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Randys Rumor Rag 1993 06
RAndY s RumOR RaG
June 1993
HP DISCRIMINATION
Do you remember my tale about attempting to get Hewlett-
Packard's blessing a couple of years ago? I filled out their 8
page form in an attempt to legitimately sell their products. My
application was rejected.
Guess who's now selling LaserJets? Costco is now selling them
for about $40 below my cost. (Costco is a large discount warehouse
membership chain.) I guess if you can afford to buy them by the
boxcar you're OK.
---------------
In response to the above item, I am reading an article in
Computer Retail Week concerning dealers and retailers who are
transshipping Hwelett-Packard printers to warehouse clubs like
Costco. HP has terminated some offending resellers for this
practice.
Customers of products bought from the clubs have been
attempting to get service through authorized dealers after having
been turned away from the warehouse clubs.
---------------
Media Vision has formed a Multimedia Publishing Division with
plans to publish entertainment and educational titles for Mac and
DOS.
---------------
Mustang Software is now endorsing the Remote Imaging Protocol,
a standard for displaying graphics with BBS's. I've seen a
graphical BBS called Roboterm which uses this system and it's
impressive. Graphics are stored on the user's hard drive
(consuming little space) and the speed online is hot.
Wildcat's new RIP graphics capability will only work if the
caller's software supports the RIP standard. Mustang also has
added a fax-send module to Wildcat which will let the user select
fax documents and have them sent to a fax machine.
---------------
By the end of the summer, Corel will ship several multimedia
titles with the aid of independent software vendors such as Motion
Works.
---------------
Who'd have guessed? Microsoft has pushed back their self-
imposed shipping date for Windows NT from June 30 to up to 30 days
later. Pricing for the client component will be in the $400-$500
area with upgrades between $149-$300. The Advanced Server will go
for between $1,000 and $3,000. A Microsoft official said,
"pricing will be final on May 24 when Bill Gates announces the
product".
---------------
WordPerfect has finally announced that WordPerfect 6 for DOS
will ship on June 28 with an upgrade price of $129.
---------------
The new Borland Office bundle weighs 21 pounds!
---------------
I just saw an advertisement for an interesting product from
Mouse Systems. The product is called a Serial Bus Card and will
convert virtually any serial device into a bus device. This could
come in handy when you run out of interrupts or have device
conflicts.
---------------
At the recent DB Expo, a demo of Microsoft's Access 1.1
crashed. The product manager claimed it was a network problem,
this happened right in front of Bill Gates - and he didn't stick
around for questions.
---------------
IBM is promising there will be no shipping snafus when OS/1
2.1 is released. A promotional price for upgrades will be about
$99 with a slightly lower priced CD-ROM version also available.
---------------
How many Microsofties does it take to screw in a light bulb?
None - Bill Gates just declares darkness the new standard.
---------------
1-2-3 Release 4 for Windows will ship a little later than had
been expected, probably around the end of June.
Borland shipped Quattro Pro 2 (Einstein) to beta testers
recently.
---------------
UNIQUE MARKETING
A new company called TestDrive Corp. will release in August a
CD-ROM of third-party applications which will allow users to try
out programs before purchasing them.
There will be over 100 full-working Windows applications from
various publishers including Borland and Computer Associates.
Company president Nathan Schulhof said, "every publisher feels, 'If
I could only have the user trying my program, they would like it'".
The CD will use a patent-pending encryption method allowing
users to try aout applications for a specific number of times
before the application becomes disenabled. When a user decides to
purchase an application, they give a TestDrive operator their
TestDrive identification number, product name and catalog number,
and they'll get the proper code to permanently install the
application on their hard drive. Within two days, users can also
expect to receive the shrink-wrap application from TestDrive.
The company will sell publishers megabytes of CD space as an
"interactive marketing cost" with 1 M-byte increments sold for
$3,900 and 5 M-byte increments sold for $10,500. Publishers also
decide in advance how many times they would like their software to
be accessed free of charge.
TestDrive plans to release one CD per quarter with a
subscription rate of $9.95 for one CD and $19.95 for all four
editions.
---------------
SIMM REMOVER
A unique, innovative product from Stratos Product Development
will greatly help those of us who have to remove SIMMs on a regular
basis. The SIMM Remover lets you remove a memory module by sliding
over the edges of the SIMM, engaging the holes in the SIMM, and
disengage the SIMM socket's latches without stressing the socket or
its connections.
Older SIMM sockets were all plastic and the clips could be
easily broken. Newer SIMM sockets have metal clips.
This simple tool is made from permanent anti-static ABS
plastic which will not accumulate a static charge or directly
transmit a charge. A recessed area is provided for a company's
logo, advertising message, or whatever information a reseller may
with to have imprinted.
---------------
DOS 6 COLORS
I published this segment back in 1991 when DOS 5 came out, and
now that we've got a new version it's time to repeat the
information.
