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GEnieLamp Apple II - Vol.3, Issue 28
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~ WELCOME TO GEnieLamp APPLE II! ~
""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""
~ PROFILE: Who's Who in Apple II? (Pat Kern) ~
~ POLISHING GREEN APPLES: Hooked on Storage, Part 5 ~
~ DR'S EXAMINING TABLE: Golden Oldies Review: ChessMaster 2100 ~
~ THE TREASURE HUNT: Graphics (Print Shop, Double Hi-Res, and more) ~
~ APPLE II HISTORY: Part 23, Renaissance? ~
~ HOT NEWS, HOT FILES, HOT MESSAGES ~
\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\////////////////////////////////////
GEnieLamp Apple II ~ A T/TalkNET OnLine Publication ~ Vol.3, Issue 28
""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""
Editor....................................................Douglas Cuff
Publisher.............................................John F. Peters
\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\////////////////////////////////////
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~ Member Of The Digital Publishing Association ~
GE Mail: GENIELAMP Internet: genielamp@genie.geis.com FTP: sosi.com
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>>> WHAT'S HAPPENING IN THE APPLE II ROUNDTABLE? <<<
""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""
~ July 1, 1994 ~
FROM MY DESKTOP ......... [FRM] HEY MISTER POSTMAN ...... [HEY]
Notes From The Editor. Is That A Letter For Me?
HUMOR ONLINE ............ [HUM] REFLECTIONS ............. [REF]
New Terminology. The Nature of Human Fellowship.
BEGINNER'S CORNER ....... [BEG] ASCII ART GALLERY ....... [ASA]
FINAL Polishing Green Apples. July Celebrations.
DR'S EXAMINING TABLE .... [DRT] THE TREASURE HUNT ....... [HUN]
Review: ChessMaster 2100. Yours For the Downloading.
PROFILES ................ [PRO] PAL NEWSLETTER .......... [PAL]
Profile of Pat Kern. July 1994 Report.
APPLE II ................ [AII] LOG OFF ................. [LOG]
History 23: Renaissance? GEnieLamp Information.
[IDX]"""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""
READING GEnieLamp GEnieLamp has incorporated a unique indexing system
""""""""""""""""" 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 for 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, are allowed without charge.
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 an *additional* six (6) free hours of standard connect time
(for a total of 10) to be used in the first month. Want more? Your
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*** GET INTO THE LAMP! ***
""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""
//////////////////////////////////////// GEnie_QWIK_QUOTE ////
/ /
/ My Cockatiel had been making strange noises and I /
/ couldn't figure out what they were ---- until I signed /
/ onto GEnie ---- She mimics EXACTLY the connection! /
/ down to the static! /
/ /
/ My wife does that, it's how she gets my attention. /
/ /
///////////////////////////////////// BYTE & GARY.UTTER ////
[EOA]
[FRM]//////////////////////////////
FROM MY DESKTOP /
/////////////////////////////////
Notes From The Editor
"""""""""""""""""""""
by Douglas Cuff
[EDITOR.A2]
>>> WITH RIGHTS COME RESPONSIBILITIES <<<
"""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""
I should have know better. Heck of an admission for someone who
won't tolerate backpedaling to have to make, but it's true.
Last month, I pointed out the absolute necessity of giving GEnieLamp
proper credit. It seems the only people -- a stupendous two -- who were
stirred up enough to reply to my editorial were those who are obeying the
rules.
The reason I should have known better is that, during my school days,
I frequently blushed with shame when a teacher delivered a broadcast
lecture about sloppiness... or lack of diligence... or -- well, you get the
picture. I always assumed I was the intended recipient, whether my mark
was 99 or 49... while those for whom the rather strident advice was
intended preserved a look of insolent boredom.
I don't want to analyze it, I just want to own that I should have
remembered that only the wrong people actually listen to such strictures.
Some of you may know it as preaching to the converted.
I also want to clear up a misunderstanding and answer a few questions
about giving proper credit.
First, it is not necessary to reproduce the credit information
facsimile. One of my two correspondents complained that it was difficult
to find a way to reproduce credit information that was 10 lines long and 73
characters wide in a paper newsletter. Having just put in a year as editor
of the newsletter of the local Apple II user group, I knew immediately what
he meant. An article is always two paragraphs too long or two short. The
available copy never fits the available whitespace, particularly if it's 73
characters wide and had to be spread across the page.
In fact, the GEnieLamp credit is 8 lines, not 10 (you are not obliged
to reprint our decorative borders), and need not be presented exactly as
shown. You can format it any way you like, so long as you don't add or
omit anything, and as long as it's legible. Just be sure to include it!
Second, the messages GEnieLamp A2 reproduces from the A2 RoundTable
in its HEY MISTER POSTMAN section: I have been asked if it's necessary to
credit GEnieLamp A2 when quoting a message from the RoundTable that
appeared in GEnieLamp A2. This is a tricky one. The answer seems to be
"no", but you still must ask permission and give credit to the RoundTable.
GEnieLamp A2 doesn't own the messages it reproduces, but because it's
sponsored both by GEnie and the A2 RoundTable (which makes me a servant of
two masters), it doesn't have the same hassles of requiring permission to
reproduce messages for its own purposes that other magazines have.
Therefore, GEnieLamp A2 can reproduce the messages, but can't grant anyone
else permission to re-reproduce them (unless you reproduce the entire
column). To reproduce an individual message or selection of them, you must
contact GEnie, and/or the RoundTable, and/or the person who posted the
message. (Possibly I have listed them in reverse order of importance.)
Third, it's been brought to my attention that the GEnieLamp credit
information is relevant only to those in the United States and -- owing
principally to me -- Canada. Why should those in Australia, Europe, or
Japan have to reproduce information about North American 800 numbers?
The answer to this: I don't know. (Sorry, but I really get tired of
people who only ask themselves questions designed to make them appear
clever.) Or more fully, I don't know, but you do have to. I agree that it
makes little sense, but you must do it. If you think a rule or law is
stupid, by all means lobby to have it changed. But until it is changed,
obey it.
Finally, so much attention has been given to the reproduction of the
copyright information that some are forgetting to mention GEnieLamp A2
anywhere. Please, put "Reprinted from GEnieLamp A2 (July 1994)" at the top
of each article you reprint from this month's issue. Please remember to
include the precise issue you are reprinting from, and please remember that
"A2" part, since there are also GEnieLamp A2Pro, Macintosh, IBM, Windows,
ST....
[*][*][*]
It's time for you to bid Steven Weyhrich a fond farewell. (I don't
have to do it myself -- I get to keep working with him on A2-Central, which
decreases my own personal sadness quite a bit.) This month he's presenting
the final installment in his Polishing Green Apple column and the last
chapter of his Apple II History. These two columns seem to get reproduced
in every Anglophone Apple II newsletter in the world (usually uncredited
<gnash gnash>).
It's for people like Steven, who is a great guy besides being a
talented writer, that I fight for proper credit. (Face it, folks, nobody
ever rips off my editorials, so my personal stake in this is minimal.) One
correspondent asked if I didn't have any respect for the GEnieLamp A2
readers. Sure I do, but not at the expense of the GEnieLamp A2 writers.
Standing up for "your" writers comes with the job of editor.
(I'm still not sure how preventing readers from stealing from
GEnieLamp is showing them disrespect. Does anyone out there know?)
[*][*][*]
Finally, a comment on our HEY MISTER POSTMAN column. Every month, we
reproduce -- facsimile -- spelling mistakes and all -- messages posted to
the A2 RoundTable. We don't editorialize; we don't summarize; we just
reproduce the messages as posted. (Okay, sometimes we cut parts of the
message that quote other messages, and such. But that's it.)
It was this column that drew me back to GEnie, and it's our
publisher's feeling that the column does a good job of attracting others.
I'd like the column to be as informative as possible, for the sake of our
readers. Not, however, at the expense of those who post on the A2
RoundTable.
As I've said, GEnieLamp is a recognized part of GEnie, not some
separate publication. As I've said, we reproduce facsimile. Even with
that understanding, some of those who post on the A2 RT don't want to see
their messages reproduced in GEnieLamp A2. If you're among that group,
would you please add a "Copyright 1994" or "All rights reserved" or
something similar to your signature?
I'm asking for a favor here. It's NOT one of those deals where I
stand on the mountain-top and proclaim, "If thou dost not add this to thy
signature, I will copy thy messages and to hell with thee!" It's just
that, again, I find myself the servant of two masters -- those who read and
those who post. There just isn't any way for me to maintain a list of
those who do and don't want to appear in GEnieLamp A2. (Maybe the next
versions of GEM and Co-Pilot will prevent me from archiving messages from a
customizable list of GEnie accounts. But I wouldn't count on it.) I
barely have the time to put together the HEY MISTER POSTMAN column as it
is... and since I am putting the column together right up until deadline
time, it's difficult to know what the final content will be.
It's become obvious to me that there's no easy solution to this
problem. That means I must settle for a difficult solution. I'd really
appreciate the help of all who post to GEnie's A2 RoundTable in making the
difficult solution as easy as possible.
[*][*][*]
This month, we celebrate two returns. Our wandering boy Darrel
Raines is back with his Golden Oldie review, and Charlie Hartley has
provided us with a profile for our popular "Who's Who in Apple II?"
interview series.
-- Doug Cuff
GEnie Mail: EDITOR.A2 Internet: editor.a2@genie.geis.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. |
|__________________________________________________________|
[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 <<<
""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""
[*] CAT5, TOP8 ................. Playing with a toy?
[*] CAT7, TOP7 ................. Stop the Madness project
[*] CAT12, TOP33 ............... ImageWriter II models
[*] CAT17, TOP4 ................ AppleWorks desktop memory requirement
[*] CAT17, TOP4 ................ Lost AppleWorks desktop bug
[*] CAT42, TOP29 ............... AppleWorks 4.1
[*] CAT42, TOP32 ............... AppleWorks GS cancelled
>>> A2 POT-POURRI <<<
"""""""""""""""""""""
RAMFAST 3.01E OR 3.01EZ? I am a little confused, based on some recent
"""""""""""""""""""""""" postings. What is the latest ROMs for the
RamFast SCSI Card, 3.01e or 3.01ez? If 3.01ez "exists", so to speak, what
is the difference between 3.01e and 3.01ez?
(A.KENT4, CAT20, TOP13, MSG:122/M645;1)
>>>>> They are effectively identical. The 'ez' ROM has a two-byte change
""""" to allow the RF firmware to work with the Zilog processors we use
(instead of the Hitachi parts). The 'ez' still works with the Hitachi
part, so we only ship 3.01ez. Sequential is paranoid about revisions.
Jawaid (PROCYON.INC, CAT20, TOP13, MSG:173/M645;1)
MINOR SPECTRUM BUG #1 GOOSE -- After you Open CaptureFile
""""""""""""""""""""" "FoldernameFilename", doing Close CaptureFile (via
script or by choosing it from the menu) does result in a bogus "syntax
error". That's a bug.
A workaround is to save/clear the capture buffer before you want to
start capturing to a file, then set the AutoSave path, set AutoSaveBuffer
ON, and set Append ON. Data will come into memory, then be purged to the
file whenever the capture buffer fills. When you are finished capturing
to a file do Save Buffer.
You can then reset the AutoSave path to the "normal" capture buffer
path, or set AutoSaveBuffer OFF so the user will be prompted when the
capture buffer fills.
I'm deep into v1.1 so don't remember offhand what problems are in
v1.0 (they are all minor and can be worked around). READ 16 ALL to see
some of the prior scripting messages. I think the biggest tip is "do not
mix slash- delimited with colon-delimited filenames".
Thanks, --Dave (SEVENHILLS, CAT43, TOP16, MSG:111/M645;1)
MINOR SPECTRUM BUG #2 If NOT Contains does have a subtle limitation: The
""""""""""""""""""""" first string needs to be AT LEAST as long as the
second string (the manual states the command as: If Not Contains
"LONGstring" "SHORTstring" Then Statement).
I found that in actual use I'd end up with the first string being
shorter than the second, which means the "if not contains" statement does
not work (because it's expecting the first string to be longer) and
therefore the Statement is not executed.
Human logic says that if the second string is longer than the first
string, then the second string is obviously NOT contained within the first
string, but SPv1.0 did not have that rule check. SPv1.1 adds that rule so
you can more easily use the IF NOT CONTAINS command.
For now, I think the easiest workaround is to use the "if contains"
command and do the opposite (I believe the IF CONTAINS command works
"logically" even if the first string is shorter than the second).
Thanks, --Dave (SEVENHILLS, CAT43, TOP16, MSG:124/M645;1)
DESKTOOLS IV PROGRAM SELECTOR I set up four programs for use with TO
""""""""""""""""""""""""""""" Program Selector. I tested all of them and
they all worked as advertised. Today, while doing a demo for the AppleJAX
user group, one of the four does not return to AW4.
I get a message after exiting the selected program that says,
"Insert AppleWorks program disk containing
/p8/aw4/ERIKA.E.BRANDT
and press RETURN or ESC to reboot"
ESC does not reboot-I have to do a three finger job.
My AW4 program is located in /p8/aw4/. The other three work fine.
The one that does not work is RamFAST.System but it worked last night.
Strange!!
I have tried doing a configure with TO Utilities to no avail.
Speedy....Keep smilin'
(R.REEDY, CAT42, TOP24, MSG:72/M645;1)
>>>>> Speedy, Erika is my first grader. Her name was used because I
""""" needed a temporary file that Program Selector could use to get back
to AppleWorks. Erika the file is much tidier than Erika the daughter, and
always cleans up after herself. Well, actually she erases herself upon
execution. Come to think of it, why don't other files die when they're
executed? Anyway, if you delete Erika the file, there's no way to get AW
restarted and the message appears, since the temporary quit code is trying
to execute the file and can't find it.
(BRANDT, CAT42, TOP24, MSG:80/M645;1)
INVALID EAMON ASSUMPTION It seems a lot of Eamon adventures receive 7's.
"""""""""""""""""""""""" Have any gotten 9's or 10's?
-Ken Gagne (KEN.GAGNE, CAT16, TOP6, MSG:53/M645;1)
>>>>> Ken, everything that I've uploaded for some time now has been
""""" 7-rated because I already did the better ones and am working down
the list. Here is a list of the Top Twenty (the first number is the rating
and the second is the number of people who have rated it):
SD#137 Redemption 9.5/1
124. Assault on Dolni Keep 9.2/6
114. Thror's Ring 9.0/6
78. The Prince's Tavern 9.0/3
194. Attack of the Kretons 9.0/2
120. Orb of My Life 9.0/1
204. Sanctuary 9.0/1
161. Operation Endgame 8.9/5
150. Walled City of Darkness 8.8/2
147. The Dark Brotherhood 8.7/3
129. Return to Moria 8.6/4
166. Storm Breaker 8.5/2
145. Buccaneer! 8.3/3
108. The Mines of Moria 8.2/4
148. Journey to Jotunheim 8.2/4
121. Wrenhold's Secret Vigil 8.2/2
169. The Black Phoenix 8.1/5
91. FutureQuest II 8.0/5
117. Dungeon of Doom 8.0/3
All of these adventures (except "Redemption") are in the A2 library
in 80- col. versions.
A (7) rating seems to have become the standard rating for "above
average", but it doesn't really show up all that much more often than other
ratings. There are 35 Eamons rated between 7.0 and 7.9, making up just
15.6% of the total Eamon listing.
TomZ (T.ZUCHOWSKI, CAT16, TOP6, MSG:54/M645;1)
APPLEWORKS GS DB EASTER EGG Back when I worked at Claris, I beat the
""""""""""""""""""""""""""" programmers over the heads with lead pipes
until Tom Hoke put an Easter Egg into the DB module: if you press
Apple-Option-H in any AWGS DB document, it toggles a mode in which the
Enter key works the same as the Return key (i.e. it does whatever you've
configured it to do). IMHO, this should have been the default, but Oh Well.
BTW, you have to (temporarily) set Keyboard Translation to None in order
for Apple-Option-H to be recognized (because of the Option key), but don't
forget to set it back to Standard when you're done. Also, this attribute
gets saved with the document, so you only have to do it once on a document
to keep that behavior.
-G.T. Barnabas, GS Software Engineer
(BARNABAS, CAT17, TOP22, MSG:157/M645;1)
EXTENDED KEYBOARDS IN APPLEWORKS In another topic, I had asked Randy if
"""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""" AW would ever support extended
keyboards. Silly me--it already does. When Randy posted the obvious
answer (RTFM), I decided to program the extended keyboard keys (such as,
page up and page down). Here is what I came up with:
Extended keyboard macros:
<ba-t>:<all : oa-up>! Page up
<ba-y>:<all : oa-down>! Page down
<ba-s>:<all : oa-, >! Home (start of line)
or
<ba-s>:<all : oa-1)! Home (start of file)
<ba-w>:<all : oa-. >! End (end of line)
or
<ba-w>:<all : oa-9>! End (end of file)
<ba-r>:<all : oa-e>! Insert
<ba-u>:<all : oa-del>! Delete
<ba-x>:<all : oa-m>t! Cut
<ba-c>:<all : oa-c>t! Copy
<ba-v>:<all : oa-c>f! Paste
Of course, to get these macros to work, you have to enable keypad
macros (from the main menu, select: Other Activities, Select standard
settings for AppleWorks, UltraMacros options, Enable keypad macros). If
you want to use the keypad to enter numbers (like I do), you have to add
the following macros:
<ba-1>:<all>1!
<ba-2>:<all>2!
<ba-3>:<all>3!
<ba-4>:<all>4!
<ba-5>:<all>5!
<ba-6>:<all>6!
<ba-7>:<all>7!
<ba-8>:<all>8!
<ba-9>:<all>9!
<ba-0>:<all>0!
<ba-rtn>:<all : rtn>!
In adding these macros to your default macros, check carefully for
conflicts with existing macros (e.g., ba-T for TripleMenu).
David (D.WALLIS2, CAT17, TOP16, MSG:128/M645;1)
SHADOWRITE 1.3.3 EASTER EGG Harold, I did some snooping of my own after
""""""""""""""""""""""""""" reading your message about the easter egg and
I found out how to activate it. Do you have your pencil and paper ready?
Bring up the "About ShadowWrite" window, hold down all three modifier keys
(Control-Option-Command) and click the "More Info" button. Voila! It's
very nicely done, I think you'll enjoy it.
- Tony Ward (A2.TONY, CAT23, TOP27, MSG:61/M645;1)
...THREW AWAY A PEARL I recently attended a school district auction
""""""""""""""""""""" looking for various shop equipment from the
industrial education programs.
I didn't find what I came for, but instead noticed a lot called "Room
of Electronics".
In the _room_ was a junk heep 5 feet tall of about 25 disguarded
computers, 50 overhead projectors and a bunch of other items left for dead.
I noticed stacked in the middle of the heap 2 filthy Apple IIe
systems.
If you got the lot, you were responsible for removing the entire
heap, and I did not care to do that.
The entire room went for $40 (forty dollars). I walked up to the guy
who bought it and offered him $40 for the (2) IIe systems, thinking that
maybe they'd be good for parts. After all, there's no way they could be
working, right?
He sold me one of the IIe systems for $20 (twenty dollars), without
the monitor.
I brought it home, and it worked fine. So, for $20, in essence, my
school system sold me:
1. Enhanced //e CPU with 128K
2. (2) Unidisk 5.25 drives with controller card
3. Apple Super Serial Card
4. Microtek Printer Card
What a crime. I'd be willing to guess that all the overhead
projectors need was a bulb or fan motor. <no grin>
Hugh... (H.HOOD, CAT4, TOP10, MSG:352/M645;1)
>>> HOT TOPICS <<<
""""""""""""""""""
STM = APPLE II EMULATOR Hello folks. This is a continuation of a
""""""""""""""""""""""" conversation I started over in the CD-ROM topic
in Cat 11.
It seems Jim Nitchals (of Cavalier Computer fame) is in the throes of
a major undertaking. He and others are busily writing an Apple II emulator
to run on the Macintosh.
