.O. Box 17180, Fort Worth, TX 76102. If you'd rather not write a
letter, you might send Ms. Frey a hard copy printout of this article.]
Phil Shapiro
[*][*][*]
The author takes a keen interest in the social dimensions
of communications technology. He can be reached on GEnie
at P.SHAPIRO1; on America Online at: pshapiro.
[EOA]
[BEG]//////////////////////////////
BEGINNER'S CORNER /
/////////////////////////////////
Polishing Green Apples
""""""""""""""""""""""
by Steve Weyhrich
[S.WEYHRICH]
>>> HOOKED ON STORAGE (Part 2) <<<
""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""
PRELUDE Last time I laid the groundwork for an understanding of the
""""""" function and use of a hard disk, with a brief explanation as to
why a hard disk is not necessarily a luxury item, on through to some
vocabulary that will be used as we continue to discuss the topic. This
month the discussion will turn to what is needed to create a mass storage
system for YOU.
PUTTING THE PIECES TOGETHER Now that you've decided to take the plunge
""""""""""""""""""""""""""" and buy a hard disk, what exactly do you need
to make it work with your computer? Your decision depends primarily on
which computer you have, how much storage capacity you plan to buy, and how
much speed you want. As usual, some of those decisions will hinge on how
much money you can afford to spend on this upgrade. Remember that no
matter HOW much storage or speed you have today, you'll want more within a
year. It is probably best to buy as large and as fast a drive as you can
afford right now, because on the used market you can be sure that you will
never get back what you paid for it. (The depreciation of computer
equipment is pretty steep.)
APPLE IIC For IIc owners, the choices are few. Originally a "sealed"
""""""""" computer that the user would simply plug in and start using,
the Apple IIc was not designed with expandability in mind. In fact, the
original IIc was conceived to use one and ONLY one external 5.25 drive; it
was not until user demand prompted them to upgrade the hardware and
firmware to handle the larger capacity 800K UniDisk 3.5 drive that it
became possible for a greater variety of disk devices to be used on the
IIc. This modified disk port, which is nearly identical in function to the
one later used on the Apple IIgs, utilizes a firmware protocol that Apple
named the "Smartport" protocol. It includes the necessary commands to
allow the ProDOS operating system to communicate with different types of
disk devices.
After the Smartport protocol was created, however, a protocol that
was more flexible and more widely accepted across the computer industry
came into use. The Small Computer Systems Interface (SCSI; pronounced
"scuzzy") protocol used commands similar to those used on the Smartport,
but not similar enough to be directly compatible. Although Macintosh
computers beginning with the Macintosh Plus came with a SCSI port built in,
the IIc never was upgraded with that ability. Companies that wanted to
build hard drives that would work on the Apple IIc had to jump through some
hoops to make it work at all. Consequently, you will definitely pay more
for a hard drive on the IIc than it would cost to outfit a II Plus, IIe, or
IIgs with a similar-sized drive.
Sequential Systems For brand new hard drives, there is only one choice
'''''''''''''''''' available: Sequential Systems sells a SCSI drive,
originally designed by Chinook, which uses a built-in adapter to enable it
to work with the Smartport on the IIc. That adapter translates Smartport
commands into proper SCSI commands. After Chinook sold their hardware
operations to Sequential Systems, the IIc hard drive was not discontinued,
as it fills a niche that is available nearly nowhere else.
As of this writing, Sequential still sells the CT-40c ($399) and
CT-100c ($549), 40- and 100-meg hard drives respectively. They are selling
the 40-meg version "while supplies last", as it is getting more difficult
to obtain new hard drives at a size less than 100 megs. These drives use
SCSI mechanisms made by Quantum, a respected name among disk drive
manufacturers. With the drive comes a utility program that will allow you
to repartition the drive if you wish, but it does come already formatted
and partitioned. (Recall that partitions are necessary since ProDOS can
handle disk volumes only up to 32 meg in size.) The CT-40c is divided into
two 20 meg partitions, and the CT-100c into multiple 32 meg partitions.
(Note: These drives will work only on versions of the Apple IIc that
can accept a UniDisk 3.5. To see which version of the IIc YOU have, get
into Applesoft BASIC, and type "PRINT PEEK(64447)". If it responds with
"255", you need an upgrade -- which Apple is still supposed to do for free;
ask for authorization number "ODL660" at your dealer. If you see a 0, 3,
or 4, you can use this hard drive. The Apple IIc Plus will respond with a
5, and will be compatible with the Sequential drives.)
Alltech Electronics / ProApp Alltech Electronics still sells some older
'''''''''''''''''''''''''''' hard drives for the Apple IIc that carry the
ProApp name. These are 40 meg drives, and require UniDisk 3.5-capable
Apple IIc's. However, they use a protocol called "RLL", which is different
from the more common IDE and SCSI types of hard drives. As with the
Sequential drives, the ProApp drives come with partitioning software, and
are divided into two 20-meg partitions.
Quark One other hard drive for the Apple IIc may be found on the used
''''' market: the Quark QC-10. This is a 10-meg hard drive that was
released soon after the IIc came on the market in 1984, and was unique in
that it managed to function on the ORIGINAL Apple IIc disk port (recall
that this was designed to work ONLY with a single external 5.25 drives).
Because of that design, a QC-10 possibly may NOT work with a IIc that has
been upgraded to use the UniDisk 3.5 or memory expansion; however, if the
drive itself is still functioning, it may be possible for an enterprising
hacker to make the modifications to allow it to work. (I do not have
specifications about what type of hard drive this was, nor how they made it
work on the old IIc disk port, and cannot be certain about whether it can
be used "as is", or would require modifications.)
HARDENING AN APPLE IIC A couple other considerations about the use of
"""""""""""""""""""""" hard drives on the IIc must be made here.
Versions of ProDOS up through v1.9 would allow no more than four disk
devices to be attached to a disk device on slot 5 (which is where the IIc
and IIgs Smartport appears in the classic Apple II slot scheme). On other
slots no more than two disk devices could appear. Because of this, a hard
disk that was partitioned into more than four volumes would not be fully
available for use on the IIc. For example, if you purchased a CT-100c and
wanted five 20 meg volumes, only the first four would show up in a disk
list. (ProDOS must remap those other drives to make it appear that they
are attached to another slot and drive. The first volume attached to the
Smartport can be accessed at Slot 5/Drive 1, the second at slot 5/Drive 2,
the third at Slot 2/Drive 1, and the fourth at Slot 2/Drive 2.)
Beginning with v2.0.1 of ProDOS, up to fourteen disk devices could be
attached to a single slot. If you are running that version or any later
one on your IIc, you could theoretically divide that 100 meg hard drive
into as many as twelve smaller-sized volumes. (To go beyond twelve would
possibly interfere with access to the internal 5.25 drive, and to the 64K
RAMDisk in Slot 3/Drive 2.) My personal recommendation would be to aim for
20 meg partitions on the IIc; if you use ProSel as a program selector --
highly recommended, by the way -- some of its hard disk management
utilities cannot handle volumes greater than 20 megs unless you are running
on a IIgs.
One other little problem with the use of a hard drive on a IIc: The
IIc will start at slot 7 and scan down to slot 1 until it finds a disk
device with a valid disk that can be booted. The internal 5.25 drive is at
Slot 6/Drive 1, and a hard disk attached to the Smartport will appear at
Slot 5/Drive 1. It is preferable to boot from a hard disk, for the sake of
convenience. On a IIe, you would just put the hard disk card into slot 7;
on the IIgs, you would change the control panel setting to make it boot
from the right slot. How to do this on a IIc, where such changes cannot be
made?
When I used a IIc and a Chinook CT-20c hard drive, my solution was to
write a short utility that I called "SmartBoot". It is still available in
the A2 Library:
13641 SMARTBOOT.BXY V2.1 X S.WEYHRICH 901002 32760 328 40
Desc: Improved Hard Disk Booting
This program, which is also useful on the IIgs and IIe, lets you use
a disk device that IS available immediately (such as the internal 5.25
drive on the IIc) to look at another slot and drive, and continue checking
that location until a valid disk is available. That means that you can
also turn on both the computer AND the hard disk simultaneously, and
SmartBoot will wait until the hard disk has come up to speed before it
tries to boot it. In the above example, SmartBoot is stored on a disk in
the internal 5.25 drive, and is configured to check Slot 5/Drive 1, which
is where the hard disk's first partition is found. (SmartBoot has other
features, but I won't go into them here.)
RESOURCES Here's where to get in touch with the companies mentioned in
""""""""" this article:
Alltech Electronics Co. Sequential Systems
602 Garrison Street 1200 Diamond Circle
Oceanside CA 92054 Lafayette CO 80026
800-995-7773 800-759-4549
619-721-7733
619-721-2823 (fax)
[EOA]
[TEC]//////////////////////////////
TECH TALK /
/////////////////////////////////
Apple II Hybrids
""""""""""""""""
by Jay Curtis
[J.CURTIS8]
Want a hybrid computer that "does everything", but can't wait for a
PowerPC with Apple II emulation? A colleague of mine recently reported
that he had a Mac LC 475 (1) up and running with an Apple II PDS card and
Soft PC, giving him a hybrid computer platform that runs Apple II, Mac and
MS-DOS software.
