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Randys Rumor Rag 1992 07
RAndY's RumOR RaG
July 1992
VENTURA PUBLISHER UPDATE
A couple of months ago, I blasted Ventura Publisher 4 for
long load times and incompatibility problems. Ventura has always
gone their own way in programming and still refuses to adhere to
the Windows standards.
By the time you read this, they should be releasing Version
4.01 to registered users. This update will correct problems with
the Word for Windows filter and GEM line art pictures. It also
adds backward compatibility for chapter and style sheet files with
3.x versions of Ventura. According to the company, it will also
improve software performance and speed up load and print times.
---------------
NEWS IN YER FACE
At the OS/2 rollout at Comdex, Borland's Philippe Kahn said,
"I have done Windows. But I didn't inhale."
---------------
A notebook manufacturer recently got one of Dell's color
notebooks to do a little competitive analysis. They ran some
tests, let it sit for a few days, then restarted it. When
restarted, reports are that the screen started to smoke.
(Remember, this is a Dell competitor.)
---------------
Borland recently hosted a Paradox developers' conference with
rumors abounding they would make a deal with WordPerfect to launch
an application bundle which would compete with Microsoft's Office
and Lotus' SmartSuite. No one's talking.
Microsoft's spies were caught trying to copy database files
from Borland's computer test room.
---------------
At the recent Apple PDA announcement, Microsoft multimedia
guru Rob Glaser tried unsuccessfully to crash the event. After
being turned away, he asked for a press kit and was rejected.
Then, he got a cab and as the cab pulled up, he grabbed a handful
of kits. An Apple security team intercepted him and Glaser left
kitless.
---------------
Novell will soon ship a 1,000 user version of Netware 4.0 and
will probably offer a package that supports 250-1,000 users. They
will also soon announce a Windows-based application that reports
management information about NetWorth LAN hubs to the NetWare
Management System.
---------------
Intel is having difficulties keeping up with the demand for
486-5- chips. They say it will be another month before they can
get things under control, although it is meeting its contractual
obligations. Demand is coming from uniprocessor servers, not
stand-along PC's.
---------------
The US Copyright Office recently issued a new regulation which
confirms that software for generating typefaces can be registered
for copyright just like other software. Adobe has set up an anti-
piracy hotline at 1-800-525-6111. You can call them for
information as to what constitutes piracy and related issues.
---------------
Compaq will be offering their new entry level computers with
DOS and Windows pre-installed. Computer sold through integrators
will not come with the software loaded unless requested.
There's a few more bucks in Bill's pockets.
---------------
Borland will be soon shipping updates to C++ including the
ability for developers to use TrueType fonts, drag-and-drop
functionality, and multimedia extensions.
There's a new 386 optimization technique which claims a 40%
speed increase and smaller compiled file size. This is not a true
32-bit compiler, but more of a code optimizer.
Also included is WinSpecter, similar to Dr. Watson which
pinpoints causes of unrecoverable application errors. (This was
code-named "Dr. Frank" for Dr. Frankenstein because "it brings your
apps back from the dead".
A new release of Turbo Pascal for Windows which utilizes
Windows 3.1 enhanced features is also due at the same time.
---------------
Everybody's after Microsoft. Aiming at Excel's functionality,
Lotus is announcing a free enhancement disk. Called SmartPak, it
will include nine pre-defined style sheets, new GUI development
tools, and the dialog editor from Ami Pro.
Borland's Quattro Pro for Windows will let users access and
perform operations on Paradox and dBase files from within the
spreadsheet.
---------------
The Software Publisher's Association along with the FBI
recently busted a BBS in Millbury, MA for allegedly distributing
illegal copies of more than 200 copyrighted programs.
---------------
Did you know that Intel's new DX2 chips use 40% more power and
there is an optional heat sink available for them?
---------------
AMD is expected to announce a single-chip Ethernet controller
designed to reside on a PC motherboard. The chip offers drivers
for NetWare, LAN Manager, VINES, and LANtastic with a cost of less
than $25.
---------------
In other chip news, Cyrix is set to introduce three new 486-
compatible microprocessors. The Cx486DLC is a 486-compatible chip
that is plug-compatible with 386DX systems. The chips feature a
full 32-bit data path and a 1K on-chip cache. It will work with
your existing math co-processor and there are no plans to add an
internal math unit. Replacing your CPU will give you the
equivalent 486 performance (if you replace a 33MHz, you'll get 486-
33 performance.) Pricing starts at $119 (OEM) for a 25MHz version.