Ho hum you say?
Well, as a nice addition to go along with it, he has been busy
contacting a lot of Apple II programmers who wrote things to get their
permission to re- publish a lot of the classic software on a CD-ROM for
these Mac owners who buy his emulator (called STM). I have succeeded in
convincing Jim of the benefits of having both an HFS and ProDOS partition
on this CD-ROM, one partition for each platform. He has only to go back to
the authors and ask for additional permission to include their programs on
a ProDOS partition as well as the HFS partition. With a ProDOS partition,
even Apple IIe owners will be able to use this CD-ROM.
Jim even went so far as to say he would welcome input. He can be
reached at JIMN8@NETCOM.COM through GEnie's Internet mail gateway. I ask
only that you be considerate of him, he is a busy man, after all. :) If you
know how to reach any authors/programmers, let him know (and let =me=
know!). If you have any suggestions, make them. :)
This project of Jim's is almost exactly what I had in mind when we
started the Lost Classics project. Unfortunately, I have been stymied by
the lack of contacts, a problem which Jim is not saddled with. :)
I am pretty psyched by the prospects, and if he is successful, it
bodes well for keeping support for our lovable computers just a little bit
longer.
Tim 'The Joat' Tobin, Lost Classics & R C Font Clearinghouse
(A2.TIM, CAT7, TOP7, MSG:3/M645;1)
>>>>> STM (which stands for Stop The Madness! of all things :) is an
""""" Apple ][+ emulator that runs on any Macintosh running System 7 or
later. It emulates it very nicely, including two Disk II drives (more
later), the sound, all video modes, and everything else you can ask for.
The Disk IIs are emulated by allowing you to select a disk image file
to "insert" into each of the two drives. If you want to play Karateka (and
Karateka does work on STM), you would use a program on a real Apple II to
copy your original Karateka disk into a disk image file, then bring that
file over to your Macintosh and "insert" it into STM's drive 1. Then you'd
reset the Apple ][+ emulator by selecting the Reset option in one of the
menus, and Karateka will boot up.
The video is emulated perfectly, down to the funky colors you get in
hires graphic modes when certain colors get close to each other. Hires,
lores, and 40-column text area all supported.
The emulator comes with a DOS 3.3 System Master disk image embedded
inside the STM program itself, so even if you don't insert a disk in one of
the drives, you can boot into DOS 3.3. It's very cool to watch good old
AppleVision running on a Macintosh!
You can choose to limit the emulated speed to 1 MHz, but even with
that option disabled I have yet to get beyond 1.05 MHz, so it's not that
big a deal. You can double the size of the video screen's window, which is
nice for people like me that have very high-resolution monitors.
You can also choose to have a running display of the state of the
emulated 6502 registers, accesses to various components of the system (such
as language card RAM, the disk drives, and the simulated speaker).
The sound works, and sounds very much like it does on real IIs, but
it does tend to distort some since the emulator's speed isn't consistent --
it tends to wander anywhere from 200KHz to 1.1MHz on my Power Mac 8100/80.
Everything I've heard and seen indicates that the emulation is
excellent -- and it should be; it appears to have the actual Apple ][+ ROM
included in it -- and that's the most fun of all... getting that good old
BEEP and seeing "Apple ][" at the top of STM's window, followed by "DOS 3.3
SYSTEM MASTER... LOADING INTEGER BASIC INTO LANGUAGE CARD."
Way cool. :)
(POWERPC.PRO, CAT7, TOP7, MSG:6/M645;1)
<<<<< I was privileged to see a tentative list of programs which are
""""" slated to appear on this CD-ROM (upon pain of something nasty if I
revealed it to anyone). Suffice it to say that if only half the titles end
up appearing on this disk, it will be a very good CD-ROM to have if you
have an Apple II computer. :) In fact, once this CD-ROM sees the light of
day, it would be worth it to buy a CD-ROM drive for this disk alone.
I asked about anticipated cost for this disk, but they aren't ready
to talk MSRP yet. Nor release date. As soon as Jim is ready to talk turkey
on these aspects, I will post it here. In the meantime, if you have any
specific questions, I can see what I can find out. Jim is planning on
moving into a new house in a few weeks, so he may be a little hard to reach
for a while. :)
Tim 'The Joat' Tobin, Lost Classics & R C Font Clearinghouse
(A2.TIM, CAT7, TOP7, MSG:12/M645;1)
>>>>> Tim, if these authors are willing to release their stuff on this
""""" CD-ROM, how about as individual files for us here on A2 ???
(P.CREAGER, CAT7, TOP7, MSG:14/M645;1)
<<<<< That is being discussed. You must remember, though, that the STM
""""" project will be a commercial product, and some of the authors will
be getting royalties from the sales. Under those circumstances, it would be
difficult to get a release to put them online. However, all is not lost.
Jim and I have been talking about various ideas, and we may be able to do
something of a limited nature.
You must remember though, that Lost Classics' purpose is not
necessarily to get software for the A2 library, but to preserve classic
software and keep it available for current and future Apple II owners.
Getting the software re- published commercially certainly meets that
criteria. Barring re- publication, uploading into A2 is our fall-back
position.
Not to pick on you, but as a community, we Apple II owners will have
to pay for what we get, one way or another, or we won't be getting anything
more in the future. Assuming the STM project sells for a reasonable cost,
we will have to buy the disk, or there will likely not be any more made.
And I have some ideas for follow-on projects which will only succeed if
enough CD-ROMs are sold initially to make a sequel worthwhile.
Tim 'The Joat' Tobin, Lost Classics & R C Font Clearinghouse
(A2.TIM, CAT7, TOP7, MSG:15/M645;1)
APPLEWORKS 4.1 ARRIVING SOON AW 4.1 will be out sometime in June.
""""""""""""""""""""""""""""
re: ReportWriter
The updater will be available here before too long.
(BRANDT, CAT17, TOP15, MSG:46/M645;1)
>>>>> In AW 4.1 how about adding "Compare Files" to the file activities
"""""
__!__
| Terrell Smith
| tsmith@ivcfnsc.fullfeed.com [ GEM 4.22 & GEM COST v2 ]
(T.SMITH59, CAT42, TOP29, MSG:389/M645;1)
<<<<< Sorry, no time for a major change like that. This is primarily a
""""" bunch of bug fixes, not a new-feature version.
(BRANDT, CAT42, TOP29, MSG:390/M645;1)
>>>>> Ah, I thought that would be 4.03, and that 4.1 means new features
""""" Well, for the future.... ~ ~
(T.SMITH59, CAT42, TOP29, MSG:391/M645;1)
<<<<< I suppose, but there actually are some subtle new features,
""""" although it's not specifically a "new-feature" version. In another
words, if it takes a lot of work, it's too much of a new feature.
If you mean creating a WP file from another file and having it marked
"Unchanged" instead of "New," why then it's a minor new feature that gets
included. AW 4.1 includes the ReportWriter updater. It also has RFP 1.2,
which has a totally new option, and all of it is new to the official AW
package. Steve Beville's latest updated macros are on the package, loading
text files shows the line number, saving text files now saves true tabs, AW
now prints to a slot mapped to a hard drive, etc. Some may call many of
these "features" bug fixes, but they weren't errors in coding, they
required new code. There are also 20+ actual bug fixes.
There were so many changes to the master disks that I thought 4.1 was an
appropriate version number, even if no "major" new features were added.
(BRANDT, CAT42, TOP29, MSG:392/M645;1)
APPLEWORKS GS NOT ARRIVING AT ALL? I hope that the person I talked to at
"""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""" Quality today was incorrect. I phoned
to check on the price and place an order for AWGS 2.0 and was told that the
project had been cancelled. Not delayed but cancelled. I hope that I was
incorrectly informed. Please tell me I'm wrong!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Michael E
(M.EWEN, CAT42, TOP32, MSG:407/M645;1)
>>>>> Bill Carver asked me to read the messages in this topic and post a
""""" message about the cancellation of the AppleWorks GS 2.0 project.
(I don't usually read this topic because Bill handles most of our online
support on GEnie.)
Here's the short version. The reason AppleWorks GS 2.0 has been
canceled is inadequate source code and development documentation. A more
detailed explanation (somewhat technical) follows.
When we took over AppleWorks and AppleWorks GS, we assumed that
updating AppleWorks GS was going to be a fairly straightforward task.
Unfortunately, we were wrong. The source code for AWGS is 7 megabytes in
size. Those who have seen it have called it the most poorly organized and
documented source code they've ever laid eyes on. Claris was unable to
provide us with any form of documentation for the source code, nor were
they able to provide us with their official bug list.
The source code was designed to build under an old version of MPW
(Macintosh Programmer's Workshop). I have it on good authority that even
the old MPW wasn't actually capable of compiling the source code as it was
provided to us; it seems likely that it was compiled in pieces and then
patched together by hand. We did not receive any documentation on this
process -- in fact, there probably never was any.
To give you an idea of how bad the AWGS source was, consider that it
took Jim Merritt, who we originally contracted to lead the project, four
months just to get the source code Claris sent us to produce an executable
version of AppleWorks GS 1.1. Even then, the program was not 100%
byte-for-byte identical with the shipping version because of the
hand-patching which was used in the original version.
Jim Merritt, as you may know, is no slouch. He's the one who,
working at Apple, coordinated the development of the IIGS System 5 Finder,
among other things. The original plan was for Merritt to divide the
program among several programmers (of his choosing) and have them work on
the project independently. Merritt would be responsible for coordinating
things and making sure all the program segments could be combined into a
fully functional program.
This turned out to be an impossibility, because the source code
simply was not arranged in any coherent fashion. I've been told that there
are sections of the AppleWorks GS source code which exist mainly because
nobody knows exactly what they do -- Claris was afraid that removing them
would cause the program to stop working!
At around the same time another programmer decided he wanted a shot
at it. This programmer was Bill Heineman, author of Harmonie, Out Of This
World, and other programs, and renowned around the IIGS world as an
extremely competent programmer. As the weeks went by, we realized that it
was beyond his abilities, as well.
A third team, led by Steve Disbrow, also had a look at AWGS. After
spending a few weeks with the source code, Disbrow recommended to us that
we scrap it and rewrite the entire AWGS application from scratch. This is,
for obvious reasons, an economic impossibility. So, after almost ten
months of effort by the top programmers in the IIGS world, we have
concluded that the task of creating a major upgrade is a near-impossible
one.
While we are continuing to investigate ways of providing an upgrade
to AppleWorks GS, we feel it is unfair to hold orders for a product which,
at this point, we can't promise to deliver. Rather than keep everyone
holding their breath, we have decided to notify our customers that the
project has been canceled. If the project gets going again, we will let
everyone know. We just don't want to get anyone's hopes up.
This was not an easy decision for anyone here -- not just because
we're now going to have hordes of angry customers calling us, but because
this company WAS founded on the Apple II, and that computer remains special
to many of us. Furthermore, as part of our contract with Claris to take
over AWGS, we made a royalty guarantee, which basically means we're going
to owe Claris a few hundred thousand dollars out-of-pocket if we don't
release AWGS 2.0.
Some of you have already told us you will never buy anything from us
again because you feel betrayed by our actions. That's certainly your
privilege. Still, I think that if you stop to consider the situation,
you'll realize that the main reason you're angry at us is that we got your
hopes up -- which is something Claris certainly never did. (If we had left
the program in Claris' hands, do you suppose THEY would have produced an
upgrade?) We gave it our best shot. We've done everything we could (more
than most companies) to support Apple II users. Some of you may see it
differently.
If you have AWGS 2.0 on order, you will receive a notice by U.S. Mail
confirming the situation as I have outlined it here. Thank you for your
patience and support throughout our attempt to develop this upgrade.
One final note. In an RTC (which Harold mentioned) I referred to a
specific programmer as being unable to deliver the product on time. Harold
did not mention this person's name, which I'm thankful for, but I still owe
this programmer an apology. In fact, it's possible that any or all of the
programmers who worked on AWGS 2.0 might think I was referring to them. It
was certainly not the fault of any programmer; every one of them gave it
their all. My comments in the RTC were based on incomplete information and
a sense of frustration. My apologies.
Jerry
PS -- If you are a IIGS programmer and feel that you can do what Jim
Merritt, Bill Heineman, and Steve Disbrow put together couldn't do, drop me
some e-mail and convince me.
(II.ALIVE, CAT42, TOP32, MSG:474/M645;1)
>>>>> I'm in touch with a couple of people who want to have a go at it.
""""" Since we've got nothing more to lose at this point, these people
just may get their chance. (Subject to final approval by Joe Gleason, of
course, but I think he can be persuaded.)
These folks will have a head start because of the work the earlier
teams (especially Merritt's) did. Harold, not to worry, the thing IS
buildable under MPW now, at least. B)
Thanks to all of you who have been understanding.
(II.ALIVE, CAT42, TOP32, MSG:483/M645;1)
>>>>> Just some background for those of you who might not know
"""""
AWGS started out as GSWorks (or something similar) a product
developed by a company called StyleWare. StyleWare published MultiScribe,
MultiScibe GS, TopDraw and a couple of other programs that were really
quite nice in their day. AWGS users would find MultiScribe GS and Top Draw
QUITE familiar, as they served as the basis for a couple of AWGS modules.
Claris bought out StyleWare SOLELY to get their hands on GSWorks.
Rumour had it that they intended, among other things, to port it to the
Mac. (Where it would have become, in theory, what ClarisWorks is now.) As
part of the deal, Claris got the services of the StyleWare programmers, in
part because there was no WAY they could work with that code (which was
still Beta at the time) without the original progammers to interpret it for
them.
Claris later sold all the former StyleWare products to the Beagles.
MultiScribe and MultiScribe GS became BeagleWrite and BeagleWrite GS,
TopDraw became BeagleDraw, etc. (And Quality acquired them from the Beagles
when THEY bit the dust.)
The source code for AWGS goes back at least 5 or 6 years, perhaps
more. It was developed by programmers who (no offense if they are reading
this) were known for kludging things to force them to work if that was what
it took to get things out the door on schedule. It has since been modified
by programmers who didn't understand it in the first place, and had
precious little understanding of programming the GS in the second place.
That code is such a mess that even patching it to provide GSOS
compatability took Claris many months, and making it "compatible" with v5.x
took (as I recall) over a year. AWGS v1.0 will not even run under System 6,
and just barely runs under v5.x.
I am surprised to learn that Quality was planning on an upgrade based
on the original code. I fully expected v2.0 to be a ground up rewrite (and
I didn't understand how QC could afford it :).
That's just background for anyone who might not understand how this
code could be this ugly and hard to work with.
Gary R. Utter (GARY.UTTER, CAT42, TOP32, MSG:493/M645;1)
>>>>> Okay, now that all this has been said, I'm going to say everything
""""" I've been thinking on this, so bear with me:
1. ON THE HISTORY OF AWGS AppleWorks GS has always been a very
''''''''''''''''''''''''' slapped-together program. Most of the reported
bugs exist because of the nature of the source code. Keep in mind that
AWGS was originally written under ProDOS 16, and hasn't evolved much since
then. The few resources it used were constructed by hand because Apple had
no tools for building them yet (and, for this reason, there is an illegal
resource in AWGS' resource fork).
AppleWorks GS is just BARELY working, by all descriptions I've heard
from people that have seen the source code to v1.1. The project was poorly
managed while at StyleWare, and when Claris bought the project, they were
just as appalled as Quality is at the quality of the code, but they had
nothing to do but finish the job as best they could. Most of the original
programmers continued the work on v1.0v2; v1.1, however, was coded in some
areas by new programmers that had no idea what the code was doing.
Claris also enforced a precise release date, which limited what could
be done -- the program shipped with a large number of known bugs.
2. QUALITY COMPUTERS AND AWGS I applaud Quality for getting involved at
''''''''''''''''''''''''''''' all (although I suspect they wouldn't have
if they'd known the condition of the existing source code). And I hope Joe
allows a team of programmers to make one last shot at the job.
3. THE FIRST THREE TEAMS Looking at that list, there are a lot of very
'''''''''''''''''''''''' talented programmers there. The only thing I can
see that would prevent their making a strong impact on AWGS (aside from the
massiveness and twistedness of the code) is the fact that, unless I'm
mistaken, all of them have jobs and/or are extremely busy people. They may
quite simply not have had the time to work on it -- especially when it's so
big.
4. THE FOURTH TEAM My name has been mentioned in this discussion, so I'll
'''''''''''''''''' comment. The same day the rumors started flying, I
emailed Quality and offered to work on AWGS, and was given a non-negative
response (I'm being intentionally vague here). A good number of
programmers have expressed interest, and a lot of us are talking amongst
ourselves about how we would go about the project if and when we get
involved in it.
5. THE FUTURE OF AWGS Personally, I think a more reasonable goal for AWGS
''''''''''''''''''''' would be to hold off on version 2.0 until after a
minor upgrade, v1.2, is done. This would provide an intermediate solution
to users so they would have a more stable and System 6-friendly version of
AWGS while, at the same time, familiarizing the programming team with the
source code. Then, and only then, would we tackle a version 2.0. This is,
of course, all assuming Quality were to agree -- it's their money.
All of this has been my own opinion and viewpoint on the issue.
Don't bother Quality or anyone else because of anything I said here.
One last thing -- I tend to believe Quality will permit one last team
to give AWGS a shot. They can't lose anything if they do, and it might
just save them a potentially large amount of money. However, I don't speak
for Quality -- or for anyone else other than myself.
(POWERPC.PRO, CAT42, TOP32, MSG:494/M645;1)
>>> WHAT'S NEW <<<
""""""""""""""""""
QUICKIE 3.2 WITH MORE TOOLS
"""""""""""""""""""""""""""
IMMEDIATE RELEASE Vitesse, Inc.
Friday, June 10, 1994 (818) 813-1270
VITESSE ANNOUNCES QUICKIE(R) 3.2
LA PUENTE, CA -- Vitesse, Inc. announced today the release of Quickie
3.2, an update to their popular hand scanner system for the Apple II.
This latest version incorporates new imaging techniques for more
enhanced, sharper images than ever before. It also contains a powerful
collection of image editing tools. Originally, these tools were
provided to permit simple cleanup of scanned images, to manually
eliminate imperfections which might be introduced by dust or other
impediments encountered during the scanning process. In this latest
release, these tools were expanded to permit more complex image editing
tasks, but continued to emphasize manual image manipulation.
With Quickie 3.2, several automatic image processing features have been
introduced. These features can be used in combination with the manual
tools, or with each other, to achieve a variety of effects with little
effort. These effects range from minor changes in resolution (Blur and
Sharpen) to the bizarre and surreal (Laplacian, Sobel, Negative, and
image combinations). Most of these effects are produced using an image
processing technique called "filtering," while a few actually combine
two images to produce a new effect.
The filters implemented in Quickie 3.2 operate only on a selected
portion of the image, and fall into three categories: Unary, Linear or
Nonlinear. A Unary filter simply applies a conversion formula to each
pixel of the affected image individually, changing each pixel in a
uniform, predetermined way. A Linear filter operates on a region of
pixels surrounding each pixel to be changed, using a linear function of
the values of the surrounding pixels to alter the value of the current
pixel. Linear filters always take the longest time to process. The
Nonlinear filters implemented in Quickie 3.2 also examine the pixels
surrounding the current pixel, but simply choose one of these pixel
values to replace it. While much quicker, Nonlinear filters are not as
fast as Unary filters. The many filters included in Quickie 3.2
include: Negative, Blur, Blur More, Sharpen, Sharpen More, Laplacian,
Emboss Raised, Emboss Inset, Sobel Horizontal (vertical and diagonal),
Gaussian Blur, Median Filter, Minimum Filter, Maximum Filter, Closing
Filter, and Opening Filter
Quickie 3.2 provides several functions which combine two images to
create a new one. To enable them, you must Cut or Copy all or part of
an image to the Clipboard, then Paste it into your target picture.