MACINTOSH LC 475 According to my colleague, the economical, 68040-based
"""""""""""""""" Mac LC 475 runs at a sprightly 22 MIPS (3 times faster
than the 68030-based LC-III). Because of this fact, he claimed that he
could get "acceptable" performance from Insignia's PC emulation software
while running DOS-only applications on his Mac. Formerly, the biggest
complaint about Insignia's Soft PC emulator for the Mac has been its
lethargy, but the LC 475 gives Soft PC a shot of adrenaline.
My colleague said that Windows still runs slowly on his 475, however.
He also said that Apple II emulation from the PDS card remained consistent
with an off-the-shelf, 1 mhz IIe. The IIe screen display may be somewhat
faster with the LC-475 than with the LC-III, however. Of course, the 475
won't run IIgs applications, but this poor man's PowerPC may be just the
thing for Apple IIe owners who want to expand their horizons while
retaining their capability to run the latest and greatest 8-bit
applications like AppleWorks 4. We will talk more about the LC/IIe hybrid
and the Mac's PDS IIe card in next month's article.
TRACKSTAR Up to this point, all our hybrid articles have focused upon PC
""""""""" Transporter-equipped Apple IIe and IIgs computers. However,
there are other Apple II hybrid platforms that blend PC and Apple II
technology that should to be covered in this series. All of them are based
upon Diamond Computer System's "Trackstar" card, a 128K, 65C02 coprocessor
board that is designed to fit into an expansion slot on a PC or PC
compatible system to make a PC/IIe hybrid. Radio Shack sold these cards
with its Tandy 1000s, and Diamond Computer sold them direct to public
schools.
Two of the more notable hybrid systems that used the Trackstar were
the "WPC Bridge" and the "Laser Turbo XT DUO". New Science Prospects, a
company in Houston, Texas, sold the Laser Turbo XT DUO, while Cordata
corporation bundled the Trackstar with its Wizard PC and sold their system
as the WPC Bridge. It's worth noting that the Trackstar card uses exactly
the same Apple II ROM instructions as the Laser 128 Apple II compatible
computers.(2) Therefore, the DUO and Bridge also possess this same
relationship to the Laser 128.
Last December a spokesperson for Diamond Computer Systems advised me
that the Trackstar is "no longer in production." However, Diamond Computer
may still have some of these cards within its inventory, and many of them
can be obtained as used equipment. If you can get your hands on a
Trackstar Plus, which can be installed in a 386 class computer, you may
find some of its capabilities to be quite useful. Like the Trackstar,
neither the DUO nor the Bridge are manufactured any longer.
DUO The 8088-based DUO ran at 10 mhz (PC mode). It sported two 5.25
""" floppy drives, which could read both 143K Apple and 360K IBM
formatted disks. It came with 512K RAM in IBM mode. At approximately
$1300 for computer and monitor, the DUO cost a bit less than the pricey WPC
Bridge, which listed for $1695. Like the DUO, the WPC Bridge also sported
dual IBM/Apple-compatible 5.25 drives, an 8088 microprocessor and 512K RAM.
However, the Bridge sold as a single plug-and-play unit with a monitor
built right into the CPU chassis, just like the Mac Classic.
WPC BRIDGE Cordata corporation felt like the WPC Bridge would be a sure
"""""""""" hit with public schools. However, like so many others,
including Apple Corporation itself, Cordata misjudged the schools and the
Apple II market. While Apple users were moving in droves to 128K systems
and ProDOS, or to the Apple IIgs, Cordata was sending out its Bridge as a
64K Apple II Plus emulator, bundled with Apple DOS 3.3.(3) In order to
allow the Bridge to make full use of its 128K Apple RAM, the user would
need to supply his or her own ProDOS.
Besides being bundled with an older Apple disk operating system, the
Bridge was also bundled with an older IBM operating system (DOS 2.11), and
this was done when MS-DOS 3.3 and the 286-level PC had become the accepted
standards. The WPC Bridge wasn't a complete flop, however. It had many
excellent features, although many of its best features (so far as Apple II
users were concerned) were derived from the Trackstar card itself.
TRACKSTAR FEATURES Because the Trackstar is a CO-PROCESSOR card which has
"""""""""""""""""" its own on-board Apple RAM and microprocessor, one of
its neatest features was (and is) the Trackstar's ability to do
multiprocessing. This was a feature also found in both the DUO and the WPC
Bridge. Using an Alt-Esc key combination, a Trackstar user can switch
between two programs running simultaneously in both Apple and PC modes.
For example, a spreadsheet program can be run on one side of a PC/IIe
hybrid while the user works in the word processor on the other side.
Another good Trackstar feature is its ability to be used in a PC LAN
network. When installed in a 286-level or 386-level PC, the Trackstar can
function as a server to a network of similarly equipped hybrids, enabling a
group of PC/IIes to access both 8-bit Apple II and MS-DOS programs and data
that have been stored on a single server. This feature has been of
particular interest to schools which have equipped their PC labs with the
Trackstar, enabling their students to enjoy the best of both the Apple II
and PC worlds over a network.
The Trackstar shares similar features with the PC Transporter. For
example, while the PCT allows the storage of MS-DOS data and programs on
the Apple's CGR volumes, the Trackstar enables the storage of ProDOS data
and programs on a PC's MFM volumes. Virtually any of the PC's MFM block
devices will work, including devices which use high density diskettes.
Unfortunately, it is not possible to attach a CGR/ProDOS 3.5 microfloppy
device directly to the Trackstar so it is not possible to load programs or
data from this type of diskette. However, MFM/ProDOS diskettes, which have
been written in a Floptical or similar device, should be accessible by the
PC's drives.
Like the Transporter, the Trackstar uses a specially configured
directory on the PC's hard drive for the storage of ProDOS files and
programs (up to 10MB only). MS-DOS is used for I/O management between the
Trackstar's 65C02 microprocessors and the PC's serial and parallel ports,
printer and drives. A special connector on the Trackstar enables a
standard, 5.25, Apple-compatible drive to be connected to the Trackstar for
hard-to-load, copy-protected programs. Also like the Transporter, the
Trackstar uses keyboard emulation to allow PC-standard keyboards to
function like the Apple keyboard.
The Trackstar was sold with utility software that allowed rudimentary
text and binary file translation between MS-DOS and ProDOS. This software,
however, was not as powerful as the corresponding PCT file translation
software. Just as the PCT is booted from ProDOS, the Trackstar coprocessor
card is booted from the PC's MS-DOS operating system. The Trackstar Plus
was keyboard selectable for 2 mhz "turbo" operation, and it would support
640x200 CGA and 720x348 Hercules video resolutions on the PC monitor. An
Apple compatible joystick could be connected directly to a special
connector on the Trackstar, a feature not offered with the Transporter.
For Apple II power users, the Trackstar's 128K of RAM was a major
limitation. New Science Prospects promised in one of their flyers that the
128K Apple RAM would become expandable to 640K in the Turbo XT DUO by late
1989. I don't know if Diamond Computer's engineers were planning to
actually add on-board RAM expansion capability to the Trackstar, or whether
they were planning to borrow the DUO's native 512K RAM (through some kind
of system software magic) for the Trackstar. Though I have made calls to
dealers, I have never been able to verify that this feat was accomplished,
and I believe that the Trackstar's Apple RAM never exceeded 128K.
A few years after New Science Prospects had promised to make more RAM
available for their Trackstar-equipped DUO, Apple computer itself was faced
with the same problem with their IIe PDS card and Mac LC. Fortunately, for
those Apple II power users who made the switch to the LC and IIe PDS card,
Apple delivered on their promise and could make up to 1MB of the LC's RAM
available to the IIe card. Next month, we'll talk about the Apple IIe PDS
card and the Mac LC series computers. Until then, think Hybrid!
NOTES
"""""
(1) The Mac LC 475, Mac Quadra 605 and Mac Performa 476 are all essentially
68LC040-based LC-IIIs.
(2) To my knowledge, the Laser 128 and Trackstar were the only 'legal'
Apple II clones that were ever produced. A firm called "Language Arts"
wrote the Apple II ROM knockoff for these systems. Anyone wishing to
produce an Apple II software emulator for the PowerPC might be wise to
start by attempting to acquire the rights to this ROM.
(3) Grevstat, Eric. "WPC Bridge." InCider. September, 1988. p. 77.
[EOA]
[MOO]//////////////////////////////
CowTOONS! /
/////////////////////////////////
No Cow Foolin'
~~~~~~~~~~~~~
by Mike White
[MWHITE]
_____________________________
( )
( )___( .___. ___ )
( /(. .)\ /(. .)\ /(. .)\ )
o( ( \*/ ) ( \*/ ) ( \*/ ) )
Cownting Sheep .' ( ( ) ( ) ( ) )
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ .' ( Y~ ~Y Y~ ~Y Y ~ Y )
.' ( """~~"~~""""~~"~~""""~~"~~""" )
(__) (_____________________________)
/------(--)
/ |)_---_\/
"""""~""""""""""""""""""""
Seldom was heard a discouraging word
(__)(__) but this Cowboy is hittin' the trail.
