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GEnieLamp Apple II - Vol.4, Issue 38
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|| |||||| || || |||||| RoundTable
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|| |||||| |||||||| |||||| RESOURCE!
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~ WELCOME TO GEnieLamp APPLE II! ~
""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""
~ APPLEWORKS ANNEX: AppleWorks 5 Takes on the (Mac) Competition
~ FOCUS ON...: The Internet, Australia, and the Apple II
~ PROFILES: Tom Zuchowski ~
~ THE TREASURE HUNT: Top 20 Eamon Adventures ~
~ HOT NEWS, HOT FILES, HOT MESSAGES ~
\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\////////////////////////////////////
GEnieLamp Apple II ~ A T/TalkNET Publication ~ Vol.4, Issue 38
""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""
Publisher................................................John F. Peters
Editor...................................................Douglas Cuff
\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\////////////////////////////////////
~ GEnieLamp IBM ~ GEnieLamp ST ~ GEnieLamp PowerPC ~
~ GEnieLamp A2Pro ~ GEnieLamp Macintosh ~ GEnieLamp TX2 ~
~ GEnieLamp Windows ~ GEnieLamp A2 ~ LiveWire (ASCII) ~
~ Member Of The Digital Publishing Association ~
GE Mail: GENIELAMP Internet: genielamp@genie.com
////////////////////////////////////\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\
>>> WHAT'S HAPPENING IN THE APPLE II ROUNDTABLE? <<<
""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""
~ May 1, 1995 ~
FROM MY DESKTOP ......... [FRM] FROM MY MAILBOX ......... [MAI]
Notes From The Editor. Notes To The Editor.
HEY MISTER POSTMAN ...... [HEY] HUMOR ONLINE ............ [HUM]
Is That A Letter For Me? Is That Funny or Scary?
FOCUS ON... ............. [FOC] APPLEWORKS ANNEX ........ [ANX]
The Internet. In This Corner, AppleWorks 5.
ASCII ART GALLERY ....... [ASA] PROFILES ................ [PRO]
Menagerie. Who's Who: Tom Zuchowski.
THE TREASURE HUNT ....... [HUN] LOG OFF ................. [LOG]
Best 20 Eamon Adventures. GEnieLamp Information.
[IDX]"""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""
READING GEnieLamp GEnieLamp has incorporated a unique indexing system to
""""""""""""""""" 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 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. GEnie's non-prime time connect rate is $3.00. To sign up for
GEnie service, call (with modem) 1-800-638-8369 in the USA or
1-800-387-8330 in Canada. 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 $50.00 worth of credit. Want more? Your first month charge of
$8.95 will be waived! Now there are no excuses!
*** GET INTO THE LAMP! ***
"""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""
//////////////////////////////////////// GEnie_QWIK_QUOTE ////
/ "IIGS is a nice machine; I have one but we have to be /
/ realistic. When is the last time you went into a store /
/ and found any software for it?" /
/ /
/ "Yesterday!!!" /
//////////////////////////////////// S.HEWES & R.PASOLD ////
[EOA]
[FRM]//////////////////////////////
FROM MY DESKTOP /
/////////////////////////////////
Notes From The Editor
"""""""""""""""""""""
by Douglas Cuff
[EDITOR.A2]
I don't own many hats, but I sure wear a lot of them. The hats are
of course metaphorical, and are just my roundabout way of announcing that
I've been appointed editor of II Alive magazine, which is published by
Quality Computers. When I started my career as editor, I was working in
print, and it's nice to in print again. That doesn't mean I'll be giving
up my career as videotext editor, though. You're stuck with me for another
month at least, and for as long as I can continue to juggle both II Alive
and GEnieLamp A2.
However, this month the double duties mean that my editorial is a
little "abbreviated" (which I'm informed is the politically correct term
for "short").
[*][*][*]
It looks as though KansasFest 1996 is a go! I've omitted all
messages that give sign-up info from this issue of GEnieLamp A2, though,
because I understand that the messages posted to the A2 RoundTable are no
longer accurate (partly because the organizers need a minimum number of
participants). If you're interested in paying the $200 attendance fee, and
can get to Kansas City this July 27-29, just drop me a line and I'll
forward your message to the organizers.
[*][*][*]
Did you know that you can earn free time on GEnie by writing for
GEnieLamp A2? Each article accepted for publications gets you a credit for
three non-prime time hours!
Of course, that leaves me a little puzzled about how to pay Kevin
Noonan this month. Kevin's from Australia, and can't afford a GEnie
account, but he's written an article about the Internet in Australia for
us. At least I know how to pay Jay Curtis for his continuing AppleWorks 5
series....
-- Doug Cuff
GEnie Mail: EDITOR.A2 Internet: editor.a2@genie.com
__________________________________________________________
| |
| REPRINTING GEnieLamp |
| |
| If you want to reprint any part of GEnieLamp, or |
| post it to a bulletin board, please see the very end |
| of this file for instructions and limitations. |
|__________________________________________________________|
ASCII ART BEGINS
_____ ______ _ _ ___ ___
/ ____| ____| (_) | | / _ \|__ \
| | __| |__ _ __ _ ___| | __ _ _ __ ___ _ __ | |_| | ) |
| | |_ | __| | '_ \| |/ _ \ | / _` | '_ ` _ \| '_ \ | _ | / /
| |__| | |____| | | | | __/ |___| (_| | | | | | | |_) | | | | |/ /_
\_____|______|_| |_|_|\___|______\__,_|_| |_| |_| .__/ |_| |_|____|
| |
|_|
ASCII ART ENDS
[EOA]
[MAI]//////////////////////////////
FROM MY MAILBOX /
/////////////////////////////////
Notes To The Editor
"""""""""""""""""""
>>> BOOK ANNOUNCEMENT--"THINKING ABOUT ONLINE COMMUNICATIONS" <<<
"""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""
For the past three years I've been writing a GEnieLamp column titled
"Thinking About Online Communications." The aim of this column has been to
reflect upon the nature of the online experience by taking a closer look at
the social and psychological aspects of online communication.
E-mail feedback about these essays has been far more positive than I
expected. Several loyal readers have recently suggested that I compile an
anthology of the essays.
With the third anniversary of GEnieLamp A2 occurring last month, I
felt the time was ripe to act on these suggestions. In the past two weeks,
I've collected together about twenty five of these essays into a anthology,
and am in the process of locating an publisher.
GEnieLamp readers interested in seeing excerpts from this book can
find them in file number 3646 in the Digipub library. In assembling these
excerpts from the book, I've tried to collect the most central passages
from each of the essays in the book.
In a way, the excerpts contain virtually all the core ideas of the
book. The rest of the book just elaborates upon these core ideas.
Thanks, again, to all those who've sent encouraging feedback about
this column. Your e-mail has served as vital sustenance to the creative
process.
Cheers,
- Phil Shapiro
[GEnie: p.shapiro1]
[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 <<<
""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""
[*] CAT3, TOP25 ................... NinjaForce Mega demo
[*] CAT8, TOP24 & CAT12, TOP 13 ... PostScript breakthroughs
[*] CAT10, TOP10 .................. GEnie's new Internet service
[*] CAT11, TOP16 .................. IOMEGA Zip drives
[*] CAT17, TOP20 .................. AppleWorks 5 and Phoenix II
[*] CAT42, TOP29 .................. Bug in AW4/5 spelling checker?
>>> A2 POT-POURRI <<<
"""""""""""""""""""""
TWO "NEW" COMPANIES I called Apple Computer the other day and learned of
""""""""""""""""""" two mail order companies that specialize in Apple II
software which I had never heard of before.
Perhaps these would be of use to someone. I have requested
catalogs/flyers and when I received them, I'll post some additional
information.
B & R (in San Diego)
(619) 225-8281
CCV Software (somewhere on the East Coast)
(800) 843-5576
They specialize in educational products. Their main customers
are schools but they will sell to individuals.
(E.WAGNER10, CAT15, TOP9, MSG:3/M645;1)
REPORTS OF HIS DEMISE... Hello there! Long time no type. This is Bill
"""""""""""""""""""""""" Tudor (formerly W.TUDOR here on GEnie). I'll be
a guest over in A2Pro tonight (hence this account). I have not read all
the previous posts, but I read about 20-30 of them.
(1) I left GEnie because I am working on a non-Apple IIgs project
that requires large file xfers at least 4 times a week. On GEnie I was
limited to 2400 bd, on AOL I use 14400 for <$10/month, so, I bought a new
modem and jumped ship. I do miss the traffic over here on GEnie. Of
course, if GEnie did give me 14400 (from Albany, NY) for $10/month, I'd be
right back here! (Yes, I did write and tell them this).
(2) I hardly get any e-mail anymore! My address is "WTudor@aol.com".
Note the lack of a "period" after the "w". It's just as easy to e-mail me
as before... just send to "WTudor@aol.com@inet#" (I think). I reply back by
sending to XXXX@genie.geis.com. Easy as that.
(3) Sorry I can't be on the BBS a here and in A2Pro anymore. I will
talk via email, though, if you have any problems/questions with any of my
stuff.
Thanks,
Bill Tudor
[WTudor@aol.com]
(A2U.PROF2, CAT13, TOP23, MSG:54/M645;1)
HANGING VS. CRASHING This is a much different problem than "crashing".
"""""""""""""""""""" I'd like to take a moment to suggest everyone keep
the following definitions handy:
CRASH = Computer went "bonk". The mouse pointer still moves, but
clicking or typing doesn't do anything.
HANG/INFINITE LOOP = No "bonk". The mouse pointer still moves, but
clicking or typing doesn't do anything.
HANG/IN THE WEEDS = No "bonk". The mouse pointer is frozen (won't
move). In some cases the speaker sometimes "clicks", or the screen fills
with lovely colors.
OTHER PROBLEM = The computer is still working, but the program isn't
behaving as you expected it to.
These definitions are helpful to know because saying "crash" or
"hang" sends me off in one direction. For example, there isn't any known
cause for Express v2 to crash or hang, so I'll be hunting for/suggesting
other causes.
But saying, "Whenever I print something with AWGS, Express prints
part of the page then starts printing garbage" gets me right on your
specific problem. :)
NOTE: I'm not "scolding" anyone; I'm just trying to help everyone get
better service from all us software publishers! :)
Back to the problem at hand....
[text omitted]
Thanks,
--Dave
(SEVENHILLS, CAT43, TOP10, MSG:284/M645;1)
>>>>> If 'crash' won't do, how about FREEZES
"""""
FREEZES = No "bonk". Mouse doesn't move, hitting any key or
combination of keys does nothing. Everything is frozen. Only shutting off
the computer will get everything up and running again.
This is what usually happens to me regardless of what program I am
using.
Ron
(RON.ROYER, CAT43, TOP10, MSG:286/M645;1)
AUDIOZAP AND .AU FORMAT SOUNDS ON THE IIGS > I don't know of any GS
"""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""" > programs that can
> play/convert .au sounds.
All it takes is a (ahem) shareware solution....
.Au files are sound files that were created on Sun work stations. I
believe that they are very closely related to what we in the GS world would
call "raw binary sounds." I'm also pretty sure that any GS sound player
will play them back, but as noted, they won't sound very good.
Enter the IIGS sound man, Ian Schmidt, and his AudioZap.
AudioZap is a $20 shareware program. When you pay Ian your fee, he
will mail you a different version - AudioZap v2 - that does an excellent
job of playing back and/or converting .au sound files, as well as just
about every other foreign file format sound you'll ever encounter on the
net.
I did an audio test a few months back with some .wav sound files.
Every GS sound program I tried did play the sounds, but it was almost like
listening to old scratchy records. Using AudioZap v2, the sounds were CD
quality.
It's just another case of having the right tool to do the job.
Ian recently moved. I'll drop him an e-mail to find out his current
address.
Joe (Shareware Solutions r Us) Kohn
(JOE.KOHN, CAT10, TOP10, MSG:220/M645;1)
>>>>> I thought I heard that Ian was no longer taking shareware payments
""""" for AudioZap. It could be nothing more than faulty memory on my
part, so please let me know if this is not the case.
