|||||| |||||| || || |||||| |||||| || || ||| || || || || ||| |||| |||||| || |||| Your || || || || ||| || || |||||| |||||| || || |||||| |||||| GEnie Lamp Apple II || |||||| || || |||||| RoundTable || || || ||| ||| || || || |||||| |||||||| |||||| RESOURCE! || || || || || || || ||||| || || || || || ~ HOT FILES / HOT MESSAGES ~ ~ APPLE BYTES: Confirmed News! ~ ~ APPLE II HISTORY - PART 1 ~ ~ APPLE II AND THE FUTURE ~ ~ ASK DOCTOR FRANKLIN ~ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\//////////////////////////////////// GEnie Lamp Apple II ~ A T/TalkNET OnLine Publication ~ Vol.1, Issue 03 """""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""" Publisher............................................Kent Fillmore Senior Editor........................................John Peters Editor (AII).......................................Tom Schmitz Co-Editor (AII).................................Phil Shapiro ~ GEnie Lamp MAC ~ ~ GEnie Lamp IBM ~ ~ GEnie Lamp ST ~ ~ GEnie Lamp Elsewhere ~ ~ GEnieLamp Apple II ~ ////////////////////////////////////\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ >>> WHAT'S HAPPENING IN THE APPLE II ROUNDTABLE? <<< """""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""" ~ June 1, 1992 ~ FROM MY DESKTOP ......... [FRM] APPLE BYTES ............. [BYT] Notes From The Editor. Confirmed News! HEY MISTER POSTMAN ...... [HEY] HUMOR ONLINE ............ [HUM] Is That A Letter for Me? Virus Alert! WHO'S WHO ............... [WHO] FOCUS ON... ............. [FOC] Who's Who In Apple II. Apple II History. TELETALK ONLINE ......... [TEL] ABOUT THIS APPLE II ..... [ABO] Apple II BBS's Around the USA. Apple II & The Future. THINK ABOUT IT! ......... [THI] ONLINE FUNNIES .......... [FUN] Online Food For Thought. CowTOONS! VIEWPOINT ............... [VIE] THE ONLINE LIBRARY ...... [LIB] Pointless Made Easy. HOT Files For The Asking. THE PROGRAM CLINIC ...... [ASK] LOG OFF ................. [LOG] Ask Doctor Franklin. GEnieLamp 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} ABOUT GEnie GEnie costs only $4.95 a month for unlimited evening and """"""""""" weekend access to more than 100 services including electronic mail, online encyclopedia, shopping, news, entertainment, single-player games, multi-player chess and bulletin boards on leisure and professional subjects. With many other services, including the largest collection of files to download and the best online games, for only $6 per hour (non-prime-time/2400 baud). 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 then prompt you for your information. """""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""" ///////////////////////////////////////// GEnie_QWIK_QUOTE //// / "There are probably thousands more who installed system 6.0 / / and have had no problems and of course you won't hear from / / us--and that's the way it should be. So......GO AHEAD, Try / / it, you'll like it!" / /////////////////////////////////////////////// D.GILL10 //// [EOA] [FRM]////////////////////////////// FROM MY DESKTOP / ///////////////////////////////// Notes From The Editor """"""""""""""""""""" By John Peters [GENIELAMP] TOP OF THE PAGE Soon after the May issue was online, a GEnieLamp reader """"""""""""""" by the name of Jim Goepel wrote to me asking if I would consider starting up another version of GEnieLamp for all the other RoundTables here on GEnie. My first reaction was, "Oh no! _FIVE_ issues of GEnieLamp?" But after thinking about it for a bit, I came to the conclusion that Jim may be onto something here. And with that, GEnieLamp Elsewhere was born. Now you have an online magazine devoted to the "other" computing RoundTables. To check out the premier issue of GEnieLamp Elsewhere, look for it in the GEnieLamp RoundTable on page 515. Thanks, Jim! Another reader asked if it would be possible to download GEnieLamp instead of capturing it off the menu. I was kind of surprised to see this request since capturing GEnieLamp from the menu is free (i.e. part of the GEnie*Basic service) and downloading the magazine would be at normal online charges. However, there are some advantages to downloading the magazine such as the time it takes. Another factor would be if you have trouble with line noise. For those of you who would prefer to download GEnieLamp, you will now find all the GEnieLamp versions in the GEnieLamp RT Library on page 515;3. You also might want to keep in mind that with the proper script Aladdin could capture GEnieLamp for you. Fred Koch has come up with an excellent script for the Atari ST. (File #23605 in the ST Aladdin RoundTable/M1000;3). We are also working on a all platform Aladdin script that will, with the push of a key, download any or all of the GEnieLamp issues, do an Autopass 1 or 2 (if you like) and then log off GEnie. Look for more info in the next issue of GEnieLamp. GEnieLamp MAC Goes Graphics! As most of our Atari readers know, we have """""""""""""""""""""""""""" a special version of GEnieLamp available for the ST which includes pictures, screenshots, illustrations and other graphics. Now Macintosh readers can get in on the excitement too! Our Macintosh editor, Jim Flanangan has come up with a graphics issue for the GEnieLamp MAC readers. If you own a Mac, do yourself a favor and download the latest graphics issue available in the GEnieLamp RoundTable library (M515;3). It'll knock your socks off! That's about it for this month.... Take care! John Peters [GENIELAMP] //////////////////////////////////////// GEnie_QWIK_QUOTE //// / "(I'm) Gonna have to check into that, and stop these "Whip / / up a program real quick, 45-minute C- language marathons." / ////////////////////////////////////////////// EXPLORER //// [EOA] [BYT]////////////////////////////// APPLE_BYTES / ///////////////////////////////// Confirmed Apple II News """"""""""""""""""""""" o INCIDER/A+ TO HOLD FTA CONTEST o KANSASFEST TAKING SHAPE INCIDER/A+ TO HOLD FTA CONTEST Summer time, for many, is vacation time """""""""""""""""""""""""""""" and a time for fun, so the next several Shareware Solutions columns will be all about fun and games. In the July issue, we'll be taking a look at some wonderfu l ProDOS-8 based games and in the August issue, we'll be looking at some phenomenal GS/OS games. We'll be looking at some of the unreleased treasures from our good friends The FTA, and from some other French programmers you may have never heard of before. Also, in the August issue, timed to coincide with KansasFest, we will be announcing the first ever Shareware Solutions Contests. One contest will be for programmers and one will be for end users. Without giving away any state secrets, I'll just say that the contest is being made possible by Olivier Goguel. You know the Gog; founder of the FTA. (Go one Joe, tell 'em a little more) As you may have heard, when the FTA disbanded last winter, they left behind a number of partially completed programs. Olivier Goguel has provided me with the source code for the FTA software, and it is that source code that will be the basis of the programming contest. That source code is going to be released as public domain (Spread it far and wide, please) and we will be conducting our contest to see who can create the most mind blowing completed product from the source code. We're currently trying to get sponsors, so we can offer prizes. I'm very excited about the contests, as I see it as a way for the II community to get focused again on something positive. There's been entirely too much doom and gloom recently (IMHO) and I see the contest as a way out of all that negativity. I hope you'll agree, and get involved in that first contest. So does Olivier Goguel, who sends his regards to the IIGS community. -Joe Kohn (J.KOHN, CAT28, TOP4, MSG:2/M645;1) \ [NOTE: Joe writes the SHAREWARE SOLUTIONS column and other articles for inCider/A+. Be sure to check out his great work!] KANSASFEST TAKING SHAPE A2-Central Summer Conference! """"""""""""""""""""""" July 21-22: Two-day Colleges. If you come for Tuesday and Wednesday's activities, you'll have your choice of one of three two-day developer colleges. One of these will be an introduction to Pascal programming on the Apple IIgs, by Mike Westerfield, developer of the Orca series of development tools from The Byte Works. The second will be an introduction to C programming on the Apple IIgs, by Walker Archer and Gary Morrison. The third will be an intensive look at Apple IIgs Sound and Graphics programming, which will be led by Nate Trost, Chris McKinsey, and Bill Heineman. JULY 23-24: KANSASFEST If you come for Thursday and Friday's activities, """""""""""""""""""""" you'll get our best summer conference ever - two days packed with sessions about the Apple II. We're planning sessions that will help developers keep their System 6 products compatible with each other. We already have registrations from a group of Australian developers and a number of interesting proposals. For example, Softdisk, which continues to actively buy Apple II software from developers, is planning several sessions. And we're planning sessions for HyperStudio, HyperCard, and UltraMacros developers. Apple itself will once again attend this portion of our conference. In addition, we'll have a bunch of old-timers around to reminisce with you and a bunch of new-timers to tell you about their dreams for the Apple II's next 15 years. JULY 25-26: APPLE CENTRAL EXPO Just like last year, Events Specialists is """""""""""""""""""""""""""""" holding its Apple Central Expo in Kansas City on the Saturday and Sunday following our conference. This is a user-oriented show that draws Apple II users from across the midwest. The Expo will be held in the same building as our conference. For tickets to the Expo or to reserve exhibit space, call Events Specialists at 800-955-6630 (617-784-4531), or write them at 17 Lilac Road, Sharon, MA 02067 Call for proposals If you'd like to make a presentation at this year's """""""""""""""""" conference, send us a proposal by May 1. Tell us about your topic, intended audience, and equipment and time requirements. Presenters earn a discount! Facilities Like last year's summer conference, most of our sessions will """""""""" be held at a state-of-the-art conference facility owned by the National Office Machine Dealer's Association (NOMDA) in Kansas City, Mo. This facility is within networking distance of Avila College, where our conference has been held in the past and where, once again, we'll be able to provide dormitory rooms and meals to those who want to have the best time possible meeting and learning from other developers. Make your plans to attend now. Whether you come for one day or more, we promise you'll enjoy the sessions you'll attend and the people you'll meet. You must register by June 1 to get the best prices. We have private rooms available at Avila this year, or, if you prefer, choose double-occupancy and save some money. Avila's prices include evening and morning meals surrounding the nights of your stay. College and conference prices include lunch. If you like, you can pay for the sessions only and make your own hotel and transportation arrangements. Or you can eat and stay at Avila for $30 a night ($40 for a private room). And, for $30 more, we'll arrange to have you met at the airport and brought directly to Avila and returned. This final option would cover ALL of your costs for the conference except airfare. Registration Information Tuesday & Wednesday """""""""""""""""""""""" CONF-GS Graphics & Sound College before after CONF-P Pascal College June 1 June 1 CONF-C C College College of choice (lunch incl) $150 $175 Thursday & Friday CONF KansasFest(lunch incl) $300 $350 Saturday & Sunday Apple Central Expo 1-800-955-6630 Accommodations """""""""""""" TRANS Airport/Avila round trip $30 $35 AVILA-1 2 Meals, Private Room, per day $40 $45 AVILA-2 2 Meals, Double Room, per day $30 $35 You must attend a college or KansasFest to be eligible