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Chaos Corner v03 n01
Chaos Corner V03 N01 27 Feb 93
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Chaos Corner Volume 2 is now available
At long last, the collected issues of Chaos Corner (volume 2) are now
available in several forms. The PostScript and text forms are on
pelican.cit.cornell.edu in the /pub directory. Look for ccv02.ps and
ccv02.text. If you only want the index to the volume (9 pages in two
columns in the PostScript version), look for ccv02.index.ps and
ccv02.index.text. Last but certainly not least, the printed version of
Chaos Corner Volume 2 is on sale at the CIT Service HelpDesk in the
Computing and Communications Center on the Cornell Campus for only $3.
Look for it in the Campus Bookstore next month.
If you would like a full color copy of the graphic image that is on the
cover of volume 2, use anonymous FTP to retrieve the file tims.gif from
/pub/gif on pelican.cit.cornell.edu -- of course you will miss out on
the final touches applied to the cover by the famous graphic designer
Tom Boggass (worth the $3, without a doubt).
In the planning ahead department, Gary Buhrmaster already has his order
in for a bound copy of Volume 3.
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Wrong 800 number to reach Deutsche Welle
Pat Karl was quick to point out after the last issue that we seemed to
have given out the wrong number for contacting Deutsche Welle and
subscribing to their program guides. Dr. Chaos rechecked against
the program guide; and then to be sure, he tried calling the number ...
got the same recording as reported by Pat. Finally, in a flash of
insight, he called 800-555-1212 (information for 800 numbers); asked
for Deutsche Welle, and found that the number published in the DW
program guide was incorrect. I was going to give you the correct number
but Dr. Chaos now reports to me that the "correct" number no longer
works, and that 800-information no longer has a listing for Deutsche
Welle. Oh well, if you are really in a hurry, you can fax them a
request for the program guide. From the US, call 011-49-221-389-4155
for fax or 011-49-221-389-0 for voice. (We assume that people outside
of North America already know how to make international calls and can
figure out how to make the call based on the above instructions).
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Chaos Corner Reaches out
The distribution list for Chaos Corner is now closing in on 600 entries
(with some of those entries being other list exploders). All continents
except Africa and the South Pole are represented. Welcome to all of you
who have joined since the previous issue in late December!
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New version of C-Kermit is available, for Unix, OS/2 ...
A new improved version of C-Kermit is available for OS/2 users and for
certain selected Unix platforms (NeXT and Sun). If you don't feel like
compiling it yourself, the binary executables are available from the
main Kermit distribution point via anonymous FTP from
watsun.cc.columbia.edu. In the kermit/bin directory look for the file
ckoker16.exe (OS/2 Release 1), ckoker32.exe (OS/2 Release 2), and for
the Unix systems look for files names ckuker.<systen-name> (eg.
ckuker.rs6000). If you get this latest version and the herald still has
a November 1992 date, don't worry. Issue the 'version' command and
check the dates of some of the modules ... you will see that some were
recompiled in February '93.
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Deutsche Welle versus Voice of America
In response to the description of the Deutsche Welle antenna array
just outside of the town of Juelich, Bruce Tindall of N. Carolina says:
"If you ever visit this area you could take a side-trip to the Voice
of America antenna site near Greenville, N.C. Immediately adjacent
to the huge high-tech facility is a community of none-too-wealthy
hog farmers. The air all around has a certain olfactory je ne sais
quoi. The picture of the gleaming monstrous antennas towering over
the economically tottering and smelly little farms provides a picture
as sadly ironic as the homeless person sleeping across the street from
the White House. The only good thing about all this is that the high
level of RF in the vicinity probably does a real good job of
preventing trichinosis in the local pork supply."
Dr. Chaos must agree that the smell from the pig farms would most
probably overpower the aroma from the sugar-beet factory in Juelich.
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Free Widgets available from the Free Widget Foundation
The Free Widget Foundation (FWF) commenced in the summer of 1990.
They began as an ad hoc, volunteer effort, to generate a publicly
accessible repository for X graphical user-interface modules
(widgets). Over time, many people have contributed widgets of varying
degrees of complexity, and having application across a wide range of
program domains. To join FWF, just send mail to:
free-widgets-request@kazoo.cs.uiuc.edu
Some examples of widgets already in the collection include:
FileSelector, Histogram, ImageSelector, MultiList, PixelEditor,
Rheostat, ScrolledList, and Slider.
The latest version (3.4) of the FWF widget library can be obtained via
anonymous ftp from:
a.cs.uiuc.edu (128.174.252.1) pub/fwf.shar.Z
in North America, or, if you are in Europe, try:
ftp.informatik.tu-muenchen.de (131.159.0.110)
/pub/comp/X11/contrib/lib/fwf/fwf.tar.Z
A much extended widget set is tentatively schedule for release by the
end of April, 1993 (Release 4.0). Look for it at the above sites.
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Server for Unix Windows is hard to find
Don Peckham points out that if you look just for the Unix server part of
Unix Windows, it will be difficult to find ... because it is imbedded as
a ".tar" file in the PC version of Unix Windows (currently UWPC201.ZIP).
The ".tar" file must be uploaded to a Unix host in binary form and then
unpacked to get the source for the server.
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Finding the Perfect addition to Your Life
'"The Catalog of Personal Computing Tools for Engineers and Scien-
tists' lists hardware cards and application software packages for
PC/XT/AT/PS/2 class machines. Focus is on engineering and scien-
tific applications of PCs, such as data acquisition/control,
design automation, and data analysis and presentation."
If you would like a free copy, send your postal address (not sure
if this is limited to U. S. Postal address) by e-mail to
jdoll@cup.portal.com.