- Tony Ward
(A2.TONY, CAT6, TOP7, MSG:63/M645;1)
<<<<< Oh, oh
"""""
I didn't remember in which category we'd been discussing AudioZap, so
I followed up on it in Cat 28/Top 4.
Ian Schmidt wrote to me the other day and says that once his current
work project is completed, he's going to re-release AudioZap v2 as
freeware.
Joe
(JOE.KOHN, CAT6, TOP7, MSG:73/M645;1)
LI'L LEAK IN BALLOON I was using Balloon to unshrink some files, and
"""""""""""""""""""" discovered that if I had a file that was already
existing, and selected "skip" the skipped file was deleted. I tried it
several times with the same result. Choosing to overwrite caused no
problems, but skipping would delete the skipped file every time. If you
unshrink a file, then unshrink it a second time and answer "skip" to each
report of an already existing file, then delete the original archive, you
will find you have nothing left and will have to re-download the archive.
If you just cancel, all is well, also.
Carl Knoblock - Telephone Tech
(C.KNOBLOCK, CAT33, TOP9, MSG:28/M645;1)
>>>>> That's a known problem with Balloon. It silently slipped by beta
""""" testing. When we get around to putting out a Balloon update (I
don't know when this will be... probably not for a while) this will be
fixed.
(WANKERL, CAT33, TOP9, MSG:29/M645;1)
EXTENDED POSTSCRIPT GRAPHICS Great News! This probably belongs in Cat8
"""""""""""""""""""""""""""" Top13 (PS) but it was here that the issue
came up. Mentioned that Steve had sent me an EPS graphic last night & that
I was having trouble. All is well & very exciting!
In the dead of night I changed the FT from UNK to TXT, reviewed it in
ShadowWrite, and all _seemed_ well and complete, but when I fed it to PI4
all he could say was "getting errors trying to read file". Took a closer
look today & found it contained a resourse fork. Could not decipher what
was in that resource. It was not PS code and it was not the author's
message (at least I don't think so). It may have been a bit-mapped version
for the screen or something?
Next I tried to delete the resource fork, but Reslin threw up and
said it was not formatted properly. MAC? Since ShadowWrite could deal
with the data portion I simply saved it under another name (yet another
_great_ for SW). Voila! The next thing that emerged from my printer was a
full-page sized image of Beethoven in splendid, true-blue PostScript-drawn
form ;-)
And yes, we -can- scale EPS graphics, simply be reducing the size of
the text window which contains the PS code on the PI4 page (and the reduced
image is as clear as ever)! You can even change LVB's apparance by making
the window square instead of rectangular. So NOW, I'm off to spend some
money on EPS files in order to have some graphics available. Isn't life
wonderful?! Bless you Steve, & =thanks=. Anyone gave any good (cheap)
sources for this stuff?
Margot (20:23 PST - Fri 4/7/95) Spectrum v1.0/CoPil v2.50
(M.TAYLOR66, CAT12, TOP13, MSG:237/M645;1)
MEGA DEMO BY NINJA FORCE REQUIRES ACCELERATOR here's a statement from
""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""" NinjaForce regarding the
Mega Demo:
Hi folks on GEnie,
seems some of you are having problems with our demo. Sorry! Well,
the disk exchange problem is indeed a ROM 03 incompatibility. The ROM 03
patch fixes this problem. This has NOTHING to do with the AE Drive. The
Ninjaforce Megademo HAS BEEN DEVELOPED ON AN AE 800K DRIVE!
However, the demo won't run with the latest Apple disk controller
supporting High Density drives or the Blue Disk controller card. There may
be problems with AE High Density drives.
Speed problems: TransWarp users MUST turn off the AppleTalk delay.
Users reporting problems with their ZIP: The demo has been developed on a
ZIP 8/16 and 9/32 configuration. The ZIP MUST be configured as follows, or
the demo will complain that your GS is too slow: AppleTalk IRQ delay MUST
be off, Counter Delay MUST be on.
Do not try to boot the demo from ProDOS 8 if you're under GS/OS. The
demo will crash (our fault, sorry!). The best way to launch the demo is to
set the startup slot to slot 5 and making a warm boot. If you cold boot
into the demo, remember that the DIP switch settings of the ZIP override
the settings from the ZIP CDA!
Why did it take us 2 years to do? Well, after all, it wasn't really
two years. We just don't hack the GS all the time!! However, we had to
develop a whole programming enviroment which contains the Ninjaforce
Assembler (ProDOS 8 based, as fast as Merlin 16, macro support and nice
editor), the Ninjaforce Debugger (works in conjunction with the Assembler),
the NinjaTracker (music player based on the Soundsmith player, heavily
enhanced to handle most Amiga MOD effects correctly), MOD Convert (Amiga
Module converter to NinjaTracker), and other stuff...
Also, please do not compare the Ninjaforce Megademo to Brutal Deluxe
software. While we have a very good relationship to Brutal Deluxe, they
just do very SIMPLE games. SIMPLE does not mean they are bad, but from a
coding, graphic and music standpoint, they are nothing amazing at all.
Anyway, they do something, and they do it for free. Something we highly
appreciate.
Ahh, speaking of games...
...we'll strike back!
Ninjaforce / Germany
(U.HUTH, CAT3, TOP25, MSG:54/M645;1)
>>> HOT TOPICS <<<
""""""""""""""""""
IOMEGA ZIP 100 DRIVES: EARLY REPORTS Mercer County Community College
""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""" received 25 IOmega Zip 100 drives
today. The extra carts we ordered are on backorder. I took a driver home
for evaluation purposes and:
Plugged in the Wall Wart 5V 2A variety
Turned termination switch ON
Set SCSI ID switch to 5 (6 was already taken)
Fired the muther up
RamFast screen came on indicating a new device has been attached. In
the RamFast SCSI Utilities screen the device uses a non standard block
size. Must format device to use, Format the drive (very slow). 98272K
total size, Install 3 partitions, 32768K 32768K and 32736K. Name them and
quit RamFast utility and Finder sees them just fine.
Started testing,
Disk to Disk copy 65535 blocks
From To Time
Quantum LP240S Syquest 44meg 3:00
Quantum LP240S IOmega Zip 100 3:40
Verify 65535 blocks
Device Time
Quantum LP240S 0:44
Syquest 44meg 1:15
IOmega Zip 100 0:50
Validate 1544 files
Device Time
Quantum LP240S 3:23
Syquest 44meg 4:10
IOmega Zip 100 3:47
Boot AWGS
Device Time
Quantum LP240S 0:19
Syquest 44meg 0:20
IOmega Zip 100 0:20
It takes 7 seconds for the first disk icon to appear on the desktop
after a disk insertion. Then another 10 seconds for the other 2 icons.
The disks that come from IOmega are not recognized by the RamFast/Finder
probably because the first partition on the cart is a driver or a map. The
drives are dark blue and are very light and quiet.
The disk eject button works fine to remove a cart and dim the icons
on the desktop. The drive is ejected on shutdown. There are two lights on
the cart, a green power LED and a amber activity LED.
It is hard to tell here when the drive stops spinning but it clicks
when it restarts. IOmega says that the drive spins down to preserve media
life in the manual. It comes with Mac and IBM software.
The carts are about the size of a 3.5" floppy but twice as thick.
The shutter is about one fifth the size of the shutter on the 3.5" floppy.
Each cart comes in a jewel case and is warrantied for the life of the
cartridge.
I like IT!!!
Binary Bear
(BINARY.BEAR, CAT11, TOP16, MSG:195/M645;1)
<<<<< Here's some info on the ZIP I'm writing for an newsletter article.
""""" I will be uploading a couple of SHR's later tonight as well.
Using a ZIP Drive with an Apple IIGS The ZIP drive by Iomega Corporation,
'''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''' maker of Bernoulli drives, is a
small, removeable SCSI drive unit that uses 3.5" cartridges (well, more
like 3.6S) in 25 MB and 100 MB densities. The drive comes in two models, a
SCSI model for use with PC's or Mac's (or Apple IIGS's, as we have now
found) or a Parallel port model for use with PC's. The unit is quite
small, only 7 by 5.5 by 1.75 inches, has a termination switch and a SCSI ID
selector switch (it can only be set to ID 5 or 6), and dual 25 pin SCSI
ports. There is no power switch on the unit, which draws power from a very
bulky power block. The ZIP drive can be laid flat or stood horizontally
(there are rubber feet attached for this) The front has an eject button
and dual LEDs, a green one to indicate power on and an amber one to
indicate disk access. The unit sells for $199.00 in most of the Macintosh
mail-order catalogs like MacMall, MacWarehouse or MacConnection, and the
media cost about $19.95 for the 100 MB cartridges (less if you buy 5 packs)
and $9.95 for the 25 MB cartridges. However, at the present time, the
cartridges (except for the 100 Mb cartridge that ships with the unit) are
seriously back-ordered.
I tried out a ZIP drive with two Apple IIGS configurations. Both
were ROM 01 GS's with 4.25MB of RAM, hard drives and Apple CD-ROM drives.
Computer #1 has a TransWarp GS accelerator and an Apple HighSpeed SCSI
card, and Computer #2 has a RamFAST SCSI card with 256K cache.
On the first GS, I started up with my Hard Drive at SCSI ID set to 6,
the ZIP drive set to 5 and the CD-ROM drive set to 0. The ZIP disk was the
last drive in the SCSI chain and was terminated. Once in Finder, the drive
mounted (the cartridge was a 100 MB disk with HFS formatting), but I twice
got a message saying that with the installed file system translators the
device could not be read. I was given the choice to initialize or eject.
I twice chose eject, and the drive remained mounted. I was able to copy to
and from the ZIP disk with no problems.
I ejected the ZIP disk (dragging the disk to the trash unmounted it
but did not eject the disk...I had to do that manually) and started up GS
ShrinkIt to decompress a file...but with the ZIP disk ejected, I was unable
to navigate disks and partitions in the open file dialog box. Inserting
the ZIP disk solved the problem.
I then connected the ZIP drive to my PowerBook 170 and turned
FileSharing on. I went to AppleShare in the Control Panels NDA on my IIGS
and linked with the PowerBook, and mounted the ZIP disk on the IIGS
desktop...it worked like a charm, and I was able to open the first part of
this review, which I had exported from WordPerfect 3.1 in RTF format, in
EGOed 2.0.
Next, I hooked up the ZIP drive to my RamFAST equipped IIGS. This
procdure took a little more time, although this was not all due to the
RamFAST. As owners of a RamFAST probably know, when you add or subtract a
device from the SCSI chain, the RamFAST Utilities are presented upon
booting up so that you can add the disk/partitions to the cards "map" of
volumes. It will be worth your time to get the manual out if you don't do
it very often. The problem for me came in the area of SCSI ID's. The ZIP
drive, as a cost-cutting measure I suppose, only has two ID's selectable, 5
or 6. Since the computer boots from the highest numbered SCSI device, that
means that your IIGS hard drive needs a SCSI ID of 6 or 7. Mine, of
course, were numbered 1 and 3, so I had to dig out a manual to reconfigure
the DIP switches on my old CMS drive and set it to 6. My other drive is
even older, and you need to open the unit up to change its SCSI ID, which I
wasnUt about to do at 12:30 am! After doing that, I finally managed to get
the ZIP disk mounted on the desktop, and from there it was treated like any
other disk...except that it was a large one. In fact, I opened this review
from the cartridge in the ZIP drive in EGOed 2.0 to finish typing this
segment.
Just how cost effective is this drive. Well, for the initial
investment of $199.00, you get a 100 megabyte hard drive. For less than
$100.00 you can add 5 cartridges and now have 600 MB of disk space...which
can grow along with your storage needs. These may even work with IIe's,
especially if using the 25 MB cartridges, which could be formatted as
single ProDOS volume. So as backup, or even a second, expandable hard
drive, this seems to be a worthwhile investment. It is not as sturdy as a
hard drive, however, with its plastic case, and I would not recommend it
for use around young children who might decide to play with it. It may be
sturdy enough, but it certainly doesn't have the steel case that my hard
drives do.