for a room at Avila. Room charge includes supper the night of your stay and breakfast the next morning. You must indicate which nights you want to stay at Avila. Accommodations are available from Monday the 20th to Sunday (RC.ELLEN, CAT23, TOP10, MSG56/M645;1) ////////////////////////////////////////// GEnie_QWIK_QUOTE //// / "Overnight there have been a dozen downloads. Now, how do we / / reach all those folks NOT on GEnie ? :-)" / //////////////////////////////////////////////// L.ROCHA1 //// [EOA] [HEY]////////////////////////////// HEY MISTER POSTMAN / ///////////////////////////////// Is That A Letter For Me? """""""""""""""""""""""" By Tom Schmitz & Phil Shapiro [TOM.SCHMITZ] [P.SHAPIRO1] o BULLETIN BOARD HOT SPOTS o APPLE II ODDS & ENDS o WHAT'S NEW W/APPLE II? o ...THROUGH THE GRAPEVINE o MESSAGE SPOTLIGHT >>> BULLETIN BOARD HOT SPOTS <<< """""""""""""""""""""""""""""""" [*] CAT2, TOP5, MSG:76.....How to make CDA's, NDA's, CDEV's & Init's work [*] CAT2, TOP5, MSG:113....Clean-up by name -- neat new System 6 option! [*] CAT3, TOP3, MSG:71.....How your Apple dealer can download System 6 [*] CAT9, TOP6, MSG:148....Patch to restore white folder default to 6.0 [*] CAT9, TOP6, MSG:385....What is Archiver on the system software? [*] CAT9, TOP6, MSG:412....ZIP Chip GS Speed problems [*] CAT9, TOP6, MSG:425....How to wire a SCSI cable [*] CAT9, TOP13, MSG:64....SYSTEM 6.0 AND RAMFAST [*] CAT11, TOP11, MSG:122..Zany Golf patch -- Get to the Mystery Hole! [*] CAT13, TOP21, MSG:36...New features for TCX!!! [*] CAT13, TOP6, MSG:47....New BrainStormer application for WriteWorks [*] CAT13, TOP25, MSG:105..Where did my Texas II subscription go? [*] CAT17, TOP5 , MSG:57...Word counting with AppleWorks 3.0 [*] CAT26, TOP2, MSG:71....The 911 error and what to do [*] CAT26, TOP9, MSG:4.....Apple StyleWriter warning [*] CAT35, TOP3, MSG:5.....ECON Announces Pegasus 0i - Internal SCSI Hard Drive Kit >>> APPLE II ODDS & ENDS <<< """""""""""""""""""""""""""" WHAT IS APPLE'S TIM SWIHART DOING? Now that System 6 and HCGS are done, """""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""" I've moved into a new role at Apple. I'm now managing the development and quality engineers in the A2 group. Same group, different role. Instead of managing products, I'm managing people. :-) Tim Swihart NEW Co-PILOT VERSION 2.0 I have just uploaded Co-Pilot version 2.0 """""""""""""""""""""""" (finally!!!). It should be available as #18389, GECoPilot.BXY, as soon as the sysops get to review it. This version of the Co-Pilot program itself is pretty much the same as the beta version that has been available, but with the bugs all fixed (hopefully) and a few details improved. The scripts have been completely revised to make them easier to understand (for those of you who care) and easier for me to modify and improve and to work better with GEnie. There is a new installer to make the installation easier but, due to numerous changes in the organization of Co-Pilot, the installer can not update configuration files from previous versions -- you will have to re-configure them manually. This version of Co-Pilot requires Point-to-Point version 4.0 or later or Talk is Cheap version 3.20 or later (please note that TIC 3.20 is now required -- the beta worked with earlier versions IC). This version will work correctly with PtP and System 6.0. The fee for new users remains $25. I regret that I have concluded that I have to charge an upgrade fee for this new version, due to the amount of time and effort that went into it, and the severe reduction in new sales. The upgrade is $10. There is one exception to this -- in appreciation of his support of Co-Pilot when I have not been available, Gary Utter gets a free upgrade. Besides squashing the inevitable bugs that will appear, I will be devoting my time in the next few weeks to adding support for ProTERM to Co-Pilot. (K.GLUCKMAN, CAT10M TOP11, MSG:65/M645;1) MORE FROM GEnie LAMP When we saw the good word GEnie Lamp decided to """""""""""""""""""" give Ken a call and find out more about Co-Pilot: Co-Pilot is an off-line message processor which works with Talk is Cheap or Point-to-Point (and soon with ProTERM 3.0) to provide an easy to use IIGS desktop interface to GEnie. Changes in the latest version allow you to copy text from the message you are reading and paste it into the message you are writing, or to any other program which supports the clipboard. Other changes improve the perform ance of the scripts used to access GEnie and make the script files easier to read and therefore to customize. Many smaller refinements in the program have also been added to make use even easier. Co-Pilot was originally written as my first programming effort. It is still the only major application that I have written. It is written entirely in ORCA/M assembly. I only intended to create a desktop program that would allow me to read messages from (excuse me) CompuServe. However, it just kept growing and soon had many features for responding, archiving, downloading files and, eventually, fully automating an on-line session. Subsequently, I began to notice that really cool things were happening in the Apple II world on GEnie. However, I just couldn't deal with the GEnie interface. Tom Hoover's GEM helped a lot, but I am not an AppleWorks person, so I was still not comfortable with GEnie. I approached Tom Weisharr at AppleFest in Boston and he agreed to support the creation of a version of Co-Pilot for GEnie. I got a lot of help from all of the Sysops, Tom Hoover, Don Elton, Gary Little and others. I was really pleased when I was able to create a version of Co-Pilot for GEnie that looked to the user almost the same as the CompuServe version. I believe that one of Co-Pilot's greatest contributions has been that it provides the same interface for both GEnie and CompuServe. I know of no other set of programs that does that for any other computer. This has enabled many users of CompuServe to start using GEnie and vice-versa. In fact, it was Co-Pilot that brought the famous Gary Utter to GEnie from CompuServe! -Ken AII ADVERTISING THIS MONTH The following is from John Majka, secretary """""""""""""""""""""""""" of AII: The ads for the Apple II have been placed in the following magazines: National Review - Mother Jones - Discover - Sports Afield - The Atlantic - Inc. - Electronic Musician - CQ (for ham radio operators) They should begin appearing in the June issue due to publishing schedules except for NATIONAL REVIEW. Our ads are already appearing there and we have been getting responses to it. (D.CRUTCHER, CAT5, TOP7, MSG:44/M645;1) NO HARMONIE FOR EXPRESS From the thread here on GEnie it has become """"""""""""""""""""""" obvious that Express is not useful with the Harmonie printer drivers. This is due to the way Harmonie works (images a little then sends data out the port i n little chunks). Express is most beneficial for printer drivers like the standard ImageWriter driver and the Independence printer drivers for the DeskJet and LaserJet. All of these drivers image larger chunks of data and pump more data out the port in a single shot. For these drivers Express DOES REDUCE the time waiting to regain computer control. We apologize for making the assumption that if it saved time with our Independence printer drivers and if it saved time with the ImageWriter printer driver, that it would save time with the Harmonie d rivers. {Live and learn the hard way...} If you are using a Harmonie driver and Express isn't working well for you, please try to return the program to the place of purchase...we don't want anyone to be unhappy with us or with Express. Express is a great product; unfortunately it just doesn't benefit Harmonie users For those who do find Express useful, please don't return the software just to get it free...it took two years and lots of money to develop. We don't mind refunding Kirk and others who are using Harmonie because Express doesn't appear to be useful to them. Thanks, -Dave (SEVENHILLS, CAT43, TOP10, MSG:21/24/M645;1) >>> WHAT'S NEW WITH APPLE II? <<< """"""""""""""""""""""""""""""""" A2 RT HAS A NEW BOSS Dean Esmay (A2.DEAN) has been promoted to Head """""""""""""""""""" Sysop of A2 and A2Pro, the Apple II RoundTables on GEnie. Dean has been our librarian here since early 1989. Dean follows in the footsteps of Chet D ay, who resigned in late March to run the Religion and Ethics RoundTable here on GEnie. I'm renovating this room for Dean so he can have an office. Please excuse the folding table and chairs for now, we've got a computer desk and some file cabinets on order. If you have any ideas u'd like to share with Dean about how the Apple II RoundTables should be run, this is where you can catch him. -Tom Weishaar, Manager, Apple II RoundTables (UNCLE-DOS, CAT3, TOP7, MSG:1/M645;1) WHO IS DEAN? Gosh, Lloyd, tell you about myself? That might scare """""""""""" people away, but I'll give it a shot. :-) I started working with computers in an independent study program back at a special education High School I attended back in the early 80's. Actually I started before that playing around with a TRS-80 Model I and Commodore 64 systems, went through a brief love affair with the IBM-PC, and finally discovered the Apple II via an Apple IIe at school. I started reading Open-Apple at that time and because me a fanatic (perhaps too much of one, but I was young) from that point on. When Tom Weishaar took over the Apple II RoundTables on GEnie, I sent him my resume. I'd been using a modem for a while and was running my own BBS at the time. I was also President of the Apple Tree Computer Club and had developed a reputation with a lot of folks for being a problem-solver. Tom, in a momentary lapse of reason, decided to hire me. I became library and A2.HELP manager here in A2 something like three and a half years ago. I started in December '88 I think, and after a couple of weeks of training I took over from Doug Acker (library) and Dennis Doms (A2.HELP). Those were pre tty scary days, especially since I'd never even used GEnie before, but I guess it worked out. I'm still here. I was divorced a while back, and now live in the south suburbs of Chicago with my girlfriend Susan, owner of Digital Data Express (a small Apple II software & used hardware dealership that also distributes the Apple II GEM CD-ROM), with her two kids and her dad. We reside in beautiful unincorporated Midlothian, just a few minutes south of the city. Heck, if anyone from around here wants to get together for coffee or beer or some such, I'd be happy to meet you. In addition to my duties here, I've been the editor of A2-Central On Disk ever since its inception. My first job was converting all our back issues into text format for sale on a single package, and after that massive project began creating a monthly disk issue jammed full of the best PD, freeware, and shareware software I could find. I also have that wonderful job responsibility known as "other tasks as assigned," and have at various times done things like answered mail for A2-Central or handled other tasks that Tom needed. Mostly it was just the library and A2 On Disk. Last year I became the editor of Studio City, nee' Stack-Central. I'm particularly proud of Studio City. We made a lot of changes to it and I now think it's one of the finest disk based publications you'll find on any machine. It's a lot of work and terribly demanding, maybe even more than it's worth, but I find it incredibly rewarding. I still do the occasional article or other task for the A2-Central newsletter, and am in the process of negotiating a deal to become a columnist for inCider on top of everything else. This stuff is about all I do for a living, though I occasionally teach computer workshops or write articles for other magazines. I also sometimes write music reviews for On-Line Digital Music Review. I've been working more or less on my own since '88, mostly at home though I