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Randys Rumor Rag 1992 12
RAndY's RumOR RaG
December 1992
DIGITAL IMAGING
As a professional photographer, I have a great interest in
digital imaging. Many people think it strange that I have two
businesses - professional photography and computer sales. I tell
them that this is where silver meets silicon.
Anyway, for over 20 years I've used Hasselblad cameras.
They're made in Sweden (lenses in Germany) and they are the Rolls
Royce of photo equipment. When I started seeing digital cameras
like the Canon Xapshot and the PhotoMan, I wondered why this
technology could not be applied to conventional photo equipment.
The Hasselblad uses a system of removable film magazines which
allow the photographer to switch between color and black-and-white,
for example. Well, I just read in a photographic journal that
Hasselblad will soon be releasing a digital camera magazine which
will attach just like any other film magazine. It will have a CCD
(charge coupled device) area array with a resolution of 2000,2000
pixels. Unfortunately, it connects to a Macintosh via a SCSI
cable. The array can be used with flash and it takes 10-15 seconds
to transfer the image to the Mac after exposure.
Yeah, I know that Nikon has had an attachment for
photographing directly to disk, but the equipment is cumbersome (to
say the least) and you're still stuck with 35mm level hardware.
If it works via SCSI, I would assume that it can also work
with a PC. I sure hope so, although the price will likely be
astronomical.
What does this mean? Until now, digital imaging has either
required a photographic print , negative, or transparency (slide)
run through a scanner. Another alternative is to use one of the
digital cameras available, but they are all oriented toward the
amateur market with fixed-focus lenses and built-in flash. Now,
professional photographic equipment will have the capability of
producing first generation images with exposure and focus controls.
---------------
NEWS IN YER FACE
If you follow the RaG, you know that I've had Sierra's Pinball
for Windows on order ever since it was announced last spring in
their self-serving magazine. I've gotten delay after delay and the
ship date keeps getting extended. They're now saying February of
1993 for shipment. Dammit, these companies make me mad that
advertise vaporware.
---------------
Aldus has announced that they will support the Photo CD format
in PageMaker, FreeHand, Persuasion, and other products. On the
Macintosh side of things, Aldus Fetch will be the first PhotoCD
compatible product.
---------------
Microsoft attempted to demonstrate how Windows NT can be
trusted for use with your important applications during their
Windows on Wall Street show. The demo didn't work.
At the Comdex announcement of their database Access, the demo
crashed. Borland's Philippe Kahn made a point of mentioning this
during his speech.
---------------
Due out by the end of November is WordPerfect for Windows
Version 5.2. I reported on this last month, but details are now
more plentiful. Button bars similar to Word for Windows will be
included (does that mean tiny, little, unintelligible things?) as
well as Grammatik 5 (ugh), ATM, and new macros for replacing
specific formatting codes and adding bar codes to documents.
Upgrades to existing users will be $39.
Look for a review next month.
---------------
It is predicted that next year will see 1.2 million CD-ROM
drives shipped. IBM is even suggesting bundling OS/2 with a SCSI
CD-ROM drive for $300 (available to developers only).
---------------
Datastorm has in interim release for Procomm Plus for Windows
available to registered users. Among the 41 fixes and enhancements
are fixes to Zmodem, Kermit, and CIS-B, improvements to the dialing
directory and terminal emulation modes, and enhancements to the
ASPECT script language.
---------------
MediaVision has plans to release a line of multimedia products
for the Macintosh. Look for a Mac version of their CDPC and the
excellent Pro Audio Spectrum 16 card which will upgrade the Mac to
16-bit audio.
---------------
What's this I hear about someone going to release a new
program called the Dan Quayle Spalling Tutor? I think it will be
bundled with Neil Bush's "Teaching Your Child To Save".
---------------
Practical Peripherals has come up with a unique product.
FAXME is a cartridge that plugs into an HP LaserJet. Just plug in
your phone line and you've got a receive-only fax machine. This
cartridge requires 1M of printer memory and supports fax machine
features like time/calendar notations, Station ID, etc.. Look for
a street price in the area of $200.