(S.CAVANAUGH1, CAT11, TOP16, MSG:201/M645;1)
APPLEWORKS 5 ON THE MAC [Continued from last month] We could ship a lot
""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""" sooner if we didn't
try to print from within Phoenix. Since we have a "wp clip-to-mac clip"
feature, would most of you settle for printing from within a normal Mac
application?
(BRANDT, CAT17, TOP20, MSG:21/M645;1)
>>>>> "Settle"? Yes, if it means getting Phoenix faster. But I know that
""""" I would want direct printing from Phoenix before too long.
Speaking of which, what printers will Phoenix (when it has direct printing)
print to? LaserWriters (he asks hopefully)?
And if LWs will be supported, would that have any bearing on AW5's
ability to print directly to a LaserWriter via Appletalk? It seems that if
you can get the Mac version to do it, you might learn something that would
allow it on a GS. If I could access the Appletalk network at work for file
sharing and/or printing directly from AW on my GS, I would be several steps
closer to heaven.
Whatever, I can barely wait for Phoenix. Thanks.
:: Dan ::
(D.CRUTCHER, CAT17, TOP20, MSG:25/M645;1)
<<<<< If Phoenix supports "direct" printing, it will be an ImageWriter
""""" emulator sending an image to any Mac printer. You'd have a lot
more flexibility just dumping the text into another app for fancy fonts and
the like. One other possibility is setting up AppleEvents to send a file
to Kitchen Sink's AW to RTF, which would then generate a file for another
Mac app like Word or ClarisWorks, with most of the formatting still intact.
> And if LWs will be supported, would that have any bearing on AW5's
> ability to print directly to a LaserWriter via Appletalk?
None at all. The Phoenix emulator and the Mac toolbox would be doing
the work. AW5 would think it was printing to a directly-connected
ImageWriter, so there's nothing to be learned that could apply to the IIgs.
It's just too difficult to get information on AppleTalk. I spent
money on books and made several serious efforts, and was unable to acquire
enough information to do anything beyond identifying that AppleTalk was
present and active. People at Apple would say things like, "Try this and
see what happens. If that doesn't work, I can't really help you." Of
course, when I tried their suggestions, nothing useful ever happened.
(BRANDT, CAT17, TOP20, MSG:26/M645;1)
<<<<< Thanks for the printing feedback. We won't rule it out for v2.0
""""" (if sales warrant such a beast), but for now we'll go with saving
text files or using the Mac clipboard to transfer data.
UltraMacros now includes new dot commands to get and set the text and
background colors, the font name, and the font size. You can also play
sounds, get the Mac time with seconds, and call various external Macintosh
commands. Ultra can also save or open snapshots, which are images of the
entire session. On Mark's PowerMac, it takes about 2 seconds to restart a
session with 27 files on the desktop!
(BRANDT, CAT17, TOP20, MSG:29/M645;1)
<<<<< Phoenix is currently for AW 5.1 only (upgrade files are included
""""" for 5.0 owners). Mark has contemplated making a similar program
which will let you launch any ProDOS system file, but the problem is ROM
support. AppleWorks doesn't use any ROM routines (except for printing,
which we're not currently supporting), so there are no legal complications.
(BRANDT, CAT17, TOP20, MSG:36/M645;1)
II ALIVE ISSUE COMING SOON... The March/April issue is currently in
""""""""""""""""""""""""""""" production. We're thinking of renaming it
at this point. %)
(II.ALIVE, CAT42, TOP10, MSG:156/M645;1)
...THANKS TO THE NEW EDITOR! I'm now in charge of theLINQ and no longer
"""""""""""""""""""""""""""" am able to devote the time II Alive
deserves. For this reason, the March/April issue (and subsequent issues)
will be edited by Doug Cuff, who will also be using this account. If you
need to e-mail me, I'll still be online; my other account is JERRY.K.
(II.ALIVE, CAT42, TOP11, MSG:149/M645;1)
>>> WHAT'S NEW <<<
""""""""""""""""""
ANNOUNCING THE COOLEST IIGS ICON EDITOR YET! EGO Systems is pleased to
"""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""" announce the release of ICE!
ICE is the first and ONLY IIGS icon editor that allows you to edit both
old Finder Icon files as well as rIcons! With ICE, you can finally get
at, and CHANGE, all those icons that have been out of reach since System
6.0 was introduced!
Sound good? Just check out these features:
- * - ICE can edit old-style Finder Icon files.
- * - ICE can edit ANY rIcon from ANY type of IIGS file.
- * - ICE can have as many Finder Icon and rIcon files open as memory will
allow.
- * - ICE can copy and paste icons between Finder Icon and rIcon files.
- * - ICE can create new Finder Icon files and new files containing
rIcons.
- * - ICE can append rIcons from one file onto another file.
- * - ICE can save icons (either kind) out to disk as REZ source code.
- * - ICE allows you to paste a PICTURE from the IIGS clipboard for use as
an icon!
But, the best thing about ICE is the price! ICE is just eight bucks!
That's right! ICE is only $8! And that price includes printed
documentation! In fact, at $8, ICE costs less than the shareware fee for
an older icon editor, and ICE isn't shareware, and it isn't old! It's a
brand-new, commercial-quality program from a company that's been
supporting the IIGS for almost six years!
So, what's the catch? Well, the only catch is that ICE is part of
the latest issue of GS+ Magazine. That means that not only do you get the
ICE program and its documentation, you also get an issue of GS+ Magazine
complete with two MORE programs, reviews of four IIGS products, and a whole
bunch of other great stuff crammed inside it! (It also means that if you
already subscribe to GS+ Magazine, you'll be getting ICE as part of your
regular subscription!)
And it's all just eight bucks!
So, what are you waiting for? If you want to order ICE with your
VISA or MasterCard, we'll even pay for the phone call! But hurry! After
June 30th, 1995 the price of ICE goes up to $10!
Pricing & Shipping
ICE (GS+ V6.N5 Magazine & Disk) - $8 ($10 after June 30th, 1995)
Delivery to Canada or Mexico - $2 extra
Surface mail delivery outside North America - $2 extra
Air Mail Delivery outside North America - $5 extra
VISA & MasterCard Orders Only: 800-662-3634 (9 am - 5 pm Eastern
Time)
FAX: 615-332-2634 (24 Hours a day)
Delphi: GSPlusDiz
GEnie: Diz
Internet: Diz@genie.geis.com
Checks or Money Orders
ICE Offer
c/o GS+ Magazine
P. O. Box 15366
Chattanooga, TN 37415-0366
Need More Information?
Call 615-332-2087. (9 am - 5 pm Eastern Time)
Steven W. Disbrow
Publisher of GS+ Magazine
(DIZ, CAT33, TOP5, MSG:235/M645;1)
KANSASFEST '95 (TENTATIVE) For everyone who is interested in attending
"""""""""""""""""""""""""" KansasFest '95, here is a tentative list of
seminars (times are not set yet):
A Fireside Chat with Joe Kohn Discuss the future of the Apple II in the
''''''''''''''''''''''''''''' 90's and beyond with Joe Kohn, publisher of
Shareware Solutions II.
The Apple II and the Internet: Part II (Joe Kohn) Discuss the World Wide
''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''' Web and the internet,
it's uses, and it's applicability and use on an Apple II.
Building an Apple IIGS Portable (Tony Diaz) Find out how to put the most
''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''' powerful Apple II into a form
that can be taken with you! Tony Diaz tells all!
Connecting Real World Devices (Erick Wagner) The name says it all -- how
'''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''' to connect real world
devices to an Apple II.
Animation and 3D on the Apple IIGS (Michael Lutynski) Michael Lutynski,
''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''' author of Animasia
3D, the premier three-dimensional modeling and animation program for the
Apple IIGS, tells how to apply three-dimensional strategies to make
presentations more powerful and how to use Animasia 3D.
HyperStudio and Education (Roger Wagner)
Explore the possibilities of the powerful HyperStudio environment and
what it can do for you, your classroom, and your productivity.
So far that is the list, but there are two other seminars being worked on:
Second Sight and DiscQuest Demo
GNO and the Apple IIGS
(A.RAHIMZADEH, CAT4, TOP12, MSG:44/M645;1)
PRINT SHOP REPLACEMENT EDITOR I have written an 8-bit program that lets
""""""""""""""""""""""""""""" you create full color graphics for the New
Print Shop, and I would like to get a few people to beta test it before I
release it. If any one would like to try it out and inform me if they find
bugs or if I have left out some essential feature, please contact me by
sending me a GEnie E-mail. The program requires a IIc or an enhanced IIe
with an 80 column card, and a color monitor.
This program is the result of an effort to "fill in the gaps" in the
graphics editor included with the New Print Shop. That graphics editor
only lets you create monochrome graphics, and does not display them on the
screen at the same aspect ratio as the printed pictures. People with a
IIgs can create the low resolution full color graphics with the Print Shop
gs Companion, and export them to the New Print Shop format, but I was
unable to find any software for the IIc/IIe to do this. Version 1 of the
program I wrote lets you only make the low resolution full color graphics
for NPS, but I plan to upgrade it to be capable of the high resolution full
color graphics.
Gerry (the Applesoft-aholic)
(G.WRIGHT12, CAT6, TOP34, MSG:157/M645;1)
ANIMASIA MOVES TO A NEW ADDRESS Effective May 1, 1995, Animasia's new
""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""" mailing address will be:
Animasia
12175 Science Drive, #3
Orlando, FL 32826
USA
The change in address reflects a need for additional space to
accommodate business operations. Support for Animasia 3-D will continue
unabated.
The phone number, 407-380-9932, and Internet e-mail address,
animasia@genie.geis.com, will not change.
Contact: Michael Lutynski
(ANIMASIA, CAT13, TOP41, MSG:49/M645;1)
>>> THROUGH THE GRAPEVINE <<<
"""""""""""""""""""""""""""""
MORE ON PMPFAX Well, to answer some of Steve's questions...
""""""""""""""
You'll basically be able to view, print, and export received faxes.
For sending, I will probably write a fax translator to import received fax
pages as a send page, so you will be able to import them directly into a
send job. As for editing received fax pages... not sure how I'd go about
doing that... cover sheets will basically be an object- oriented page
layout program. They will have the ability to import SHR and APF files as
picture objects, and have the ability to export coversheets as APF files,
so theoretically you could use the coversheet generator to edit a fax page.
All coversheets will be b&w (for obvious reasons), but you could view a
received page, export it to an APF file, then open a coversheet, import the
APF, edit the layout (add text, rects, ovals, lines, etc), then export that
to an APF file, THEN import it using the APF fax translator when you send
(quite a few steps). However, i'm still not sure about the actual format I
will be using for received files yet (they will be stored as raw T.4
encoded data, but I may do some translating first... not sure yet), so all
this might change :)
As for "printing"... to send a print job as a fax, you will just hold
down the Option key while you choose the Print menu item. That's it.
Instead of the JobDialog, you'll get the PMPFax dialog. Page Setup will be
the same (that is, it will be the same for whatever printer you have
currently chosen); PMPFax will get all page information from the print
record created by your actual print driver. This method has a couple of
benefits... 1) you don't have to go into the Control Panel and choose
another print driver, and 2) you don't have to reformat your document to
work with whatever paper sizes happen to be available with a fax driver.
You can have your document formated for, say, an Imagewriter, and when you
fax it, it will use the paging information that the Imagewriter driver
uses. If, the next time, you actually want to print, just choose Print
without the Option key and you'll be printing as usual.
As for the outside line thing... because the method for using long
distance, and accessing outside lines varies so much, what I will be doing
instead is having a single dial prefix string definable in the station
setup dialog. This prefix will be sent before any phone number before
dialing. So, if you want to put in your LD service number, you can. I will
probably also add a check box for each phone entry so you can tell it to
use the dial prefix or not when dialing. This is so you can have local
numbers that will be dialed normally, and LD numbers that use your prefix,
etc... its still not too late to change any of this, so if anyone has any
suggestions, let me know.
