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GEnieLamp IBM - Vol.1, Issue 01
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|| |||||| |||||||| |||||| RESOURCE!
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~ DOWN TO THE WIRE: POWERFUL PROCESSORS ~
~ THE NOT SO FRIENDLY SKIES OF GEnie ~
~ WORKING WITH SIMPLE BATCH FILES ~
~ HOT FILES, HOT MESSAGES! ~
\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\////////////////////////////////////
GEnie Lamp IBM ~ A T/TalkNET OnLine Publication ~ Vol. 1, Issue 1
Publisher/Editor.......................................John Peters
Co-Editor...........................................Peter Bogert
GEnie Lamp ST ~ GEnie Lamp MAC ~ GEnie Lamp IBM ~ GEnie Lamp Apple ][
////////////////////////////////////\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\
>>> WHAT'S HAPPENING IN THE COMPUTER ROUNDTABLES ON GEnie? <<<
""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""
~ April 1, 1992 ~
FROM MY DESKTOP ......... [FRM] HEY MISTER POSTMAN ...... [HEY]
Notes From The Editor. Is That A Letter For Me?
HUMOR ONLINE ............ [HUM] INSIDE THE PC ........... [INS]
Taxing Fun! Down To The Wire.
FOCUS ON ................ [FOC] ONLINE FUNNIES .......... [FUN]
Shareware, Freeware or ???? CowTOONS!
QUINN'S QUEST ........... [QUI] TELETALK ONLINE ......... [TEL]
Hot Downloads For The Asking. Telecomm Power!
IBM ELSEWHERE ........... [LIB] GEnie ONLINE ............ [GEN]
Not So Friendly Skies! Exploring The Bulletin Boards.
ASK ME! ................. [ASK] F.Y.I. .................. [FYI]
Got A Question? Just Ask! Working With Batch Files.
PD_QUICKVIEW ............ [PDQ] VIEWPOINT ............... [VIE]
HyperDisk 4.31 OS/2 Benefits
PRINT ME! ............... [PRT] LOG OFF ................. [LOG]
GEnie Lamp Template. GEnie Lamp Information.
[IDX] """"""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""
READING GEnie Lamp GEnie Lamp has incorporated a unique indexing
"""""""""""""""""" system to help make reading the magazine easier.
To utilize this system, load GEnie Lamp 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 GEnie Lamp, 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}
[EOA] """"""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""
/////////////////////////////////////////// GEnie_QWIK_QUOTE ////
/ "Hai, the word we shout when performing karate is "kiyai." /
/ It's supposed to frighten our opponents; but I've found /
/ that it's not nearly as effective as "ka gun" or "tire iron." /
/////////////////////////////////////////////////// R.ARP1 ////
[EOA]
[FRM]//////////////////////////////
FROM MY DESKTOP /
/////////////////////////////////
Notes From The Editor
"""""""""""""""""""""
By John Peters
[GENIELAMP]
TOP OF THE PAGE Talk about changes! GEnie Lamp has divided into four
""""""""""""""" separate issues. Along with the original Atari ST
GEnie Lamp, we now offer the magazine for the IBM, Macintosh and Apple
][ RoundTables as well. From now on you will be able to find GEnie Lamp
as an online readable file in each of the respective RoundTable's main
menu. Better yet, access to the GEnie Lamp magazines is now available
as part of your GEnie*Basic package! That is, when you capture GEnie
Lamp from the RoundTable's main menu, the GEnie clock will be off.
Cool! (Note that this applies _only_ to the version that is found on
the ST RoundTable main menu, _not_ the libraries.)
But wait, there's more! GEnie Lamp now has a new home. The GEnie
Lamp RoundTable is located on page 515. Here, you will find all the
latest issues and back issues of GEnie Lamp Online magazine.
Although we have split into four issues, I think you'll find that
very little has changed in terms of context. There are several new
people on the GEnie Lamp staff and all of them are excited about
bringing to you all the latest news, hot messages, hot files and
information about your favorite RoundTable.
If you like to hang out in the ST, IBM, Macintosh or Apple ][
RoundTable, there's something for you in GEnie Lamp!
>>> ROUNDTABLE NEWS & ANNOUNCEMENTS <<<
"""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""
DESKTOP PUBLISHING If you're into desktop publishing, on Tuesday,
"""""""""""""""""" April 14 the DTP RoundTable will feature a
question and answer session on scanning, using halftones and producing
photography for print beginning at 9:30 PM EST. This is a discussion
for anyone interested in going beyond type.
April 7, the DTP RoundTable will be featuring a special conference
on color publishing with Macintosh and PC compatible computers
beginning at 9:30 PM EST. This discussion is also open to users of
other publishing platforms that allow color publishing.
The DTP RT bulletin board category 1 invites all members to tell
us what they like most about using computers for printing and
publishing. We're collecting opinions that will guide us in selecting
the topics of future RTCs. -Timothy Piazza
LAPTOPS ROUNDTABLE On April 7, Michael Fracisca, Vice President for
"""""""""""""""""" Marketing, Altima Systems will guest in Real Time
Conference. Mike will talk about one of the leading notebooks, the
Altima LSX, as well as new visions on the horizon, or here! Monday,
10:30 p.m. Eastern -Dave Thomas
[*][*][*]
Watch this area of the magazine in future issues for all the latest
information and news from the Computing RoundTables.
That's about it for this month....
Take care!
John Peters
[GENIELAMP]
>>> TOP OF THE PAGE II <<<
""""""""""""""""""
By Peter Bogert
[P.BOGERT1]
WELCOME! Let me welcome you to the first edition of the GEnie Lamp for
"""""""" IBM'ers. My name is Peter Bogert, and I've volunteered to
act as co-editor for a few months. If all goes well from everyone's
point of view, I'll continue the job. Your comments - pro and con -
would be appreciated. I can be reached at P.BOGERT1 via GEmail.
I've been an avid PC user for about six years, after starting on a
TI99-4A and then graduating to an Apple IIc. I've advanced through the
IBM clone ranks from XT to 286 to my present 386.
On the personal side, I am the minister of education in a non-
demoninational church near Philadelphia. I am married with three kids.
My hobbies include baseball stat game replays, collecting baseball
cards, and telecommunications.
I'm hoping that the news and notes in this edition of the GEnie
Lamp will be helpful as you move in the ever-expanding world of MS-DOS.
To start, with John's permission, I'm going to keep my contributions to
four different areas:
o Help and Hints...Items from the bulletin board that you may find
helpful to using IBM software and hardware.
o New & Improved...Product announcements by vendors who are on
GEnie - and possibly some reaction to new
products on the market.
o Issues...........Primarily areas that are controversial, newsy,
gossipy, in nature, rumors, or are important to
the functioning of this RT on GEnie.
o Great Quotes.....Periodic entries from the bulletin boards that
are just sparkling in the way that they make
their point.
My taking on the duties of co-editor has been very recent, so this
issue may be a bit sparse on information, but will be sure to expand
with a full month of messages to work on for next month!
Until next time...
Peter Bogert
[P.BOGERT1]
[EOA]a
[HEY]//////////////////////////////
HEY MISTER POSTMAN /
/////////////////////////////////
Is That A Letter For Me?
""""""""""""""""""""""""
By Peter Bogert
[P.BOGERT1]
o BULLETIN BOARD HOT SPOTS!
o IBM ODDS & ENDS.
o WHAT'S NEW?
o MESSAGE SPOTLIGHT.
>>> BULLETIN BOARD HOT SPOTS <<<
""""""""""""""""""""""""
[*]CAT2, TOP16, MSG:{41}......WordStar 7.0 is supposed to be out.
[*]CAT5, TOP15, MSG:{1}.......The Spreadsheet Consultant - new
publication announcement.
[*]CAT21, TOP8, MSG:{119}.....Microsoft Announces Win32's API
programing interface.
[*]CAT31, TOP25, MSG:{1}......Parsons announces new Personal Advocate
software.
[*]CAT3, TOP13, MSG:{199}.....Intuit (Quicken) into Credit Cards?
[*]CAT7, TOP19, MSG:{0}.......Amiga games vs. IBM games - what's best?
[*]CAT23, TOP49, MSG:{1}......The FCC is (apparently) ready to strike
again.
[*]CAT28, TOP1,...............Is Quarterdeck ready to pull the plug on
support on GEnie?
[*]CAT1, TOP16, MSG:{0}.......Check out the discussion of the use of Y-
Modem on GEnie.
[*]CAT3, TOP32, MSG:{254}.....Public Domain or Shareware software
authors, a place to distribute your wares.
[*]CAT4, TOP29, MSG:{115}.....Need a disk cache that will work with
your CD-ROM?
[*]CAT7, TOP103, MSG:{260}....Excellent comparison of Soundblaster
and Thunderboard cards.
[*]CAT22, TOP23, MSG:{18}.....Help in creating a permanent swap file
in Windows 3.
>>> IBM ODDS & ENDS <<<
"""""""""""""""
COMPAQ 386/QEMM FIX Took me two hours to figure this out the other
""""""""""""""""""" day, so I thought I'd post it here.
On a Compaq 386s/20, QEMM 6.01 locks up on boot, solid as a rock, with
the A: drive light on all the time. Won't boot from the hard disk.
However, if I allow the system to boot without QEMM by pressing the ALT
key on boot and disabling it, then I can warm boot and everything works
fine on subsequent sessions. Turn off the machine and it refuses to work
again until I disable QEMM, warm boot and then it works.
The culprit turned out to be a Proteon 1390 token ring card. It's
default port setting of 0A20 makes QEMM barf. I changed it to 0520,
reconfigured the Banyan settings with PCCONFIG, and the problem went
away.
Another interesting problem was that on the same machine there was
an IBM 5250 emulation card that caused exception errors whenever we used
it. Turns out the card wants memory at DC00. An ARAM=DC00-DFFF to give
it 16k of adapter ram at DC00 fixed that problem.
We're happy campers now. :) -Juan
(J.JIMENEZ, CAT28, TOP4, MSG:3/M615)
>>> WHAT'S NEW? <<<
"""""""""""""""""""
VIRUCIDE 2.37 NOW SHIPPING Virucide version 2.37 is now shipping.
"""""""""""""""""""""""""" This update detects 918 viruses, and
removes about 900 of them. Virucide also repairs damage caused by most
viruses (some damage can't be repaired).
Among the important viruses that Virucide removes is Michelangelo,
which is due to activate on March 6th. Virucide can remove this virus
from hard drive or floppy disk. Michelangelo formats your hard drive
when it activates.
Upgrades from older versions are $12 plus $3 shipping.
If you are a new customer we are currently offering a special
price of $19 plus $7 shipping and handling.
Email me at K.HANSEN17 if you have questions about sales or your
customer number. Thanks - Kurt A. Hansen, Parsons Technology
FREEWARE DISKETTE MAGAZINE ShareDebate International -- Now a
"""""""""""""""""""""""""" Freeware Diskette Magazine (on GENIE
too)! Winter 1991-92 ISSN 1054-0695
Milton Friedman: "We Have Socialism, Q.E.D."
ShareDebate International now copyrighted Freeware!
Print utility included for readers who hate computers
Double-disk issue features 12 authors, including Economist & Nobel
laureate Milton Friedman; Japan Economic Institute & Citizens Against
Statistical Distortion Used to Further Protectionism (both on US-Japan
Trade Myths); Prometheus award-winning science fiction authors J.Neil
Schulman & Victor Koman; Columnists Joseph Sobran & Sam Wells; GEnie
Management on new FCC cost increases threatening computer services;
Libertarian Party platform; Republican Liberty Caucus; Drs. T. Urell &
C. Lyon against socialized medicine; R.H. Martin on Japan, Health Costs
& Political Correctness on the Right.
About ShareDebate International (S.I.) S.I. is a diskette-magazine.
"""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""" Formerly a shareware
semi-annual magazine, it is now copyrighted freeware with this
double-disk issue. Between 550 to 1,450 listed Bulletin Boards (BBSs)
or Shareware dealers in 25 countries distribute the magazine. It is an
international debate forum for computer users concerned about the
present and the future, carrying non-fiction & fiction, original and
reprints.