do have an office in Blue Island, Illinois. I find it all quite wonderful. Perhaps I don't make as much money as I might at a "real" job, but the compensation is that I have a much greater degree of freedom in my working hours and habits than most people ever do. It also allows me to take occasional classes at the local community college without worrying too much about scheduling conflicts. I never went to college after High School so this is nice. Though I'm familiar with and occasionally use other machines, I've been an Apple II diehard since the early 80's and I don't see that changing any time soon. I stand about 5'10", weigh too much, and sport quite long blonde hair and a beard to go with my somewhat piercingly blue eyes. I've been told at various times that I look like either some kind of Viking or Gregg Allman, though neither is intentional. I usually don't wear much besides t-shirts and shorts. I own exactly one tie, which I never learned how to put it on and haven't worn in at least three years. (A2.DEAN, CAT3, TOP7, MSG:26/M645;1) MORE NEW HIRES I'd like to announce that Bill Dooley (BILL.DOOLEY) has """""""""""""" recently joined the A2 staff as our bulletin board manager and Chief Topic Cop. You may not all be familiar with Bill, he's usually pretty quiet here in A2, but you may recognize him from some of the other RTs he frequents, most notably the Jerry Pournelle RT. I hope you'll all make Bill feel welcome in his new role. I know the staff here in A2 is looking forward to working with him. I'd also like to announce here that Greg DaCosta, now using the account GREGD, has rejoined the staff, this time as an assistant to Tom Stechow over in A2Pro. Welcome back, Greg! (A2.DEAN, CAT3, TOP7, MSG:36/M645;1) TRADING ZONE REVAMPED Categories 4 and 7 were completely reorganized """"""""""""""""""""" last month. Category four, A2 RT's trading zone has expanded its scope and sectioned off various types of products into their own topics. GEnie's A2 RT is a unique second-hand market where great bargains are constantly found. And if nobody is offering what you are looking for, just ask. Somebody will be right along with a hot lead or maybe even with the item in hand. Here is a list of the new trade zones: Category 4 Product/Service Directory (ads, addresses, phone numbers) Topic # Description [*] 1 A2's Classifieds [*] 5 Full Systems/Large packages [*] 7 8-bit Software [*] 10 16-bit Software [*] 14 II+ specific expansion cards [*] 15 Standard slot (1-7) expansion cards [*] 16 IIe auxiliary slot expansion cards [*] 17 IIgs memory expansion slot cards [*] 19 5.25 floppy drives [*] 20 3.5 floppy drives [*] 22 IIc Hard Drives [*] 23 SCSI Hard Drives [*] 24 Non-SCSI Hard Drives [*] 25 Tape and CD-ROM Drives [*] 28 Printers [*] 29 Scanners/digitizers [*] 30 Monitors [*] 31 Modems [*] 35 II+ and II+ specific hardware [*] 36 IIe and IIe specific hardware [*] 37 IIc/IIc+ and IIc-specific hardware [*] 38 IIgs and IIgs-specific hardware [*] 39 Other hardware & misc. equipment [*] 44 Computer shows and fairs THE SEARCH IS ON FOR EARLY APPLE II AUTHORS In recognition of all the """"""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""" fine support the Apple II family of computers has enjoyed from its inception, A2 and A2PRO are proud to announce a new effort dedicated to preserving as much of this older Cl assic software as is humanly possible. To do this we are soliciting the aid of all the visitors to A2 and A2PRO here on GEnie. We are instituting a massive search for as many of the early Apple II programmers as possible. We have several reasons for this. By tracking down these early luminaries, we hope to get them interested in continuing their work (for those who have since left the Apple II word), or, failing that, to obtain permission for distribution of their programs and/or source code via GEnie. This would involve release of Copyright, or otherwise gaining permission for distribution. With the rumors of the loss of the original masters for much of Infocom's early adventure games (whether true or not), the ability to acquire older programs for safekeeping has taken on a new importance. At this point, a statement of our general goals would probably be the best way to explain what we are trying to do. >>>>> LOST CLASSICS GOALS """"""""""""""""""""""""""" 1. Preserve as much Classic Apple II software as possible, including source code, if available, to prevent inadvertent loss due to accident or misplacement. 2. Provide a service to our clients by providing access to software which is otherwise unavailable due to cessation of commercial publication. 3. Provide a clearinghouse for dated software which needs update for modern Apple IIs (ProDOS vs DOS 3.3, //e vs ][+, etc.), but which may need other third or fourth party assistance to complete. (T his includes both public and where necessary, private assistance with negotiations between interested parties.) 4. Try to obtain derivation rights for non-Apple II software for porting to the Apple II platform. (For example, Sim-City for the GS, perhaps). 5. In the process, make A2 and A2PRO an important hub in the continuing support of the Apple II line of computers. These goals have been stated basically in order of importance. Our primary consideration is the preservation of existing software which may no longer be published. Because of this, we here at A2/A2PRO applaud efforts by Big Red, Triton, and others to acquire distribution rights for much of the more recent Apple II software. But they do not go far enough. In many cases they do not obtain source code, so they cannot upgrade or update much of the software they carry. If the current owner of the source code should lose their disk(s), the software is gone forever. (And we know how many people keep backups, right? :) The best that can be accomplished through Big Red, et al, is partial satisfaction of Goal #1 and Goal #2 (which is no mean feat, but it is not enough). Detailed Approach We will be keeping a database of as many Apple II """"""""""""""""" programmers as possible. The only criterion will be that these programmers be owners of copyrights on previous commercial (copyrighted) Apple II soft ware. We need your help. If you are an Apple II programmer (current or past), reply in the appropriate Topic in this category with your particulars: address, phone #, e-mail addresses (GEnie and elsewhere), and what software you have written. Doing so will NOT obligate you in any way. Should you know of the whereabouts of other programmers/copyright holders, then we would like that information also. By knowing where these people are, we can start a systematic effort to track them down to ask for support of our project. Since storage on GEnie's mainframes would appear to be a very safe place for storage, this would satisfy Goal #1, even without source code. If allowed to distribute, this would satisfy Goal #2. If it needs update, we can work to organize the programmers which frequent A2P RO to get software updated (with permission, of course), assuming the original programmer is unable or unwilling to undertake the task himself. This satisfies Goal #3. Because some Apple II programmers went on to other platforms, it may be possible to convince them, or another programmer, to do a port to the Apple II of the newer, non-Apple II software which is currently unavailable on the Apple II. This satisfies Goal #4. By performing all of these, we automatically meet Goal #5. Privacy Issues Should you be one of the programmers we are searching """""""""""""" for, and do NOT want your personal information stated publicly, then send private e-mail to T.TOBIN with your data and instructions to that effect . All information acquired privately will remain that way, private. If you are providing data on another individual and are unsure if they wish their addresses publicly aired, then please send their info by e-mail as well. All requests for privacy will be honored. It is also assumed that there may be programmers who do not wish their software distributed online, but would like to partake of t he other services being offered here (safety from loss, programmer clearinghouse, etc.). Although this avoids Goal #2, we realize we cannot have everything, and we will be willing to help work the problem. We are in the process of setting up an Optical Disk Cartridge (560MB Total Stora ge, per Cartridge) for offline storage of any and all programs and source which programmers do not wish on GEnie initially. This provides a geographically separate 'safety' storage which can be guaranteed not to be distributed without express permission, and which can be used to support whatever update/upgrade plan the author may have in mind (if any). In Summary Remember, if you are an Apple II programmer, let us know who and where you are. If you know of an Apple II programmer, let us know where he or she is. This will only work with your support. Show your support for the best, most versatile computer ever made by becoming actively involved. Apple II Forever! (And WE really mean it!) Disclaimer As this effort evolves, we retain the right to change or """""""""" improve how we do this, as necessary. (But we will not violate any confidences, regardless) (T.TOBIN, CAT7, TOP1, MSG:2/3/4/M645;1) >>> LOST CLASSIC TOPICS """"""""""""""""""""""""" [*] 1 About Lost Classics [*] 2 Who Really Owns this Stuff? [*] 3 Lobby and Front Desk: Check in Here [*] 4 Apple ][ Fantasies [*] 5 Volunteer Programmers Needed >>> ...THROUGH THE GRAPEVINE <<< """""""""""""""""""""""""""""""" HYPERCARD MAC DEATH? I see where Apple is now denying the rumored death """""""""""""""""""" of HyperCard (Mac). It seems some people are interpreting the release (pending?) of Apple script as the death knell for HyperCard. Apple says it ain't so. Isn't strange that they have to spend so much time and energy saying they aren't killing a product line? HyperCard (and the Mac) will probably evolve to the point where current users are in the same boat as we ][ users. Tools on a RISC chip to allow it to run 680404 code? Wanna bet what kind of compatibility problems that will cause? But hey, system 6 is great. Thanks Tom et al. (J.L.COFFEY, CAT5, TOP3, MSG:76/M645;1) APPLE II GF? Readers of GEnie's paper magazine, LIVEWIRE, may have """""""""""" noticed a photo caption mentioning the Apple IIGF. As always, this started the rumor mill churning so we at GEnie Lamp decided to call our friends at Livewire and get the scoop. Here is what they had to say: The 'IIGF' is unfortunately nothing more than a typo of IIGS. Somewhere along the line someone made a mistake and it was mentioned under a screen shot of Sensei as 'IIGF', when it was supposed to be IIGS. Being a IIGS owner myself, I wasn't exactly thrilled to see the error appear (especially since I captured the screen shot, etc). Sincerely, Kevin J. McCann Asst. Editor, LW HEATHKIT COMPUTER PASSES Today, in the Chicago Tribune Tempo section, I """""""""""""""""""""""" saw some very sad, though in retrospect, not very surprising news. Heath Co. is discontinuing the production of Heathkits. "Actuarial tables" were cited as the determining factor in discontinuing the kits in favor of ready-made consumer electronics items. Just another sign of the times. Too many of Heathkit's customers were old, and passing on, and they were not being replaced. Mr. William Johnson, president of the company asked "Do your kids have the patience to sit down and build there own stereo set over the course of several evenings, or a weekend? Mine don't. They want to buy one at a store so they can listen to it the very same day". So easy. So convenient. No curiosity for how or why it works. No, as Johnson called it, "Eureka!" factor needed... although some people I've seen lately probably shout that when they manage to get the batteries in the right way. I guess I'm just sad. Another treasure of the past fading away, as so many others have