As for phone books... I could add a comment field if you like. Right
now, I have First Name, Last Name, Organization, Fax Phone, and Voice
Phone. Entries will be displayed sorted by any of the above fields. Since
they are displayed in lists, just typing the first few letters of a name
will bring that name up, so no extra indexing is necessary.
One of the substitution fields for cover sheets is a Memo. You will
be able to edit a memo whenever you have chosen a coversheet with the send
job. I will also have a Quick Fax menu item in the fax center to allow you
to just choose a cover sheet, choose a receipient, and edit a memo, and
send that imediately as a single-page fax.
I don't know about any laws requring sender info on each sheet in a
fax, but you will be able to add Titles (headers and footers) to each page.
Titles are broken down into six zones, three at the top and three on the
bottom, left, center, and right. You can edit the text you want displayed
in any of these zones, and choose whether you want top titles, bottom
titles, or both. The text can use any font style, and size (as long as it
fits into the box defining the zone) and can be justified however you want
it to be. PMPFax includes quite a number of substution fields that can be
used in titles (more can be used in coversheets), such as all station ID
information, page number, total pages, time, date, etc. This allows you to
customize how you want the titles of each of your fax pages to look like.
Anyway, that's a bit of how things work. I've been getting quite a
lot done on this lately, so I'm hoping to get it to beta test in a month or
two. This turned out to be a much larger project than I had anticipated (it
does quite a bit). Note PMPFax will also support external modules that
other parties can support, such as fax translators, import/export
facilities for phone books and received faxes, "Extras" in the fax center
menu, etc. So, if PMPFax lacks some feature, someone can always just write
a module to do that function.
Paul
(PMP, CAT38, TOP15, MSG:205/M645;1)
WOLFENSTEIN HELD UP Unfortunately, we are still involved in a contract
""""""""""""""""""" dispute regarding Wolfenstein. We have been using the
extra time to do a lot of testing and I can tell you that the game looks
and sounds fantastic! It will be well worth the wait.
It does look like we might be resolving the dispute shortly, but
don't hold your breath...
Lowell Erbe
Vitesse, Inc., Technical Support
(VITESSE, CAT40, TOP6, MSG:61/M645;1)
THE COLLABORATORS / II NOT DISTURB Are you interested in helping the
"""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""" Apple II world, but don't know what
you have to contribute?
Are you a writer? an artist? a musician? or an avid user who'd like
to test? Do you have great ideas for software? Perhaps you like to lay
out menus and windows in Genesys, even if you don't program? Do you have
some spare time and a willingness to lend a hand?
If so, I'd like you to join the ranks of The Collaborators:
individuals contributing what they can toward new software for the
AppleII. Right now, it looks like I'll have 4 months of free time to write
software for the Apple II. Let's make this a group effort to maximize the
results!
Right now, I'm working on a program called II Not Disturb. It's
designed to make more system add-ons work with telecom software. If you're
a Spectrum user, and have had problems with certain extensions (like clock
DAs) while online, let me know right away. I particularly need testers
with high-speed modems, but anybody who's had trouble in the past should
let me know.
Even if we can't use your talents right this minute, sign up for
future reference and we'll try to make use of your talents on future
programs.
-G.T. Barnabas [Greg Templeman]
(BARNABAS, CAT13, TOP9, MSG:1/M645;1)
<<<<< OK, I've sent II Not Disturb v1.0d2 out to volunteer testers who
""""" have Spectrum. Get cracking, folks! I'm curious to see the
improvement (I've never had problems with clock software and Spectrum... so
why am I writing this?!? er... because other people needed it, I guess! :)
:::walking away in disgust, knocking self on the forehead for writing a
program that I don't personally need right now...::: ;)
-G.T. Barnabas
(BARNABAS, CAT13, TOP9, MSG:31/M645;1)
>>> MESSAGE SPOTLIGHT <<<
"""""""""""""""""""""""""
Category 45, Topic 3
Message 149 Thu Apr 06, 1995
BYTEWORKS at 22:12 EDT
Dave, I understand your points about wanting to do serious work on
the GS, and agree (although I like to have fun, too). I also know that
there are a lot of people who still buy for their GS. That's why we're
still here. The issue for me is, and always has been, whether there are
_enough_ people who would buy the word processor. In terms of the needed
raw numbers, I haven't seen very much to encourage me lately, but I'm still
on the lookout for good signs. :)
Mike Westerfield
-/-/-
Category 45, Topic 3
Message 150 Thu Apr 06, 1995
BYTEWORKS at 22:33 EDT
> No offense but my GS is not a hobby computer it is my business
> computer.
Good. But understand that 100 customers won't tempt me to write a
word processor. While you are not unique, though, surely you know that you
are unusual. About 2/3 of all GSs were sold to schools, and most of those
were actually used as accelerated //e computers. I've had zilch luck
selling into that market. About 1/3 were sold into homes, where it's fair
to call them hobby computers--even though a lot of people do serious things
with their hobby. (And that's what I meant--to characterize the market,
not to demean a particular use.) The number of GSs sold as business
computers were a minor blip.
So does that mean there is no need for serious tools? Of course not.
But there's also little call for Word and Lotus 1-2-3.
> I hate to see someone as well respected as yourself referto this
> computer as anything but a real computer.
I never said it wasn't a real computer. But hobbiests are real
people who use real computers, too, and there are a lot of them. I would
characterize the vast majority of my customers as hobbiests. That may
change as more and more of you come to our company for productivity tools,
but _very_ few of the people who are using our other products are using
them to earn a living.
Also, FWIW, I find hobbiests to be more informed and more likely to
use their computers for a variety of reasons that business users. To me,
hobbiest is _not_ a dirty word. Hobbiests are the people who _enjoy_ their
computer, who stay after work to play games, who read technical magazines,
who learn to program, who learn to repair or even build parts for thoer
computer--not because they get paid to, but because they love it!
Finally, sitting here at my desk, I have a PowerMac, a fairly
heavy-duty Compaq, and an Apple IIGS. I program on all of them. I do my
business work on the Mac. But when I want to have fun--after work, when
it's time to program or play just for myself--it's invariably the GS you'll
find on! And at that point in time, I'd call myself a hobbiest... maybe an
overqualified one, but a hobbiest none the less. :)
Mike Westerfield
[*][*][*]
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 /
/////////////////////////////////
Dept. of I Can't Tell if that's Funny or Scary
""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""
by Andrew Burke
>>> MICROSOFT UNVEILS NEW JOE-BOB(tm) SOFTWARE <<<
""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""
REDMOND, Wash. -- April 10, 1995 -- Microsoft today announced the
release of Joe-Bob(tm), a new software package that the company hopes will
open up a huge untapped computer market. With the motto "The software for
the rest of y'all(tm)," Joe-Bob reaches out to the same demographic group
that buys 4x4s, supports the gun lobby, and drinks Miller Lite.
"Computers have been commonly seen as for leftists and
intellectuals," explains Microsoft spokesperson Willy Maclean, "but we've
recently seen people like Newt Gingrinch embracing new technology -- the
time is right for the rest of America to get wired!"
Instead of a desktop or office metaphor, Joe-Bob(tm) puts the user in
a garage. "Click on the Lynyrd Skynyrd tapes, and get a complete music
library in digital stereo. Click on the pinups, and get hooked up to the
Internet's hottest gifs," the promotional materials explain.
The package does not include a word processor or spreadsheet, but
does have software that keeps track of the football season, lists the best
roadhouses between Florida and Nevada, and can even order spareribs and
beer at the click of a mouse.
"This is righteous software, man," says beta-tester Billy Grugg. "It
thinks like I think." Brad Cunningham agrees: "I take it everywhere," he
says, pointing to a Pentium laptop racked under his 12-gauge in his pickup
truck. Microsoft is offering desktop users a special clip-on beer holder
for their monitors.
"Look at what's popular out there," says Microsoft Chairman Bill
Gates. "Four of the top-10 Usenet newsgroups are about sex, and splatter
video games like Doom and Mortal Kombat are bestsellers. We're just
catering to a demand, that's all."
Microsoft is reportedly distributing badges and bumper stickers
saying things like "Joe-Bob: Make Your Disk Hard," "Go Microsoft -- Go
Intel - - -- Go America," and "QuickTime is for Pinko Hippie Wimps."
Apple declined to comment.
[EOA]
[FOC]//////////////////////////////
FOCUS ON... /
/////////////////////////////////
The Internet
""""""""""""
by Kevin Noonan
(knoonan@cleese.apana.org.au)
>>> THE WIZARDS OF OZ--THE INTERNET AND THE APPLE II IN AUSTRALIA <<<
"""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""
Australia is a big, empty place--roughly 4000 km by 4000 km with a
population of only around 18 million. Cities are separated from one
another by up to 2500 km. In these days of a rapidly shrinking Apple II
community, the sensible way for denizens of Oz to keep in touch with each
other is by e-mail.
Of course we do things differently here in Australia so a brief
report might assist: Technically we "Internet" users in Oz use the
AARnet--the Australian Academic Research Internet. The American term
Usenet is unknown in Oz. This Internet is "owned" by the collective heads
of our universities. We have an British-style university system, with a
chancellor in charge of each university. This is a largely ceremonial
position; the real power lies with the vice-chancellors. This Internet was
set up for research communication and the like but has grown as rapidly in
Australia as in other parts of the world.
Our university system is almost totally funded by government out of
taxation revenue. There are only a handful of privately-owned universities
in Oz and they have all come into being in the last few years. As with
many other government-funded institutions, it is considered politically
expedient to decrease the level of this funding and expect the universities
to find the money in other ways.
The explosion in Internet usage has led the vice-chancellors to bring
in a new "pay-for-use" system to make money for other areas of university
life. This create some limits for those in Australia who use the Internet.
Let me give an example based on my own experience. I am a member of
a public access network called APANA, which charges me $50/year for access.
My local server, a machine called cleese, also charges me $50. (I use
dial-up access, but I could use SLIP for the same price.) I get unlimited
hours, unlimited access to all Internet facilities: telnet, ftp, WWW, irc,
etc. That is a good deal!
We expect charges to rise based on our usage. This will tend to
dampen the enthusiasm for growth in Oz, but it will also create a
marketplace for commercial Internet suppliers which will probably tend to
oppose that dampening. There are a number of such companies that have
sprung up in the last year or two (DIALix, ozemail, iinet, connect.com, and
pegasus to name a few) and all are apparently doing quite well.
I guess I should also explain to our rather more libertarian northern
hemisphere friends that there is almost no history of public works being
paid for by commercial companies. Almost all of Australia's infrastructure
has been paid for by taxation, and built by government. There are
exceptions but they are few. The commercial aspect of the Internet in the
USA (in particular) is a brand new venture in Oz.
No matter what many may say about the Internet, I suspect that it is
more of a dirt track than an information superhighway and will remain that
way until the technology takes another step. Programs like Mosaic (sadly
not available for the Apple II) and the whole World Wide Web system may yet
make a liar of me.
One aspect of USA support that I wish we had in Oz is the support of
politicians. (That statement may cause some sharp intakes of breath!)
Whatever his faults, US Vice-President Al Gore at least knows about and
uses the Internet. In Oz we know of no politician who uses the
Internet--certainly none have ever said anything that indicates this,
though they do talk in vague generalities (since when do politicians do
otherwise?). Certainly our Prime Minister, Paul Keating, has made a small
amount of funds available for things like CD-ROM technology support... but
for the Internet, only indirect cut-backs.
Nonetheless the place of Australia in the Internet is important.
Recently the head of the Internet Society (structured to allow for better
planning of the Internet's future) was an Australian. I also believe that
in terms of computers connected to the Internet, Australia ranks in second
place (though a very distant second to the USA).