The MS-DOS version, with built-in hypertext software, is in the IBM
PC RT (Applications library, #3) on GENIE. A non-MS-DOS version for all
computers who have a UNZIP utility exists in WRITERS.INK (Library
9:SOFTSERV). Scan for DBATE*.* (filename). There are 8 BBS files as of
this posting date.
Besides the writers in this double-issue, past issues have featured
Ben Bova (President, SF Writers of America; former editor of OMNI &
ANALOG; former President, National Space Society); George Gilder (author
& regular contributor to Forbes, Wall Street Journal & the National
Review); Attorney- Sysop Paula Goldman; Rt.Lt.General Daniel Graham
(Director, High Frontier Inc. & Assoc. Ed., J. of Practical Applications
in Space); Economists George Kaufman & George Benston (Contributors to
Public Interest & other journals); Paul Levinson (Author & Director, New
School On-Line Program); SF author & computer columnist Jerry Pournelle
(for Byte & InfoWorld); The League for Programming Freedom; Libertarian
economist Murray Rothbard; and Thomas E. Smith (writer for National
Review, ANALOG, Go Global).
As a convenience to those under a tight GENIE download budget, back
issues are available and are sold by the disk and not the issue.
Download issue 7 or 8 for details. (The content is freeware but
diskettes, postage, packaging, and handling isn't---to get S.I. free one
has to obtain it from the multitude of no-charge BBSs that carry it.
Issue 6 provides a list of the known BBS phone numbers that carry it.
Most SDN-carrier BBSs have back issues.)
Ben Bova, former editor of OMNI and Analog & President, Science
Fiction Writers of America, writes: "Electronic publishing has arrived!
ShareDebate International is a bold, exciting venture that deserves the
attention and support of everyone who seeks to create a better
tomorrow." Prometheus- winning novelist J. Neil Schulman writes
"ShareDebate International is one of the most interesting developments
on the electronic-publishing scene, proving that large circulation and
big-name writers are no longer available only to publishers with large
corporate backing. The day of grassroots mass-market publishing is here
at last."
Debates & Articles Prior to this issue there were 24 debate topics.
"""""""""""""""""" Two new debate topics are added for this issue:
US-Japan Situation and New Insights in the Abortion Debate.
The Publisher The editor and publisher is R.H. Martin, M.A.,
""""""""""""" president of Applied Foresight, Inc. For more
information, write Applied Foresight, Inc., P.O. Box 20607,
Bloomington, MN 55420 USA.
What Is Freeware? Freeware is a distribution method for copyrighted
""""""""""""""""" material that lets users use and distribute the
material without charge under specified terms. A license to use
agreement is presented in the first entry in the latest issue of the
magazine.
Only the version of the magazine tailored for the IBM PC world is
distributed as Freeware. For other computers, users must obtain their
copy directly from Applied Foresight or from an authorized source (by
mail or by downloading from an upload made by them).
Please Note! This posting is done by a GENIE user and editor of
"""""""""""" ShareDebate International, R.H. Martin (GENIE
id=R.MARTIN43) and this posting is not endorsed any moreso than any
other end-user made posting on GENIE.
(R.MARTIN43, CAT7, TOP29, MSG:1/M615)
>>> MESSAGE SPOTLIGHT <<<
"""""""""""""""""""""""""
IBM PC RoundTable
Category 1, Topic 9
Message 22 Sat Feb 29, 1992
KIT.KERR at 04:30 EST
I hope this is the right place, but I want to thank all sysops
here from the bottom of my heart for posting that banner message about
the Michaelangelo virus, and for uploading those utilities to deal with
it. My own machine was clean, but on my husband's very large hard disk,
on a machine dedicated to graphics and desktop publishing -- there it
was, waiting in the partition table!
If he'd lost that data, it would have been months of work gone.
As far as I can determine by going through all recently installed
softs, the virus came in on a Fototouch diskette bundled with his new
Logitech 256 grayscale scanner.
Even if this is the wrong place: THANKS!
---- Katharine
[*][*][*]
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 PC, the GEnie Lamp 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 /
/////////////////////////////////
Taxing Fun!
"""""""""""
Compiled by Terry Quinn
[TQUINN]
>>> COOK'N WITH TAXES <<<
"""""""""""""""""""""""""
~ Chocolate Layer Cake 1040 ~
Line 1. Butter, a minimum of half a pound <8 oz.>, but not to exceed 1
pound <see line 5>.
Line 2. Sugar, light brown or white, unless you or your spouse had a
financial account in a foreign country in 1988, in which
case dark brown sugar must be used. Do not substitute molasses
or honey. Use 1 cup and adjust to taste.
Line 3. Eggs, six or half a dozen, whichever is greater.
Line 4. Semisweet chocolate, 6 oz. Nonfarm families may choose the
optional method of using cocoa powder. If you elect the Cocoa
Method, add 1/2 oz. <1 Tablespoon> of butter to each 3 table-
spoons of cocoa. Multiply by .9897 per ounce of substitution.
For adjustments to sugar, see p. 29. Add total to additional
butter to Line 1 <above>. Sugar adjustments should be
reflected in final total of Line 2. For additional details on
cocoa conversion, see Form 551.
Line 6a. Flour, white. If you were a federal, state or local government
employed, you may be eligible for an excess flour tax credit.
Measure 2 cups, sifting is optional.
Line 6b. Flour, whole wheat, 1 2/3 cups.
Line 6c. Alternative mixture: 1 cup white flour plus 3/4 cup whole wheat
flour.
Line 7. Vanilla, 1 teaspoon. See Schedule ZE for reporting use of
imitation vanilla flavoring. You may be able to deduct the cost
of real vanilla extract in 1991 if you itemize deductions.
Line 8. Salt, 1/3 teaspoon <optional>. If you are a head of
household with dependents and were born during a leap year,
you must add salt.
Line 9. Baking powder, 1 1/2 teaspoons. Use of baking soda will result
in a penalty. See form W-Q.
Line 9a. Walnuts, 8 oz., chopped. You may be eligible to use pecans or
almonds. See Part III of Schedule PE, Itemized Substitutions.
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F <375 if altitude exceeds 5,500
feet>. Be sure that you have turned the oven on before you
begin assembling the ingredients. In a bowl <2 quart capacity>
cream butter and sugar for 3 minutes, or until well blended,
whichever occurs first. <Note: If you are using the Nonfarm
Cocoa Method R[see Line 4 R], add additional butter and sugar
at this point.> Next incorporate eggs, one egg at a time,
into creamed mixture. If the eggs are from a farm of which you
are the sole owner, you may be eligible for a Fowl Credit. See
Form 9871m "For the Birds". Add vanilla. In a double boiler,
melt chocolate at low heat. If you are using the nonfarm Cocoa
Method, disregard the preceding instruction and stir in flour
from Line 6a, 6b, or 6c, add salt <optional, but see Line 8 for
exception> and baking powder. Add nuts, which should be
chopped, regardless of type <see Line 9>. Pour batter into
greased and floured cake pans, which you should have prepared
earlier. After removing cake pan <s>, cool for 10 minutes <12
for 9x13 pan> and turn cake out on wire racks. When cake is
completely cool, frost it. <To determine time needed for
cooling, complete Worksheet on p. 25.> See Form 873 for
details on appropriate frostings.
Note: If you weigh 20 percent more <or higher> than your ideal
weight, ignore this recipe and complete Schedule F, "Fresh
Fruit Desserts."
(S.MEASE, CAT2, TOP14, MSG:313/M615)
[EOA]a
[INS]//////////////////////////////
INSIDE THE PC /
/////////////////////////////////
Down To The Wire
""""""""""""""""
By Mark L. Dodge
[M.DODGE2]
>>> POWERFUL PROCESSORS <<<
"""""""""""""""""""""""""""
It seems like every three years or so, a new micro-processor is
introduced into the personal computer market. Boasting more power and
faster speeds than offered
"IT APPEARS TO BE THAT THIS TREND before. In 1985 the 386
IN THE INDUSTRY WILL NEVER END. quenched the thirst of many
WITH THE ENORMOUS THRUST INTO power-users, and in 1987 the
THE MULTI-MEDIA ARENA, IT'S A 486. It appears to be that
GOOD THING." this trend in the industry will
never end. With the enormous
thrust into the multi-media arena, it's a good thing. Powerful
processing (aside from massive amounts of memory) is necessary to
deliver those CD quality, PCM samples, as well as the truly impressive
24 and 32 bit color graphic screens found on most of todays personal
computers.
There are essentially three major U.S. manufacturers providing
these micro-processors to the personal computer industry. Intel (whom
deserves most of the credit for original design), AMD (Advanced Micro
Design), and C&T (Chips and Technology). Although AMD has been
"slammed" in the past for "copying" some of Intel's microcode in their
"reverse engineered" 386 chips, they have right to claim fame to some
of the engineering feats achieved while re-designing their version of
the 386 micro-processor. Pushing the performance specifications to
40MHz speeds and delivering a very low power consumption version are
among those mentionable. Rumor has it that AMD is readying their
version of a 486 chip. C&T, on the other hand, claims to have designed
a 100% compatible 386 chip from the ground up. Using only "publicly
available" information.
To the average user, it may not matter which manufacturer's
micro-processor is in their own personal computer. But there are
differences. Although some may be more subtle than others. And having
three manufacturers in the industry helps to keep the prices lower for
the consumer as they negotiate their competitive edge with motherboard
designers and suppliers.
Intel is planning to release 30 different versions of its own 486
and 386SL micro-processors in 1992. They also have plans to unveil
their latest model, code named
"INTEL IS PLANNING TO RELEASE he P5, later this year. It
30 DIFFERENT VERSIONS OF ITS will contain three million
OWN 486 AND 386SL MICRO- transistors, feature fault
PROCESSORS IN 1992." tolerance, and offer
performance in the 100Mips
range. The P5 is said to be fully compatible with current versions of
the 386 and 486 micro-processor families.
One version of the 386SL has already been released. It's a
cacheless version with a 20MHz rating. Intel believes that this chip
will counter some of AMD's 386SX chips that are being used in many
laptop systems requiring power management. Like earlier versions of
the 386SL, the cacheless version integrates into a single chip the
processor, ISA controller, memory controller, EMS 4.0 hardware, and the
system control circuitry needed in the design of most notebook
computers. The new design is said to extend battery life as much as 25
percent during full power conditions.
C&T, on the other hand, is preparing to ship their new 386 family
of -object code- compatible micro-processors, the 38600, 38605 DX and
the 38605 SX. All of the versions they developed are CMOS designs.
This permits them to be used with low-power applications. They have
added a five-stage pipeline which permits instructions to be executed
in only half the number of clock cycles. Additionally, they support X1
or X2 clock inputs. This allows the Super386 chips, utilizing the X1
clock input, to cruise along at their full clock speed. Most 32-bit
micro-processors use two clock cycles for many of their operations,
(excluding the 486 and 68040) which effectively cuts the rated speed in
half.
And if that isn't enough in the way of performance enhancements,
consider the 38605 DX and 38605 SX. They were designed with a built-in
512-byte I/Cache (instruction cache). According to C&T, the I/Cache
keeps the pipeline loaded through every cycle. This boosts the chips
performance by as much as 40 percent. Included with these two new
chips is C&T's SuperState V hardware/software layer. This permits
manufacturers to add special features to their computer systems, such
as power management and other system management functions.
The 38600 DX is a direct replacement for the Intel 386 DX, while
the 38605 requires a "modified" socket for its 144-pin configuration.
There is a special 176-pin socket available that will hold either chip,
including AMD's and Intel's 386 chips. C&T is encouraging system
manufacturers to include this new socket so that customers can easily
upgrade to the higher performance micro-processors. Hopefully, another
third party developer will design a special socket to adapt the C&T
chips into existing systems. Perhaps an adaptor that will "sandwich"
between the existing socket and the newer C&T chip.
C&T is also manufacturing a direct replacement 386 SX chip that is
offered at speeds of 16, 20 and 25 MHz. The DX chips are offered at
speeds of 25, 33 and 40 MHz.