These Image Combinations include Add Images, Average Images, and
Subtract Images. Add Images adds the pixel values of the source and
target images, Average Images takes the average of pixel values, and
Subtract Images subtracts pixel values.
Quickie 3.2 also incorporates a technique called, "toning," which was
initially introduced in Quickie 3.1 as an Easter Egg. Toning allows
the user to select the monochromatic palette of their choice. The
available palettes were drawn from the world of black and white
photography, where special chemicals can turn grays in a normal black
and white picture into changes of brown or Sepia, blue, green, or red.
Other processes merely "warm" or "cool" the grays by subtly introducing
the slightest hint of red or blue without noticeably altering the
picture s color. Selenium toning warms the grayscale palette slightly.
Quickie 3.2 requires an Apple IIgs running GS/OS v5.0.4, or later;
1.5MB RAM if running GS/OS v5.0.4, or 2MB RAM if running System 6.0, or
later; a 3-1/2" floppy disk drive; a hard disk drive is recommended.
Quickie is a registered trademark of Vitesse, Inc. All other
trademarks are the property of their respective owners.
(VITESSE, CAT40, TOP8, MSG:292/M645;1)
<<<<< Something else that we forgot to mention in the Quickie 3.2
""""" announcement:
Quickie 3.2 is offered FREE as part of the Quickie-C introductory
package. Therefore, if you've already ordered Quickie-C, or are planning to
order it for the introductory price of $99.95, you'll already receive
Quickie 3.2.
If you haven't ordered Quickie-C and are not planning to do so,
Quickie 3.2 is still available for $24.95.
Thanks,
Lowell Erbe
Vitesse, Inc.
Technical Support (VITESSE, CAT40, TOP8, MSG:300/M645;1)
NEW ADDRESS FOR EGO SYSTEMS Effective June 15th 1994, EGO Systems and
""""""""""""""""""""""""""" GS+ Magazine have moved!
Our new phone numbers are:
Technical Support and Inquiries (new): 615-332-2087
FAX (new): 615-332-2634
Orders (unchanged): 1-800-662-3634
Mail Address (unchanged):
EGO Systems/GS+ Magazine
P. O. Box 15366
Chattanooga, TN 37415-0366
Please make a note of our new numbers, and remember to use them, and
not our old numbers, in the future.
Steven W. Disbrow
Publisher of GS+ Magazine
(S.DISBROW, CAT33, TOP2, MSG:206/M645;1)
EGO SYSTEMS GETS AUTO ARK Just to avert your complaints about Econ and
""""""""""""""""""""""""" Auto Ark, Auto Ark has been sold to GS+ and
they are responsible for any updating that will be done. Econ is not out to
hurt anyone, but due to the deminishing Apple IIgs market, they have had to
direct their efforts elsewhere, in order to remain in the black.
Tyler (PPC.TYLER, CAT35, TOP8, MSG:147/M645;1)
FOUNDATION RESOURCE EDITOR ARRIVES Foundation v1.0.2 has now been
"""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""" uploaded to A2Pro's library. It is
file #4174 there. This is just the commercial version with freeware
notices added, a readme included, and some other minor changes (some extra
stuff is included with it).
I've been talking to Marc about the damaged files. _I_ can download them,
because I used MacAOL. But the contents are damaged (the archive is fine,
but the files contained within appear to be damaged). I've just downloaded
them and will try to find time to look them over within the next few days.
(POWERPC.PRO, CAT13, TOP39, MSG:58/M645;1)
APPLE DISCONTINUED PRODUCTS The following products have been removed from
""""""""""""""""""""""""""" the June 13, 1994 Apple price list:
APPLE PRODUCTS DISCONTINUED:
A0076LL/A Apple II SuperDrive Controller Card
A0027LL/B HyperCard IIGS
M0112LL/B Apple SuperDrive
M4855LL/A PowerBook 145B 4/80
M5130LL/A PowerBook 100 Battery Recharger
M1835LL/A PowerBook Duo Rechargeable Battery High Capacity Type II
M6775LL/A Macintosh Math Co-processor
M2322LL/A Macintosh Quadra 610 8/160 DOS Compatible
M2098LL/A Macintosh Quadra 610 8/230
M2099LL/B Macintosh Quadra 610 8/230 w/CD-ROM
M9028LL/B Macintosh Quadra 840AV 8/230 CPU w/CD-ROM
M2499LL/A Macintosh Quadra 950 Publishing Configuration
M0505LL/A Macintosh Display Card DRAM Exp. Kit
M0291LL/A Macintosh IIci 1MB Memory Exp. Kit
M0294LL/A Macintosh IIci 4MB Parity Memory Exp. Kit
M1386LL/A Macintosh LC III Logic Board Upgrade
M1545LL/A Macintosh Classic II Logic Board Upgrade
M6052/B Macintosh SE SuperDrive Upgrade Kit
M1330LL/A Macintosh Centris 650 Logic Board Upgrade
M0326LL/B Macintosh IIci Cache Card
M0480LL/A Macintosh IIsi 030 Direct Slot Adapter Card
M0375LL/B Macintosh IIfx Logic Board Upgrade
M1534LL/A Macintosh Quadra 660AV Logic Board Upgrade
M1848LL/A Macintosh Quadra 840AV Logic Board Upgrade
M0141 LaserWriter II Envelope Cassette
M0199 Macintosh Peripheral Adapter
H0123LL/A Newton MessagePad 100
(T.MORALES, CAT5, TOP2, MSG:262/M645;1)
>>>>> The MessagePad 100 was discontinued quite a while ago (about the
""""" same time the 110 was released).
Everything on that list I'd already heard was discontinued.
Some of it, though, was a terrible shock to hear about. (the
Superdrive and controller in particular)
(POWERPC.PRO, CAT5, TOP2, MSG:264/M645;1)
>>> THROUGH THE GRAPEVINE <<<
"""""""""""""""""""""""""""""
IS SOUNDMEISTER SHIPPING? I called Alltech today (June 1) to order a
""""""""""""""""""""""""" SoundMeister, and was told that they will be
ready for shipping in mid-June. I hope so, since this is my Father's Day
present...
IRONTOOTH (D.Zahniser)
(D.ZAHNISER, CAT46, TOP7, MSG:64/M645;1)
>>>>> They will take your order for processing once the cards are ready
""""" to ship. I've had some delays with getting boards built and that
setback the projected time for availability. I wish I hadn't put that in
the II Alive ad yet, if everything had gone right, boards would have been
available now. Except it never does, does it?
(T.DIAZ, CAT46, TOP7, MSG:71/M645;1)
>>>>> The recent Issue of GS+ with the SoundMeister in it came out about
""""" a week ahead of time, combined with some delays in the board
manufacturing process. I've got several PCB projects going at once with two
differnt manufacturers and I'm still rather new at all this.
if not shortly there after.
Some other things we will also have available:
Drives and External Drive cases/power supply setups for the Blue Disk
card. A compatible AE PCT Transdrive assembly. A Dual unit with both 360 &
720K drives for $74.00 and a single drive unit with either for about
$45.00. The single drive unit will accept an additional drive.
We are also looking into finding the perfect (as perfect as we can
find) tower case & power supply combo for the GS for those who have been
thinking about inbstalling it all into one case.
(T.DIAZ, CAT46, TOP7, MSG:65/M645;1)
SIMCITY AND OTHER BURGER BILL GAMES Do someone know what happend to the
""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""" SimCity that was talked about in
april, did QC drown BurgerBill with work or?
While I'm at it, have somebody talked to Apogee about W-3d or a
solo/multi Doom version for the IIgs yeat. I can still remember Burgers
comment when W-3d was hot that it could be do'n on the GS.
Jonte (JONTE.R, CAT6, TOP3, MSG:178/M645;1)
>>>>> Jonte, there is a Wolf engine done for the GS. BurgerBill wrote it
""""" months ago for a game called "Catacomb Abyss". It was suppose to
be released by Softdisk GS, but it appears that it was shelved. Too bad,
becuase it could easily be converted to Wolf 3D. I have a copy of it since
I was one of the testers. It really required an acellerator to play it,
but it worked great.
Bug Softdisk about it. Maybe they're finally release it. It's a
shame since it was basicly finished. Just a few last minute things needed
to be completed. They probably didn't want to release it becuase it was
too fancy of a title for Softdisk. It would make all their puzzle games
pale in comparison! :)
Scott (S.EVERTS, CAT6, TOP3, MSG:180/M645;1)
>>>>> S.EVERTS, get your facts right. Catacomb Abyss was never released
""""" because it was never finished by the author. It wasn't "shelved",
and it wasn't "basicly finished". There were more than "Just a few last
minute things needed to be completed".
It is a cool game, but it is NOT "too fancy a title for Softdisk".
Indeed, Softdisk wrote the original game for the PC (and in fact, it was
done by the same folks that did W-3D and Doom, before they stopped working
at Softdisk). And it certainly wouldn't "make all [Softdisk's] puzzle
games pale in comparison!" Softdisk puts out a variety of programs, and
this is one more of them. Catacombs is OUR game, designed BY Softdisk, FOR
Softdisk.
Don't bug us about it. Burger Bill is a talented guy, but if he
doesn't finish things, they can't be released. Anyone that wants to see
this cool technology should bug Bill to finish it.
-G.T. Barnabas (my opinions are my own)
(BARNABAS, CAT6, TOP3, MSG:181/M645;1)
GRAPHICWRITER III VERSION 1.2 TO GO BETA? We're still working on updates
""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""" to all those things (and more).
GWIII v1.2 will probably enter beta testing this month, and then it'll be
up to the testers to tell us when it is ready!
--Dave (SEVENHILLS, CAT43, TOP6, MSG:159/M645;1)
<<<<< GWIII v1.2 supports PICTure objects (Formulate friendly) and it has
""""" a "real" Font menu (font friendly). Reminder: It should be going
into beta testing this month--we have NOT yet announced any anticipated
ship date! :)
--Dave (SEVENHILLS, CAT43, TOP6, MSG:163/M645;1)
CO-PILOT HISTORY LESSON To sum it up......
"""""""""""""""""""""""
1. A2 acquired the rights to CoPilot from Ken about a year ago.
2. The version we acquired was v2.1
3. We released that version with some tuned up scripts, specifically
to deal with changes in the GEnie logon that took place last July. To
differentiate between that and the original , we called it v2.1.1, This is
the current OFFICIAL release version. :)
4. As soon as v2.1.1 was out, we started working on some SIGNIFICANT
enhancements to the scripts. I had the overly optimistic idea that these
could be finished by Labor Day weekend (LAST year).
5. I sent the source code to Harold, with the idea that we wanted to
make some small changes to the program itself to work better with the new
scripts. THAT opened a whole 'nother can of worms.
6. We FINALLY released the enhanced scripts for Christmas. We
released them as "open Beta" simply to get them in the hands of the users,
knowing that there were a few small bugs in them that we hadn't pinned down
yet.
7. We released two more versions of the "open beta" scripts, and the
ones that are currently available are pretty good. There are a couple of
real small bugs (i.e. bugs that will not bother 99% of the people), and
those are fixed now, but the fixed scripts have not been released. They
WILL be in the final release, which is now only a few weeks away.
8. Due to Harolds patching on v2.1 of CoPilot, we have eliminated
the final problem (from the scripters point of view) which was that the
program itself wrote two of the necessary scripts, and the scripts it wrote
had problems with such things as 9600 access.
9. Harolds patches were not able to eliminate a few known bugs in
the CoPilot application (such as the fact that the program will lose the
"archive prefix" for some users for no apparent reason). However, he was
able to alter several things to make the program more usable, such as the
limitation on Email adressing which prevented the use of Internet mail
adresses in the mail module.
10. His most recent change resulted in the need for a couple of new
scripts to be written. So far, these seem bug free (they're pretty simple)
but we want to send them out to our Beta testers this week for final
approval.
11. If all goes well in the Beta cycle this week, then CoPilot
v2.5.0 is finished. (FINALLY! :)
12. Harold still needs to write the new Installer scripts, but his
depends in part on his having an exact list of what scripts and other files
are to be Installed, and THAT depends in part on the result of the final
Beta cycle. (if a serious bug crops up, it might result in the need for
one or two more new scripts, short ones). SO, once we are absolutely final
on the total number of scripts, and the names of those scripts, Harold can
write the Installer, and we can turn it loose.
14. (that's right, there is no 13 :) If all goes well in the next
week, we will have v2.5.0 available in the library for the 4th of July. If
more problems crop up, we will STILL have it available before Kfest. (Call
it July 15th.)
15. The "CoPilot II" rewrite will be officially named CoPilot v3.0
when it is released.
Gary R. Utter (GARY.UTTER, CAT29, TOP13, MSG:263/M645;1)
POWERGUIDE -- ONLINE NAVIGATOR TO DO IT ALL Finally,.......
"""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""
<trumpets please!>
I am proud to announce:
=======================================
|| ||
|| PowerGuide will go stand alone! ||
|| ||
=======================================
PowerGuide 1.0, the navigator for the next millennium, adds to it's
versatility. Besides staying compatible with major telecom programs, it
can be used as a standalone GEnie navigator as well. PowerGuide is the
first and only one to achieve this ulimate goal. And it is available for
your GS. So no matter which telecommunication program you use or don't
use, you can now access GEnie from one convenient place and stay in control
all the time.
PowerOnline is a set of scripts to interface with GEnie. These
scripts are written and maintained by premier script writer Glenn W.
Hoffman, assisted by Kevin P. Reid.
Of course, this is a big project, and by far not finished, but what's
currently available suits about 80 - 90% of what you need in the A2 BB.
Even though we tested this interface for several month now, we are
releasing this stand-alone interface project as beta right now to gain more
experience on other systems as well. So if you want to help us making the
coolest navigator around even better, please support us in beta testing,
thanks.
Alex [blasted to this BB via PowerOnline]
(A.CORRIERI, CAT29, TOP31, MSG:24/M645;1)
QUICK CLICK CALC (AND MORE) Mike Westerfield will indeeed be along to
""""""""""""""""""""""""""" support Quick Click Calc in this topic.
And we didn't give The Byte Works a whole category for just one
topic. I can say no more...
Bill Dooley (A2.BILL, CAT45, TOP2, MSG:17/M645;1)
>>>>> > Does anyone know more details
"""""
From my flyer:
<paraphrasing>
Password protected files, User selectable row/column width/height,
horizontal or vertical split screen, Publish/Subscribe (imports and exports
data to other files), Formatiing options including height of cell and of
course width of cell, because you can set fonts and styles and colors
individually in cells,Pie Charts, bar graphs, line drawings, 3-D graphs,
line or surface to scattered data points using linear regression. More.
$60!!!
Ken Lucke < Delivered by Co-Pilot & Spectrum v1.0>
(K.LUCKE, CAT45, TOP2, MSG:6/M645;1)
>>>>> From my flyer..
"""""
Quick Click Calc ... the perfect solution for (1) grade books (2)
balancing checkbooks (3) weekly, monthly or yearly budget plans (4)
figuring car or house payments (5) savings plans for college or retirement
(6) a super calculator (7) charts and graphs (8) tracking coin collections
or baseball collections (9) statistical analysis.
The whole flyer is too detailed for me to reproduce here, but you can
probably get more info in A2Pro, cat 36.
Requirements include Apple IIGS with at least one 3.5 drive, 1.125
meg of RAM, and System 6.0.1 . It supports printers, hard drives, networks
and color screens when available.
They are also offering what appears to be good prices on their
programming products including some free updates.
Price is $60 + $5 s/h per order. Their phone # is (505) 898-8183.
Now where's the hammer to break that piggy bank ... I may just buy
this one.
Charlie (C.HARTLEY3, CAT45, TOP2, MSG:8/M645;1)
>>>>> Yes, we do take plastic. For Quick Click Calc, the price is $60
""""" plus $5 shipping in the US & Canada; write if you are somewhere
else. I'm also happy to send out complete price lists and technical
information on any product you're interested in. Just send a mailing
address and what you want.
For ordering, the information we need is:
Name
Shipping address
What you are ordering
What you expect to pay, with shipping
VISA or MC Card # & expiration date (Or check if sending by
ground mail)
You can contact us at:
Byte Works, Inc.
4700 Irving Blvd. NW Suite 207
Albuquerque, NM 87114
(505) 898-8183
GEnie mail: ByteWorks
AOL Mail: MikeW50
Internet: MikeW50@AOL.COM
Like I said, we're in the early stages of getting things set up. If
you want info sooner, send me your mailing address by e-mail.
Mike Westerfield
(BYTEWORKS, CAT45, TOP2, MSG:19/M645;1)
BLUEDISK ANNOUNCEMENT Look forward to see a note about the BlueDisk v1.0
""""""""""""""""""""" release by the end of this month. We will come up
with the _final_ specs and pricing here in the BB. All information given
here will also be uploaded in the A2 library for those people not dropping
by in our topic.
If there are still any questions of _general_ interest that need to
be answered, please let me know. We will try to include answers in our
announcement.
SHH Systeme, Joachim Lange
(J.LANGE7, CAT46, TOP12, MSG:68/M645;1)
CD ENCYCLOPEDIA ANSWERS > What can I expect from the encyclopedia?
""""""""""""""""""""""" > B & W or Color?
Color
> Can we access _all_ the information on the cd?
I've made my best effort in the time available. There are 6000
articles, with a total of 30,000 sections; about 7000 images, hundreds of
digitized audio clips and other assorted goodies such as spreadsheet-style
tables. There are some features that are not currently feasible on the GS,
such as the 'Atlas' feature (it makes a Mac LC II crawl). Movies are not
currently supported either, but I have reason to expect this to change in
the future.
There are a few other misc. features I haven't had time to figure
out, and depending on sales I will go back in & finish them up.
The color imaging seems to work quite a bit better than on the
previous discQuest titles, for a number of reasons.
> What year Comptons is being sold?
We're going to be selling the Compton's New Century Encyclopedia,
1994 edition.
> Is this in stock ready to go now?
It will be ready to ship shortly after July 1.
Jawaid (PROCYON.INC, CAT20, TOP2, MSG:202/M645;1)
>>> MESSAGE SPOTLIGHT <<<
"""""""""""""""""""""""""
Category 5, Topic 8
Message 49 Mon Jun 06, 1994
BARNABAS [G.Templeman] at 13:57 EDT
> But every day there are less vendors, less programer, less support.
As a programmer who is STILL supporting ONLY the Apple IIGS, I get
VERY tired of people who complain about lack of Apple II support. Softdisk
G-S is a quality product, putting out cool new games, new productivity
software, new system extensions, new patch programs, new fonts, new clip
art, new templates, and new ideas every month. GS+ is another publication
putting out great original software on a periodical basis. If you don't
subscribe to SDGS or GS+, then you have NO RIGHT to complain about there
not being enough vendors, programmers, or support... because you are not
taking advantage of what IS available.
If you are starving to death, you may complain about the famine, but
not if you're turning up your nose at all the food at the grocery store!
-G.T. Barnabas (my opinions are my own)
[*][*][*]
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 /
/////////////////////////////////
Fun & Games On GEnie
""""""""""""""""""""
by jmaharaj@mango.flex.com
(reproduced from the Jerry Pournelle RT)
The news is out folks (okay, it's still a rumor officially.)
FLEX will be adopting the new terminology standard suggested by
Windows Sources in their latest June issue. The Bureau for Avoiding
Lexically Offending Neologisms Engineered Yesterday has set down
regulations designed to make sure that any words used to describe software
or hardware do not unintentionally offend anyone.
Following are some of the changes:
1) Hard disk drives will now be referred to as tumescent disk drives.
2) Floppy disk drives shall be now called relaxed disk drives.
3) Software bugs are now new features.
4) Fatal software bugs are now special features.
5) System crashes will be rephrased as upgrade opportunity.
6) The turbo/slow button on a system will now be called
turbo/megahertz-challanged button.
7) A drive's FAT, formally File Allocation Table, will now be called
HEFTY, How Each File Takes Yards.
8) For the computer manufacturer, the on/off switches must now be
both child proof and accessible to arthritic users.