---------------
I talked last month about rising DRAM prices due to a
preliminary ruling by the Commerce Department that South Korea was
dumping DRAM. Estimates are that prices will rise by as much as
30%. Among those manufacturers accused of DRAM dumping by the
government are Samsung, Hyundai, and GoldStar.
---------------
Intel has stopped development of the V3 digital video
interactive processing chip which was supposed to replace the
existing i750 processor, working instead on a less expensive DVI-
compatible chip.
---------------
Look for Cyrix to unveil a Pentium-clone processor in 1993.
Planned for unveiling at Comdex is a 16/33 486SX (upgrade for 16MHz
386DX priced at $399), and a 20/40 486SX upgrade for 20MHz 386DX.
Both will work with an 80387 coprocessor.
---------------
Mustang Software, the BBS guys, will be releasing Qmodem-Pro
in the first quarter of 1993. This differs from most
communications programs in that it enables users to receive and
send E-mail messages regardless of the originating E-mail source.
Other features will include fax and documentation creation
capabilities which will save users' long distance costs. An
upgrade from Qmodem version 5 will be $35.
---------------
My favorite candidate for a disk frisbee, Stacker, has
released version 3 of their popular software. New features include
a set of real-time gauges showing disk capacity, compression ratio,
and fragmentation levels. The Tuner feature lets you fine-tune
your system by achieving a balance between speed and space. De-
installation of Stacker can be done quickly and you've also got two
levels password protection. Stacker can now compress bigger drives
and is compatible with standard disk drives, utilities,
applications, and memory managers. My advice is to buy a bigger
hard drive and avoid kludgy software like this.
---------------
MicroHelp has released a program called The Uninstaller, a
software program that guides the user through deinstalling a
Windows application.
---------------
Beta testing continues on PCTools for Windows. It's scheduled
to be shipped in the first quarter of 93 and will be priced
consistently with the DOS product.
---------------
WORDPERFECT NEWS
By the time you read this, WordPerfect Presentations should be
on the shelves. Look for a review in the January issue.
For the first 90 days, when you buy a full retail package,
they're packaging a Sound Blaster with the software. Now 8-bit
sound is pretty sad, but I suppose it's better than nothing. All
of the specs for WordPerfect Presentations look pretty good for a
DOS-based graphics program, but everyone is looking toward the
Windows version (due out in early 1993).
Also due out by the time you read this is WordPerfect for
Windows Version 5.2. Unfortunately, the package will ship with
Grammatik 5 and will be available from a pull-down menu. I hate
grammar checkers - they're for people who didn't pay attention in
the fourth grade.
They're bundling ATM with the package and are including some
fonts created by WPCorp. I wish they had used TrueType instead.
There will be some new macros and new button bars with
specific options for Generate, Font, Page, Layout, Tools, and
Graphics. A new indexing feature called QuickFinder lets you build
indexes for groups of files and speed up searching. You can define
which files to index and then search any index by name or specific
words, combinations of words, words by proximity, and even use
Boolean operators.
The software is also mail-enabled with support for WordPerfect
Mail for Windows cc:Mail, Microsoft Mail, DaVinci e-mail, and any
program that supports the VIM or MAPI standards.
WordPerfect for Windows will finally become an OLE client.
Gee, maybe drag-and-drop will finally work. Another feature is
called QuickMenu. Just click the right menu anywhere on a Button
Bar and you can choose editing options without wading through a
menu tree or you can switch between button bars for quick access to
a variety of features.
There will also be a graphical installation, conversion for
Word for Windows 2 and Ami Pro 2, an enhanced RTF conversion to
improve DDE with Excel 4, improved Speller dialog and bitmap
rotation in 90 degree increments.
They've also included better support for Windows printer
drivers, allowing multiple paper sizes and orientations in the same
document. They say that this change "virtually eliminates" the
"Updating Printer Information" message that has been so annoying.
I sure hope so. Also included is an updated envelope macro that
has been enhanced to work with Windows printer drivers and now has
the option to select from multiple addresses and to position postal
barcodes.