recently, in the name of the holy bottom line. The world is becoming a very gray place. Bartender, got a Coke? I'm gonna dig out my Don Lancaster books and my IC references and have some fun, in memory of Heathkit. -Rich (BARRACUDA, CAT2, TOP7, MSG:17/M645;1) >>> MESSAGE SPOTLIGHT <<< """"""""""""""""""""""""" Category 19, Topic 13 Message 3 Mon May 18, 1992 A2.DEAN [Studio City] at 18:11 EDT I might as well throw myself into this controversy... some of my friends won't like that I say this, but what the heck. BTW, I'm editor of Studio City, a HyperStudio based magazine, and am involved on the fringes of Script-Central (some months more than others). Using an accelerated IIgs with a hard drive and a RamFast, I have still never seen a stack working under Hypercard IIgs that I considered fast enough to be useful. I find it painful any time I try to do anything with Hypercard; yes, there are neat things you can do with that language, but anything you do with it is going to run so slow you'll probably have time to walk down to a local restaurant for a few cups of coffee while you wait for it to finish whatever it's doing. I can't even imagine how horrid it would be trying to use Hypercard on a IIgs without acceleration. If I didn't already have a Zip GS, and I bought Hypercard IIgs, I'd want my money back. HyperStudio is significantly faster all the way around. So much faster that from what I've seen, a IIgs without an accelerator will be faster with HyperStudio than a machine WITH an accelerator will be with Hypercard. HyperStudio excels in the tons of little things it does that other Hypermedia programs can't do. Little things mean a lot when added up; funky transitions, vastly better graphics and animation support, speed, greater ease of use, flexibility, and on and on. Right now the ONLY think Hypercard has on HyperStudio is the scripting language; if it weren't for Hypertalk's power, Hypercard would be a complete joke. HyperStudio's scripting is quite weak right now; not only weak, but also embarassingly buggy. If SimpleScript were half as good as HyperTalk, and actually WORKED right most of the time, there simply wouldn't be any question that HyperStudio was a better environment. I'll go ahead and say that I think that HyperStudio is a vastly superior environment for most Hypermedia tasks on the IIgs. Hypercard is too bloody slow and cumbersome to do anything really useful with; it's fun to play with if you're "into" programming and want a neat and easy language that you can do lots of stuff with, but I frankly have a hard time thinking of it as anything more than an impressive and glorified toy. Dean Esmay [*][*][*] Category 19, Topic 13 Message 5 Mon May 18, 1992 BO.MONROE [ =040 ] at 21:22 EDT Heh heh. You're fired, Dean. (Did I mention I'm Editor-In-Chief?) The truth is, HyperCard IIGS has been getting faster while HyperStudio has been getting SLOWER. My gut feeling is they operate now at about the same speed, though HyperStudio is still probably a little snappier. This could be because this here Quadra running HyperCard makes'em both look like they're stuck in the mud. On the other hand, I don't find the pace of either of them to be painful; more like "deliberate". At any rate, seems like some benchmarks are in order. As for HyperCard being "useful"... I use a hacked-together HyperCard IIGS stack to, believe it or not, balance my checkbook. It's eminently useful and every bit fast enough for my needs. (Like I said, I've got a Quadra sitting next to my GS. If HCGS was so "painfully slow", I'd just use the Mac. But it ain't, so I don't.) Best of all I wrote it in about 5 minutes in accordance with MY particular needs. That's the promise and the power of HyperTalk: the ability to quickly create software tailored to your own specific needs. Remember Applesoft? Dean hints at one of the truly cool things about HyperStudio: the modular nature of NBAs, Extras, and Transitions. This means that if some enterprising programmers were to write packages of these things, you could buy them and seamlessly integrate them into HyperStudio. So far, however, these things haven't materialized. (For that matter, scripting languages themselves are modular, and new languages for HyperStudio could be added if someone were to develop them. I think this idea is a more than a little retarded, but that's another story...) Dean rattled off some impressive HyperStudio features. On paper, it doesn't look like a contest between HyperStudio and HyperCard. However, a program is lot more than a list of features -- it's how well those features work together to make you creative and productive. My experience has been that HyperCard IIGS grows on me-- the more I work with it, the more comfortable (and transparent) it becomes. My experience with HyperStudio has been pretty much the opposite; the more I work with it, the less I enjoy it, and the more I find myself fighting the program and devising work-arounds. That sounds like a hell of a slam, I s'pose. However, I think it really only reflects the different natures of the two programs (and, admittedly, my somewhat unusual use of them). One of the primary design goals of HyperStudio has been to make it instantly accessible; this, in my opinion, comes at the cost of depth. HyperCard is a simpler tool; you have to master it before you can do anything neat with it. If HyperStudio were a plastic model airplane kit, HyperCard would be an X-Acto knife and a block of balsa. A lot of people are going to be perfectly happy with the results of the kit. But the person with the block of balsa doesn't _have_ to build a plane; she can carve a boat or even a cuckoo clock if she feels like it. She may also cut her hand or never finish the project because it's too hard. Your preference depends on your creative inclination and whether you view mastering a tool as a challenge or a chore. --Bo [*][*][*] While on GEnie, do you spend most of your time downloading files? If so, you may be missing out some excellent information in the Bulletin Board area. The messages listed above only scratch the surface of what's available and waiting for you in the bulletin board area. If you are serious about your APPLE II, the 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. /////////////////////////////////////////// GEnie_QWIK_QUOTE //// / "I used to spell it correctly, until I began reading messages / / from others online." / ///////////////////////////////////////////// D.A.BRUMLEVE //// [EOA] [HUM]////////////////////////////// HUMOR ONLINE / ///////////////////////////////// Virus Alert! """""""""""" Compiled by Terry Quinn [TQUINN] ! ! ! POLITICAL VIRUS ALERT ! ! ! """"""""""""""""""""""""""""""""" * George Bush Virus: Doesn't do anything, but you can't get rid of it until November. * Ted Kennedy Virus: Crashes your computer but denies it ever happened. * Warren Commission Virus: Won't allow you to open your files for 75 years. * Jerry Brown Virus: Blanks your screen and begins flashing an 800 number. * David Duke Virus: Makes your screen go completely white. * Congress Virus: Overdraws your disk space. * Paul Tsongas Virus: Pops up on Dec. 25 and says "I'm NOT Santa Claus". * Pat Buchanan Virus: Shifts all output to the extreme right of the screen. * Dan Quayle Virus: Forces your computer to play "PGA Tour" from 10am to 4pm six days a week. * Bill Clinton Virus: This virus mutates from region to region. We're not exactly sure what it does. * Richard Nixon Virus: aka the "Tricky Dick Virus"...you can wipe it out, but it always makes a comeback. * H.Ross Perot Virus: same as the Jerry Brown Virus, only nicer. Fonts are used and it appears to have had a lot more money put into its' development. And, for those of you that absolutely *must* have the state-of-the- art in everything, is the recently released: * L.A.P.D. Virus: This is a reincarnation of the Ted Kennedy Virus, but comes with videotape coverage of the crash and the insanity which follows. This was contributed by Rick Bryan on another source...... (R.SCHENOT, CAT15, TOP21, MSG:1/MXXX) //////////////////////////////////////////// GEnie_QWIK_QUOTE //// / "P.S. There's another question that hasn't been asked yet, so / / I'll try to head it off. Yes, when you type keys on the / / keyboard, they appear on the screen. " / /////////////////////////////////////////////// J.EIDSVOOG1 //// [EOA] [WHO]////////////////////////////// WHO'S WHO / ///////////////////////////////// Who's Who In Apple II """"""""""""""""""""" >>> GEnieLamp PROFILE OF KARL BUNKER <<< """""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""" [This is the first in a series of profiles planned by the editors of the Apple II version of GEnie Lamp. These profiles will spotlight some of the uniquely creative individuals that have contributed time and energy to making the Apple II such a wonderful computer. -ED] [*][*][*] 1) How did you first become interested in the Apple II computer? 2) Can you share with us some anecdotes of your first forays into computer programming? Early in 1986, I decided to buy a computer. For the life of me, I can't think why I wanted to do this. I literally had never touched a computer at this time. After looking through a Consumer Reports paperback on personal computers, I decided to get an Apple //c. I chose the //c because I liked the look of it. I don't mean the features, or the display options, or the available software; I mean the LOOK. I liked the design of the external case. Also, I could afford it. Once I had the computer, I figured I'd better learn how to use it, so I got a book called "Understanding the Apple //c." This book just happened to contain a lot of information about Applesoft BASIC programming. I tried typing in some of the programs from the book, and before I knew it, I was hooked -- I had discovered why I had bought a computer in the first place. My first "original" program was one that continuously printed an obscenity at random locations on the screen. I thought it was hilarious; then, as now, I had an pretty juvenile sense of humor. I bought a copy of AppleWriter (a word processor) along with my //c. After I had learned a little bit about BASIC programming, I figured I could use this knowledge to modify AppleWriter to correct some of its faults. I was quite surprised and disappointed to learn that I couldn't just "LOAD" and "LIST" AppleWriter. (AppleWriter, of course, was written in assembly language, about which I knew nothing.) 3) Over the years you've released some very high quality Apple II freeware utilities. (Such marvels as DOGPAW and Sneeze come immediately to mind.) What was your motivation in sharing these programs for free with other Apple II users? Do you have a personal philosophy about such things? Well, first off, many programs much better than any of mine have been released as freeware. I've gotten a lot of use and benefit from things that others have donated to the Apple II community, so I feel compelled make a contribution myself -- and that's how the tradition is perpetuated. With Dogpaw (a text file displayer/printer) in particular, I wanted to create something that could be used to display or print out the instruction files that are distributed along with freeware and shareware programs. For this to work, I had to allow Dogpaw to be freely distributed, so I made it public domain. Sneeze is free because it started out life as "Window", a program written by someone else and released as freeware. I modified and improved this earlier program, eventually putting it through about 10 zillion iterations and increasing its capabilities enormously, but kept it as freeware. Sneeze is now probably one of the most versatile and powerful freeware utilities available for Apple II's. (Sneeze is a combination text viewer/printer, graphics viewer, program launcher, and file manager.) Most of my "major" programs have been released as shareware. I love the institution of shareware; the voluntary, honor-system nature of it, the fact that all payments and other communication go directly from user to programmer, with no "MBA" middle-man deciding what the customer wants and what the programmer should do. I say in the documentation file to one of my programs that a shareware payment "provides inspiration and moral support that goes far beyond its monetary value", and it's quite true. I LOVE getting those little checks! 