(oo)(oo)
/-------\/ \/------\ Warmest thanks to John Peters and the
/ | || || | \ whole herd of GEnieLampers for giving
* ||----|=~^~=|----|| * me a home on the range for 18 months.
~~ ~ ~ ~~
Keep reading GEnieLamp Online Magazines.
Cowoperation I'll see you on the drive!
""""""""""""
(oo)....Cowboy Mike
//////////////////////////////////////// GEnie_QWIK_QUOTE ////
/ /
/ Pehaps its time for a sanity check to see if we can find /
/ out where your <Parents> are. /
/ /
//////////////////////////////////////////////// INTREC ////
[EOA]
[DRT]//////////////////////////////
DR'S EXAMINING TABLE /
/////////////////////////////////
Golden Oldie Review: Bard's Tale
"""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""
by Darrel Raines
[D.RAINES]
This month I intend to pull another "Golden Oldie" from the shelf and
review a software package that you will be most likely to find in the "used
software" areas -- "Bard's Tale". This program was originally written for
and distributed by Electronic Arts. The game was produced for many
different computer systems, including the Apple II, IIgs, IBM clone, Atari
and Amiga platforms. The game was successful enough to justify two
follow-up games and, for some platforms, a construction set that allowed
you to create your own scenarios. I will be reviewing the Apple IIgs
version of this game.
Bard's Tale is an adventure game in the mold of the Wizardry
scenarios: You are called upon by the people of Scara Brae to rid them of
an evil wizard who has closed down the city gates and controls most of what
goes on within the city walls. Outlaws, demons, and monsters of all
description have taken over the city. You are responsible for gathering a
band of merry men to release Scara Brae from the clutches of this deadly
maniac. Fortunately, there is a good deal of monster-thumping to be done
along the way. We should be in for some fun!
The first thing that struck me when I loaded this game was the
graphics. "Out of This World" has some of the best animation that I have
ever seen on an Apple IIgs, but Bard's Tale gets my vote as one of the best
still-graphics games. It is true that the graphics in this game have some
limited animation, but this is only a crude frame swapping that doesn't
really qualify as animation in my book. The graphics are realistic and
lead the player to believe that he/she is actually viewing the scenes
depicted on his/her computer screen.
The screen is laid out with three main areas. The bottom half of the
screen is reserved for a view of the party roster and the current
statistics of each character. You may point with the mouse to get more
information about a character. This action will also bring up a menu that
allows the character to perform many different activities, such as trading
supplies and casting spells. The roster also indicates in what order the
band travels, which is important for battles since the first three
characters are the ones who do most of the hand-to-hand combat. The back
three characters are only able to join in the fray via the magic system.
Current statistics are always shown in this area including the
all-important health indicator (hit points) for each character.
The top left corner of the screen is dedicated to showing a view of
the outside world. If the team is engaged in combat mode, the view screen
is reserved for a picture of the nasty that you are currently facing. The
limited animation comes into play here, but does not really add much to the
overall effect of the game. When not engaged in battle, the port is used
to show the streets, houses, and insides of homes that are apparent in your
field of view.
The final display area is the top right hand corner. This area is
used to tell the player what is going on in the world around him. It is
also used in combat mode to select which option each character will take
during battle. Any information displayed in this area will scroll at a
rate selectable by the player. Therefore, you must pay attention to this
part of the screen, or you may miss something important.
The play of Bard's Tale should be familiar to all adventure-game
players. You go through a short character-building sequence and then are
thrust into the adventurer's guild where you can build a team of
characters. Some of the character classes are geared toward fighting,
while others are geared toward magic. The Rogue is a thief. Finally,
there is a unique class called the Bard. The Bard can fight and can wield
weak magic with his songs.
The composition of a party is pretty much standard. You need two
fighters, a Bard, a Rogue, and two magic users. You may chose to differ
from this standard, but the results may not be what you want. Even though
this game has an objective (getting rid of the evil wizard), the main task
is to build your characters in experience. Once you have some powerful
characters, you can go whip the big boy.
When it comes to character development, this game has a number of
good features. However, one of the worst features is the one that hits new
players right off the bat. It is extremely difficult to get characters
past the first and second levels of the game. Your characters will soon be
dropping like flies.. The only way to bring them back to life is with the
help of some expensive monks -- the cost of healing and bringing back to
life a party of six characters required me to create and steal the money
from more than fifty throw-away characters. Life is tough, and then you
die... and then you pay exorbitant fees to come back to life!
Once you get a few levels under your belt, the fun begins.
Exploration commences in a large city that has a number of hidden dungeons.
You soon find that life will go well for you if you can develop a couple of
powerful magic users. There are four types of magic users. However, once
you learn the spells of any one branch of magic, you can start over
(retaining the memories of the learned spells) and learn a new branch of
magic. Therefore, it is possible to develop a magic user that will know
all the spells for each of the four magic disciplines. This type of
character will be known as an Arch-Mage. The greatest part of your time
will be spent in trying to develop one or more of these characters.
As you explore the city and dungeons, mapping is an important
concept. There are a few riddles and hidden items that must be found for
you to be able to find the ultimate bad guy. You must therefore delve into
each and every corner of the dungeons to assure success in the final
battle.
The quality of graphics in the dungeons and the wide variety of
monsters that you encounter make this game a joy to play. The interface is
smooth and allows both mouse and keyboard entry of commands.
Bard's Tale uses the sound support of the IIgs to good advantage.
The number of instruments used in the music is limited, but the quality of
the songs is better than usual. One of the unique features of this
adventure game is the special nature of the Bard character. As you would
expect, there are certain advantages to be gained for this character. The
Bard can weave certain long-term magic by playing tunes on his musical
instrument. There are many different instruments available. Some of them
have special attributes that are useful in battle as well. Of course, only
the Bard can use these instruments. When these weapons are used you will
hear appropriate sounds from your speakers.
There are a few weaknesses in this game. The chief fault is that you
must return to the adventurer's guild before you can save a game. This can
be most annoying if you happen to lose your way in a maze. More than once,
I had to turn off the monitor and hope that we did not have a power failure
before my next session. As mentioned earlier, it is difficult to get past
the first two levels.
In general, Bard's Tale is an extremely enjoyable game and deserves a
look. The play is smooth and absorbing; the graphics are fun to look at
and add to the realism of the game; the user interface is comfortable. My
recommendation would be to find a copy of this game and play it!
DR's prognosis: A fine specimen of an adventure game. It has a fine
future ahead of it as an aging classic.
[*][*][*]
Darrel Raines likes to play games on his computer. He has been
known to write reviews about these games from time to time. He
also sometimes works for NASA as a subcontractor on the
International Space Station.
[EOA]
[HUN]//////////////////////////////
THE TREASURE HUNT /
/////////////////////////////////
Yours For the Downloading
"""""""""""""""""""""""""
by Charlie Hartley
[C.HARTLEY3]
>>> WELCOME TO THE TREASURE HUNT <<<
""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""
The purpose of this new column is to introduce you to some files in
the A2 library that you may have overlooked. Each month I'll try to find a
variety of files that deserve a little recognition and tell you a little
bit about them. When appropriate, I'll offer suggestions on how to make
them more useful.
All of the files described this month are public domain. Each month
I'll identify the files that are copyrighted freeware or shareware.
Let's get started with 8 files that are among the first 4000 files
ever uploaded to the A2 library.
[*][*][*]
INTERNAMAZE.BNY File #1298 6300 bytes (ProDOS game)
'''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''
INTERNA-MAZE by Dennis G. Ward with Applesoft conversion by Bill
Fortenberry is a good example of a lo-res graphics game. It's also a neat
program to study if you're interested in improving your knowledge of lo-res
graphics programming.
The program creates a random maze on the lo-res screen and shows it
to you from a top (overhead) view. Then it switches to a head-on (as if
you were in the maze) view and waits for you to decide which way to go.
Movement is determined by the E D X S keys with E being forward, X
reversing direction or turning around, D turning right and S turning left.
The game has various aids or on-screen helps. You may choose to
leave footprints, have compass directions displayed, and have access to a
map. The map is the overhead view of the maze with your path clearly
marked.
You start the game with 100 points. Each time you look at the map,
it costs you 5 points. You also lose 1 point each time you go forward if
you have already been there before. The object of the game is to complete
the maze, losing as few points as possible.
In addition to deciding if you want to leave footprints, have a
compass, or have access to the map, you also choose a difficulty level
between 1 and 10. I've chosen level 1 and also level 10, and I haven't
noticed a great difference; but I haven't examined the code closely enough
to determine for sure what the difficulty level does.
The graphics are acceptable on a monochrome screen, but are easier to
see on a color monitor. Uppercase input is required. I haven't discovered
any way out of the game except control-reset.