---------------
HAVE IT BOTH WAYS
OK, this is for all of you that think the Macintosh is really
something - or that they have something we PC'ers don't.
Infiniti Systems is marketing ANDOR EX, a Motorola 68HC000-16
based board which fits inside your PC. This board is compatible
with all software which runs on SE, Plus, and Classic Macs. Just
press both SHIFT keys to toggle between the two and you can also
view portions of both PC and Mac screen simultaneously. It can
even be set up to run under Windows or OS/2. It is possible to
exchange files between the two formats with an included utility.
You can even multitask PC and Mac applications with some
limitations.
The company claims that ANDOR EX will run twice as fast as a
Mac Classic or SE. Reformatting of the hard drive is not
necessary. You create a DOS file (1MB-30MB in size) to store your
Mac files. When in the Mac environment, these files are seen and
treated as normal Mac hard disks. Any format of hard drive will
work. You use your existing PC mouse, monitor, and floppy drives.
Printing is done through and AppleTalk compatible RS-422 port using
the same printers you'd use on a Mac and additional software will
let you use your PC printer. ANDOR EX has two SCSI ports for
external drives, scanners, and CD drives. You can also connect to
an AppleTalk, PhoneNet, or similar network.
You're on your own for memory, but it will only take 4 megs
which doesn't cost that much today. How much? I'd guess you'd see
a street price of about $800.
---------------
MAINTENANCE RELEASES
Microsoft has made available maintenance releases for their
two of their most popular products.
Excel 4.0a adds support for Allways formatting and fixes some
minor problems.
Word for Windows 2.0b includes a much improved WordPerfect
document converter, the ability to remove all on-screen elements so
you can work in a character-based environment (YES), and a services
directory and listing of top questions and answers.
For more information or to get your update, call Microsoft at
1-800-426-9400 (say HI to Bill for me).
---------------
QUICKTIME FOR WINDOWS
About the time that Microsoft releases their own Windows video
standard (Audio Visual Interleave - AVI), Apple will release
QuickTime for Windows. The new compression feature of QuickTime
will follow the initial release by about 90 days. The initial
version will also lack an editor. However, the file format, user
interface, programming interface, and function and procedure calls
are all identical to QuickTime for the Mac. QuickTime for Windows
will offer an internal clock that provides scalable timing as with
QuickTime 1.08, where frames are dropped to keep up with the audio.
Explained an Apple executive, "When you make a movie on a very fast
PC and then play it back on a slow one, it will not lose its
synch".
---------------
PHOTO CD EXPERIENCE
A friend of mine who works in the local camera store was
recently given a coupon to shoot a roll of film and get a free
PhotoCD made. Since he doesn't have a CD-ROM drive in his
computer, he brought it to me and we played with it one evening.
The disk looks different from a conventional CD because it's
gold. Kodak says this is so that it can be written to more than
once.
You can do a directory on the disk just like any other CD, but
the files have strange extensions. To use the images in any
application, you'll need Kodak's PhotoCD Access ($39.95) or
something that will read a PhotoCD. The point I'm trying to make
is that just by itself, you cannot read the images with a computer.
The jewel case has thumbnails of each of the photographs and the
reproduction on these was quite good. I'd judge them to be about
3/4 inch square. They're big enough to see what's on the disk and
each frame is numbered.
I used Corel's Mosaic to get an onscreen thumbnail view of the
images. You'd better have a fast computer and CD drive, because
it's not real fast at displaying the images. The onscreen
thumbnails were very good, though.
The next step is to select the image you want and then convert
it to a bitmap format. You then have a choice of three
resolutions. I picked the lowest resolution (the highest was
something like 1200x1200) and imported the image into Corel
PhotoPaint. Keeping in mind that these images were created using
a point-and-shoot dummy camera, the quality was impressive. Once
in PhotoPaint, it was easy to use the tools to manipulate the
image. Since I don't have a 24-bit VGA card, the image was
dithered. My friend took the ZIPped image home on disk (1.8 Meg
unZIPped)sand printed it on his HP III LaserJet. The quality was
outstanding.