4) Who do you consider your mentors? What about them do you most admire? There are many, many extraordinary Apple II programmers, past and present. A list of the ones I admire would go on for pages. Actually, it's easy for me to admire other programmers, because I'm not really that great of a programmer myself. I think that I get some good IDEAS for programs, and that I can design a pretty decent user interface, but when it comes to being a whiz at writing code, or inventing the killer algorithm, I'm honestly nothing special. It took me AGES to learn assembly language, and MORE ages to learn IIgs toolbox programming, and right now I'm in the process of learning C -- and it's taking me AGES! Probably the most significant "mentor" in my life was William Ross, a woodworker who gave me my first job when I was 16. He taught me a lot about good craftsmanship, attention to detail, and that getting something RIGHT is more important than how long it takes. These principles apply very much to computer programming. 5) Where do you see the future of personal computing going? It's not going in the direction of more and better Apple II's, that's for sure. But the future of computer technology is an interesting subject. There will certainly continue to be vast improvements in hardware (more, cheaper, faster, smaller), but software will continue to be something of a bottleneck. Programming is still difficult (even for smarter programmers than me), and I don't see any great breakthroughs coming that will make it significantly easier. Artificial intelligence continues to be the Great Promise for the future of computers. Apple Inc. produces promotional videos touting the hypothetical "Knowledge Navigator" of the future -- a handy-dandy personal computer that you'll be able to talk to like you'd talk to your mother, only it will understand your spoken sentences better than your mother probably does, and have more intelligent and useful responses than your mother probably does. This sort of thing has been a pipe dream since the earliest days of computers, and it's still a LONG way off, in my opinion. 6) Can you tell us a little about the types of things you like to do for fun? (Speaking of "non-computer" fun, here.) I read a fair amount of non-fiction, and I tend to "go through" a lot of interests; reading about many different topics. My current favorite non-computer subject is military history. I've also done a lot of reading lately on the topic of failure -- great planning disasters, engineering failures, military disasters, historical embarrassments, etc. I think that spectacular failure is a fascinating subject. 7) What accomplishments are you most proud of? I think one's best, proudest accomplishments should always be the ones you haven't done yet; the ones you're still working on. More prosaically, I especially like my IIgs program-switcher "Quit-To". I use it constantly myself, and it makes my computering much faster and more productive. The IIgs and its system software make for a terrific machine, and I get a real kick out of the fact that something that I've written can enhance the system so much. Looking at my life as a whole (not just the computer side of things), I'd have to say that the accomplishment I'm most proud of is my relationship with my wife. Hokey, but true. 8) Are there any long term goals that you've set for yourself? I'm learning Mac programming. (Boo, hiss, says the crowd.) I fully intend to continue programming on the Apple II, but I also want to move out into a market that isn't being actively buried by the company that controls it. 9) Do you have any favorite motto? Sure, lots: "Why the *&^% did THAT happen?" "Oops, that doesn't look right." "I thought I FIXED that!" "I don't understand this at all." "I wonder what's on TV." 10) Are you active in the local user group in your area? If so, what kinds of activities are going on involving the Apple II. I'm too shy and antisocial to go to user group meetings. One of the many pleasures of computers for me is that I get to interact with people via screen and keyboard -- an environment that I feel more at ease with. 11) How long have you been on GEnie? Since about 1988, I think. 12) Does your daytime job involve computers, too? If so, kindly detail trade secrets and other compromising information. My daytime profession is mechanical technician. It's boring and doesn't involve computers, but it lets me spend lots of time thinking about whatever program I may be working on at the time. I'm constantly jotting down little programming-related notes to myself during the day. [EOA] [FOC]////////////////////////////// FOCUS ON... / ///////////////////////////////// Apple II History """""""""""""""" By Steven Weyhrich >>> APPLE II HISTORY <<< """""""""""""""""""""""" Compiled and written by Steven Weyhrich (C) Copyright 1991, Zonker Software (PART 1 -- PRE-APPLE HISTORY) [v1.1 :: 12 Dec 91] INTRODUCTION This project began as a description of how the Apple II """""""""""" evolved into a IIGS, and some of the standards that emerged along the way. It has grown into a history of Apple Computer, with an emphasis on the place of the Apple II in that history. It has been gleaned from a variety of magazine articles and books that I have collected over the years, supplemented by information supplied by individuals who were "there" when it happened. I have tried not to spend much time on information that has been often repeated, but rather on the less known stories that led to the Apple II as we know it (and love it) today. Along the way I hope to present some interesting technical trivia, some thoughts about what the Apple II could have been, and what the Apple II still can be. The Apple II has been described as the computer that refuses to die. This story tells a little bit of why that is true. If you are a new Apple II owner in 1992 and use any 8-bit Apple II software at all, you may feel bewildered by the seemingly nonsensical way in which certain things are laid out. AppleWorks asks which "slot" your printer is in. If you want to use the 80 column screen in Applesoft BASIC you must type an odd command, "PR#3". If you want to write PROGRAMS for Applesoft, you may have some of those ridiculous PEEKs and POKEs to contend with. The disk layout (which type is supposed to go into which slot) seems to be in some random order! And then there is the alphabet soup of disk systems: DOS 3.3, CP/M, Pascal, ProDOS, and GS/OS (if you have a IIGS). If you use 16-bit software EXCLUSIVELY, you will probably see none of this; however, even the most diehard GS user of the "latest and greatest" 16-bit programs will eventually need to use an 8-bit program. If you can tolerate a history lesson and would like to know "the rest of the story," I will try to make sense of it all. I think one of the Apple II's greatest strengths is the attention they have paid over the years to be backward compatible. That means that a IIGS "power system" manufactured in 1991, with 8 meg of memory, a hand-held optical scanner, CD-ROM drive, and 150 meg of hard disk storage can still run an Integer BASIC program written in 1977, probably without ANY modification! In the world of microcomputers, where technology continues to advance monthly, and old programs may or may not run on the new models, that consistency is amazing to me. Consider the quantum leap in complexity and function between the original 4K Apple ][ and the ROM 03 IIGS; the amount of firmware (built-in programs) in the IIGS is larger than the entire RAM SPACE in a fully expanded original Apple ][! This strength of the Apple II could also be considered a weakness, because it presents a major difficulty in making design improvements that keep up with the advances in computer technology between 1976 and the present, and yet maintain that compatibility with the past. Other early computer makers found it easy to design improvements that created a better machine, but they did so at the expense of their existing user base (Commodore comes to mind, with the PET, Vic 20, Commodore 64, and lastly the Amiga, all completely incompatible). However, this attention to detail is just one of the things that has made the Apple II the long-lived computer that it is. In examining the development of the Apple II, we will take a look at some pre-Apple microcomputer history, the Apple I, and the formation of Apple Computers, Inc., with some sideroads into ways in which early users overcame the limits of their systems. We will follow through with the development of the Apple IIe, IIc, and IIGS, and lastly make some comments on the current state of affairs at Apple Inc. regarding the Apple II. PRE-APPLE HISTORY Let's begin our adventure in history. I've designed a """"""""""""""""" special interface card that plugs into slot 7 on an Apple II. It contains an item its inventor called a "Flux Capacitor" (something about the being able to modify flux and flow of time). The card derives its power from a self-contained generator called "Mr. Fusion" (another item I dug out of the wreckage from a train/auto accident in California a couple of years ago). Connected to the card via a specially shielded line, Mr. Fusion runs on trash (and is, therefore, the ultimate computer peripheral, if you recall the old principal of "garbage in, garbage out"). Let's put a few issues of PC MAGAZINE into Mr. Fusion, and switch on the Flux Capacitor. (Incidentally, for this to work, it needs an Apple II equipped with a specially modified Zip chip running at 88 MHz). Boot the disk and set the time circuits for 1975. Ready? Set? Go! ** CRACKADOOM ** !! Did you make it all right? (Just don't touch anything -- you don't want to disrupt the space-time continuum, you know!) Now, since the first Apple II wasn't released until 1977, what are we doing back in 1975? Well, to understand how the Apple II came about, it helps to know the environment that produced it. In 1975, the microcomputer industry was still very much in its infancy. There were few "home computers" that you can choose from, and their capabilities were very much limited. The first microprocessor chip, the 4-bit 4004, had been released by Intel back in 1971. The first video game, Pong, was created by Nolan Bushnell of Atari in 1972. Also in 1972, Intel had gone a step further in microprocessor development and released the 8-bit 8008, and then the 8080 in 1973. The year 1974 saw Scelbi Computer Consulting sell what some consider to be the first commercially built microcomputer, the Scelbi 8-H, based on Intel's 8008 chip. However, it had limited distribution and due to the designer's health problems it didn't go very far. The first home-built computer, the Mark 8, was released that same year. The Mark 8 used the Intel 8080 chip, but had no power supply, monitor, keyboard, or case, and only a few hobbyists ever finished their kits. Overall, the microchip had yet to make much of an impact on the general public beyond the introduction of the hand-held calculator. With the start of 1975 came a significant event in microcomputer history. If you will consider the early microprocessors of the years 1971 through 1974 as a time of germination and "pregnancy" of ideas and various hardware designs, January of 1975 saw the "labor and delivery" of a special package. The birth announcement was splashed on the front cover of a hacker's magazine, Popular Electronics. The baby's parents, MITS, Inc., named it "Altair 8800"; it measured 18-inches deep by 17 inches wide by 7 inches high, and it weighed in at a massive 256 bytes (that's one fourth of a "K"). Called the "World's First Minicomputer Kit to Rival Commercial Models," the Altair 8800 used the Intel 8080 chip, and sold for $395 (or $498 fully assembled). MITS hoped that they would get about four hundred orders for clones of this baby, trickling in over the months that the two-part article was printed. This would supply the money MITS needed to buy the parts to send to people ordering the kits (one common way those days of "bootstrapping" a small electronics business). This "trickle" of orders would also give MITS time to establish a proper assembly line for packaging the kits. However, they misjudged the burning desire of Popular Electronic's readers to build and operate their own computer. MITS received four hundred orders in ONE AFTERNOON, and in three weeks it had taken in $250,000.