The 40MHz version is OEM priced at about $199, much less than
Intel's 33MHz 486 which OEM's for about $400. The DLC series is
available in 25MHz, 33MHz, and 40MHz versions. Cyrix tells me this
will likely become a retail product (possibly bundled with a math
co-processor) around the end of the summer.
---------------
Adobe is introducing a PCL5 emulator which will enable
PostScript printers to mimic the Intellifont graphics supported in
the LaserJet III series.
They're also offering OEMs Adobe Intelligent Sensing software
which will enable the printer to distinguish between PCL,
PostScript, and text-based printing jobs without the user having to
specify the file type.
---------------
Microsoft announced in May that IBM's contract to use Windows
code in OS/2 runs out in 1993. Microsoft's Steve Ballmer said that
IBM has not asked that the agreement be extended.
The agreement in question allows IBM to use Windows 3.x code
along with any other Windows code that Microsoft releases before
the license agreement expires. Ballmer denies that Microsoft would
deliberately hold up release of Windows NT until after the
expiration of the agreement - so that IBM would not have access to
it.
According to an IBM insider, "if IBM can't use the Windows
code, then in typical IBM fashion they will declare Windows dead
and OS/2 the winner."
---------------
IIT, famous for inexpensive math co-processors, plans to
produce a 486 compatible chip with integration of graphics,
compression, and the main processor on one piece of silicon.
Dubbed the Vision Processor, it will combine a programmable
compression chip with an XGA compatible co-processor called AGX.
Intel says they've been working on the same thing. Uh-huh...
---------------
QuarkXPress 3.1 for Windows is scheduled for release August
18. It will read Mac QuarkXPress files and an extension to the Mac
product will allow it to read Windows files. (QuarkXPress is a
quirky, but extremely popular desktop publisher in that "other"
world.)
---------------
Microsoft hopes to start a beta program soon for their
database project Cirrus. As it stands now, it is highly graphical
application which allows users to set up queries through a series
of simple menu selections using a mouse. It will reportedly handle
mixed data types from dBase, Paradox, and Btrieve.
---------------
Seems that OS/2 has another problem besides the one I reported
on last month. I hear that in the beginning, it will work fine on
a LAN, but over a short period of time, the network performance
will deteriorate and finally stop functioning completely.
---------------
Lotus chief Manzi will soon make a public apology for racist
images printed on a Freelance demo disk called the Adventures of
Presentation Pete. This is an animated demo based on an African
safari theme with images of white hunters and black tribesmen. An
African American employee in the Freelance group was offended by
the racist image but waited to complain until the disks were
already shipping. Lotus has 750,000 of these things they're going
to have to eat.
---------------
AUTOCAD 12
Sometime before July, Autodesk is expected to release the
newest version of the popular AutoCAD software.
Included in the new release will be accelerated graphics
performance, the ability to zoom in on a specific area of a drawing
without waiting for the screen image to be repainted, new routines
for selecting components of drawings, and the ability to store
support for more output devices. There has reportedly been
extensive modification to the graphical user interface, including
programmable dialog boxes, cascading and pop-up menus, and the
elimination of the text-based main menu which has been standard
with previous versions.
Grips, similar to handles in other graphics programs, let you
manipulate objects quickly. Functions for modeling and rendering
which were previously add-ins are now included. The new Region
Modeler uses Boolean operations to add or subtract from regions.
The new Render replaces AutoShade. Of course you've got backward
file compatibility.
Plans for a 16-bit Windows extension have been scrapped, but
plans are proceeding to develop a 32-bit extension for release 12,
expected to ship in the fourth quarter. The Windows extension
developed for release 11 can be used with release 12.
The suggested retail price has been raised by $250 to $3,750
but upgrade prices are not available yet.
---------------
WORDPERFECT NEWS
Sometime in June, WordPerfect is expected to announce some new
software packages including presentation graphics for DOS and
Windows, an E-mail package update, new word processing,
spreadsheet, and database packages.
The E-mail package will be released later this year and will
share a common mail engine across Windows, DOS, Mac, and Unix
platforms. It will support industry standard interfaces as well as
supporting mail-enabling of other vendors' applications. They're
also working on a NetWare Loadable Module for mail, but no release
date has been set.
No word yet, but there are plans for a major word processing
introduction later this year as well as changes to DataPerfect and
PlanPerfect.
The graphics package will replace DrawPerfect and has working
names of WordPerfect Presents and Perfect Impact. The program
should be in beta testing by now but more specific dates and prices
are not being released.