Running on a regular IIe, the program is kind of slow, but that is
because it is written almost completely in Applesoft BASIC. You spend a
fair amount of time waiting for the maze to be created; but since it's
created on the screen in front of you, it's interesting watching it do its
thing.
If you're into maze type games you'll like this one. And if you're
interested, you'll be able to fix some of its shortcomings and make it even
better by following these directions:
Get into BASIC. LOAD the program into memory. If you don't know how
to do that, do this: RUN the program and at the first chance you get to
type anything, press CONTROL-RESET to exit the program.
Next, type the following lines just as they appear below. Press
RETURN after each line.
1500 IF G$ = "y" THEN FTS = 1
1515 IF G$ = "y" THEN COMP = 1
1525 IF G$ = "y" THEN MAP = 1
1660 IF Z = 155 THEN TEXT : HOME : END
1665 IF Z > 197 THEN Z = Z - 32
Next, type "SAVE INTERNAMAZE" (without the quotes) and press RETURN.
Now, thanks to line 1660, when you press the ESCAPE key you will exit the
program without having to press CONTROL-RESET. The other lines add the
ability to use lowercase letters.
[*][*][*]
THE.GALLOWS.BNY File #1612 5040 bytes (ProDOS game)
'''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''
The next program is titled THE GALLOWS and was written by Douglas
Konitzer and uploaded on March 29, 1987. It is a fancy take-off on the
hangman type game. It is actually misnamed because it displays a
guillotine instead of a gallows or hanging tree. It requires an 80 column
display.
This "word guess" program displays a guillotine which lowers each
time that you select an incorrect letter. Like most games of this type,
you are shown a list of the letters that you have selected. The program
also tells you whether the word is a person, place, or thing. It comes
with a supply of words, but it is fairly easy to change them or add
additional ones. The words can be up to 18 letters in length.
There are some drawbacks to the program. The most serious is that
the program treats lowercase and capital letters as separate letters. This
can create a problem when the sample words are in all capital letters and
the user is typing lowercase letters. The other main problem is that you
need to know at least a little about BASIC programming to change the sample
words.
If you're into hangman type games you'll like this one. And if
you're interested, you'll be able to fix some of its shortcomings and make
it even better by following these directions:
Get into BASIC. LOAD the program into memory. If you don't know how
to do that, do this: RUN the program and at the end of the program, when it
asks you if you want to play again, type a capital N.
Next, type the following lines just as they appear below. Press
RETURN after each line.
1725 GL = ASC(GL$) : IF GL > 90 THEN GL = GL - 32 : GL$ = CHR$(GL)
1995 IF T$ = "n" THEN TEXT : HOME : END
Next, type "SAVE GALLOWS" (without the quotes) and press RETURN. Now
you will be able to type your answers in lowercase. If you want to correct
the erroneous references to "gallows" and replace them with "guillotine"
then add the following lines before you SAVE the program.
1140 DT$(1) = "Welcome to the GUILLOTINE game"
1210 DT$(8) = "bottom of the GUILLOTINE. To help"
1300 VTAB 3 : HTAB 13 : PRINT "THE GUILLOTINE"
1580 VTAB 12 : HTAB 5 : PRINT "RESETTING GUILLOTINE-STAND CLEAR"
The program lines that contain the sample words are lines 2040, 2050,
2060, 2070, 2080, and 2090. To replace them with sample words of your own,
do the following: decide first whether the word is a person (1), place (2),
or thing (3). Then begin typing with the number first followed by the word
as shown in the examples below.
2040 DATA 1,CLINTON
2050 DATA 3,GOLDENROD
2060 DATA 2,ARKANSAS
2070 DATA 0,0
The line number is typed first, followed by the word DATA and a
space. Next type the number (1,2,3) followed by a comma followed by the
word TYPED IN CAPITAL LETTERS. Do not put any spaces before or after the
comma. Press RETURN after each line. Finish with a line like #2070 above.
The two zeros tells the program that it has reached the end of the list.
There can be up to 150 words listed. Be sure to SAVE the program after you
add new lines.
[*][*][*]
MSETXT.RACE.BNY File #2232 5040 bytes (ProDOS game)
'''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''
RACES is a rather simple game that uses the 80 column enhanced IIe,
IIc, or IIgs to run a race among 5 runners. The whole program runs
randomly from the decision as to how big your stake is to which runner wins
the race. You get to decide how much to wager and whether to bet for or
against a particular runner. The odds are different depending on how you
bet.
If you regularly purchase lottery tickets, you'll probably like this
game. The skill involved and the chances of consistently winning are about
the same in both. <grin>
The author is identified only as Michael A.
[*][*][*]
BMW.BNY File #1352 3780 bytes (ML Subroutines)
''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''
The next program, BILL'S MINI WINDOW, may be of some use to those of
you who like to program the IIe in Applesoft. According to the directions
file that comes with it, this program "provides a way to do simple 'pop-up'
windows in Applesoft Basic. The &SAVE command stores the current text
screen (40 or 80 column) in a buffer and opens the window. The &LOAD
command restores the text screen and sets the text window to full screen
dimensions."
A WORD OF CAUTION HERE! I've been able to get this program to work
with the 40 column screen, but there seems to be a problem with the 80
column version. The &SAVE clears the window, but the &LOAD returns garbage
to the screen. Since the main part of the program is written in assembly
language, you will need that ability to try and fix it.
BMW.BNY unpacks to 3 ProDOS files: BMW -- the actual program;
BMW.DEMO -- Applesoft demonstration program; and BMW.DOC -- text file of
documentation. Bill Fortenberry is the author of this program, which was
uploaded on January 25, 1987.
[*][*][*]
Joysticks and RF Modulators
'''''''''''''''''''''''''''
Jim Lubin uploaded several interesting files in late 1986. Among
them were two sets that described how to build an RF modulator and a
joystick. Each set contains a short text file listing the parts needed
and giving a brief description of the process, and a high-res graphics
screen showing the schematics. The graphics are very well done.
If you're reasonably proficient in working with hardware, you might
want to take a look at these. If you're not, don't bother.
The RF modulator files are RF.MODUALOR.SCH.BNY (file #1246) and
RF.MOD.BNY (file #1245). The first one is the graphics screen with
approximately 8820 bytes. The second one is the text file and is
approximately 3780 bytes.
The joystick files are JOYSTICK.BNY (file #1244) and JOYSTICK.TXT
(file # 1243). The first one is the graphics screen with approximately
8820 bytes. The second one is the text file and is approximately 3780
bytes.
According to Jim Lubin, this will tell you how to build your very own
joystick for your Apple II, II-Plus, IIe, or IIgs.
[*][*][*]
ANS.MACHINE.TXT File #1437 8820 bytes (text file)
'''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''
Do you hate answering machines? Then you might be interested in this
next text file. According to the long description...
"This file, written by Rod Serling of CYGNUS, discusses the
backlashes of buying an answering machine. Ever notice how the number of
calls to your house seem to drop drastically when you install that
answering machine? A humorous look at the common answering machine."
This is dry humor, not slapstick. You'll either agree with him or
wonder why you downloaded it.
[*][*][*]
KERMIT Reference Files
''''''''''''''''''''''
Do you use KERMIT? I found two files uploaded by Pharing in late
1987 that may be helpful to you. The first one, named VI.CMD.REF.TXT (file
#2660; approximately 15120 bytes), is described this way.
"Apple users with the KERMIT program will appreciate this extended
command reference when using VI on a UNIX/XENIX/ULTRIX system. Print out
this text file and keep it handy."
The second one, named VI.QUICKREF.TXT (file #2659; approximately 5040
bytes), is described this way: "This is for Apple users, using KERMIT on
UNIX/XENIX/ULTRIX systems; a quick reference card for vi for those who
don't have access to one."
With the increased interest in accessing the Internet, some may find
these files useful.
[*][*][*]
WOZ.HRTZFLD.TXT File #494 22680 bytes (text file)
'''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''
The oldest file that I could find in the A2 Library is an article
titled...
Reflections from Steve Wozniak and Andy Hertzfield
on Apple Inc., and Diverse Other Items,
During a Flying Visit Downunder for Breakfast
This is a report by John MacGibbon of a visit by Woz and Hertzfield
with the New Zealand Wellington Apple Users' Group in December 1985.
The greatest part of the article is given over to a discussion of
Steve Jobs at a time when Woz and Jobs were not on the best of terms.
Some of the other topics discussed include LCD monitors for the Apple
IIc, the AppleTalk network, AppleWorks for the MAC, Jam Session, the Mac's
future, esoteric uses for the Thunderscan, desktop publishing, and products
linking the Apple II and the Mac.
While most of this information is available in other places and is
dated, it is interesting to compare what they had to say in 1985 with what
has happened since then.
I wonder what became of files 1-493?
[*][*][*]
Next time we'll take a look at some more recent files, including some
that are GS-specific. Until then, happy downloading!