<1> The Popular Electronics article was a bit exuberant in the way the Altair 8800 was described. They called it "a full-blown computer that can hold its own against sophisticated minicomputers now on the market... The Altair 8800 is not a 'demonstrator' or souped-up calculator... [it] is a complete system." The article had an insert that lists some possible applications for the computer, stating that "the Altair 8800 is so powerful, in fact, that many of these applications can be performed simultaneously." Among the possible uses listed are an automated control for a ham station, a digital clock with time zone conversion, an autopilot for planes and boats, navigation computer, a brain for a robot, a pattern-recognition device, and a printed matter-to-Braille converter for the blind.<2> Many of these things will be possible with microcomputers by 1991, but even by then few people will have the hardware add-ons to make some of these applications possible. Also, despite the power that micros will have in that year, the ability to carry out more than one of these applications "simultaneously" will not be not practical or in some cases even possible. The exaggeration by the authors of the Popular Electronics article can perhaps be excused by their excitement in being able to offer a computer that ANYONE can own and use. All this was promised from a computer that came "complete" with only 256 bytes of memory (expandable if you can afford it) and no keyboard, monitor, or storage device. The IMSAI 8080 (an Altair clone) also came out in 1975 and did fairly well in the hobbyist market. Another popular early computer, the Sol, would not be released until the following year. Other computers released in 1975 that enjoyed limited success were the Altair 680 (also from MITS, Inc., based on the Motorola 6800 processor), the Jupiter II (Wavemate), M6800 (Southwest Technical Products), and the JOLT (Microcomputer Associates), all kits.<3> The entire microcomputer market was still very much a hobbyist market, best suited for those who enjoyed assembling a computer from a kit. After you assembled your computer, you either had to write your own programs (from assembly language) or enter a program someone else wrote. If you could afford the extra memory and the cost of buying a BASIC interpreter, you might have been able to write some small programs that ran in that language instead of having to figure out 8080 assembly language. If you were lucky (or rich) you had 16K of memory, possibly more; if you were REALLY lucky you owned (or could borrow) a surplus paper tape reader to avoid typing in manually your friend's checkbook balancing program. Did I say typing? Many early computer hobbyists didn't even have the interface allowing them to TYPE from a keyboard or teletype. The "complete" Altair 8800 discussed above could only be programmed by entering data via tiny little switches on its front panel, as either octal (base 8) bytes or hexadecimal (base 16) bytes. With no television monitor available either, the results of the program were read in binary (base 2) from lights on that front panel. This may sound like the old story that begins with the statement, "I had to walk five miles to school through snow three feet deep when I was your age," but it helps to understand how things were at this time to see what a leap forward the Apple II really was (er, will be. Time travel complicates grammar!) >>>>> NEXT INSTALLMENT The Apple I """""""""""""""""""""""" >>> NOTES <<< """"""""""""" <1> Steven Levy, HACKERS: HEROES OF THE COMPUTER REVOLUTION, pp. 187-192. <2> H. Edward Roberts and William Yates, "Altair 8800 Minicomputer, Part 1", POPULAR ELECTRONICS, 7(1) (January 1975), pp. 33, 38. The article is interesting also in some of the terminology that is used. The Altair is described as having "256 eight-bit words" of RAM. Apparently, the term "byte" was not in common use yet. <3> Gene Smarte and Andrew Reinhardt, "15 Years of Bits, Bytes, and Other Great Moments", BYTE, (September 1990), pp. 370-371. Steve's ever growing Apple II history can be found in the GEnie A2 software library. To get a complete list of available files run a file search with the keyword HISTORY. ////////////////////////////////////////////// GEnie_QWIK_QUOTE //// / "Given that theproduct already has some name recognition and the / / fact that my wife REALLY likes the name and STRONGLY suggested / / that I leave it alone, I believe that it will be released as / / Diamond Edge. (Hey, I may wash the dishes, but I am very aware / / of teh importance of keeping teh cook happy :-)" / ////////////////////////////////////////////////// B.LUNESKI1 //// [EOA] [TEL]////////////////////////////// TELETALK ONLINE / ///////////////////////////////// Apple II BBS's Around The USA """"""""""""""""""""""""""""" DOING IT ONLINE! Here is a list of BBS's which can be found promoted in """""""""""""""" category 10, topic 23 of the A2 RT. GEnie Lamp does not offer any guarantees to the accuracy of this list. BBS's are listed by area code. o Pro-Nka (201) 944-3102 o Gng-Tff (201) 989-0545 o Unicorn BBS (206) 472-9331 o StarBase 74 (213) 695-6785 o Pro-Gateway (214) 644-5113 o Name Unknown (219) 586-7880 o Bloom County (313) 582-0888 o Apple Byte GS (408) 578-3201 o Trimuvirate (410) 486-9812 o Pro-micol (416) 731-3468 o Nexus 6 (504) 522-6607 o A.U.G. Livermore, CA (510) 294-8052 o Final Nexus (518) 298-4294 o Eagle-Eyes' Emporium (514) 337-8844 o Appletree Computer Club (708) 597-6942 o Sirius Cybernetics (808) 521-3306 o Club Playhouse (818) 781-PLAY o Wozniak's Revenge (913) 272-5173 I also found this message which may be of interest: On the internet, you might want to consider the following ftp sites for apple II files. I know that this is not a complete list, but it might get you started. bric-a-brac.apple.com archive.umich.edu f.ms.uky.edu Again, this is not a complete list by any means, but it should get you started. -Eric (KITCHEN.SINK, CAT12, TOP5, MSG:44/M645;1) //////////////////////////////////// GEnie_QWIK_QUOTE //// / "Patience everyone. Tolerance and patience." / / / / " ommmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm " / / " ommmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm " / //////////////////////////////////// JEFF.W / J.NESS //// [EOA] [ABO]////////////////////////////// ABOUT THIS APPLE II / ///////////////////////////////// Apple II And The Future """"""""""""""""""""""" By Roger Wagner >>> THE APPLE IIGS <<< """""""""""""""""""""" ~ What the Mac LC Should Have Been? ~ A REVIEW OF THE MAC LC in the December, 1990 issue of inCider magazine """""""""""""""""""""" was subtitled "What the Apple IIGS Should Have Been?" The underlying idea was reasonable: If the Mac LC had been introduced in 1986, rather than the IIGS, people would most likely have been fairly happy with this transition machine to the Mac. However, history does not accommodate "what ifs", and at this point, one can legitimately ask, "Is the Apple IIGS what the Mac LC should have been?" The unexpected factor today is the world of multimedia, and that the Apple IIGS is arguably the ideal multimedia (or hypermedia) machine. Regardless of what term you use, this environment will be more significant in the 90's than desktop publishing was in the 80's, particularly in the classroom. The ideal multimedia machine should have good color graphics, excellent sound, and the ability to connect to laserdiscs, CD-ROM, and VCRs. It should be easy and intuitive to use, and as affordable as possible. You should be able to present your work, and easily record and transport it to share with others. The Apple IIGS has all this and more. Let's suppose a student creates a multimedia report, and then presents it to the class. With the Apple IIGS, a standard classroom monitor or TV can be used with no special hardware. Although a TV isn't great for displaying 80-column text screens, multimedia presentations with graphics, larger text, and video sequences from a laserdisc will look quite nice. On a Mac or PC, a projection system that can handle true color is likely to cost $2000-$3000, or more. Laserdiscs, combined with a video overlay card, add a very attractive component, and allow anyone to create very exciting results. On the Apple IIGS, a school can buy a Video Overlay Card for about $400. On the Mac LC (if a card were available), using the slot for a video card would preclude using the IIe card. Cards similar to the Video Overlay Card on other Mac models cost around $2500. (By the way, services are now available that will convert your own videotapes to a laserdisc for $200-$300!) On its way to that TV or monitor, the Apple IIGS video can be routed through any common VCR, recording both the audio and video portions of the presentation, so Mom and Dad can see what they did at school, and keep a permanent record of the moment. Presenters can go to conferences with just a video tape, without lugging tons of computer hardware. Macs and PCs require a special adapter (an "NTSC Converter"), and these can be an expensive addition. You heard it here first: The VCR will be the printer of the 90's. How else to record sound, animation, graphics, video and more, and in a form that anyone can view (virtually all homes and schools now have VCRs). Once you're aware of what the GS can do, hearing that another computer can't be recorded with a VCR is like hearing it can't be attached to a printer. An article in the October 15, 1990 issue of BusinessWeek discusses Apple's generation of computers AFTER the Mac: "At least two years off, Jaguar will include extensive video technology and the ability to connect to TVs and VCRs, Apple employees say." How great for Apple IIGS owners to know that they don't have to wait for the successor to the Mac. They can have all this now! Schools that purchase Mac LC's, hoping for a color multimedia machine, will be surprised to discover that HyperCard on the Mac is only black & white. A limited ability to display single color graphics is available, but to just draw a line or two in color, you'll need a GS with HyperCard or HyperStudio. Want to use the microphone on the LC? You'll have to leave HyperCard, run a separate program, and then go through some additional steps to incorporate the sound. On a GS with HyperStudio, adding sound is easy and perfectly integrated into the overall environment. Last of all is the working environment itself. Stackbuilding on the GS is significantly easier. Thousands of schools are using the Apple IIGS for multimedia right now, and projects created entirely by 1st graders are by no means unusual. Home users of the Apple IIGS find it perfect for not only the kids, but fun for personal-interest uses from family trees to hobby-related projects. Through user groups, mail-order catalogs, and online services like America Online, CompuServe and GEnie, there are already almost 200 megabytes of existing hypermedia applications (stacks) of every imaginable kind - all for the Apple IIGS. What does the future hold for the Apple IIGS? The Apple IIGS is not an outdated technology. The Apple