Jaques Law Bits 9612
© 1996 Kevin Jaques. All rights reserved excepting that this
file may be copied for non-commercial purposes, unchanged. No
warranties apply. I am just a user volunteering my observations and
collecting those of others.
Table of Contents
- Shockwave
PlugIn Update
- Power
Computing to ship BeOS with its clones
- Free
Scriptable Graphics Program
- MacUser sets
Benchmark Standard
- Power
PC Platform (PPCP) officially late
- New
PC standard for low bandwidth peripherals: USB
- QuickDraw
3d 1.5 is out
- MacOS
Embarrassingly Bad at Faster Ethernet
- Play God
with Creatures
- OpenDoc 1.1 is
out
- HTML
3.2 starting Public Comment Phase of Acceptance
- Apple's
1st Multi-Processing Computer: the 9500/180MP
- Power
Computing still superior to Apple
- 604e
Processor
- Java
Programming
- Eudora Pro
3.0 is out
- Eudora
Light 3.0.1 is out
- Virtual
Lego
- Apple's
Strategy
- More on IP
- ATM
does not stand for Automated Teller Machine
- Ideas for
Mac to PC communication
- MacUser
Shareware Awards
- Recording Sound
on PCI Macs
- Speed up
Netscape Tips
- Why
Disk Doctor Complains If A File Starts with a Period
- Serial Cable
Insight
- AOL
Dumpfiles
- Netscape
Easter Eggs
- Reverse
Black and White
- Why
MacUser Likes TexEdit
- FindFile
Tips
- Extension
Manager Load Order Tip
- Prices
Dropping on 33.6 modems
- Cache
Switch Control Panel
- Zapping PRAM
problem
- Internal SCSI
usually faster
- MacBinary
Reminder
- Ram Charger
- PPC Plans
for Power PCs
- Gigabit
Ethernet
- Recordable
DVDs
- Word
Processing OpenDoc Live Object - WAV
- Rich Music
Format (RMF)
- Prices for
Document Management
- Digital Image
Copy Protection
- Protect
That Phone Line
- Zip for
PowerBooks
- Motorola
Clones
- PPCP
Compliant Motherboard
- New
WordPerfect Features
- Disk
First Aid 7.2.2 Released December 13, 1996
- Apple
System Plans (including Java)
- BeOS Demo
- OpenTransport
1.1.2 is out
- QuickTime
TV
- Instructions
for opening FileMaker Pro 3.0 files via the Internet
- 604e v. 604
- CallerID for
the Mac
- NetDoubler
Details
- LaserMerge
Electronic Paper
- Unexpected
PC v. Mac file differences
- MacUser's
Mailing List Management Recommendations
- How
to Make HTML Image Maps That Work When Browsers Don't Show
Graphics
- Frontier
4.1
- QuicKeys 3.5
out
- Unsupported
Fix to System Upgrade Problem
- Netscape
Navigator 3.0 and Older Macs
- Apple
Posts Quarterly Profit
- Apple
Telecom 3.0 Released
- ClarisWorks
4.0v5 Updater Available Online
- Claris
Organizer 2.0v2 Updater Available Online
- Claris
Home Page 2.0 Free Update Available Online
- Apple
Announces the PowerBook 1400
- OneClick
- A Macro Utility
- Nisus Writer
Turns 5
- ShrinkWrap
2.1
- Apple supports
LDAP
- Tip
for Thunder 7/SpellCatcher
- OnLine Army
Knife
- Anarchie
2.0.1
- AetherWorks 43.2
Kbps Modem
- OT/PPP 1.0
- Insight
into Tape Backup
- Microsoft Internet
Updates
- Apple Offers
Meta Content Format
- Disable
the CFM-68K Runtime Enabler
- Soft Power
Switched Macs
- Adobe PageMill
2.0
- RealAudio
3.0
- Beta
MPEG for QuickTime 2.5
- Quicken 7
Arrives
- This
just in - Apple buys Next
- Sorry,
that's all the time I have.
- This
Jaques Law Bits was delivered by:
- This
Jaques Law Bits was prepared for:
Shockwave PlugIn Update
- On 11/20/96 new versions of Shockwave were released that
feature improved memory management. Download the latest Shockwave
Now!
- The
article:
- The PlugIn:
Power
Computing to ship BeOS with its clones
- Power Computing Corp. on Tuesday will announce that it's
getting behind Be Inc.'s operating system. The largest Mac clone
vendor said it will license BeOS and bundle it with all
Mac-compatible systems next year.
- CIS: News: Power Computing to ship BeOS with its clones
- MacWEEK
Mailing List #34 - Monday, December 2, 1996
Free Scriptable
Graphics Program
- Photomatic 2.0.1 from
Daystar
- Connie Romanishan
MacUser sets
Benchmark Standard
- Apple, Power Computing and others, are relying on the MacBench
programs results. Benchmarks are updated the day a new system
ships at MacUser's
Benchmark site
- MacUser 9610
Power PC
Platform (PPCP) officially late
- Apple's first PPCP models won't arrive till early 1997, though
clone makers may offer compliance in late 96.
- Currently, Windows NT, OS/2, Solaris (Sun's Unix), AIX (IBM's
Unix), Netware, and the MacOS will run on it.
- MacUser 9610
New
PC standard for low bandwidth peripherals: USB
- Universal Serial Bus can transfer 12 megabits/seconds (geoport
is 2), is hot-pluggable, can hold up to 127 devices, and is cheap.