In other unrelated news, WordPerfect is pursuing legal
remedies against companies that use "perfect" in their company or
product names. WordPerfect officials won't comment on these legal
matters, they do admit to sending out dozens of letters requesting
that software companies change their names. There are more than 50
companies that use "perfect" as part of their company or product
names.
The majority of small developers being sued requested
anonymity, but some said they will come together to create a joint
defense fund.
WPCORP officials defend their actions saying this is not a Big
vs. Small issue. "You either police your mark (trademark) or lose
it," said R. Duff Thompson, vice president and general counsel for
WordPerfect. "It's not fair for one company to trade on the good
will of another. We are recognized as having a family of marks and
under trademark law there doesn't have to be confusion - only the
threat of confusion."
Firms under threat claim that there is nothing for buyers to
fear because most of their products are aimed at vertical markets
and have little or no connection with word processing.
Others say that WordPerfect has a right to defend its name.
"WordPerfect as a whole is a nice company, but sometimes they are
too nice and in the past they have let themselves be trampled,"
says Will Fastie, an analyst with the Baltimore investment banking
form of Alex, Brown, & Sons. "Every product WordPerfect has uses
"perfect" as the post-fix, and the company is just defending their
name."
---------------
WINDOWS COMPATIBILITY
Last month I talked about the [Compatibility] section of the
Windows 3.1 WIN.INI file.
This section is required mostly because of bugs in Windows 3.0
which required applications code around the bugs to get their
software to work. Some of these applications had problems under
Windows 3.1 due to the bug fixes.
The prefix "0x" specifies a hex number. Bit 0001 is a work
around for the Microsoft C 6.x run-time installation library. This
affects the setup programs in Microsoft Publisher, Money, Works,
and other applications that were similarly compiled.
Bit 0002 is a performance enhancement fixing applications that
have a problem with the method used by Windows 3.1 for mixing text
and graphics on printouts. Bit 0004 tells Windows to print
landscape graphics in one large chunk.
Bit 0008 fixes applications that can't handle other apps
trying to remain visible at all times. Bit 0010 forces Windows 3.1
to give applications a list of TrueType faces, indicating that
those typefaces are actually resident in the current printer.
Bit 0020 tells Windows 3.1 to print graphics in multiple
bands. The new Universal Printer Driver tries to optimize printing
by placing all text and graphics in a single, page-long band if
enough memory is available. Some programs like Freelance's REM
module are confused by this procedure.
Bit 0040 makes Windows send window-repaint messages to every
running application when a new windows is opened. Windows 3.0 did
this, but 3.1 tries to gain performance by messaging only those
windows it thinks need redrawing. But some applications use these
messages for other purposes, so this is needed to restore the old
behavior for Pixie, ObjectVision, and the CP module of Cricket
Presents.
Bit 0080 fixes a 3.0 bug which converted text to capitals when
passed to an application's File Open dialog box. Windows 3.1 fixed
this, but some applications compensated for the bug and may display
the wrong extension in the File Open boxes without this work-
around.
Bit 0100 changes the allocation of 4 bytes in a memory
structure that was accessible by 3.0 applications, but not by 3.1.
Setting this bit helps applications like Aporia. Bit 0200 fixes a
problem that exists because in Windows 3.1, a TrueType face can be
represented on-screen by either a scalable outline or pre-installed
bitmap. This fix eliminates confusion for certain modules.
Bit 0800 fixes another bug in 3.0 dealing with serial
communications on COM2, which applications such as Packrat and
Microcourier depended on and are coded around.
Bit 1000 is for applications that hard-wired the 3.0 font
names Helv and Tms Rmn into their code. Microsoft changed the
names in 3.1 to MS Sans Serif and MS Serif. Setting this bit lets
applications like Excel, Guide, Spinnaker Plus, and others still
"see" the old names until upgrades are available.
Bit 2000 lets some applications recognize TrueType faces as
scalable, even though the current printer cannot scale type. This
affects programs like Charisma, PageMaker 4.0, Micrografx Designer,
and others. Bit 4000 affects applications that display drop-down
lists inside dialog boxes (to show a list of disk drives, for
example). Setting this bit makes sure that such boxes overlap
other boxes properly.
Bit 8000 forces Windows 3.1 to print TrueType faces as graphic
output (rather than downloadable fonts) for certain applications.