-- Charlie Hartley
[EOA]
[HAR]//////////////////////////////
HARDVIEW A2 /
/////////////////////////////////
discQuest GS
""""""""""""
by Jay Curtis
[J.CURTIS8]
>>> A VISIT WITH JAWAID BAZYAR <<<
""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""
A CD-ROM software interface for the IIgs seemed a pipe-dream to many
Apple II fans. However, Jawaid Basyar, author of GNO/ME, SwitchIt, and
discQuest, never had any doubts that it could be done.
I met Jawaid on a cold, snowy Saturday this past February at
Sequential Systems in Lafayette, Colorado, where he had promised me a
personal demonstration of Sequential's CD-ROM bundle and the discQuest
software that makes it all possible. Just a few miles away in Boulder
there was an all-important basketball game that same day between the
University of Colorado and my own alma mater, the University of Kansas.
The rest of my family was going to that game. However, for me basketball
could wait; I couldn't pass up the opportunity to meet Jawaid and see
discQuest.
"Someone called up here and wanted us to admit that we didn't have
CD-ROM capability," Jawaid said as he unlocked a door to Sequential's plant
and offices. He explained that after Sequential sent out their press
releases, many people couldn't believe it was true, and others seemed
openly hostile to the idea that the GS could actually possess such a
capability. Nonetheless, discQuest is a reality that not only works, but
it works well.
In a matter of minutes, Jawaid and I were sitting in front of a
RamFAST-equipped IIgs with CD-ROM drive, and he was running a beta color
version of discQuest. As reported in last month's GEnie, the color version
of discQuest is no longer in beta, and is now being sold with Sequential's
CD-ROM bundle as version 1.2.
Jawaid is a C programmer who does some GS development on a 486 PC
compatible and then ports his code to the GS using his UNIX-like
environment, GNO/ME. The discQuest software, however, was developed
strictly on a GS. According to Jawaid, DiscQuest makes use of a CD-ROM
format called "DiscPassage". To date, Sequential and Jawaid have
identified some 15 DiscPassage CD titles that will work with discQuest. No
doubt Jawaid's familiarity with the PC has helped him in his understanding
of DiscPassage, which was originally set up for use by PCs.
DiscPassage is primarily a hypertext format that includes 640x480,
256-color images. A bit of software sorcery is necessary to make a PC's
VGA color images fit the IIgs's 640x200 screen resolution. To do this,
Jawaid's discQuest "front-end" turns the GS screen into a mouse-controlled
window that slides around over a slightly magnified PC graphic image to
display portions of the image in color mode. Keyboard commands can then
shift between this color image and what Jawaid calls a "16-color gray
scale" display to provide full, single-page images of the graphics. Color
or gray-scale can be selected as defaults. The arrangement works smoothly
on an algorithm that Jawaid calls an "octree quantization method."
The CD-ROM search functions of discQuest are performed from a
standard GS screen display with menu bar. Searches can be performed by
author, keyword, subject and title. A "Related Items" selection is also
available from the menu bar. Jawaid feels that the search functions
benefit from a "very fast index built into DiscPassage". Subjectively,
searches seem to occur about as quickly with a RamFAST-equipped GS as those
performed on a CD-ROM drive attached to a MAC LC. Text displays are in
standard 640x200 GS black-on-white. The GS user can capture the text for
use in other documents, and graphic images can be printed to disk. Jawaid
explained that GS/OS system 5.04 or higher is necessary to use discQuest.
Sound is provided through the CD-ROM drive, itself, rather than the
GS. As the user accesses specific portions of a CD's text and graphics, an
audio track on the CD automatically plays the corresponding sound data
through a speaker jack on the drive. Sequential bundles a pair of small,
multimedia speakers with its drive, discQuest software and CD-ROMs. In
this writer's opinion, the speakers provided adequate sound and
amplification. A flyer from Sequential offered two bundles, both of which
include an RF card, single and double speed "Texel" CD-ROM drives,
multimedia speakers and a selection of four CDs.
The RamFAST SCSI card offers the widest compatibility with CD-ROM
drives. However, discQuest will also work with the Apple high speed SCSI
card. For those who missed last month's GEnieLamp A2, it was reported that
the RF card would work with Texel, NEC, and "virtually all" SCSI-2 CD-ROM
drives. The Apple high speed SCSI card would reportedly work with the
Apple CD-150, Apple CD-300 and some Apple SCSI-2 drives. Jawaid said that
Tulin was completing a driver for the Apple HS SCSI card which would allow
it to be used with NEC drives. However, if you own the Apple SCSI card, it
might be best to try before you buy. For those who already own a RamFAST
or Apple HS SCSI card, Sequential will sell the discQuest software, CDs and
drives separately. RamFAST owners may require a ROM upgrade to their cards
for compatibility.
Jawaid lamented that no encyclopedia CD was as yet available for the
IIgs. This was due mainly to the fact that none exists in "DiscPassage"
format. Nonetheless, Jawaid felt that an encyclopedia was "doable", and he
expressed confidence that an encyclopedia would eventually be available.
He said that DiscPassage is licensed to several different companies but
that none have yet come up with an encyclopedia. Meanwhile, at more than
600MB storage per disk, there's more than enough information available on
Sequential's collection of 15 CD-ROMs to keep users busy for some time.
Big Red Computer Club has announced through their publication
SCARLETT that they will also offer the Sequential CD-ROM bundles, discQuest
software and CDs for sale. A full list of the CD titles is available from
Sequential and another list of the titles was posted in last month's
GEnieLamp A2. Additional lists with complete descriptions of each CD are
available in the most recent issue of Scarlett and on GEnie's Apple II
RoundTable in Category 20, Topic 12. Check out these lists. They include
such things as a Darwin multimedia collection with complete text and
graphics from several of his works, the complete Monarch Notes, complete
collected works of William Shakespeare, U.S. history, world
history, and
countries of the world on CD.
Jawaid explained to me that he wrote discQuest for the same reason
that he wrote GNO/ME, simply because "People told me it couldn't be done."
He said, "People get to a point in the GS market where anything that
couldn't be done in the past becomes impossible. I've never let anything
like that bother me." He said a CD-ROM interface for the GS was always a
possibility once GS/OS system 5.04 (with its support of ISO 90 CD ROMs) was
released.
Personally, I'm glad that Jawaid Basyar enjoys this kind of
challenge. DiscQuest really works. I've already got a RamFAST card, and
CD-ROM drives are dropping in price faster than leaves in October. Now all
I need to do is save a few more of my pennies, and I'll be able to get my
own drive and discQuest software. I can hardly wait.
[EOA]
[PAL]//////////////////////////////
PAL NEWSLETTER /
/////////////////////////////////
April 1994 Report
"""""""""""""""""
by GEna Saikin
[A2.GENA]
The Planetary Apple League (PAL) is an online user group that meets
the third Sunday of every month. The purpose is to provide a place that
Apple II users can meet with their fellow users and gain knowledge and have
fun! Our meetings include the main speaker plus information about what's
happening in the Apple II world and in the Apple II RT on GEnie, as well as
guest articles -- some humorous, some serious.
WHAT'S NEW IN APPLEDOM? Soon to arrive -- early this summer, we hope! --
""""""""""""""""""""""" will be the long-awaited update to AppleWorks GS,
making it more function and System 6 compatible.
Several other new programs have already been out, and have been
enthusiastically embraced, among them:
o Spectrum, a desktop communications program for the Apple IIGS;
o AppleWorks 4, and update to the "workhorse" of the Apple II world;
o AnsiTERM 2.1, another communications program for the Apple II,
with a marvelous ANSI emulation.
A new "diskazine" has entered the Apple II world: PongLife, which
will contain informative articles, product reviews, and many graphics and
music -- done in HyperStudio format.
SPECIAL SPEAKERS - PONGLIFE Auri Rahimzadeh and Ben Johnson, co-editors
""""""""""""""""""""""""""" of PongLife were the guests at the March 20
meeting of PAL.
They told us about PongLife, and what to expect in future issues.
The first issue contained a reviews of several communication programs, and
an interview with accomplished programmer Tony Morales.
According to both Auri and Ben, issue #2 will have more graphics,
more music and a much better interface, plus more articles, more reviews,
interviews, and other goodies. To quote the editors, the new interface
will have the following features:
"Online Help in all areas, so if you ever wonder what an option does,
just click on Help Me! and it will list all buttons on the screen and tell
you what they do! A JUMP command, which will let you jump to any 'page' in
the issue, instantly. And the questionnaire will automatically ask you
questions then create the text file so you can print it out without
printing it out first, then filling it out..."
THE LIBRARY STACKS With over 22,000 files uploaded to our library, it is
"""""""""""""""""" exceptionally hard to choose which ones to put here,
as all are good. However, since in the interest of space, we DO have to
narrow it down. Below is what is known as the Dean's List -- a list of the
best files:
22225 MINITALK162.BXY Telecom program in a CDA!
+22222 AT.COMMAND.BXY Text file of modem commands.