There are a few other companies rumored to be making 386-
compatible chips and most are attempting to do this without copying
Intel's microcode. They are, NexGen Microsystems of Woodbridge,
Ontario, Canada; Cyrix of Richardson, Texas; V. M. Technology of
Tsukuba, Japan; Meridian Semiconductor of Irvine, California; and
Integrated Information Technology of Santa Clara, California.
With all of this new competition emerging, perhaps we'll begin to
see a steady decrease in pricing while performance specifications trend
upward. At any rate, you can count on GEnie Lamp IBM to keep you posted
as the competition stiffens and the market bears more options.
[*][*][*]
Mark L. Dodge is home based out of San Antonio, Texas.
He loves hot and spicy food as well as fast and
intuitive computer systems. Over the past 14 years,
he's worked with everything from massive-mainframes to
micro-minis. By day, he is a Submicron Photolithography
Equipment Engineer. By night, he is an electronic
musician enthusiast and a PC fanatic. You can reach him
here on GEnie as "M.DODGE2".
[EOA]
[FOC]//////////////////////////////
FOCUS ON /
/////////////////////////////////
Shareware, Freeware or ???
""""""""""""""""""""""""""
By Richard Vega
[R.VEGA]
>>> SHAREWARE, FREEWARE OR ????. CONFUSED? <<<
"""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""
SO WHAT IS IT? In putting together the PD_Quickview article for the
"""""""""""""" first issue of the GEnie Lamp Mac I noticed that the
application was shareware, not public domain. I then started to ask
around to see how many people really knew the difference between them
was. I even watch a news shows where the anchorman was using the wrong
definitions. This article is going to attempt to address that, along with
some of the other terms we use for the files found in the public
libraries.
The basic terms used for files are public domain, shareware,
copyrighted and freeware. The first thing to understand about these terms
is that they are not mutually exclusive. That will be explained more as I
explain each one. If you are going to download files from a BBS then it
is important to have at least a working knowledge of these terms. Please
note that when I use the word file, I am talking about an application,
graphic or anything that is the result of someone's work. In fact it
doesn't even have to be computer related.
PUBLIC DOMAIN The most common term used is public domain. Most people
""""""""""""" believe that if you can share the file with your friend
then it is in public domain. There was a time when this was true. It is
not true now. Public domain means that the author gives up any rights to
what happens to the file. It can be used, copied changed or treated in
any way. It can even be included in a commercial product.
This last point is important when we are talking about computer
program code. The issue came to a head on the MS-DOS platform with the
ARC compression format. To those who may not know, ARC on the MS-DOS
machines is the standard for compressing files together for transferring
over a modem. It is the equivalent to the Stuffit format on the Macintosh.
What happen is that a company came out with a compatible PKARC program
for sale. The author of the ARC code, which was freely distributed
claimed that the ARC format was not public domain. Therefore even though
anyone could get a copy of ARC, the author of PKARC could not use the
code in the commercial program.
The result of this disagreement is not as important as the basis
for the disagreement. If the ARC code was in public domain the the author
had no basis for his objection. The PKARC author could use the code in
his commercial program. If the ARC program was not in public domain, even
though it was free, then the PKARC author did not have the right to use
it, or alter it, without first receiving permission from the ARC author.
SHAREWARE The most common files found on public BBS systems are
""""""""" shareware. This sprang up due to the fact that many users
where complaining that software was becoming to expensive and the you
could not return it if it did not live up to the claims made by the
publishers. People wanted to be able to "try before you buy!" With
shareware you can get a copy off a BBS or from a friend, try out the
program for a while, and then decide if you want to pay for it or not.
Sounds simple enough, doesn't it?
Almost immediately people started to confuse shareware with public
domain. It was understandable since up to that time anything found open
to the public was public domain. Shareware authors have their hands full.
They first have to make the public understand that the files they release
as shareware may not be freely used, changed or altered. Second, they are
trying to find a way to get people to pay the money asked for, if and
when they decided to use the files.
The results of the "shareware wars" have been interesting. Some
have chosen to just place the files in public with clear messages about
what they want. Others have released crippled versions of applications,
or sample files. When you pay the fee you then receive the full working
copies of the files with documentation. To date I am not sure what has
been the result of any of these efforts. I have been in on many
discussions that often become heated. The bottom line I see is many
people don't understand that the author of shareware files have retained
all rights to that file. We have seen some files move from shareware to
becoming commercially packaged and distributed. Some have done very well
for the authors on the dealers shelf. As shareware they didn't bring in a
penny. The files' rights were always owned by the author. What changed
was the way the author choose to distributed it.
COPYRIGHTED Copyright for software hold the same rights, and same
"""""""""""" muddled clarity, that it does for any other area of
creative work. Simply stated, any creative work is under the control of
it's author unless legally given to another.
What has caused confusion is twofold. First, in the beginning,
computer programers worked mostly in a club atmosphere. Code and
programing style was freely passed around. With the onset of the personal
computer came the software marketplace and the need of protecting you
code under the copyright laws. The concept of passing around code, ideas,
programing style and even full working application has hung on,
especially in schools and "hacker" user groups. The ethics of "a fair
wage for fair labor" is slowly making it's way in the computer users
circles. As computers become an everyday items in peoples houses the
understanding of copyrighted software should become clearer.
The other confusion lies in the fact that some software is free for
the taking. This leads many to think that the author has given up the
rights to the file (be it code, application or data). What needs to be
made clear is that the author of any work has the right to what happens
to that work. That means the right to say if, when, where and how the
creative work is distributed. If some is given freely away and then sold
to others, it is within the copyright owners right to do that. The only
action that removes that right is a legal written release of those
rights. This was clearly shown when Apple decided to give away Macwrite
and MacPaint with each Macintosh. Then they decided to sell it
separately. Many people disagreed with this move but it was within
Apple's legal rights.
FREEWARE The newest term being used is Freeware. This term was coined
"""""""" in an attempt to clear up the confusion mentioned above.
There are many files given away freely but still not in public domain.
These files often come with restrictions about how they are to be
distributed. Some are very specific about how they are _not_ to be
distributed, such as through "pay per disk" shareware companies. The
author doesn't want any money for their work and doesn't want anyone else
making money from their work. As stated above, they have the right to
make that limitation, even if we do not agree with them.
When you get a copy of an application look for the copyright
screen. This will tell you if the author is keeping the copyrights. If
the screen _does not_ clearly place the file into the public domain then
the rights are retained. Look also in any documentation files that come
with the file. These often contain directions as to how the file may be
shared. Be careful, for these sometime contain very restrictive
directions. Many distribution rights are restricted to GEnie or other
on-line BBS systems.
SUMMARY Some people believe that the copyright laws are unclear about
""""""" computer software and data. In some areas that many be true.
In the world that most of us work and play, the copyright laws are very
clear. Our rights to use and share any creative work, be it on the
computer, on canvas or in any other form are limited by the copyright
holder of that work (usually the creator). The copyright owner then has
the responsibility to make those limits clear to us in a manner that we
can understand.
[EOA]
[FUN]//////////////////////////////
ONLINE FUNNIES /
/////////////////////////////////
CowTOONS!
"""""""""
By "Hawk" /\ __
/ \ ||
(__) (__) \ / (_||_)
SooS (oo) \/ (oo)
/------S\/S /-------\/ /S /-------\/
/ | || / | || / S / | ||
* ||----|| * ||----||___/ S * ||----||
~~ ~~ ~~ ~~ ~~ ~~
This cow belonged Ben Franklin owned Abe Lincoln's cow.
to George Washington. this cow.
[EOA]
[QUI]//////////////////////////////
QUINN'S QUEST /
/////////////////////////////////
Hot Downloads For The Asking
""""""""""""""""""""""""""""
By Mark Quinn
[M.QUINN3]
o GETTING THE MOST FROM ALADDIN
o HOT DOWNLOADS!
WELCOME TO QUINN'S QUEST! Welcome to this, my first software review
""""""""""""""""""""""""" column for this magazine. In this first
column, I thought I'd offer a brief introduction to the vehicle by which
many of us explore GEnie: PC Aladdin. I would advise Aladdin gurus to
join me eleven paragraphs below.
Let's take a look at a typical online session of one John Q. User.
John's copy of Aladdin dials
"JOHN Q. USER IS FULLY 'GEnie the local GEnie access number,
AWARE.' HE ISN'T AN ABSOLUTE begins its session on (or "logs
AUTHORITY ON GEnie, BUT HE onto") GEnie and finds that he
KEEPS APPRISED OF MUCH OF has a private message (or "GE
WHAT IT HAS TO OFFER." Mail") waiting. Since John has
instructed (or "configured")
the program to always retrieve his GE Mail during each session, it does
so.
John Q. User is fully "GEnie aware". He isn't an absolute authority
on GEnie, but he keeps apprised of much of what it has to offer, and
knows where to go to find out more.
Next, Aladdin proceeds to the first of two areas of interest to John
Q. -- the SHOWBIZ RoundTable. The SHOWBIZ RoundTable, like many of the
other RoundTables on GEnie, is divided into three areas:
1) A bulletin board, where Mr. User can read and write public
messages about just about anything that relates to SHOWBIZ. The
bulletin boards are divided into categories and topics. For
example, one facet of show business is certainly television, so
there may be a category on soap operas, divided into topics such
as GENERAL HOSPITAL. As you can probably see, it is within these
topics that the actual messaging takes place.
2) A file area. Any information stored on your computer's floppy or
fixed disk(s) is stored in files. They are either in the form of
a text file, like the one you are reading now, or a file used by
a program, like the one used to display or print out this column.
In the SHOWBIZ RoundTable file area, there may be (and certainly
are, by the way) text files containing reviews of recent movies,
and other files of both types which relate to show business in
one way or another.
3) An RTC, or RealTime Conference area. If you've not experienced
one of these, you're in for a treat. It's more fun than a barrel
(or "room") full of John Q. Users. In fact, it can be loosely
described _as_ a barrel (or barrels) full of John Q. Users, each
reading what the many Johns (these are _big_ barrels) are typing.
This is known as a "freeform chat". Additionally, Big John Q.
User, who is an expert in some aspect of show business, can
address all the other Johns in a conference. Let's say John 2
asks John 1, who is managing the conference, if he can ask a
question of Big John, and John 1 allows him. The rest of the
Johns in the room can read John 2's question and Big John's
answer, but they can't type freely with one another. This is a
"formal chat".
Our John Q. User's copy of Aladdin enters the SHOWBIZ bulletin
board, then automatically reads and saves messages within topics of
interest to him to disk. Next, it's on to the SHOWBIZ file area, where
the program downloads short descriptions of the latest files in the
library. Then it's on to another RoundTable, and shortly afterwards, the
program logs off the system.
Hours later, John Q. yawns, enters his den and begins to see what
Aladdin has been up to while he and the kids were sleeping.
By glancing at his monitor, he can tell there are new messages in
the SHOWBIZ bulletin board. He presses a couple of keys and discovers
just how many messages he has to read to catch up on the "hot topics".
Minutes later, he is replying to a message in the hardware category about
big screen TVs. Then he answers some GE Mail from Jane User, who is
visiting her mother, and has her own copy of Aladdin on her notebook.
After he finishes marking files he's interested in to be downloaded, he
glances up at the clock and notices that it's 7:30 a.m., EST, and he has
a half hour to finish all his online tasks before GEnie rates switch to
prime time. He takes a sip of coffee, presses a key, and watches Aladdin
answer his wife's private message, post a message in the big screen TV
topic, then download a file with the latest movie reviews.
John Q. User is fully "GEnie aware". He isn't an absolute authority
on GEnie, but he keeps apprised of much of what it has to offer, and
knows where to go to find out more.
The power to do all of what J.Q.U. did (and lots, lots more) is in
the Aladdin RoundTable, and is a download away. The Aladdin RoundTable
is also there to help you with the program _after_ the download.
>>> THE ONLINE LIBRARY <<<
""""""""""""""""""""""""""
HOT FILES! Now on to the rest of the downloads, including those from
"""""""""" March 1st until March 12th.
