|||||| |||||| || || |||||| |||||| || || ||| || || || || ||| |||| |||||| || |||| Your || || || || ||| || || |||||| |||||| || || |||||| |||||| GEnie Lamp A2/A2Pro || |||||| || || |||||| RoundTable || || || ||| ||| || || || |||||| |||||||| |||||| RESOURCE! || || || || || || || ||||| || || || || || ~ A2/A2PRO_ductivity ~ ~ WHO'S WHO: MORGAN DAVIS ~ ~ CHECKING OUT INTERNET ~ ~ HOT FILES ~ HOT MESSAGES ~ HOT ROUNDTABLE NEWS ~ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\//////////////////////////////////// GEnie Lamp A2/A2Pro ~ A T/TalkNET OnLine Publication ~ Vol.1, Issue 8 """""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""" Publisher.................................GEnie Information Services Editor-In-Chief........................................John Peters Editor.............................................Darrel Raines ~ GEnieLamp Macintosh ~ ~ GEnieLamp IBM ~ ~ GEnieLamp ST ~ ~ GEnieLamp Elsewhere ~ ~ GEnieLamp A2/A2Pro ~ ////////////////////////////////////\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ >>> WHAT'S HAPPENING IN THE APPLE II/A2Pro ROUNDTABLE? <<< """""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""" ~ November 1, 1992 ~ FROM MY DESKTOP ......... [FRM] APPLE_TALK .............. [APP] Notes From The Editor. Changing Of The Guard. HEY MISTER POSTMAN ...... [HEY] HUMOR ONLINE ............ [HUM] Is That A Letter For Me? World's Fastest Chip. A2/A2PRO_ductivity ...... [A2P] ONLINE FUN .............. [FUN] Take Another Look! Search-ME! WHO'S WHO ............... [WHO] THE MIGHTY QUINN ........ [QUI] Who's Who In Apple II. Milliseconds With Mark. REFLECTIONS ............. [REF] SOFTVIEW ................ [SOF] Thinking Online Communications. LetterSlide: For The Asking. TELETALK ONLINE ......... [TEL] CowTOONS! ............... [COW] Checking Out Internet. Mooooooo Fun! APPLE II ................ [AII] THE ONLINE LIBRARY ...... [LIB] Apple II History, Part 6. Yours For The Downloading. ELSEWHERE ............... [ELS] LOG OFF ................. [LOG] Electronic Publishing On GEnie. GEnieLamp Information. [IDX]""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""" READING GEnieLamp GEnieLamp has incorporated a unique indexing """"""""""""""""" system to help make reading the magazine easier. To utilize this system, load GEnieLamp into any ASCII word processor or text editor. In the index you will find the following example: HUMOR ONLINE ............ [HUM] [*]GEnie Fun & Games. To read this article, set your find or search command to [HUM]. If you want to scan all of the articles, search for [EOA]. [EOF] will take you to the last page, whereas [IDX] will bring you back to the index. MESSAGE INFO To make it easy for you to respond to messages re-printed """""""""""" here in GEnieLamp, you will find all the information you need immediately following the message. For example: (SMITH, CAT6, TOP1, MSG:58/M475) _____________| _____|__ _|___ |____ |_____________ |Name of sender CATegory TOPic Msg.# Page number| In this example, to respond to Smith's message, log on to page 475 enter the bulletin board and set CAT 6. Enter your REPly in TOPic 1. A message number that is surrounded by brackets indicates that this message is a "target" message and is referring to a "chain" of two or more messages that are following the same topic. For example: {58}. ABOUT GEnie GEnie 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 //// / "INCOMING!!" / ////////////////////////////////////////////// WALLY.W //// [EOA] [FRM]////////////////////////////// FROM MY DESKTOP / ///////////////////////////////// Notes From The Editor """"""""""""""""""""" By John Peters [GENIELAMP] TOP OF THE PAGE Hang on to your hat! The first annual GEnieLampLighter """"""""""""""" Awards will be announced in the January issue of GEnieLamp magazine. The awards are designed to honor PD/Shareware/ Freeware programs and their programmers for excellence and creativity in their respective fields. Categories for the awards are as follows: >>> GEnieLampLighter Award <<< """""""""""""""""""""""""""""" 1) PROGRAM OF THE YEAR 2) PROGRAMMER OF THE YEAR 3) Best Utility 4) Best Personal Productivity or Business Program 5) Best Desk Accessory or TSR program 6) Best Telecommunications Program 7) Best Graphics Program or Utility 8) Best Educational Program 9) Best Game 10) Best Programming Software or Utility 11) Best Sound or Music Program or Utility 12) Best Use of Graphics In a Game 13) Best Use of Graphics in a Non-Game 14) Most Used Program or Utility 15) All Time Favorite [*][*][*] Read A Good Bookette Lately? Electronic Publishing comes to GEnie! The """""""""""""""""""""""""""" GEnieLamp libraries are filling up fast with new bookettes, (A BOOK on a diskETTE), magazines, newsletters and even online comics. Everything from poetry and short-stories to How-to-do-it text files are being uploaded on a daily basis. Indeed, electronic publishing is the future - you can find it NOW in the GEnieLamp RoundTable. (M515;3) Disktop Publishing Association Nationally known Disktop Publishing """""""""""""""""""""""""""""" Association (DPA) has found a home in the GEnieLamp RoundTable. If you have any interest in electronic publishing you should consider joining DPA. Membership applications are now being accepted via GE Mail for the Disktop Publishing Association. Presently, there is _no_ fee for you to join, so what are you waiting for? (For your convenience, you will find a DPA application at the end of this magazine). For more information, see GEnie Elsewhere in this issue or drop by the GEnieLamp RoundTable and visit the DPA in CAT6, or you may leave GE Mail to the founder and president of DOA, Ron Albright. (GE Mail=RALBRIGHT) Until next month... John Peters GEnieLamp E-Magazine ///////// GEnie_QWIK_QUOTE //// / "Two bee ore knot too bea." / ///////////// STEPHENSON //// [EOA] [APP]////////////////////////////// APPLE_TALK / ///////////////////////////////// Changing of the Guard """"""""""""""""""""" By Darrel Raines [D.RAINES] EDITOR'S VIEW This issue of GEnieLamp marks the changing of the guard at """"""""""""" the editor position. Tom Schmitz, who carried the Apple II version of GEnieLamp from conception through the first six issues, has decided to step down from the helm of this newsletter to better pursue his day time job. Tom had a few things to say upon making his decision. I reproduce here a copy of the farewell letter he placed in the Bulletin Board area. [*][*][*] A FAREWELL MESSAGE Well, many of you may have noticed I haven't been """""""""""""""""" online much lately. And there is a good reason for this. Recently I was promoted at the Life Foundation, the AIDS Foundation of Hawaii on Oahu, to run the Free Legal Clinic and to be the Development Liaison between staff and volunteers. Both are relatively full time responsibilities and have left me little time at home with my modem. (The only thing at home seeing much of me is my bed.) And since I do not have the free time as before, I have stepped down as editor of GEnieLamp A2/A2Pro. I can no longer do it justice, and if it were not for John Peters' and Phil Shapiro's excellent work, the October issue would never have made it. GEnieLamp is truly something extraordinary. It is the first major online, regular newsletter of high caliber quality. Much more than a round-up of monthly events, it brings interviews with industry luminaries, and timely articles on interesting subjects. I encourage all of you to keep reading GEnieLamp and to support those who create it with your praise and with your articles. It means a lot to the staff when you give feedback. It tells them, hey, someone cares about what we do. And while I may be biased, I do think the A2/A2Pro edition has the best damn GEnieLamp staff online and that this magazine will get even better and bigger than even I ever imagined. And to everyone who has ever written or edited for GEnieLamp A2/A2Pro, all I can give you is my thanks, but let it be known you have made it a fun experience looking foreword to being the first to see these great articles and to viewing the final product on the first of the month. To the A2 & A2Pro staff, I have been on GEnie, CompuServe and America Online through the years. No one, but no one can even come close to the fun, comraderie and quality you maintain in A2 and A2Pro. I'll still be online, though not as much. And I will still read GEnieLamp on the first of every month. (TOM.SCHMITZ, CAT3, TOP3, MSG:78/M645;1) >>> SETTING IN OUR NEW COURSE <<< """"""""""""""""""""""""""""""""" Those of you who have read previous issues of this newsletter will already be familiar with me. I have been writing the games column and the somewhat sporadic programming column. Both of these assignments will be re-evaluated during the next two months as I start to settle into my new responsibilities as editor of GEnieLamp. For this month, both columns will be on hold. The gaming column will return in December with a few more good things to say about Eamon. More information about these columns will be available in the next issue. Despite the fact that the regular articles mentioned above will not be included in this issue of our newsletter, we still have many new and exciting articles available for the first time in this newsletter. Along those lines, Jim Couch has joined the staff of GEnieLamp to provide coverage of the A2Pro roundtable on a regular basis. Phil has written another article that will stimulate your "thinking muscle". Mel Fowler gives us a peek at a new shareware game available here on GEnie for all IIgs's. Morgan Davis drops in for an interview and reveals some very interesting history of a famous Apple software development company. Any way that you slice this newsletter pie, the results should be plenty of interesting reading in your future. Be sure and note the upcoming RTC conferences that are held regularly in both the A2 and A2Pro areas. Paul Lutus, author of AppleWriter and many other older programs for the Apple II computer, will join us on November 10 at 9:30 pm eastern time. We hope to get some interesting information out of Paul. Join us if you can. In the next section I will present a variety of interesting posts that have appeared during the last month in the bulletin boards for A2. These messages can be identified by the footer attached to each item. (See the introductory notes on how to interpret the footer.) If you find the topic, excerpt, or just the interplay between various people to be stimulating, then please jump to that topic on a weekly basis and read what is new. Our hope is that you will find something new in this section to keep you guessing. And now, please enjoy the first fruits of our efforts in the post-Tom days for Apple II GEnieLamp. [*][*][*] /////////////////////////////////////////// GEnie_QWIK_QUOTE //// / "Bribes for new EdHak features?? I don't recall ever turning / / down such a bribe. Are we talking money? chocolate chip / / cookies? eternal bliss? any of the these would probably / / work just fine, or even getting 2 or 3 people to request / / the same thing. / //////////////////////////////////////////////// C.HARVEY //// ///////////////////////////// GEnie_QWIK_QUOTE //// / "Chocolate chip cookies = eternal bliss " / ////////////////////////////////// J.MEEHAN3 //// [EOA] [HEY]////////////////////////////// HEY MISTER POSTMAN / ///////////////////////////////// Is That A Letter For Me? """""""""""""""""""""""" By Darrel Raines [D.RAINES] o Apple II ODDS & ENDS o WHAT'S NEW? o THROUGH THE GRAPEVINE o APPLE HEADS WANT TO KNOW o MESSAGE SPOTLIGHT >>> Apple II ODDS & ENDS <<< """""""""""""""""""""""""""" SPELL IT AGAIN, SAM I thought that I'd post this little ditty that my """"""""""""""""""" wife brought home from work for those of you who use the AppleWorks spelling checker: HUMAN BRAIN NOT YET OBSOLETE: I have a spelling checker, It came with my PC; It plainly marks four my revue Mistakes I cannot sea. I've run this poem threw it, I'm sure your please too no, Its letter perfect in it's weight, My checker tolled me sew. When I ran this through my AppleWorks checker (with no Custom Dictionary) it innocently caught the word "revue." I don't know if that means that the AppleWorks checker is BETTER than most PC checkers or not. According to my Websters, while "revue" (used to indicate a theatrical production) is acceptable, "review" is the preferred spelling, which is what was offered up by AppleWorks. (J.CURTIS8, CAT17, TOP33, MSG:193/M645;1) HOW TO BURY YOUR HARD DRIVE IN FLOPPY DISKS Let me just make an """"""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""" additional comment on top of Gary Utter's. If you have a 32meg partition on your hard drive, and want to back it up to standard Apple format 5.25 disks, here's what you'd be looking at. A 32meg ProDOS volume consists of 65536 block. Each ProDOS-formatted 5.25 disk can hold 280 blocks maximum (this is assuming that there is NOTHING else written on the disk except backup data; most backup utilities will either use a standard-appearing ProDOS disk, which takes up 7 blocks just for overhead, or use the first several blocks of the disk for information on which disk is which). Taking 65536 / 280, we get 234.057 disks, rounding up to 235 floppy disks if the ENTIRE hard drive is full. Since I am still backing up to 3.5 disks, I still tend to keep my 32 meg partitions no more than 20-25 meg full, so I don't have TOO many disks to use when doing a full backup. I would need a maximum of 42 of the 3.5 disks to do a full backup, and even THAT is a bother that keeps me from backing up as often as I should. I'd agree with Gary; invest in a tape drive (if you are using a IIGS, you can get a used Apple Tape drive from Sun Remarketing for about $200) and back up to that. That's what I plan to do when I've dug myself out of my current computer budget hole... :-) (S.WEYHRICH, CAT42, TOP13, MSG:40/M645;1) SUPRISING NEW DEVELOPMENT LINKING HEALTH TO COMPUTER EQUIPMENT """"""""""""""""""""""""" >> ...my wife predicted ill health for me if I bought more computer >> stuff... We got a good laugh off that one! [hehe]. Reminds me of another thing that happened here once, a lady called inquiring about the Pegasus drives, asked me to send more information, but "the prices won't be written all over the information, will it?". I told her that no, there's a brochure with the technical info. and a separate sheet with the prices that she could pull off before showing it to her husband. Well, it seems that the main reason she wanted a Pegasus over any other drive was that it would sit inside the computer and her husband would never know!! Funny, it's usually the other way around. (ECON, CAT35, TOP5, MSG:43/M645;1) HARD DISKS AND THOSE PESKY 5 1/4 IN. DISKS I just wanted to alert """""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""" everyone that I have just uploaded a wonderful and fantastic IIGS utility that should be of interest to all long term Apple II users. John MacLean's $10 Shareware DOS 3.3 Launcher, file number 19469, allows you to store, and run, DOS 3.3 software on your previously non-DOS 3.3 compatible hard drive. It works for both single sides and double sided DOS 3.3 disks. DOS 3.3 Launcher is desktop based and very very easy to use. It allows you to launch DOS 3.3 BIN files or complete disks, from the Finder. If you want, it'll let you slow down the system to 1 Mhz (necessary for old games), but when you quit from a DOS 3.3 program, it'll return you to the Finder at the GS'es faster speed. This is one of the most useful IIGS shareware programs I've ever seen. Although it can be somewhat difficult to send shareware fees to other countries, please send John $10 if you find this utility useful. As the author of Roger Wagner's Graphics Exchange, John is an accomplished programmer, and if he receives enough shareware registration fees, that very well may serve as encouragement to him, and other Australian programmers, to .release additional software as shareware. (J.KOHN, CAT28, TOP10, MSG:/M645;1) JUST FOR FUN... """"""""""""""" >>"do you know why the chicken crossed the road?"" 1. (Metaphysical answer) Because it was too far to walk around. 2. (Realistic answer) To show the opossum it could be done. (GARY.UTTER, CAT2, TOP13, MSG:47/M645;1) >>> WHAT'S NEW <<< """""""""""""""""" UPCOMING REAL TIME CONVERENCE EVENT! Join us Tuesday, November 10, at """""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""" 09:30 Eastern in the A2 RTC rooms (item #2 on the main menu!) when our conference guest will be PAUL LUTUS, legendary Apple II Pioneer and author of such recently found "Lost Classics" as Apple Writer II and GraFORTH! Don't miss this HISTORIC event right here in A2! THE DEAN'S LIST Check out these exceptional files recently uploaded to """"""""""""""" our library! +19448 TURBO.IDE.BXY Press release for new drive card. 19475 SHOWME.NDA.BXY V1.0B2 Latest version of NDA graphic viewer. +19481 APPLE.HIST.BXY V1.0 It's complete! The long-awaited history of the Apple II computer. 19484 DOS3.3.LNCH.BXY Store and run DOS 3.3 programs from your IIgs hard drive! 19495 FLOP.LAUNCH.BXY V1.1 Launch floppy-based programs via Icons. 19497 GSMEMORY.BXY NDA to show GS memory use. 19511 HWEN3.DHR.BXY Halloween Double HiRes clip art. Part 3. 19517 GSHK.BSE V1.1 Self-Extracting GS-Shrinkit V1.1. No IIgs owner should be without this! +19520 FILMS.ADB.BXY Over 2000 films listed in ADB format. 19531 QUIT.TO.BXY V2.02 New version of IIgs program switcher. 19544 SHOVEIT.BXY Very colorful, thought provoking game. +19555 HWN.TH1.NPS.BXY Halloween & Thanksgiving New Print Shop art. 19567 PLASMALAB2.BXY New version of cullular automata program. + - denotes Apple IIe/IIc compatible file. A NEW HARDWARE PRODUCT FOR THE APPLE IIGS! The SoundMeister is our """""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""" upcoming stereo digitizer/amplifier board. It not a software product, although it does come with some of that. :) Actually, there are going to be two models: SoundMeister JR. which is basically the equivalent of a Sonic Blaster, both in terms of price and capability. It will be a little bit cleaner however. The SoundMeister, OTH is totally awesome. It uses its own pair of A/Ds to allow one to digitize in stereo up to a hardware selectable 54khz! An expandable buffer alleviates the software so it can perform other tasks such as update a really groovy interface or, best of all, spool samples to disk so you can digitize high quality sources for minutes at a time instead of mere seconds (limited by disk space, really). Both versions share virtually identical output stages providing 1.9w/channel or line level with a software controlled volume level. Is that a bit more detailed than "Its a sound board!"