22220 CDA.ADB.BXY CDA to view AppleWorks database files
22207 DISKOPEN.BXY Automatically open your Finder disk icons
22200 HCGSSTARTER.BXY HyperCard IIgs starter kit - A must-get!
+22183 A2.DOM.0294.BXY A2 Disk of the Month, February 1994
22181 DISKTIMER2.BXY Check the speed of your hard drive
+22171 A2AWLIBLONG.BXY AppleWorks database - lists all A2 files\
22151 FLI.VIEWER.BXY View IBM .FLI animations!\ling\
+22090 NF.BXY Nightfall II v1.0 - NICE astronomy program
22084 EAR1.1.BXY Hear sounds/music directly from Finder
22083 EYE1.1.BXY View graphics & more from Finder
22081 BLEACH.V1.1.BXY Makes Finder & now STANDARD FILE folders white!
GUEST COLUMN: THE CONTINUING SAGA OF MY APPLE II Well, after several
""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""" months of using my
Apple IIc on GEnie, I finally took the plunge and bought an Apple IIgs. I
would have never been able to do this without the support of all the good
guys and gals of A2. I have a basic "bare-bones" system with CPU,
keyboard, a monochrome monitor, and a 5.25 drive.
The "continuing" part of this saga is how everyone is really joining
in to help me find the other parts that I need to have a complete system.
Everyone is helping me hunt high and low and in the bulletin board for
equipment. It seems that I am finally on my way to becoming an Apple II
user of today!
But then, it happened. My quest for new equipment was postponed as I
had to refocus my attention on having my keyboard cleaned and repaired.
Folks, I know you have heard this a thousand times, but DON'T EAT AND DRINK
AROUND YOUR COMPUTER!!!! Yes, salsa. Not the thick chunky kind either.
The thin, runny, oozing kind. It makes a nice layer of sludge inside a
keyboard. Trust me. I know this for a fact.
Well, my Apple fate is now in the hands of Harold, A2's resident
hardware guru. I think if it weren't for all the people here in A2, I
would have defected to the world of PC by now. But, I am still here and
still working at it! Stay tuned for more details!
WHAT'S NEW IN A2? We continue to have nightly Real Time Conferences
""""""""""""""""" (RTCs) from 9 p.m. to 1 a.m. eastern time, and all
afternoon on Sundays (2 p.m. to 8 p.m. eastern). Our bulletin board is a
wealth of information for Apple II'ers, so feel free to browse -- and post!
And don't forget our library, filled with thousands of useful and fun
files.
There has been one sad note in A2. The son of Doug Pendleton, known
for his expertise in hardware, and a frequent visitor to A2, was shot and
killed in a drive-by shooting on March 19. We wish Doug and his family the
best, and grieve with him in his loss. Topic 18 in Category 2 has been
designated "In Memoriam" for Doug's son.
[EOA]
[AII]//////////////////////////////
APPLE II /
/////////////////////////////////
Apple II History, Part 20/21b
"""""""""""""""""""""""""""""
by Steven Weyhrich
[S.WEYHRICH]
>>> APPLE II HISTORY <<<
""""""""""""""""""""""""
Compiled and written by Steven Weyhrich
(C) Copyright 1994, Zonker Software
(PART 20/21b -- MAGAZINES, CONT)
[v1.2 :: 10 Feb 94]
INTRODUCTION We continue this month with review of the Apple II magazines
"""""""""""" that kept us using our favorite computer to its fullest,
including Computist, A+, inCider, Apple IIgs Buyer's Guide, II Computing,
Open-Apple/A2-Central, Compute!, and Apple Orchard. (As a reminder, I've
taken the original parts 20 and 21 of the History and combined them, added
some new info, and then split the result into three Lamp-sized pieces.)
Computist (1981-Present) This magazine began originally back in 1981 with
"""""""""""""""""""""""" the name "HardCore Computing". A flier mailed
out during 1982 gave this description of the magazine: "HARDCORE COMPUTING,
a small magazine in Tacoma, Washington, warns pirates about the latest
technology that companies are using against them. HARDCORE is a magazine
dedicated to the Apple-user. There are a lot of computer magazines, but
HARDCORE prints the information that other magazines refuse to print,
information vital to you as a computer user."<1> By 1983 it was split into
two separate publications: "HARDCORE Computist" (devoted to "kracking";
see below), and "CORE" (devoted to general Apple II topics). CORE was to
have been published four times a year, but was dropped after only a few
issues. The first issues of CORE, during 1983, covered graphics,
utilities, and games. The third quarterly issue was to have been about
databases, but the games topic was substituted and the database topic never
appeared in print.<1>,<2>,<3>
For the first four issues, the name "HARDCORE" dominated the title
page. Beginning with issue #5, "Hardcore" appeared in smaller type, with
"COMPUTIST" taking over a dominating position on the cover. By issue #27,
the name "Hardcore" was dropped completely from the cover. Although it
began as a glossy format magazine, this was discontinued with issue #45 in
1987, and with issue #66 in 1989 they changed to a tabloid format. The
publishers claim that one reason for the name change to simply "Computist"
stemmed from a complaint sent in by a young subscriber whose mother was
throwing out the magazine before he got it, because she thought it
contained pornographic materials!<1>
"Computist" was, admittedly, in the business of teaching users how to
"strip". But this did not refer to X-rated topics, but the ability to
strip the copy-protection from commercial software. This technique, known
as "kracking", was a popular pastime for some software hackers of the day.
Using powerful programs such as Locksmith and Copy II Plus, Computist gave
specifics on how to make a disk work as easily as a standard Apple DOS
disk.<3> The combination of ProDOS and un-protected commercial programs
took much of the wind out of Computist's sails, since the special help
needed to copy disks was no longer necessary. There were, of course, those
who used the techniques printed in Computist to "pirate" programs
(duplicate and distribute protected software), but many used it to
standardize the modified DOS so that the programs could be used with RAM
disks, large floppies, and hard disks.<1>
Though it is still being printed, "Computist" is much different than
it was in its early days. It is no longer Apple II-specific, and has
expanded to also cover the Macintosh and IBM. Its publishing schedule has
also become rather irregular. Each new subscription still comes with a
tutorial by Wes Felty on disk de-protection and the use of a program called
"Super IOB".<4>
A+ (1983-1989) Ziff-Davis, who published other computer magazines such as
"""""""""""""" Creative Computing, began publishing A+ in January 1983.
This new Apple II magazine carried primarily hardware and software reviews
and consumer-oriented articles. It was somewhat similar to today's
inCider/A+ in terms of being a general interest Apple II magazine as
opposed to the programming slant of Nibble (A+ had virtually no type-in
programs).<5> During the time that both A+ and inCider were being
published there continued a friendly rivalry between the two.
One of the features unique to A+ was a column called "Product
All-Stars", a classified-style listing of the current popular software and
hardware similar to the old "Fastalk" column in Softalk magazine.
During the latter part of A+'s publishing run, Gary Little became its
editor. He had previously written books about the Apple IIe, IIc, IIgs,
and their disk operating systems, and so was very qualified to know the
computer and its uses. He replaced Lisa Raleigh, who left to take a job
with Apple Computer. Not long after, and just prior to the magazine's
merger with inCider, Gary Little also was hired away by Apple. It was felt
by some subscribers that Little's short stint with A+ significantly
improved the magazine, and they were saddened to see him go.
When Creative Computing had ceased publication in 1985, subscribers
found their remaining issues were switched over to A+ Magazine by
Ziff-Davis. In 1989, the publisher chose to discontinue A+, and allowed it
to merge with inCider magazine.
inCider (1983-1993) This magazine was originally begun by Wayne Green,
""""""""""""""""""" who had been involved in technical magazines for many
years. As mentioned above, it was not a programming magazine, though it
carried columns that answered readers' questions about programming as well
as other Apple II questions. The main direction that it has seemed to take
over the years was in helping advertise available software and hardware,
and carry articles that helped Apple II users learn to use the software
they owned. These columns included "AppleWorks In Action" by Ruth Witkin;
"Press Room" by Cynthia Field (which detailed ways to do desktop publishing
with Print Shop, Publish-It!, AppleWorks GS, and GraphicWriter); "Bridging
The Gap" by Gregg Keizer (discussing ways to help the Apple II and
Macintosh work peaceably together); "Apple IIgs Basics" by Joe Abernathy
(highlighting programming on the IIgs); and "Apple Clinic" (questions and
answers about using Apple IIs).
In 1989 inCider merged with A+ Magazine, as mentioned above, and in
December 1990 the editors chose to broaden their audience by adding
coverage of the Macintosh computer to their Apple II features. This was a
highly unpopular move with many Apple II loyalists, who had already had
quite enough of Apple Computer telling them to "move up" to a Mac.
"Polluting" their Apple II publication with this better-loved younger
sibling infuriated many, and they vowed to let their subscriptions expire.