Bit 10000 corrects a 3.0 bug which sometimes sent an
application an invalid set of coordinates for rectangles that
needed to be redrawn. Without this fix, some Draw objects ar not
properly redrawn in Word for Windows. Bit 20000 affects a message
that Windows sends to an application after its window has been
moved by the user. Windows 3.0 always sent the application a
message to recalculate its window size. Because this is more
important when a window is created (not just moved), Windows 3.1
usually doesn't send this message after a mere move. Some
applications depend upon this message, such as Lotus Notes. This
is one of the many ways that Microsoft slightly improved
performance.
Bit 40000 changes the way Windows 3.1 processes a mouse
double-click on the System Menu icon. Bit 80000 alters the way
Windows 3.1 calculates PostScript character widths for certain
applications.
All of this information was gleaned from several issues of
InfoWorld and hopefully helps to clear up some questions. Do not
mess with the [Compatibility] section of your WIN.INI unless
instructed by an application's technical support department - or
unless you know for sure what you're doing.
For more technical information on the Compatibility] section,
download the file COMPAT.ZIP from the WINSDK forum, Library 1 on
CompuServe.
---------------
KODAK PHOTO CD
Very soon, you'll be able to have your slides and negatives
scanned, converted to a digital photograph, compressed, and stored
on a compact disc. The discs can then be played in new Photo CD
players that connect to your TV set and in CD-ROM drives for our
computers.
As some of you know, my primary business is professional
photography. Naturally, this idea has a great deal of interest to
me.
Kodak says that there are 50 billion snapshots taken per year
by 250 million cameras, 15 billion snapshots with 100 million
cameras just in the US. The potential is enormous to say the
least.
The images are compressed for storage, then decompressed as
they're accessed. An uncompressed image would need about 18MB of
storage space. You can store about 100 images on a disc with 2000
line resolution - the finer the film grain, the more images can be
stored. The images can be stored all at once or added to later.
There will be small, numbered reproductions of the photos on sheets
which slip inside the plastic case, serving as a visual index of a
disc's contents.
By the end of the year, there will be more than 100,000 drop-
off in places like K-Mart, one-hour labs, and such. In 1993, Kodak
will give photo processors a way to add audio and text to Photo
CD's. In September, Kodak will introduce authoring software with
simple methods for linking audio and text with pictures to create
multimedia slide shows.
If that's not enough, Kodak gives consumers the ability to
enlarge and crop pictures being viewed on a TV with enough
resolution for the next generation high-definition TV standards.
Kodak claims that the writeable discs will last 50-100 years,
depending upon how they're stored. Altamira Software in California
is working on Windows-based composing and editing software which
will work with Photo CD's.
OK, so what are the disadvantages? The speed of writing to a
disc only gets so good. It takes at least a half hour to fill a
disc. It can't compare to photo finishing where machinery can
easily process 25,000 images per day. Also, right now, the only
way to get information onto a Photo CD is via 35mm slides and
negatives. And, of course you can't edit an image and write it
back on a CD.
There's another thing to consider. If you have a Photo CD
written to in one session (filled up the first time), the CD
players now on the market for computers will be able to read it.
If you return a CD to have more images written, you'll need a
multi-session CD reader which will be released soon. Present CD-
ROM units can only read the first write session.
Here's the technical side. Creating a Photo CD disc requires
a license from Kodak and software that only runs on a PIW (Photo CD
Imaging Workstation).
The PIW system costs about $100,000 and includes a fast Kodak
scanner for input (five seconds per image), and a Phillips CD
writer for output. In between there's a Sun Sparcstation with a
RasterOps display card and a custom image compression card, and a
dual SCSI card to keep data moving through the system. The PIW can
scan, compress, and write images simultaneously. The PIW systems
also include a CD-ROM player and a Kodak color printer.
The 35mm film is scanned at 3072x2048 resolution. The system
reads the film type from a bar code and stores the film type with
each image on the disc. There are five different resolutions of
the image stored. The compressed images require 4MB-7MB of
storage, therefore you can store about 100 images on a 680MB CD.
Oh yeah, you probably want to know what this technology will
cost. It will cost about $1 per image or about $20 per 24-exposure
roll. Players for your TV will cost $400-$650 depending upon the
features desired. The high-end player will have a carousel
allowing you to have 5 CD's online. Of course, the CD's are Kodak
yellow, but Kodak tells me they have to be that gold colored to
enable writing.
---------------
GREAT GAMES
I need to put in a plug for some folks who make excellent
games and sell them dirt cheap. I'm talking about Apogee Software.