? (ECON, CAT35, TOP10, MSG:/M645;1) >>> THROUGH THE GRAPEVINE <<< """"""""""""""""""""""""""""" OLD TIMERS (YOU KNOW, PAST 30) """""""""""""""""""""""""""""" > Sub: Before the Apple II: Computer Nostalgia Tales of the Good Old > Days... I still have the four copies of ROM, that I got when I first subscribed to Creative Computing. Where is David Ahl? With those articles on building a kit computer. And the center folds, they were great. Does anyone remember what they were. One was a Z80 and one was the mother ship, what were the others? It is fun to drag them out and see computers with wooden side panels. (D.HANELINE1, CAT2, TOP11, MSG:2/M645;1) >>>>> Where is David Ahl? He's still living in Morristown, NJ; I see """"" him at stamp shows. He went through a rough time finding work after "Creative Computing" folded. For awhile, he produced a magazine for....Atari? Amiga? (Until about a year ago, David Ahl was the editor of Atari Explorer. -Ed/JP) Now he's a freelance travel writer, and does freelance writing and publishing for others, too. (L.DEVRIES, CAT2, TOP11, MSG:4/M645;1) >>> APPLE HEADS WANT TO KNOW <<< """""""""""""""""""""""""""""""" IS THERE A LASER PRINTER IN YOUR FUTURE? If you want to go the laser """""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""" printer route, I would recommend that you take a look at the Epson Action Laser II. I have been using one with my GS for about six months and I am very pleased with it. It is LaserJet IIp (and Epson LQ and FX) compatible, 6 pages per minute, has serial and parallel ports, a 100-page sheet feeder, comes with 512K (if you print complex documents from GS/OS you'll want to add at least 1 MB), and, course, gives 300 dpi output. Unless you've got lots of time on your hands I would strongly recommend using a parallel card for complex fonts-and-graphics stuff. The EAL II works like a charm with AppleWorks and other 8-bit programs (where the Epson FX emulation comes in handy, as just about any program can handle that), and does equally well with AWGS, GraphicWriter, etc. It's a very versatile printer. In the most recent Computer Shopper I saw it advertised for $689. I bought mine at an Office Depot for about that price. One caveat: check on the price and availability of the RAM expansion card (usually not included) before buying the printer. I had a hard time finding it (finally did at Flex-USA, and they had lots of them) and it wasn't cheap. I went to 2.5 MB (probably more than I need) and it cost about $250. Another caveat: A new toner cartridge (every 5,000 pages) costs about $95, considerably more the ones for the LaserJets. I haven't yet found a source for refurbished cartridges, which are usually much cheaper and are certainly less wasteful, for the EAL II. I'm hoping that as more of them enter the market, competition will drive down the price of the cartridges. (D.CRUTCHER, CAT12, TOP8, MSG:191/M645;1) CABLE QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS """"""""""""""""""""""""""" >"will the cable that runs from a Super Serial card to the IW II work for direct connection to the GS, or do I have to purchase a different cable?" The SS to IW II cable will not work. The SS to the IW (early model) would probably work, but if you're going to buy a cable anyway, why not get a cable that will come off the Serial Port in the IIgs? You need a 8-pin mini-DIN to DB-25 cable, which is also known as a Mac+ to ImageWriter cable. Most dealers wouldn't know what you're talking about if you said a IIgs to ImageWriter cable. Make sure you get a cable that has a round plug on one end, and a 25 pin "D" connector on the other. Don't let them give you a ImageWriter II cable that has a round plug at each end. (R.MERLIN, CAT17, TOP17, MSG:100/M645;1) WHAT ARE MY MONITOR INTERFACE SPEC'S Does anyone know the video output """""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""" specs for the GS? The owner's manual doesn't list horz and vert frequency. I'm looking to get a VGA monitor that I'd like to switch between my GS and a 486. But I understand that there is probably a compatibility problem due to horz sync rate. OR - does anyone have any advice re connecting a VGA monitor and the GS? Models, video converters, etc? (C.LYON, CAT4, TOP2, MSG:45/M645;1) >>>>> If you have the IIgs set for 60 hz in the control panel (everybody """"" in the USA and NTSC-speaking countries should) then the specs are: vertical: 60 hz, non-interlaced horizontal: 15.750 khz analog RGB, internal composite sync on all three channels external composite sync available (I can get the pinout if you want) Note that most monitors that accept composite sync either require it as an external (i.e. on a wire by itself) or only need internal sync on the Green wire (internal means the sync signal is combined with the video signal). Unfortunately, most PC monitors seem to require separate horizontal and vertical sync (at least they did a few years ago when I was shopping for a new monitor), but with the Mac market I wouldn't be surprised if most of the good ones available now have a Mac connector that you can use directly. It is possible (although a bit kludgy) to make an adapter cable that will go between a IIgs and a separate-sync-only monitor; I've seen it done and I might be able to get a schematic for you. It's really just a normal cable with a couple resistors in the works to keep the two sync lines that the monitor sees from interfering with each other. (TODDPW, CAT4, TOP2, MSG:48/M645;1) GOT A QUESTION? YOUR GEnie FRIENDS CAN HELP IN A FLASH """"""""""""""" Does anyone have a phone number for MECC software publishing? (K.TAGGART, CAT2, TOP4, MSG:72/M645;1) >>>>> The phone number for MECC is: 800-685-6322 or 612-569-1500 """"" (S.MACGREGOR2, CAT2, TOP4, MSG:79/M645;1) >>>>> I have 800-228-3504 or 612-481-3500 for MECC. Address is 3490 """"" Lexington Avenue North / St. Paul, MN, 55216-8097 (J.YANDRASITZ, CAT2, TOP4, MSG:90/M645;1) PRINT QUALITY -- IS IT REAL OR IS IT MEMOREX? """"""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""" > Is the print quality from Publish It as good as that from a GS specific > program? Will a 16 bit publishing program be able to take advantage of > Pointless fonts? I haven't used PI4, but version 3 only has a "double strike" mode, which doesn't scale down oversize fonts like Apple's ImageWriter driver does. Hence, the output isn't quite as good. OTOH, it works beautifully with a LaserWriter. A 16 bit program, such as GraphicWriter III, would let you use Pointless, while you can't directly use it with an 8-bit program (you _can_ create bitmaps of any size, and save them for use with an 8-bit program). I published a newsletter for about a year using Publish It 3 and a LaserWriter; people always asked me if I used Quark Xpress or PageMaker, and which Mac I had... B-) (D.BROWN109, CAT2, TOP4, MSG:87/M645;1) WHICH IS BETTER: ZIP OR TRANSWARP """"""""""""""""""""""""""""""""" >>" BTW, on average I've heard about equal opinions about the ZIP GS or the TWGS " Actually, I have owned both, and I have no real choice between them. I THOUGHT I had a problem with my TWGS (which turned out to be a bad cable), so I replaced it with a ZIP (only to find I had the SAME problem with the ZIP, drove me NUTS). In the process of determining just what the problem was (and it took me weeks), I did a lot of comparisons between the two. Performance wise, the 7/8 mhz ZIP and the TWGS are essentially identical.The ZIP follows Apples rules better (or so I am told) and uses less power, but the TWGS seems a bit more reliable (based on word of mouth reports from the field). I suspect that the performance of the TWGS can be pushed further than the performance of the ZIP for those technoids who want to get into hardware modifications. The REAL killer on both cards is service, or the lack of it. I don't see a lot to choose from there either. We sure could use a third manufacturer of GS accelerator cards. (GARY.UTTER, CAT22, TOP10, MSG:/M645;1) >>> MESSAGE SPOTLIGHT <<< """"""""""""""""""""""""" Category 2, Topic 5 Message 48 Thu Oct 01, 1992 GARY.UTTER [Dispatcher] at 01:21 EDT Vic, >>"I feel Apple Computer has forced me to turn away from the platform I truly love- the Apple ][." This is kinda the key statement here. First of all (and I don't intend to be defending Apple in saying this), computers evolve. The GS, good as it is, is not a platform with sufficient development potential to carry it into the next century. The MAC probably will not make it into the next century. While I don't think Apples treatment of the II line is the wisest course they could have taken, I am not prepared to say that it was foolish, either. The fact of the matter is that the GS does not have what it takes to be a major platform, and Apple made a serious mistake when they released it. The LC is what the GS should have been. That is, the GS SHOULD have been a Mac with color capabilities and built in IIe emulation. Instead, they released a computer that has very serious design limitations that simply cannot be overcome at a reasonable cost. So what we have here is the bastard child of muddled thinking at Apple Computer. But despite the fact that it was a bad idea in the first place, and despite the fact that it does not have the capabilities that would make it the basis of long term development program, that does not make the GS a bad computer, or a bad choice for a computer. When you see a 486 with a super VGA monitor and a huge hard drive for $950, it will be because it is seriously outmoded by the 686 with extra super VGA and a gigabyte drive. Don't waste your time waiting for it. >>"it seems to me that the GS is on a dead end street with the ridiculously little continuing support for it from Apple itself" Of course it is. So what? I live on a dead end street, as a matter of fact, and every house on the street is a very NICE house, and the neighborhood is quiet and peaceful. Being on a dead end street is not bad in and of itself. Ask yourself THIS question... "What do I want to do, and NEED to do, that cannot easily be done on a GS with current software?" If you answer truthfully, I strongly suspect that the answer will be "Nothing!" Especially in view of the fact that you have been getting along for so long with a Laser. :) What you are dealing with is the popular perception of computing, "if it is not the latest, greatest, most powerful, most cutting edge, it is NOTHING". That turns out not to be the case, however. The sorts of applications that you CAN'T run on a GS are not anything you are likely to need to run your church. Do you have a real (as opposed to imagined) need for high end DeskTop Publishing? Do you have a real need for CAD/CAM? How about running a major spread sheet or database program over a network? Do you REALLY need to do that? If so, then go for a high end Mac or a 486. Let's turn it around a bit. I'm guessing at what you would need to do with a computer for a church, so let me know if I am wrong, but I expect that your needs run to some small accounting/bookkeeping needs for the church itself, perhaps several databases of members and various projects/activities they are involved in, maybe a spreadsheet or two to project costs for the church and determine budgeting for the coming year or two. I would expect that you would need to be able to do the churches correspondence on your computer, and that you would like to be able to print letters for mass mailings, perhaps flyers to advertise church activities, etc. Did I miss anything vital there? ALL of that stuff can be done easily with the Laser (or was it a IIc?) that you have now. Not as easily, or as effectively, as it can be done with a GS, but it can be done. In fact, all of that sort of thing could be done with Appleworks and a full suite of TimeOut addons. Look at it realistically, and you will see that anything that you really need to do can be done easily, and economically, on the GS. The GS is as reliable as a stone. If you want a DOS platform that you can really COUNT on to work, and work properly, and work for years to come, AND you want 486 type performance, you had BETTER plan on spending at least $2500. (Sure, clones are cheap, but there is a REASON for that. If it were ME buying one, I would expect to spend more like $1800, but I LIKE to get into the guts of my hardware, and as much as I might complain about it, things that don't work properly can keep me entertained for days at a time. :) And after you spend that money, look forward to spending a long time learning how to USE it. And don't for get that the high powered specialty software (the stuff that you CAN'T get for the GS) is going to cost you hundreds of dollars per program. Now, I'm not trying, necessarily (g) to DISCOURAGE you from buying a PC clone, if that is what you want to do, but don't try to tell me that it is a WISE choice because it is more economical for your assembly. That is simply foolish. AND, chances are really quite good that the GS will still be running smoothly when that PC clone is an outmoded clunker. Remember that the GS has been dead for YEARS. I have a friend who dumped his GS three years ago, bought himself a state of the art 286 clone. He has dumped that for a 386, and now he is moaning because he is going to have to replace THAT with a 486 because the 386 won't run the newest stuff effectively, just not QUITE enough memory capacity or something like that. Since he got rid of his "dead end" GS, (because there was no support, no new products for it, and because Apple was going to discontinue the machine and stop supporting it before the end of the quarter), we have seen the release of the RamFast, the Quickie, System 5.0.4, HyperCard IIgs, InWords, Pointless, System 6.... the list goes on (and someone is going to be upset with me for leaving out something important :). Let's go back to the first statement "the platform I truly love- the Apple ][." Why should you punish yourself with a DOS machine? Why should you deal with the learning curve for a DOS machine, and all the quirky differences between every application? I suggest that the GS, which does everything that your Laser does, and does it the same way, lets you be up and running from the day you get it, and lets you learn all this NEW stuff that the GS can do at your own pace. (Not that there is too much to learn, this system is DESIGNED to be user friendly, after all. :) It seems to me that this benefits your assembly, since they lose a lot less of YOUR productive time. >>"Is $950 "reasonable" when before long ....." SURE it is. Depending on what you get with it,it is almost certainly "reasonable" for the work you need to do. And the GS will keep ON doing that work for years to come. The GS (as I have said MANY times) will NEVER be less competent than it is today. This lust to be on the leading edge of computing is silliness. What counts is that your computer can do what you NEED to do, do it quickly, do it well, do it without a lot of hassle, and do it at a price that you can afford. For somewhere between $900 and $1200, you should be able to get a GS with a decent sized hard drive (minimum 40 megs) a decent amount of memory (expandable to 4 megs, minimum), an accelerator, and 3.5 a dn 5.25 drives. At the higher end, you should be getting a hard drive of at least 80 megs and a DMA SCSI card, AND a printer. If it were me, I would go for a lower price, and add a DeskJet 500 printer and a hand scanner and Inwords (for what you are likely to want to do). There are LOTS of toys out there for the GS at very good prices, and software to do virtually anything you need to do. (realistically) And for the budget conscious, almost everything is available used and in real good condition. GO for it. :) Gary R. Utter [*][*][*] 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 //// / "Try and get more sleep, too. EMPIRE is not for the weak- / / willed. Once you get addicted, all sorts of daily activities / / and natural body functions become upset and put aside." / ///////////////////////////////////////////// R.COLEMAN24 //// [EOA] [HUM]////////////////////////////// HUMOR ONLINE / ///////////////////////////////// World's Fastest Chip """""""""""""""""""" From: I. B. Lyon Subject: IBM Zurich announces new chip ----- PRESS RELEASE --------------------------------------------------- The Zurich laboratory unveiled the world's fastest chip this week. The chip, code named "Timeless", is based on high temperature superconductors and is capable of transferring data signals faster than the speed of light. This makes it possible for a computer based on this chip to produce answers before questions are asked. Using this technology, the Hursley laboratory has been able to produce a program product before the user requirements were known. Industry analysts found the Hursley announcement humorous, citing that IBM has been writing program products without user requirements for years. Products created using the Hursley method are still expected to miss their ship dates due to the excessive length of the Fall and Spring planning cycles. The Communication Products Systems Test organization is using the same technology to test program products in zero days. Said a spokesperson in Raleigh, "It's amazing. Just preparing to test the software thoroughly causes it to be tested. It's like the system can read your mind." Oddly enough, planning experts in System Test are reporting that regardless of the productivity gains realized by the Timeless chip, the average test duration is expected to be nine months. There have been rumors of some odd side-effects of the Timeless chip. Some customers have been receiving products before they order them. Most customers we interviewed did admit that they were planning to order the new software when it arrived. They said that they liked the speed with which the products arrived, but they disliked IBM's new policy of billing them before they ordered anything. Said an IBM billing expert, "We knew they were going to think about ordering some software, so we thought we would think about billing them." IBM Service has made some exciting advances in hardware and software maintenance based on these side-effects. IBM Service worldwide has begun a free preventative maintenance program in which the IBM Customer Engineers think about fixing all the problems