Apple's FireWire is 30 times faster, but not intended to compete.
USB is for things like mice, keyboards, modems, quickCams, etc.
- MacUser 9610
QuickDraw 3d 1.5 is out
- Now it supports plug-ins, which should include renderers. The
3D Meta Format (3DMF) now supports rendering at different levels
of detail. It supports multi-processor machines. You can instantly
return to the 'home' view, and constrain the perspective along an
axis. There is now a Windows version.
- Apple Site
- MacUser 9610
MacOS
Embarrassingly Bad at Faster Ethernet
- Fast Ethernet (100Base-T) uses an active star setup (at least
1 hub). Each device must have a Network Interface card (NIC) and
connect to the hub via unshielded twisted pair (UTP) wiring and
RJ-45 jacks.Both 10Base-T and Fast Ethernet use 2-pair UTP, but
Fast requires Category 5 cable (heavier copper and more twists).
10Base-T will have used either Category 5 or Category 3. So, you
might not need to rewire.
- Theoretically, it should be 10 times faster than 10Base-T, but
MacUser results were more like 29%, working best with large files.
The peak speed was 9.77 Mbps, with an average of 6.43 for PCI
cards and 4.43 for NuBus (although the range was 5 Mbps!). Note
that 100 Mbps is the theoretical speed, and a comparable pentium
machine reached 40 MBps. Oooh. How embarrassing.
- AppleTalk is partly to blame, with smaller data packets than
TCP/IP. Asanté's NetDoubler substitutes the ADSP (Apple
Data Stream Protocol) or TCP/IP protocols for AppleTalk as the
files are sent. The former doubles the speed, and the latter
triples it. Asanté claims even better results when both
Macs are PCI, because NuBus network drivers and not OT native.
- OpenTransport, supposed to speed up the network, is also to
blame. It came out almost the same as Classic Networking. However,
OT is better using TCP/IP, and NetDoubler only works with OT.
- I suppose the good news is that if you have PCI Macs,
NetDoubler, OT, and Runshare (another utility, which grabs all the
bandwidth available), you can match the Pentium performance. That
is, unless they too can soup up their software.
- Asanté, 3Com, Cisco, Compaq, Intel, and others have
formed the Gigabit Ethernet Alliance to develop a 1000 mbps
Ethernet.
- MacUser 9610
Play God with Creatures
- Inscape has created virtual 'Creatures' with virtual DNA. They
breed sexually. They must feed and interact. They will evolve with
natural selection or your assistance. Best, they're cute.
- iNSCAPE 800-693-3253
- MacUser 9610
OpenDoc 1.1 is out
- It debuted at the MacWorld Expo. It takes less ram and is
faster, and now runs on 68040s. Apple plans a Java applet viewer,
so Java can run inside OpenDoc containers. Apple intends
CompenentGlue to permit Microsoft OLE containers interact with
OpenDoc containers. IBM has come out with OpenDoc for Windows.
- MacUser 9610
HTML
3.2 starting Public Comment Phase of Acceptance
Apple's
1st Multi-Processing Computer: the 9500/180MP
Power
Computing still superior to Apple
- Apple has finally followed Power's lead of making all its
CDRoms 8x.
- Although Apple now ships all models with a Level 2 cache,
Power's caches are normally double. With accelerating CPUs, cache
makes an increasing contribution. For instance, the Power 200 mhz
beats Apple's 9500/200 by 13%, likely as a result.
- Power's CPU is on a removable daughterboard for cheaper
upgrades. Apple's require logic boards.
- Power puts 3 DRAM DIMM sockets on the boards. Apple puts two.
Both only fill one, normally.
- Power's graphics use a much faster ATI chip. Apple uses
Valkyrie. Power's is upgradable. Power provides a VGA connector.
- Power provides support for PS/2 style keyboards.
- Power does not include Apple's idiosyncratic Comm Slot II, the
slot for a Apple Video System Digitizing Card or TV Tuner Bay.
However, it has 3 PCI slots with room for the full sized (12
inch). Apple's models offer 1 or 2 seven inch PCI slots.
- Apple offers an AV Bundle of its Avid Cinema Card and the
Apple Video System. For roughly the same price, Power offers
Miro's miro-MOTION DC20 video-capture card and limited editions of
Adobe's Premiere and Photoshop. Apple's software is easier to use,
but the Miro captures 640x480 pixels, as compared to Apple's
320x240, both at 30 frames/sec.
- Unlike prior models, the Power disk drive underperformed
Apple's. [The 9611 issue compared the PowerTower 200e with the
PowerMac 9500/200 and the Power disk drive (2 gb Micropolis)
outperformed the Apple 2 gb Seagate]
- Power's bundled software remains far more extensive.
- Even Power's processing speed is superior, due to use of an
improved version of the Alchemy architecture. Their version also
offers greater flexibility, including support for EDO (Extended
Data Out) RAM, a high speed type widely used in Pentium's.
- [MacUser appeared to be considering the PowerBase line, as
compared to Apple's line in general]
- MacUser 9610
604e Processor
- It has higher clock speeds, larger internal caches, and
support for a wider range of system bus speeds.
- UMAX's S900, Apple's 9500/180MP and 9500/200 and 8500/180, and
Power Computing's PowerTower Pro all offer it.
- MacUser 9610
Java Programming
Eudora Pro 3.0 is out
- Don't get confused as I do. You probably use Eudora Lite (now
at version 1.5.5). However, this professional version offers URL
coloring and launching, leading message filtering, and plug in
architecture.