9) The BIOS, Basic Input/Output System will be replaced with the
less graphic BMCES, Basic Mutually Consenting Exchange System.
10) For software developers, screen color schemes are required to
include black, brown, red, yellow, and white in an accurate
reflection of the racial makeup as recorded in the 1990 U.S.
Census.
Please input your comments on the new standard being implemented.
Thank you.
[EOA]
[REF]//////////////////////////////
REFLECTIONS /
/////////////////////////////////
Thinking About Online Communications
""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""
by Phil Shapiro
[P.SHAPIRO1]
>>> SOME THOUGHTS ON THE NATURE OF HUMAN FELLOWSHIP <<<
"""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""
The other day I was a surfing around the Internet when I came across
a really interesting USENET newsgroup. (For those who might not know, a
USENET newsgroup functions in the same capacity as an international
bulletin board system. People can read and post messages on any one of
several hundred newsgroup topics.)
The newsgroup I encountered focussed on the subject of autism. Most
of the messages posted to this newsgroup were by parents and relatives of
autistic persons. It was fascinating to read the questions people posed,
and the answers given in response.
Even more interesting was the fact that the people posting to this
newsgroup were scattered all around the globe. So a parent in Amarillo,
Texas could be posting a message to the newsgroup one day, and hear a
response from an autism researcher in Italy the next day.
What struck me particularly about this newsgroup is the way it served
to connect persons of shared interest. Being the parent of a special needs
child can be an intensely isolating experience at times. Who can you turn
to when you have questions about your child? The child's pediatrician, of
course, can help answer some of the medical questions a parent might have.
But few doctors have the time or patience to answer the myriad questions a
parent with a special needs child might have.
Who better to help answer your questions than parents in a similar
situation? They have been where you are now and have encountered what you
are now encountering. If nothing else, they can lend a sympathetic ear and
offer the type of general nurturing advice that we all need at times in our
lives.
I was also interested to note that not all was calm and harmonious in
the autism newsgroup. Several disagreements and disputes flared from time
to time. Surprising? Not really. People have different views about
things. It's natural that they might disagree at times. Disagreements can
even be productive, for they force us to carefully re-examine the
supporting reasons for our points of view.
To be sure, a fate worse than disagreement and discord is isolation
and silence. Imagine having an autistic child and living in a country
without established online networks. Suppose you lived in rural Pakistan?
Chances are that the phone lines in rural Pakistan, where present, are not
good enough to support the use of a modem.
Suppose, further, that the closest village is a five mile walk from
yours. And that the closest town is a full day's journey. And that a trip
to the capital city would take three days to travel there and back.
Now suppose that you find out that your newborn child has special
needs. Need not be autism; it could be any special need. Your sense of
isolation would be intense, immediate, and all-encompassing. No person to
turn to. No place to go to seek friendly advice. The isolation could seem
overwhelming, even for one accustomed to living in a remote locale.
What online communications has to offer is fellowship. Fellowship is
one of the most primal of human needs. Fellowship is the glue that holds
society together. We engage in fellowship when we gather around to
celebrate a birthday, to rejoice at a wedding, to mourn at a funeral.
Fellowship is chatting with a fellow human being on the street corner.
That street corner has expanded in dimensions in recent years.
Anyone with a modem can share fellowship with several million other persons
who are online.
As I reflected upon the autism newsgroup, I noted the bittersweet
irony of a newsgroup on autism. Autism is a neurological condition that
can make a person less aware of the social dimensions of our existence.
Persons with more severe forms of autism live in an isolated world whose
boundary extends no more than a few millimeters beyond their skin.
It's not that such persons don't want to experience the joys of
fellowship with other human beings. It's just that their brains are not
wired for such experiences to take place.
Those of us who do have the capacity to experience fellowship should
seize the chance to share ourselves with others. Whether via phone, via
modem, or in person, seize those opportunities to be a human being among
human beings. As social creatures, we become most human when we share our
being with others.
-Phil Shapiro
[*][*][*]
The author takes a keen interest in the social dimensions of
communications technology. He can be reached on GEnie at:
p.shapiro1; on America Online at: pshapiro; via Internet at:
pshapiro@aol.com.
//////////////////////////////////////// GEnie_QWIK_QUOTE ////
/ /
/ And did you ever wonder why the Psychic Hotline NEEDS a /
/ 900#? If they were any good, they would call YOU. /
/ They could bill you in advance, too. /
/ /
//////////////////////////////////////////// GARY.UTTER ////
[EOA]
[BEG]//////////////////////////////
BEGINNER'S CORNER /
/////////////////////////////////
Polishing Green Apples
""""""""""""""""""""""
by Steve Weyhrich
[S.WEYHRICH]
>>> HOOKED ON STORAGE (Part 5) <<<
""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""
HOOKED ON ORGANIZATION After getting your hard disk installed, formatted,
"""""""""""""""""""""" partitioned, and the disk management software put
into place, an important consideration is how to organize your files to
make them as easy to find as possible. There are as many different methods
of arranging your directories as there are methods of housecleaning; I will
suggest what makes sense to me, and you can adapt that to your own
specifications.
DESKTOP VS. DISK First of all, remember that there is an important
"""""""""""""""" distinction between "memory" and disk storage. I've
talked with people who told me that they had a computer with 4 megs of
memory and 40 megs of memory. What they really had was a computer with 4
megs of RAM, AND a hard disk (for storage of data) that could hold up to 40
megs of data. RAM is where a program RUNS (is "executed"). Disks are used
to STORE programs or data files. They are NOT the same. This is important
to remember, if you want to keep the computer bullies from kicking sand all
over your keyboard.
Consider this illustration. Imagine a desk, with a surface on which
to work, and drawers for storing things. You might put papers on your
desktop to work on, doing tasks such as reading, writing, sorting,
stapling, shredding, coloring with crayons, cutting out paper dolls, and so
on. When you are done with your papers, you put them into a file drawer in
the desk for safekeeping and easy retrieval. While your papers are in the
file drawer, you cannot very well work on them in the ways that were listed
above. But you also cannot keep ALL your papers out on the desktop where
you can work on them, as eventually it would get overcrowded and you would
lose things.
To connect the above example to a computer, the desktop refers to
your RAM memory. The larger your RAM memory, the more documents (or
programs) you can handle at a time. If you have a small amount of memory
(a small desktop) you may be able to handle only a single document or
program at a time.
The file drawer refers to your disk storage. If you have a small
space in a drawer for storage, you may need many different individual
drawers in which to store your papers. If you have several large drawers,
you will have more space to store your papers, but it will require more
work to organize them in a way that makes it easy to find them again.
ESTABLISHING ORDER The analogy of a file drawer also takes us into the
"""""""""""""""""" realm of ORGANIZATION of a storage system. Just as
the file drawers in a desk require some sort of structure to keep track of
the papers within, so also does a hard disk demand structure to help keep
track of files efficiently.
When a file drawer is small, organization is less necessary. You can
easily see the few folders that are there, and it is not difficult to
quickly locate and retrieve an item. When the number of folders gets
beyond a certain point, however, it becomes more time-consuming to find the
particular folder you want, unless it is arranged in some order that makes
sense to YOU. (Note that the method of organization does not necessarily
have to make sense to anyone else; as long as YOU can find what you want
quickly, then it is appropriately organized for YOU.)
This organization can be in the form of dividers to separate
different types of folders (correspondence, bills, insurance, financial,
and so on), or perhaps just alphabetizing everything. You generally must
decide on a maximum number of folders within a category that are
manageable, and when they go beyond that number of folders it is time to
subdivide. Also, the size of a folder depends on how many papers can be
placed within it before it gets too heavy or fat to handle. (In my medical
office, we must occasionally divide our patient charts if they become too
large. It is not a pretty sight when a large, stuffed folder falls to the
floor and explodes.)
On a computer, there are two basic ways of keeping your files on a
disk. A "flat" structure just puts ALL the files in the same place. As
with a few folders in the file drawer, this is fine, as long as there are
only a few data files to keep track of. The older DOS 3.3 operating system
for the Apple II could ONLY work in a flat structure, and so a printed
catalog of a disk that contained many small files could run to several
pages, usually with the files in no particular order. To try to deal with
this limitation, a method was devised of creating "dividers", which were
actually dummy file entries, usually in inverse type (black letters on
white) to separate different types of files. Maintaining this required a
utility that could sort the filenames on a disk, to keep the correct files
within their boundaries.
Here is an example of a flat file list:
/Disk1 <--- This is the name of the disk volume
Letter.1
Burger.Alert
Letter.59b
Eviction.Note
MegaData.System
Letter.2
MD.Data.1
MD.Data.2
Space.Raiders
Bozo.Graphics
There is no particular order to these files, and they don't have much
in common. Of course, the user could just as easily put the games on one
disk, the word processing files on another disk, and so on. In this
example, the number of files is still manageable, and would not really NEED
any further organization. But as the number of files becomes larger,
finding the particular one that is wanted will get more difficult.
ORDER WITH EXPANSION With the advent of the ProDOS operating system in
"""""""""""""""""""" 1984 (which was taken directly from the older SOS
system used on the Apple III when it appeared in the late 1970s), a
slightly different approach was taken. Although the flat structure could
still be used, there was a limit of 51 files that could exist in the main
(or root) directory of a disk. To store more files, it would be necessary
to make use of a "hierarchical" system. This system allows creation of
subdirectories (similar to using a separate file drawer in a filing
cabinet). These subdirectories were not limited to a single level; they
could go as "deeply" as there was room for the name that defined that
drawer. (This was limited to 63 characters, including the "/" that was
used to separate subdirectory levels.) Within each subdirectory, files
were handled in just the same way as in the flat system; the filenames
typically appeared in a list that was specific for ONLY that subdirectory.
Here is an example of an entire hierarchical file list:
/Disk1
/Data
MegaData.System
MD.Data.1
MD.Data.2
Letter.2
/Word
MegaWord.System
Letter.1
Letter.59b
Eviction.Note
Letter.2
/Games
Burger.Alert
Space.Raiders
/Graphics
Bozo.Graphics
Notice in this example that the file "Letter.2" is present in more
than one subdirectory. As long as it is in a different subdirectory, there
can be more than one file on the disk with the same name, even completely
different types of files. This would not be possible if the disk was using
only a flat file system (as in DOS 3.3, for example).
When displaying this list of files on one level only, the top or root
level of the directory looks like this:
/Disk1
Data
Word
Games
Graphics
A display of the files in the Data subdirectory would look like this:
/Disk1/Data
MegaData.System
MD.Data.1
MD.Data.2
and so on. Within any subdirectory, the files are displayed in a "flat"
format; however, it is possible to change to another directory and access
THOSE files also, still in the flat format.
Notice that at the top of the root directory shown above is the name
of the disk, "/Disk1". In the ProDOS method of organizing disks, the start
of a "path" to a file begins with a slash to indicate to the system that
this is the name of a disk, rather than the name of a file or subdirectory.
When the "Data" subdirectory was displayed, the name shown was
"/Disk1/Data". Again, a slash is used, but here to indicate that the file
"Data" (a subdirectory) is under the directory "/Disk1". This "pathname"
specifies to the computer the path it must take to find a file on a disk.
The full pathname for the file named "MD.Data.1" would then be
"/Disk1/Data/MD.Data.1"
Under GS/OS on the Apple IIgs, the same format is used, but the colon
typically is used as a separating character, just as is done on the
Macintosh. Either the "/" or ":" character is acceptable in a pathname,
but they cannot be mixed (i.e., :Disk1:Data:MD.Data.1 is acceptable;
:Disk1:Data/MD.Data.1 is NOT).
Finally, understand that there can be as many subdirectories in a
pathname as you can fit, as long as the total number of characters is less
than the limit. Since there is a limit of 63 characters in a pathname
under ProDOS, the deepest that subdirectories could be nested would be 29
levels, with each one a having only single letter name (i.e., "A", "B",
"C", etc). The top level would be the root directory, also a single letter
name, and the name of the file could only be a single letter. The full
pathname for such a file would be:
/A/B/C/D/E/F/G/H/I/J/K/L/M/N/O/P/Q/R/S/T/U/V/W/X/Y/Z/A/B/C/D/E
In this example, the disk volume name is "/A", which has a
subdirectory named "B" under it, which has a subdirectory named "C" under
it, and so on down to a deeper subdirectory named "D". Within that
subdirectory is the file, named "E". (If you REALLY need to be organized
down to THAT deep a level, you need to be referred to
Obsessive-Compulsive's Anonymous.)
WHAT GOOD ARE PATHNAMES? To get the most use out of the hierarchical
"""""""""""""""""""""""" filing system that ProDOS provides, it is best
to use sensible names that are not too long, but are long enough to tell
what they are for. This makes it easier to find the program or file that
you want.
For example, I have the subdirectories on part of my hard disk
organized in this fashion:
/C : Disk Volume Name
|--/MODEM : Telecommunications files
| |--/GEM : GEM (GEnie Master) files
| | |--/S : GEM UltraMacros samples
| | |--/T : GEM UltraMacros task files
| | |--/TIC.SCRIPTS : GEM Script files for TIC
| | |--/SP.Scripts : GEM Script files for Spectrum
| | |--/LIB : GEM library files
| |--/TIC : Talk Is Cheap terminal program
| | |--/TERMCAPS : Terminal emulation files
| |--/SPECTRUM : Spectrum terminal program
| |--/MACH : Files from local BBS
|--/WORD : Word processing files
| |--/AW1.2 : AppleWorks 1.2 program files
| |--/AW3 : AppleWorks 3.0 program files
| |--/AW.INITS : Inits for AppleWorks
| |--/TIMEOUT : TimeOut applications for AppleWorks
| |--/AW4 : AppleWorks 4.0 program files
| | |--/AW.INITS
| | |--/TIMEOUT
| |--/FILES : Document files created by AppleWorks
| |--/ARC : General archives from GEnie
| |--/NEWS : A2 News Digest files
| |--/LAMP : Articles for GEnieLamp A2
| |--/HISTORY : Apple II History files
| |--/FINANCIAL : Financial spreadsheets
| |--/JOKES : Humor files
|--/SYSTEM : GS/OS System files
|--/DESK.ACCS
|--/SYSTEM.SETUP
|--/FONTS
|--/CDEVS
|--/DRIVERS
|--/TOOLS
This is not necessarily the BEST method of setting up a hard disk,
but it works well for me. Notice that I have placed the various types of
AppleWorks files within a subdirectory named "FILES", and beneath THAT
level is another set of subdirectories that hold more files in a fashion
that makes sense to me. To find the A2 News Digest for July 1993, I just
use the path "/C/WORD/FILES/NEWS/NEWS.GENIE.9307". If a subdirectory gets
too large (too many files to quickly find them), my personal preference is
to subdivide it and make another subdirectory with files as similar as
possible grouped within it. Since I don't care to make paper copies of the
contents of my subdirectories, it is both easier and faster for me to have
no more than one or two screens of filenames (i.e., 20-40) to review when
looking for a file.
FINALE The main thing I want you to take away from this month's article
"""""" is to consider some sort of organization when planning how you
will use a hard disk. It will simplify your daily use of it later, when
you begin to accumulate more and more files.
In this series I have gone through the process of selecting, setting
up, and using a hard disk on the Apple II and IIgs. Although there is
still more to be said about OTHER aspects of using Apple II computers, my
available time for writing articles has become considerably more limited in
recent months, and so I will at this time have to bid you goodbye for now.
This is the twelfth article in the "Polishing Green Apples" series, and I
hope that they have been useful to you. Apple II Forever!
[*][*][*]
Steve Weyhrich is a family physician from Omaha, Nebraska. He
has been using Apple II computers since 1981, and writing about
them since 1990. He follows closely the events that continue to
shape the destiny of the legendary Apple II and IIgs computers,
and compiles a monthly column called the "A2 News Digest" for
A2-Central disk magazine. He is also the author of the "Apple II
History", available on fine BBSes everywhere, and drawing to a
close in this month's issue of GEnieLamp A2.
[TEC]//////////////////////////////
TECH TALK /
/////////////////////////////////
Apple II Hybrids
""""""""""""""""
by Jay Curtis
[J.CURTIS8]
>>> THE MACINTOSH LC/IIE HYBRID (Continued) <<<
"""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""
One can make a very good case for the statement that virtually all of
Apple's success has depended upon the Apple II. The company was founded
with the Apple II product line. It was the Apple II that kept Apple in
business during its failed experiment with the Apple III. While the first
Macs struggled to carve out their own market niche, the Apple II was there
as Apple's bread and butter machine. Finally, the slim-lined, LC-style
Macs -- which now have become Apple's best selling computers -- may well
have failed if Apple had not initially sold three-quarters of them as
hybrid systems with the Apple IIe PDS (Processor Direct Slot) card.
Considered only as a Macintosh, the LC was something of a hybrid by
itself. Fitted with Motorola's 68020 microprocessor, the LC had a Mac
II-level color display. However, without the Mac II's math coprocessor,
the LCs ran like the slower Mac SE/30. Having one processor-direct slot,
they were somewhat expandable like a Mac II, but they could also be
considered plug-and-play like a Mac Classic. Today's LC-style Macs
continue to use essentially the same motherboard and PDS setup as the
original LCs, but all of them run much faster with Motorola's 68030 and
68LC040 microprocessors.
The newest LCs have not only increased in speed, but they have also
increased their RAM and hard disk storage over the original models. The
originals were sold with 2MB, expandable to 10MB, while today's
68LC040-based machines are sold with 4MB and can be expanded to a whopping
36MB! While few users may need that much memory, today's graphic-based,
memory-hungry, Macintosh system software and applications benefit mightily
from all the RAM that they can access.(1) The LC's basic, internal hard
drive has grown over the past three years from 40MB to 80MB, with larger
drives optionally available. Finally, the original LC's basic 256K video
RAM has grown to 512K, and it is optionally expandable to 1MB... enough for
32,000-color capability on 14 inch monitors.
Potential buyers should keep in mind that the amount of memory and
speed will tend to vary with the LC-style model selected in the Performa,
Quadra, and LC lines. Additionally, it should be kept in mind that while
the LC's Macintosh side has grown in memory, storage and speed, there have
been essentially NO changes in the IIe PDS card's capabilities. Maximum
RAM accessible by the IIe PDS card remains 1MB and the PDS card's 65C02
microprocessor continues to run at 1 mhz in normal mode.
It seems useful to compare the IIe PDS card with the PC Transporter
card. Both cards require their respective host computer's system software
to manage most I/O functions, but management of video output is handled
quite differently between the two. While the PCT card sidesteps ProDOS and
communicates directly with the monitor with its own on-board, CGA video
controller, the LC's PDS card uses the Mac's system software to provide a
IIe video display. The IIe card possesses its own on-board ROM that
translates IIe video output to the Mac's "Quickdraw" graphics language.
The video output is subsequently handled like any other Mac video by the
Mac's system software and microprocessor.(2)
Like the PCT and Trackstar cards, the Apple IIe PDS card possesses
its own external disk drive connector. This connector allows both 3.5"
and/or 5.25" ProDOS devices to be directly connected to the card. The IIe
PDS card requires a 3.5 UniDisk drive. However, for most LC/IIe hybrid
users there is probably no advantage to connecting a UniDisk 3.5 drive to
the IIe card, because the IIe card's system software also allows access to
the Mac's own high density Superdrive as a ProDOS device. Also, like the
PC Transporter and Trackstar, the Mac's IIe emulation allows for use of its
host computers' hard disk drive for storage of programs and data.(3)
The IIe PDS card possesses most of the important hardware components
of a IIe, including the 65C02 microprocessor, 128K of on-board RAM, and a
ROM chip with Applesoft BASIC installed. However, without the special IIe
card software and Mac operating system, the card would be useless as a IIe.