of every customer. Said an IBM Service representative, "The program is working very well. Service calls are down 99%. The only calls we are getting now are to fix hardware and software that hasn't been invented yet." If you are thinking of ordering computer systems which uses the Timeless chip, they can be ordered from IBM. Of course, if you have been thinking about ordering one, it is probably on its way to you right now. ////////////////////////////////////// GEnie_QWIK_QUOTE //// / "Obstreperous comportment? The very thought terrifies." / //////////////////////////////////////// D.A.BRUMLEVE //// [EOA] [A2P]////////////////////////////// A2/PRO_ductivity / ///////////////////////////////// Take Another Look! """""""""""""""""" By Jim Couch >>> A2PRO, IT'S NOT JUST FOR PROGRAMMERS ANYMORE <<< """""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""" NOT JUST FOR PROGRAMMERS Maybe you remember the old orange juice ad """""""""""""""""""""""" campaign that stated "Orange juice, it's not just for breakfast anymore." The point was to get people to drink orange juice during the rest of the day, not just at breakfast. Truth was that many people already knew that orange juice was great stuff and drank it all the time. The orange juice people just wanted to let everyone else know as well! OK, by now you probably are wondering, what the heck does all this have to do with GEnie anyway? Well the A2pro RoundTable has the same kind of identity problem as orange juice did. Most people think that A2pro is just for programmers, but it isn't! There is a wealth of information for any Apple II user. You owe it to yourself to check out A2pro as ... it's not just for programmers! To help keep you in touch with what is happening in A2Pro I have been engaged to write a monthly column about the RoundTable. For this month I will content myself with a brief introduction. I have been playing with the Apple II since somewhere around 1984. Although I had used both mainframes and personal computers at various jobs prior to that point the Apple II was the first computer I purchased for myself. I purchased a IIc after looking at a number of other computers, including the (then) new IBM PC JR, Osborne, and Compaq machines. What attracted me initially to the II was it's history. There was something very engaging about a machine that was initially designed in a garage! I used the IIc for a number of tasks including financial record keeping, and word processing. I found the machine to be a great help at work as well, and often took the IIc into work with me. At the time I was running a _very_ small business with my brother selling climbing and outdoor gear. As he lived on the east coast, it made sense to purchase a pair of modems and transfer files back and forth. From this modest beginning in telecommunications my interest grew. In the winter of 86 I began running a BBS part time off of our business line during the evenings. This, like so many other things got way out of hand and eventually came to occupy it's own phone line and run full time! The BBS eventually became what is now the support board for my local user's group and moved to a IIe so I could again have my IIc back full time! About the same time as my plunge into the world of a BBS Sysop I also ran into a little publication called Open-Apple. I subscribed and bought all the back issues as well, this magazine helped me better understand my machine and may me feel like I really understood what I was doing. My first issue was October 1986. In this issue the IIgs was introduced! When my IIc died I replaced it with a IIgs which is my current computer. After reading about GEnie in Open-Apple (now A2-Central) for quite a while I finally joined to see what it was all about. I primarily lurked in the A2 area in the beginning and also checked out a few other RoundTables. The introduction of GEnie's Basic Services saved me a bit of money, so I began to lurk in A2Pro as well, finding much to my surprise that there was a lot of useful information, even though I was (and am) not much of a programmer! On the subject of programming, you will notice that there is not a lot of experience mentioned, that is because there isn't much to mention! After I got comfortable with the machine, I did decide I would like to learn to program, but found that I just never had the time. My programing experience consists of only modifications to my BBS and some Ultramacros task files. In all honesty I cannot claim to be a programmer. I think my lack of background as a programmer will help me to cover A2Pro in a unique manner. This may also make other non-programmers feel more comfortable with the RoundTable. There is much within A2Pro that is useful to ALL of us, come join in! The following items appeared during the last few weeks in the A2Pro bulletin board area. If you find something of interest, you might want to look in on a regular basis. [*][*][*] TODD WITESEL STEPS UP TO BAT No comment on all that other stuff... :) """""""""""""""""""""""""""" Hello! I'm Todd Whitesel, the new A2PRO library slave. I'm supposed to write a bio for everyone to snigger at, so here 'tis. It was at Caltech that I discovered VMS, Macs, unix, the Internet, and the IIgs -- in about that order. It was the summer after my first year there that I got my own IIgs. By my third year at Caltech, I had had enough true Computer Science pumped into me that I was able to start writing serious programs. We had just had an AppleTalk network recently installed, so I started by writing small Inits and utilities (some of which are in the libraries now). Now that I've graduated and escaped from Caltech, I work for a company owned and operated by Caltech alumni called Green Hills Software. The meat of our product line is compilers, and my main job for the foreseeable future is to take over maintenance of the 680x0 code generator. I used to avoid the 68000 like the plague, but I would rather work on it than on something for a modern RISC machine. Like the 65816, the 68000 presents all sorts of great opportunities for optimization that separates the truly sneaky programmers from the rest. And now, I think I'd better get on with the library slave part of this... (A2PRO.TODDPW, CAT1, TOP2, MSG:99/M530;1) A2PRO REAL-TIME CONFERENCE MOVES TO SUNDAYS The recent (and ongoing) """"""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""" A2Pro survey showed us that lots of you wanted to see the conference earlier, and on Sunday. In fact, Sunday was by far the most popular choice of any day presented. So, after considering this and asking a few people in person, we're going for it. Effective October 18th, the A2Pro Real-Time Conference will be each weekend on Sunday night at 8:30 PM ET (5:30 PM PT). The weekly A2Pro conferences at 9:30 PM ET on Monday and Thursday will be discontinued after Thursday, October 15th. If you want to chat on Monday or Thursday, though, don't worry, because A2U still has conferences on both those days -- Will Nelken's great Macro conference on Monday nights and Andy McFadden's A2U Data Compression course, both at 10:00 PM ET, on Monday and Thursday respectively. To help celebrate the move, we'll be giving away a free non-prime hour of GEnie time to _three_ lucky people at the first conference on Sunday, October 18th. So be sure to be there and help us inaugurate a new A2Pro tradition! (M.DEATHERAGE, CAT1, TOP17, MSG:42/M530;1) DON'T, UNDER NO CIRCUMSTANCES, NOT EVER, ETC Like Matt said, NEVER use """""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""" Control-Reset to simply reboot or exit a program on the GS. Especially GS/OS programs. It can be incredibly dangerous and there is the possibility that you'll lose data or corrupt files. (Some programs actually keep files open on the disk when the user is using them in order to support networking and whatnot. Control-Reset could cause these files to become at worst, corrupted, and at best they could no longer be up- to-date.) (SOFTDISK.INC, CAT7, TOP2, MSG:86/M530;1) WANTED: OLD TIME PROGRAMMERS Now that Lost Classics is off and running, """""""""""""""""""""""""""" with more classic software on the way, I figured it was a good time to come on over here and get the programmers to help us out. We brought you Apple Writer. We brought you GraFORTH. We found the WPL Expansion Kit. We have some rocking games in the pipeline on their way to you. In order to truly succeed, we will need to locate quite a few more Old- Timers. For that I am asking your help. If you know of anyone who has written a commercial program for the Apple II, and that program is no longer being distributed, then I want to talk to them. If you wrote something, then I want to talk to you. To make Lost Classics really succeed, I will need the direct and indirect help of the larger Apple II family. How about it? :) -Tim Tobin Lost Classics Coordinator P.S. See also A2 Category 7. (A2.TIM, CAT13, TOP5, MSG:1/M530;1) QUALITY COMPUTERS LOOKING FOR R&D PEOPLE! This is NOT a mere programming """"""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""" job. Think of it as a career opportunity. At Quality Computers we have a rather flexible corporate organization. For example, take my job (please). While I originally started out answering the phones in tech and migrated into taking sales calls, I now am QC's only full- time R&D person. I write books and manuals, I do some programming, I work with outside contractors to get products finished, I work on videos. We're looking to expand our R&D "department" by hiring one new person immediately and maybe another a couple months down the road. We're looking for someone with a good Apple II background, solid programming skills, and decent writing ability. Experience with other platforms, especially multimedia/HyperCard on the Mac, is a definite plus. If you have other talents (computer art, music, whatever) that might fit into a "creative" program like this, that may be another plus. You have to be able to work well as part of a team. When I moved into my position full-time a few months ago, we weren't sure whether or not we'd be able to find enough projects for me to work on. But it's turned out to be quite the opposite -- I'm swamped and I need some help! I think having a full-time guy who works only on special projects that Joe Gleason, the president, dreams up has made him dream up even more projects than ever before! Quality Computers offers some great benefit packages including health insurance, 401K retirement account, and profit-sharing. Plus the pay is good, and it's exciting and fun to work here. If you're interested, please send a resume via Snail Mail to: Quality Computers, Attn: Jerry Kindall, 20200 Nine Mile Rd., PO Box 665, St. Clair Shores, MI 48080. (Please do not inquire about this job via e-mail or by phone.) No experience is necessary -- just ability. (QC, CAT13, TOP8, MSG:89/M530;1) MORGAN DAVIS ACCOUNT NAME CHANGE Our old account name, M.DAVIS42, has """""""""""""""""""""""""""""""" been changed. The new name is MORGAN-DAVIS. Please make a note of it. This message will not repeat. :-) /\/\ / /__\ Morgan Davis (MORGAN-DAVIS, CAT32, TOP1, MSG:6/M530;1) NOT TO LATE TO JOIN THE ULTRA 4.0 COURSE Well, folks, here's the good """""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""" news... The first four segments have been RE-uploaded as: 2939 A2U.ULTRA00.BXY -- Introduction 2940 A2U.ULTRA01.BXY -- Lesson 1 (fixed) 2941 A2U.ULTRA02.BXY -- Lesson 2 2942 A2U.ULTRA03.BXY -- Lesson 3 (fixed) _and_ Lesson 4 is also to be released today as: 2943 A2U.ULTRA04.BXY -- Lesson 4 The fourth lesson deals with the new repeat command, the tokens, and looping procedures, including the new for-next loops. FYI, I have also included an appendix that lists the byte size of each and every Ultra 4 command and function. I know you'll be referring to it often. :-) Have at 'em. And let's hear (SEE) what you're doing with it all. (W.NELKEN1, CAT22, TOP22, MSG:91/M530;1) //////////////////////////////////////////////// GEnie_QWIK_QUOTE //// / "No, I live in a little town of Corn (no jokes please), Oklahoma." / /////////////////////////////////////////////////// K.HEINRICHS //// [EOA]#61 [FUN]////////////////////////////// ONLINE FUN / ///////////////////////////////// Search-ME! """""""""" By Scott Garrigus [S.GARRIGUS] SEARCH-ME! Hi there everyone! Are you ready to have some fun? """""""""" Search-Me is taking on a new twist this month. Instead of coming up with a word list about any old thing, we're going to use GEnie as our well-spring from now on. Every month I'll visit a different area on GEnie. I'll tell you a little bit about it, what you can find there and then have fresh list of words for you to search for from that area. Sound good? I hope so, because here we go... This month I visited the fabulous Germany RoundTable. There are a lot of things to do here, especially if you are interested in Germany. ;-) You can learn more about German culture, German food, the German language, you name it - if it has anything to do with Germany, it's here. You can also find out about Austria and Switzerland while your at it. So come on over and visit our German friends! To get there just type GERMANY at the system prompt. But before you do, be sure to have some fun and try to complete this month's puzzle about GERMANY! Keep on smilin'! >>> GERMANY RoundTable PUZZLE <<< """"""""""""""""""""""""""""""""" ~ PAGE 725 ~ G O C N E T I E K G I U E N T O W C R B T J C E L Q X K T F A H C S N E S S I W B U R J W R B Y X F X M K H D K W J R Y S P S E Y V Q C N P R N T S Q B E X E L V R E H C I L H C R I K C W M A J Q T P H D N N T N N Q X T W B Q L L T Z I N M S O C T O B E R F E S T H E T S S E X A K I N R S P D K W D P N A M R B C M G V D Y G E E B R E A P E L I R Y U H M G C I V W P E Q U W O U U G T X U E E V T P C O J C N K C U K V P Y S E G C W I T I S O U V S K V W U J U E D B T B I E R G K V S N B P W V T L I X M O B A R M N X G O V G Z X C A A V X X R L R L S W I T Z E R L A N D E L M H N D Q O B I I L V A M D D G O U Y V Z D N S N L Z E A F H W W M R L S K H C K A E H Y F Z V V A E N O B R S S C E O T M O D E M K A R T E N T N I H J V V O M R Y R G U H X Z I T T K V Z P I D G U L K M S M E J T U C R F G E C C G Q S L S R E V H Z D P I L O R V O K P L J P L I V D A B A N P I X J I N A J C O N T B X U S E G Y T P J K Z >>> WORD CLUES <<< """""""""""""""""" AUSTRIA AUTOBAHN BIER DAIMLER DEUTSCHLAND GERMANY KIRCHLICHER KLEINANZEIGEN KUENSTE MODEMKARTEN MUNICH MYTHOLOGIE NEUIGKEITEN OCTOBERFEST PORSCHE SWITZERLAND WEIN WIESBADEN WILLKOMMEN WIRTSCHAFT WISSENSCHAFT [*][*][*] GIVE UP? You will find the answers in the LOG OFF column at the end of """""""" the magazine. This column was created with a program called SEARCH ME, an Atari ST program by David Becker. ///////////////////////////////////////// GEnie_QWIK_QUOTE //// / "Since the computer works faster than I do anyway, I really / / don't care about a silly nanosecond." / ///////////////////////////////////////////// D.D.MARTIN //// [EOA]!!@ [WHO]////////////////////////////// WHO'S WHO / ///////////////////////////////// Who's Who In Apple II """"""""""""""""""""" By Phil Shapiro [P.SHAPIRO1] >>> WHO'S WHO? <<< """""""""""""""""" ~ A Profile of Morgan Davis ~ ~ Creator of the ProLine Bulletin Board System ~ GEnieLamp Morgan, how did you first become interested in programming the """"""""" Apple II? Can you remember the specific time and place? Davis I was a junior in high school (1981), when I had a short one-week """"" introductory class on computers. Fortunately, the computer was an Apple II. That started my (so far) life long interest in them. GEnieLamp Over the years you've created some superlative tele- """"""""" communications products (including ModemWorks and ProLine). Can you tell us a little how you first became interested in tele- communications? When was the first time you saw the word CONNECT? Davis Actually, my communications history goes back much farther than """"" what you suggest. While in sixth grade, after tiring of only being able to listen to a short-wave scanner, I wanted to get my amateur radio operators license, but succumbed a few years later to the easy access of CB radio. My interest in communications started out in radio. It was in 1983 when I got my own Apple IIe and had a job writing books on BASIC programming for CompuSoft Publishing, Inc. They had an acoustic coupler modem that I was able to take home during the weekends and connect to the IIe. I would cruise the local bulletin boards for 48 hours and then take the unit back to work on Monday. Finally, I couldn't take it anymore and decided I needed a modem I could use all the time. So, I bought the best modem you could get for the Apple II series at the time, a Novation Apple-Cat II with a blazing 300bps throughput and a $400 price tag. I must have been saving my paycheck money diligently, because it wasn't too long thereafter when I purchased the 1200bps upgrade option for about $250, as I recall. The popular external modems at the time were Racal Vadics -- very expensive, very cutting-edge. The Hayes Smartmodem wasn't in full popularity until much later. I didn't have a real Hayes-style modem until around 1984, perhaps '85. Before I had a Hayes-compatible external modem, I had already built an Apple-Cat-only version of ModemWorks. It was distributed as "shareware" (a new concept at the time) through a small company a friend and I founded called "Living Legends Software". I distributed ModemWorks, ProLine, and a few other programs through LLS between 1984 and 1988. On February 14th, 1989, the Morgan Davis Group was created, and I've been selling my own products through it ever since. While the Apple II market has shrunk over the years, MDG has expanded its product line and increased revenues each year. GEnieLamp In the late 1980's you worked for a year or so at Beagle Bros. """"""""" Did your job involve software programming work? Davis Yes. This is a minor point in history. """"" GEnieLamp Was it more along the lines of telephone technical support? """"""""" Davis Heck no! :-) I was hired in February, 1989 (the same month I """"" started MDG) when TimeOut was really enjoying its success. Bert Kersey had sold Beagle Bros to Mark Simonsen, and Simonsen decided that he'd like Beagle to become a heavyweight contender in the Macintosh market. I was hired, along with about six others initially, to work with existing Beagle programmers (who only had Apple II experience at the time) to create a product that would dethrone Microsoft