I hope Kodak can promote this thing and get the public to
understand what's going on. They'll have to get the price of the
TV viewers down to a reasonable level, but there's enormous
potential here.
Price for processing, printing, and putting a 24-exposure roll
on CD is about $22, so the price is very reasonable. Next Spring,
Kodak has plans to put images from larger formats (up to 8x10
negatives and transparencies) on CD. I should also note that Kodak
has image editing software available called PhotoEdge for a
suggested list price of $139. Both Access and PhotoEdge run out of
Windows and a DOS version of Access is available as are Mac
versions.
---------------
VENTURA PUBLISHER 4.1
I've been a fan of Ventura Publisher since the GEM days, but
the Windows versions just caused too many problems with crashes and
general instability. I had abandoned Ventura for PageMaker.
This newest version of an old favorite is enough to get me
back. You'll still have to customize your width table and make it
a part of whatever style sheet you power up with - otherwise
Ventura spends too much time determining your system fonts. Once
done, the speed of loading is excellent. The speed of loading
without the previously mentioned trick is still good.
During program startup, you're greeted with a very colorful
and lively logo screen (lively for traditionally stodgy Ventura).
You're then greeted with a clear screen with two rows of buttons
running across the top. Using these buttons, you can access
virtually any feature of Ventura. Buttons at the bottom and right
side let you turn pages and switch quickly between enlarged,
normal, and reduced views.
Overall, the program seems very fast compared to previous
versions. Remembering what the buttons do will take a little time,
but once you become adjusted, you can work much more efficiently.
When you select between Frame, Text, and Tag modes, some of
the buttons change depending upon which mode you're in. In
previous Windows versions, those damned boxes for tags and modes
and stuff were either gone when you needed them or in the way when
you didn't want them there. This double button bar idea is an
excellent solution to this problem. If you like the old style, you
can have that too.
The previously separate scan and separator modules are now
included. I am unable to test them as I don't have a scanner.
The addition of frame tags is welcome. Also a great plus is
the ability to set tabs, margins, indents, and outdents with a
mouse.
They've done an excellent job on this one and there are plenty
of example files to help you get going. This is one upgrade that's
worth the price.
---------------
PANTHER
I've taken it in the chops repeatedly for not talking much
about DR-DOS. Users tell me it's a great operating system and
devoted followers swear by it. I prefer to swear at it.
Anyway, you may be interested to know that Novell is working
on DR-DOS 7, code named "Panther". It is scheduled for release in
the first half of 1993. Of course it will have networking
capabilities, but will also feature a "Windows-like" graphical
interface called ViewMax. Other features in the current beta
version include a memory manager called MemoryMax; a task manager
called TaskMax; an editor; a security log-in; and recover undelete
features.
They're also working on enabling DR-DOS to talk directly to
peer-to-peer NetWare Lite servers as well as NetWare "heavy"
servers through a common client.
---------------
SOUND STATS
When people are interested in buying a sound card, one of the
frequent questions revolves around how much hard drive space is
taken up when you sample something.
Here's a chart showing different sampling rates for both mono
and stereo as well as 8-bit and 16-bit. I hope this helps. The
figures represent the amount of hard drive space needed for one
minute of digital audio sampling.
MONO STEREO
16-bit 8-bit 16-bit 8-bit
================================================================
44.1KHz 5.28MB 2.64MB 10.56MB 5.28MB
22.05KHz 2.54MB 1.27MB 5.28MB 2.54MB
11.025KHz 1.27MB .0635MB 2.54MB 1.27MB
Under the heading of interesting information, remember that
VOC files are limited to 8-bit and cannot exceed 16MB in size.
---------------
PENTIUM DELAY
Intel is still having problems getting the 586 chip (oops)
working correctly. Seems the chip still runs too hot at 66MHz and
Intel is trying to sell vendors on mounting a fan on a small board
to blow air over the chip.
Meanwhile, Intel general manager and vice president Dave House
said the company plans to bring out the Pentium at 60MHz and 66MHz
speeds next year. (Why two speeds so close together?)