- Qualcom's Eudora site
- MacUser 9610
Eudora Light 3.0.1 is out
- Qualcomm has been developing Eudora Pro 3.0.1 and Eudora Light
3.0.1 together (a sensible procedure)
- New:
- styled text in the message body. This works like HTML,
using markup expressions such as
"<italic>text</italic>"
- breaks the 32K barrier
- drag and drop of everything to everywhere
- Mailboxes can optionally store meta-information in their
resource forks, eliminating the need for "TOC" files
- Filters, which quickly examine batches of messages (such as
all those just received) and take actions on them (like
transferring to a particular mailbox) if they meet specified
criteria.
- Find dialog is much improved
- improved Nicknames dialog (now called the Address Book).
- Eudora Light users get no:
- toolbar
- message labels
- "Word Services" (to drive certain applications like the
Spellswell spell-checker)
- FCCing (copying outgoing replies to a mailbox);
- automatic nickname expansion prior to sending (but you can
still do it on demand with a menu item)
- ability to open a mailbox not located in the Eudora Folder
- "stationery" files (templates for outgoing boilerplate
messages)
- additional signatures beyond a Main and an Alternate
- ability to generate styled text (though you can read it in
a received message).
- Mail Transfer Options, meaning essentially the ability to
send custom instructions about individual messages to the
server.
- The Light version has a narrower range of Filter actions.
- Hidden features
- to force compaction of a mailbox (it normally happens
automatically when certain conditions are met), you must know
to Command-click the lower-left corner of the window
- to open the mailbox containing the message you're reading,
you double-click its title bar (why not Command-click as in the
Finder?).
- to create a new message from the Address Book without
switching to it, hold Shift as you press the To button.
- many important actions show up only if you hold a modifier
key before clicking in the menubar.
- Only a small subset of its functions can be driven through
AppleScript or Frontier, and there is little or no documentation
is available for many of its internal settings.
- DealBITS** -- Cyberian Outpost has a deal on Eudora Pro for
$56.95 ($4 off) for TidBITS readers through this URL:
- TidBits
- QualCom
- Eudora
- Download
Eudora 1.5.5
- TidBITS#357/09-Dec-96
Virtual Lego
Apple's Strategy
- OpenTransport support for TCP/IP and PPP in 1996. Java virtual
machine in late 1996. Designer Macs in 1997[Jeez!]. PPCP gradually
throughout 1997. A new memory controller and I/O subsystem (with
DMA support for PC cards, SCSI, IDE, sound, and serial) in 1997.
USB and FireWire by 1998. Standard multi-processors by the end of
1998. It plans to push DVD drives hard (1.35 mb/sec (approx a 9x
CDROM) but 4.7 gb/layer (2 layers/side, and can use both sides),
but again, erasable will come out long after).
- In 1996, more OpenDoc and Java. In 1997, look and feel,
multi-threaded finder, integration of Cyberdog. After that, fully
PPC native, symmetrical multi-processing, configurable desktop.
The System will include directory services, a system-wide database
of personal information (names, addresses, etc.). They will try
again. [Nobody liked PowerTalk or even realized this was its
purpose.]. It will likely include web server software. AppleTalk
may die in favour of IP. . Don't expect personal file sharing over
IP soon.
- Apple will continue to pursue its other product lines such as
Pippin, Newton, AppleShare, ARA (to offer dialup connection to
both AppleTalk and IP services), various internet server products,
QuickTime (new image capture, APIs, and as an operating system for
cameras), QuickDraw 3d, ColorSync, QuickDraw GX (either port to
Windows or give up).
- MacUser 9610
More on IP
- You may have noticed this issue that suddenly AppleTalk is
obsolete and grossly impairing our networking. TCP/IP (Token
Control Protocol (?) / Internet Protocol (?)) may be the answer.
It is supported by OpenTransport. It carries 1600 bytes/packet.
AppleTalk carries 490 or so. It is used far more widely.
- However, many applications have their own built-in networking,
such as Filemaker, Timbuktu, Meeting Maker, Claris OfficeMail.
Happily, all 3 of those do support TCP/IP. CE Software's QuickMail
doesn't yet, but will. Others, such as Now UpToDate, many vertical
market applications, and accounting packages, do not.
- BUT, AppleShare itself does not support TCP/IP. [note, you can
still use FTP and maybe even HTTP within the office. You would
need a server. NetPresenz is $10 shareware to do that from the
mighty Peter Lewis (Anarchie, Internet Config, etc.)]
- Even if the systems and programs did, some of the hardware has
hard-wired networking, such as your printers. Even if they did,
they need IP aware drivers, and none exist yet.
- Even if all that was settled, the users must be trained. IP is
harder. You must get a range of IP addresses from an Internet
Service Provider. You need one for every connected device, even
hubs and routers. The addresses, I expect, will cost money. They
must be unique on the internet (i.e., world wide). The addresses
will offer no clue as to whom they belong to, being simply series
of numbers separated by periods. The address is somewhat dependent
upon location (well, dependent on what it is connected to)
however, so if you move a device, you might have to reset the
address.
- You can assign addresses dynamically. Users can learn the
glories of BootP (Bootstrap Protocol), RARP (Reverse Address
Resolution Protocol), DHCP (Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol),
etc. But don't dare let a key device (like a hub or router) be
dynamically addressed by DHCP. That would be big trouble.
- Somehow, you might be able to set up a server to translate to
domain names, but not for DHCP.