Three essential IIe card files ("IIe Startup," "IIe Prefs," and
"Basic.System") must be installed on the LC's hard disk before the IIe PDS
card can be booted and run.(4) An optional fourth file, called "ProDOS
File System," resides in the Mac's system folder and enables the Mac to
display and manipulate ProDOS disks, directories and subdirectories on its
desktop. However, many users have found in the past that this file can
interfere with file translation between HFS and ProDOS on the Mac desktop,
and they have chosen not to include this file in their installation.(5)
The special IIe card software file called "IIe Prefs" is required in
order to store information about how the user wishes their IIe card to be
configured.(6) Configuration is done through the IIe card's control panel,
which is called the "IIe Option Panel". This control panel is a Macintosh
menu that is separate from the Mac's own control panel. The Option Panel
is accessed similarly to the IIgs and Mac control panels by simply using
the mouse to point and click on desired options and features.
The "IIe Option Panel" is really the heart of the LC's IIe emulator.
Virtually every functional aspect of a real IIe can be managed with the
Option Panel. The user metaphorically configures slots in the Option Panel
by dragging and dropping icons (which represent peripheral devices or
cards) into graphic representations of IIe slots. There are icons for
printers, a mouse, clock, block storage devices, network card, modem, and
memory card which can be moved around in these phantom slots. The IIe
emulator's slot 5 can additionally be configured for four smartport storage
devices. Also, any of the IIe's 7 slots can be set for startup, or the
user can select "scan".
In addition to phantom slot management, the IIe Option Panel is also
used to configure serial ports, keyboard and mouse response, system speed
in "normal" or "fast" mode and the startup sound setting. The IIe screen
display can be set for monochrome or color, and the text display can be set
for black characters on a white background or for normal white characters
on a black background. All of these settings, phantom slots and devices
correspond to the LC's own settings, ports and devices, with the exception
of those devices which are connected to the IIe card's own disk drive
connector. By making slot changes, the user basically tells the PDS card
and software how they want the Mac's IIe emulation to represent itself to
the IIe software.
Telecomm users have reported that the LC/IIe is simply not suitable
for running 8-bit, Apple II communication programs. Even Apple's "IIe Card
Owner's Guide" reports that the user may experience problems when trying to
"use modems at a baud rate of 2400 or above". Apple says, "you may be able
to solve the problem and still use a higher baud rate" by selecting
"Monochrome" in the Option Panel.(8) However, Apple makes no promises, and
GEnie users have reported no luck in their attempts get adequate
performance out of their Apple II telecommunication programs with the IIe
card. One obvious solution is to use the Mac side of the hybrid for
telecomm. The downside, according to many GEnie A2 members, is that few
Mac comm programs can match the better Apple II programs like ProTERM.(9)
Many AppleWorks users, especially those who are used to working on an
unaccelerated IIe or IIc, will find that the LC/IIe hybrid will exceed
their requirements for an AppleWorks power system. Hard disk storage can
be configured for up to 4 ProDOS partitions or 120MB.(7) Improved speed in
program execution can be achieved by doing three things: First, the "Fast"
setting in the LC/IIe's control panel will increase the card's processing
speed to double that of a standard IIe. Next, additional performance can
be realized by selecting the "monochrome" rather than the "Color" setting
in the Option Panel's "Display" menu. Finally, if you don't need ALL of
the 1MB RAM available to the IIe card, use a RAM disk for running
AppleWorks.
I use AppleWorks at home on an unaccelerated GS in "Fast" mode. At
work, I run AppleWorks from a RAM disk on an LC-III with IIe card set to
"Monochrome" display and "Fast" mode. I have noticed some slight
degradation of AppleWorks' performance on the LC/IIe, compared to the GS,
but not enough to be an irritant, and the advantages of being able to print
AppleWorks documents effortlessly over a Mac network to a Laser printer
seem to balance things out nicely. On the Macintosh side, the ability to
import an AppleWorks document to MicroSoft Works and print it out using the
Mac's superior fonts is also a very positive advantage.
Next month, in our final hybrid series article, we'll take a hard
look at the future of Apple II computing. We'll talk about what's involved
in running software emulations on the new "Power" RISC systems
(potentially, the ultimate hybrid computers), and we'll solicit the
opinions of some of our GEnie A2 members and programmers to see what they
think is the likelihood of an Apple IIe or IIgs emulation for the Power
Mac. Until then, think hybrid!
NOTES
"""""
(1) From this writer's own experience, the standard 4MB found in the latest
machines is insufficient.
(2) Another way of saying this is: When you look at IIe software running
on a Mac PDS card, you're looking at a Macintosh's INTERPRETATION of a
IIe video display. However, when you look at PC software running on a
IIgs' PCT card, you're looking at a REAL, digital PC display, not
mediated or interpreted by ProDOS. For the most part, however, no one
should be concerned about these differences. The Mac's IIe video
rendering is quite faithful and is at least as fast as the original,
even on the first LCs.
(3) The LC/IIe setup enjoys certain advantages over a PC Transporter
running in a IIgs or IIe when it comes to disk storage. While a Mac
hard drive can have both ProDOS and HFS partitions, the PCT requires a
special ProDOS file to EMULATE an MS-DOS hard drive partition.
Additionally, while the Mac's Superdrive can re-write CGR/ProDOS
through its own system software, most standard Apple drives cannot
re-write MFM/MS-DOS. Consequently, the reader may recall from past
articles that when the PC Transporter accesses a standard Apple drive
through the Apple II and ProDOS, MS-DOS is laid down in low-level CGR
format, which can make file transfer problematical.
(4) It should be noted that the file "Basic.System" is a Mac file and is
different from the "Basic.System" file found on IIe ProDOS disks.
(5) It was not possible to determine as of this writing if any current or
modified version of this file has overcome these problems. However,
the file is available in GEnie's Macintosh software libraries.
(6) For users of the PCT card, an analogous ProDOS system file is the
"AEPC.CONFIG" file.
(7) Of course, sufficient hard disk storage must exist in order to
configure for this much space. However, in many cases, former IIe
users can connect their old SCSI hard disk to the LC's SCSI port and
use it immediately with the IIe PDS card.
(8) Apple IIe Card Owners Guide, p. 106.
(9) Some good news is that InTrec intends to release a Mac version of their
ProTERM software. How well this software will maintain the Apple II
version's power, look, and feel will undoubtedly influence the purchase
of many users.
[EOA]
[ASA]//////////////////////////////
ASCII ART GALLERY /
/////////////////////////////////
July Celebrations
"""""""""""""""""
by Susie Oviatt
[SUSIE]
***
*****
*****
***
:::\ .,,,,,,,..
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"Oh, Canada..."
{}
||
|| .,,;;;;;;,,..
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|| ';;;;;*;;;;;;;;*;;,:::::*;;;;;@@@##>>%%%%%%, ..,,;%%%%'
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||
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||
||
--
"Old Glory"
[This month GEnieLamp A2 celebrates Canada Day (July 1) and the
U.S.A.'s independence day (July 4). We hope our international readers
will join with us in these celebrations. -- Ed.]
[EOA]
[DRT]//////////////////////////////
DR'S EXAMINING TABLE /
/////////////////////////////////
Golden Oldie Review: ChessMaster 2100
""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""
by Darrel Raines
[D.RAINES]
This month's column will examine the software classic ChessMaster
2100. There have been computer chess games available ever since there have
been any computer games. The quality of chess programs has always been a
measure of a computer's ability to simulate intelligent thought.
I still have some of the original columns from Byte magazine that
discuss the possibility of computers thinking. In those columns they
discuss (perhaps for the first time in a national forum) the type of logic
that computer chess games could employ to simulate the strategy used by a
great chess player. In fact, computer chess games have been the subject of
critical review for years as a test of the power of computers to out-think
their creators. The theory is that if a computer can ever master chess
better than the humans who are champions at the game, then the validity of
"artificial intelligence" will have been proven.
Most versions of computer chess that run on home computers will never
offer a serious challenge to the world champions. However, many software
packages exist that will give the average (or better) chess player a run
for their money. ChessMaster 2100 falls into this category.
This game was made available to many different platforms when it was
first released. Two newer versions have appeared for the IBM platform
entitled ChessMaster 3000 and 4000 turbo. Besides some additional bells
and whistles added to the interface, the game does not appear to have been
significantly enhanced in its game-play ability.
The Apple IIgs version uses the familiar desktop interface with
pull-down menus that allow easy access to the various game features. The
game plays in 320x200 resolution graphics mode and offers good detail and
color. The game runs from 3.5" disk or can be loaded onto a hard drive.
The hard drive installation requires a third-party public domain program
called "Chess.Finder" in order for the software to be run from the Apple
System Finder. There is also a minor, but annoying, problem with the menu
bar while using newer versions of the system software. You can still load
and play the game, but the menu bar is black. The pull-down menus show up
fine, but you must guess on the whereabouts of the top menu item. This
minor problem aside, the game has no difficulties running under newer
system software from a hard drive.
I should mention here that the game uses a form of copy protection
that requires a date, person, or place to be looked up from the game
manual. I don't consider this type of protection to be too onerous, but it
certainly is not as convenient as no copy protection at all. In this area
also there is help available. A file that I have seen on GEnie and other
information systems shows how to get rid of the question all-together. I
prefer this option, but warn you that only owners with a legal copy of the
software should use this patch.
Okay, how does the game play? Great! I am a fairly good chess
player and find that the game is difficult to beat on the higher levels.
However, there is a penalty to pay in the form of processing time. The
better you ask the computer to play, the longer it takes for the computer
to make a move. This can mean a lot of time waiting on your part for the
computer to pick out its next brilliant move. Of course, you can be using
the time to your advantage by working on your next move. In any case, the
game can be quite slow in the higher game play levels. An accelerator card
can dramatically improve this performance. I would recommend an
accelerator anyway, so that you can see marked improvement with all your
software.
One of the things that make ChessMaster 2100 better than any of its
predecessors on the Apple II market is the number of features available at
the click of a mouse. You can establish the strength of your computer
opponent by choosing from a wide variety of options. Computer play
strength can be selected from a range of 1 to 14. You can also select
whether the computer will make random "less than the best" moves. You can
even tell the computer to play like a dummy. If these options weren't
enough, you can also choose from a number of timed-game modes. Anyone
preparing for a real-world chess tournament will appreciate these modes.
You can select any time constraint you want to use. The computer, and you,
will be forced to make your moves in the specified time or that player will
loose the game. For a really quick game you can choose the Blitz mode and
the whole game must be completed in less than 10 minutes (i.e. 5 minutes
per side to make all moves). There is also a feature called "Equal Time"
mode where the computer is constrained to use about the same amount of time
that you use to determine the next move.
The options don't end there. Many features are available for the
human opponent. You can choose between three different views of the board.
A 2D option will show the board from above. A 3D option will show a nice
three-dimensional view of the board from one side. A "War Room" option
provides a smaller 2D view with additional windows showing pieces captured,
notation for moves made, and computer contemplated moves. If these
features are not enough for you, you can also choose the colors that will
be used for all pieces, the board colors, and you can even design and use a
custom set of playing pieces.
A number of other good features of varying importance round out the
package. The computer will play with no sound at all, bell sounds, music,
or a human voice responding to play on both sides. A variety of
informational windows can be turned on or off as a way of monitoring
computer activity. There is a teaching mode where the computer will
suggest your next play. There is a list of moves made so far. There is a
computer thinking display that will give you insight into what plays the
program is contemplating. Clock displays for the human and computer
players can be turned on or off. All of these features are not strictly
necessary, but add to the overall polish on the package.
I guess at this point you could say, "Nice review, but the real
question is how well does it play chess?" I suppose this is a valid
question. However, most people who buy computer chess programs are not all
that strong at their game. I would venture to say that most people buy a
chess package based on features, not on playing strength. I would rate the
game strength of this program as equal to that of an experienced tournament
chess player. That probably isn't enough of an answer, so I will attempt
to expand upon the statement.
The program makes use of a large opening "book" that allows the
computer to choose its first few moves from a time-honored collection of
the best openings that the chess world has to offer. This is both a
strength and a weakness for the computer. The response from the program
will be instantaneous for the first few moves. However, once the opening
book has been exhausted of moves, the computer must use its internal
algorithm for making successive moves. The fallacy here is that the
opening moves may have been geared toward an objective that the computer
algorithm does not carry forward into subsequent moves. However, this does
not show up as a weakness in too many games.
Once the internal algorithm takes over, the program is a good
position player. The computer will attempt to crush you with its entire
arsenal of pieces. The big advantage for the computer is this: it does
not overlook any capture, fork, or discovered capture that is available in
the next two or three moves. This is a tremendous advantage over the
average human player. The advantage is even more obvious in timed games.
I have slapped my forehead a number of times upon overlooking a simple
fork. This is where one of the other attractive features of the game comes
into play. You can take back any number of moves for yourself or the
computer. This feature is probably important to the weekend pawn-pusher.
I have played chess on and off for the past 20 years. I have
participated in many different forms of game play including postal chess
and modem chess. (For those of you who want a rating to use for
comparison, I have been rated anywhere from 1400 to 1900 during my chess
playing career.) ChessMaster 2100 can beat me 9 times out of 10 in the
tougher game modes. I can do a little better in the fast game play modes,
but when the computer wins in the fast time play, it is usually because I
failed to see something simple. Let me put the ratio at 5 out of 10 for
the faster modes.
Bottom line on ChessMaster 2100: If you have any interest in chess,
whether it is a casual spark or a deep seated love of the game, you owe it
to yourself to get a copy of this program. You will find some combination
of modes and timing constraints that will make the game play you on even
ground. You will definitely enjoy this program and may actually improve
your chess play.
Footnote: Many other features are included that I should not fail to
mention. There is a save and load game feature. Over a hundred classic
games have been saved on the distribution disks. There is an option to set
up a game. There is also a solve for mate feature. The program will
analyze a game and offer the moves that the computer would have made at any
point in that game. You can print the board position at any time and the
moves made so far. You can even tell the computer what your name is so
that your chess clock will reflect that entry.
[*][*][*]
Darrel Raines is a computer user, programmer and sometime chess
player. He is currently involved with the NASA Space Station
development. With any luck, Americans will be playing chess in
space by the year 2001.
[EOA]
[HUN]//////////////////////////////
THE TREASURE HUNT /
/////////////////////////////////
Yours For the Downloading
"""""""""""""""""""""""""
by Charlie Hartley
[C.HARTLEY3]
Welcome back to the Treasure Hunt! This month we will take a look at
some of the many uploads by Pat Kern [C.KERN1]. Pat has uploaded graphics
files including images for Classic Print Shop (DOS 3.3), The New Print Shop
(ProDOS), Print Shop GS, as well as many double high resolution (DHR)
graphics that may be used with a desktop publishing program such as Publish
It! 4.
In this month's column we will take a look at some of Pat's personal
favorites. All these files are public domain.
We will begin with the Print Shop graphics, fonts, and borders. Not
surprisingly, Pat is fond of the "Southwest" files created for the AzApple
User Group (Phoenix, Arizona). She was involved with this group until she
returned to Chicago.
The Southwest print shop uploads were the signature graphics
collection of the AzApple User Group public domain library. The full list
is given below.
File# File name Short Description
17103 STHWEST1.PS.BXY Southwest Print Shop graphics.
17104 STHWEST2.PS.BXY Southwest Print Shop graphics.
17105 STHWEST3.PS.BXY Southwest Print Shop graphics.
17106 STHWEST4.PS.BXY Southwest Print Shop fonts/borders
17491 SWAZ.NPS.BXY Southwest graphics,fonts,borders for 3.5.
17492 SWAZ.1.NPS.BXY Southwest New Print Shop for 5.25.
17493 SWAZ.2.NPS.BXY Southwest New Print Shop for 5.25.
17494 SWAZ.3.NPS.BXY Southwest New Print Shop for 5.25.
17495 SWAZ.4.NPS.BXY Southwest New Print Shop for 5.25
Since these are so similar, we will concentrate on the original
Classic Print Shop stuff.
STHWEST1.PS.BXY contains 62 Print Shop graphics that have a
southwestern, cowboy, or wild west theme to them. My personal favorites on
this disk are Siesta (a Mexican in a large sombrero napping), Roadrunner,
Wagon 01 (covered wagon), Stagecoach, and Campfire. There are also many
horse graphics, cute Native American graphics, and cowboy graphics.
STHWEST2.PS.BXY contains 60 Print Shop graphics that continue the
southwestern theme. There are 12 different sun graphics and 8 horse
graphics. My favorites are Indian 06 which is almost a portrait of an
Native American brave, and Indian 08 which portrays an attractive Native
American woman.
STHWEST3.PS.BXY contains 67 more Print Shop graphics. If you are
looking for Print Shop graphics of the states of the Southwest, get this
one. It includes a graphic of the entire region, as well as individual
graphics of Arizona, California, Nevada, New Mexico, Oklahoma,
Texas, and
Utah. These are well done. Probably my favorite graphic on the disk is
"Gracias", which looks just like Teddy Roosevelt during his Rough Rider
days.
STHWEST4.PS.BXY contains 29 borders and 33 fonts files. The border
files are all in the Southwestern theme. My personal favorite is Longhorn.
The fonts include the following regular fonts (upper case, numbers,
punctuation): Angeles, Austin, Berkeley, Cactus, California, Carmel,
Cupertino, Dallas, Hollywood, Hombre, Houston, Lamoni, San.Diego,
Santamonic, Seattle, Sierra, Slim, Texas, Tombstone, Utah, and Vegas.
There are 4 font sets that include lowercase letters, numbers and
punctuation marks: LCDallas, LCMonica, LCSierra, and LCTexas.
The best fonts on the disk include both upper case and lowercase
letters plus a limited group of punctuation marks. They include AAngles,
ABerkeley, ACupertino, ADallas, AHombre, AMonica, APalo.Alto, and ASierra.
There is also a text file on the disk titled INFO.FONTS that tells
you how to access this last group of fonts. Since it may be a bit
difficult for some to access that file, it is reproduced below.
[*][*][*]
"These Print Shop compatible fonts allow the user to combine Upper case
with Lowercase. Letters from the keyboard produce lowercase. You will not
be able to use numbers & most punctuation, since those characters are used
for the upper case, so if you want to include addresses, phone numbers,
dates, prices, etc. use another font. Use the following substitutions for
upper case letters:
A 1 F 6 K - P & U ;
B 2 G 7 L = Q * V :
C 3 H 8 M # R ( W "
D 4 I 9 N $ S ) X <
E 5 J 0 O % T + Y >
Z /
Only certain punctuation can be used as follows: . , ' ? !
With most programs, the number or punctuation will appear on the monitor.
It will look strange, but will print out OK. Trust me. With LLL program,
WYSIWYG.
You may want to print out the above substitutions and keep it in the disk
jacket for reference. It will save you time."
[*][*][*]
As a side note, if you do a lot of Classic Print Shop (DOS 3.3)
stuff, have many graphics disks for it (or plan to download all these), and
you don't have "The PS Lover's Utility Set," stop what you're doing right
now, rush to your phone, call the Big Red Computer Club at 402-379-4680 and
beg them to sell you a copy of it. Among other things, it includes a
program to print out all the graphics, borders, and fonts on a disk so that
you can see at a glance which ones you want to use.
Uploads #17492-17495 contain essentially the same graphics, fonts,
and borders for The New Print Shop (ProDOS) as are described above for
Classic Print Shop (in uploads #17103-17106). They are not, however, in
the same order. I recommend that you download all four, but if you are
looking for the fonts and/or borders, they are on #17492-17493. All four
of these may be found on one 3.5" upload by getting file #17491 from the
library.