[Filename: VIRX21.ZIP]
[File #: 27,535]
[Bytes: 79,616]
The Michelangelo virus has increased "virus awareness" to a great
(some have said undue) extent within the PC community. For people who
sweat bullets when considering the possibility that their data could be
corrupted, the commercial version of VIRx (Virex-PC) and programs like it
allow you to perform a little "virus control" on your home system (and in
the case of Virex, Novell networks as well).
Except for the "MALTESE AMOEBA Virus" (which was due to "hit" on
March 15th, mostly in Europe), this version of VIRx can't disinfect your
system, but it _can_ warn you that virii exist, either in your boot
record, or in one of your files. The piece of silicon slime who
programmed "AMOEBA" made sure it could devastate most of the data on an
infected hard disk, and print a poem to the screen to (or at) boot. So,
after most of your precious data is history, the author of this virus
adds insult to injury by "garbaging up" your screen.
VIRx can scan for an amazing 726 virii. It can scan a single
floppy, a single directory, a directory and its subdirectories, or your
entire hard drive, and can scan the extra memory between 640K and 1M.
VIRx can test all files, or just the executables. After it detects a
virused-up file, it can change its extension to ".VIR". The commercial
version can be set to erase all infected files (which the programmer says
is dangerous, especially when the program is set to scan all files). It
can be set up as a terminate-and-stay-resident program that will
continuously monitor your system for viral infection, and only uses up
608 bytes of memory. VirexPro's "Action Learning Mode" may prevent the
program from warning you about 'benign' writes to your files.
If you're new to virus detection on the PC, but you're an old hand
with using PC PD/shareware, then you should have absolutely no problem
with using VIRx. If you're new to both, I would strongly suggest that
you elicit an expert's advice before you use one of these programs. As
virus checkers go, this one is _very_ safe. Still . . . ?
[Filename: QUIKMENU.PAK]
[File #: 27,587]
[Bytes: 300,288]
There's little to say about this next file, except "Download it:
this one's a keeper". If you've got a VGA card/monitor, you're not only
in for a treat, but a feast. It's got one of the best shareware (or PD,
for that matter) program interfaces I've ever seen -- if not _the_ best.
The interface is reminiscent of the highly-touted GeoWorks package. It's
that good.
In short, QUIKMENU is the ultimate menuing program. When you boot
the program up, you're greeted with a mostly- customizable screen, right
down to the buttons and dialog boxes. You can have the program access
just about any DOS command, and customize the way dialog boxes are set
up. Don't worry about wading through arcane commands with this baby,
though. A glance at the manual, and all is concisely explained. There
are literally too many worthwhile features to list in this article (a joy
for a reviewer), so I'll list some of the juiciest.
- launch a program by a keypress or a mouse click - launch tasks
within applications (such as loading a text file into a word
processor)
- view, edit, or print out a text file
- includes "program log" to keep track of which, when, and for how
long programs are accessed
- many options password protected
- copy, move, rename, delete, find and view files
- add, edit, copy, move, size, delete software buttons on menu page
Aside from these features, there are hundreds of nice touches to
QUIKMENU. The calculator, which includes a tape printout, is the best
I've ever seen, and the calendar has a roomy daily reminder log. After
five minutes (or any other amount you deem necessary) of inactivity,
you're treated to a built- in screen blanker with some nifty
pyrotechnics.
The only problem I encountered during the extensive fiddling session
I went through with it was that I couldn't get the built-in dialer (did I
mention the dialer?) to switch to COM 2. I'm pretty sure this is my
problem and not the program's, though.
All in all, if you have _any_ interest in utilities/menuing
programs, this one's an absolute must.
[Filename: LEMMINGS.PAK]
[File #: 27,588]
[Bytes: 234,880]
Other than finding Lemmings' graphics being a notch below top-notch,
I thoroughly enjoyed myself with this playable game demo. And I even
made it to the third (out of four) screen, a minor miracle for someone as
game-gauche as I am.
From what I can tell from the demo, the lemmings appear onscreen,
and it is your job to lead them to safety with the tools you have at
hand. One wrong move and ten lemmings fall to their deaths. Sound
exciting? It is.
By clicking on some icons near the bottom left-hand side of the
screen, I discovered that I could:
Make one or all of the lemmings explode within five seconds. The
former was the only way I could find of freeing myself from some
situations; the latter was just plain fun to watch and listen to, as the
exploding lemmings blast away great chunks of their environment after
they die.
Have one of more of the lemmings act to "block" the other lemmings
from getting into nasty situations.
Have the lemmings build bridges. This was one of the major tools I
used to make it to the third screen.
You can sense the amount of strategy involved in this game. It is
addictive, and I imagine the commercial version would be grounds for
divorce.
[Filename: TALKABC.ZIP]
[File #: 27,479]
[Bytes: 416,512]
Talking ABC's is a children's program which seamlessly combines
colorful art and clear, digitized sound samples into a package that will
delight the most jaded (young) youngster.
The child can choose between three games. Game one and game two
both take place against the backdrop of a seashore. In game one, letters
(a "z" or an "x", for example) appear on the screen, digitized samples
name them, then prompt the child to find them on the keyboard. If no key
is pressed, he/she is prompted to press the escape key to stop the game,
and the cycle repeats itself. If the child successfully presses the "z"
key, a picture of a zebra appears, and the voice proclaims, "Z. Z is for
zebra."
In game two the child must first press a key (our old friend z is
one possibility), and the zebra appears. The digitized voice pipes up,
"Z. Z is for zebra.", then the child can move the zebra from mid-air to
a more congenial spot (on the beach, for example).
In game three (this one takes place against a blank background), the
child (children) must match three objects with the first letter of each
of their names. He/she does this by connecting the letter to the object
with a smiley face (not an emoticon, but the real thing) on the end of a
rubber-banded line. The line/face is moved with the arrow keys. A voice
prompts the child to use the arrow keys, and names each object. Fun
stuff.
Even if you only have your young nieces/nephews/grandkids over once
in a while, this program is worth the hard drive/floppy space. The two
problems I can foresee someone running into are:
1) If he/she hasa buzzer on their computer instead of a
speaker.
2) Getting the kids away from the computer.
Otherwise, using this program will be as easy as . . .
Talking ABC's is shareware.
>>> PIC_QWIKS <<<
"""""""""""""""""
Other files I _heartily_ recommend, but didn't have the space to
include:
SNOOP.ZIP - a "gas". Stop 'em from snoopin'.
"""""""""
EGATRK30.ZIP - version 3.0 of the classic game. This, and
"""""""""""" the next game . . .
SHOOTG23.ZIP - . . . should make some commercial game
"""""""""""" designers blush. Superb!
///////////////////////////// GEnie_QWIK_QUOTE /////
/ "Every once in a while, this topic really enters /
/ the Twilight Zone. <grin>" /
//////////////////////////////// J.EIDSVOOG1 /////
[EOA]
[TEL]//////////////////////////////
TELETALK ONLINE /
/////////////////////////////////
Telecomm Power!
"""""""""""""""
By Phil Shapiro
[P.SHAPIRO1]
>>> FLAT-RATE TELECOMMUNICATION <<<
"""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""
~ A Landmark Event in the History of Human Communications ~
Throughout the history of human communications, there has always
been a monetary fee associated with long distance communication. From
the pony express to the U.S. mail to the telegraph to the telephone to
the fax, every long distance communication medium has charged a "per
unit" message fee. The underlying rule has been that the more you
communicate, the more you pay.
Enter flat-rate telecom.
For the first time in the history of civilization, human beings are
offered the opportunity to communicate long distance at a flat-rate.
The upshot of this is that the MORE you communicate, the LESS you pay
per message.
Human beings are so accustomed to being charged "per-message" fees
for long distance communication that they fail to fully appreciate the
revolutionary nature of flat-rate telecom. Homo sapiens are creatures
of habit, and the habit to keep long distance communication to a brief
minimum is one that is hard to break.
But take a minute to think about this.
The United States Postal Service charges you a communication fee by
the ounce.
Your long distance phone carrier charges you by the minute.
Western Union charges you by the word, for telegrams.
But GEnie charges you a flat-rate --- by the month --- for
unlimited usage.
Not only that.
Unlike other national information services, GEnie doesn't place a
cap on how many e-mail messages you can send per month. At no time do
you have to stop and consider, "Gee, I wonder if I've exceeded my 60
messages per month limit? I wonder if it is worth my while to send this
next message?" GEnie also goes beyond other information services by
allowing lengthy text file uploads via GE Mail. (While GEnie does not
explicitly state a size limit for text file uploads into the GE Mail
editor, a recent test upload of a 25K text file received no complaints
from the GE Mail editor.) Other information services limit text file
uploads to 5K or less, per e-mail message. This effectively forces you
to send larger files via other methods, rather than as e-mail.
As we enter the Information Age, anthropologists have come to
appreciate that communication lies at the very core of our social
structure. It's no exaggeration to say that civilization as a whole
advances in direct proportion to the quantity and quality of
communication taking place.
Businesses grow through communication.
Children learn through communication.
Social fabric is formed through communication between human
beings.
When the per-unit fee for long distance communication is kept to a
bare bones monthly minimum, society as a whole becomes the ultimate
beneficiary.
When people freely exchange ideas, society as a whole moves
forward.
The full significance of flat-rate telecom becomes apparent when
you consider it as a better bargain than even flat-rate local phone
service. Just as nobody thinks twice about picking up the phone to call
a local friend, in time nobody will think twice about making the best
use of flat-rate telecom.
True, e-mail does not offer the equivalent communication experience
as a real-time phone conversation. But e-mail does offer two distinct
advantages over phone communication: 1) It is non-disruptive, and, 2) It
is easy to "publish" or "broadcast" a message by courtesy copying two,
four, eight, or twenty-eight other persons.
Whatever advances in communication occur in the next 50 to 100
years, historians will look back on the early 1990's as being a pivotal
turning point in the history of human communications. Those were the
first days that the human animal communicated long distance without
having to pay a per-message fee.
You don't have to be Johann Gutenberg to realize the full
significance of this development.
And the doorways it opens up.
[*][*][*]
Phil Shapiro (The author is the founder of Balloons
Software, a new Apple II educational software
company. Phil Shapiro is a resident of Washington
D.C., uses GEMail to communicate with friends and
business colleagues in Honolulu, Hawaii;
British Columbia, Canada; and Moscow (via Finland).
He can be reached at 5201 Chevy Chase Parkway, NW,
Washington, DC 20015-1747. Or via electronic mail
on GEnie: P.Shapiro1
[EOA]
[ELS]//////////////////////////////
IBM ELSEWHERE /
/////////////////////////////////
Not So Friendly Skies Of GEnie
""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""
By Robert Wolf
[AIRWOLF]
>>> TAKE YOUR BEST SHOT! <<<
""""""""""""""""""""""""""""
Feeling a bit unchallenged after laying waste to everything in
sight in Falcon for the millionth time? Perhaps a bit tired of blowing
away your neighbor? Maybe you've figured out how to beat every
computer-run opponent created? Well, has GEnie got a game for you!
The game is Air Warrior, by Kesmai, and is available for Mac's,
Amigas, Atari ST/TT's, and IBM's and clones (IBM version requires at
least a
'286). You might have seen a generalized ad/story in Livewire
about Air Warrior. I'm here to tell you that those articles don't do
it justice!
The plane selection in Air Warrior mainly centers around World
War II planes. The P51 Mustang, P38 Lightning, F4U Corsair, Spitfire,
Focke Wulf 190, ZERO, and KI Hayate
"THE CHALLENGE OF FIGHTING (FRANK) are modeled, among other
LIVE PEOPLE INSTEAD OF SOME fighter planes. Also, the B17, A26,
PROGRAM'S SUBROUTINE AND THE Mosquito, and B25 bombers from WW2
ABILITY TO USE TEAMWORK and C47 transport are in the game.
LEAVE THE OTHER COMPUTER The ME-262 jet fighter, introduced by
GAMES STANDING AT THE GATE" the Germans toward the end of WW2, is
also in there, along with the Sabre
and MiG Korean era jets. But wait, there's more! A few WW1 planes
(like the Camel, Fokker Dr.1 Triplane, and Brisfit) are also included.