- You will have the fun of deciding on hardware or software
routers and assigners.
- [How could such a miserable system become the global standard?
Well, that's humans.]
- MacUser 9610
ATM
does not stand for Automated Teller Machine
- Asynchronous Transfer Mode is a network standard that can go
up to 155 Mbps. You can use it as a 'backbone', connecting between
networks using other standards. You can get the NuBus or PCI cards
($500-$1000US) but you must also pay for access to the ATM line.
- MacUser 9610
Ideas for Mac to
PC communication
- Well, floppies. Try SCSI media. Zip drives offer guest
programs so the driver can be installed (after startup!) on PCs or
Macs. If the volume is formatted by the PC, the Mac can probably
read it with the Easy Open extension. Use the internet. Use
Ethernet, with either Timbuktu or FTP over TCP/IP (one will have
to become an FTP server). Finally, modems. If they are physically
present, use a null modem cable between them for top speed.
- MacUser 9610
MacUser Shareware Awards
- Business and Productivity
- MacWeather - gets weather info off internet
- The DiskTools Collection
- TimeSlice - records your time and costs - Maui Software
- Utilities
- CopyPaste - 10 clipboards
- Aaron - Copland look
- ShrinkWrap - disk images
- Education
- SmartMove - good graphics. US Geography.
- HyperElements - Periodic Table
- MacVerter Metric
- Fonts and Publishing
- Font Box - searches volumes for font problems. Pay and it
will clean them up.
- Dungeoneer Font - the fonts are map elements (e.g., door,
wall)
- Jean Camil TrueType Font
- Graphics and MultiMedia
- GifBuilder - make animated GIFs
- FC Text-Picture - add PICT graphics to plain-text
documents.
- MediaLink - port resources into electronic slides with
links between slides
- Internet
- Fetch - FTP client
- NetPresenz - FTP server
- NonSequitur - Domain Name Server
- Networking and Telecomm
- FreePPP
- Black Night - Terminal program
- ZTerm - Terminal program
- Scripting and Development
- Frontier - now free!? Scripting frontend. Can use either
AppleScript or Frontier language
- Fade XCMD
- FinderScripts 3 - Collection of Applescripts
- Home and Hobby
- Knot - creates 3D TIFF or animation knots. You set shape,
colour, lighting.
- Gene - Genealogy [sic?] database prints in graphical trees
and charts
- US Stamp Pro - Filemaker Pro template
- Games
- Escape Velocity - From Ambrosia (Maelstrom). Galactic
trading. Role playing and reflex elements.
- Exile II - Dungeon exploration with good graphics
- Grizzly - Battle a bear in this arcade style game.
- MacUser 9610
Recording Sound on PCI
Macs
- The Sound control panel is replaced by the Monitors and Sound
panel and the SimpleSound DA. The latter is used for recording.
- MacUser 9610
Speed up Netscape Tips
- Store the cached pages on a Ram Disk of some sort. Select
destination with Options Menu, Network Preferences item, Cache
tab, browse button. AppDisk is suggested because it will save its
contents. [ShrinkWrap will also save]
- MacUser 9610
- Make sure disk cache (memory control panel) has 32k/mb of
physical ram.
- Browsers are notorious for memory leaks (memory occupied by
the application isn't freed when you quit. It can be regained with
freeware Mac OS Purge, or MacUser's RamHandler. They may not work
with OpenTransport 1.1, but will, with OT 1.1.1 [note that 1.1.2
is out]
- Increasing the buffer size to larger than 4k may eliminate
"404 not found" errors especially for overloaded servers
(Options:Network:Connections)
- If you get pages of gibberish, there is a problem with the
MIME (Multipurpose Internet Mail Extension) which stores the type
of the file. Either you haven't assigned an application to handle
it (Options:General Preferences:Helpers) or the web server is
giving you an incorrect MIME, in which case you should let them
know.
- MacUser 9611
Why
Disk Doctor Complains If A File Starts with a Period
- If a file name starts with a period, it tells the MacOS that
the file is a driver, potentially confusing it, potentially
causing crashes and corruption.
- MacUser 9611
Serial Cable Insight
- The normal serial cable crosses the wires. So, what goes in on
the third pin might come out on the 5th, or something like that.
- That is why, if you are attempting to connect two computers
directly together for modem transfers (e.g., Mac to another
platform (if it was Mac to Mac, you would use the parallel port
for network or direct connections), you need a special cable
called a null-modem or 'straight through' cable. Beware. They look
exactly the same excepting some fine print.
- Further, if you connect a normal cable to a serial switching
box, you must use a 'straight through' cable from the mac to the
box.
- MacUser 9611
AOL Dumpfiles
- If you press command option D, it will create a dump file.
There are two uses. First, it is the only way to stop when you
have attempted to contact a host which is tied up. Second, bad
people use it to steal passwords, since the dumpfile will include
unencrypted passwords and names.
- MacUser 9611
Netscape Easter Eggs
- Control option F takes you to the fish-cam page. Control
Option W takes you to the White House page.
- MacUser 9611
Reverse Black and White
- CloseView is a system extension whose primary purpose is to
magnify the screen. But some people also prefer white on black for
text. It will do that too.
- MacUser 9611
Why MacUser Likes TexEdit
- $10 shareware. Multi-window styled text editor. Unlimited size
(Simpletext limited to 32k). Can create SimpleText ReadOnly
documents.
- Reformats including stripping non-mac characters and line
sizing.