The main news gateway for Australia is at the University of
Melbourne. There is apparently no censorship of newsgroups but for reasons
I have not been able to discern, we don't get the thousands of newsgroups
that the USA apparently has (last count on my server was around 4500
groups--friends on the Internet in the USA often speak of 10000 groups).
I know many of the USA newsgroups are local to particular communities or
states and have no wider interest base.
Which brings me to a troublesome point for we Oz users. I read many
newsgroups and subscribe to many list server newsgroups and every few weeks
I read statements that show that many forget that the Internet is not
exclusively for US citizens. No serious criticism is intended but it would
be good if some of the more smaller minded Internet users did not assume
that everyone using the Internet is an American. Also, it is possible on
most systems to limit the distribution of your message--"world" is often
the default distribution, but it isn't always appropriate. Try using
"local", "usa", and "na" (North America) as appropriate.
As with everything else, PCs dominate the Internet in Oz, there are a
smaller number of Macs, and I am sure other "serious" computers such as
Suns. We Apple II users make do with our usual programs (I use both
ProTERM and GNO/ME as my means of connecting) which means we miss out on
things like live sound and graphics via the WWW.
We in the state of South Australia have tried to convince the last
few Apple II users here to use the Internet as source of help and news. So
far out of the 10-15 Apple II members of the South Australian Apple Users
Club, we have managed to persuade 8 to use the Internet. Many are lurkers
(they read all the news but make no postings of their own), but a few are
active in asking and answering questions.
We also maintain regular e-mail contacts with Apple II users in the
rest of Australia. We still have a sense of community even though we have
never met face-to-face.
One problem I have found at times is that with the sheer volume of
electronic traffic on Australia's links to the rest of the world, we get
very slow links for things like ftp and I often find that chatting on the
irc can sometimes be pointless as there can be lags of over 5 minutes.
Even news can suffer. I have seen some news take a week to get to my site
(so much for instantaneous communications).
Maybe I am being too picky. The ability to connect to a computer at
Caltech to get the latest Apple II public domain files at no cost is rather
impressive. If it takes 20 minutes to get a file instead of 5 minutes I
guess I can still manage to wait!
One of the very important uses of the Internet for those of us
outside North America is that it can now be used to contact companies that
maintain a presence on CompuServe, GEnie, and Delphi. This makes it
possible for us to order goods. Companies often advertise 1 800 telephone
numbers but these are of no use to people in Australia (and most other
countries as well). Companies I have dealt with have taken the sensible
method of allowing me to simply make an order after they have my credit
card number on record (NEVER, never send a credit card number via e-mail;
it is not entirely safe). This requires me to make one order via a phone
call or snail mail (i.e. the regular postal service). I have ordered many
things from a range of companies and have never had any worries with this
method. It has required some detective work at times as companies always
quote a 1 800 number but rarely give an e-mail address.
I know it is now possible to telnet to GEnie and get a GEnie account
(I tried it late last year). It works well and is a better and cheaper way
of accessing GEnie than through our Australian telecommunication companies,
but it is still quite expensive with an hourly surcharge applied for telnet
users.
In the end, it needs to be understood that in Australia we have a
small, fragmented Apple II community and that for many of us our ability to
get help on software or hardware is dependent on the Internet. We in South
Australia do what we can to help our local Apple II users but when the
really difficult questions come we resort to the Internet. People on the
Internet have so far been terrific in assisting. I know that on a good day
I can get answers to questions in just a few seconds via the irc, a few
hours via e-mail, and a few days via the newsgroups. These are vital
services.
[*][*][*]
GLOSSARY
""""""""
ftp or file transfer protocol, is a program you can use to transfer files
''' from a far-off computer to the local computer that you use to connect
to the Internet. (Keep in mind that once you transfer a file from the
far-off computer to your local Internet provider, you still have to
transfer the file from your local provider to your own microcomputer.)
GEnie's Internet Services now offer this option.
IRC or Internet relay chat, is used to talk "live" with other Internet
''' users. On GEnie, the closest equivalent is a RTC, or real-time
conference/chat.
SLIP stands for Serial Line Internet Protocol, and is a way of allowing
'''' full Internet access over a normal modem. Most Internet modem
access is _not_ SLIP access. SLIP allows you to use graphic interfaces
like Mosaic and Netscape.
WWW or World-Wide Web (also known as w3) is like hypermedia for the
''' Internet. People create documents that contain links to pictures,
sounds, and other documents. For example: If I create a document about
myself, then I might explain that I am interested in the Apple II. The
phrase "Apple II" would be highlighted, indicating that there was a link
for that phrase. If you select that link, you'd be taken to places of
interest to Apple II users.
[EOA]
[AWX]//////////////////////////////
APPLEWORKS ANNEX /
/////////////////////////////////
In This Corner, AppleWorks 5
""""""""""""""""""""""""""""
by Jay Curtis
[J.CURTIS8]
>>> APPLEWORKS 5 TAKES ON THE COMPETITION <<<
"""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""
In the Apple II world, AppleWorks really has no competitor,
especially now that AppleWorks 5 has been released. As we mentioned last
month, JEM Software is preparing to release an emulator that will let you
run AppleWorks 5 on a Macintosh.<1> How will AppleWorks fare when faced
with competition from other -Works programs?<2>
Although AppleWorks 5 doesn't have the graphic capabilities of either
Microsoft Works or ClarisWorks, it DOES have several important advantages
that make it competitive with both of them. Included among these
advantages are AW5's relational database, extensive library of utilities
and templates and its excellent file access and management features. AW5's
speed, and its economic use of disk space and memory will also help to make
it competitive.
Unlike Microsoft Works and ClarisWorks, AW5 has no menu bar, no
scroll bar and no movable and resizable window.<3> There is no built-in
capability for including graphics within text files or for manipulating
data and displays through such features as "object linking and embedding"
or "publish and subscribe." AppleWorks has no WYSIWYG (what you see is
what you get) interface with changeable and scalable fonts, nor does AW5
come with a full drawing and painting module or a telecommunications
module.<4> However, what AppleWorks lacks in its ability to DISPLAY data,
it makes up for in its capability to MANIPULATE and PROCESS data with speed
and efficiency.
Many of today's object-oriented, GUI (graphic user interface)
applications have become RAM hungry and lethargic. Unless they are run on
the latest hardware and system software and/or with substantially increased
memory, they are practically guaranteed to frustrate those users who update
their software without upgrading their hardware. AppleWorks is an
exception. Not only has it remained a character-based product but, over
the years, programmers Alan Bird, Dan Verkade, Rob Renstrom, Mark Munz and
Randy Brandt have poked and prodded AppleWorks to do more within the
65c02's 64K addressing limit. They have refined the program, fixed the
bugs, added new features, made it faster, and made it more efficient.
The result is that AppleWorks is now a larger program with greater
capability, but WITHOUT the bloat and lethargy of many of today's GUI
products. In a recent review of Microsoft Works 4.0 the writer noted, "the
recommended full installation fills a whopping 16 MB."<5> Even the
conservatively-sized ClarisWorks 3.0 fills a hefty 9.5 MB on disk. With
software of this size, disk access can slow down a program considerably.
In contrast, the requirements for Appleworks 5 are small (around 1 MB for
full installation on disk and less than 1/2 MB in RAM). AppleWorks is also
fast because it is coded in assembly language (which also keeps it small).
Also, it has been coded to make the best possible use of the Apple II's
architecture and it runs without disk access.
Randy Brandt said that virtually "thousands of lines of code have been
added" to AppleWorks since version 3.0 came out. He said that the only
constraint in using Apple II hardware with AppleWorks has been the
hardware's limited "graphic capability." However, "in terms of adding
features," he said, "there was no intrinsic impediment" with Apple II
hardware. Brandt added, "We literally spent hours on end pawing through
code to squeeze out a few bytes." He said, "We crammed in code, shoehorned
in code everywhere that we could." According to Brandt, in some places in
AW5 the user will notice that messages have been shortened and that this
was done "just to get more bytes."
Although larger and more feature-packed, AW5 is still an 8-bit,
character-based program that continues to possess most of the same,
familiar menus, key commands and procedures that it has always had,
regardless of whether it is running on an Apple II or on a Mac. Therefore,
although it has changed, anyone who used AppleWorks ten years ago could
easily sit down with AppleWorks 5 today and quickly learn how to access its
new capabilities.
DIRECT COMPARISON Admittedly, many of AW5's newest features are shared
""""""""""""""""" by MS-Works and ClarisWorks. For example, AW5's split
window viewing capability in the word processor and spreadsheet is
available in all ClarisWorks documents and in the MS-Works spreadsheet.
Like AppleWorks 5, ClarisWorks also has a capable outliner available in the
word processor. However, no outliner exists in the most current version of
MS-Works. The ability to embed cell notes and memos in spreadsheets is
shared between AppleWorks and MS-Works, but not ClarisWorks (which still
lacks this capability in even its most recent version).<6> Like
AppleWorks, both MS-Works and ClarisWorks offer multiple database views.
However, neither program offers AppleWorks' MIXED single record layout and
multiple record layout display.
All three programs offer calculated database fields with both logical
and numerical operators, and all three offer the considerable power of 3-D
referencing, i.e. the ability to reference worksheet cells in other
spreadsheets. All three software packages offer adequate mail merge
capability. However, unlike MS-Works, AppleWorks can call up merged
AppleWorks word processor files and display their data independently of the
linked database.
An advantage of both MS-Works and ClarisWorks is that each can link
files and to update and share data automatically between the files.
Microsoft Works uses what it calls Object Linking and Embedding (OLE) to
accomplish data sharing (in version 4.0), while ClarisWorks uses what it
calls "frames" with System 7's "Publish and Subscribe" feature to share
data between documents. In both MS-Works and ClarisWorks, linked documents
in WP, DB and SS modules can automatically be updated when information is
changed in a key document. This feature can have distinct advantages,
especially in documents that include graphic displays and that need to be
reposted with new data regularly. However, the information in these
documents is updated in linked files ONLY according to how it is changed in
the key file.
In contrast, AppleWorks provides the capability to link files and
share data INTELLIGENTLY (i.e, according to user-defined rules) through its
relational database capabilities. In response to a recalculation or to
field input, AW5 can search fields or cells in related files on the desktop
(or on disk) and import the variable data in those files. Data sharing may
vary depending on the kind of calculation that was made, the rule that was
linked to the cell or field, or the input that a spreadsheet cell or DB
field had received. Additionally, AppleWorks can also EXPORT data to
linked files when a rule has been met. All of this is done not through
simple object linking, but according to conditions that the user has
prescribed beforehand.
The relational database capabilities of AppleWorks 5 are regarded by
some as its strongest feature. These capabilities were originally built-in
to the AppleWorks 4.x engine that runs inside AW5, and they evolved from
the "Total Control" AppleWorks enhancement that was developed for
AppleWorks 3.0. In effect, it is now possible to program AppleWorks to
automatically generate sophisticated, full, narrative reports from brief
alpha-numerical data alone. Users of either ClarisWorks or MS-Works may
sneer at AppleWorks' 60-category limit per record, but this limitation is
really only a limitation of the mind when you consider the power of AW5's
true relational capabilities. More about these capabilities will appear in
a future article.
AppleWorks' file management features are SIMPLY superior to either
Microsoft Works or ClarisWorks. Both of those programs depend totally upon
the Mac desktop and operating system to perform such tasks as file
deleting, moving, copying, or renaming. In order to access those
capabilities, it is necessary to either close the MS-Works or ClarisWorks
window (or quit the application altogether), select the Mac desktop and
then manipulate files by selecting and opening file folders from the
desktop.<7> Once the file maintenance activities have been completed, then
the program can be reselected or relaunched and program tasks resumed.
On the other hand, with AppleWorks, all necessary file maintenance can
be performed from within the program, including deleting, renaming,
copying, moving, lock, unlock and even change of file type. Additional
file and disk management functions available from the "Other Activities"
menu include copy, erase, format and verify disks, AND create, copy and
rename subdirectories.