Works, Microsoft's integrated package with a long, successful history. Our product, code named Cheetah, was to be designed and developed into intercommunicating modules that included more features than Works -- all in eight months -- a ridiculous timeframe for a group of Apple II programmers, most who didn't even own a Macintosh (like myself) and had little or no experience using one, let alone programming it. From 1984, I had spent a lot of time working with Macs, but I had only developed software for the Apple II. I bought a Macintosh IIx through Beagle and paid it off through my salary over a number of months. My responsibility in the Cheetah project was to develop the communications module. Amazingly, I had it getting me online and transferring data in about two or three months. The hard part, however, was putting a Macintosh interface on top of it all. Familiar with the serial port on the IIGS, getting the Mac to speak to a modem wasn't hard. But having to learn the other 99% of the Macintosh's toolbox, operating system, and development environments took a long time. The other programmers had similar hurdles to overcome, and many dropped out of the project early on (Rob Renstrom and Alan Bird, who went on to start WestCode). The team went from 12 down to about 4 programmers, still holding the same initial feature list and the same eight-month deadline. Not surprising, we didn't make it. GEnieLamp Can you tell us a little about the work environment at Beagle """"""""" Bros (formal/informal)? Davis Beagle was a fun place to work at during the days when it was """"" under the fathership of Bert Kersey. On many occasions, I would stop by at the Beagle offices to visit or drop off a Living Legends product they might have ordered. It always struck me as the greatest Apple II company to work for, second only to Apple, of course. I'd love to continue a happy story, but I'm afraid there isn't one. Things were quite different after the TimeOut succe$$. Beagle moved to an expensive technical park in Sorrento Valley (the Silicon Valley of San Diego). The atmosphere was casual, but not informal. When I came aboard, I think they had about 25 employees. There was "management structure", company policy manuals, legal agreements to sign, and a marketing V.P., the only person really overseeing R&D (that was us). Not at all like the small, attractive company I used to dream of working for. The Cheetah project lacked serious direction and management. I became aware of this after long time Beagle programmers, like Randy Brandt, decided not to be involved with the project. A friend of mine who later went on to work for Aldus (Silicon Beach at the time), left because of the pressure and idiocy that went on up in the higher ranks. They had an insight that I didn't. After about a year, Cheetah's team consisted of Joe Holt (the only accomplished Mac programmer there), Tom Birchall (experienced at HyperCard, but not application development), and myself. In the months ahead, Beagle's employee count atrophied to about 12 following layoff after layoff. There were a few who got out before their number came up. I stuck with the initial Cheetah plan until April 13 (a Friday, no less), 1990, when Mark Simonsen called me into his office at the end of the day and expressed the company's difficult financial situation, of which I was all too aware. That was my last day. I went home that evening in a daze, disappointed that what could have been never happened after a year and a half. When my good friend Joe Holt heard what happened, he left Beagle to work for Adobe Systems. I went on to pursue MDG full time, and have been doing just that ever since. It's a real shame. There was amazing talent at Beagle Bros in every department except the ones that count. We had excellent writers, artists, an established sales force, awesome Apple II programmers, a few promising Mac programmers, and everyone (below a certain level) got along expertly. It just seemed like we were always working against management, or more accurately, operating under the lack of real management. To bring a long story to a quick ending, things got worse in the two years that followed my departure. For months, Beagle operated on a shoestring with just five or six employees. They sold their Apple II products to Quality. And then last Friday, they shut down for good. I'm certain the worsening economy only helped to speed up Beagle's demise. GEnieLamp Is Sophie a real dog? """"""""" Davis She was (past tense). Sophie left us for Beagle Heaven a few """"" years ago. GEnieLamp Your ProLine bulletin board system has earned an enthusiastic """"""""" following with Apple II users and user groups around the country. In what year was ProLine first released? Can you describe some of the new features of the latest ProLine version, ProLine 2.0? Davis ProLine was first conceived and named in early 1984. It wasn't """"" released until 1985 as a commercial product through LLS. ProLine 2.0 was major upgrade, entailing a nearly total rewrite of the core system. At the lowest level, I had developed the Object Module Manager to make ModemWorks 3.0 a reality. This allowed me to create interchangeable modules for taking care of specific functions, like terminal emulation, transfer protocols, serial I/O, and so on. ProLine 2.0, mostly written in Applesoft using MD-BASIC, was able to take advantage of the new features in ModemWorks by just "recompiling" all the existing code with some new libraries. So, 2.0 offers additional terminal support (VT-100, 102, 220, and ANSI), a full complement of protocols (X/Y/ZMODEM), all new online documentation, and a new 350 page owners manual. GEnieLamp You run the Morgan Davis Group publishing company with your """"""""" wife Dawn. Does running the company take up all your time? Or are you able to work a separate job as well? Other than moral support, Dawn doesn't get too involved in MDG these days. She's started her own licensed family day care facility (in our home--where I no longer keep my office for obvious reasons!). With seven kids to take care of, she's pretty busy these days, and loving it. Running MDG does, indeed, take up ALL of my time. There are always hundreds of things to do, and it seems like I can't keep up. Since I write and develop our products, handle phone support throughout the day, keep up with online tech support, write and typeset the manuals, handle sales and marketing, fill orders and shipping, I am PLENTY busy. We're at that uncomfortable stage of being too small to hire additional help, but too big for one person to handle. Somehow, I manage, but I feel the company's growth is being retarded due to lack of manpower. How I long for a 36 hour day, and the endurance to survive one. GEnielamp After ProLine, your next most popular software product is """"""""" probably MD-BASIC, a structured BASIC preprocessor. The essence of MD-BASIC is that it allows programmers to side-step the sticky "spaghetti-code" problems inherent in Applesoft BASIC's open-ended structure. It's even possible to write MD-BASIC programs from within a word processor. Can you tell us a little about your motivation for creating MD-BASIC? Davis Actually, our most popular product is ModemWorks, then ProLine, """"" and then MD-BASIC. I think MD-BASIC has the potential of being an extremely successful product, but because of minimal advertising and practically no magazine coverage, not many people know about it. When you market the premier Apple II bulletin board system that encompasses over 100 BASIC programs, you have a lot of motivation for improving your Applesoft development scheme! I love the C programming language, so I took the best features in a C compiler and rolled them into something that allows you to write BASIC programs in a word processing environment (that in itself is a far cry from what you have in Applesoft's "immediate" programming mode). MD-BASIC's source files look a lot like BASIC, C, and Pascal, and when they get run through the MD-BASIC compiler, extremely compact and efficient Applesoft programs come out. So you can now write highly structured and well-commented BASIC programs using a word processor *and* get better results in the end. MD-BASIC optimizes your code and strips out the dead weight that bloats most programs written the old, painful way. Its the proverbial "win win" situation. GEnieLamp Are there any shareware or commercial software products on the """"""""" market that were developed using MD-BASIC? Davis I know from product registration cards we receive that a lot of """"" companies use it. In fact, almost anyone who is doing serious development work that involves either a little or a lot of Applesoft is probably using MD-BASIC. Most can't stop saying good things about it. I love reading unsolicited endorsements like that here on GEnie. We, of course, use it for all of our products. We don't have a single Applesoft-only product, but almost every disk we put out includes some short "Startup" program on it which we write using MD-BASIC. It's easy to crank out new, impressive programs with it in short order, because you can easily make use of work you've developed in the past by maintaining your own set of library routines, just like with real high-level languages. GEnieLamp If it doesn't violate any confidentiality agreements, can you """"""""" tell us if MD-BASIC is being used by any commercial software publishers? Davis Of those most GEnie members would recognize, Tom Hoover uses it for """"" developing his GEnie Master program. SoftDisk programmers use it. There are many others. I'd have to open our customer database to find more. GEnieLamp Just a few months ago you released yet another BASIC """"""""" programmer's tool, the Real-time Applesoft Debugging Environment (RADE). Is this tool intended to be used in conjunction with MD-BASIC? What are the most common programming bugs that RADE helps overcome? Davis Since RADE is invaluable for debugging any Applesoft programs, its """"" not just for MD-BASIC programmers. It can be used to debug ANY Applesoft programs. It is even a great educational tool, allowing you to snoop through programs other people have written. Because of its "stop action" ability to freeze a running program and let you analyze each statement as it executes, it is indispensable for discovering and understanding the tricks accomplished programmers use in their programs. It's also indispensable in uncovering those elusive bugs that can't be hunted down easily. For example, while a program runs, you can monitor the flow of execution to see just which statements are being executed. At the same time, you can watch a set of variables to see how they change in real-time. You can modify the values of variables while a program runs to see how that might affect your program. You can look at the program listing. And you can do all this without having to stop your program or mess up the screen display. Plus, RADE's history feature keeps track of all your debugging operations so you can easily scroll back through them and find out what might have happened way back when the program first started running. RADE is an awesome product that makes the BASIC development cycle a snap. It's unobtrusive (takes up just 768 bytes of main memory), it lets you switch between your program's display and RADE's debugging screen to avoid disturbing your program's output. It's great for anyone who programs in Applesoft. GEnieLamp Outside of programming the Apple II, what are some of your """"""""" hobbies and interests? What do you like to do for fun? Davis With a family of four and a business like MDG, I don't have much """"" time for myself. However, if, by some fluke of good luck, I do get some free time, I'll spend it reading or listening to music -- something truly relaxing. I'm a pretty good racquetball player, so I keep in shape that way. I spend most of my time on the weekends with my kids. So we do a lot of outings to places like San Diego's Zoo and Wild Animal Park, the Natural History museum, Aerospace Museum, Fleet Space theater and Science Center, parks, swimming, etc. Lots of stuff kids and grownups both enjoy. GEnieLamp What is the accomplishment of which you're the most proud? """"""""" What have been the most intriguing experiences for you? At first, I was going to say that I'm not really proud of any particular thing. But, I guess I'm proud of all my work, because I'm just amazed that my stuff works when I complete a project (or think I have completed one -- I don't think I have yet!). Writing a program and then documenting it (complete with typesetting) is a long and arduous process. It can take up to six months for one small project. When you alone work on one project solid everyday for six months, the tendency to burn out is prevalent. I'm really happy when we finally get to the shipping stage. The most intriguing single thing so far was writing a PostScript generator for ProLine's online help system. ProLine has always had command-formatted built in help files which were processed for display on a computer screen or dot matrix printer. But with ProLine 2.0, I wanted to be able to ship a manual that included the online documentation in nice laser printer output. Needless to say, I learned a lot about PostScript, which I had always feared as being out of my league. It's pretty cool that a BASIC program in ProLine can crank out 300 professionally typeset pages from PostScript code in a manner of minutes. I'm sure there will be something even more intriguing happening tomorrow. GEnieLamp As someone who has spent a great deal of time creating """"""""" and supporting telecommunications software products, can you comment a little about the likely future directions of telecommunications? A recent magazine article said that the U.S. Postal Service forecasts hard copy mail growing to 250 billion pieces annually before the turn of the century. Rather than spending huge amounts of money on expanding the current postal sorting and delivery system, wouldn't it make more sense for the U.S. Postal service to subsidize terminals for every home and business? (Along the lines of the French Minitel system.) Davis I think we're coming to this. Just look at the proliferation of """"" FAX machines. To a lesser extent, look at the people who pay their bills electronically with CheckFree. Granted, CheckFree still utilizes the postal service, but with direct bank deposits, you'd totally eliminate the paper. Its the closest thing to owning a Star Trek-like transporter we have now. In the communications world of the future, your home address is only valid for people who need directions to get there and the occasional parcel package that a computerized shipper, such as UPS and Federal Express will use. Otherwise, our address will be in the form of computer accounts or personal access ID numbers that are used to reach us on our portables (or pen-based systems) wherever we go. The post office won't provide this technology. The phone and cable TV companies are more likely to develop this simply because of their existing roots in communications technology (fiber optic, cellular, satellite, etc.). GEnieLamp How can Apple II software developers find out more about your """"""""" products? Simply write or call us at: Morgan Davis Group 10079 Nuerto Lane Rancho San Diego CA 91977-7132 USA +1 619 670 0563 +1 619 670 9643 (FAX) +1 619 670 5379 (BBS) We're putting together a newsletter, Groupnews, which we'll be sending to all of our customers next month. Groupnews talks about our latest product line and upgrades. We'll be happy to send a copy to anyone who is not currently in our customer database by supplying us with a 29 cent postage stamp and their address. Incidentally, our GEnie address has changed from the difficult to remember "M.DAVIS42" to the much simpler "MORGAN-DAVIS". /////////////////////////////////////////// GEnie_QWIK_QUOTE //// / "I work with PC, ST, Amiga at work all day and sometimes mind / / gets jumbled (Sort of like Spock when he mind melded with / / Vyger. I Usually have that stupid grin as well.)" / ///////////////////////////////////////////////// M.ENGLE1 //// [EOA] [QUI]////////////////////////////// THE MIGHTY QUINN / ///////////////////////////////// Milliseconds With Mark """""""""""""""""""""" By Mark Quinn [M.QUINN3] >>> A WHOLE BUNCHA MILLISECONDS WITH MARK <<< """"""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""" ~ Home Conversion ~ As Bill Dunne slowly motored into the driveway of his home, its ground floor lit up with an inviting glow. He whistled an old, bawdy tune, and was pleasantly surprised to find his favorite magazine in his mailbox. Bill opened his front door. A synthesized voice rang throughout the house. "Intruder Alert", it chimed repeatedly. He punched a keypad with dizzying speed and the litany ended. Bill went through the living room into the kitchen, unclipped his cellular phone from his belt, then listened to his voice mail messages. "It's time for the six o'clock news", the same voice said above the background warble of a pan flute concerto. "Okay, Zamfir," Bill quipped. He grabbed a bottle of mineral water out of his refrigerator and descended to the family room. Dunne had just eased himself into his easy chair when the music dampened. "And now, the six o'clock news," the voice announced. "Here's to you, Zamfie old boy," Bill said before he gulped down the liquid. The lights in the room dimmed, and a white screen and a projection unit began to extrude from the ceiling. His Ovation II front projector filled the large screen with a bright, crisp scene from an outdoor ceremony that had obviously been taped hours before. An hour passed. The news ended. Bill raised the bottle in his left hand in a salute and pinged it musically with his right forefinger. He stifled a belch, and his nasal passages tickled with the backwash. Sniffing, he unsteadily got to his feet. "There is someone in the driveway," the voice announced. Bill grabbed his unified remote control and fingered one of its buttons. A picture-in-picture display on his screen showed the driveway. He maximized the image to cover the whole screen, and laughed when he recognized his friend. John Lawson had heard about Bill's all-automated "home conversion" at the office and wanted to see it for himself. Bill watched Lawson and his wife emerge rosy-cheeked from their car and walk sprightly toward his front door. He switched off the projector with his remote and scurried to greet them. He swung the front door open, and