- Includes sound annotations.
- MacUser 9611
FindFile Tips
- You probably know you can drag files out of the result windows
and perform several other Finder commands on the displayed files.
- You can also drag and drop a file onto FindFile to quickly set
search criteria. For instance, it is not convenient to find the
file creator or type. But set FindFile to look for the desired
attribute, then drag a file of the desired attribute onto it.
Bring up several at once.
- You need the Finder Scripting Extension to use drag and drop.
- MacUser 9611
Extension Manager
Load Order Tip
- Extension Manager is the no-frills init management that comes
with the System. [First, don't be nuts. Use Conflict Catcher or
Now Startup Manager. The former is better loved. The latter comes
with a database which can be updated each month with new
information from Now Software.] Normally EM will load after things
like Now Toolbox or SpeedDoubler stuff or RamDoubler stuff. Change
its file type to "scri" and it will load before everything except
RamDoubler.
- MacUser 9611
Prices Dropping on
33.6 modems
- USRobotics $199US for Sportster Voice or $179US for Sportster.
- Supra $199US for FaxModem, $199US for PowerBook, and $139US
for "Simple Internet".
- BestBuy $99US (only 28k)
- MacUser 9611
Cache Switch Control
Panel
- 68040 processors have a Cache Switch control panel. Other
models have no use for it, though it will probably have been
installed. It enables/disables the onboard cache. If you have
freezes, turn it off. Older software had a hard time with it.
- The Memory control panel concerns a disk cache. It is
unrelated.
- MacUser 9610
Zapping PRAM problem
- Sometimes, after you zap the PRAM, your custom colour start up
screen will be black and white and 'dotty'. To fix, open the
monitors control panel, change the color depth, close, re-open,
and change it back.
- MacUser 9610
Internal SCSI usually
faster
- Newer Apple models use SCSI-1 on the external chain and SCSI-2
(faster) on the internal. Apple's Network Server is apparently the
only Apple model to date to use the SCSI Fast and Wide buses
(faster yet).
MacBinary Reminder
- Non-Macs can't read MacBinary [editor - probably your FTP
software is set to automatically convert to MacBinary]
- MacUser 9610
Ram Charger
- This opens applications at their minimum memory allocation,
then gives more as needed. [You know, the way the System ought to
do it.] You can exclude incompatible applications. It was
previously provided by Jump Software, which MacUser calls a 'true
MacIntosh stalwart'. Now though, it is provided by
Syncronys. Last year, they
recalled their WinTel memory manager SoftRam95, because the
Federal Trade Commission opened a consumer fraud inquiry, because
it didn't work with Windows 95 as advertised. [Damn those PC users
are tough. Imagine if we went to the feds every time the MacOS or
Now Utilities or anything else we use crashed our computer.]
- [Oddly, in the same issue, they ran an ad for it. The number
listed was 1-800-JUMP-MAC and the URL was
http://www.wp.com/jump. They
claim it is compatible with RamDoubler and Virtual Memory. Home
Office was quoted as saying "memory errors occurred far less
frequently...had a stabilizing effect on the operating system."
The ad says, "not just more ram, more power". Does that refer to
speeding up programs by giving them all they want?]
- MacUser 9611
PPC Plans for Power PCs
- Expect the 620 in clones in early 97. Expect the G3 series in
mid 1997, roughly doubling the performance of current chips,
running at 400 hz by late 1997.
- G4 will be out in early 1999, to match the Intel P7 (Merced).
It will be entirely new, with advances in superscalability and
functional unit architecture, with circuitry as small as .18
micron, allowing transister counts up to 50 million, and speeds up
to 500 mhz.
- Project 2K, for the new millenium is underway.
- Performance will be enhanced with cache and bus enlargements,
and by tuning the chips specifically for the MacOS and for
Windows. [But, but but...I though the glory of it was that many
systems would all run on the same computer!]
- MacUser 9611
Gigabit Ethernet
- ATM (see above) can go from 25 mbps to multi-gigabits per
second, with 622 mbps the most cost effective. Fast Ethernet is
100 mbps (but see its pathetic performance on the Mac, above), but
this new Ethernet, expected in 18 months is 1000 mbps.
- MacUser 9611
Recordable DVDs
- Panasonic is coming out with one in 1998, but will use only
one layer per side (4.7 gb/layer), and somehow, only get 2.6 gb
out of it. Part of the reason may be to subvert piracy.
- MacUser 9611
Word
Processing OpenDoc Live Object - WAV
- It has no style sheets or word counts, but you can add
features by adding other live objects. MacUser said that WAV, the
first word processing live object, handled that seamlessly, trying
out a third party spell checker and graphic builder. Roughly $49
US.
- MacUser 9611
Rich Music Format (RMF)
- This new format comes from
Headspace
(cofounded by Thomas Dolby [and related to the really famous
Dolby]). WebTV is using it. It should work cross-platform.
Multiple MIDI and digital audio files can be combined in a single,
small file. It offers run-time controls over things like tempo,
transposition, mix, instrumentation, etc.
- MacUser 9611
Prices for Document
Management
- The concept is to scan and index your documents. ePaper from
Second Glance (using Xerox's TextBridge OCR software) is $169.
Optix, from Blueridge Techologies, is only about $60,000.
- MacUser 9611
Digital Image Copy
Protection
- The concept is to add a watermark to the file, which will
survive file modifications, and permit you to find the artist via
serial number registries.