Colorized versions of these Southwest graphics were uploaded by
N.TOULME and include the following:
File# File name Short Description
18871 PSGS.SW.1.BXY PSGS Graphics, Southwestern Theme
18872 PSGS.SW.2.BXY PSGS Graphics, Southwestern Theme
18873 PSGS.SW.3.BXY PSGS Graphics, Southwestern Theme
18874 PSGS.SW.4.BXY PSGS Fonts, borders; Southwest Theme
Moving onto double high resolution (DHR) graphics, some of Pat's
favorites are the school graphics found in the following files:
16320 SCHOOL.1.BXY Desc: Double Hi Res school graphics.
16377 SCHOOL.2.BXY Desc: More school Double Hi Res clipart.
19418 SCHOOL.3.BXY Desc: DHR School Clipart. Part 3.
19443 SCHOOL.4.BXY Desc: School DHR clipart. Part 4.
16357 GRAD.1.BXY Desc: Double Hi Res Graduation clipart.
SCHOOL.1.BXY contains 16 graphics. These are black and white line
art drawings produced on the Thunderscan. You can import any of these DHR
graphics, into such programs as Publish It! 4, Dazzle Draw, 8/16 Paint,
Platinum Paint, GraphicWriter III, Tutor Tech, TimeOut Paint, or any other
program that accesses DHR graphics.
SCHOOL.2.BXY contains 16 more school graphics; SCHOOL.3.BXY and
SCHOOL.4.BXY each contain 24 graphics. These are all great for school
newsletters, flyers, teacher parent conferences & meetings, fundraising
posters, advertising, and nearly anything you can think of that is school
related.
GRAD.1.BXY contains 16 b/w line drawings all related to school
graduation.
Another side note here: Big Red Computers is offering Publish It! 4
for $25, which includes the disks and manuals. If you (or your child's
school) have an enhanced Apple 128K IIe, IIc, IIc+, Laser, or Apple IIgs
with a mouse (joystick also works, but not well), and you don't have this
program, get it! The word is that Big Red is closing up shop at the end of
this year, so don't waste time on this one.
Other favorites of Pat's include the 11 files of Jewish graphics and
the 4 files of Wedding graphics. The file numbers, names and brief
descriptions are listed below.
File# File name Short Description
16737 JEW.01.DHR.BXY Jewish holiday & other clip art
16747 JEW.02.DHR.BXY More Jewish DHR clip art
16748 JEW.03.DHR.BXY Still more Jewish clip art
16754 JEW.04.DHR.BXY Even more Jewish clipart.
16831 JEW.05.DHR.BXY Bar Mitzvah DHR clipart.
16898 JEW.06.DHR.BXY Jewish wedding Double Hi Res.
16924 JEW.07.DHR.BXY Jewish double hi res clipart.
16906 JEW.08.DHR.BXY Jewish Torah DHR clip art
16915 JEW.09.DHR.BXY Even more Jewish DHR clipart.
16929 JEW.10.DHR.BXY Still more Jewish DHR clipart.
19464 JEW.11.DHR.BXY Jewish DHR clipart. Part 11.
17525 WEDDING.1.BXY Wedding DHR graphics. Part 1.
17549 WEDDING.2.BXY Wedding DHR graphics. Part 2.
17674 WEDDING.3.BXY Wedding DHR graphics. Part 3.
17714 WEDDING.4.BXY Wedding DHR graphics. Part 4.
If you have a newborn, one on the way, or know an expectant mother,
you will want to check out file #21177, titled BABY.1.BXY. This file
contains 24 b/w line drawings of baby graphics that can be used for birth
announcements, greeting cards, baby shower invitations, thank-yous, gift
enclosures, photo albums, baby diaries, and anything else having to do with
babies.
Pat has uploaded several files that help you to create attractive
greeting cards and emboss a variety of things. Here are some files you may
want to download.
File# File name Short Description
17778 PI.GREETING.BXY Publish It greeting card How To.
17850 PI.EMBOSS.BXY How to Emboss. Publish It doc.
20818 EMBOSS.HINT.TXT Hints for embossing
PI.GREETING.BXY, which requires Publish It!, was created by Vivian
Lynes for AzApple User Group Journal. It explains how to create a greeting
card using the Publish It! program. Just load the document into Publish
It! and print it out to one page. The upload also includes a greeting card
template to use in creating your own cards.
PI.EMBOSS.BXY, which also requires Publish It!, is a tutorial by
Vivian Lynes that tells how to emboss using computer printouts. The layout
was prepared by Pat Kern for AzApple Journal. To see this correctly,
install the fonts Florence.12 and Florence.24 (included with upload) before
printing.
EMBOSS.HINT.TXT is a short text file giving some hints for embossing
computer-generated greeting cards and even bank checks (for gift giving).
It can be listed & captured in your copy buffer or downloaded as an ASCII
text file.
Pat recommends the following files by Karl Bunker and Jon Thomason
for those who use DHR graphics.
File# File name Short Description
21357 SNEEZE.BXY Multi-purpose file utility
14547 PHOTOMATRIX.BXY Great double hires print utility
Sneeze in a terrific freeware file utility program. One of its
features is the ability to display DHR graphics on command. I won't spend
a lot of time on this except to say that if you don't have it, you should.
While your at it, search the library for other Karl Bunker files. All of
them are freeware and all are terrific.
According to its long description, Photomatrix will print out a
collection of DHR pics about the size of a half dollar on a sheet of paper,
about 5 across and 5 down. It is automatic and all you need to do is tell
it where the disks are. It is shareware; the fee is $10. For your money
you will receive, some 100 additional DHR pics found nowhere else. The
author is Jon C. Thomason [jonct@pro-applepi.cts.com].
[*][*][*]
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
[EOA]
[PRO]//////////////////////////////
PROFILES /
/////////////////////////////////
Who's Who In Apple II
"""""""""""""""""""""
by Charlie Hartley
[C.HARTLEY3]
>>> WHO'S WHO? <<<
""""""""""""""""""
~ GEnieLamp Profile: Pat Kern ~
This month we spotlight Pat Kern (aka C.KERN1 and PATZ PIX), perhaps
the most prolific contributor to the A2 library, particularly with files
that deal with graphics. (Some of her favorite uploads are featured in the
Treasure Hunt column this month.)
GEnieLamp> Tell us how you first became interested in the Apple II.
"""""""""
Kern> My entry into the computing world began about 10 years ago when
"""" Apple computers were being used in schools and that other computer
brand was being used in business. The home computer choices were between
the Apple IIc or IIe, or the PCjr. At the time, I was skeptical of buying
a computer for home use -- after all, I could balance a checkbook, use a
calculator, type reasonably well, and had Atari 2600 for games. So ten
years ago I had to be convinced that we needed a computer. Now I doubt
that I would want to live without one.
GEnieLamp> Was it your first computer?
"""""""""
Kern> The IIc was my first computer and the one I still use the most
"""" today. I managed with one disk drive and 128K in the beginning.
GEnieLamp> You have uploaded many files of fonts, borders, and graphics
""""""""" for the classic Print Shop (DOS 3.3), as well as for the New
Print Shop (ProDOS) and Print Shop GS. Which of these programs is your
favorite and why?
Kern> For simplicity and speed of operation, the Classic Print Shop,
"""" DOS 3.3 version, is the best choice for producing greeting cards,
calendars, banners, and signs. It also offers a wide variety of graphics,
fonts and borders. For versatility and variation, New Print Shop offers
many options not available in the original version. Print Shop GS and
Companion offer many utilities for converting graphics and fonts from other
sources.
The first Print Shop was fast and easy to use. New Print Shop offers
more flexibility and is more like a desktop publishing program with many
options in the style of greeting card, calendar, banner, or sign. Various
fonts can be used together, graphics in various sizes can be placed
anywhere, different colors can be used for different parts of the document.
Print Shop GS offers colors and the Print Shop Companion offers several
useful utilities.
Even though the Classic Print Shop (DOS 3.3) versions of Print Shop
graphics, fonts, and borders were first uploaded several years ago, they
continue to be popular for downloading for several reasons. The original
DOS 3.3 graphics are more numerous than in the other formats. Clients who
use New Print Shop or Print Shop GS can convert these graphics into formats
compatible with whichever program they prefer. Furthermore, any of the
graphics formats will import into Publish It!
There are many previously owned Apple IIs in use today, and the
original Print Shop is one of the programs that is normally included with
the sale of used systems.
I was pleased when some of the monochromatic graphics I uploaded in
Classic Print Shop format were converted into Print Shop GS by Nels Toulme,
a GEnie client, and colorized by Yvonne Sanders.
GEnieLamp> Where do you get the graphics that you upload?
"""""""""
Kern> The Print Shop graphics are all in the public domain -- many were
"""" created by users. Being of the philosophy that you can never have
too many graphics, I began collecting them from various sources. What I
did was to organize them according to meaningful categories.
I got interested in using DHR graphics when I started using the
commercial desktop publishing program Publish It! The original program
came with some graphics, but it seemed like I was always searching for
more.
Eventually I purchased a scanner in order to create my own graphics.
There are clip art books available that contain copyright free line
drawings, and I used these as sources for most of my uploads. But there
are other sources -- newspaper ads, direct mail advertising flyers,
business, school and religious publications; all use clip art.
GEnieLamp> Do you have a personal style for using the Print Shop and
""""""""" Publish It! programs?
Kern> I like to use common programs in an uncommon way. One of the ways
"""" to make more professional looking output from any publishing
program is by embossing the computer printout. Vivian Lynes, a member of
my user group in Arizona, created a tutorial file on this technique.
GEnieLamp> What hardware and software do you use most often?
"""""""""
Kern> The hardware I use for scanning is ThunderScan, since it is the
"""" only scanner suitable for the IIc. When my friend, Cindy Adams
(C.ADAMS11) bought a Quickie scanner, she offered to sell me her
ThunderScan. I use this along with 8/16 Paint to clean up and edit the
graphics I scan.
I use Sneeze to view the graphics, and I use Photomatrix to print out
reference sheets for the graphics. I use Print Shop Lover's Utility Set, a
copyrighted program produced by Big Red Apple Club, to make print out
samples of the graphics, fonts, and borders of Print Shop.
I use ProTERM 3.1 to call GEnie and other Bbses, and I use its editor
for most offline word processing. I also use AppleWorks 3.0 for spell
checking and word processing. I use Publish It! 4.0 for desktop
publishing, but I wish the developers had continued updating its features.
I use ImageWriter I and II for printing.
GEnieLamp> You have created all of these super files for the A2 library.
""""""""" Search the uploads for the name C.KERN1 and the list goes on
and on. How do you use them personally?
Kern> I hope that by making available what I find useful, other users
"""" will be encouraged to upload files that they have created.
I use the files I upload in various ways in my personal life. I
create Publish It! documents to use as publicity for public domain disks in
my user group library. When I was elected to the board of directors, I
would create illustrated reports to hand out at board meetings. Later I
volunteered to conduct a desktop publishing workshop SIG (special interest
group) during user group meetings and produced flyers and instruction
handouts.
Although most of the user group's 28-36 page journal was produced on
a Mac using PageMaker, I would produce pages using Publish It! to promote
clip art and describe the new Disks of the Month or other Apple II news.
There was also a recipe column in the journal, and I would create this page
using Publish It! and clip art that I created, along with recipes
contributed on the local BBS by Don Davidson or other members. Examples
are here in the A2 Library 62 as Christmas, Easter, and Thanksgiving recipe
files.
One of the most creative uses of the clip art came from brainstorming
during a user group meeting. A member, Milt Mahler (M.MAHLER2), wanted to
make use of all the new DHR clip art to create greeting cards, instead of
using Print Shop. But Publish It! didn't contain this option. I suggested
dividing the page into quadrants, and then flipping the graphic upside
down, the way Print Shop does it, so that the graphic is right side up when
the card is folded. Vivian Lynes improved on these ideas, and produced the
tutorial.
GEnieLamp> Can you tell us a little about the types of things you like to
""""""""" do for fun? (Speaking of "non-computer" fun, here.)
Kern> My most recent non-computer-related activity/hobby is country line
"""" dancing. However, that activity came to an abrupt halt when I
fractured my wrist in three places -- just two days after Christmas last
year. I fell on the dance floor while doing the "Electric Slide" and left
the dinner dance with the "Achy Breaky". If I ever hear country dance
music again, remind me to put on my cowboy boots.
The recovery has been slow and painful, but I continued modeming on
GEnie even with my arm in a cast for nearly 2 months. I found the
pointing, clicking, and dragging of the mouse and inserting and positioning
the drawing into the ImageWriter carriage too difficult for scanning during
the three months of physical therapy that continued after the cast was
removed, so I edited some graphics scanned by Lee Reasly and uploaded 9
volumes of them as Clip.art.Lee.
Clients who put up with my one-handed typing in the Real Time
Conferences will be pleased to know that my touch typing skills have
returned, and so have my typos. :)
GEnieLamp> What accomplishments are you most proud of?
"""""""""
Kern> I am proud that any of my contributions here or in my user group
"""" have encouraged others to contribute and make use of the files.
I am grateful for the many friends, both seen and unseen, that I have
made as a result of computing. For me, these contacts are one of the
pleasures of being part of the modem and user group community.
Many of the things I now do came to me as a surprise ... like when
Dean Esmay E-mailed me that there could be a staff opening here on GEnie
and would I be interested?... or when it was suddenly announced that I had
become sysop of one of the branches of the local user group BBS... or when
I read that my name was on the nomination list of candidates for the local
user group... and finally, when I was recruited to be a Beta Tester for
ProTERM 3 (one of the "novice users").
I was surprised when some of the clip art I scanned was chosen for
the A2.Best.Clip art and again when some scanned art was used on the A2 On
Disk of Resource Central or the Disk of the Month on GEnie. I was honored
when my local user group named me as Ambassador at Large when I left
Arizona and relocated to the Chicago suburbs. The final surprise was being
asked to be interviewed for the GEnieLamp A2 profile.
GEnieLamp> I think you have discovered that it's the busy people who get
""""""""" called to do even more. :) Are you active in the local user
group in your area? If so, what kinds of activities are going on involving
the Apple II?
Kern> I became a member of AzApple in Phoenix, Arizona, at a time when I
""""" needed them and they needed me.
It wasn't until a year or so after coming to Phoenix that we added a
modem to the system. In the beginning, it was used almost exclusively by
teenagers to call local BBSes to chat. A few months after purchasing the
modem, we joined the AzApple User Group and I began to call its BBS.
Shortly after that, the teenagers went to a class there and learned enough
about downloading and ShrinkIt to give it a try.
Encouraged by this success, I decided to give uploading a shot. I
was one of those rare individuals who learned how to upload before I
learned how to download. Pretty soon, there were several files on the
local BBS waiting to be validated. Then, one day, much to my surprise, I
got a message in E-mail that read, "You are now the librarian of the
Desktop Publishing branch. Have fun!" That, before I even attended my
first meeting!
At that time, Jerry Cline (INTREC) was the user group's president. I
sat quietly in the audience at that first meeting until he asked, "Is Pat
Kern here?"... since he had only known me through the local BBS. I
responded, "I am sitting next to you, Jerry." I then handed him about 20
disks to contribute to the public domain library.
Soon after attending, I was searched out to become our User Group's
Public Domain librarian for the Apple II, a job I took over. Then when the
elections came up, I suddenly found my name in the list of candidates for
the Board of Directors. So I threw my sombrero into the ring, and was
elected.
I served one term, then ran for reelection. Sometime during the
second term, we needed to relocate to Chicago. But the sale of the home in
Phoenix dragged on for so long that I nearly was elected to a third term.
I lived in Phoenix, AZ for nearly 5 years. It was there that my
interest in computing and modeming became strong. So strong, in fact, that
the computer system was the last thing loaded on the moving van when we
moved back to the western suburbs of Chicago about 2 years ago.
Now I am in a suburb of Chicago, and have not found a suitable user
group to join in this area.
GEnieLamp> How long have you been on GEnie? Where on GEnie are we most
"""""""""" likely to find you?
Kern> I've been on GEnie for more than 3 years. Dean Esmay recruited me
"""" for the A2 staff in January 1992. I am a staff librarian with
responsibility for 8 bit clip art and graphics.
On GEnie, you are likely to find me in the nightly Real Time
Conferences, the Sunday RTC "talkathons" or cruising the bulletin boards --
when I'm not uploading, downloading, or updating and maintaining the
libraries. I log on nearly every day. I log off the RTCs with the notice
" <<<--- watch me disappear "(with the arrow pointing to my e-mail name),
then wait and " :: P O O F :: " , then /exit.
GEnieLamp> What plans do you have for the future?
"""""""""
Kern> I plan to enlarge and upgrade my present system after Kfest
"""" (or ICONference as it is now called). There are many more projects
I intend to pursue, and I'll need to put myself into LEARN mode once again.
GEnieLamp> Thank you, Pat, for an enjoyable interview.
Kern> It's been my pleasure. I hope to meet many of your readers online
""""" in the nightly RTC room meetings. See you there. :)
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 C.HARTLEY3 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.
//////////////////////////////////////// GEnie_QWIK_QUOTE ////
/ /
/ Excel for Power Mac should be available within a month, /
/ last I heard. /
/ /
/ Apple createth a fast processor, and microsoft bogeth /
/ it down:) /
/ /
///////////////////////////////// POWERPC.PRO & QUALITY ////
[EOA]
[PAL]//////////////////////////////
PAL NEWSLETTER /
/////////////////////////////////
July 1994 Report
""""""""""""""""
by GEna Saikin
[A2.GENA]
Last summer, at KansasFest in Kansas City, Missouri, an idea to
create an online user group meeting was conceived. All too many Apple II
owners are finding themselves short of local support, due to the waning
interest in the Apple II, and it was felt that this online group would help
fill the gaps. Hence, PAL (Planetary Apple League) was created.
With this group, we are striving to fill in the gaps in local
support, and have a place for people to go who need help, want to learn
more about their Apple II's, hear special speakers, and just have fun!
MAIN EVENT -- KansasFest (aka ICONference) In less than a month, a few
"""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""" hundred people will be flying,
driving and otherwise making their way to Kansas City, MO to attend an
annual conference, held at a Catholic college right on the Kansas/Missouri
border. There will be dorm food, very little sleep... and Kansas in July is
HOT. Last year, it look doubtful that anyone east of the Missouri would
make it -- floods had devastated the midwest -- but that didn't stop
anyone! We midwesterners were determined to swim. Fortunately, we didn't
have to. There were two bridges open... barely. A couple attendees even
risked their necks getting to KansasFest last year. A long drive and a
weary driver caused an accident with an 18-wheeler. Although the car was a
bit worse for wear, the two folks came out relatively unscathed, and
proceeded to enjoy the conference! Why would so many people struggle,
bargain with their bosses, save their pennies and strive so hard to face
the above "hardships"?
KansasFest, which will from now on be called ICONference, is worth
every scrap of sacrifice, every iota of pennies saved, and every struggle
to get there. The seminars are interesting and thoughtfully presented.
Last year, Joe Kohn talked to us about shareware -- the importance of
paying the fees and how to go about marketing your shareware programs and
collecting the fees. AppleWorks 4 was introduced, and there were many more
seminars that were equally engaging. But at least as important, is what
goes on "after hours"... meeting folks you've talked with online all year
is an exhilarating experience! (It can also be interesting if you have
pre-conceived notions of how they look.)
A rough agenda has been penned by Tom Weishaar, and is presented
below:
[*][*][*]
ICONFerence July 21-23 1994 Tentative Session Schedule, as of May 27:
Keynote speaker: Randy Brandt, Project Manager, AppleWorks 4.0
Pat Wilson, Microsoft - Special Preview of Microsoft Windows 4.0 (Chicago)
(non-disclosure required)
Pat Wilson, Microsoft - Microsoft Office for Windows Demo (2 hours)
Nick Dazio et al - Launch of the Mensch Computer
Roger Wagner - subject to be announced
Mike Westerfield - subject to be announced
Michael Lutynski - Animasia 3-D
Jim Maricondo - UNIX & the Internet; UNIX and the Apple IIgs: GNO/ME
Bill Lynn - Way Cool & Way Cheap Macintosh Utilities
Greg Nelson - Multimedia Authoring with CD-ROM
Nathaniel Sloan - The Ins and Outs of Telecom Scripting
Joe Kohn - Looking Good in Print
Joe Kohn - All About the Internet
Lane Roathe - How to get a job in the computer industry
Erick Wagner - Apple II Interfacing, How to Control and Monitor Real-World
Devices
David Ciotti - Soldering for Beginners, Which End of the Iron is Hot?