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Want to upgrade that PS/2 you have sitting around?
Ever wonder where to find products you can use to upgrade the PS/2s you
might have sitting around? (Dr. Chaos claims that if you have XT or
AT-class machine sitting around, don't even think about upgrading them
... just donate them to a worthy cause.) Here are some 800 numbers for
vendors that carry PS/2 upgrades:
AOX Customer Support 800-232-1269
BDS (sells AOXs) 800-950-5657 John Gavern x636
Evergreen Technologies 800-733-0934
IBM Customer Support 800-772-2227
Kingston Technologies 800-835-6575
Reply 800-955-5295
Xtend Micro Products 800-232-9836 Phil
Of course, you can always frequest the 'misc.forsale...' groups on
NetNews. Dr. Chaos just managed to get a lead on an XGA card from one
of those lists.
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List of POST Codes
For the German readers, no this is NOT a list of the new postal codes
that are going into effect on 1. July; rather it is a list of the
meaning of the cryptic error codes from the Power On Self Test (POST)
program that runs each time you turn on your IBM PC or compatible. If
you would like a copy of the list ... just let Dr. Chaos know at
chaos-request@pelican.cit.cornell.edu.
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Release 2 of PKZIP is finally available
The long awaited new release of the popular library/compression program
is now available. The latest version as of this writing is 2.04g ... it
appears that at this point most of the nasty bugs are fixed and so it
should be in reasonable shape to try. In addition to sporting newer,
faster compression algorithms, Release 2.0 supports long awaited
features like backups to multiple diskette volumes. An encryption
algorithm approved for export (to almost all countries except Iraq) can
be used to further secure your data (Dr Chaos asks how secure the
encryption can be if the U. S. Government will let it be exported?).
The irony is, since it can't be exported to everyone, the software
is not available from the normal FTP sites. We don't know about you but
Dr. Chaos is switching to the freeware versios of ZIP/UNZIP rather than
deal with this any longer.
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Want to read high-density Macintosh diskettes on your PC?
A 3 1/2 inch diskette with a 1.44 MB capacity can be read by a disk
drive either in a Macintosh or a PC. Macintosh users often have some
software called "Apple File Exchange" that allow them to read and write
PC diskettes and have the files appear on the Desktop. Dr. Chaos has
come across two recommendations for PC users ... the first is
mac-ette.zip from the pub/msdos/dskutl directory on oak.oakland.edu (for
some reason we couldn't find the 'dskutl' directory on the simtel mirror
of wuarchive.wustl.edu). Another program to read Macintosh disks is
macsee.zip (Windows pgm) and it can be obtained by anonymous FTP from
ftp.cica.indiana.edu in the pub/pc/win3/util directory.
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Need to know what's installed on your PC?
Understanding your PC hardware and software configuration and keeping
track of it over time might be just a little bit easier with InfoPlus.
The latest version (1.56 as of this writing) includes support for
correctly reporting hardware configuration even when running under OS/2
and supports many more resident drivers and utilities. Look for
ifp1p156.zip in pub/msdos/info on oak.oakland.edu. The detailed report
from this program is 21 screens long ... how could you awnt to know
more?
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Want a collection of opinions on High Speed Modems?
Dr. Chaos just happens to have a collection of some reviews that
appeard on NetNews about the products of the major high-speed modem
manufacturers. If you would like a copy, ask for it by name by sending
electronic mail to chaos-request@pelican.cit.cornell.edu.
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Interested in Telephone Communications winners & losers for 1992?
The annual review of the technology winners and losers for 1992 is
reviewed along with short descriptions of existing and proposed services
like SONET, VIdeo dial tone, ISDN, etc. If you're curious about the
telephone industry and where it's going, request this file from Dr.
Chaos at chaos-request (you know ehere).
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Free copies of the REXX interpreter available to ".edu" sites
The Workstation Group is offering to send out free copies of their
version of the REXX interpreter to almost anyone with a return mail
address that ends in ".edu" (and, we presume, other appropriate
addresses such as "edu.au", etc.). This interpreter runs on a very
large number of versions of Unix (more than Dr. Chaos even knew
existed). If you're interested ... send mail to freerexx@wrkgrp.com,
and make the subject line one of the following platform names:
aixesa AIX/ESA
apo68k Apollo DNx5xx, HP/9000-400(Domain OS)
apoprs Apoll0 DN10000
crayy Cray-Y/MP
crayx Cray-X/MP
cray2 Cray2
decsta DECStation
hp68k HP/9000-300, -400(HP-UX)
hp700 HP/9000-700
hp800 HP/9000-800
mips3k MIPS Magnum 3000
mot88k Motorola 88000
pyramt Pyramid MIServer T Series
pyrams Pyramid MIServer S Series
rs6000 IBM RS/6000
sgi Silicon Graphics
sun3 Sun-3
sun4 SparcStation (Sun-4)
sysv386 SCO UNIX V (386)
uts UTS
Comments or problem reports should be sent to freerexx-help@wrkgrp.com.
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Concise Guide to Unix Books
If you have been looking for suggestions on the best books to learn
about this strange and different operating system called Unix, check out
the Concise Guide to Unix Books available from Chaos Corner.
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FREE! Subscriptions
For you very own free subscription to Chaos Corner, send electronic mail
to chaos-request@pelican.cit.cornell.edu.
Requests for files and subscriptions will be delayed until nearly the
ides of March due to "unavoidable" travel delays ... but Dr. Chaos
points out that you've already waited over two months for this issue
anyway ... what's another couple of weeks?
Dr. Chaos (I have a Master's Degree ...)
.