Digimarc and
Highwater both offer
versions:
- MacUser 9611
Protect That Phone Line
- Phone line spike protectors may improved data transfer speed.
Try Panamax
- RedGuard will lock out
telephone extensions when the line is in use ($25 for a 3 pack)
- MacUser 9611
Zip for PowerBooks
- Apple helped VST
Technologies to make a zip drive to fit in the 5300 and 190
expansion bays. It isn't shipping yet.
- MacUser 9611
Motorola Clones
- Motorola's systems, collectively codenamed Morocco, will use
the Tanzania motherboard, which is not PPCP compliant, but it does
have a standardized form factor, adhering to the LPX standard.
- They will provide lots of ports: 2 geoport, SCSI, ADB, sound
in/out, but also, PS/2 keyboard/mouse. In fact, they will ship
with PC keyboards and mice.
- Motorola will be a retail line, not directly competing with
Power Computings direct sales.
- It has the authority to sublicense the MacOS to other
manufacturers.
- MacUser 9611
PPCP Compliant
Motherboard
- IBM is introducing the LongTrail, which will be PPCP compliant
(the long-promised standard (multiple systems will run on it)). It
has a VLSI chip for memory control and the logic bridge between
the CPU and PCI bus. There is an optional VLSI accelerated
graphics chip.
- Lots of ports: full set of Mac ports, PC I/o, 3 RAM DIMM
slots, 4 PCI, processor card slot (or PGA socket).
- The VLSI chip set can support an L2 cache up to 1 mb.
- The bus speed is up to 66 mhz.
- IBM will publish the technical specs for nothing, and with no
licencing fees. It will profit from selling the CPUs.
- The beta version of a PPCP MacOS is expected by the end of
1996.
- MacUser 9611
New WordPerfect Features
- WordPerfect offers vertical justification [wow. about time.],
HTML, and Applescripting.
- According to their ad.
Disk
First Aid 7.2.2 Released December 13, 1996
- A MacOS utility which verifies the directory structure of any
Hierarchial File System (HFS) based storage volume. This version
adds support for PCI-based MacOS computers, and supports volumes
larger than 4 gigabytes.
- Apple Computer
Apple System
Plans (including Java)
- Microkernel, memory protection and pre-emptive multitasking
for System 7. Oops that was their promise in 1992. Then in 1994,
they promised for 1995. Then in 1995, they did a public showing of
its features but later postponed till the spring of 1996. In 1996,
it was postponed for 1997, but a Developer's Release was promised.
Oops, both were cancelled shortly after.
- Now, they promise a new 7.5 (Harmony) in January, and intend
two consolidated upgrades per year, with quarterly updates.
- However, they did manage to demo pre-release software which
runs JAVA applets in the finder. They are putting this beta stuff
in
http://dev.info.apple.com,
and on OpenDoc Developer Release 6, and the final version should
ship with Harmony. It is called MRJ (Mac Runtime for Java) and is
a virtual machine. It has the standard set of 8 Java classes and
two implementations of the applet viewer. One is a standalone
application, the other is a LiveObject part. Only the PPC version
was demonstrated, but 68K versions are also promised.
- MacUser 9611
BeOS Demo
- BeOS was run on a Power Computing PowerCenter 120. Be said it
will support PCI macs with 603, 603e, 604, and 604e chips, but not
even 601s, let alone the 68K series.
- Evidently, it made an impressive performance of graphics
speed.
- Be showed its BeBox Dual 603-133, which has two 133 mhz 603e
processors. Be conceded there are few applications, but promised
some demos at the MacWorld Expo.
- MacUser 9611
OpenTransport 1.1.2 is
out
- OpenTransport 1.1.2 is out. It's only 9 mb! Apple also offers
a large optional OpenTransport Extras, which consists of:
- Adobe Acrobat Reader
- - Adobe Acrobat Reader v2.1 2.1
- - Coupon.pdf
- - Installing Acrobat Reader 1.0
- - Claris Emailer
- - About the Emailer Updater
- - Emailer 1.1v2->1.1v3 Updater 1.1.1
- - Claris Emailer Lite
- - About the Emailer Lite Updater
- - Emailer Lite 1.1v4 updater 1.1.1
- - Config PPP 2.1.4
- - MacPPP Read Me 1.1
- - PPP 2.5
- - AppleTalk
- - AppleTalk Options 1.0
- - AppleTalk Options ReadMe
- - TCP/IP
- - TCP/IP Options 1.0
- - TCP/IP Options ReadMe
- Open Transport 1.1 Manual.pdf
- Open Transport QandA 2.3
- Remote Only
- - Remote Only 2.1
- - Remote Only Read Me 1.1
QuickTime TV
- Version: 1.0.4b19 (US Only)
- Released: December 11, 1996
- Description:
- Unsupported beta release that allows you to view live
audio-video broadcasts on the worldwide Internet and start
watching broadcasts from a web page.
- This software will expire on February 1, 1997.
- Apple
Instructions
for opening FileMaker Pro 3.0 files via the Internet
- 1. Choose Preferences from the Edit menu in FileMaker Pro 3.0.
Make sure the selected Network protocol is TCP/IP. If it is not,
select it and Quit and re-launch FileMaker.
- 2. Make sure you are connected to the Internet. If you are not
sure, try running one of your Internet applications such as
Netscape or Mosaic.