[*][*][*]
The "unofficial" after-hours fun promises to continue this year,
since some of our folks who were there last year and who contributed
mightily to "after hours" will be here this year as well!
Last year, people spent a lot of time wandering from room to room,
trading goodies from their hard drives, comparing notes on programs, and
meeting new people! We had several from overseas -- Germany and Australia
to name a couple of countries!
Roger Wagner last year not only "inspired" a "tie wearing contest"
but he tried to scale the dorm wall -- outside. We have a "celebrity
roast" and guess who got roasted last year? (Hint: His first name is
Tom.) Another bit -- or possibly byte -- of fun was the "bag biting
contest". What's that? It's where a grocery bag is placed on the floor,
and the contestants pick up the bag with their teeth/lips without touching
the ground with hands or knees. Doesn't sound too difficult, until you
find out that after each successful grab, the bag is cut down, until it is
merely a couple inches high!
There is so much more to tell about Kfest -- more than could ever fit
in the article. You'll just have to come to find out more!
LIBRARY STACKS As always, we have plenty of useful files in our library
"""""""""""""" here in Apple II RT. Below are "what's hot" for this
month:
+22874 HERA2.BXY Hera: The Sword of Rhin. Disk 2 of 2
+22873 HERA1.BXY Hera: The Sword of Rhin. Disk 1 of 2
+22849 A2LIBP8.ADB.BXY A2 Library listing of non-GS/OS files
+22841 A2.DOM.0694.BXY A2 Disk of the Month, June 1994
+22840 A2LIB.ADB.BXY Complete A2 Library listing - AW3 format
22833 ANIM.XCMD2.BXY HCGS XCMD - Plays Paintworks animations
22832 CURSORMAGIC.BXY Converts Icons into Cursors
+22827 TEXTSPLIT.BXY Splits text files into smaller files
22825 AWGS.LABELS.BXY Label templates for AppleWorks GS
+22822 A2NDX9406TX.BXY June 1994 Category/Topic list for A2
+22812 GLAMPA29406.BXY GEnieLamp A2, June 1994 (AppleWorks)
+22810 X10FAQ.BXY Internet/Usenet file about X-10 technology
22809 POWERGUIDE.BXY GEnie navigator for the IIgs
22808 MINITALK1.7.BXY Telecom program in a CDA. Neat!
22785 GAMEHACK142.BXY GameHacker v1.42: Game cheat CDA
+ = Works on 8-bit Apples
Explore our 22,000 files plus libary and have fun! Looking for
something, but you can't remember the title? Just think of a keyword, and
search on that!
WHAT'S NEW IN A2 The new, updated GEM was released last month, and seems
"""""""""""""""" to be a hit. GEnie Master now comes in flavors for
AppleWorks 3.0 and 4, and now works with Spectrum.
Calling all insomniacs! Often, our evening RTCs (Real Time
Conferences) are now going and going and going (isn't that the Energizer
Bunny's line?)... until the wee hours of the morning! Just pop in, even
though its "after hours", and see if someone's there... you may be
pleasantly surprised!
And, of course, we're all gearing up for ICONference next month! So,
don't be shy... pop into one of our nightly RTCs (scheduled times are 9
p.m. to 1 a.m. eastern) or our Sunday RTC (scheduled times are 2 p.m. to 8
p.m. and 9 p.m. to 1 a.m.). But if the bug to come into an RTC bytes you
at other times, come on in... there just may be someone there! Remember, a
staff member does NOT have to be present for you to use the RTC area! It's
open for anyone to use at any time!
[EOA]
[AII]//////////////////////////////
APPLE II /
/////////////////////////////////
Apple II History, Part 23
"""""""""""""""""""""""""
by Steven Weyhrich
[S.WEYHRICH]
>>> APPLE II HISTORY <<<
""""""""""""""""""""""""
Compiled and written by Steven Weyhrich
(C) Copyright 1992, Zonker Software
(PART 23 -- RENAISSANCE?)
[v1.2 :: 04 May 94]
FINALE This month's installment brings us to the end of the Apple II
"""""" History text. There is Appendix A, dealing with popular Apple II
software, on a year by year basis since the late 1970s to the present;
Appendix B, a Timeline of significant events in the life of the Apple II;
and Appendix C, a Genealogy of the different Apple II models and where they
fit in with the release of some models in the Macintosh series. These are
too long, and possible less interesting, and so I will leave those for
those who want to download the entire history.
If there is interest in having this series appear someday as a
printed book, I'd be pleased to hear from you. Part of the consideration
in making that a reality is determining if there is REALLY a market for it.
Direct your e-mail comments to s.weyhrich@genie.geis.com or to
genielamp@genie.geis.com. And thanks for reading!
THE END IS NEAR We've come a long way in this review of the events in the
""""""""""""""" life of the Apple II computer and those who have helped
shape and direct its course. My Flux Capacitor card has nearly exhausted
its capacity for, er, fluxing, and I've run into a wall that did not stop
Marty McFly in his time-travelling adventures: The future. Although I
could create any future I wish to in my own fertile imagination, the events
yet to come are no more clear to ME than to anyone else who wants to try
their hand at prognostication. But one word does come to mind:
Renaissance. Webster's Dictionary defines it as "a movement or period of
vigorous artistic and intellectual activity; rebirth, revival". I believe
this word accurately reflects the current level of activity in the Apple II
world outside of Apple, Inc. In order to take a look at why I believe this
to be true, and at what might be in store for this computer, let's start by
reviewing in brief what we've already covered.
OVERVIEW OF APPLE II HISTORY (THE BIG PICTURE) Back when Apple Computer,
"""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""" Inc. got its start, it was
just one small part of the rapidly growing field of consumer-oriented uses
of the new microprocessor technology. It was not the first computer
available for home use, and some might argue that it was not the best for
its time, either. But it did have an openness in design that made it
possible (for those who were excited about exploring the digital unknown)
to "boldly go where no one has gone before". Unbeknownst to these early
Apple II enthusiasts, those who ran Apple Computer at the time did not
necessarily have the same affection for the Apple Ii in their hearts.
The problems at Apple Computer in the two years after the release of
the Apple II were not particularly unique to that company. They were
suffering from the growth pains that can happen to ANY company that
suddenly finds itself with a blockbuster product on its hands. There is a
sudden influx of cash (which is a heady experience in itself), a demand for
greater levels of production for the product, and the problems associated
with trying to meet that demand. These difficulties were part of what
bogged down MITS, maker of the Altair 8800, when demand for their computer
far surpassed all their expectations.
It has become somewhat of an expectation in the minds of the American
consumer that if a company has a product that is sold in a store,
advertised in national magazines, and is professionally designed, that it
must then be a "big company". When you as a consumer are dealing with this
mythical large company, you expect that they have managers and employees
who know exactly what is going on at all times, have a clear business plan,
and are firmly in control of all aspects of the product. When the consumer
becomes strongly attached to that product (develops a "brand loyalty" of
sorts), sometimes that loyalty artificially inflates the abilities of the
company that made it, and of its employees, to a status of expectations
that no one can really meet. A business-oriented purchaser of an Apple II
just might have had his confidence shaken a bit if he had known, for
instance, that one of the first activities of the founders and early
employees of Apple when they moved out of Jobs' garage and into a real
office was to play games with the office telephones. Was this sort of
behavior an indication that the Apple II was a piece of junk? Not at all;
but it does highlight one problem that could not then be quickly
overcome... one of immaturity and inexperience.
Steve Wozniak was brilliant in his design of the Apple II; Steve Jobs
was outstanding in his insistence on a quality appearance for the finished
product; and all the others that made contributions in terms of hardware
and software for this first all-in-one home computer did a top-notch job as
well. But without the experienced help that Apple's founders got from Mike
Markkula and Mike Scott, the company would likely have drowned in its own
success. STARTING a business with a successful product is not that hard;
what is difficult is MAINTAINING that business after it gets going. Not
only do you have the problems of meeting growing consumer demand, but in
the case of a technologically complex device like a computer, you have more
mundane things to do. You must provide customer support involving items
that WERE clearly spelled out in manual (which the owner likely did not
read), as well as for problems that could not be anticipated in advance.
As more computers are sold, there are more people that may need technical
assistance. This was not something that only Apple had trouble with; every
small company that began to sell microcomputers had these same problems.
Although Apple might well have handled things better, the help provided by
those Apple executives who WERE experienced in business helped them survive
the first few years.
The next hurdle that Apple had to overcome was what they should do
for an encore. Sure, the Apple II was a success, and the introduction of
the Disk II drive, with solid application software such as VisiCalc,
ensured that they would do well for a while. But until this time in the
microcomputer industry, no other machine had survived much beyond two to
three years. At that point in the typical life of a computer, it has
usually been surpassed by more advanced technology that does more for the
same or lower cost. If Apple were satisfied to be a single-product
company, that would be fine; but the people running the company wanted it
to survive and flourish. Consequently, the push was begun to establish
both short term and long-term goals for future products. In the short
term, the Apple III was designed to be a stop-gap machine until their long
term goals could be achieved. It was unthinkable that the Apple II could
possibly last much beyond six to twelve more months, and so they put
considerable effort into creating something they thought would be better
than an Apple II, something that would be more suitable for a business type
of environment. As has been discussed before, this new computer was built
with the capability of running Apple II software, so customers would have
something they could do with it until an adequate supply of Apple
III-specific software became available. But the problems of growth pains
and inadequate quality control killed the Apple III, despite Apple's best
efforts to overcome their false start. Meanwhile, the Apple II Plus
continued to grow by leaps and bounds, ignoring the expectations of those
within the company.
Apple's long-term goal was to get a radically new computer platform
designed and into production, something that would be as much ahead of the
Apple II and III as those computers were ahead of what came before them.
The Lisa project (and later the Macintosh) were what executives at Apple
really believed would be the future of the company. Certainly, with all
the power and ease of use that these computers would promise, why would
anyone want to still own an Apple II, or anything else? In actuality, it
was probably the failure of the Apple III and the continued successful
growth of the Apple II that made a major contribution to the slow start the
Lisa and Macintosh had. Combined with that factor was the high cost of the
Lisa, and the limited capability of the first Macs (with only 128K of RAM,
there wasn't much you could do before you ran out of memory).
All this time, the Apple II had developed its own perpetual motion
that not even Apple's neglect could halt. More Apple II computers in the
home, school, and workplace meant more available customers for the
fledgling software industry that provided fuel for these machines to run.
And a software company, though also liable for the technical support issues
that affected hardware manufacturers, was extremely easy to start out of a
living room. Just write a program, package it, put a few ads in magazines,
and wait for the orders to come pouring in. Though few did as well as
VisiCalc, the growth of that company is an example of the potential that
software authors could achieve, given the right circumstances.
Champions of the Apple II within the company still managed to upgrade
the product when they were given enough leeway. The Apple IIe and IIc,
with their improved graphics and expanded memory, were products of this
type of advancement. Those computers did not go far in covering new
territory; in fact, the major justification in the minds of Apple
executives was that miniaturization made it less expensive to produce a
machine that worked only incrementally better than the original Apple II,
primarily adding features that most people were adding to the II Plus
(upper/lowercase display and keyboard, and extra memory). Eventually, they
allowed a true advancement in the form of the Apple IIgs, which held ties
to the past by being compatible with old software and some hardware, and to
the future by providing an all-new level of graphics, sound, and memory
expansion capability. Whereas the Apple IIe was not necessarily a better
computer than the first Apple II or the original IBM PC, the Apple IIgs was
clearly a considerable step forward. Unfortunately, the IIgs was hindered
from the start, not necessarily by blatantly obstructive efforts within the
company, but more from the lack of corporate interest that had plagued the
Apple II line since the Apple III had first been conceived. By the time
the IIgs was released, Apple's corporate mindset (the beliefs that many in
the company held as absolute truth) was that the Macintosh and its
descendants DEFINITELY were the true future of the company. Consequently,
it was difficult to get anyone to commit to making a realistic effort to
promote and advertise the IIgs for the purposes where it would be best
suited. There appeared to be a paranoia that a successful Apple II of ANY
kind would cause Mac sales to suffer. Taken out of the active
upgrade-support-upgrade loop, the IIgs made most of its advancements
through the less-tangible system software development that was done for it.
When the IIgs was first released, it was not much more able to do modern
"desktop" computing (the graphic user interface) than was the first 128K
Macintosh; it was primarily a larger, fancier IIe. But with the maturing
of its system software, and active work by outside developers, the IIgs
eventually came into its own with a solid, mature operating system, and the
ability to do many tasks for which people are buying other computers (not
necessarily Macintosh).
By mid-1992 there was a further decrease in the energy allocated
within Apple for enhancements to the IIgs. It was decided to change the
Apple II Business Unit (the section within Apple that concentrated on that
computer) into a "Continuing Engineering Unit". This group was to maintain
support and make small improvements for the existing Apple II and IIgs user
base, but not to undertake any other major projects for either platform.
While the Apple IIe and IIgs were still being produced and sold then, the
IIgs and finally the IIe were dropped from the dealers' price sheets in the
final quarters of 1992 and 1993, respectively.
SO WHO IS TO BLAME? Let's take a look at the various major personalities
""""""""""""""""""" at Apple that have had a major role in events there
over the past fifteen years, and see how they affected the current state of
affairs of the Apple II. Now, bear in mind that what I write here is NOT a
result of time spent personally talking with these people; they have
already had others interview them often over the years about the same
topics, and what they have wanted to say has likely been said. Here I will
summarize what HAS been written about them, and attempt to draw some
conclusions. Obviously, once I leave the Kingdom Of Factual Reporting and
enter the Land Of Commentary, there is a chance that the judgements I may
make are not valid. I don't have an axe to grind with or against anyone,
and it is not my intention to place blame squarely with any one person.
Like any large company, Apple Computer is a collection of many different
people's opinions, attitudes, and prejudices. The sentiments you could get
from talking to one person may be entirely different from those heard in
talking with another. With that disclaimer out of the way, let's begin.
First of all, consider Steve Jobs. In the eyes of many Apple II
users, he is the quintessential villain, obstructing Apple II progress at
every turn in favor of his baby, the Mac. Many things have been written
about Jobs over the years, discussing his temperament and lack of love
toward the Apple II. If accurate, these impressions could be summarized by
saying that it appears Jobs was primarily a visionary, and was enamored of
making Apple Computer a success and a Fortune 500 company (which he did, in
the shortest time in business history). He was also a big fan of the
newest, the best, and the most interesting technology available; the older
stuff was just a yawn after it was released (this includes even the Mac,
which eventually lost its shine for him as he wanted Apple to build
something even better). He had an enthusiasm for the projects that looked
like a good hack (this is what attracted him to Wozniak in the first
place), and seemed to disdain anyone that did not wholeheartedly share his
zeal. His problems tended to stem from the same things that gave him his
strength: The single-mindedness of purpose was obnoxious to someone who
was interested in upgrading older technology, like the Apple II -- why
waste the time working with something old like THAT when you could be
spending your time working with something NEW and exciting like Macintosh?
His excitement about a pet project also tended to cause him to give out
details about new projects when they should best be kept secret.
Undoubtedly, Jobs played a strong role in the development of the mindset at
Apple that the Apple II was "okay", but it was not something to waste much
of your time with. In this way of thinking, it was much better to be doing
the "right thing" and to work with the Apple III or Lisa or Macintosh team.
What about Steve Wozniak? Although good in the technical department
of hardware and software design, he was not of a temperament to participate
in office politics. Although he may have disagreed with the ways in which
Jobs or others at Apple ran things, he did not have the business experience
that let him feel qualified to counter their decisions with sufficient
force to get things done his way. He just wanted to design and build
things, and so he tended to work at that which he did best. When he had
his opportunity, he left the company for a sabbatical in 1981, and later
returned to work on whatever else happened to interest him. But since he
was involved in of the initial work on the Apple IIgs, he has not done much
at Apple to champion the cause of the Apple II.
John Sculley, the former vice-president of PepsiCo, who Jobs brought
in to run the company after the departure of Mike Markkula, has little
better a reputation with the Apple II community than does Steve Jobs. This
may be because of his position at the head of the company that has been
practicing passive euthanasia on the Apple II for years, or perhaps because
people have gotten the idea that he likes to tell them what they want to
hear, but does not make any substantial efforts to carry the Apple II
forward. On the plus side, Sculley appears to be practical and a good
businessman. He is clearly able to take advantage of the opportunities
presented to him, and to promote what he feels to be best for the company.
He began at Apple with little experience in the technical areas that would
be best suited for such a company, and had his rough times in trying to
find his place. He was considerably influenced by Jobs during his early
months at Apple, and this likely extended to the lack of enthusiasm toward
the Apple II. Even after he realized the need to pull rank and to exclude
Jobs from any influential role at Apple, it was not because he repented and
wanted to champion the Apple II, but because Apple needed stability at the
helm.
As a company, Apple has felt that its business goals needed to be in
a direction that did not put a great emphasis on the Apple II or IIgs
computer. As the rest of the world advanced, digitally speaking, so Apple
needed to advance; it needed to make better, more capable, and more
powerful computers for less money. The contention (whether true or not)
was that the Apple II simply did not have the "horsepower" to handle the
higher powered applications that computer users of the late 1980s and early
1990s demanded. As future advances are made in available technology, this
will mean that even machines like the most advanced Macintosh II will
eventually be surpassed by a newer generation platform (possibly the
PowerPC project that Apple and IBM are jointly working on through their
Kaleida company). But as progress continues, Apple has also learned that
it cannot abandon its established user base, destroying the investment that
people have made in a computer by making it obsolete. If nothing else, the
vocal complaints made over the years by the Apple II community have taught
them that lesson. Chris Espinosa, one of Apple's employees from the early
days, was quoted in the March 9th, 1992 issue of InfoWorld as saying,
"We're not going to do to the Macintosh what we did to the Apple II."<1>
The Mac has achieved a degree of acceptance in the business marketplace,
and this credibility would be hurt badly if they began to ignore the Mac in
favor of yet another, more exciting computer.
One factor that has contributed significantly over the years to the
apparent inconsistency over the way that Apple has handled much of what it
does (not just the Apple II) is the frequency of change within the company.
This change leads to different people with different ideas taking over
projects that were begun by others. Tom Weishaar has said on more than one
occasion, "[There is] this vision of Apple as an organism with a brain...
that's [not] a correct metaphor. Like any large organization, what it does
is based on politics, and how many votes there are; [also,] the employees
turn over every three years."<2> Apple has undergone many reorganizations
since it started business, as it has had to handle its phenomenal growth.
Usually those changes took place in response to things not going well (such
as with the Apple III), but sometimes it was done in an attempt to
streamline operations and make things run more smoothly.<3> A consequence
of this change has been that as old people leave and new ones take their
places, there is a natural desire to modify things that the old crew was
doing. Thus we have events like:
o Apple allowing the Apple Pugetsound Program Library Exchange to form
the Apple Programmers and Developers Association (Apple allowing
A.P.P.L.E. to form APDA, if you prefer the short version), and then
taking it back from them several years later.
o Apple spinning off their application software division (AppleWorks
and Mac products) to a separate company, Claris (to be less
competitive as a computer manufacturer with third-party software
developers), and later buying back Claris to bring it back under
corporate control.
WHAT COULD HAVE BEEN DONE DIFFERENTLY? Second-guessing events of the past
"""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""" is easy; we see what was done, and
can say with presumed authority, "Well, if I had been running things, I
would have done it like this!" When these decisions were made (or not
made, as the case may be), the correct path to the future was still as
muddy as it is today. Nevertheless, if I can make some idealistic
statements, these are my thoughts on "what might have been."
ACCEPTANCE Apple should have simply accepted the desire of the public
'''''''''' for the Apple II computer, and responded by promoting it
actively. This could have been done along with its promotions of the Apple
III, and later the Mac. When the Apple IIe was riding the high tide of
popularity in December 1984, Apple should have capitalized on that, and
redoubled the advertising for that computer. Increased sales and profit
would still have been good for the company, whether or not it came from
Macintosh sales.