You can even 'fly' tanks and FlakPanzers to attack or defend airstrips!
The flight model in AW isn't as accurate as many wish it was, but
it's still pretty darn good when compared to most commercial flight
simulators. Doing rolls, split-S's, and yo-yo's is no problem.
Hammerhead stalls, however, are another matter.
The game is set in three theaters; Europe, Pacific, and WW1. The
European theater is mostly land with a few seas out toward the edges
and plenty of mountains near the center. The Pacific is mostly water
with a few islands around to capture and some aircraft carriers you
can use and destroy. WW1 has one big lake in the center and is much
smaller than the other two. In each theater there are three
countries: A-land, B-land, and C-land.
Controlling AW isn't hard. The mouse controls the flight stick.
Rudder, flaps, and gear are controlled via the keyboard as are the
view keys (used for looking around in the sky). Air Warrior also
supports joystick controls for all computers except the Atari ST.
The graphics for Air Warrior are none too impressive. Land is
just a big green plane, water is just a big blue plane. Mountains are
big blocky things. Opponent's planes look pretty blocky as well. Your
own plane also looks pretty blocky but that can be fixed up. If you
want you can download special artwork files that will make your own
plane look real good.
Sound on AW varies from computer to computer. I believe all of
them have digital sounds available (requires a SoundBlaster card on the
DOS computers). Using digital sounds may or may not slow the graphics
down, again depending on which computer you are using.
How much would you pay for all this? $30? $10? How about FREE?
Yes folks, you can download Air Warrior for FREE from GEnie on page
871 and fly off-line all you want without paying a dime. It's only
when you use this flight simulator's most amazing feature that you
have to pay.
Air Warrior can be played ON LINE on GEnie. No more idiotic,
unlearning opponents - you are up against LIVE people. But, you say,
you can do that already by calling up
"NO MORE IDIOTIC UNLEARNING your friend over the modem. Sorry,
OPPONENTS - YOU ARE UP but that isn't the same thing. This
AGAINST LIVE PEOPLE." is a MULTI player game. It isn't un-
common to have 20 or 30 people flying
at the same time and shooting at each other!
We get lots of folks on AW who think they are mighty hot stuff
because they can beat Falcon or some such flight simulator without
breaking a sweat. Then they are shocked to find themselves getting
shot down twenty+ times without even getting a decent shot at the
enemy planes. This is partially because they aren't used to flying
WW2 fighters but mostly because they don't know how to fight as part
of a team and because the other players that are shooting at him
THINK.
A good example is the radio banter that goes on. Air Warrior
lets you talk to other players via a radio. It isn't uncommon for a
more experienced player to send a few light insults at a new player
over the radio. Then, when the new guy comes in fighting mad to kill
the insulting player, the insulting player and his 6 friends (who
haven't been saying a thing on the radio) blow him out of the sky.
Fighter vs Fighter combat isn't the only thing you can do in AW.
I personally spend most of my time flying bombers to blow up enemy
installations or in C47s loaded with paratroopers to try and capture
neutral and enemy airstrips. You can even roll a tank out and attack
enemy airstrips with that.
One of my favorite features of Air Warrior is that it is
continually growing - as most on-line games do. A few years ago, for
instance, bombers could only bomb buildings (which had no effect on
the enemy at all) and anti-aircraft guns defending airstrips. Now, in
addition to buildings and AA, they can bomb fuel storage, hangers,
ammo dumps, refineries, factories, bridges, and the airstrips
themselves in addition to shooting up any cargo planes trying to
resupply an airstrip!
If you've downloaded AW and want to see what its like to play on
line you can download a few films. AW has a filming option made in
such a way that films made on any computer can be viewed. With these
you can watch reruns of real battles in Air Warrior. Downloading the
films will cost you the price of the download but watching them is
free.
A word of warning - this game can get expensive FAST if you
aren't careful. It only costs $6/hr to play on-line but, even if you
'only' play for one hour per night plus a bit more on weekends you are
looking at a $200 GEnie bill! We loose many players who don't budget
their time to 'Visa Burnout' when they start playing for hours and
hours each night.
This can cause a real problem to new users. Playing only an hour
or two per week makes it hard to remember what you learned the time
before. You almost have to play an hour a night for a good month or
two before you get good enough to expect to kill as many times as you
get killed. Or at least you HAD to....
Enter the Air Warrior Training Academy (AWTA)! For $50 the AWTA
will give you a fine map of AW's European theater, a full fledged
users manual (as opposed to the documentation that comes with the
game), a tactics manual, and 6 classes. Each class consists of one
hour of practice flying and two hours of instruction on a special
training page (with special training rules like letting people who get
shot down continue to fly) and is taught by an experienced AW pilot.
While $50 might sound like a bunch of money, believe me, it beats
trying to teach yourself the game.
As mentioned above, you can download Air Warrior for FREE from
page 871. It's a LHarced file so you will need a utility to thaw out
the files. User plane art, digital sounds, and films can be downloaded
(not for free) from the normal Air Warrior library on page 870;3.
Discussions about Air Warrior are done in the Multi-Player Games RT
(part of GEnie Basic*Services) on page 1045. The game itself is on page
870.
As mentioned above, Air Warrior versions are available for the
Macintosh, Amiga, Atari, and IBM computers. The IBM version requires
an 80286 or better microprocessor. There is a new version being worked
on for souped-up Amiga's as well as a Super-VGA version being worked on
for those with '386 and '486 IBM's. Planes on more powerful computers
won't fly any faster or turn any sharper. However, having a more
powerful computer WILL allow your graphics to run far smoother.
Overall, Air Warrior is a great game. In my opinion, it's
probably THE best game out there - bar none. The challenge of fighting
LIVE people instead of some program's subroutine and the ability to use
teamwork leave the other computer games standing at the starting gate.
Well worth the $6 for an hour's play. Just remember to keep one eye on
your tail and the other eye on the clock!
[EOA]b
[ASK]//////////////////////////////
ASK ME! /
/////////////////////////////////
Got A Question? Just Ask!
""""""""""""""""""""""""""
QUESTION I am thinking of getting a new modem, and I have many
"""""""" questions that I would appreciate getting advice or answers
for.
1) Ok, so it is good to have a 16550AFN buffered UART, if one
multitasks, which I do. I have an old serial card with two 8250 UARTs.
Can I replace them with the 16550AFN, or do I need a new serial card?
2) What is the difference between asynchronous and synchronous
communication? Is there any advantage to having synchronous capability?
Is it faster? If an external modem is connected to an asynchronous
serial card, is there still an advantage to running the modem with a
synchronous connection? Or do serial cards all have synchronous ability
as well?
The reason I ask this is that I seem to recall a message where
someone said they had set up their connection to genie as synchronous in
order to get faster connection.
3) What is automatic adaptive equalization?
4) I am thinking of getting a Zoom 2400 v.42 bis external modem -
any comments or experiences to share would be appreciated. Other models
I am considering: Supra, Everex, GVC, Boca.
(AQIL, CAT23, TOP59. MSG:1/M615)
[*][*][*]
ANSWER I'll address the second question--sync vs. async--first. In
"""""" syncronous communications, the data bits are sent at particular
time intervals that both ends know about; in asyncronous, the sending
end starts a character whenever it wants. There are several problems
with each. I'll go into the async problems first.
With async, the line sits at a level, called space, during the
times when the data is not being sent. For discussion we call this the
level for a logical 1, the other level is called mark, or logical 0.
These are the only two levels in the async transmission. Now if I don't
know when a character is going to start, or what is going to be sent, I
have no way to tell the difference between the two characters
11110101 01011111
and the single character
01010101
when sent unless I do something fancy. Why? Because my line sits
at the one level until I start sending 0 bits, and both of the above
just are a string of four 0 bits alternated with 3 one bits. So what do
I do to be able to tell them apart? Well, I know that I'm sitting at a 1
level when I'm not sending data, so what I could do is always send a
single 0 bit, called a start bit, when I'm about to send a character,
and then I'd at least know when I started a character. Then the two
scenarios above become
011110101 001011111
and
001010101
which lets me tell what's going on. But there is another problem.
What if I'm sending a _LONG_ string of 0's? Then it may be difficult for
me to tell exactly where the individual bits are (I could lose track of
how many bit times have occurred, or my timing and the senders timing
could be off). So a string of five null characters (all bits in a null
are 0 bits) would just be
000000000 000000000 000000000 000000000 000000000
without the spaces inbetween. This has been shown to cause
problems. So in order to prevent that, I add a 1 bit at the end of each
character, called a stop bit, so I know at least once each character
when a bit transition occurs. Now I have the 5 nulls as
0000000001 0000000001 0000000001 00000000001 0000000001
and as long as I can keep track of timing for 10 bits, I can know
when each bit occurs and not have to worry about corrupting data. The
only problem now is that I've added 2 bits for every 8 bits I send. So
now at least 20% (2/10) of my time is "wasted" in the overhead
associated with transmission.
Now enter syncronous. Suppose I need faster transmission. I might
want to find a way to get rid of the bits I inserted above to recover
the 20% of the time I wasted in just making sure I know when one
character starts and ends. Well, if I can send data so that I know when
each character starts and stops, I can then get back the 20%. If I were
looking at a hardware solution, I could put a clock in with the data on
a separate line and I'd have my problem solved; all I have to do is turn
the clock off when I'm not sending data, and back on when I am. I can
then tell when data is being sent, and then just look at the data during
clocks.
This is somewhat like what happens with modems, but the data and
clock have to be on the same line with telephones. So what they do is
use phase states to encode the data, and that means that they have more
data levels than what we had before. Because we don't have multiple
wires in the phone to send clocks, we need phasing of signals rather
than separate lines. This system of phasing is why a 2400 bps modem
always sounds like it is sending data even when data isn't being sent.
It is rather complex, and beyond what I'll put in the message here (this
is already too long :) ). But the end result is that you don't need
start or stop bits for syncronous comm. And so you gain 20% speed
(maximum) for those cases where you are sending a continuous stream of
data. Why is this a maximum? Let's say you only send characters to the
syncronous line at 120 characters per second, now you don't save
anything--even if you did have start and stop bits, you only need 1200
bits per second (bps). If you send at 300 bps, then you could
(theoretically) get the maximum throughput without compression of
300x8=2400 bps. In practice, this is reduced by error correction in MNP
modems so that you get somewhat less (maximum is about 270 characters
per second (cps)). With async the maximum for 2400 bps is 240 cps
(2400/(8+2) = 240).
(B.WITHNELL, CAT23, TOP59, MSG:2/M615)
[EOA]
[GEN]//////////////////////////////
GEnie ONLINE /
/////////////////////////////////
Exploring The Bulletin Boards
"""""""""""""""""""""""""""""
By Alan Weston
[A.WESTON]
>>> MAKING THE MOST OF ALADDIN <<<
""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""
Getting involved in the messages of a GEnie roundtable can be a
most rewarding activity. Many people log onto to GEnie once a week or
so and check for new files, downloading any that interest them. Smaller
number of callers capture messages, and even a lower number actually
participate in the messages, posting their own on a regular basis.
There's a lot of information to be had on GEnie, but you'll only get the
most out of it if you do a little exploring and actively participate.
Two big reasons for not being active in the message areas used to
be the cost and complexity. You had to deal with all those unfamiliar
commands, and since the billing clock was
"ALADDIN AND THE GEnie* running while you were fumbling at the
BASIC SERVICES HAVE keyboard, things could get expensive.
GREATLY REDUCED THE Aladdin and the GEnie*Basic Services have
COST AND COMPLEXITY OF greatly reduced the cost and complexity of
PARTICIPATING IN THE participating in the message activities.
MESSAGE ACTIVITIES." Since Aladdin allows to read and compose
messages offline, you can take your time,
and not have to worry about the billing clock. When Aladdin is online,
it performs functions faster than you could yourself, so you get the
lowest price possible. And if the messages are part of the GEnie*Basic
Services there is no cost at all.
Unfortunately, the Aladdin manual isn't a tutorial on how to use
GEnie. It assumes that you are already familiar with the structure and
commands of the roundtable message areas. If you aren't, then things
can be frustrating and you you'll miss out on the action.