- 3. Choose Open from the File menu in FileMaker Pro 3.0
- 4. Click the Hosts button
- 5. Specify host: (e.g. filemaker.claris.com)
- 6. After a brief pause, you should see a list of files. If no
files are displayed, your DNS (Domain Name Server) does not
contain an entry for the domain name. If you are behind a
corporate firewall and you only have proxy or socks access to the
Internet, FileMaker may not be able to see the file. Contact your
IS department and find out if you can pass FileMaker TCP/IP
packets through your firewall.
604e v. 604
- The PowerTower 180 carries a 604 at 180 mhz and the PowerTower
180e carries a 604e at the same mhz. Yet the 180e was 25% faster
in the processor test and 14% faster in the Floating Point test.
The 604e has on-board level 1 data and instruction caches double
the size of the original 604. Albeit, the 180e has double the
Level 2 cache.
- MacUser 9611
CallerID for the Mac
- YoYo from BigIsland
offers many options for what to do with the call, once you
subscribe to the phone companies service for saying who the call
is from. You can block from certain people at certain times,
assign a special ring, display the caller on the screen (and lock
up the name. It has a limited PIM (only 2000 entries). It will, of
course, dial the phone, but it will also log all your calls, in or
out.
- MacUser considered it a 'sophomoric' interface with really
stupid deficiencies. You couldn't print the log. Dialing while
simultaneously logging onto a server would crash.
- Still, cool idea.
- MacUser 9611
NetDoubler Details
- It costs $99US or comes free with some Fast Ethernet cards.
You need one on both computers transferring files. It needs
OpenTransport 1.0.8 for PCI macs and 1.1 for NuBus systems.
- OpenTransport permits it to substitute TCP/IP for AppleTalk
and AFP (AppleTalk Filing Protocol) which are used by AppleShare
and System 7's File Sharing. If TCP/IP is not available, it will
use ADSP (Apple Data Stream Protocol). Both TCP/IP and ADSP are
completely OpenTransport-native.
- Some stuff, like most printers, only speak AppleTalk, so it
won't help those.
- [If anybody can understand MacUser's comments on their
experiments with Timbuktu and NetDoubler, please explain them to
me.]
- It mostly affects transfers of larger files.
- MacUser 9611
LaserMerge Electronic
Paper
- Mindgate Electronic
Paper adds a button to the Print Dialog. It works with PostScript,
QuickDraw, and even fax-software drivers. It gives you new
printing options, including thumbnails, toner-density, and the
ability to create templates to be merged with the print output.
Such templates may be letterhead, watermark, a form, whatever. It
comes with a Designer utility for creating the templates.
- $95US
- MacUser 9611
Unexpected PC
v. Mac file differences
- TIFF created on a PC is not necessarily the same as that
created on a mac. TIFF is actually a library of formats.
- TrueType font specs are differenet between the platforms.
- PostScript fonts may look the same on-screen, but their
outline fonts (needed for printing) may be different. If the names
are different, it might just not print.
- MacUser 9611
MacUser's
Mailing List Management Recommendations
- Michele Fuortes'
Macjordomo
is free and POP/SMTP based. It can do the usual subscribing and
unsubscribing, and it will automatically create digests.
- QuarterDeck's
ListStar has
various versions, all for bucks. But you can add commands to it,
so it is almost infinitely customizable. It offers links for
AppleScript and/or Frontier.
- MacUser 9611
How
to Make HTML Image Maps That Work When Browsers Don't Show Graphics
- Tony Grant**
<mailto:tg001@dial.oleane.com>
passes on a tip from Bill Shackleton that involves some extra
work, but ensures that access to an image map-based site is at
least possible, if not elegant, without graphics.
- First, create a small, single-color GIF file (say, two pixels
by two pixels). Make it transparent, which renders it invisible to
users who have graphics turned on. Then, for every link in your
image map, place an <IMG> tag for a copy of this invisible
graphic on the line below the image map's HTML. Link each
invisible GIF to its eventual destination, and, most important,
create a descriptive ALT attribute for each one.
- The end result is that in a browser that doesn't support
graphics, has graphics turned off, or (less commonly but more
importantly) uses a text-to-speech converter, the ALT text stands
in for the graphical navigation controls in the image map.
- TidBits#346/23-Sep-96
Frontier 4.1
- ...the folks at UserLand have released Frontier 4.1, an
updated version of their Internet-savvy Macintosh scripting
environment. Frontier 4.1 offers a revised user interface with new
menus and a couple of "Navigators" designed to make key parts of
the Object Database more accessible, a completely revised User
Guide, new documentation for scripting Web sites with Frontier,
and the ability to run MacBird cards (see TidBITS-309_), which
adds some custom interface capabilities. Frontier 4.1 also
includes a flurry of bug fixes and changes contributed from
Frontier's active user community and - perhaps best of all -
Frontier is still free.
- Currently, an updater to Frontier 4.1 from 4.0.1 is available
(about 2.5 MB), but a full "shipping" version of Frontier 4.1
should be ready by the time you read this. Be sure to follow the
installation instructions (and back up your Frontier.root file!)
and download a
copy of the new Users Guide (about 1.1 MB). [GD]
- TidBITS#348/07-Oct-96
QuicKeys 3.5 out
- Lengthy reviews in TidBits love
QuicKeys
but are disappointed by the upgrade.
- TidBITS#348/07-Oct-96
Unsupported
Fix to System Upgrade Problem
- The problem is that there is a System install set, a
consolidated version, which contains all the software. Then there
is an update. Say, for instance, System 7.5.5 which is not
available in a consolidated version. You install the update. Now
you want to install something from the (prior) consolidated
version. You can't. Apple does this on purpose to prevent
screwups, and officially recommends a clean reinstall of the older
consolidated system, then a reinstall of the update.