They're the ones who blew everyone away with Commander Keen,
featuring smooth scrolling VGA graphics.
One of their latest is called Wolfenstein 3-D. You're an
escaped prisoner in a Nazi prison and your goal is to get out. As
you move down hallways and go through doors, the 3-D effect is so
real that it gives me a headache. The scrolling is very smooth.
Sound card support is great with a suspenseful soundtrack, barking
dogs, and Nazi guards yelling at you in German.
Along the way you encounter Nazi guards, SS men, and patrol
dogs, all of which you must kill to keep going. There are four
levels of difficulty, but in all levels the violence is very
graphic. When you shoot someone, you hear a yell and blood spurts
out of your victim. The game is rated PC-13 which stands for
Profound Carnage. It's another example of excellent shareware.
Catch it at a BBS near you.
---------------
WINDOWS TIP & INFO
Did you know that if you're using Windows 3.1, you can delete
the WINA20.386 file that DOS 5 put in your root directory. If
you're still using Windows 3.0, you can remove the file if you're
never going to run in Enhanced Mode.
This mysterious file is just a virtual device driver which
resolves conflicts between Windows 3.0 and DOS 5 when both try to
access the HMA.
As you're surely aware, SmartDrive 4 is a delayed write-back
cache. I've had some people ask what happens if they do a CTRL-
ALT-DEL and there is still information in SmartDrive's cache.
When SmartDrive detects the warm boot key sequence, it takes
control and makes sure all data in the cache is written to disk.
You may see a box in the upper left corner of your screen that
tells you to wait while it's dumping the cache. If you use a
utility in a batch file to force a warm boot, include a line
reading "SMARTDRIVE /C" to flush the cache before your warm boot
program takes over.
---------------
RIP
This is more of a personal note, but it shows what's involved
in developing and marketing a software product.
In my photography business, I use a package called Masterpiece
developed by Burrell Business Systems. It operates out of Windows
and is designed as a point-of-sale package for portrait photography
studios. It uses Novell's Btrieve for fast retrieval of
information and frees me from having to write customers' orders on
a piece of paper. Everything I sell has an easy to remember code
assigned, so when a customer comes in to order photographs, the
order is placed on the screen and an invoice is printed on a
customized form. Of course the program keeps track of income and
product sales.
I was recently informed by Burrell that as of this past
February they are no longer marketing Masterpiece. Cited as the
primary reason was the cost of product support. While Masterpiece
was produced for both the PC and the Mac, it is an extremely easy
to use piece of software. I can't imagine people having problems
with it. But according to them, their phones were tied up too much
and they couldn't afford to pay someone to do their Windows
programming.
Actually, I could see this coming during my conversations with
them over the last year. The bottom line is that it costs money to
produce software and it costs money to support it.
---------------
MORE NEWS IN YER FACE
WordPerfect has been PO'd at Microsoft since the big M started
running aggressive advertisements suggesting that WordPerfect was
an inferior product.
WP President Alan Ashton said, "I personally spoke with Bill
and asked him to cease their misleading ads." According to Ashton,
Gates thanked him for the call. "We'll look at this and get back
to you", said Gates. Ashton is still waiting.
---------------
WordPerfect and Borland will soon be announcing a low-cost
migration path for users of MultiMate and Sprint. These two
companies are also considering a reciprocal agreement to move
DataPerfect and PlanPerfect users to Paradox, dBase, and Quattro
Pro.
The boys in Orem recently announced acquisition of a data
communications software house, licensed ATM, made a mutual support
and development pact with Novell, and announced a complete
restructuring of its corporate mission.
DrawPerfect for Windows, described by industry analyst Amy
Wohl as "breathtakingly elegant" will debut at PC Expo. In
development are a forms application package and a high-end document
management package.
WordPerfect has developed a "core engine" development policy
which will result in closely synchronized product introductions
across platforms.
---------------
Hayes is expected to show Smartcom for Windows at PC Expo.
The asynchronous package is available in five languages and
supports ISDN, Hayes ESP, LANs, and TCP/IP.
---------------
Novell is set to release a version of DR-DOS for hand-held
computers in July. It will be known as PalmDOS, based on DR-DOS 6,
and will work with hand-held computers and PDAs. It features a
small kernel that can be loaded in ROM for fast booting and has
disk compression capabilities.
Novell is expected to announce a strategy called NetWare
Desktop Systems which outlines how a variety of systems can connect
to NetWare LANs.
---------------
INGOLF Plaza recently purchased 126 large screen projection
systems to interface with a computerized golf simulator.