bright smiles appeared on the Lawsons' faces, almost as if the two events were automatically associated with each other. "What's that delicious smell?" Lawson's wife asked. "Oh! That's the homemade bread my automatic bread machine is making, June. In fact, it should done. Do you guys want a slice, or even one for each of you? I usually program it to make a couple of loaves a week." "No thanks. We just ate." "Let me take your coats, and I'll be back after I put the loaf away," he said. After he returned, Bill strode proudly through his house, showing them feature after feature. "If the house is broken into, the system will call the police and page me." "I don't think I'd like that last option," John laughed. "The system _can_ be set just to notify the police, you know. Though I can't think of much that would take precedence over an intruder." "How about several intruders with guns?" June joked. The three of them laughed and climbed the stairs to the second floor. The upstairs hall light automatically guided their way to Bill's den. "This is "da brains of da outfit", Bill joked, directing them toward his PC. He switched between several screens. "When I'm away from the house at night, it puts the lights in a "lived-in look" mode. I could even set the darned thing to warm up the hot tub for a small gathering, or the house itself for a large one. And look at this," Bill coaxed. He hit a couple of keys on the computer, and a view of his driveway popped into the upper left-hand corner of its screen, then filled it. He pressed more keys, and the Lawsons chortled when they saw some of their favorite cable channels flip by. "I can also capture and save animated sequences from these feeds to the hard disk on this computer." "I keep expecting Robbie The Robot to come into the room with a drink in his hand," June said. "He won't be showing his sensors around here for quite some time to come. But in the meantime . . ." They both left the house, thoroughly impressed. Bill plopped down in his easy chair. "Might as well watch a tape before I go to bed," he thought. The video setup stirred to life again, and he pressed "PLAY" on the remote just to see if there was a tape in the machine. There was. It was camcorder footage of his ex-wife and Ray, her German shepherd. Bill was saddened to see it, but he let it play on. Their twelve-year-old son was obviously having fun doing tricks with the camcorder, which followed the dog as it raced towards Bill. Bill watched himself, all 350 lbs. of himself, jiggle all over the screen. The mountain of fat clapped its hands, ran back and forth and tired itself after chasing the dog just a few feet. Its breath rasped out of its mouth; its voice echoed in the back yard, where the movie had been taken. Bill found it hard to believe that _he_ was the grossly fat man, and that he had undoubtedly put on more weight since the images were recorded. His health-consuming fascination with sedentary pursuits had cost him his marriage, and separated him from his child. He finally had to stop the tape before he became too drawn into his problems to extricate himself from them. Bill sat there in the chair a while, then walked out of the room, which darkened as he huffed and puffed his way up the stairs. ////////////////////////////////////////// GEnie_QWIK_QUOTE //// / "Wow, gone for a 'few days' and look what happens... Let's / / see what I can take care of here." / //////////////////////////////////////////////// C.HARVEY //// [EOA] [REF]////////////////////////////// REFLECTIONS / ///////////////////////////////// Thinking Online Communications """""""""""""""""""""""""""""" By Phil Shapiro [P.SHAPIRO1] >>> THE CURSE OF THE TELEPHONE IN TIMES OF FAMILY CRISIS <<< """""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""" Two months ago a close relative of mine became seriously ill. Family members on both the East coast and West coast spent hours on the phone conversing with one another. Daily briefings as to the current health situation were interspersed with lengthy discussions as to treatment options. The natural stress of worrying about this individual's health were compounded by worries about the steep health care costs. And then as if to add insult to injury, sky high phone bills were added to the picture. The phone at the house where my ill relative was staying was ringing off the hook seven days a week. The peace and quiet this ailing person so desperately needed was shattered ten or twenty times each day. Which all got me thinking about the curse of the telephone. To be sure, real-time voice communications has its place. But phone communications can be so annoyingly disruptive at times. And when you factor in the added curse of call-waiting, these interruptions themselves can be further disturbed by even more interruptions. Electronic mail would have worked so well during this family crisis. Daily briefings on the current health situation could be courtesy-copied to all family members. (Thereby cutting down on much of the redundant long distance conversations.) All family members could stay in touch with the situation, offering their ideas and input when requested. Curiously enough, each one of my relatives had a microcomputer in their homes. But none of them subscribes to a national information service. With the stress of the family crisis, my relatives were not about to start learning how to use a modem, send e-mail, capture messages to disk, and send replies. In times of crisis, people are just not receptive to learning to use a whole new mode of long distance communications. But had they been comfortable using this technology, there would be no doubt that they could have made good use of it. Instead of disruptive, noisy phone calls bouncing around the continent each and every day, quiet non-disruptive e-mail could carry the same information content. My relatives wouldn't have felt tied down to sitting by the phone all evening --- making sure they would be available to take the call when the phone rang. This is not to say that electronic mail can totally supplant phone contact in times of a family crisis. But e-mail can help minimize the stress and costs of lengthy long distance phone calls. And GEnie's flat-rate, unlimited e-mail service could keep everyone in the family in contact with one another with a minimum of expense and disruption. Having found myself wishing that my extended family had been online during these trying times, I've taken it upon myself to become a more vocal advocate of online communications. Vocally advocacy need not be pushy advocacy, mind you. The most effective social advocacy has a strong grounding in tact - - - letting others draw their own conclusions in their own good time. Speaking on the subject of electronic mail, InfoWorld columnist Cheryl Currid summed it all up well in a recent column when she said, "Lots of people fail to understand the benefits of electronic empowerment." It takes time before people realize that new information technologies can greatly facilitate and reduce the costs of long distance communication. Currid goes on to say that: "Getting benefits from information technology is as much a cultural mission as it is a technological one." Before new information technology can be beneficial, people need to be convinced about what specific benefits the technology has to offer to them. It's simple human nature to hesitate before jumping into something new. It's interesting to consider human nature in my own family's case. Had all family members been communicating with one another via e-mail prior to the crisis, they would have had no problem using the technology to address the new situation. But with all the worry of a very ill family member, few persons would have had the mental composure to learn the procedures for using a new communications technology. Which all goes to say there are benefits to bringing family members online. These benefits go far beyond being able to "stay in touch" or "casually socialize." When the going gets tough you can be there for one another, day and night, via online communication. And the phone can sit quietly off in the corner --- almost inconspicuous --- for days on end. So that healing can take place. [*][*][*] [The author takes a strong interest in the social dimensions of communications technology. He can be reached on GEnie at: p.shapiro1; on America Online at: pshapiro; and on Internet at: pshapiro@pro-novapple.cts.com] ////////////////////////////////////////// GEnie_QWIK_QUOTE //// / "All power corrupts. Just look at me with my own Topic! ;-)" / ///////////////////////////////////////////// R.MARTIN22 //// [EOA] [SOF]////////////////////////////// SOFTVIEW / ///////////////////////////////// LetterSlide: Yours For The Asking """"""""""""""""""""""""""""""""" By Mel Fowler [MELSOFT] Program Name : LetterSlide Filename : LETERSLIDE.BXY Program Number : 19318 File Size : 365440 Program Type : Word Game Author : Kendrick Mock Version Reviewed: System Needed : Apple IIGS, 1.25 Megs minimum memory, GS/OS 5.0.4 or 6.0 File Type : Shareware ($10.00) [*][*][*] >>> LETTERSLIDE <<< """"""""""""""""""" ~ From Sound Barrier ~ Over the years there have been many game programs written for home computers. But often times new games are nothing but a remake of older games. Or the new games are just another shoot-em-up arcade game of some kind. Once in a rare while, however, a software developer comes up with something new, unique, and refreshing. LetterSlide, a new shareware game for the Apple IIGS, falls into this category. LetterSlide breaks new ground in word games. You will find the game easy to play, complex to figure out, and most addictive. Kenrick Mock has indeed come up with something unique and clever. In some ways LetterSlide is like a book you can't put down. The day that I downloaded the game I was up until 3 am before I got to sleep. And yet I was still only able to reach level 9 of the game. The object of the game if fairly simple. You move a little funny alien-baby creature around the screen and push blocks, some with letters on them, some without letters, with the goal of forming words. The words can be arranged from left-to-right, right-to-left, vertically-up, or vertically-down. Each word can be constructed from three to nine letters. You earn points for the words you form, with each letter being worth one point. After the word is formed, the word then magically disappears from the screen, freeing up the screen for more game play. By forming words you gain access to either bombs or jewels. You can collect the bombs for blowing up obstacles (no points) or get the jewel (10 points) to advance to the next level. There may be more than one bomb or jewel in a level. The last jewel in the level advances you to the next level. Some of the levels are fairly easy. But others are very complex and my take two or three tries to figure out. The more words you construct, the higher your score will be. LetterSlide saves your highest scores to disk. Should you wish, the game gives you the option of resetting this "hall of fame" to zero. There are 29 default levels ready to play when you first boot LetterSlide. Should you ever exhaust these levels, LetterSlide provides you with a level editor for you to make up your own levels (up to 99 per game). Or you may choose to edit existing levels. The LEVELEDIT program is straightforward and easy to use. You move the funny alien-baby around the screen and by pressing various keys (listed on the edit screen) you can deposit letter blocks, movable blocks, unmovable blocks, bombs, and jewels anywhere on the screen. Here are some friendly tips that may help you enjoy your LetterSlide games. One of the main things to keep in mind when playing LetterSlide is to figure out which words you need to spell to get to the next level. Once you make this determination, you can then reserve the letters required. Try not to get letter blocks stuck against a wall. When the letters get stuck against a wall you cannot later move them away from the wall. While moving letters around the screen, try to keep from spelling words by mistake because you will use letters up that you may need to go to the next level. The game comes complete with background music which can be switched off (toggled off) with CTRL-S. Other features include saving two different levels with CTRL-A and CTRL-B. You can load the saved levels with CTRL-C and CTRL-D. Another nice feature is that you can restart the level you are on with CTRL-R. CTRL-Q (the standard quit command for most Apple IIGS and Macintosh programs) takes you back to the startup menu screen. I only have one real problem with the game and that is the choice of control keys to move the funny alien-baby around the screen. The game makes use of the keypad keys; 4 goes left, 8 moves up, 6 moves right, and 2 moves down. Often I will miss a key and the funny alien-baby will either not move at all. Or it will move in the wrong direction. I would much prefer using the four arrow keys as they are located close together and are clearly labeled with directional markers. This is a minor problem and perhaps most of you can get used to the keypad keys. One nifty little feature of the game is the easily accessed online help screen. If you can't remember the controls for the game, simply press the space bar for a pop up control screen. Along with the control screen is a list of the last ten words you have formed. In the LetterSlide documentation Kenrick Mock explains how he developed the idea for LetterSlide by making up word games while corresponding with his girl friend. Unfortunately the romance didn't work out. However, we should all be grateful to his ex-girl friend because we are now reaping the rewards of his word game correspondence. Kenrick Mock is a gifted software developer who deserves to be encouraged. In the past two years alone he has produced a handful of exceptionally high quality shareware games. If you like his efforts please be sure to send him the modest shareware fee. Incidentally, Kenrick Mock and Sound Barrier have produced several other outstanding programs such as Columns GS, Simple Animation Program (SAP) and the companion game to LetterSlide, Boggled, where you compete against the computer to make up words from a matrix of letters. In the humble opinion of this reviewer, this is one of the best games to come out for the Apple IIGS in a long time. ///////////////////////////////////////////////// GEnie_QWIK_QUOTE //// / "If you don't like the news, go out and make some of your own." :^) / /////////////////////////////////////////////////////// E.KRIMEN //// [EOA] [TEL]////////////////////////////// TELETALK ONLINE / ///////////////////////////////// Checking Out Internet """"""""""""""""""""" By Bill Garrett [BILL.GARRETT] >>> THE WHOLE INTERNET USER'S GUIDE AND CATALOG <<< """"""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""" The Whole Internet User's Guide And Catalog By Ed Kroll O'Reilly & Associates, Inc., Publishers 103 Morris Street, Suite A Sebastopol, California 95472 phone (800) 338-6887 fax (707) 829-0104 INTERNET ON GEnie With GEnie open beta-testing an Internet gateway, I """"""""""""""""" thought it was about time to get serious about learning about the Internet. Good references on the Internet are not all that hard to find; I located a number of downloadable files on GEnie that told me a lot about it. However, finding good, comprehensive information in book form was beginning to look like a challenge. Then, O'Reilly and Associates came out with The Whole Internet Users Guide and Catalog, by Ed Krol. Talk about synchronicity... Krol is also the author of The Hitchiker's Guide To The Internet, a well-known source of Internet info. He's been involved with the Internet since 1985. In The Whole Internet User's Guide, he pulls together a wealth of info on virtually all aspects of "the world's largest computer network". The book is written for everyone from the total beginner to the experienced Internet user. A guide on page xxii indicates which chapters will help the reader most, depending on his or her level of expertise. Being a total beginner and a Mac user, I wanted to find out just what the Internet could do for me, and how best to access it with a Mac. I quickly learned that the Internet is a sort of 'network of networks', consisting largely of computers and computer networks on college campuses, and in businesses, libraries and government institutions. They are spread all over the USA and a great many foreign countries, forming a gigantic spider web of computer systems. Any computer with access to the system can connect to the other networks as a remote user and make use of the resources at that end. I was pleased to learn that a Mac (or any other computer) with a basic terminal emulation program can access the Internet through one of its 'servers', and basically log on in real-time to a host computer. Many college students and employees of some businesses can get free access through their respective organizations. The rest of us have to find a site that provides dial-up access and purchase an account. There are a number of such services popping up all over the country, and the book provides listings for a number of them. It's difficult to describe or even imagine the breadth and scope of information and services accessible through the Internet. It includes the ability to access card catalogs and online databases at universities around the world. Also on the network are private and proprietary databases, specialized research databases maintained by schools, businesses and independent researchers, including unusual and esoteric material that only may be found at one or two locations in the world. How to find and access this enormous wealth of information is the purpose behind The Whole Internet User's Guide. The Guide contains detailed chapters that will tell you how to log on and use the various features of the Internet. Although the Internet operates mainly on unix-based machines, almost any computer can access and use it. Since the Internet has no central office, customer service or index, one of the most useful features of The Whole Internet Guide is the Catalog of Resources. This is a topical listing of some of the more interesting and useful resources accessible through the Internet. It is by no means comprehensive, but serves as a starting place for new user. Also included in the book are descriptions of some of the newer software resources that make finding things on the Internet much faster and easier. Programs like 'archie', 'gopher' and 'finger', will automate searching for files and for the addresses of other users. Krol supplies descriptions and instructions on how to use these programs, and throws in some illustrations to boot. Reading research papers isn't the only thing you can do on the Internet. There is also Internet mail, which transfers e-mail all over the world. And there is 'anonymous ftp', which is like having a world-wide library of downloadable files and software, including tons of stuff that will never be seen in stores, or even on GEnie. There are also 'newsgroups', which are the Internet equivalent of GEnie's Roundtables. The Guide provides complete descriptions of all of these, and how to use them. There is a lot more to the Internet than I can touch on here. Someone wanting to explore should just log on and go for it. The Whole Internet User's Guide includes a chapter on Internet protocol, what's allowed and what's offensive, legal considerations and more. I found the Guide to be both informative and readable. Given the highly technical nature of the subject, producing an interesting guide that's useful to novices is no mean feat. I'd recommend it to anyone getting started with the Internet. Those who've already gotten their feet wet should also find it a handy reference to keep by the terminal. The Whole Internet User's Guide And Catalog is available from the publisher, O'Reilly & Associates, Inc., and bookstores including those in the GEnie Online Shopping Mall. List price is $24.95. [*][*][*] NOTE GEnie's Open Beta of Internet is available at page m207. As of """" November 1, 1992, the pricing for Internet will be: $2.00 registration fee - this will be a one time charge for all new users signing up for the service. However, if a user cancels and signs up another $2.00 charge will be incurred. $.30 for each 5000 bytes or portion thereof for incoming or outgoing messages. //////////////////////////////////////////////// GEnie_QWIK_QUOTE //// / "This is what I was looking for! Involved discussion....ooh yeah!" / //////////////////////////////////////////////////// R.MARTIN22 //// [EOA] [MOO]////////////////////////////// . . . . . . . . . CowTOONS! / . . . . . . ///////////////////////////////// . . . . . . . Moooooo Fun! . . . . . . . . . . """""""""""" . . . . . . . . . . By Chris Innanen . . . . . . . . . . . . [C.INNANEN] . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . o ____ o . . . \ / \ / . . ___ \( (__) )/ . /\ . / o\ . . ( (oo) ) . . | o | . \ \/ / () Invaders from the \___/ . _____====_____ /__\ Planet Moo... . . / / \ \ . . . . /O O O O O O\ . . . \_-__-____-__-_/ . . . . / . \ . . . o . o . . . . . . . . . . . [*][*][*] CowTOONS? Chris Innanen took us up on (__) our offer and sent in this month's (oo) ---- CowTOONS selection. /--------\/ ----- / | || ------- If you have an idea for a CowTOON, we |\-----| \ ------ would like to see it. And if we pick ^ ^ ^ ^ your CowTOON for publishing in GEnieLamp we will credit your account with 2 hours ~ Mycow Jackson ~ of GEnie non-prime time! (Doing the Moowalk) /////////////////////////////////////////// GEnie_QWIK_QUOTE //// / "Aw Mike, you shouldn't have done that because now you got me / / upset. So put on your flak jacket ... here it comes:" / ///////////////////////////////////////////// R.C.GOSEWEHR //// [EOA] [AII]////////////////////////////// APPLE II / ///////////////////////////////// Apple II History, Part 6 """""""""""""""""""""""" By Steven Weyhrich [S.WEYHRICH] >>> APPLE II HISTORY <<< """""""""""""""""""""""" Compiled and written by Steven Weyhrich (C) Copyright 1991, Zonker Software (PART 6 -- THE APPLE II PLUS) [v1.1 :: 12 Dec 91] INTRODUCTION This part of the Apple II History gives the lowdown on the """""""""""" version of the Apple II where I cut my teeth -- the II Plus. The modifications made from the original II to this version I just took for granted at the time (like using IJKM to edit, instead of the older ABCD a character at a time -- ugh!). Also in this part, for nostalgia's sake, is a reproduction of an original Apple II Plus packing list. Don't read it just before bed, or you'll probably be too excited to sleep. :-) [*][*][*] THE APPLE II PLUS: HARDWARE We now go cruising ahead in time about one """"""""""""""""""""""""""" year, to June of 1979. Applesoft BASIC had been in heavy demand since the introduction in late 1978 of an improved version. It was needed by those wanting to write and use applications that needed the capability of floating-point math. Because of this, Apple engineers had begun working in 1978 on the Apple II Plus, a modest enhancement to the Apple II. The main attraction of this newer Apple would be Applesoft in ROM, available immediately without having to load it from cassette or disk. Also, having it in ROM would move it out of the part of memory where RAM Applesoft conflicted with hi-res graphics (after all, Applesoft had commands specifically written into it for manipulating those graphics, something that Integer BASIC could only do via special CALLs to the routines in the Programmer's Aid 1 chip). With the decision made to upgrade the Apple II, other changes were made to make it more attractive to new computer buyers. The cost of RAM chips had dropped considerably, so most new II Plus systems came standard with a full 48K of RAM. Since the disk operating system consumed about 10K of memory, having the full complement of available RAM made it easier to use the Disk II with either version of BASIC. Since users would not need to add the smaller 4K memory chips, the strapping blocks that had made it possible to use either 4K or 16K RAM chips on the original Apple II were removed. Small changes had already been made to the product since it first began distribution. Most of these changes were made primarily to simplify it and decrease costs of manufacturing. First of all, the original Apple II motherboard, designated as "Revision 0", was changed to make it possible to display two more colors in hi-res graphics. The Revision 0 board had only four colors (green, violet, black, white), but Wozniak had learned that by making a simple alteration he could get two more colors (blue and orange) and two more varieties of black and white. The Revision 1 and later boards were capable of displaying all eight colors. The means of making this modification to Revision 0 Apples was described by Wozniak in his reply to an article by Allen Watson III about hi-res graphics (in the June 1979 issue of Byte magazine). With that change, people who were not afraid of doing a little electrical work on their computers had some of the benefits of an updated Apple II. Hardware bugs that Apple engineers fixed included one that caused text characters to be displayed with green and violet fringing, whether in graphics mode or text mode. The "color killer" circuit they added fixed things so that non-graphics text would display in black and white only. Another problem involved RAM configurations of either 20K or 24K (a 16K RAM chip plus one or two 4K RAM chips). In those systems a hardware bug caused the 8K of memory from $4000 to $5FFF to be duplicated in the next 8K of memory, from $6000 to $7FFF, whether there was RAM present at those locations or not. This made a 20K Apple appear to have 24K, and a 24K Apple appear to have 36K. The Revision 1 motherboard fixed this problem as well.<1> Revision 1 boards also modified the cassette input circuit to respond with more accuracy to a weak input signal, making it easier to load data and programs from cassette. Also, one "feature" of the original Apple II was that any sound generated by the internal speaker also appeared as a signal on the cassette output connector; this was fixed in the new motherboards. Lastly, the RESET cycle was made part of the power-up circuitry, eliminating the requirement that the RESET key be pressed after turning on the computer.<2>,<3> THE APPLE II PLUS: FIRMWARE More important than the minor hardware """"""""""""""""""""""""""" changes, however, were the changes in the ROM code. The new ROM replaced the original Monitor with one that, among other things, better supported the new Disk II drive. Since RESET was now automatically activated when the power was turned on, the new ROM code had the computer automatically do a few things. It cleared the screen (displaying "APPLE ][" at the top), and began a scan down the slots, starting at slot 7 down to slot 1. It examined the first few bytes of code in each card's ROM for a specific sequence that identified it as a Disk II controller card. If one was found, control was passed to that card, causing the disk drive to startup and begin loading the disk operating system into memory. If no disk controller was found, the ROM code jumped instead to the start of BASIC (instead of leaving the user in the Monitor, as in the old ROM). This "Autostart ROM", as it was called, made it possible to have a system that started up a program on the disk with little action needed by the user. The RESET code was more intelligent in the Autostart ROM than in the Old Monitor ROM. There was now a "Cold Start" RESET (which functioned as described above), and a "Warm Start" RESET. A Warm Start RESET could occur without re-booting the Disk II (if it was present); in fact, it ensured that the disk operating system remained "connected" after RESET was pressed. This feature was implemented by setting three bytes at the end of page $03 in memory. Two of the bytes were the address of the place in memory to which the Apple should jump if RESET was pressed. The third byte was a specially coded byte created from half of the address byte. When RESET was pressed, this special "power-up" byte was checked with the address byte. If they didn't properly match, the Monitor assumed that the power had just been turned on, and it executed a Cold Start RESET. This feature was extensively used by writers of copy protected software, so users could not modify or copy the code in memory simply by pressing the RESET key. The other major change, mentioned earlier, was the BASIC that was supplied in ROM. Gone was Steve Wozniak's hand-assembled Integer BASIC, in favor of the newer Applesoft. Since these ROM versions of BASIC used the same memory locations, they could not be used simultaneously. With the introduction of the II Plus, Apple also released the Applesoft Firmware card. This card, which plugged into slot 0, made it possible for previous Apple II owners to have some of the benefits of the II Plus without having to buy an entirely new computer. Even with that card, however, you could not use features of one BASIC while the other was active, and switching from one BASIC to the other erased any program that was being used at the time. The two BASICs could be told apart by the prompt they used; Integer BASIC used the ">" character, but Applesoft used the "]" character. Another change made to the Monitor ROM made screen editing easier. The original Apple II's procedure for editing a line typed in BASIC or in the Monitor was tedious at best. To change a line of text in BASIC, you had to list the line, move the cursor up to the start of the line, and then use the right-arrow key to "copy" text from the screen into the input buffer. If you wanted to skip part of the line, you had to move the cursor past the text that you wanted to eliminate WITHOUT using the arrow keys. If you wanted to INSERT something into the line, you had to move the cursor off the line (above it or below it), type the additional text, and then move the cursor back into the line to finish copying the original part of the line. For example, suppose you had typed this line in Applesoft and displayed it on the 40-column screen: ]LIST 100 100 FOR I = 1 TO 100: PRINT "I LIKE MY APPLE": NEXT : END To change that line so the PRINT statement read "I REALLY LIKE MY APPLE" meant either retyping the entire line, or using the edit feature. (If the line was particularly long, it was preferable to edit rather than retype the entire line). To edit this line, you would have to move the cursor up to the "1" of "100" and begin pressing the right arrow key. When you got to the "L" of "LIKE" you would have to move the cursor above or below the line, type the word "REALLY" followed by a space, then move the cursor back to the "L" of "LIKE", and continue copying with the right arrow key. After editing a line, the screen might look like this: 100 FOR I = 1 TO 100: PRINT "I LIKE MY APPLE": NEXT : END REALLY (In this example, I moved the cursor down one line, typed "REALLY", and then moved it back to the start of the word "LIKE"). If you didn't make any mistakes it would read like this: ]LIST 100 100 FOR I = 1 TO 100: PRINT "I REALLY LIKE MY APPLE" : NEXT : END However, if you didn't take care to skip over the extra spaces inserted in front of the word "LIKE" by the Applesoft LIST command, it could appear this way: 100 FOR I = 1 TO 100: PRINT "I REALLY LIKE MY APPLE" : NEXT : END The big problem with these cursor moves for editing under the Old Monitor was that each move required two keypresses. To move the cursor up, you had to press "ESC" and then "D" EACH TIME you wanted to move the cursor up. "ESC A" moved right, "ESC B" moved left, and "ESC C" moved the cursor down. With a long line that needed much editing, this would get old real fast. Not only was it cumbersome, but the layout of the keyboard made it difficult to remember the correct letters used for cursor movement; although "D" (up) was above "C" (down), it seemed that "D" should stand for "Down". Also confusing was that "A" was to the left of "B", but their functions were the opposite of their position! The new Autostart ROM improved this screen editing process just a bit. Now, pressing "ESC" turned on a special editing mode. Repeated presses of "I" (up), "J" (left), "K" (right), and "M" (down) continued to move the cursor until a key other than ESC was pressed. On the keyboard these letters were arranged in a sort of "directional keypad" or diamond, which made remembering the moves a little easier. The previous ESC editing codes were still supported, but still with their previous limitations. Unfortunately, however, you still couldn't tell whether you were in the regular text entry mode or in the ESC editing mode, and often attempts at changing a line took several tries to get it right.<4>,<5> Other features added in the new Autostart ROM included the ability to pause a listing by pressing Ctrl-S (VERY helpful when trying to scan through a long program!) As mentioned above, pressing RESET would return control through the soft-entry vectors on memory page $03. This would allow a user to exit from a runaway BASIC program by pressing RESET, and still keep program and variables intact in memory (which could not be guaranteed with the old Monitor ROM).<5> John Arkley at Apple wrote the changes to the original Monitor ROM and created the Autostart ROM in November 1978 (he's the "John A" mentioned in the source code listing found in the 1981 edition of the APPLE II REFERENCE MANUAL). After he had done the work and the ROMs had been created, Apple wanted to publish a new version of the Reference Manual to cover the Apple II Plus. The older Reference Manual (affectionately known as the "Red Book") had included an assembly language source code listing of the Monitor ROM. They wanted to include the source for BOTH versions of the Monitor, but a problem came up. While developing the Monitor, Apple had used a local mainframe computer dial-up service known as "Call Computer." They used a cross-assembler on that computer, assembled the code, and then used the resulting object code to create the ROM. (A cross-assembler is an assembler that creates object code for a processor other than the one the cross-assembler runs on. For example, if you can write 8080 machine code with an assembler running on a 6502-based computer, you are using a cross-assembler). Unfortunately, Call Computer had accidentally done a system backup with the source and destination disks reversed, erasing all the files containing the source code for the Apple II Monitors. There were no disk or cassette copies of the source code for the Autostart ROM back at Apple. Working from the source listing in the Red Book, John recreated the source file for the original Monitor, and then disassembled his own modifications for the II Plus and re-created his Autostart ROM source file. Those reconstructed listings are what appeared in the 1981 edition of the Apple II Reference Manual.<6> Not everyone was pleased with the modifications made in the Autostart ROMs, however. Some of the authors of the magazine CALL-A.P.P.L.E. liked to refer to the new computer as the "Apple II Minus", since Arkley had to remove some of their beloved routines from the ROMs to make room for the new features. Missing from the Apple II Plus ROMs were Integer BASIC, the miniassembler, and Woz's SWEET 16 interpreter (that entire space now being used by Applesoft). Missing from the Monitor were the assembly language STEP and TRACE features, and a set of sixteen-bit multiply and divide routines.<5> THE APPLE II PLUS: COST The new Apple II Plus, at $1,195, sold for over """"""""""""""""""""""" $100 less than the original Apple II, although it came with more memory and had Applesoft (previously an added expense item) in ROM. THE APPLE II PLUS: BELL & HOWELL Apple made a deal early on with Bell & """""""""""""""""""""""""""""""" Howell to let them sell the Apple II Plus with a Bell & Howell name plate on it for use in schools. These Apples were black colored (instead of the standard beige), and had screws on the back to keep the lids on (apparently to keep students' hands out). These Apples (sometimes called "Darth Vader" Apples) also had the "shift-key mod" (see below) applied. Since Bell & Howell was a major supplier of school equipment, this was a means for Apple to get a foothold in the school environment.<7>,<8> Bell & Howell also had electronics correspondence courses, and used the black Apple II Plus for one of their courses. They offered a one year warranty, instead of the ninety-day warranty offered by Apple.