Getting Started For starters, pick a new roundtable in one of the free
""""""""""""""" areas and get ready to get involved in all sorts of
new conversations, meet new friends, maybe even learn something. Since
you're doing this in a free area it will be as risk free as possible.
All you have to lose is some time and disk space. I recently joined the
Investor's RT. I've just started dabbling in mutual funds and would
like to learn more. Boy, I'm glad I did.
Once you have selected the roundtable you want to join, you must
add it to your Aladdin configuration. Choose the "Roundtables" option
under the File menu. This will bring up a listing of all the Round-
Tables currently in your configuration. Click on the option to add a
RoundTable. Enter the page number of the new RoundTable. If you don't
know the page number, click on the words "GEnie page number." This will
bring up the index and you can search for the desired RoundTable. Once
you have found the name of the RoundTable just click on it to select it.
Remember, never use the 8000 series page numbers when using Aladdin.
Every 8000 page has an equivalent GEnie page number, and Aladdin
requires the proper page number. Use the product index to search for
the proper number.
Set up the desired options for the new RoundTable. Choose the days
of the week that you wish Aladdin to access the roundtable, and set the
paths and filenames that you want messages and files to be saved to.
For starters select the option for all new messages rather than all new
marked messages.
Once you have your new RoundTable installed, it's time to get the
topic list. Select "Update Topic List" under the Roundtable menu.
Aladdin will call GEnie, log on to the desired RoundTable, and capture a
listing of all the categories and topics for that RoundTable. For
example, the Atari ST RoundTable has categories on programming,
graphics, word processing, various product support areas, and many
others. Within each category are specific topics. In the programming
category you will find topics on C, Pascal, Assembly language, etc.
Now that you have the complete topic list, it is time to do some
refining. Select "Mark-Reply old topics" from the RoundTable menu.
This will bring up the complete topic listing. Browse through this
listing to get an idea of what the categories and topics are. Some
categories may not interest you at all. Use the "Cancel Category"
option to ignore these categories. This option will prevent you from
seeing any messages in a given category ever again. For example, when I
joined the Investors RT, I cancelled the index equity category since I'm
not interested in that one. But I'm definitely keeping the mutual fund
category.
Individual topics can be permanently ignored. When you permanently
ignore a topic, you will never see any more messages for this topic.
You will still receive messages from the unignored topics and any new
topics that appear. Rather than cancelling an entire category, some-
times it is better to ignore all of the topics in the category. This
will ignore all of the existing topics, but will still show any new
topics that come along. Sometimes this is useful.
Some of the topic headings may interest you right away. Rather
than wait for new messages in these topics, you can read the existing
messages. I've been considering the Janus mutual fund family, and I see
a topic for them in the Mutual Fund category. One of the options when
marking and replying to old topics is the "Read Date = <>" option. This
is a good way to grab the last week's, month's or whatever worth of
messages. I chose to read all of the messages in this topic for the
last month.
Once you have cancelled all of the categories, and permanently
ignored all of the topics you are not interested in, and also marked any
special interest topics for reading, you are ready to go back online.
Select "Do Pending Operation" from the Roundtable menu. Aladdin will
log on to the RoundTable and perform all of the desired actions. Once
this operation is complete, you can read any pending messages, and
future access to the new RoundTable will only retrieve messages in the
desired categories and topics.
As you become more familiar with the new RoundTable you will
probably want to ignore some additional topics, and maybe un-ignore some
too. To un-ignore a topic simply mark it or read any messages. If you
wish to un-cancel a category all you need to do is mark or read any
topic in that category.
Aladdin will retrieve the new messages for you, on the selected
days, every time you do an Autopass-1. If you want to go right to a
specific RoundTable without doing the autopass, you can do a "Get
Messages" from the Roundtable menu option. Choose the "BRO NOR" option
when using this. Read the messages at your leisure. Print and save the
ones that you want. Reply to the ones that you want, and the autopass-2
option will post those replies.
The combination of Aladdin and the GEnie*Basic Services have
greatly enhanced the use of GEnie for many. I am now active in many
areas that I never dared venture into
"I AM NOW ACTIVE IN MANY before. I'm getting great recipes
AREAS THAT I NEVER DARED for my bread machine in the cooking
VENTURED INTO BEFORE." RoundTable. I've got so many
recipes captured to disk that I'm
getting ready to print my own bread machine cookbook. I pick up new
jokes in the TeleJoke RT. I'm learning how to write fiction in the
Writers' Ink RT. I got some great advice on training my dog in the
Pet-Net RT. And of course I keep current on what's happening in the
Atari world in the Atari ST RoundTable.
Online Etiquette Here's a few tips on online etiquette that you should
"""""""""""""""" observe when replying to messages.
First off, turn off the caps lock. TYPING MESSAGES IN UPPERCASE
MAKES YOUR MESSAGE HARDER TO READ AND IT'S CONSIDERED SHOUTING.
Sometimes you might want to quote a portion of a prior message in
your reply. This is fine, but only quote the necessary portion.
Delete any extraneous lines including the message number, and date.
Even if you are in a GEnie*Basic Service area, unnecessary quoting takes
time, and there are people out there who still pay for the access to
these areas.
The Topic Police Sometimes it seems that GEnie sysops are very
"""""""""""""""" critical and quick to arrest topic drifters. But it
really is for the best. Most of the bulletin boards I have ever called
couldn't be relied on to keep
"HOW OFTEN HAVE YOU SCANNED messages under the proper topic
MESSAGE TITLES ON A BULLETIN heading let alone in the proper
BOARD, GONE TO READ THE MESSAGES category. How often have you
YOU WERE INTERESTED IN, scanned message titles on a
AND THEN DISCOVERED THAT NONE bulletin board, gone to read the
OF THEM WERE EVEN RELATED TO messages you were interested
THAT TOPIC? NOT ON GEnie." in, and then discovered that
none of them were even related
to that topic? Not on GEnie. Quick sysops and volunteer topic cops
keep things where they belong. Because of this it's possible to scan
for topics you are interested in from the topic list. When you find one
and mark it, you can be certain that the messages that come from that
topic will pertain to what the topic title says. I like the topic cops.
Post your messages in the appropriate topic, and don't be offended if
you're asked to move a conversation that has drifted off topic.
Now you're ready to set out and explore some new areas on GEnie.
With Aladdin and the GEnie*Basic Services there is a lot of useful
telecommunicating for you. The following is a partial list of Round-
Tables that are part of the GEnie*Basic Services. There certainly is
something for everyone.
Hobby And Leisure
"""""""""""""""""
o Photography o Science Fiction
o Writers o Genealogy
o MIDI/World Music o Hobby
o Sports o Pets
o Radio and Electronics o Aviation
o Spaceport o Scuba
o Military o Human Interest
Human Interest
""""""""""""""
o Public Forum o Religion and Ethics
o Japan Bulletin Board o Germany Bulletin Board
o Law o Medical
o Jerry Pournelle o Law Enforcement
o Money Matters o Investors Bulletin Board
o Dr. Job o Home Office Small Business
o Real Estate o Education
o Education Bulletin Board
And don't forget the GEnie Users Bulletin Board, GENUS.
[EOA]bc
[FYI]//////////////////////////////
F.Y.I. /
/////////////////////////////////
Working With Batch Files
""""""""""""""""""""""""
By John F. Cram
[J.CRAM2]
________ ____________ ______________ ______________[[[[[[[[[]]]]]]]]
| ______X____________X______________X______________| ** GEnie ** |
| | ___________ | |
| | | | |[0][0][0][0][0]|
| | | Mr/Ms | WORKING WITH | |
| |_| AVERAGE | SIMPLE BATCH FILES | GEnie |
|___| USER! | | Lamp |
|___________| by | IBM |
______)___(______ | |
| o o o ====== | John F. Cram |_______________|
|_________________| GEnie Address - J.CRAM2 __)_________(__
My first impulse was to call this article "TIPS FOR THE NOVICE
USER". Then I realized that, in order for you to read this publication,
you had to master and write a script for one of the complicated
communication programs, set up your modem, sign on and negotiate your way
around GEnie and finally download this file. That certainly qualifies
you for a higher level than novice. But experienced or beginner, I hope
everyone will find the subject matter interesting..
HOW ABOUT A BATCH MENU? I can hear the groans now. Like "Doesn't this
""""""""""""""""""""""" idiot know that each one of those little batch
files consumes over 2kb of the precious space on my hard disk?" The
answer is...Yep, I sure do know it and I also know that those facts were
spread by people who want to sell you an expensive menu program that
takes twice the space and probably some of your scarce memory also.
Batch files are grossly underestimated and they are FREE! In this
advanced stage of computer technology of 1992, do you know what your
computer still looks for when you turn it on, to tell it what to load,
what the path is, what the prompt will look like, what messages, if any,
you want displayed and where to go after it does all this? That's right,
a lowly little batch file!..AUTOEXEC.BAT!!
Batch files are grossly underestimated and they are FREE!
In order to make maximum use of batch files, you do need one
thing..a good text editor that works with ASCII files. No, that doesn't
mean "All Sick Cats In Infirmaries". It stands for "American Standard
Code for Information Interchange", and in plain english means that if you
send me an ASCII file, I can put it on my computer and read it right
away. Now, I'm sure that you
"BATCH FILES ARE GROSSLY have a word processor program
UNDERESTIMATED AND and probably a good one. But
THEY ARE FREE!" most of them are too complicated
to fool with simple short files
and some of them do not deliver a pure ASCII file. I think everyone
should have a small text editor. You can find several of them to
download from GEnie, a few are free and the Shareware versions range in
price from $1 to $50+. It just depends on how many bells and whistles
you want plus what the pocketbook will bear. (I hope John Peters (the
boss!) [I will :) Ed.] will reimburse me for my research in this area!)
For those of you lucky enough to have MS-DOS 5, you can sit back and
grin because you have a good built-in text editor, "EDIT". The rest of
you have to live with Edlin(ugh) or look for a text editor. I hope the
above suggestions will help..
The next item is not a necessity, just a nicety. I have a little
TSR from PC Magazine's DOS Power Tools called COLORSET.COM and it will
allow you to set your screen colors to your favorite combination and they
stay, since the program is a TSR. If one of your programs quits and
leaves the screen some ghastly color like green on black, all you have to
do is type CLS at the prompt and your favorite colors are back. I
personally like white letters on blue background but your choice might be
different. I would gladly make this little program available if I
thought it would be legal, but I am not sure. I suggest you try to find
a similar program or contact PC Magazine.
Now, finally, let's get around to talking about our batch menu. For
the menu screen itself, you could just type a list of programs down the
screen and it would work fine even if it didn't look too professional.
However, if you don't mind a little typing, and perhaps learning a little
BASIC at the same time, then I've included in [Figure 1] a program
(MENUFORM.BAS) that will make you a nice box with a shadow for a 3-D
effect. It even says MENU at the top and tells you to TYPE LETTER
SELECTION AND PRESS ENTER at the bottom.
MENUFORM.BAS, as written, will run in either your DOS 5 QBasic
interpreter or in GWBasic with any DOS 4.1 or 3.3. I have not tried it
with earlier versions. The procedure is different for QBasic and
GWBasic. For both versions, make a directory called MENU. You can call
it anything you like, but you'll have to change all the batch files to
agree.
From the DOS C:> prompt type "MD\MENU" and press ENTER. (MD means
make directory) Then type "CD\MENU" and press ENTER. (CD means change
directory) Your prompt should now look like this...C:\MENU>
The best way to generate your copy of MENUFORM.BAS is to place this
entire file in your text editor, block the numbered lines and then paste
them in a new file called MENUFORM.BAS. If for some reason this is not
possible, then type it as outlined below.