REALISM Apple should have been REALISTIC instead of religiously
''''''' IDEALISTIC. Job's visionary approach to Macintosh as a product
that would change the world was clearly NOT reflected in its early sales.
A company lives on its sales, regardless of whether what it is selling
happens to fit with its current philosophy. The attitude should not be one
that insists to the customer that THIS is what you want to buy, but to
provide him with available choices and see what sells. If the Macintosh
was going to be as "insanely great" as Jobs and the rest of the Mac team
believed, it would eventually pick up steam and start selling, without
having to ignore the already-successful Apple II.
ENHANCEMENT The products sold by Apple should have been upgraded
''''''''''' according to the success they showed. As Macintosh sales
began to increase, advancing the machine to a larger memory size and more
capabilities is perfectly reasonable. In the same way, the Apple II should
have had opportunities given to it in proportion to the income it produced
for the company. For example, at one time a notebook-sized Apple II (or
IIgs) could have done extremely well, especially if it had been bundled
with good general purpose software like AppleWorks. The IIc and IIc Plus
were good starts, but things stopped there. The IBM clone market has shown
that there IS a place for a notebook-sized computer with lots of memory,
built-in hard disks, and color LCD screens. A flat screen monitor could
have been available for the Apple II as far back as 1985, had Apple been
interested in developing it.
OUTSIDE EXPANSION Even if Apple chose not to upgrade the Apple II
''''''''''''''''' themselves, the technology could have been licensed to
someone else who WAS interested in pushing the machine to the limit. Even
if these licensed Apple II products competed a bit with the Mac, it would
also be competing with computers made by other companies. Furthermore, the
larger the market share, the more people are aware of your product, which
can stimulate future sales. And after all, license fees paid for use of
Apple II technology would still generate income, with little effort on
Apple's part.
ACTIVE RUMOR CONTROL For years the rumors flew on a fairly regular cycle
'''''''''''''''''''' claiming that the Apple II had been or would be
discontinued in short order. When a political candidate has something
untrue said about him, he makes a quick and decisive effort to counter that
gossip; it can be VERY damaging to his current image and future credibility
if he lets it go unchallenged. Instead of making it clear that the Apple
II was NOT being terminated, Apple seemed to usually ignore such
statements. Since a lack of denial is often taken as confirmation, this
led to many Apple II users and developers leaving this computer and going
on to something else, often the IBM PC and clones. Decreased developers
meant fewer new and upgraded programs, prompting then-current users to also
move to a different computer, leading to smaller sales of existing
software, which starts the whole cycle over. Even "authorized" Apple
dealers were known to spout off that same old tired rumor, because they
heard it from "someone in the company who knows". Official announcements
from the company that strongly denied any discontinuation of the Apple II
MIGHT have helped stop that cycle.
WHERE DOES THE APPLE II STAND TODAY: THE BAD NEWS
"""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""
EDUCATION Although the Apple II continues to have a large installed user
''''''''' base compared to other computers in schools below the college
level, it has been rapidly being overtaken by the onslaught of less
expensive MS-DOS clones and Apple's own promotion of the Macintosh. Apple
gave up on its strong support of the Apple II at the school level in the
same way it had done so at the consumer level. They began to encourage
schools to purchase Macintosh computers when they wanted to add to or
replace their existing machines. This was demonstrated by Apple in their
ads; one example that appeared in inCider/A+ during 1991 showed two
students in a computer lab. One was sitting in front of an Apple IIe, and
the other was at a Macintosh LC. The Mac LC had an attractive color screen
with graphics, where the Apple IIe had a pitiful-looking black and white
40-column text menu displayed. If you were looking at which computer to
buy, which one would YOU choose? (At that time, although the Macintosh LC
was one of the best selling Apple computers to educational institutions,
the best selling PERIPHERAL for the Mac LC up until 1992 was the Apple IIe
card.)
DECLINING SUPPORT The Apple II support market, both hardware and software
''''''''''''''''' is not dead, but neither is it robust and thriving.
Companies making products that work with the Apple II are often finding it
difficult to continue in business without making unpopular decisions. With
flat or falling sales, they have had to either expand their coverage to
other computer platforms, or face possible failure as a company.
One example of this change was Applied Engineering. For years they
were prolific producers of hardware add-ons for the Apple II and IIgs, and
often they had a large percentage of the total advertising pages in Apple
II magazines. Their early ads touted AE as Apple II experts, "because
that's all we do". Not only did AE begin making and selling peripherals
for the Macintosh line, but they also made the unpopular decision to begin
providing technical for their Apple II line through a 900-number toll phone
line. At the same time, Macintosh users were NOT required to pay charges
over and above long distance just to get technical support. Eventually,
Applied Engineering found that they could not survive in the larger and
more competitive Macintosh environment, and in the spring of 1994 they had
to close their doors.
Beagle Bros, also a long time Apple II supporter in the software
arena, also took flack, perhaps more unjustly than Applied Engineering.
They worked hard during 1991 in developing an integrated software product
(BeagleWorks) for the Macintosh, and temporarily scaled back their Apple II
support during the last days before the release of that new product. The
reason? Apple II products simply were not selling at a rate high enough to
meet overhead. In Beagle's defense, they did NOT just leave their Apple II
user base dangling. Not only did they release many of their older software
products to online services for free distribution (rather than just letting
them disappear), but they also turned over further sales and development
for the Apple II market to Quality Computers. Quality, already a
well-established Apple II mail-order company, has begun releasing new
products under the Beagle name, ensuring that they will continue to be
available and upgraded.
Beagle, however, also succumbed to the pressures of the Macintosh
market, and that company closed down in October 1992.
MAGAZINES ARE FALTERING Unlike the old days when there were several
''''''''''''''''''''''' magazines that catered to the Apple II market,
there are just two glossy publications left: GS+ Magazine and II Alive.
Both are available only by subscription (you won't find them on the
newsstand), and the latter is a recent start-up, in response to the failure
of inCider/A+. Newsletter-style publications like A2-Central and the
National AppleWorks User Group are surviving, but they do not depend on
advertising revenue to continue publication. Additionally, A2-Central has
had to make the change to a disk-only format to stay in business.
APPLE DEALER APATHY Many of Apple's authorized dealers picked up on
''''''''''''''''''' Apple's corporate indifference to any advancement of
the Apple II, and themselves tended to ignore it. There had been
exceptions, but the general rule was that an Apple Dealer was not
knowledgeable about the Apple IIe or IIgs and was unlikely to offer the
IIgs as a solution for customer seeking a computer for a particular need.
Some of this also has to do with the bottom line: The markup (profit
margin) for an Apple IIe or IIgs was not as high as it could once be with a
Macintosh product, so there was less financial incentive to move those
older products. Sometimes, there has been even a decreased technical
knowledge about the Apple II by the very dealers supposed to be able to
repair them.
READ MY LIPS: NO NEW CPUS A planned upgrade to the Apple IIgs that was
''''''''''''''''''''''''' to be announced at or soon after the 1991
KansasFest was killed at the last minute. This change, which admittedly
would not have
been a major upgrade, would have still provided in a bundled
form many of the features that customers buying a IIgs needed to get
anything useful done (beyond simple IIe emulation). The improved IIgs was
to have more memory, a hard drive (built-in, as is done on many MS-DOS
machines these days), and possibly a built-in SuperDrive (which is capable
of reading 3.5 inch MS-DOS disks). No reason for the cancellation was ever
given; since it was never officially announced, the new IIgs CPU never
officially existed anyway. ("We do not comment on unannounced products" is
the established party line.) The only public announcement Apple HAS made
was that there would NOT be any new Apple II released beyond the IIe card
for the Mac LC.
WHERE DOES THE APPLE II STAND TODAY: THE GOOD NEWS With all this going
"""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""" against it, what
possible good could there be to say about the current state of affairs
regarding the Apple IIe and IIgs computer? Surprisingly, there are several
things.
APPLE II SUPPORT CONTINUES Although Apple has indicated that we should
'''''''''''''''''''''''''' not expect to see any new Apple II CPUs
released, they have also promised that they would continue to support the
existing Apple II user base with hardware and software upgrades that will
keep these computers useful. Products they have released that show they've
kept this promise include:
o GS/OS System 6.0 and 6.0.1, which offer many features similar to
Macintosh's System 7 package, as well as providing tighter
compatibility between the ROM 01 and ROM 03 IIgs computer.
o ProDOS 8 v2.0.3, which offers Apple IIe and IIc users the capability
of attaching large disk devices (such as hard drives with more than
two partitions) to a card in a single slot.
o HyperCard IIgs v1.1, an upgrade that includes more of the features
found in the latest Mac version of HyperCard. This program,
previously available only as a commercial product, has recently been
reclassified in the same category as System software, which means it
is available to qualified user groups for free distribution to their
members (minus a manual, however).
o SuperDrive Card, a hardware add-on the makes it possible to use the
higher-density (1.44 MB) 3.5 disks on the IIe and IIgs, and access
(read-only) to MS-DOS disks.
o Video Overlay Card, making possible multimedia computing on the IIgs
that combines standard video signals with computer compatible video
signals.
A DEDICATED CORE OF THIRD PARTY SUPPORTERS There are still many small
'''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''' individual programmers and
hardware hackers who are devoted to the Apple II. They enjoy using this
computer platform, and want to make new technology and programming
techniques available for other Apple II users. They continue to provide
products that larger companies (who must have large returns on their
development investment) cannot afford to produce for the Apple II. The
risk is that small one- or two-man companies may not be able to grow enough
to ensure long-term support for their products. Also, some smaller
companies cannot afford to work full-time on the Apple II and must have a
"real" job to support their part-time activities.
Companies and/or products that fit into this category include:
o Procyon, which has come out with a Unix-like multitasking environment
for the IIgs called GNO/ME. (Multitasking means that the computer is
doing two or more things simultaneously. "Unix" is a multitasking
environment that has been in use on mainframes for years).
o JEM Software, Kingwood Micro Software, and Beagle Bros/Quality
Computers all produce AppleWorks enhancements and add-ons. Quality
has gone so far as to obtain rights to product new versions of
AppleWorks and AppleWorks GS, which Apple and Claris let languish for
years.
o Seven Hills Software has several high quality IIgs products for the
serious user, including a desktop publishing package, a font editor,
disk utilities, drivers to make use of high quality output printers,
and more.
o Vitesse, Inc. offers a GS/OS-based package of hard disk management
utilities, as well as a IIgs printer driver for the better printers.
o Resource Central, a publisher, provides news, products, and technical
support for the Apple II family, as well as helping sponsor continued
technical education events ("KansasFest") each year. The Apple II
support that comes directly from Apple through APDA (the Apple
Programmers and Developers Association) has now been turned over to
Resource Central.
o plus many more that I don't have room to mention here.
USER GROUPS Just as in the beginning of the Apple II era, these groups
''''''''''' still exist to provide the support for Apple II users that
Apple and their authorized dealers cannot (or will not) provide. They give
a sense of community and comradery that can keep a new user (or
semi-experienced user) from abandoning the II in frustration, with the
oft-mistaken notion that the grass will be greener on the MS-DOS or Mac
side. Apple recognizes this and does provide many resources for Apple User
Groups (but still tends to give much of its attention to the Mac side of
things).
A NEW ERA OF SOFTWARE QUALITY Since there are no longer a large number of
''''''''''''''''''''''''''''' companies writing software for the Apple II
series, we have come full circle. In the early days, most of the available
software came from amateur authors, and the best of it was distributed by
fledgling software companies through computer stores and magazine
advertising. Today, much newer software, especially for the Apple IIgs, is
coming from the same source: Amateur authors. Instead of being sold
through stores or ads, much of this comes via online services through the
Shareware method, or via mail-order houses. Some companies, like Quality
Computers, are also directing sales of the best programs, becoming a blend
of software publisher and distributor. Although the days of becoming a
millionaire through selling a blockbuster Apple II program have probably
passed forever, it is still possible to do fairly well as an author.
A LARGE LIBRARY OF AVAILABLE SOFTWARE The Apple II has seventeen years'
''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''' worth of software available, and
much of the best of the old programs are available for bargain prices via
private sales, or free for downloading from online services.
WHAT SHOULD WE DO NOW? If it is true that the sun is slowly setting on
"""""""""""""""""""""" the age of Apple II computing, is there any point
in hanging on any longer? Yes, indeed! First, if you own an Apple II
computer, you have a platform that is extremely mature and well known.
Unlike the IBM clones, who are evolving so fast that software cannot keep
up with them, the 6502, 65c02, and 65816 have been around in one form or
another for a long time. People who write software for the Apple II or
IIgs know EXACTLY how to make it do what they want it to do, and they can
do it well. The Apple IIgs, though released back in 1986, is just now
coming into its full maturity, and some very high quality software is being
released for it. This software can make it possible to use hardware (such
as large capacity hard disks, optical scanners, tape drives, touch windows,
and much more) that has been made "respectable" in the IBM or Mac world,
and is now available for reasonable prices to work on an Apple II. The
disadvantage faced by the IBM user is that mature 386 software will never
exist; the 486 and its descendants will be the center of attention before
that can happen. The 486 will likely suffer the same fate. Software on
those machines simply cannot keep up with hardware when it changes so
rapidly. The stale "growth" of the IIgs may actually have been to its
advantage!
So then, how do you handle the feelings of envy you may get from
scanning through the magazine racks, viewing all the lovely things you can
buy for one of THOSE computers? How is it possible to not be angry with
Apple for what "they've" done to your favorite computer? Here are some
suggestions:
TAKE THINGS LESS SERIOUSLY After all, IT'S JUST A COMPUTER. People who
'''''''''''''''''''''''''' got upset with Chevrolet for discontinuing
their classic Chevelle Malibu had far too much of an emotional investment
in the car. A computer, like a car, will NOT love you back, no matter how
much time and devotion you put into it. If you view it as a tool, then do
what a carpenter does: He continues to use his hammer, saw, and
screwdrivers for as long as they remain useful to him. He does NOT go out
each year and buy the next model of hammer, just because it has a few more
features than the old one did.
Furthermore, make a decision to not let yourself become upset with
Apple or with Apple dealers who were not interested in promoting the Apple
II or IIgs. From their point of view, they were (and are) trying to make a
living. As mentioned above, they didn't have much of a profit margin on
the Apple II, and they had to pay the rent, their employees, and feed their
kids. Apple could possibly have changed this by dropping dealer cost for
the IIgs, but that would have dropped APPLE'S profit margin, and make them
interested sooner in discontinuing the IIe and IIgs. RESOLVE to
emotionally divorce yourself from Apple and what it did or did not do.
Time showed us that we couldn't MAKE them change their attitudes, so why
get ulcers over it?
ACCEPT PRESENT REALITY This sounds somewhat defeatist, but it has a
'''''''''''''''''''''' positive reason. Accepting what has already
occurred (Apple's discontinuation of first the IIgs, and then the IIe) can
make it easier to decide what you want to DO with your computer NOW,
instead of fussing over what might have been. Even if Apple NEVER releases
another piece of hardware or system software for the Apple II or IIgs, they
have provided us with tools that can be used for years to keep our hardware
and software investment useful.
USE WHAT YOU HAVE TO ITS FULLEST If you are using your Apple II for word
'''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''' processing, or desktop publishing, or
home finances, and it still works, is the End Of The Apple II really that
big a deal? There are still many people in this country using Apple II
=PLUS= computers on a daily basis, because that is all the computer they
have found that they need. They are not suffering because they cannot run
a desktop publishing program like Publish-It! or GraphicWriter, or a font
enhancer like Pointless; it is just not much of a priority with them. Dean
Esmay, former chief sysop on GEnie's A2 Roundtable, put it well when he
stated the following back in 1992: "The bandits in the Apple II division
have always done their best to bring the machine to its ultimate limits and
past them, DESPITE the idiot marketing and the high corporate officials,
[whose actions] those guys couldn't do anything about. They've given us
all they could to take the machine to its furthest abilities. If the
higher ups decide to drop it now that's not going to change much of
anything for any of us. Look at the Apple III. That thing sold barely
100,000 units before being discontinued and there are STILL people using
it, STILL companies out there supporting it. Up to [1989 or so] there were
people still writing software for it, and at that time the machine had been
discontinued for at least five years. AND with only 100,000 or so ever
sold! There are at least fifteen times that many IIgs systems, and at
least thirty times that many IIe/IIc systems, not even counting the clones.
And a lot more software already available."<1> The IIe, IIc, and IIgs
should be useful for a LONG time yet.
Now, if you are a major computer game aficionado, it may bother you
that there are no longer lots of games being released for the Apple II or
IIgs. There ARE still some new games being released for the IIgs, and the
quality is better than ever. If that is not enough for you, though,
perhaps you would be happier with a Nintendo (oops! I mean the Super
Nintendo, which is incompatible with cartridges for the old Nintendo. No,
wait; the Ultra Nintendo, with 32 bit graphics and seventeen joystick modes
and...). Just remember, ANY game machine or computer will be made obsolete
someday.
FIND AND HELP NEW USERS Another area where local Apple II user groups can
''''''''''''''''''''''' meet a need is in the growing number of people
who are new owners of used Apple II equipment. Because there are many who
have jumped the Apple II ship for the MS-DOS or Mac world, there are quite
a few Apple II, II Plus, IIe, IIc, and IIgs computers that appear on the
used market at bargain prices. The prices on these used computers are
often low enough that an interested person can justify buying one just to
try it out ($200 compared to $1200 makes it as affordable as a VCR). If it
was interested in providing such a service, an Apple II user group could
place small ads (perhaps in the classified sections of a newspaper or home
shopper circular) to tell any new Apple II owners in the community that
knowledgeable people are available to help them.
If they felt so inclined, user groups could even act as buying and
selling coordinators for used Apple II hardware and software. This could
make it easier both for those trying to sell used equipment, as well as for
those looking to buy such equipment. This would require a higher level of
volunteer time in these groups, but has the potential of stimulating a
growth of membership.
CONCLUSION: ENJOY YOURSELF! The current era of Apple II computing has the
""""""""""""""""""""""""""" potential of being as exciting as the
original days, when every new program was a discovery in learning more
about the machine. As a community, Apple II users need to determine the
direction of their own future, since Apple Computer, Inc. is unlikely to be
putting much (if any) energy into that area. In 1977, the major sources of
hardware and software were not from computer stores or Apple itself, but
rather from the users. In a sense, that is also true today. The days of
making a million dollars writing software for this machine are probably
long past, but there are still many hackers out there who can write new and
useful programs that will maintain our hardware investment. These authors
can distribute their products as shareware through major online services,
or possibly as a commercial program through one of the few remaining Apple
II software distributors (such as Quality Computers, Seven Hills Software,
Econ, and others), or through one of the other companies mentioned above
that continue to actively support the II. Users of the Apple II can help
maintain the flow of Apple II-related products by BUYING what they use
(instead of making illegal copies), and by paying the shareware fees for
what they download from online services.
We have the unique opportunity to actually direct and mold the future
of the Apple II ourselves. Decide how you want to participate, and have
fun with your computer! Find ways in which you can use your "antique"
computer and STILL amaze your friends ("I didn't know you could do THAT on
an Apple II!")
Apple II Forever?
Well, NOTHING lasts FOREVER... but it can last as long as we want it
to!
[*][*][*]
NOTES
"""""
<1> Weyhrich, Steven. "So What Is Apple Up To Now? Dept", A2 NEWS
DIGEST, Apr 1992.
<2> Weishaar, Tom. "Old Timers: Apple II Magazines", 1992 A2-CENTRAL
SUMMER CONFERENCE (tapes), July 1992.
<3> The frequency of personnel shifts at Apple prompted MacWorld
magazine at one time to lampoon this by saying that Apple's
company cafeteria had been distributing milk cartons with pictures
of "lost" employees on the back, sporting the caption, "Have you
seen me?"
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