Don't you just hate spending hundreds of dollars for a nice
VGA display, only to have DOS display in black-and-white? Well, I
do!! Back when I was using DOS 3.3, I knew where to find the code
for CLS to change it to something I liked (bright cyan on blue).
Here's how to find it in DOS 6's COMMAND.COM and change it.
I realize that you can use ANSI.SYS to change screen colors, but on
a fast machine it really slows down the display.
Here's the procedure; some of the addresses may be different
but the principle is the same.
DEBUG \COMMAND.COM
-RCX
CX BAE5
-S 100 L BAE5 CD 10
22CC:432B
22CC:4337
22CC:435F
22CC:436C
22CC:4370
22CC:4376
-U 4300
-
- Enter U a few times
-
-U
22CC:4366 B406 MOV AH,06
22CC:4368 B707 MOV BH,07
22CC:436A 32DB XOR BL,BL
-Q
What you're looking for is the MOV BH,07 instruction.
Remember to hit ENTER twice after the RCX instruction. Note that
the address above for the MOV you're looking for is 4368. Add 1 to
that address (whatever you come up with) and then do the following:
DEBUG \COMMAND.COM
-D 4369 L1
22CC:4369 07
-Q
You should see 07, otherwise go back and search again. When
you've found the correct address, then do the following:
DEBUG COMMAND.COM
-E 4369
22CC:4369 07.
-W
Writing 0BAFB bytes
-Q
After you do the E instruction, debug will return the address
with the "07."; now you select the colors you want and enter them
after the period. The first number is the background, the second
is foreground. Don't enter a number larger than 7 for the first
number or your screen will blink. Here's the list of colors:
Black - 0 Grey - 8
Blue - 1 Bright Blue - 9
Green - 2 Bright Green - A
Cyan - 3 Bright Cyan - B
Red - 4 Bright Red - C
Magenta - 5 Bright Magenta - D
Brown - 6 Yellow - E
White - 7 Bright White - F
You may want to change where you start searching from. In my
own personal case, the address was 4A52. But the important thing
to look for is MOV BH,07 instruction.
Of course, you might want to format a disk with the system
files on it so you don't screw up your COMMAND.COM.
---------------
PHOTO SOFTWARE
Since I've been interested in photography for over 26 years,
I take great interest in any kind of software which deals with
photography.
Eastman Kodak has a program called PCphotographer which
teaches photography skills through the computer. The program
simulates a single-lens reflex camera and you "take" photographs
electronically.
You select a scene, film, camera position, and adjust the
camera settings. The software "develops" photos and displays the
exposure settings, film, and lighting used. You'll see the effects
of exposure on the screen and can experiment with different
settings.
More advanced functions let you practice metering, bracketing,
controlling depth-of-field, and work with both fixed and zoom
lenses.
Suggested price is $59.95.
In unrelated news, The Professional Photographers of America
can now be accessed through CompuServe through the Photography
Forum. The intend to provide members with association news,
industry updates, and program schedules. I used to belong to PPA
and was just a few merits away from earning my Craftsman Degree
(having already been one of the first three in this state to earn
CPP status), but it cost too much money and the benefits were quite
intangible.
---------------
AMD NEWS
Advanced Micro Devices is expanding their efforts beyond
cloning Intel chips. They're getting into developing RISC
processors with their 29000 RISC printer processor.
They intend to wrap x86-compatible logic around a RISC core
to create a hybrid CISC/RISC chip that will run all Intel-platform
software.
AMD won't say where they're at in the design process or if
they have any working models, but they will say that they'll be in
computers by 1995.
They also announced that on June 6 they will introduce a
number of 486 products that use independent microcode (independent
from Intel).
---------------
WORDPERFECT INTERIM RELEASES
WordPerfect has issued interim releases for both WordPerfect
5.2 for Windows and Presentations for DOS. Look for the eminent
release of WordPerfect 6 for DOS, InForms for Windows, Office for
Windows, and Presentations for Windows.
---------------
NEXT MONTH
Things are always a little slow before Comdex or any other
major industry show. In the July RaG look for reviews of
CorelDraw! 4 and PageMaker 5. There will also be a number of new
products released by WordPerfect which I'll examine, including
WordPerfect 6.0 for DOS, WordPerfect Office 4.0 for Windows,
WordPerfect InForms, and WordPerfect Presentations for Windows.
---------------
PERSONAL NOTE
I'd like to say "MEGA-DITTOS" to Chris Blum of UMBDRIVER in
Ohio. Sorry I missed your call but it helps to know there is
support out there.
=================================
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 486-
50 with 8 megs of memory, ATI VGA Wonder+ card (1 MB), 105 MB
Toshiba IDE hard drive, Teac 1.2 MB and 1.44 MB floppies, Pro Audio
Spectrum 16 running a Hitachi 3750 CD ROM drive, 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
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