For Those With DOS 5 Still at the C:\MENU> prompt type "QBASIC" (and
"""""""""""""""""""" let's hope that you're not one of those that
deleted QBasic to make more room on your disk). You should now be in the
QBasic Editor, ready to type your program. For QBasic you do not have to
type the line numbers, the ones on the extreme left at the start of each
line. However, if you are uncertain of my meaning, just type everything
EXACTLY as it is. Every period, comma, colon or semi-colon has a
meaning. If it's a colon, a semi-colon won't do. It must be typed
exactly as you see it. When you think you have it right, all you have to
do is press F5. If it runs correctly, all you will see is "Press any key
to continue" at the bottom of the screen. Press any key and you will be
back in the Editor. To exit the Editor, press the ALT key, the F key and
the X key in that order. You should now be back at the C:\MENU> prompt.
Now comes the big test...type "TYPE MENU" and press ENTER. Your
menu window should slide up the screen and stop when centered.
For Those With DOS 4.1 Or Older Here the program must be copied
""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""" exactly as you see it, numbers and all.
As I cautioned above, every period, comma, colon or semi-colon has a
function and must be copied exactly as I have it.
The easiest way for those of you with GWBasic to enter this program
is to first copy it into your text editor, then save it as MENUFORM.BAS.
All this should be done while you are still at the C:\MENU> prompt.
Now type: "GWBASIC MENUFORM.BAS"
After a short run you will be back at the C:\MENU> prompt. Now type
"TYPE MENU". Your menu window should slide up the screen and stop when
centered.
You could type the program directly into the GWBasic editor but the
procedure is a little more complicated. The GWBasic editor does not act
like a normal editor and unless you are familiar with it let's not try it
now.
[*][*][*]
* * FIGURE 1 -- "MENUFORM.BAS" * *
(Copy part between lines-- starting with line 100)
"""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""
100 BRD1$ = STRING$(70, 219): BRD2$ = STRING$(2, 219)
110 SDW1$ = STRING$(70, 177): SDW2$ = STRING$(2, 177)
120 BRD3$ = STRING$(29, 205)
130 LTR$(1) = "A." + SPACE$(18) + "I." + SPACE$(18) + "R."
140 LTR$(2) = "B." + SPACE$(18) + "J." + SPACE$(18) + "S."
150 LTR$(3) = "C." + SPACE$(18) + "K." + SPACE$(18) + "T."
160 LTR$(4) = "D." + SPACE$(18) + "L." + SPACE$(18) + "U."
170 LTR$(5) = "E." + SPACE$(18) + "N." + SPACE$(18) + "V."
180 LTR$(6) = "F." + SPACE$(18) + "O." + SPACE$(18) + "W."
190 LTR$(7) = "G." + SPACE$(18) + "P." + SPACE$(18) + "X."
200 LTR$(8) = "H." + SPACE$(18) + "Q." + SPACE$(18) + "Y."
210 LTR$(9) = SPACE$(5) + "TYPE LETTER SELECTION AND PRESS ENTER"
220 OPEN "MENU" FOR OUTPUT AS #1
230 PRINT #1,
240 PRINT #1, SPC(4); BRD1$
250 PRINT #1, SPC(4); BRD2$; SPC(1); BRD3$; SPC(1); "MENU";
260 PRINT #1, SPC(1); BRD3$; SPC(1); BRD2$; SDW2$
270 FOR i% = 1 TO 9
280 PRINT #1, SPC(4); BRD2$; SPC(66); BRD2$; SDW2$
290 PRINT #1, SPC(4); BRD2$; SPC(4); LTR$(i%); SPC(20); BRD2$; SDW2$
300 NEXT i%
310 PRINT #1, SPC(4); BRD1$; SDW2$
320 PRINT #1, SPC(6); SDW1$
330 CLOSE #1
340 SYSTEM
"""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""
* * END OF FIGURE 1 * *
Now you are ready to put "MENU" in your text editor and write in the
programs you want in your menu. I recommend using all capital letters.
It looks nicer and gives a professional effect.
ONE WORD OF CAUTION!! Make all your additions and changes to the
MENU box using the OVERSTRIKE mode. Do not use BACKSPACE, ENTER or
DELETE. Move around using the UP, DOWN, LEFT and RIGHT arrow keys. If
you make a mistake or just want to erase something, use the SPACEBAR. If
you don't do it this way, you'll be constantly trying to get the sides of
your frame back in line. The menu below is just a general guide. You
can arrange it to your liking. You will notice that the letter "M" is
missing.. M.BAT has a special job and therefore is left off of the main
menu.
ANOTHER CAUTION! Do not add any carriage returns after the MENU
window. If you do the MENU will slide up too far and not only will look
awkward but could also lose some of your selections.
////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////
/ ========================== MENU ================================ ///
/ ///
/ A. PGM #1 I. UTILITY #1 R. A:\ (DOS) ///
/ ///
/ B. PGM #2 J. UTILITY #2 S. C:\ (DOS) ///
/ ///
/ C. PGM #3 K. UTILITY #3 T. FORMAT A; (360KB) ///
/ ///
/ D. PGM #4 L. UTILITY #4 U. FORMAT A: (1.2MB) ///
/ ///
/ E. PGM #5 N. UTILITY #5 V. DISKCOPY A: A: ///
/ ///
/ F. PGM #6 O. UTILITY #6 W. DISKCOMP A: A: ///
/ ///
/ G. PGM #7 P. UTILITY #7 X. CHECK DISK A: ///
/ ///
/ H. PGM #8 Q. DIRECTORY C:\ Y. DIRECTORY A:\ ///
/ ///
/ PRESS LETTER SELECTION AND THEN ENTER ///
//////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////
//////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////
Now we have a MENU screen! This sets you up for our series of
little batch files (one for each letter), also located in the directory
"MENU". I found it necessary to use five commands in these batch files.
Some or maybe all you could be familiar with, but I will discuss them
briefly.
@echo off This command isn't necessary to the operation but
""""""""" it prevents following commands from being printed to the
screen and I like a screen clear of everything but what I
want to see.
CLS Clears the Screen - Once again,not absolutely
""" necessary but I still like a clean screen.
This clears what is already on the screen and gives
you a blank screen in the color of your choice. I
use CLS a lot.
PAUSE Necessary when giving a command you need to
""""" view after the command is completed such as DIR
or CHKDSK. When the previous command is completed DOS
will halt and ask you to "STRIKE ANY KEY WHEN READY"
CD\ Change directory- I'm sure everyone is familiar
""" with this one.
TYPE Used with filename, means to present that file
"""" on the screen. You should know this one too.
Now let me give an example by showing you my first batch file...
A.BAT. The program is a word processor called Easy Writer and it resides
in a directory called EASY. The file to call to execute Easy Writer is
EW.EXE. So A.BAT looks like this:
Comments only (Do not type)
"""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""
@ECHO OFF (So instructions will not appear on the screen)
CLS (To clear any old program material off the screen)
CD\EASY (Change directories to the EASY directory)
EW (Activate the EW.EXE file to start the program)
CD\MENU (When Easy Writer exits, change to MENU directory)
CLS (Clear the screen again)
TYPE MENU (Presents menu again, ready for another selection)
You can type the above in upper or lower case as it makes no
difference to DOS. Be sure that you save it as A.BAT. The next program
will be B.BAT and so on down the alphabet. Now when you press "A" and
ENTER you will go immediately into the word processor. When you finish
your writing and exit the processor the menu will immediately reappear
and you are ready for another selection.
The batch files for selections "Q" through "Y" in the sample menu
above would look like this:
Q.BAT R.BAT S.BAT T.BAT
""""""""" """""""""""" """""""""" """""""""
@ECHO OFF @ECHO OFF @ECHO OFF @ECHO OFF
CLS CLS CLS CLS
DIR C:\ CD\ CD\ CD\
PAUSE A: FORMAT A: /f:360kb
CLS CD\MENU
TYPE MENU CLS
U.BAT V.BAT W.BAT
""""""""" """"""""" """"""""""
@ECHO OFF @ECHO OFF @ECHO OFF
CLS CLS CLS
CD\ CD\ CD\
FORMAT A: /f:1.2mb DISKCOPY A: A: DISKCOMP A: A:
CD\MENU CD\MENU CD\MENU
CLS CLS CLS
TYPE MENU TYPE MENU TYPE MENU
X.BAT Y.BAT
""""""""" """""""""
@ECHO OFF @ECHO OFF
CLS CLS
CHKDSK A: DIR A:
PAUSE PAUSE
CLS CLS
TYPE MENU TYPE MENU
Practically every menu program you look at tells you the first thing
to put their directory or program in your "path". Well, I'm going to be
different and tell you NOT to put the MENU directory in your path. It
works just fine without it and you don't run the risk of being sent to
some odd program every time you accidently type a letter. However,
there is one file (M.BAT) that should be in your path. M.BAT is the
little file that returns you to the MENU from where you are stranded in
outer space. Just suppose you are looking at some old files on the "A:"
drive and you are in the third directory down. The prompt looks like
this:
A:\ONE\TWO\THREE>
and suddenly you decide that you're through and want to go back.
Instead of typing four different commands, you just type "M" (for menu)
hit ENTER and Presto!..you are out of A: into C: and your MENU pops up on
the screen. M.BAT should look like this:
@ECHO OFF
CLS
CD\
C:
CD\MENU
TYPE MENU
I have a directory that, being very original, I call DOS2. This is
where I place all my favorite utilities that I want to be able to call
from any prompt. DOS2 is in my path and M.BAT is in the DOS2 directory.
However, if you have no such directory and don't wish to get into "paths"
right now, there's no problem. M.BAT can be copied into your "root"
directory which is at the C:\> prompt. That certainly is in your path.
Now there is one more very important thing left to do and, as usual,
I have left the touchy item to the last. That is modifying your
AUTOEXEC.BAT file so that it presents your menu when you first turn your
computer on. I said touchy not because it is any more difficult than
modifying any other ASCII file. It's just that so many people hesitate
to touch it, fearing that something awful could happen. The answer is
simple... Just put a blank, formatted disk in "A:" and, while at the A:\>
prompt, type:
COPY C:\*.* /v
and press ENTER.
Now, if you've managed your files properly, you should only copy
three files, COMMAND.COM, CONFIG.SYS, and AUTOEXEC.BAT. Now you have a
backup copy of these files and that should allow us to proceed to the
next step without further worries. For this you need to get out of the
MENU directory and into the root directory. Just type:
CD\
and press ENTER. Now your prompt should be:
C:\>
Now put your AUTOEXEC.BAT file in your editor. I have included a
copy of my AUTOEXEC.BAT file for comparison. The main thing we want to
do is delete any former menu direction at the end of the file and insert
the last three lines as I have in mine. This is my AUTOEXEC.BAT:
Comments only
"""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""
@echo off
cls
PATH C:\DOS;C:\;C:\dos2 (Path as I explained)
prompt=$p$g (Normal prompt)
C:\DOS\graphics )
C:\dos2\ffeed2 )___Utilities
C:\dos2\colorset 23 )
C:\dos2\numoff )
cls (These are the)
cd\menu (three items you)
type menu (need to insert)
Of course, after making these changes to AUTOEXEC.BAT, you will need
to reboot. This can be done using Ctrl-Alt-Del, or any method you may
have for rebooting. You could even turn the computer off and then on
again. If we have done everything right your menu should now be on the
screen with the C:\MENU> prompt below it.
I'm sure you noticed that I only discussed a C: hard drive and an A:
floppy drive. I did this only to give an example and to be as brief as
possible. I'm sure you can adapt the menu to your individual
requirements.
ONE CAUTION! You can make as many menus as you like but don't make
the same mistake I did. While testing MENUFORM.BAS, I forgot that I was
in my own menu directory and it naturally wiped out my own menu.
Fortunately, I keep a backup, so no harm done. I would recommend getting
in a temporary directory to make your second menu and then rename it
MENU2 before copying it to your MENU directory.
That's it! I have used this menu for two years and I haven't seen
another one yet that would tempt me to change. It's simple, it works
quickly, it doesn't take a lot of disk space, it takes zero memory and
best of all..it's FREE!
I sincerely hope you enjoy it.