However, at this point in time there were few national Apple II-specific
publications remaining, and no others that appeared on the magazine racks
at large newsstands (since Nibble had by then gone to mail-only
distribution to subscribers). Apparently inCider's distributing company,
A+ Publishing, felt that they couldn't survive without making some attempt
to broaden their customer base, and they chose this as what they felt was
their best defense in a shrinking market. For several months afterward,
the magazine got just a little bit smaller in size, eventually going from a
square-bound back to a stapled format. This shrinkage stabilized in early
to mid 1992, and by late that year, inCider/A+ was still in business.
However, rumors began to surface in October 1992 about plans by
inCider to change to a format that would focus almost entirely on the
Macintosh, with significantly less attention paid to the Apple II.<11>
Initially, it was said that inCider/A+ would cease under that name with the
January 1993 issue, and would reappear as just "A+" in February 1993.
Reasons cited at the time were declining advertising revenue, and they
hoped that by changing themselves to deal with the Macintosh in more detail
(particularly from the point of view of educators), they could continue to
be printed.
Cameron Crotty, Associate Editor of inCider/A+, stated online in the
A2 Roundtable on GEnie during October, "inCider/A+ is going primarily
Macintosh. The shift will occur in February and will probably include a
name change (not finalized). WE WILL CONTINUE TO COVER THE APPLE II FOR AS
LONG AS IT REMAINS FEASIBLE. I cannot say (because I do not know) whether
the coverage would be mixed in or in a separate section (input would be
appreciated). With the shift in focus, we are also trying to enlarge the
book..."
He also said, "Right now, inCider/A+ has two choices: 1) stay with the
Apple II and be dead in 6-8 months or 2) shift to the Mac and try to
survive. We believe that there is a low-end Mac niche at least as large as
our current circulation (perhaps larger), and that most of our readers (75%
or more) will maintain their subscriptions (numbers from editorial surveys
& such). We also believe that we can attract the advertising we need to
survive by shifting to the Mac. We may be wrong. We may be dead in 6-8
months anyway. But a change has to be made. We cannot survive on our
current course."
There was, of course, considerable discussion of this planned move on
the A2 Roundtable on GEnie. Some advertisers, like Quality Computers,
threatened to withdraw their advertising ENTIRELY, if such a move took
place. Perhaps it was because of statements like this, or perhaps Crotty
spoke out without authority to do so. In any case, there was considerable
back-peddling on the announcement that began to appear. Joe Kohn, who had
been writing a column in inCider/A+ called "Shareware Solutions" for some
time, stated that he had been told that there had as yet been no CORPORATE
decision to make any changes, and previous statements should be
disregarded.<12>
inCider/A+'s new Editor-In-Chief, William Kennedy, wrote an editorial
for the February 1993 issue of the magazine. In his editorial, he made
great pains to point out that the rumors that had been flying about were
never accurate from the beginning. Yes, with the March 1993 issue they had
plans to redesign the layout of the magazine, and probably put the Mac
stuff in a separate section, but he stated firmly that it would remain
oriented to the Apple II.<13>
However, it was eventually clear that IDG Communications, the company
that printed the magazine for A+ Publishing, was not going to continue to
produce what they viewed as a losing venture. Quality Computers, which had
decided by early 1993 to start their own Apple II magazine, arranged to
take over inCider/A+'s remaining subscription base and fulfill it with
their publication. inCider/A+ ceased publication with the July 1993 issue,
but ended it as abruptly as did Softalk, with no announcement to
subscribers to make them aware of the change until Quality Computers sent a
letter discussing it. IDG then planned to begin a new Macintosh
publication called Mac Computing, utilizing most of the old inCider/A+
staff. However, after the first issue was produced and distributed, IDG
changed their minds and terminated the project.<14>
If the editors of inCider/A+ had chosen to maintain their focus on the
Apple II, and had not taken the unpopular move of becoming a combination
Apple II/Macintosh publication, perhaps they would have survived longer.
Perhaps things would have still turned out as they did, even if they HAD
remained true to their original topic. In any case, with the disappearance
of inCider/A+, so also ended the era of newsstand Apple II magazines.
Apple IIgs Buyer's Guide (1985-1990) This magazine began originally under
"""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""" the name, "The Apple II Review" in
the fall of 1985. After about five issues the name was changed to "The
Apple IIgs Buyers Guide". The changed magazine began in the Fall of 1987,
and it ceased publication in the Fall of 1990. It was published in a high
gloss format, and over half of each issue was devoted to a listing of
available IIgs software/hardware.<6>
II Computing (1985-1987) This magazine published from October/November
"""""""""""""""""""""""" 1985 until February/March 1987. Trying to
appeal to a variety of readers from beginners to experienced Apple II
users, it printed program listings (including at one time listings made for
the Cauzin strip reader), reviews, and general articles. It covered items
in more depth than inCider, but less than Call-A.P.P.L.E. or Nibble,
offering a combination of both type-in programs and general articles. It
had available a companion disk available containing the programs in the
magazine.<5>,<7>
Open-Apple / A2-Central (1985-Present) As mentioned above, Tom Weishaar
"""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""" was a writer of Softalk's
"DOSTalk" column beginning in April 1983, after Bert Kersey retired from
the position. He continued with it until Softalk went bankrupt after the
August 1984 issue. An Apple II user since 1980, and author of two programs
sold by Beagle Bros (Frame-Up, a graphics slide-show displayer, and
ProntoDOS, an enhanced version of DOS 3.3), Weishaar had previous
experience with writing newsletters from his days with the Commodity News
Service in Kansas City. After Softalk folded, he realized that there was
still a market for a technical publication for the Apple II that also could
be helpful for the beginning user. In January 1985 he began with a
newsletter he called Open-Apple, which continued where "DOSTalk" left off.
The initial issue (Volume 1, No. 0) included readers' letters (some left
over from DOSTalk, but some intentionally phony, with return addresses like
the Okefenokee Swamp), information about Applesoft and Logo, and one
response to a reader asking how to create a disk that would boot WITHOUT
DOS 3.3. At $24 for a monthly eight page newsletter, its subscribing cost
was as much as full-sized magazines of the day. However, Open-Apple did
not carry any advertising, and the amount of useful information printed
each month made it worth the expense.<8>
As the newsletter matured over the years, the coverage of Logo
disappeared, and Applesoft dwindled as well, reflecting changes in reader
interests. During the late 1980s, coverage of AppleWorks was heavy, and
nearly every issue would contain some way to patch the program to customize
it for a certain function. Coverage of the IIgs was also prominent, and
Weishaar and his various editors have struggled to find the balance between
articles that dealt with the new technology without ignoring the sizable
number of readers who still owned the older 8-bit Apple IIs.
In December 1988, the name of the newsletter was changed to
A2-Central. Several reasons were given for the change. One was similar to
the reason given by A.P.P.L.E. for changing its name to TechAlliance; Apple
Computer was in the habit of threatening legal infringement against those
who used "their" name without permission (or at least licensing it).
Another was to indicate philosophically what was the purpose of the
magazine: To be the center of the Apple II universe, and a central source
of information and programming resources. Earlier in the year, Weishaar
had also agreed to be the manager of the Apple II roundtables on the online
service GEnie. This extended the information available to him for his
publication, as well as the ability for more prompt exchange of information
for his readers. In fact, there was a great similarity between the
conversations that took place on GEnie, in the reader questions section of
A2-Central, and the old "Open Discussion" part of Softalk magazine. New
users could ask "how do I get XYZ program to run with my ABC printer?", and
experienced users could help them, either online or in a letter written to
A2-Central.
Because the newsletter included international readers as well, and
these people had difficulty in getting their hands on certain Apple
II-related products or books, a catalog was added to the A2-Central line-up
in early 1989. This initially carried books, but quickly expanded to
include software and hardware. February 1989 also saw the first issue of
A2-Central-On-Disk, which included a text file of the current month's
newsletter, as well as an assortment of the latest shareware and freeware
programs for the Apple II. At times it also contained text files with
useful information (such as updates to the official Apple II tech notes).
September 1989 saw a change in editors for A2-Central. After nearly
five years of working constantly on it, Weishaar turned over the reins for
the month-to-month work to Dennis Doms, and moved himself to the position
of publisher. There was little change in the content or style of the
newsletter (since Weishaar was still running the show), but it freed him to
recover from the burnout of meeting a monthly deadline, and to work more on
managing the company itself. One of the new items that appeared in
December 1989 was a disk-based publication called Stack-Central (later
changed to Studio City). What was unique about this bi-monthly product was
that it was based on HyperStudio, the graphics, sound, and text
manipulation program from Roger Wagner Publishing. As such, it could be
read in a "non-linear" fashion; that is, you didn't have to start at the
beginning and read through until you got to the end. You could jump from
one topic to another, or thread through topics in a fashion that could not
be duplicated in a printed publication.
More new disk-based products appeared from A2-Central in 1990. August
1990 saw the start of TimeOut-Central, devoted to AppleWorks and the
TimeOut series of enhancements distributed by Beagle Bros. It was also a
bi-monthly publication, and was originally edited by Richard Marchiafava,
who had previously written a column called "AppleWorks Advisor" for
user-group newsletters. In March 1991 the editorship was transferred to
Randy Brandt, the Beagle Bros programmer who had written many of the
TimeOut applications, as well as several for his own small software
company.