<9>,<10>,<11> THE APPLE II PLUS: EARLY USER EXPERIENCES An Apple II veteran on GEnie, """"""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""" Dennis Ulm, kindly provided me with the following reproduction of his ORIGINAL Apple II Plus packing list. It gives a little picture of what early non-disk users had to work with: APPLE II PLUS PACKING LIST """""""""""""""""""""""""" This package should contain the following items: item no. part number description ---- --- ----------- ----------- 1 1 600-2023 cassette tape: LITTLE BRICKOUT, COLOR DEMOSOFT 2 1 600-2024 cassette tape: RENUMBER/APPEND, ALIGNMENT TEST TONE 3 1 600-2025 cassette tape: FINANCE I, PENNY ARCADE 4 1 600-2026 cassette tape: LEMONADE, HOPALONG CASSIDY 5 1 600-2027 cassette tape: BRIAN'S THEME, PHONE LIST 6 1 030-2057 manual: Introductory Programs for the Apple II Plus 7 1 030-0044 manual: The Applesoft Tutorial 8 1 030-0013 manual: Applesoft II BASIC Programming Reference Manual 9 1 030-0004 manual: Apple II Reference Manual 10 1 030-0035 publication: Apple Magazine 11 1 600-0033 1 pair of game controls 12 1 590-0002 cable: to hook up a cassette recorder 13 1 590-0003 cable: power cord for the Apple II Plus 14 1 030-0001 Apple Warranty Card 15 1 600-0816 Apple II Plus System 16K or 600-0832 Apple II Plus System 32K or 600-0848 Apple II Plus System 48K (LITTLE BRICKOUT was an abbreviated Applesoft version of Woz's Integer BASIC Breakout game (the reason he designed the Apple II in the first place). BRIAN'S THEME was a hi-res graphics program that drew lines on the screen in various patterns. HOPALONG CASSIDY was a "guess who" program that also used the hi-res screen).<12>,<13> Also included in Dennis' II Plus box was this photocopied instruction sheet: TAPE LOADING INSTRUCTIONS """"""""""""""""""""""""" If problems are encountered in LOADing tape programs, it may be necessary to "queue" (sic) the tape before LOADing. To queue a tape, use the following procedure: 1. Rewind the tape. 2. Disconnect the cable from the tape recorder (so you can hear what's on the tape). 3. Start the tape recorder in PLAY mode. 4. When a steady tone is heard, STOP the tape recorder. 5. Connect the cable to the tape recorder and adjust the volume and tone controls on the tape recorder to the recommended levels. 6. Make sure your computer is in BASIC. 7. Type LOAD. 8. START the tape playing. 9. Press RETURN. The program should LOAD properly. If an error message occurs, repeat the procedure, but try readjusting the tone and volume controls on the tape recorder. Dennis says that in his experience it took at least five to ten tries to get anything to load properly from tape! THE APPLE II PLUS: MORE HARDWARE ADD-ONS Lower-case was still not """""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""" supported on the new Apple II Plus, though it was a popular user-modification. The thriving industry for Apple II peripherals made up for this shortcoming, with various vendors supplying small plug-in circuit boards that fit under the keyboard, allowing display of lower-case on the screen (and sometimes direct entry of lower-case from the keyboard). By 1981, when the Revision 7 motherboard was released for the Apple II Plus, a different method of character generation was used, which reduced radio-frequency interference that was generated. For Revision 7 boards, lower-case characters could be displayed with the addition of only a single chip. However, unless a user changed the keyboard encoder with a third-party product, only upper-case characters could be typed.<14> The keyboard itself underwent some changes, both by users and by Apple. The original RESET key was in the upper right-hand corner of the keyboard. The problem with that key was that it had the same feel as the keys around it, making it possible to accidentally hit RESET and lose the entire program that was being so carefully entered. One user modification was to pop off the RESET keycap and put a rubber washer under it, making it necessary to apply more pressure than usual to do a RESET. Apple fixed this twice, once by replacing the spring under the keycap with a stiffer one, and finally by making it necessary to press the CTRL key and the RESET together to make a RESET cycle happen. The keyboards that had the CTRL-RESET feature made it user selectable via a small slide switch just inside the case (some people didn't want to have to press the CTRL key to do a RESET). Another keyboard limitation was addressed through a modification that became known as the "shift-key mod". This was such a widely used trick that Apple ended up supporting it in hardware when they designed the Apple IIe. Since the II and II Plus keyboards could not directly generate lower-case characters, early word processing programs had to find some way to make up for that deficiency. Apple's own Apple Writer program used the ESC key as a shift and shift-lock key, displaying upper-case characters in inverse video and lower-case in regular video. Other programs suggested installing the shift-key mod to allow more natural entry of upper-case, using the SHIFT key already present on the keyboard. The user had to attach a wire to the contact under the SHIFT key, and run it to the game port where the input for push-button 2 was found. (This push-button PB2, $C063 in memory, was for one of an optional second pair of game paddles that third-party hardware companies supplied for the Apple II). The program would assume that all letters being typed were in lower-case, unless the SHIFT key (attached now to paddle button PB2) was also being pressed; in that case the letter would be entered as upper-case. Since the PB2 button was not often used for a second pair of game paddles, it was unlikely that this modification would be accidentally triggered by pressing one of the game paddle buttons. This modification did NOT use buttons PB0 or PB1, which were on the first pair of game paddles. (PB0 and PB1 now correspond to the Open-Apple and Solid-Apple/Option keys on modern Apple II computers). [*][*][*] NEXT INSTALLMENT The Apple IIe """""""""""""""" NOTES """"" <1> -----, "Memory Organization", APPLE II REFERENCE MANUAL, 1979, 1981, pp. 70-73. <2> -----, APPLE II REFERENCE MANUAL, 1979,1981, pp. 25-27, 34-36. <3> Bruce Field, "A.P.P.L.E. Doctor", CALL-A.P.P.L.E., Jan 1984, pp. 74-75. <4> -----, "Apple and Apple II History", THE APPLE II GUIDE, Fall 1990, pp. 9-16. <5> -----, APPLE II REFERENCE MANUAL, 1979,1981, pp. 25-27, 34-36. <6> John Arkley, (personal telephone call), Sep 9, 1991. <7> Joe Regan, GEnie A2 ROUNDTABLE, Category 2, Topic 16, Apr 1991. <8> Dan Paymar, "Curing A Shiftless Apple", CALL-A.P.P.L.E., May 1982, pp. 63-64. <9> Tom Vanderpool, GEnie A2 ROUNDTABLE, Category 2, Topic 16, Mar & Aug 1991. <10> Tom Zuchowski, GEnie A2 ROUNDTABLE, Category 2, Topic 16, Mar 1991. <11> Steve Hirsch, GEnie A2 ROUNDTABLE, Category 2, Topic 16, Mar 1991. <12> Dennis Ulm, GEnie A2 ROUNDTABLE, Category 2, Topic 16, Apr 1991. <13> Wes Felty, GEnie. A2 ROUNDTABLE, Category 2, Topic 16, Apr 1991. <14> Bruce Field, "A.P.P.L.E. Doctor", CALL-A.P.P.L.E., Jan 1984, pp. 74-75. ////////////////////////////////////// GEnie_QWIK_QUOTE //// / "Wow, talk about a rumor. Take no prisoners, Steve. :^) / / No mercy. :^)" / //////////////////////////////////////////// E.KRIMEN //// [EOA] [LIB]////////////////////////////// THE ONLINE LIBRARY / ///////////////////////////////// Yours For The Downloading """"""""""""""""""""""""" By Mel Fowler [MELSOFT] >>> TOP UPLOADS: SEPTEMBER & OCTOBER '92 <<< """""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""" ~ ** 8-bit programs for the Classic Apples ~ ONLY THE BEST! These are among the best UPLOADs to the A2 Software """""""""""""" Library in the past month. Please check them out. You will not be disappointed. [*][*][*] 19318 Name: LETTERSLIDE.BXY LetterSlide is a companion piece to Boggled """""""""""""""""""""""""""" GS. Although both programs share some of the same graphics, gameplay is radically different! In LetterSlide, you must push blocks around to form words so you may collect jewels and advance to the next level. If you have played SokoBan, then there are some similarities; except instead of pushing blocks to an area, you must push blocks to create words. Challenging yet amusing! The program comes with a Level Editor, so you can create your own levels and boards if you wish. 19378 Name: SOUNDSMITH.BXY V1.01 SoundSmith returns to shareware with """""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""" the new version 1.01! SoundSmith is a music creation program that can make songs for playback on your IIGS. SoundSmith uses ASIF instrument files which can be created from digitized sounds. SoundSmith 1.01 features MIDI support as well as other minor enhancements. A must download for the SoundSmith fanatic, would-be music writer, or for anyone who likes neat IIGS sound software. $20 shareware. 19388 Name: GECOPILOT.BXY Co-Pilot 2.0.3 is a IIGS message processor for """""""""""""""""""""""""" GEnie that works with Talk is Cheap (v.3.20 or later) or Point-to-Point (version 4.0 or later) to automatically download messages from RoundTables and GE Mail which you can then read, reply to or save off-line. Co-Pilot then calls GEnie and uploads your replies. You can download or get descriptions of files automatically. Operation is simple and fully automated. This evaluation version of Co-Pilot has some non-essential features disabled. On payment of a $25 fee (or a $10 update fee) you will be told how to activate all features. 19444 Name: MINEFIELD.BXY This is one of the best kinds of games: """""""""""""""""""""""""" simple and addicting! Minefield is a game for the Apple IIgs that plays like the game Mine Sweeper. The object of this game is to clear a grid of squares (the minefield) of mines, without hitting any of them. Every time you click on one of the squares, it will either be a mine or a number. The number will show you how many mines are surrounding that square. From this, you decide which other squares are clear or have mines. When you're sure a square has a mine in it, you can put a flag on that square. Multiple levels of difficulty and options are available. 19445 Name: MINESGS.NDA.BXY An NDA version of this great simple and """""""""""""""""""""""""""" addicting game! Mines GS is a game for the Apple IIgs that plays like the game Mine Sweeper. The object of the NDA version of this game is a little different from the full GS/OS application. In this NDA, all you have to do is clear a path from one corner of a grid of squares (the minefield) to the other. Every time you click on one of the squares, it will either be a mine or a number. The number will show you how many mines are surrounding that square. From this, you decide which other squares are clear or have mines. When you're sure a square has a mine in it, you can put a flag on that square. 19471 Name: W6BBS.BXY Warp Six BBS, public domain version 1.1. Requires """""""""""""""""""""" a IIe Enhanced or IIGS and Hayes or compatible external modem. Docs included, in AppleWorks 3.0 format. 19472 Name: SUPERBASIC.BXY This utility allows anyone with knowledge of """"""""""""""""""""""""""" BASIC programming to create stunning IIgs programs with Super-High-Resolution graphics. An 84 page manual and many examples are included. Use Shrinkit to unpack the program files to a blank disk called /SUPER. Then copy PRODOS and BASIC.SYSTEM to the disk and boot it. 19475 Name: SHOWME.NDA.BXY V1.0B2 Beta release 2 fixes problems with """"""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""" large GIF's and file selection restriction problems. This NDA works under System software 5, but has System software 6 Finder enhancements. You can view all IIGS graphics, view GIF files, view MacPaint files, save graphics in Screen or APF formats, and do some simple color conversions. Beta Release. JesusAware released the same as Freeware. **19478 Name AW.INSTRUCT.BXY This well-written 29K text file gives """"""""""""""""""""""""""""" complete instructions on how to get started using Applewriter. Thanks are owed to Gareth Tucker who explains everything in the simplest and clearest possible terms. 19484 Name: DOS3.3.LNCH.BXY All the way from new South Wales comes this """""""""""""""""""""""""""" incredibly useful GS/OS utility that allows you to store, and run, older DOS 3.3 software on your previously non-DOS 3.3 compatible hard drive. Written by the author of Roger Wagner's Graphic Exchange, John MacLean, this is a $10 shareware utility. It's very easy to use, it's desktop based with pull down menus, and it even has the ability to slow down your system to 1 Mhz when running DOS 3.3 software, but returns you to the Finder at the GS's faster speed. Supports DOS 3.3 BIN files and single or double sided disks. **19511 Name: HWEN3.DHR.BXY Graphics guru Pat Kern offers more of her """""""""""""""""""""""""""" handiwork in this interesting collection of double hi-res Halloween clip art. The large jack-o-lantern and trick-or- treating scene look sharp. Useful for Publish IT! school newsletters. 19517 Name: GSHK.BSE V1.1 This is GS-ShrinkIt v1.1. This is also a """"""""""""""""""""""""""" ShrinkIt self-extracting archive inside a Binary II wrapper. This means that you'll have to remove the Binary II wrapper either when downloading using your communications program (ie, turn Binary II mode ON), or remove the Binary II wrapper with a separate program once you've downloaded this archive. GSHK v1.1 is faster compressing, faster decompressing, can make self-extracting archives, and has been made easier to use. A MUST-HAVE for anyone downloading files from A2 or A2Pro! Remember, you MUST download this with Binary II turned on, or use some other utility after the download to remove the Binary II wrapper. Then just run the program to have it extract itself. Enjoy! **19529 Name: WSCRAM.BXY The dynamic-duo team of Preston and Sara """""""""""""""""""""""""" Boomer have released yet another shareware educational program. This cute little Applesoft program does a swell job of printing word scramble puzzles for teachers. The program sports an easy to use interface for inputting your own word lists. Share this one with your local school. **19540 Name: GENEALOGY2.BXY This freeware Applesoft program can print """""""""""""""""""""""""""""" predecessor and descendant charts on any ImageWriter printer. Fully listable code for snooping programmers and other nice people. 19544 Name: SHOVEIT.BXY A brand-new game for the GS that comes under the """""""""""""""""""""""" 'addictive' heading. The game has 50 built in mazes that you move objects through to destination boxes. Included is an editor to make your own maps for play and up-loading. Every game has a playback feature, to enable you to see a high speed movie of your moves AND see the winning moves of other players who upload their 'won' game files. This is a challenging game for both kids (easier levels) and grownups. FREEWARE. 19573 Name: SONIQTRACKER.BXY V0.60 This is the latest version and it """""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""" seems to be rock stable. This is definitely my mod player of choice right now. This version of soniqTracker adds some nice conveniences (it saves the preference box, mainly the stereo setting) and gives you an instrument list (I forget if the last version did that or not). It's still not as feature-laden as ModZap, but the sound quality is definitely better on some instruments. [*][*][*] WAIT, THERE'S MORE! There are several uploads that are not listed here """"""""""""""""""" do to limited space but are non-the-less deserve your attention: PRIME BBS and all the PRIME BBS accessories. There are so many of them I can't even list the Numbers. History of the Apple II and Astronomer GS are another two programs that must be included here. Simply search on the key words I have listed in this paragraph to get the file numbers. You can then get a description and/or continue with a download. [*][*][*] **Thanks to Phil Shapiro for the inclusion of the 8-bit programs to this list. /////////////////////////////////////////////// GEnie_QWIK_QUOTE //// / "Man...it doesn't take long to start a rumor here, does it? :-)" / ///////////////////////////////////////////////// J.TRAUTSCHOL //// [EOA] [ELS]////////////////////////////// GEnie ELSEWHERE / ///////////////////////////////// Electronic Publishing On GEnie """""""""""""""""""""""""""""" By Ron Albright [RALBRIGHT] >>> NOVEMEBER IS ELECTRONIC PUBLISHING MONTH <<< """""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""" Dear Reader, I wanted to make this special mailout to everyone I could think of to keep you posted about the exciting activities the Disktop Publishing Association has planned for the final quarter of 1992. We want to finish off 1992 with a bang and get ready to make 1993 the year that electronic publishing really takes off. Here are some of the things you should be aware of and, hopefully, take an active role in making these events notable successes: Electronic Publishing Month The DPA is proud to proclaim November, 1992 """"""""""""""""""""""""""" as "Electronic Publishing Month." The announcement and the activities planned for the month have been circulated to the media and the national communications networks (CompuServe, GEnie, etc.) and are intended to call attention to wealth of materials available on disk for reading by computer. The DPA membership, which now range across the United States, Canada, and Europe, is encouraged to work actively through their local bulletin board systems (BBSs), commercial communications systems (such as CompuServe and GEnie), and computer user groups, to bolster the awareness among computer users of the quality of reading material available through electronic publications. We hope to call attention to the benefits of "paperless" publishing as both an environmentally-sound alternative to print media as well as offering benefits to readers that are not possible with traditional books and magazines (hypertext linking, animation, and sound). As noted by Paul Saffo in his October, 1992 column in PC/Computing magazine, "We are in the age of electronic incunabula, and the inventions of media entrepreneurs are certain to surprise and delight us in the decade ahead." As a DPA member publisher and author, you are on the cusp of the exciting age of electronic media and "Electronic Publishing Month." The emphasis during the month of November is intended to bring new interest and readers into the group already enjoying the innovative works already existing in computer-readable format. Hardware platforms (like Apple's "PowerBook" and new, DOS "palmtop" computers) now make reading of electronic documents possible anywhere. And electronic magazines, novels, and instructional materials are available through many outlets at prices which are lower than