IIGS has features that are not currently available in any machine, and offers a solution that couldn't be more relevant to the next revolution in computing. I've personally travelled extensively across the U.S. in the last year, and everywhere I've seen a tremendous amount of interest and enthusiasm for what the Apple IIGS offers. This interest is the result of recognizing a practical and immediate tool. If you haven't yet seen what multimedia and the Apple IIGS are all about, there couldn't be a better time than now to find out what the future holds, and how you can make that future a present reality. If you already have an Apple IIGS, then you'll be happy to know you own the best machine possible to enter the 90's! [*][*][*] >>>>> From a letter to inCider/A+ magazine, March, 1991. Permission is """"" hereby given by the author to anyone wishing to reprint this letter. Please include this permission statement with any reprints. //////////////////////////////////////// GEnie_QWIK_QUOTE //// / "I vote for Dorothy as King, Yes, that's the ticket. Nah, / / wouldn't work. If we made her proof reader though, that / / should bring the magazine to a dead stop, guaranteed! :-)" / / / / "It's far too late to vote me in as King. I appointed / / myself to this position (or a semblance thereof with more / / motherly instincts) a looong time ago. Proof-reader, eh? / / How much am I offered to stop this flow of information / / dead in its tracks? ;-)" / //////////////////////////////////// ISD / D.A.BRUMLEVE //// [EOA] [THI]////////////////////////////// THINK ABOUT IT! / ///////////////////////////////// Food For Thought """""""""""""""" By Phil Shapiro [P.SHAPIRO1] >>>>> SOME THOUGHTS ON THE VALUE OF BEING A RESPONSIBLE ELECTRONIC CITIZEN """"" In the early days of our nation the pioneer settlers had distinct views on the nature of civic virtue. People looked out for one another. People volunteered a fixed number of hours each week for the public good. And in times of crisis, people pulled together to help the most needy. In the electronic age, a similar set of civic ideals is emerging in the new electronic nations. The new civic responsibility includes pitching in to help in various ways. Contributions of time and energy can take many forms. Leaving thoughtful answers to posted questions can be a way of carrying out one's civic duty. Uploading new files to the roundtable library can likewise be a civic good deed. In terms of library uploads, you need not be a professional programmer or software designer to upload files to a roundtable library. Less than ten percent of all uploads are original programs or data files created entirely from scratch. The great majority of uploads are programs and files collected from other places. Such "other places" include local user groups, local bulletin boards systems (BBS's), or commercial public domain disk distributors. Many times an individual might seize the opportunity to enhance a particular program or file before uploading it. Typical enhancements to a public domain program might be to set up an easy front end menu, or to write some easy to understand instructions to be bundled as a text file within the shrunk archive. Writing instructions, or adding helpful comments to existing instructions, requires no programming capability whatsoever. Some people who do this choose to leave full credit with the person who originally wrote the program or documentation. Others may choose to add a brief mention of their own contribution to the project. The latter course of action is actually helpful in establishing the collaborative effort of the project. As end users come to use and enjoy such programs, seeing multiple names on the credits helps to reinforce the idea that we all have individual talents we can contribute to the electronic nation. In terms of being an active citizen in the message roundtables, the duties of citizenship require regular reading of new messages. Someone may post a question which you are uniquely qualified to answer. Then again, someone may post an answer that solves a particularly troublesome question that you yourself have had. The duties of citizenship further require that the public messages you post be predominantly constructive and positively phrased. It's all too easy to use a public forum to air one's gripes. In certain circumstances legitimate complaints can and should be discussed in a public electronic forum. But even in such cases, the duties of citizenship dictate that care be given to refrain from name calling and other communications that could cause emotional hurt in others. In thinking about such ideas, recall the image of our nation's pioneer settlers. A publicly posted message with negative remarks is tantamount to standing in the middle of a village green yelling out scandalous remarks about one's neighbor. Negatively phrased electronic messages are far less noisy, but equally injurious. One further duty rounds out the responsibility roster. When newcomers to the electronic nation require assistance, the role of experienced users, the "village elders," is to give helpful and concise advice. Such advice often involves no more effort than writing a note pointing the newcomer in the direction of written instructions. Other times a village elder may refer a newcomer to the counsel of another village elder. A virtuous electronic citizen tries to keep such referrals to a minimum, ever sensitive to burdening others with extra duties. The value of civic virtue is that when each citizen contributes his or her part, the entire nation benefits from such acts of goodwill. Within an electronic nation, the entire nation is constructed on the good deeds of its citizens. The foundations of such a nation are built on goodwill. As you participate in electronic communities, both local and national, take a minute to think about the time and effort being invested by others. And consider how you yourself might make a contribution. For the goodness you give to others is bound to resonate back in some way to yourself or your friends. Perhaps John Lennon said it best on the Abbey Road LP: "And in the end, The love you take, Is equal to the love, You make..." [*][*][*] [The author develops educational software for the Apple II line of computers. He can be reached at Balloons Software, 5201 Chevy Chase Parkway, NW, Washington, DC, 20015. Or on GEnie at: P.Shapiro1] /////////////////////////////////////////// GEnie_QWIK_QUOTE //// / "Anyone who works with computers and doesn't recognize Woz in / / an Apple ad is a philistine. (:" / ////////////////////////////////////////////////// LUNATIC //// [EOA]#20 [FUN]////////////////////////////// ONLINE FUNNIES / ///////////////////////////////// CowTOONS! """"""""" By "Hawk" (__) (oo) U /-------\/ /---V / | || * |--| . * ||----|| ~~ ~~ Cow at 1 meter. Cow at 100 meters. Cow at 10,000 meters. [EOA]@@! [VIE]////////////////////////////// VIEWPOINT / ///////////////////////////////// Pointless Made Easy """"""""""""""""""" By Udo Huth [U.HUTH] WHAT'S THE POINT? Well, now that you've got Pointless, what can you do """"""""""""""""" with it? Pointless allows the use of TrueType fonts (which were introduced on the Macintosh with System 7.0) on the Apple IIGS with desktop programs. It will not enhance 8-bit programs... well, not quite so. You have possibilities for using TrueType fonts with TimeOut SuperFonts or PublishIt. But more on that later. First you need to install Pointless in the CDEVS folder on your boot disk. The installer provided on the Pointless disk will do that for you, but asks first for your name and imbeds it into Pointless. The installer forgets to copy the Courier fonts, however, but using the Finder it's only a matter of opening the appropriate folders and dragging the Courier icons to the Fonts folder of your boot disk. After a re-boot Pointless is installed and you can start configuring it and the fonts. Choosing Pointless from the Control Panel NDA (5.0.4) or from the Control Panels NDA (System 6.0) opens the CDEV (window). First you have to tell Pointless where it can find the TrueType fonts. You do this with the "Add" button. A Standard Get File Dialog will open and you just select the drive and folder, where the TrueType fonts are located. Once there, you select the fonts you want to add. To select all fonts, click on the first one, then scroll to the last entry and while holding the "Shift" key down, click on it. You have now selected all fonts. Click once on "Accept" and Pointless will save the locations of all fonts in it's TrueType.List file, which is located in the Fonts folder. To select just a few fonts, click once on the first one, scroll to the next you'd like, and while holding the "Apple" (or "Command") key down, click on it. Repeat this for the other fonts you'd like. Then click on "Accept". Now you'll find the fonts in the font window of the Pointless window. There is no need for you to copy all TrueType fonts into the Fonts folder of your bootdisk. The chances are that you'll be quite quickly out of room there. It is possible to have the TrueType fonts everywhere. The "Add" button and the Get File Dialog will take care of that. It is even possible to use the TrueType fonts directly from a Mac hard disk, when the Macintosh is running System 7.0 with file sharing enabled and the IIGS connected via AppleTalk. In case you added fonts from somewhere other than the boot disk, Pointless will prompt you to insert the appropriate disk when you want to use a font which is not in your Fonts directory. "Add" will install the names of the fonts in the "Choose Font..." menu of your programs, too. Now you have to configure the range of the font. Double clicking on "Configure" will open just another dialog. You'll see 255 different characters there (well, some are just the missing character symbol). Three rows of those characters are already selected. These are the characters Pointless will generate, when you choose a TrueType font from the Fonts menu. With System 5.0.4 configuring the range of a font was critical because you mustn't exceed the 64K limit for the size of a font. The larger a font had to be, the fewer characters could be generated. With System 6.0 this limit has been removed. You can configure those fonts in any way. For adding characters in addition to those already selected, hold the "Shift" key down and click on the characters you want to add. For removing characters from the set hold the "Shift" key down, and click on the character or characters you want removed. In case you're done with a font, select it from the scrollable fonts window of Pointless and click on "Remove". This removes the font from the TrueType.List file and from the "Choose Font..." menu of your programs. There is a fourth button in the Pointless window: "Save bitmap". This is where those 8-bit programs come in. Select a font from the scrollable fonts window in the Pointless window and click on "Save bitmap". A dialog box will appear where you can specify where to save the file and with which name. For the file name enter the name of the font followed by a period and the desired size of the font. (E.g. Bookman.125 will save the Bookman font in the size of 125 point.) These fonts can now be used by TimeOut SuperFonts as they are. For use with PublishIt they have to be converted. This can be done with a font editor which offers this capability. Font Factory will do very well. Well, this was just a short expedition into the world of TrueType. With the Pointless software, TrueType fonts, and maybe a StyleWriter printer for sharp output, the Apple IIGS is really "The power to be your best". ////////////////////////////////////////// GEnie_QWIK_QUOTE //// / "When you refer to Murphy, I hope that you don't mean Murphy / / Brown!! I sure don't want the Vice President of the United / / States of America attacking GEnie on morality grounds!!!" / //////////////////////////////////////////////// J.KUDRON //// [EOA] [LIB]////////////////////////////// THE ONLINE LIBRARY / ///////////////////////////////// HOT Files For The Asking """""""""""""""""""""""" By Richard Vega [R.VEGA] >>> HOT FILES! <<< """""""""""""""""" >>>>> LOOK NO FURTHER FOR PRINT SHOP CLIP ART & BORDERS """"""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""" Print Shop enthusiasts can find graphics galore in the Apple II Roundtable library. A search under the keywords "Print Shop" turned up over 130 files. The listed files include everything from color borders for Print Shop GS to baseball logos to scout insignia to Print Shop graphics of flags. But clip art files are not the only interesting Print Shop uploads to the Apple II GEnie Roundtable. Also available for downloading is a popular utility to convert classic Print Shop graphics to Print Shop GS graphics. (File number 6541: PSGS.CONV.BNY). The fact that this file has been downloaded 317 times is an indication of its usefulness. At 1200 baud, this 16K file should take no more than 3 or 4 minutes to download. At 2400 baud, about half that time. >>>>> FREEWARE UTILITY ON GEnie HELPS EASE COLD WAR TENSIONS BETWEEN """"" APPLE II AND MS.DOS TEXT FILES Do you ever have a need to send a text file to MS/DOS users, to help them gain the privileged insights of Apple II users? Your MS/DOS friends may gnash their teeth if you don't do them the courtesy of adding linefeeds to your text files. Prodigious programmer Karl Bunker has created a very useful utility, "Linefeed.IR" that will insert or remove linefeeds from any text file. You can use this same utility to remove linefeeds from captured GEnie text that you've saved to disk. (Using Linefeed.IR is far more elegant than doing a search and replace with your word processor. By replacing linefeeds by spaces this way, you're actually altering your document.) Directions for using Linefeed.IR are contained in a concise text file bundled with the program. Much to his credit, Karl fits the entire directions into a plain English paragraph: "Linefeed.IR does not alter your text file. Instead, it creates a new text file, with linefeeds inserted or removed, depending on your initial selection. After you select a source file to be processed, you are asked for a name for the new, "object" file. A default name, with the suffix ".I" for Inserted linefeeds, or ".R" for Removed linefeeds, is offered. You can accept this name by pressing , or type in another. Once the object filename is given, Linefeed.IR goes to work, and lets you know when it's done. That's all there is to it." Just in case you run into trouble, Karl invites you to contact him for technical support: "I hope you find this program useful. If you have any problems, I can be reached at the addresses shown below. " Karl deserves an "Apple II citizenship" award for such selfless contributions to the public good. OTHER GOODIES IN THE APPLE II LIBRARY! Meanwhile Bill Dooley has """""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""" uploaded several archived messages from the A2 Roundtable. Looking for information on Apple SCSI (small computer system interface) cards? Check out the file: "SCSI.MSG.BXY" You can easily find Bill's other uploads by searching for new files. (Choice 11 on the A2 Library's menu.) You've Got a Good Friend in NAUG YOU'VE GOT A GOOD FRIEND IN NAUG If you're an AppleWorks user, don't """""""""""""""""""""""""""""""" forget to check the frequent high quality uploads from the National AppleWorks Users Group (NAUG). You can search for all the NAUG uploads by specifying "NAUG" as the uploader in the "Search for a File" option on the roundtable menu. Likewise, if you find a golden nugget file in the library, it pays to check to see if that same person uploaded other golden nuggets. Every once in a while a choice nugget points to a whole rich vein of files to be mined. Until next month, happy mining. ///////////////////////////////////////// GEnie_QWIK_QUOTE //// / "Yeah, but them hot keys are just sooo much trouble... ;^)" / /////////////////////////////////////////////// OUTRIDER //// [EOA] [ASK]////////////////////////////// THE PROGRAM CLINIC / ///////////////////////////////// Ask Doctor Franklin """"""""""""""""""" by Ken Franklin, MD [KEN.FRANKLIN] >>> THE DOCTOR IS IN! <<< """"""""""""""""""""""""" GOOD AFTERNOON Good afternoon, and aren't air conditioners wonderful? """""""""""""" Spring cleaning is well underway, and I'm glad to say that includes cleaning out my in box - which is full of interesting questions like these: [*][*][*] Dear Dr. Ken What is multi-tasking? """""""""""" -- Synchronous Shirley from Sausalito Dear Shirley Simon says rub your tummy with your left hand. Simon says """""""""""" pat your head with your right hand at the same time. Simon says say the Gettysburg address while continuing with both hands. Now hop on one foot. Ah-ha! I didn't say Simon says; you're out. Now you know what multi-tasking feels like to a computer. Most microcomputers are programmed to run one program at a time (like a word processor). But sometimes a program needs to run without your help (like sort 20,000 names and addresses, or calculate a huge spreadsheet, or download a file by modem), and you're forced to watch while it chugs away. I usually pick up a good book during these times. Wouldn't it be nice if you could play a game or run another program during these times? Multi-tasking allows this. Each program thinks it's the only one running, but the computer's operating system switches back and forth between them several times a second. To you it looks like they are running at the same time, albeit a bit slower. The Amiga crows about its ability to do this. However, for most of us micro-munchkins, it is rarely very useful -- and for system programmers, it's a major migraine. Limited multi-tasking, called "background tasking", is more practical. The most common example is a "print spooler". It grabs print requests from other programs (like a word processor) and tells the program they're done. Then, while you work on other things, the spooler feeds the printing job to the printer. If you have several long letters to edit, this can be a real time saver. There are two more good examples of background tasking. One is the digitized sound hardware on the IIgs, which plays sounds without stopping or slowing the main program. The other is a screen blanker utility, which sits and watches how long since you've touched a key (and pounces on your screen if it's been too long). Dear Dr. Ken I heard that Apple now sells a 1.44 megabyte high-density """""""""""" disk drive for the IIgs. For what purposes would someone buy such a drive? I use my GS about once a week, with a database application, to sort and print the 17 active people in my church group. Would a high-density drive help? Supposing I had a choice of buying a 40MB hard drive, or the high-density drive. Since the price would be about the same, when would each of these drives be recommended over the other? -- Solly Schneider from Saskatoon, Saskatchewan Dear Solly Forget about the hard drive -- let's worry about your church """""""""" group. Seventeen members? We gotta get a MAJOR revival going in Saskatoon! For you, I'd buy the hard drive. It's much faster than the high-density drive, and will allow you flexibility should your needs change in the future. In general, the high-density drive has two advantages. First, it allows you to save more stuff on a disk for backups; and second, it allows you to read MS-DOS and Macintosh disks (if you have the software). This second advantage only applies to II users with a PC Transporter, or to IIgs users who want to convert files from Macs (like Hypercard stacks, sounds, and graphics). It is MUCH slower than a hard drive at reading and writing information, and you must buy a special kind of 3.5" disk to be able to format for 1.44 megabytes. These special disks cost 50-80% more than standard 800K floppy disks. I only use 1.44MB disks to make hard drive backups, because it makes a shorter stack. And by the way, the TMS Shadow 52MB hard drive is about the same price as well, so don't settle for a measly 40MB. Dear Dr. Ken What is Teach text and how does it differ from ASCII? -- """""""""""" Sharp Sven from Chicago Dear Sven Teach text carries imbedded rulers, which your computer uses """"""""" to rap your knuckles if you daydream or throw spitballs at the monitor. It also automatically generates pop quizzes every fourth time you access the file. Now if I were part of the "Wayne's World" fad, here's where I would say "NOT!!!!!!" But I'm not, so I won't. Teach text is a format created by the Macintosh folks and recently moved over to the IIgs world. It's a file with two parts: one is straight (or ASCII) text, and the other is a set of codes with font and formatting information (like boldface, italics, and so on). Straight ASCII files cannot contain formatting information (unless you want sentences like "This is *BOLD START*not*BOLD END* a pretty way to *ITALIC START*communicate*ITALIC END*!) Teach files are most commonly used for on-disk program documentation (the "Read Me" or "Latest Release Info" files), though you can use them for any text information. Dear Dr. Ken When running with an accelerator board, should it be slowed """""""""""" to normal speed when doing supercritical things like optimizing or backing up a hard drive? -- Slinky Sparky from Silver Spring Dear Sparky You should only slow the accelerator down when processing """"""""""" school or hospital files, or when a police memorandum wants the right of way. Otherwise, floor it, bubba. Your accelerator board, if it's working properly, should not have any problem accessing your hard drive. But if you have problems, before you toss the card, check a few things. Does your SCSI card (the hard drive interface card) have a "DMA" switch? If so, turn your computer off, turn that switch off, and try again. Some accelerator boards and SCSI cards modify memory without telling each other, and that confuses your computer. Are all the cables and sockets firmly seated? Sometimes a poor connection makes these boards intermittently flaky - and you'll hate it when that happens. Try taking each card out (with the power off, of course), wiping the contacts with a clean T-shirt, and reinserting them. Is your Apple full of cards? You may be overtaxing your power supply, which causes the computer equivalent of low blood sugar-confusion and shakiness. Consider buying a heavy duty power supply. Finally, do you have quality software? I would recommend a quality package, like Glen Bredon's "Prosel" or Vitessse's "Salvation" series, over a utility like "Bill and Rusty's Disk Toolkit and Bowling Simulator". Once again, campers, I'm out of blathering room. Remember, you can send electronic mail questions to me on GEnie as KEN.FRANKLIN or on America Online as Dr Ken FP. (This column copyrighted 1992 by Ken Franklin. All rights reserved. Permission granted for use in GEnie Lamp and user group newsletters.) ///////////////////////////////////////////// GEnie_QWIK_QUOTE //// / "Personally, I respect electricity. I have this bad habit of / / glowing in the dark when I get excess electrons flowing through / / my body! :)" / //////////////////////////////////////////////// D.G.SHIELDS //// [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 GEnieLamp is monthly online magazine published in the """""""""" GEnie Lamp RoundTable on page 515. You can also find GEnieLamp in the ST (475), the Macintosh (605), the IBM (615) Apple II (645), Unix (160), Mac Pro (480), A2 Pro (530) and the Geoworks (1050) RoundTables. GEnieLamp can also be found on CrossNet, Internet and many public and commercial BBS systems worldwide. We welcome and respond to all GEmail.To leave messages, suggestions or just to say hi, you can contact us at the following addresses: o John F. 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