Randy Brandt noted that, when running under Phoenix II on the Mac,
"Phoenix disables the Disk Activities menu in AW5." However, he added,
"File activities continue to work." This means that it will NOT be
possible to copy, format, erase, verify, or rename disks from within
AppleWorks on the Mac, nor will it be possible to create or copy
subdirectories. However, deleting, renaming, copying and moving files will
continue to be possible on the Mac just as it is on the Apple II.
AppleWorks 5's file access is VASTLY superior to either ClarisWorks or
MS-Works. Neither of those programs, for example, has AW5's capability to
remember the last 9 files accessed during a previous session and then make
the files available through a desktop organizer when the program is
relaunched. Additionally, neither program allows the user to preselect
commonly used data paths for saving and opening files. This "Quick Path"
menu is created through AW5's "Select standard settings for AppleWorks"
feature. Up to 8 data paths can be pre-selected. Unlike either
ClarisWorks or MS-Works, AppleWorks makes it possible to select and open
multiple files in one operation instead of opening them one at a time (an
extremely time-consuming process when multiple files are required). Users
can select files by scrolling through a subdirectory, checking them with a
MouseText check mark then open them with a single key stroke.
Additionally, a range of files can be selected with a command-arrow key
stroke and then opened.
Randy Brandt explained that when AW5 is run in emulation under
"Phoenix II" and Macintosh System 7.0 and System 7.5, files are written to
and read directly from subdirectories on the Mac's HFS volume(s). AW5
potentially has access to any of the Mac's online volumes. According to
Brandt, AppleWorks itself "can even be run from a directory that doesn't
have a legal ProDOS path." Brandt said, "We've defined /* as the directory
or folder where Phoenix resides, so we can ship with things like TimeOut
and inits active, since their paths are defined as /*/aw.inits and
/*/timeout, allowing them to work no matter what the real path is."
Under Phoenix and System 7.0, if the user wishes to copy files to a
ProDOS-formatted disk in the Mac's SuperDrive, then it is necessary to run
the files through Apple File Exchange before they can be saved to the
ProDOS disk. However, under Macintosh System 7.5, it is possible for AW5
to read and write AppleWorks files directly to ProDOS-formatted disks in
the Mac's SuperDrive and/or to a ProDOS volume on the Mac's HD, bypassing
AFE altogether. This is made possible by System 7.5's "Macintosh Easy
Open" (MEO) file translation capabilities. Perhaps even more important for
some users, "[u]nder System 7.5 you should be able to load and save MS-DOS
text files directly, using MS-DOS disks," said Brandt.
Steven Beville's "ChangeTextType" macro program should come in handy
for saving AppleWorks files directly to MS-DOS disks under Phoenix and
System 7.5. This short program can be compiled and saved as a TimeOut
application. It gives the user the opportunity to save files from the
AppleWorks desktop as "Word processor, AppleWorks Text and MS-DOS Text."
As it has currently been written, the program is designed to save files as
ASCII text in MS-DOS format (with added linefeeds). These files can then
be copied to an MS-DOS disk using a GS application such as Peter Watson's
MS-DOS utilities or the Mac's Apple File Exchange. For those running AW5
on the Mac under System 7.5 and Phoenix, however, direct access to MS-DOS
volumes and text files should make those intermediate steps unnecessary.
One final advantage to the use of AppleWorks 5 over either
ClarisWorks or Microsoft Works is the enormous library of AppleWorks files
that is available to users. Nothing like this library exists for either of
the other two integrated software programs. New and old users alike can
potentially save tremendous amounts of time over the creation of their own
task files and templates by simply downloading what they need from bulletin
board services at no cost beyond online charges. On GEnie alone, there are
more than 800 AppleWorks-related files containing virtually thousands of
utilities, database and spreadsheet templates, macro programs, payroll,
home finance and small business worksheets, and organizational management
templates that can be used directly with AW5 or converted to AW5 use.
Many of the AppleWorks utilities and files available online are from
the National AppleWorks User Group (NAUG) and many others are from
independent AppleWorks users and enthusiasts. New AppleWorks users,
whether they choose to run AppleWorks on a Macintosh or an Apple II, should
consider the potential value of this library when comparing programs.
Eventually, if Brandt and Munz can produce a DOS version of Phoenix II,
users may be able to save or access AppleWorks files with full formatting
and control characters directly to MS-DOS disks for use with AppleWorks
running on DOS systems.
In effect, AW5 may eventually run nearly everywhere, with full file
interchange and access between systems, as a completely
hardware-independent program. It's ideal for people who must work on
multiple platforms. If you are a dedicated AppleWorks 5 user, it may not
matter what kind of computer you use; you will have access to AppleWorks
and its extensive library of files wherever you are. This amazing
possibility is very real. In the next installment, we'll talk more about
AW5's capabilities and about ways in which these amazing capabilities can
be used.
[*][*][*]
NOTES
"""""
<1> It was suggested in last month's installment that AW5 might be
bundled and sold with the Macintosh "Phoenix II" emulator. As of this
writing, Randy Brandt has indicated that there are no such plans, and that
he is only interested in selling the Phoenix II emulator by itself through
JEM software. The emulator will sell for less than the IIe card, but no
final price has been determined.
<2> Programs such as Microsoft Works and ClarisWorks are in fact
descended from AppleWorks. AppleWorks was there first.
<3> This is not entirely accurate if AppleWorks 5 is running in
EMULATION on the Mac. The "Phoenix II" emulation and System 7 provide a
menu bar with certain capabilities that can be used with AW5 such as "Save
Snapshot." Also, the window that AW5 runs in can be moved around the
desktop. In emulation, scrolling is done from within the program, however.
<4> TimeOut Paint is included with AW5, but it does not function as
an integrated part of the program in the same way that the paint and draw
modules function in MS-Works and ClarisWorks. Additionally, previous
versions of AppleWorks would allow use of TimeOut TeleComm from within
AppleWorks, but use of this feature is no longer available with AW5.
<5> Norr, Henry. "Microsoft Works 4.0." MacWorld (January 1995),
p. 64. These figures refer, of course, to hard drive space, not space in
memory.
<6> "ClarisWorks 3.0/ Compact and well integrated, ClarisWorks now
costs less and still does it all." MacUser (April 1995), p. 60.
<7> It is also possible to use the desktop's "Find" capability from
the "Edit" cascade menu on the Mac's menu bar in order to locate a desired
file or set of files. However, those with older, 4MB Mac systems like the
LC-II or LC-III know that even the simple act of performing file
maintenance may over-tax the system RAM and result in an out-of-memory
error, depending on how many applications have been left open. For this
reason, it may be prudent to quit applications rather than just closing
their windows. Unfortunately, this may mean additional time required in
relaunching.
[EOA]
[ASA]//////////////////////////////
ASCII ART GALLERY /
/////////////////////////////////
Menagerie
"""""""""
by Susie Oviatt
[SUSIE]
ASCII ART BEGINS
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ASCII ART ENDS
[FOR VISUALLY IMPAIRED READERS: The preceding was a picture of a beagle
puppy and an Orca whale.]
[EOA]
[PRO]//////////////////////////////
PROFILES /
/////////////////////////////////
Who's Who In Apple II
"""""""""""""""""""""
by Charlie Hartley
[A2.CHARLIE]
>>> WHO'S WHO? <<<
""""""""""""""""""
~ GEnieLamp Profile: Tom Zuchowski ~
This month we will profile the man who probably knows more about the
Eamon adventures and the world of Eamonauts than anyone else.
GEnieLamp> You seem to be the resident Eamon guru on GEnie. Why don't
""""""""" you begin by telling us what the Eamon adventures are, and how
you came to be so involved with them?
Tom> Eamon adventures are text-based games of exploration and combat.
""" Eamon is similar to, though usually much simpler than, the old
Infocom series of games. Basically, the computer tells you what you see,
and you type in simple commands such as GET POTION, GIVE POTION TO FRODO,
DRINK POTION, etc. Eamon is a public-domain gaming system that began as
nothing more than a small set of tools for writing Eamon adventures. Over
the years, the tools have become much more sophisticated, and many dozens
of people have written some 230 different Eamons. By the way, nobody knows
why Donald Brown named it "Eamon", so don't ask. <grin>
I first discovered Eamon back around 1982 or '83 by ordering some
from a mail-order public-domain software house. I become enamoured with
the concept of a system that enabled anyone to design and write text
adventures, and best of all, they were comparatively cheap to buy. When
John Nelson began the first national Eamon club, I became an active
contributor, especially in the bug-fix department. For some reason, I used
to get a lot of entertainment from fixing other people's bugs.
But it was when I actually wrote my first Eamon that I discovered
just how much FUN Eamon can be. Writing an Eamon adventure is perhaps the
most engrossing thing I've ever done with a computer. Of course, different
people like doing different things and everyone won't share my enthusiasm,
but I know people who were forced to quit writing Eamons because they
became obsessed with them to the point of neglecting their real lives. I
know that feeling well!
In 1986, John Nelson bought a PC, and he soon let his Eamon club
slide into total neglect. After many months of nagging him, he transferred
the tattered remains of his club to me. I began the "Eamon Adventurer's
Guild" newsletter, and got most of the public-domain vendors on board with
me so that we would have a common Eamon numbering system.
Then Dean Esmay called me in 1989 and got me online with GEnie as
A2's "Eamon guy". I eventually became the "8-bit" guy for the library
crew, but Eamon remains my true love in Apple II gaming.
GEnieLamp> What are your duties as the "8 bit" guy for the library crew?
"""""""""
Tom> It might be more accurate to call me A2's "8-bit advocate". Most of
""" the A2 staff are, or course, hard-core GS enthusiasts. I sort of
appointed myself as the staff voice for 8-bit users, to keep everyone
mindful of the needs and limits of the 8-bit platforms.
As far as the library goes, my area got expanded from just Eamon to
include the 8-bit games and utilities libraries back when Dean asked me to
handle those areas during the big clean-up project four or five years ago.
We went through every file in the library, converting everything to BXY,
eliminating redundant files, and removing stuff that just didn't work. In
the course of this, I became familiar with everything we had. Since then,
I made up a few "Best of A2" 8-bit uploads and still try to make sure that
we don't release new uploads of things we already have. I sometimes do
things like verify compatibility, or may be called upon to help II+ users
with their special problems.
My main library work these days isn't so much as an 8-bit specialist,
but is simply to help A2.TONY out with whatever he asks me to do: fix
descriptions, move files, do research, fill in when he takes off for a few
days, and so on. This takes some of the load off of him and makes it
easier to stay ahead of library developments at all times. I also do the
monthly Library Indexes.
I've always liked using my IIe more than a GS. This is undoubtedly
at least partly because my IIe has a lot of enhancements and my GS does
not, but I've never been a huge fan of rodents.
GEnieLamp> Tell us about your present project of uploading all of the old
""""""""" Eamon adventures to the GEnie library.
Tom> Well, there are only two or three public-domain vendors left that
""" carry the entire Eamon set, and I recently realized that some Eamons
could possibly become lost forever if something wasn't done to preserve
them.
I am uploading everything I have to A2's library. This way, it will
always be available to the public, no matter what happens to me or the
Apple II public-domain mail-order business. A2 will not only have ALL of
the DOS 3.3 and ProDOS Eamons, but also a lot of other utilities and stuff
that has never been available anywhere. Sam Ruby's custom Eamon editors
for many of his landmark Eamons are one example. I'll be uploading more
reviews and tutorials, too.
Note that there are DOS 3.3 Eamons, and also ProDOS Eamons in
40-column and 80-column format. People who are looking for specific Eamon
stuff should not despair of finding it among the hundreds of files that
will eventually reside in the library. I am using specific file naming
conventions so that a search on the keyword EAMON will result in sorted
lists that are not only sorted by number but also by operating system and
display, too.
GEnieLamp> [We asked Tom to list his Top 20 all-time favorite Eamon
""""""""" adventures. They are listed and described in the Treasure
Hunt column this month.]