8/16-Central, specializing in programming for both 8-bit Apple IIs and
the IIgs, began in December 1990. It was a continuation of a short-lived
magazine called 8/16, published by Ross Lambert's Ariel Publishing Co.,
which itself was preceded by several separate newsletters that specialized
in Applesoft or assembly language or other programming for the Apple II
series. 8/16-Central was a monthly disk, but didn't keep enough
subscribers to stay afloat. In October 1991 it was discontinued, and the
remaining subscriptions were folded over into GS+ Magazine. Later, the
contents of the entire run of 8/16-Central were upload as individual file
archives to A2Pro on the same exclusive basis as were the Apple Assembly
Line files previously mentioned.
Weishaar's organization began to carry Hyperbole in March 1991.
Produced by an outside source, it was also a HyperStudio-based disk
publication, but its focus was not on making HyperStudio stacks, but on
actually USING the program to produce a literary form that had never been
done before. It consisted of poetry, art, and sounds, combined together in
a way that could not be presented in printed form. For example, one series
of stories that appeared early on in Hyperbole involved a medieval theme,
with the story told from various points of view, depending on which picture
was selected on the "door" that introduced the story. To get the entire
story required going back to the main door and selecting a different
picture. Sound and graphics were also integrated into articles that
appeared in this disk-magazine.
Finally, Script-Central began in June 1991. This was similar to
Stack-Central, but was dedicated to HyperCard IIgs. It featured some
animated sequences that introduced it, and the user could select the
articles to read by pointing to doors in the Stack-Central "building" on
the screen, and follow hallways to other articles (sort of like combining a
magazine and a video game).
A2-Central itself has undergone few changes in its life. Its focus
has shifted slightly to keeping abreast of the newest changes in the Apple
II world (in terms of products and events that affect that computer), where
previously it spent a lot of time talking about various specific products
(such as AppleWorks, HyperStudio, etc.) The spin-off disk publications
that were started have filled the niche needed to continue user-support of
those Apple II products. The editorship has changed a couple of further
times as well; Jay Jennings briefly took the place of Dennis Doms as editor
in November 1991, before going to work for Softdisk. Ellen Rosenberg began
editorship after that, and made the change of accepting feature articles
from outside authors for the first time since A2-Central began publication.
When Nibble magazine folded in 1992, A2-Central took over their
subscription list, filling out remaining issues for those people. It was
hoped that many of those people would see enough value in A2-Central to
renew when the time came, but not enough readers did so. Weishaar started
up a new paper newsletter called Fishhead's Children, intended to be a
resource for those who had to bridge themselves among the Apple II,
Macintosh, and MS-DOS computers. However, the new publication did not have
enough subscribers to maintain a positive cash-flow, and in June 1993 a
letter was sent out to both Fishhead's Children and A2-Central subscribers:
Dear Subscriber,
Dominoes are falling at Resource Central and you've been
hit.
As the Apple II nears the end of its life-cycle, renewals
to our flagship publication, the paper version of A2-Central,
have fallen to less than 20 per cent. That domino has been
teetering ever since we took over Nibble's subscribers a year
ago.
We had hoped to stabilize the situation with a new
publications, Fishhead's Children, which would take us into new
territory. Unfortunately, that publication hasn't been the
success we had hoped it would be. For each $100 we've spent
trying to obtain new subscribers, we've taken in less than $10.
We can no longer carry this expense without putting our entire
company in jeopardy, so that domino has ceased publication and
fallen.
Without a successful Fishhead's Children, there's nothing
to pay the even-increasing bills the paper version of A2-Central
is running up. A2-Central-On-Disk continues to have strong
renewals, as do our other disk publications, but they're not big
enough to continue supporting our paper publications. It all
means that I have no choice but to cease publication of the paper
version of A2-Central as well.
The letter went on to explain that the value of remaining
subscriptions (not counting the old Nibble people) would be credited to the
subscriber's account, and could be refunded or applied to another product
sold by Resource Central. A2-Central-On-Disk would continue to be produced
as it had before; it cost much less to duplicate and mail disks than it did
to print and mail paper newsletters. This would also be the place where
the newsletter A2-Central would continue to appear (in a digital, rather
than in a paper format).
The January 1994 issue of A2-Central-On-Disk was renamed to simply
"A2-Central". Dean Esmay, who had been editing the disk publication from
its beginning, went on to work with Softdisk in Louisiana, and newcomer
John Peters came on as editor. The appearance of the text was dressed up
in a manner similar to that used in the GEnieLamp online newsletters, which
Peters had been overseeing for several years. Not himself an Apple II user
at the time when Weishaar signed him up, Peters gathered several veteran
Apple II writers to assist in producing the text of the newsletter each
month, and in collecting the freeware and shareware files that were
included with each issue. At this time my own independent monthly news
compilation, the A2 News Digest, became exclusively a part of A2-Central.
(The Digest had previously been available on GEnie as source material for
Apple user group newsletters.) Doug Cuff, who was editor of the A2 edition
of GEnieLamp and a contributing editor for II Alive, was also tapped to
write articles for A2-Central. Peters continued the practice started by
Ellen Rosenberg of soliciting articles written by other authors not
routinely associated with A2-Central.
Peters was also commissioned to coordinate work on disk publications
for the Macintosh (called Macrocosm), and IBM and compatible computers
(Solid Windows and Config.Sys, for the Windows and MS-DOS user,
respectively).
The disk newsletter, catalog, and other disk publications continue
today under the corporate umbrella of Resource Central, Inc., which also
has sponsored annual summer conferences since 1989. These conferences have
brought together some of the top Apple II developers in the country for two
days of classes and workshops on many topics. Held in Kansas City in July
or August, it has been nicknamed "Kansasfest", since it contains
AppleFest-like activities.
Weishaar's interest in and dedication to the Apple II has been much
appreciated; he was chosen as a recipient of the Apple II Individual
Achievement Aware for 1991. His philosophy was summed up in a statement
made in a printing of the A2-Central catalog in the Fall of 1990, where he
wrote: "The significant thing about the Apple II has always been the
community of people that has sprung up around the machine, teaching other
people how to use it, designing hard and software for it, exposing its
inner flesh to the light of day, and USING it to manage businesses, run
church groups, educate children, and turn out prosperous and happy human
beings."<9>
Compute! "Compute!" was a hybrid magazine that catered primarily to the
"""""""" Commodore 64 computer. It would usually feature games that had
versions written for several different computers, including the Apple II.
In the late 1980s it began having special issues dedicated to some of the
different platforms featured in the main magazine, and there were a few
issues called "Apple Applications" for the Apple II.
Apple Orchard Apple Orchard was published by the International Apple Corp
""""""""""""" for about several years. It was aimed primarily at user
groups, and was billed as a user's group user's group. Contents of early
issues were a compendium of articles from various user group
newsletters.<3>
[*][*][*]
NEXT INSTALLMENT: Magazines, cont.
""""""""""""""""
NOTES
"""""
<1> Hood, Hugh. GEnie, A2 ROUNDTABLE, Oct 1991, Category 2, Topic 16.
<2> Wessel, Hank. GEnie, A2 ROUNDTABLE, Oct 1991, Category 2, Topic
16.
<3> Vanderpool, Tom. GEnie, A2 ROUNDTABLE, Oct 1991, Category 2,
Topic 16.
<4> Felty, Wes. GEnie, A2 ROUNDTABLE, Oct 1991, Category 2, Topic 16.
<5> McIntosh, Ross. GEnie, A2 ROUNDTABLE, Oct 1991, Mar 1992,
Category 2, Topic 16.
<6> Disbrow, Steven. "Old Timers: Magazines", 1992 A2 CENTRAL SUMMER
CONFERENCE (tapes), July 1992.
<7> Schack, Robert. GEnie, A2 ROUNDTABLE, Oct 1991, Category 2, Topic
16.
<8> Weyhrich, Steven. "MACH Interview: Tom Weishaar", M.A.C.H. NEWS,
Jul 1991, pp. 6-11.
<9> Weishaar, Tom. -----, A2-CENTRAL CATALOG, Fall 1990, p. 2.
<10> -----. "The History of Softdisk: Part 1", SOFT TALK (company
newsletter), Oct 1987.
<11> Weyhrich, Steven. "inCider Twists The Knife", A2 NEWS DIGEST,
Oct 1992.
<12> Weyhrich, Steven. "More On The Changes At inCider ...", A2 NEWS
DIGEST, Nov 1992.
<13> Weyhrich, Steven. "inCider Removes The Knife", A2 NEWS DIGEST,
Dec 1992.
<14> Weyhrich, Steven. "inCider: R.I.P.", A2 NEWS DIGEST, Jun 1992.
//////////////////////////////////////// GEnie_QWIK_QUOTE ////
/ /
/ This is one of those subjects where even the details of /
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/ /
////////////////////////////////////////// H.PENDLETON2 ////
[EOA]
[LOG]//////////////////////////////
LOG OFF /
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