[*][*][*]
NOTE: If the details of this article are confusing to any of you, I do
have a little program (FREE) in Library 5 of the IBMPC RT
that will make things a lot easier for you. It will not only
make the menu form but there are also editors for writing or
editing regular batch files plus AUTOEXEC.BAT. Many of the
little batch files are furnished plus a separate DISKMENU for
formatting the different size disks, Diskcopy (both drives) and
Diskcomp (both drives). The file is #27632 KWIKMNU2.LZH and
is only 67 kbyte so it can be downloaded in just a few minutes.
[EOA]
[PDQ]//////////////////////////////
PD_QUICKVIEW /
/////////////////////////////////
HYPERDISK 4.3.
""""""""""""""
By Peter C. Bogert
[P.BOGERT]
>>> HYPERDISK 4.31 <<<
""""""""""""""""""""""
~ Put the Seat Belts On And Let It Roll ~
Program Name : Hyperdisk
Filename : HYDSK431.ZIP
Library Area : 5
Program Number : 27513
File Size : 271,744
Program Type : Disk Cache & Tools
Author : HyperWare
Version Reviewed: 4.31
File Type : Shareware ($69.00)
[*][*][*]
WHAT IT IS Hyperdisk 4.31 is the latest upgrade of a fine disk cache,
"""""""""" keyboard accelerator, and (after registering) screen
accelerator.
WHAT IT DOES Simply put, Hyperdisk will speed up your system by caching
"""""""""""" (holding) the amount of data that needs to be read and
written to your hard disk.
[*][*][*]
PD_Q RATING * * * *
"""""""""""
DOCUMENTATION EXCELLENT: Extensive and helpful.
"""""""""""""
PD_Q COMMENTS If you have explored the options available in writing
""""""""""""" autoexec.bat and config.sys files, you probably have
encountered the dos parameter Buffers=xx. This statement provides a way
of retaining information in memory, thereby reducing the number of times
that Dos needs to read or write data. The result is simple - the fewer
times your disk has to be accessed, the faster the overall system speed
will be.
Hyperdisk is one of many fine disk caches available on the market,
but of the leaders (which include PC Tools PC Cache, and Multisoft's
Super PCKwik), is the only one with a shareware try-before-you-buy label.
Hyperdisk can be loaded into conventional memory, into expanded memory,
or into extended memory. The program comes with an installation program,
which allows you to configure Hyperdisk to the kind of memory you have,
as well as allocate the amount of memory you wish to use. Through a
short series of questions, you can also set up the program to replace the
slower Smartdrive cache that comes with Windows 3.0. Once the
installation is completed, your settings are saved to your autoexec.bat
or config.sys files, and you are ready to reboot.
If you operate with a hard disk (and who doesn't?) a disk cache is
almost a necessity. I would recommend Hyperdisk if you don't already
have a disk cache. Even if you do, you might want to switch. This
versatile product will give a boost to your system, and after all, all of
us want to make it run faster!
[EOA]
[VIE]//////////////////////////////
VIEWPOINT /
/////////////////////////////////
OS/2 Benefits
"""""""""""""
By Brian Withnell
[B.WITHNELL]
OS/2 BENEFITS OS/2 benefits are not just in having faster execution
""""""""""""" (which does happen just from executing 32 bit code
rather than 16 bit code).
Memory Protection The OS is immune to the run-away pointer that
""""""""""""""""" crashes the machine in DOS. This is one of the most
important features. You don't have the computer hang just because a
program was written poorly, the program may crash, but getting a general
protection violation in OS/2 doesn't mean the computer needs to be
reset. You don't think that DOS programmers have a problem with this?
When was the last time you had a UAE in Windows? (Answer: the longer of
"about 45 minutes to and hour ago" or "the last time I ran Windows and
got so discussed that I deleted it off my hard disk").
Memory Model - Flat OS/2 v2 has a flat 4 gigabyte address space for
""""""""""""""""""" each process that runs. This means that you don't
have your dreaded segments to deal with (you have always complained
about segments before, you should love OS/2 for this alone).
Paged Virtual Memory OS/2 v2 doesn't swap segments, it swaps 4k byte
"""""""""""""""""""" pages to disk. This means that when a piece of
code doesn't get executed, the memory it wastes (if not for virtual
memory) gets put to use doing something else (and this doesn't even have
to swap if the page is "clean" i.e. it hasn't changed since it was
loaded from disk.) Now sure memory is cheap these days, but I have a
program that gathers data at over 10 megabytes a day. Now if I have a
2.4 gigabyte drive, I can look at a weeks worth of data (about 90
megabytes) in "ram" even though the computer only has 64 meg of ram in
it. The only time this won't be an issue is when RAM is as cheap per
byte (and can be installed in the computer) as hard disk space. You can
buy a 2.4 gigabyte hard drive for about what, $5,000? 2.4 gig of RAM
cost about $80,000 - $110,000, two orders of magnitude larger. (RAM
still cost $35 - $45 a meg).
Multi-Tasking You might not like the idea of having background
""""""""""""" processing running all the time without impacting RAM
usage, but anyone who has used a multi-tasking OS (or even DESQVIEW) for
any length of time loves it. I can be in the middle of running a program
in one window and looking at the disk output files (of the running
program) in another window. I can leave Aladdin running, jump to another
session, test some code to answer a question, and just back to Aladdin
without leaving message I'm reading.
Dynamic Load Libraries Executable size shrinks without costing
"""""""""""""""""""""" anything in time (other than a seek to read
the code), and reliability of the code is greater.
Reduced Development Time I wrote a program that handles reading one
"""""""""""""""""""""""" serial port and passes the data through a
pipe to another process that uses the data. To make this program work
with 64 serial lines I just wrote a short routine that initializes the
64 ports and spawns a thread for each of the ports (which was the
original program to handle one port) and gave them all the handle for
the pipe to which they write. The code is much simpler to understand
(and therefore maintain) and took weeks less time than what would have
been required to write my own multitasker.
More Capable Programs Because it is easier to write programs for, and
""""""""""""""""""""" bugs are more noticeable (system traps are good
bug finders) the quality of programs being written for OS/2 by those
companies that are writing for OS/2 as a base are much more capable than
the DOS counterparts. If for no other reason than it is easier to
include multitasking. From what I've seen 32 bit code runs about twice
as fast on 386 and 486 systems as the 16 bit code to do the same
operations. This is without any different cache setup -- I'm talking
about code that runs without paging or overlays.
Lower Upgrade Cost Because OS/2 v2 runs DOS programs inside the
"""""""""""""""""" protected mode VDM many of the benefits of OS/2
are placed on top of DOS (you don't reboot when a VDM crashes, you just
shut down the VDM and restart it). I have only a very few programs that
won't run in the VDM of v2, and some of them I agree shouldn't run
(direct hardware access to the disk for instance [which has some
protection against virus infection by the way]), though the others are
slated to run the end of next month. The cost for OS/2 v2 is free to
any OS/2 1.3 owner, and it is expected to cost only $50 for DOS owners.
Even brand new it costs only $150 full retail, not a lot of money
compared to cache controllers. . . .
I could go on about the advantages of having the windowing system
part of the OS. I could mention system supported interrupt drivers for
all devices. In fact I could write books about the advantages of OS/2
over DOS, but I won't -- the books are already out there if you want to
learn instead of complain.
One other thing, load times are not longer for most programs as
whole sections of code can be marked load on demand. Load times for a
cache are just as long the first time the program is loaded, and with
multitasking you may need to load the program less often (you don't have
to exit to do something else, then go back to the program).
(B.WITHNELL, CAT11, TOP5, MSG:46/M615)
[EOA]
[PRT]//////////////////////////////
PRINT ME! /
/////////////////////////////////
GEnie Lamp Template
"""""""""""""""""""
PRINT ME! Are you a new member on GEnie? If so, this GEnie Lamp
""""""""" template can come in handy when exploring the Computing
RoundTables.
To make your GEnie Lamp template, "clip" the following chart and
print it on your printer, cut to size, then tape it to a heavy piece of
paper or thin cardboard.
~ cut here ~
______________________________________________________________________________
GEnie Lamp Template M515
""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""
<BYE> - Bye, logoff the system. <C>ommand - Toggles command/menu mode
<F>eedback - Send FEEDBACK to GE <H>elp - Help
<L>ocate m - Locate member m <M>ove xxx - Move to Page xxx
<M>ove xxx;y - Move to Page xxx;y <N>otify m n - Send a notice n to member m
<NON>otify - Toggle No Notify <P>revious - Move to Previous Page
<PA>ssword - Change your password <PH>one - Information on GEnie access #s
<PO>rt - Display the Port Number <R>ead - Read your new mail
<S>end - Send a new letter <T>ime - Print the current time and date
..............................................................................
~ Fold Here ~
______________________________________________________________________________
~ Cut Here ~
////////////////////////////////////// GEnie_QWIK_QUOTE /////
/ "It's very nice to be able to ask some esoteric question /
/ like the TONE structure for a touchtone phone... and get /
/ TWO detailed postings!!!! Thanks for sharing the info!!!" /
//////////////////////////////////////////// RHFACTOR /////
[EOA]
[LOG]//////////////////////////////
LOG OFF /
/////////////////////////////////
GEnie Lamp Information
""""""""""""""""""""""
o COMMENTS: Contacting GEnie Lamp
o GENIE LAMP STAFF: Who Are We?
o CONTRIBUTORS: This Issue
GEnie LAMP GEnie Lamp is monthly online magazine published in the
"""""""""" GEnie Lamp RoundTable on page 515. You can also find
GEnie Lamp in the ST (475), the Macintosh (605), the IBM (615) and
Apple II (645) RoundTables.
If you would like to ask a question, leave a comment or just drop
in and say hi. You can contact us at the following addresses:
o John F. Peters [GENIELAMP] Publisher/Editor
o Kent Fillmore [DRACO] GEnie Product Manager
U.S. MAIL
"""""""""
GEnie Lamp Online Magazine
% John Peters
5102 Galley Rd. #115/B
Colorado Springs, CO 80915
GEnie LAMP STAFF
""""""""""""""""
ATARI ST o John Gniewkowski [J.GNIEWKOWSK] ST Editor
"""""""" o David Holmes [D.HOLMES14] ST TX2 Editor
o Fred Koch [F.KOCH] GEnie LAMP[PR] Editor
o Mel Motogawa [M.MOTOGAWA] ST Staff Writer
o Terry Quinn [TQUINN] ST Staff Writer
o Sheldon Winick [S.WINICK] ST Staff Writer
o Richard Brown [R.BROWN30] ST Staff Writer
IBM o Peter Bogert [P.BOGERT1] IBM Editor
""" o Mark Quinn [M.QUINN3] IBM Co-Editor
o Mark Dodge [M.DODGE2] Staff Writer
MACINTOSH o James Flanagan [J.FLANAGAN4] MAC Editor
""""""""" o Richard Vega [R.VEGA] MAC Co-Editor
o Tom Trinko [T.TRINKO] MAC Staff Writer
APPLE II o Tom Schmitz [TOM.SCHMITZ] AII Editor
"""""""" o Phil Shapiro [P.SHAPIRO1] AII Co-Editor
GEnie LAMP CONTRIBUTORS
"""""""""""""""""""""""
o Alan Weston [A.WESTON]
o John Cram [J.CRAM2]
o Robert Wolf [AIR.WOLF]
o Gann Matsuda [G.MATSUDA]
o Larry Faust [L.FAUST2]
o Lorraine Wilson [L.WILSON6]
\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\////////////////////////////////////
Material published in this edition may be reprinted under the
following terms only. All articles must remain unedited and
include the issue number and author at the top of each article
reprinted. Reprint permission granted, unless otherwise noted, to
registered computer user groups and not for
profit publications.
Opinions present herein are those of the individual authors and
does not necessarily reflect those of the publisher or staff of
GEnie Lamp. We reserve the right to edit all letters and copy.
Material published in this edition may be reprinted only with the
following notice intact:
\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\////////////////////////////////////
(c) Copyright 1992 T/TalkNET OnLine Publishing, GEnie, and the
GEnie Computing RoundTables. To sign up for GEnie service, call
(with modem) 1-800-638-8369. Upon connection type HHH. Wait for the
U#= prompt. Type: XTX99368,GENIE and hit RETURN. The system will
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\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\////////////////////////////////////
[EOF]