How did you first get interested in the Apple II computer?
Tom> My first exposure to computers was a job assembling and reconciling
""" computer runs for a big mainframe in a bank. This got me interested
in them, and I learned to work on them in the Air Force back in the late
70s. Getting my own computer was very high on my list of things to do when
I became a civilian in 1979, and I bought my first II+ in 1980. It had 64K
and one Disk II floppy drive, and cost me something like $2,500 or so.
I had originally intended to buy an Ohio Scientific computer, which I
judged to be the most interesting and capable computer on the market. But
it happened that one of my co-workers in my new job had an Apple II, and he
convinced me that we could have a lot more fun together if we used the same
computer. As it turned out, Visi-Calc killed off all of the Apple II's
competitors, so I got lucky.
GEnieLamp> What would you consider to be the top five programs ever
""""""""" written for the 8 bit Apple II series of computers?
Tom> These choices are based on my personal experience. I don't doubt
""" that there are some candidates for this list that I've simply never
used, and I may have let some worthies slip my mind, but here goes:
1) ProTERM 3 The best telecom program I've ever used. I'm still
looking for a program for my 486 that is more than half this good.
2) AppleWorks No list would be complete without this program.
AppleWorks is the best program I've ever used for "quick and dirty"
databases and word processing. Perhaps I should specifically single out
AppleWorks 3.0, the version that (in my opinion) made AW into a serious
program. Having said that, I should perhaps also mention that the later
versions are even better!
3) Diversi-DOS Bill Basham's DOS 3.3 replacement is MUCH superior
to ProDOS for 5.25-only systems. It's just as fast as ProDOS, makes fewer
demands on system resources, and is easier to use. But it's only good for
DOS 3.3 disks, which limits its utility these days.
4) ShrinkIt 3.4 Where would we be today without Andy Nicholas?
This is the program I always use to show PC-snobs what a lowly 13-year-old
Apple II is STILL capable of. (If only all of our programs were this
good!)
5) Copy II+ 8.4 Not the best disk utility that was ever on the
market, but it's the one that I use the most often. I think it's the
easiest to use, and it gives me some features I need that I don't see
anywhere else.
GEnieLamp> Do you have any anecdotes you can share with us about your
""""""""" first experiences with the Apple II?
Tom> Gosh, I don't know. I was totally consumed by programming and
""" gaming. My job had me working out of my home on an "on call" basis,
and I had a lot of free time. I'll bet I spent upwards of 70-80 hours per
week programming and playing games in 1980-81. No social life at all.
Back then a low-end printer cost about $800, and I didn't get a
printer or an assembler until '81 or '82, and so I used to spend absolutely
absurd amounts of time working with pen and paper and typing things in by
hand. This is a very time-consuming way to write and debug machine-code
programs! Fortunately, I had the foresight to get that Disk II at the
beginning.
I had an inventory of about 400 small parts that I carried for my
job, and it was a tedious task to reconcile it four times a year. So I
built a speech synthesizer and wrote a program that read my inventory to me
while I checked my stuff. It was a wonderfully productive program and
quite successful. Of course, I spent much more time constantly making it
"better" than I ever saved by merely using it. It was great fun!
The early days were great. I wrote several small articles that I
sold to the many Apple II magazines of the day. Anybody could do it back
then, when they published entire articles about how to save a single byte
in a routine. Ah, the days of 16K computers!
I was late to come to ProDOS, still using my II+ and DOS 3.3 up until
1989. ProDOS just didn't have anything to offer to me that I thought I
needed, and cost more resources than DOS 3.3 did. (There are still legions
of such Apple II users out in the World; you'd be amazed.) It took coming
online to GEnie to expand my needs beyond what I could do with the ol' II+.
These days I use a souped-up IIe, a stock GS, a 486, and the II+, pretty
much in that order.
GEnieLamp> Tell us a little bit about yourself.
"""""""""
Tom> I was born and grew up in northwest Missouri, near Kansas City.
""" Since I was 8 years old, all I ever wanted to do was design rocket
hardware, and the year I graduated from high school was the year they
pulled the plug on Apollo. I drifted for two years in college and then
joined the Air Force in search of an interesting career. I learned to
repair computers in the Air Force, and got my AA Electronics degree. The
Air Force stint included two years in Japan, where I would have gladly
lived the rest of my life, if they would have let me stay there. I wound
up in North Carolina, which is a pretty nice place, so I can't complain. I
live in a small rural housing development a few miles out from a
medium-sized city, and really like the peace and quiet. I listen to a lot
of music of the hard-rock variety, and watch far too much TV. I'm 43 years
old.
GEnieLamp> What do you consider your proudest accomplishment?
"""""""""
Tom> I never really thought about it before. Probably my proudest
""" accomplishment is the fact that my father is proud of how I turned
out and what I have become. That means a lot to me. It rather dazzles me
that my wife thinks I'm good enough for her, because she is quite an
exceptional woman, very wise and smart.
Computer-wise, I take great pride in the esteem that my own Eamon
adventures are given by many Eamon gamers. The best Eamon authors are
darned good, and it's a real honor to be included in that select group by
people whose opinions I value. There's an awful lot that goes into a top
Eamon adventure that no one but another Eamon author would ever notice.
Like many things, when it's done right, the user doesn't even know it's
there.
Online, I'm darned proud of the job the library staff does in A2.
A2's library was a real mess at one time, and Dean put together a great
crew that cleaned it all up. We put a lot of work into keeping things that
way that the users never see. Tony does a great job and it's a real
pleasure to work with him.
GEnieLamp> Who do you look up to as your mentors?
"""""""""
Tom> I really never thought of it before. My dad, of course. He taught
"""" me to be honest and do the best work I know how; I always have, and
it's stood me well over the years. I took much inspiration in my youth
from the honorable heroes in Robert Heinlein's teenager stories. I learned
a lot about how to live an honorable life from many people I knew when I
was younger.
I guess I'm old enough now that I don't look to anyone for
inspiration or direction. Possibly this is a consequence of becoming the
defacto head of my extended family, as my parents get old.
I don't really have any aspirations to become a better programmer
than I am now, so I don't look to anyone in that regard. Don't
misunderstand me, I have no doubt that my programming ability could use a
lot of help, but I have to be inspired by a project to get motivated, and
nothing new looms on the horizon.
GEnieLamp> What sorts of things do you like to do for fun
""""""""" (i.e. non-computer hobbies)?
Tom> Heh. I do spend too much time playing with computers. I am a
""" member of the local astronomy club and own a small astronomical
reflecting telescope that I'd like to use more than I do. I have a
motorcycle and a '61 Austin-Healy Sprite sports car that I haven't even
driven in a couple of years, but I keep telling myself that someday I will
get tired of the computer....
My main hobby these days is High Power Rocketry. HPR is the adult
version of the little Estes rockets that many of us flew as kids, but uses
much larger airframes and motors that are only available to certified adult
fliers. The old saying, "the only difference between men and boys is the
price of their toys" very much applies to rocketry, I'm afraid. My
crowning achievement in HPR to date is a 1/12th-scale V-2 that was very
well received at last year's National meet in Kansas.
GEnieLamp> Tell us a bit about your family.
"""""""""
Tom> I'm married to a wonderful woman named Tina; we just got married
""" last August and I am the luckiest guy on earth. We have no
children, but we do share the house with ten cats, two of which were
actually intentionally acquired. The rest just sort of showed up and moved
in, as we seem to live in a popular pet dumping ground area. Actually, ten
cats aren't as bad as you might think, once you get used to the idea that
you can't have anything nice in the house. I imagine that it's much like
having small children, in terms of dirt and destructiveness. Though I
doubt that children shed so much in the spring.
GEnieLamp> Are computers a part of your daytime job? Please tell us a
""""""""" little about what you do between 9 and 5.
Tom> I have worked for the past 15 years servicing CAT scanners, a job
""" that once required considerable technical ability above all else but
now requires a great deal of customer-handling skill as the technology has
matured. I work for a national independent service provider and work on a
variety of types and brands of scanners. As you might expect, CAT scanner
repair isn't a huge field, and though I work for the largest independent
outfit in the business, my immediate supervisor lives in Atlanta, and his
supervisor is in California. I work out of a bedroom office in my house,
as do most people in my line. This means that I have a lot of free time in
which I sit around waiting for a customer to call in a problem. This fact
of my life had a lot of bearing in my taking up Eamon as a hobby, as it is
something I can do and enjoy, yet quit on an instant's notice without
needing to clean up when I get called to work.
GEnieLamp> What new services do you think GEnie should provide its
""""""""" subscribers?
Tom> I'd like to see better Internet coverage and more competitive rates
""" for high speed and daytime use. And of course we need more and
faster high-speed nodes! It would be great if GEnie could get involved
with some of the magazines and such that presently restrict themselves to
CIS or AOL. I sincerely hope that they never rework their software to
require a proprietary front end. I'd like to see a really easy way to do
email across the services.
GEnieLamp> Where do you see the future of telecommunications moving in
""""""""" the next five to ten years?
Tom> Well, we'll be seeing 9600 quickly become the default "slow" speed,
""" especially as the commercial online services continue to try to
outdo each other. I see just about everyone who moves about in their job
telecommunicating many times on a daily basis. Cell phone modem and fax
links will become very commonplace for business travellers. More and more
correspondence will travel direct through the wire rather then via the mail
or Fed Ex.
I don't share the general enthusiasm for the Internet as the upcoming
"Information Highway"; I just don't think that it has the underlying
infrastructure to handle the need. This probably means that the Federal
government will get involved in the "highway" construction, which will
result in poor performance, massive bureaucratic overhead, and endless
Federal meddling in our lives and business. I think we'll wind up with a
Federal system that is about as intrusive and friendly as the IRS.
(Cheerful guy, ain't I?) If we don't want this, then it is up to all of us
to keep up with what Congress and the Clinton Administration is up to and
LET THEM KNOW when we disagree. Our telecommunications rights are NOT
defined in the Constitution, and it's up to each of us to make sure that
the Feds don't ruin everything.
GEnieLamp> What one piece of advice would you pass along to a new
""""""""" Apple II telecommunications enthusiast?
Tom> Gosh. ONE piece? Spend the bucks and buy a decent telecom program.
""" If you're using some old piece of telecom trash, you'll find that
this is the single best investment you can make. If you already have one,
then find and learn the tools and methods that you need to interact with
the PC and Mac worlds, and accept the fact that they will seldom meet you
halfway. Enjoy the fact that you can actually get to know the movers and
shakers in our cozy Apple II world and that they may actually get to know
you.
GEnieLamp> Tom, this has been an enjoyable interview. Thank you for
""""""""" sharing with us.
Tom> It's been my pleasure. I hope that your readers will check out some
""" of the Eamon Adventures featured in the Treasure Hunt column. They
really are my favorites.
[*][*][*]
A note to our readers: If you want to know more about a particular
person and want him/her to be interviewed for the GEnieLamp A2 profile
column, send E-mail to A2.CHARLIE or EDITOR.A2 and we'll see what we can
do. In your E-mail message, tell why you think this person is a good
candidate for the profile.
[EOA]
[HUN]//////////////////////////////
THE TREASURE HUNT /
/////////////////////////////////
Yours For the Downloading
"""""""""""""""""""""""""
by Charlie Hartley
[A2.CHARLIE]
Welcome back to the Treasure Hunt! This month we will take a look at
the best 20 Eamon adventures available in the Apple II library on GEnie.
As explained in this month's Profile column, Eamon adventures are
text-based games of exploration and combat that allow you to type simple
commands such as GET RING and DRINK POTION and see how the game responds.
There are hundreds of Eamon games. Each module is loosely referred to as a
"dungeon", despite the fact that it might take place entirely in the
outdoors, or in outer space... or even in a dungeon!
This month I have asked Tom Zuchowski, our resident Eamon expert, to
tell us about these files. The rest of this column is written by him.