Software must be recompiled to take full advantage of the
chip's features and performance. Microsoft is working with Intel
using Intel's compiler. Use of the new compiler is necessary
because the Pentium can execute two instructions in a single clock
cycle.
---------------
TELL ME WHY
Can anybody tell me why every Windows program has to copy the
Common Dialog Dynamic Link Library? How tough is it to check to
see if it already exists or needs to be replaced by a newer one?
And while I'm on the soapbox, what ever happened to keyboard
templates? We used to get them with software, but now everyone is
using quick reference cards or some other cheap method.
---------------
ACCESS
Have you ever tried figuring out a relational database
management system? I started with dBase III+ and quickly gave up.
Paradox was much easier to work with, but there was still too much
work involved as well as some programming experience. I've been
anxious to see Paradox for Windows, but Borland is having great
difficulty getting it to market.
Microsoft has finally fleshed out their Windows lineup with a
superb relational database management system. We're all skeptical
with Versions #1 of any Microsoft software, but they've been
working on this since Ansa released the original Paradox back in
1985. They've done an outstanding job.
Look for a basic installation to take about 9 megs of hard
drive space and closer to 12MB for the full dose. Existing
databases in dBase, Paradox, and Btrieve formats can be directly
imported into Access. You can also import fixed length and
delimited ASCII files.
It's quite easy to either import an existing file or create a
new database. Creating forms is very easy and mostly intuitive,
and the speed of queries is excellent.
Relational database management systems are very complex
products and I don't have the full understanding of how it all
works. The bundled applications are excellent, especially the
order entry application.
Most relational database management systems store data in
separate files. Data is stored in one file, forms in another, etc.
Access saves your database in one relatively compact file. The
advantage of saving everything in one file is that all your forms,
queries, joins, etc. are in one file and transporting your database
is much easier.
Microsoft has a new help feature besides their now common
Wizards (which are also included in Access). Cue Cards guide you
through a multitude of procedures. Cue Cards stay on the screen
and let you either read the procedure or have Access walk you
through it. Cue Cards are a nice innovation.
Aggressive pricing on the introduction of Access are sure to
anger the folks at Borland. If you've been looking for a Windows-
based relational database management system, Access is very worthy
of your consideration.
---------------
V.FAST SPECIFICATION
Be careful about buying a modem advertising V.Fast
compatibility. The CCITT is not expected to complete the
specification until late 1993 or early 1994. Some modem
manufacturers have jumped the gun by announcing proprietary
products based upon their understanding of the specification. As
happened with early V.32 modems, none of these modems are
compatible with each other at higher speeds (but manufacturers plan
to provide an upgrade path once the specification is written in
stone).
V.Fast will provide the highest data transmission rate
possible over analog circuits (dial-up or leased lines). Once the
spec is complete, synchronous data can be transferred at rates from
19.2Kbps to 28.8Kbps, and up to an additional 4 to 1 asynchronous
data compression rate.
=================================
DISCLAIMER
RAndY's RumOR RaG is published on a monthly basis by AINSWORTH
COMPUTER SERVICES and is available on various local BBS's, GEnie,
and America Online as well as in Modem News.
In case anyone cares, RAndY's RumOR RaG is produced on a DTK
386-33 with 16 megs of memory, Cyrix Fasmath co-processor, ATI VGA
Wonder+ card (1 MB), 105 MB Toshiba IDE hard drive, Teac 1.2 MB and
1.44 MB floppies, Hitachi 3750 CD ROM drive hooked to a Pro Audio
Spectrum 16 card, Sceptre SVGA display, Microsoft mouse,
WordPerfect for Windows and transmitted through a US Robotics HST
Dual Standard modem.
Opinions expressed are those of the author. Comments should
be addressed to Ainsworth Computer Services on GEnie, America
Online, phone, analog mail, or whatever method makes you feel good.
AINSWORTH COMPUTER SERVICES
605 W. Wishkah
Aberdeen, WA 98520-6031
(206) 533-6647
GEnie Address: RAG
America Online: RumOR RaG