bookstore prices. The 1990s is, indeed, the decade of electronic publishing. What can you do to work toward making the month of November a major step forward for all of us? Here are some ideas from Ted Husted, author of IRIS and DART: o Add an Epub tagline to your offline reader. o Adopt a local BBS, ask them to open an Epub category. o Ask your nearest FIDO net board to carry the DPA echo. o Ask your user group to publish (or republish) their newsletter on disk. o Open a "Electronic Publishing" category on your BBS or file library. o Register an electronic publication or program. o Submit an article to your local users group, or the computer columnist of your local newspaper. (We can get you all the background you need). Can you think of some ideas yourself? It's time to beat the bushes, folks! It's a perfect month to re-double our efforts to put electronic publishing "on the map" of readers and consumers everywhere. The DPA revise our "DEMO-DPA.ZIP" file with its sample publications and informational material about the DPA and its members. You can download the file by modem or, if you like, send me a disk and two stamps, and I will send you a copy. You can then distribute it - by modem or by hand - to the four winds and get the word of the electronic publishing revolution everywhere in your area. GEnie Becomes a National Home For the DPA As you all know, the key to a """"""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""" productive group is communication. Being able to poll the membership on ideas and proposals and inform the membership of new developments is key to the growth and perceived value of any organization. We have tried to establish the DPA BBS (205-854-1660) at the nerve center of our activities and it has served us well up to this point. However, with continued growth and the membership being spread to the four winds across the country and, indeed, the world, it seems time to establish a more cost-effective hub for communications and discussion. Calling the BBS with the long-distance charges involved, has been a burden for many and our organization has suffered for that. Since we are all - shall we say "low profit margin" publishers - it is a strain on all our pocketbooks to call long-distance on a regular basis. For these reasons, I would like to propose a new communications center. You all have probably heard of GEnie, the "General Electric News and Information System." GEnie is a national, modem-accessible system with access numbers a mere local call to 99% of the United States and Canada. A couple years back, GEnie established a flat-rate access system that allows users to access electronic mail, news, and selected "roundtables" (Forums or "special interest groups") during evening and weekend hours for only $4.95 per month. Subscribers do not pay per-minute connect charges when using these services and you can spend as much time as you like in these areas without incurring any additional charges. Since the calls to the GEnie system are local calls, there are no long-distance tolls levied either. There are two areas on GEnie where we can gather. For those of you who want to keep charges down to absolute minimum $4.95 per month, we have an area setup on one of the GEnie*Basic free access roundtables - "The Writers RT" (Page 440) - already has a specific conference set up for DPA activities. CATEGORY 46, TOPIC 38 is the "Electronic Publishing" category. We can leave unlimited messages there in non-prime hours (evenings and weekends) to discuss DPA business. This RT is frequented by a number of writers and is the perfect place for DPA publishers and authors to meet other writers and recruit material for their publications. Again, all your time in the Writer's RT is not billed per-minute and will be covered under the standard $4.95/month basic charge. I further propose that we make the "GENIELAMP RoundTable" (PAGE 515) on GEnie as the "public" headquarters for the Disktop Publishing Association. The GENIELAMP RT, run by John Peters and Jim Flanagan, actively supports electronic publishing through their monthly "GENIELAMP" newsletter and is already recognized by the GEnie user base as the location for on-disk publications. The DPA already has special areas (CATEGORY 6 is a public message area for the DPA and CATEGORY 7 is a private area for member-only conversations) set up on the GENIELAMP RT for messages related to electronic publishing. We also have our own library set up for DPA publications (which I am actively filling up with your publications off the DPA BBS). With these areas in place, we can communicate much more cost-effectively with our members. We can upload new publications to the RT without charge (downloading is billed, though, at the usual $6.00 per hour). GENIELAMP is NOT one of the unbilled Forums, but they are the one that has given us the support we need - with our own conference and file areas - to establish a true national presence and recognition. We can leave messages with a local call into this area and, even at 10 cents per minute, the access charges are cheaper than long-distance rates to the DPA BBS. We can use the electronic mail area for private messages (at no charge over the monthly $4.95 monthly fee. Many of us are already spending much more than that calling the DPA BBS long-distance. Signing on to the DPA is free and can be done in the following way: 1. Set your communications program to half duplex (local echo). 2. Dial 1-800-638-8369 (or 1-800-387-8330 in Canada). 3. When connected, type "hhh" (do not press ENTER). 4. When you get the "U#=" prompt, enter XTX99368,GENIE and press ENTER. 5. Have a credit card or checking account number ready, and answer the questions that follow. To repeat, there is no sign-up fee. The monthly fee is $4.95 for unlimited, non-prime-time use of all basic services (which includes electronic mail, news services, and several RoundTables, one of which is the aforementioned Writers RT). If you don't like GEnie, you can call them within the first 30 days and get your $4.95 refunded. For more information on signing on and technical support for signing on, call 1-800-638-9636 for more information. Remember uploads are free; downloading time is billed at $6/hour. Incidentally, there is a software package, that I will be happy to send anyone who sends me a disk and two 29 cents stamps, called "Aladdin," that automates message reading and sending as well as file uploading on GEnie completely so there is really nothing you will need to learn about GEnie commands or navigating. Thus, you will be up and reading DPA bulletins and downloading the same day you sign up. It all makes such good sense to me. I would appreciate any feedback you have about this idea. I am already on GEnie (my "User Name" is "RALBRIGHT") and, along with several other DPA members (notably Don Lokke, John Gaudreault, Robert Jordan, Thomas Easton, and others), have been beating the drums of the DPA for several months. I would be happy to talk you through accessing the system and getting to the DPA materials. I, therefore, propose we make GEnie's "GENIELAMP" our national public home and the "Writer's Roundtable" as our users home. I look forward to seeing you on that system. For less than $5.00 a month, we can communicate daily and really get this organization moving toward national prominence. What do you say? See you on GEnie. Of course, the DPA BBS (205-854-1660) will continue to operate full-time in case anyone chooses to stay with the long-distance route of access. DPA Scores a Coup with Associated Press' Larry Blasko """"""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""" Syndicated Associated Press computer columnist Larry Blasko has teamed with the Disktop Publishing Association (DPA) in releasing a disk-based version of Blasko's popular "ABCs of Computing - A Plain-English Guide." Blasko, who has written his column - called "Compubug" - on computer technology for eight years, first released his "ABCs" in 1989. The author, currently Director of Administrative Services for the Associated Press, has updated the book annually and it is now in its fourth edition. Written for the first-time computer buyers and existing owners thinking about upgrading their computer, the "ABCs" includes chapters on "What's a Home Computer, and why should I care?," "Do I need a home computer?," "What kind of computer do I want?," and "What computers fill those needs?." The book includes an extensive glossary of computer terminology. "ABCs" runs 170 pages in the printed edition. With the release of the book on-disk, the material is presented in a new, exciting way. Utilizing "hypertext," "ABCs" becomes interactive - with the reader directing what they read and where they go within the book. Blasko says "Hypertext is a way of organizing information so that you can jump from any point to any other logical point. If, for example, you are reading a sentence that talks about RAM and you don't understand the term, a keystroke or mouse click will flip you into the glossary for a definition of RAM. Then you can hop back to where you were in the sentence. Hypertext allows a reader to go anywhere they please whenever they please. Unsettling, but nifty when you try it." I have been chasing after Larry since he wrote one of his "Compubug" columns about electronic publishing several months back. He not only published our organizations address and purpose in a subsequent column but agreed to let me give converting his "ABCs" book into hypertext. I used Ntergaid's "HyperWriter," put together a prototype, and fired it up to Larry. Obviously, he liked what he saw and now we have a full-fledged version available for sale. He is announcing the books availability (along with another shameless plug for the DPA) in a column set for the end of September. CompuBug's book, "ABCs of Computing, a Plain-English Guide," is available in print from CompuBug, PO BOX 626, Summit, NJ 07901 for $10.00 ($7 for active-duty US Armed Forces). The on-disk hypertext version is available at the same prices from the DPA, 1160 Huffman Rd., Birmingham, AL 35215. Customers should specify disk size and monitor. Questions and comments are welcome at either address. Wish us luck! Final Thoughts As you can see, a lot is going on with the Disktop """""""""""""" Publishing Association. We wanted to keep you informed of the latest. Of course, a lot of this material here in will also appear in the October issue of the "News From the Disktop" newsletter. I just wanted to make sure the news of these exciting developments made it into your hands without fail. I need your help in getting these activities rolling and in making the DPA the success it deserves to be. SPREAD THE WORD! Our work is too important to be left unattended. I beg each of you to devote some time in the last 3 months of this year to making the DPA known throughout the computer world. It's time we were heard and time we found our place as a publishing industry to be dealt with. Thanks for listening. [*][*][*] Ron Albright Contact: Ron Albright Disktop Publishing Association GEnie: RALBRIGHT 1160 Huffman Road GEnieLamp RT (M515) Birmingham, AL 35215 Voice: 205-853-8269 FAX: 205-853-8478 BBS: 205-854-1660 //////////////////////////////////////////// GEnie_QWIK_QUOTE //// / "Foolish me! I forgot the rule, that anytime you add something / / new to your computer system, you must spend at least 24 hrs / / reading obscure technical jargon in manuals, trying 27 / / different configurations, tearing your hair out, and generally / / feeling stupid before things settle back down to normal!" / ////////////////////////////////////////////////// P.NEREO //// [EOA] [LOG]////////////////////////////// LOG OFF / ///////////////////////////////// GEnieLamp Information """""""""""""""""""""" o COMMENTS: Contacting GEnieLamp o GEnieLamp STAFF: Who Are We? o GET_THE_LAMP Scripts & Macros o SEARCH-ME! Answers GEnieLamp GEnieLamp is monthly online magazine published in the """"""""" GEnieLamp RoundTable on page 515. You can also find GEnieLamp in the ST (475), the Macintosh (605), the IBM (615) Apple II (645), A2Pro (530), Unix (160), Mac Pro (480), A2 Pro (530) Geoworks (1050), BBS (610) CE Software (1005) and the Mini/Mainframe (1145) RoundTables. GEnieLamp can also be found on CrossNet, (soon) Internet America Online 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 in the GEnieLamp RoundTable (515) or send GE Mail to John Peters at [GENIELAMP] on page 200. U.S. MAIL """"""""" GEnieLamp Online Magazine Atten: John Peters 5102 Galley Rd. Suite 115/B Colorado Springs, CO 80915 GEnieLamp STAFF """"""""""""""" GEnieLamp o John Peters [GENIELAMP] Editor-In-Chief """"""""" ATARI ST o John Gniewkowski [J.GNIEWKOWSK] Editor """""""" o David Holmes [D.HOLMES14] ST TX2 Editor o Fred Koch [F.KOCH] GEnieLamp [PR] Editor o Mel Motogawa [M.MOTOGAWA] ST Staff Writer o Terry Quinn [TQUINN] ST Staff Writer o Sheldon Winick [S.WINICK] ST Staff Writer o Richard Brown [R.BROWN30] ST Staff Writer o John Hoffman [JLHOFFMAN] ST Staff Writer IBM o Peter Bogert [P.BOGERT1] Editor """ o Mark Quinn [M.QUINN3] IBM Staff Writer o Mark Dodge [M.DODGE2] IBM Staff Writer o Brad Biondo [B.BIONDO] IBM Staff Writer MACINTOSH o James Flanagan [J.FLANAGAN4] Editor """"""""" o Richard Vega [R.VEGA] Mac Co-Editor o Tom Trinko [T.TRINKO] Mac Staff Writer o Bret Fledderjohn [FLEDDERJOHN] Mac Staff Writer o Bill Garrett [BILL.GARRETT] Mac Staff Writer o Erik C. Thauvin [MACSPECT] Technical Consultant APPLE II o Darrel Raines [D.RAINES] Editor """""""" o Phil Shapiro [P.SHAPIRO1] A2 Co-Editor o Mel Fowler [MELSOFT] A2 Staff Writer ELSEWHERE o Brian Bradley [TRS-ASST] Staff Writer """"""""" o Jeffry Dwight [JEFFREY] Staff Writer ETC. o Jim Lubin [JIM.LUBIN] Add Aladdin """" o Scott Garrigus [S.GARRIGUS] Search-ME! o Bruce Faulkner [R.FAULKNER4] CrossNET BBS SysOp GEnieLamp CONTRIBUTORS """""""""""""""""""""" o Chris Innanen [C.INNANEN] o Dan "Remo" Barter [D.BARTER] o Paul Varn [P.VARN] o Ron Albright [RALBRIGHT] o Steven Weyhrich [S.WEYHRICH] o Bill Garrett [BILL.GARRETT] o Robert M. Connors [R.CONNORS2] o Dan Martinez [TIPPY.ONE] "GET_THE_LAMP" SCRIPTS NOW ONLINE GEnieLamp scripts are now available for """"""""""""""""""""""""""""""""" our IBM, Atari ST and Microphone II/White Knight Macintosh readers. These script files will allow you to download all the issues, or just the issues you want. As an added plus, you can also have Aladdin grab the latest copy of GEnieLamp while you sleep. Where can you Get_The_Lamp script? You'll find the Aladdin scripts in the GEnieLamp RT, [m515], Aladdin ST RT, [m1000] and the PCAladdin RT, [m110]. The Macintosh macros for White Knight and Microphone II are available in the GEnieLamp RT [m515], the Mac RT [m605] and the Freesoft RT [m585]. Search for LAMP to find the latest version. --> Get_The_Lamp. Scripts and macros make it easy! <-- DISKTOP PUBLISHING ASSOCIATION APPLICATION For those interested in """""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""" joining the DPA, fill out the enclosed electronic membership application and send it back to "RALBRIGHT" through GE mail. You will be notified of acceptance through the mail facility. Thanks for your interest in the DPA. MEMBERSHIP APPLICATION Disktop Publishing Association 1160 Huffman Road Birmingham, AL 35215 VOICE: 205-853-8269 MCI Mail: RALBRIGHT BBS (Data) - 205-854-1660 CompuServe: 75166,2473 GEnie: RALBRIGHT Name: ___________________________________________________________ Address: ________________________________________________________ City/ST/Zip: ____________________________________________________ Phone (Optional): WORK: _______________ HOME: _________________ Electronic (Email) Addresses: Compuserve? ______________________ GEnie? ____________________ MCI Mail? ______________________ Prodigy? __________________ Other? (Specify) ______________________________________________ Do you have access to or use a modem? YES __ NO __ Brand of computer: DOS compatible ____ MAC ____ Other _____ Do you consider yourself primarily: A writer? ______ A programmer? ______ An Entrepreneur? ______ Interest in Disktop Publishing: (e.g. Are you a writer looking for new markets? An entrepreneur considering electronic publishing? Are you a software programmer? etc.) What would you like the DPA to work on? What should be our goals? What information would you like to receive from the DPA? Other comments? [*][*][*] SEARCH-ME! ANSWERS """""""""""""""""" + + + N E T I E K G I U E N + + + + + + + + + + + + + + T F A H C S N E S S I W + + + + + + + Y + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + N + + + + E + E + + R E H C I L H C R I K + + + A + + T + H + + + T N + + + + + + + + + + + + N M S O C T O B E R F E S T H + + + + + + + + I N R S + D K W + + + A M + + C + + + + + + + E + R E A + E L I + + U H M + + I + + + + + U W O + U G + + U E E + T + C O + + N + + + K + P + S + + + + I T I S O + + S K + + U + + + D + T B I E R G + + S N B + + + T L + + M + + A R + + + + O + + + + C A A + + + R L + + S W I T Z E R L A N D + + + H N D + + + I I + + A M + + + O + + + + + + + N L Z E + + + W W + + L + + H + + + + + + + + + + A E N + + + + + + E + T M O D E M K A R T E N + N I + + + + + + R Y + + + + + + + + + + + + + + D G + + + + + M + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + E + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + N + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\//////////////////////////////////// Material published in this edition may be reprinted under the following terms only. All articles must remain unedited and include the issue number and author at the top of each article reprinted. Reprint permission granted, unless otherwise noted, to registered computer user groups and not for profit publications. Opinions present herein are those of the individual authors and does not necessarily reflect those of the publisher or staff of GEnieLamp. We reserve the right to edit all letters and copy. Material published in this edition may be reprinted only with the following notice intact: \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\//////////////////////////////////// (c) Copyright 1992 T/TalkNET OnLine Publishing, GEnie, and the GEnie Computing RoundTables. To sign up for GEnie service, call (with modem) 1-800-638-8369. Upon connection type HHH. Wait for the U#= prompt. Type: XTX99368,GENIE and hit RETURN. The system will then prompt you for your information. \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\//////////////////////////////////// [EOF] *****