The system projects a realistic 18-hole golf course scene onto
a 10x12.5 foot screen. Once the ball is launched by the golfer, a
computerized simulator calculates its flight, distance covered, and
distance remaining. The ball lands and a new shot is presented for
the golfer. Price for the projectors, each with data, graphics and
video capabilities is about $10,000 apiece.
Here's the perfect gift for Dad.
---------------
SUPPLEMENTAL DRIVER LIBRARY
The Windows 3.1 Supplemental Driver Library is now available
from Microsoft ($20), the Microsoft BBS, the popular online
services, and your local dealer.
Included in the seven disk set are drivers for printers not
included in the Windows 3.1 package (too many to list). Drivers
for sound cards such as Artisoft, Soundblaster, IBM M-Audio, and
Pro Audio Spectrum are there, too. A driver is included which
allows you to play WAV and MID files through the PC speaker. This
should prove useful for those without sound cards.
Drivers for ATI Ultra, DGIS, Tseng ET4000, and S3 compatible
cards are in the package. There are also drivers for CGA (wow) and
grayscale displays.
Two disks labeled Miscellaneous contain C and D printer fonts,
the old MS-DOS Executive, NetWare and IPX upgrade utilities, and
the Access Pack for handicapped users. Reversi is back, after
Microsoft left it out of the 3.1 package.
An updated UNIDRV.DLL is part of the set along with two new
additions for your SYSTEM.INI file. VPD.386 is used for LPT
contention management and MONOUMB.386 provides additional UMB space
for DOS-based applications.
---------------
EXCEL 4.0
They say that it takes Microsoft at least until Version 3 of
any product to get it right. Well, they got it right and then some
with Excel 4.0.
Excel has been a favorite since it was first released for the
PC. Rather than go through a feature list, here are my
impressions.
I love the drag-and-drop editing. This cut-and-paste nonsense
was always cumbersome to me. Now, I can copy or move a range with
just a mouse click.
The same goes for the intelligent autofill. When setting up
a worksheet it's so much easier to just highlight a range and have
it fill with data. Lots of possibilities here.
I like the revised button bar. And the Workbook metaphor is
much improved over the Workspace idea.
So what's wrong with it. Well, I want to play with all the
features, but there's too much to read. I want to do it now! I
can't see anything wrong with it. If you presently use Windows,
this is THE spreadsheet (forget 1-2-3/W). If you're firmly
anchored in the character-based world, then I'm sorry.
This is state-of-the-art spreadsheeting for sure.
---------------
CHEAP TRICKS
These two items come from PC Magazine and Aldus Magazine and
I thought you might find them interesting.
Using Windows 3.1, bring up the Program Manager. Hold down
Control and Shift, then select About from the Help menu. Double-
click one of the four panes of the Windows 3.1 icon in the dialog
box. Close the About dialog box. The second time you do this,
you'll see a flag waving. The third time, you'll see a scrolling
list of the people involved in the creation of Windows. One of
several figures announces this list, one of which is a bear and the
rest resemble certain Microsoft Executives.
(If you're still stuck with Windows 3.0, hold down F3 and
successively tap WIN3, release F3, and press Backspace. Your
desktop background will be replaced by a list of Windows 3.0's
creators. Click on the background to get rid of it.)
Have you ever wished you could get a piece of artwork into the
computer but you don't have access to a scanner? Photocopy the
artwork onto acetate and press it on the screen where you can use
it as a guide to trace it. Sometimes, static electricity will hold
the acetate in place on the screen. One useful purpose for this
technique could be for reproducing a map.
---------------
NEXT MONTH
Coming in August, I hope to take a peek at Corel Draw 3.0.
I'm still waiting for Sierra On-Line to get on the stick and
release Pinball for Windows (either ship the product or stop your
advertising of it). Someday . . .
---------------
PEERSONAL NOTE
I'm sure there are readers somewhere out there who have left
me mail on GEnie or America Online, only to find it unanswered in
recent months. Since about mid-March, I've been having
difficulties with the local phone company and have been unable to
access the pay services.
If anyone out there has connections that will let us get a
local Telenet (or similar) node, please pull the strings. I have
badgered GTE since about 1985 with no luck. It's bad enough to
have to pay for the services, then tack long distance charges on
top of that. HELP!!
=================================
DISCLAIMER
RAndY's RumOR RaG is published on a monthly basis by AINSWORTH
COMPUTER SERVICES and is available on various 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
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Spectrum 16 sound card, 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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