>>> THE BEST 20 EAMON ADVENTURES <<<
""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""
Like anyone else, I am very fond of my own Eamons and can't be
objective when deciding where to place them in a list of "Top 20" Eamons.
So here is the top 20 as determined by the Eamon Adventurer's Guild's
Ratings Poll.
Sorry for the low number of raters, but for some strange reason many
people are very reluctant to rate the Eamons they've played, even when they
write to bawl me out because they strongly disagree with a given rating!
Go figure.
Everyone has his own special likes and dislikes when adventuring.
Everyone's tastes may not specifically agree with this list, but it is
probably a fair guideline for a few adventures that most will enjoy.
The scale is 1-10 with 10 the best, and no Adventure has been rated
by its author:
GEnie Average # of
file# Adventure rating raters
----- ---------------------------- ------- ------
15698 124 Assault on Dolni Keep 9.2 6
15697 114 Thror's Ring 9.0 6
15747 78 The Prince's Tavern 9.0 3
16034 194 Attack of the Kretons 9.0 2
15872 120 Orb of My Life 9.0 1
18011 204 Sanctuary 9.0 1
15948 161 Operation Endgame 8.9 5
17522 150 Walled City of Darkness 8.8 2
15748 147 The Dark Brotherhood 8.7 3
17162 129 Return to Moria 8.6 4
20058 166 Storm Breaker 8.5 2
18039 148 Journey to Jotunheim 8.4 5
19648 145 Buccaneer! 8.3 3
16798 108 The Mines of Moria 8.2 4
19683 121 Wrenhold's Secret Vigil 8.2 2
17043 169 The Black Phoenix 8.1 5
16248 91 FutureQuest II 8.0 5
14384 117 Dungeon of Doom 8.0 3
16503 118 Pittfall 8.0 1
24516 225 Adventure in Interzone 8.0 1
124 Assault on Dolni Keep Set in J.R.R. Tolkein's Middle Earth, you and
''''''''''''''''''''''''' two hardy companions are tasked to rescue a
wise High-Elf from an Orc stronghold. This Eamon is nearly unique in that
each of your two companions has knowledge and skills that you yourself
lack. They are capable of some independent action, will offer advice, and
won't hesitate to argue with you if they think you are making an unwise
choice. It's a smallish dungeon, because all the special programming for
the companions used up a LOT of memory.
[Note: Tom is too modest to tell you that he is the author of this
top-rated Eamon Adventure.--CH]
114 Thror's Ring Also set in Middle Earth, this time you and your two
'''''''''''''''' companions are tasked to recover the last Dwarven Ring
of Power from the depths of Moria. I did a fair amount of research on the
setting and style, and lots of people have told me that they enjoyed the
richness of the descriptions. This Eamon broke some new ground
program-wise and was an early forerunner of what eventually became the
Eamon 7.0 MAIN.PROGRAM. Still, it was my first Eamon, and there's a lot I
would do different now that would have made it even better.
78 The Prince's Tavern Here, in this adventure by Bob Davis, you are
''''''''''''''''''''''' tasked to recover a 600-year-old bottle of scotch
from the depths of a rather silly tavern. Lots of laughs; just when you
think it finally turned serious, something silly happens.
194 Attack of the Kretons This is absolutely the funniest Eamon ever
''''''''''''''''''''''''' written, as well as being one of the
finest-crafted titles in the list. I REALLY enjoyed it. Basically, your
quest is to rescue a besieged city from the Kreton horde and the god of
cheese dip. If I had to pick just one Eamon to show people, this one might
well be it. It was written by Nathan Segerlind.
120 Orb of My Life John Nelson had a real gift for using the basic Eamon
'''''''''''''''''' programming tools to turn out really decent Eamons in
just a day or two; I could never figure out how he did it. This is his
best. This Eamon is one of a gaggle of Eamons that were entered in a
long-forgotten Eamon club contest involving a quest for the recovery of a
wizard's Life Orb.
204 Sanctuary Sam Ruby is absolutely the finest Eamon author who ever
''''''''''''' lived. This Eamon broke new ground with an all-new combat
system that takes distance into account. But this is not one for
"hack'n'slash" fans! Everything you do requires careful reading and
forethought, with dozens and dozens of obstructions and difficulties to
solve. Even the combat requires a careful selection of the best weapon for
the job. I highly recommend this one!
161 Operation Endgame Your special-ops team has been tasked to infiltrate
''''''''''''''''''''' an enemy stronghold and take out their sole
nuclear-tipped missile. Sam Ruby was inspired by the movie "Predator" for
this, and your team is very reminiscent of Dutch's. Sam's specialty is
combat, and this one fully incorporates modern weapons and adds many, many
realistic touches to the play. I've played it a half-dozen times, and this
one of a very few that gets better with each play.
150 Walled City of Darkness My goal here was to design a comparatively
''''''''''''''''''''''''''' difficult, puzzle-oriented Eamon that could
not be completed in a single session. It has several multi-part
interlocking puzzles. My inspiration was Roger Zelazny's "Creatures of
Light and Darkness", and the play has a similar style, I think. You must
find means to defeat a number of supernatural foes in your quest to attain
godhood, so that you will have sufficient power to defeat a god of great
Evil.
147 The Dark Brotherhood Pat Hurst did some pretty sophisticated stuff
'''''''''''''''''''''''' here. This Eamon plays on several subtle levels
that help determine your eventual success, and is my favorite among his
work.
129 Return to Moria Sam Ruby went through a period where he was trying to
''''''''''''''''''' turn ALL of the Middle Earth story into Eamon
adventures. This one is his best of the lot, as you quest in the depths of
Moria for several things that Minas Tirith must have to survive. Very
well-written.
166 Storm Breaker This fantasy pits you against an evil god who has just
''''''''''''''''' awakened from a thousand-year sleep and is feeling his
oats, so to speak. An awesomely good play for puzzle fanciers. Sam
manages to cram an incredible number of locales, creatures, peoples, and
events in this Eamon, and does it in a most entertaining and believable
style.
148 Journey to Jotunheim This Eamon is mostly "true", being based on
'''''''''''''''''''''''' several Norse legends. Here you accompany Thor
into a land of Giants on a desperate bid to recover his stolen war-hammer.
I did quite a bit of research for this one, but I confess that I got the
original idea from "The Last Trump", a great novella by Fletcher Pratt and
L. Sprague de Camp. This Eamon has a unique feature: it has a very large
vocabulary and will respond meaningfully to commands involving pretty much
everything you see.
145 Buccaneer! By far, the best seagoing Eamon ever written. A
'''''''''''''' two-parter: in part one you must buy, crew, and provision
a ship to put to sea in part two. Both parts are excellent. This was also
written by Pat Hurst.
108 The Mines of Moria This Eamon is very reminiscent of the "Moria"
'''''''''''''''''''''' portion of the "Fellowship of the Ring". Like the
book, the passes are blocked and you and your companions must cross Moria
to deliver vital information to Gondor. Good stuff! Another Sam Ruby
classic.
121 Wrenhold's Secret Vigil This Bob Davis creation is another of the
''''''''''''''''''''''''''' entries in that old "Life-Orb" contest. This
is a very well-written, serious fantasy Eamon. It has just about the
wickedest maze in the entire series; by the time you realize what you've
stumbled into, you're in trouble!
169 The Black Phoenix Pure, unabashed space opera. No doubt strongly
''''''''''''''''''''' inspired by Heinlein's "Starship Troopers", you are
a soldier in one of the toughest outfits in the galaxy. Roger Pender
writes great "pulp" science fiction dialogue, not letting facts get too
much in the way of a good story. You have six missions to fulfill,
starting with a simple reconnoiter and progressing to a very tough "hold
until relieved" firefight. With LOTS of special features, this one is not
to be missed by military SF fans.
91 FutureQuest II This a is "classic" 50s-type SF offering. You must
'''''''''''''''''' steal into the Krell Empire, where you must kill the
evil scientist Mordor Kang and destroy his doomsday device, the Zontar Ray
Machine. Really keeps you on your toes surviving. Roger Pender does the
best SF in Eamon.
117 Dungeon of Doom This was the very first "pure" 80-column Eamon
''''''''''''''''''' adventure, with true 80-column lower-case text and
some pretty sophisticated programming. A very nicely executed Eamon by Dan
Knezek.
118 Pittfall This is a basic "kill'n'loot" Eamon scenario. What elevates
'''''''''''' it to the Top 20 is clean writing and lots of well-done
special stuff. Even so, it is not particularly difficult and is a good
choice for beginners. A very relaxing play by Scott Starkey.
225 Adventure in Interzone This adventure by Frank Kenze is a landmark
'''''''''''''''''''''''''' Eamon from the player's point of view, with
the cleanest player interface ever done in Eamon. The actual plot and play
is probably more like a "7" rating, but interface is such a pleasure to use
that the overall effect is much enhanced.
[*][*][*]
Note: To play any of the above adventures you will need to download
the ProDOS Eamon Master and Main Hall by Don Brown & John Nelson (file
#16219). This Eamon Master contains the Main Hall, where your character
buys spells and armaments and where he stays between outings; the
Beginner's Cave, a VERY simple adventure for first-timers; an extensive
player manual; and various character editing programs.
I want to thank Tom for sharing his knowledge of Eamon Adventures
with us. I encourage folks to try out some of these adventures.
That's it for this month. I hope you have found something here to
whet your interest. Drop me a line and let me know what you think of this
column and offer any suggestions you might have about what should be in it.
Until next time, happy downloading!
-- Charlie Hartley
//////////////////////////////////////// GEnie_QWIK_QUOTE ////
/ Well, I got my copy Thursday, and, as the ultimate Crash /
/ Test Dummy, we'll soon see! /
///////////////////////////////////////////// STAMPS.RT ////
[EOA]
[LOG]//////////////////////////////
LOG OFF /
/////////////////////////////////
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APPLE II o Doug Cuff [EDITOR.A2] EDITOR
"""""""" o Gina E. Saikin [A2.GENA] A2 Staff Writer
o Charlie Hartley [C.HARTLEY3] A2 Staff Writer
A2Pro o Tim Buchheim [A2PRO.GELAMP] EDITOR
"""""
ATARI ST o John Gniewkowski [GENIELAMP.ST] ATARI ST EDITOR
"""""""" o Bruce Smith [B.SMITH123] EDITOR/TX2
o Mel Motogawa [M.MOTOGAWA] ST Staff Writer
o Sheldon Winick [S.WINICK] ST Staff Writer
o Terry Quinn [TQUINN] ST Staff Writer
o Richard Brown [R.BROWN30] ST Staff Writer
o Al Fasoldt [A.FASOLDT] ST Staff Writer
IBM o Bob Connors [DR.BOB] IBM EDITOR
""" o Nancy Thomas [GELAMP.MM] MultiMedia Editor/Writer
o David Leithauser [D.LEITHASUER] HyperRead Editor
o Brad Biondo [B.BIONDO] IBM Staff Writer
o Billy Storey [B.STOREY] IBM Staff Writer
MACINTOSH o Richard Vega [GELAMP.MAC] MACINTOSH EDITOR
""""""""" o Tom Trinko [T.TRINKO] Mac Staff Writer
o Bret Fledderjohn [FLEDDERJOHN] Mac Staff Writer
o Ricky J. Vega [GELAMP.MAC] Mac Staff Writer
POWER PC o Ben Soulon [BEN.GELAMP] POWER PC EDITOR
""""""""
WINDOWS o Bruce Maples GELAMP.WIN EDITOR
"""""""
ETC. o Jim Lubin [J.LUBIN] Add Aladdin Scripts
"""" o Scott Garrigus [S.GARRIGUS] Search-ME!
o Mike White [MWHITE] (oo) / DigiPub SysOp
o Susie Oviatt [SUSIE] ASCII Artist
o Al Fasoldt [A.FASOLDT] Contributing Columnist
o Phil Shapiro [P.SHAPIRO1] Contributing Columnist
o Sandy Wolf [S.WOLF4] Contributing Columnist
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