- However, Apple is also providing an _unsupported_ updater
installer script that you can use with System 7.5 Update 2.0 under
System 7.5.5 by dragging the script to the 7.5 Update 2.0
installer icon. Back up your system, turn off all non-7.5.5
extensions, and read the instructions first!
- Although this script may be overshadowed by future component
releases (such as Open Transport 1.1.1), reports that many
computers may not ship with System 7.5.5 for some time may give
this installer script a long lifetime. [GD]
- Download
from Apple
- TidBITS#349/14-Oct-96
Netscape
Navigator 3.0 and Older Macs
- Netscape has discovered a problem with Navigator 3.0 on Macs
with the so-called "dirty" ROMs and more than 8 MB of RAM
installed. Machines possibly affected include the Mac II, SE/30,
IIcx, and IIx. The problem isn't subtle - a system error on
launch, but the solution is fairly simple. If you turn on Apple's
Virtual Memory or install Connectix's RAM Doubler before
launching, the problem won't appear. An alternate fix is to
upgrade to the beta of the week from Netscape, 3.01.b1, which is
either 3.7 MB or 5.1 MB in size. [ACE]
- Download
MacBinary
- Download
BinHex
- Release
Notes
- TidBITS#349/14-Oct-96
Apple Posts Quarterly
Profit
- After serving as a punching bag for Wall Street, business and
technology press, and financial pundits for the last three fiscal
quarters, Apple surprised most financial analysts last week by
posting a $25 million _profit_ for its fourth fiscal quarter.
Although Apple still lost a lot of money for its 1996 fiscal year
(an intimidating $816 million), this return to profitability is
largely credited to Apple's restructuring, reduced operating
expenses, and improved efficiency under new CEO Gil Amelio.
- TidBITS#350/21-Oct-96
Apple Telecom 3.0
Released
- Today Apple officially released Apple Telecom 3.0, which
finally offers 28.8 Kbps speeds to GeoPort users. The update comes
in two flavors: the commercial GeoPort Telecom Adapter Kit
(expected to be available in the U.S. and Japan in December) and
the free GeoPort and Express Modem Updater 3.0. Apple expects to
sell the GeoPort Telecom Adapter Kit for approximately $130, and
the kit will include a GeoPort pod, the Apple Internet Connection
Kit, and a suite of new communications-oriented programs including
fax, answering machine, and speakerphone capabilities.
- The free GeoPort and Express Modem Updater is available online
as two disk images, and lets GeoPort owners with Power Macs
achieve speeds up to 28.8 Kbps. [GD]
- [NOTE - GeoPort is that queer modem substitute in some but
only some Macs. This won't work for a normal modem.]
- Apple
Press Release
- Apple
FTP Site
- TidBITS#350/21-Oct-96
ClarisWorks
4.0v5 Updater Available Online
- The ClarisWorks 4.0v5 U.S. Updater for Mac OS updates versions
4.0 through 4.0v4. It only works on U.S. versions. International
version will be posted in the Software Center on the Claris web
site as they become available.
- The updater requires 2.3MB RAM and 2.3mb disk space for the
updater, plus 8MB disk space for the full update installation.
- This update addresses the following issues since 4.0v4
- - Closing a ClarisWorks document with more than 48 mb of
available system RAM, would crash certain machines
- - Calculations in Excel spreadsheets that contained numbers
>32767 imported as negative numbers
- - Several stationery files have been updated to use 1997
dates
- Two versions of the updater are available: one for the US
retail version, the other for the US Educational version.
- Retail
updater
- Education
updater
- Claris
Claris
Organizer 2.0v2 Updater Available Online
- An
updater
is available for Claris Organizer 2.0, which will update the
- 2.0 to version 2.0v2. This updater only works on the U.S.
version.
- International versions will be be posted in the Software
Center of the
- Claris web site as they become available.
- America Online (keyword: Claris)
- Compuserve (Go MacClaris)
- Fixes in Claris Organizer 2.0v2 include:
- - There was a problem with deletion of recurring tasks or
appointments in
- the monthly calendar window. This has been fixed.
- - The speed of various popup menus in the contact card and the
list view
- windows has been dramatically increased.
- - When the alarm notification dialog appears it will be
accompanied by
- your computer's alert sound.
- - Printing of single, marked contacts should now work in all
cases.
- - Many other small changes that should make Claris Organizer
even more
- stable.
- Please read the Read Me file installed by the updater for
complete
- information on 2.0v2.
- Claris
Claris
Home Page 2.0 Free Update Available Online
- Registered users of Claris Home Page 1.0 may download the
updater to the U.S. version of 2.0 for Windows or Mac OS. This
update only works on registered U.S. versions of Claris Home Page
1.0.
- Enhancements include table cell resizing, site consolidation
and FTP upload features, previewing background files in Edit mode,
support for inserting QuickTime movies and plug-in files, and
syntax coloring in HTML mode.
- Windows
Update
- Mac
OS Update
- Claris
Apple Announces
the PowerBook 1400
OneClick - A Macro
Utility
- [information from Steve Becker
<mailto:maceeze@aol.com>
through TidBITS#350/21-Oct-96 2/2
- Late last year,
WestCode Software
introduced OneClick
- OneClick consists of a single control panel that uses under
300K of RAM. After installing OneClick and restarting your Mac,
you'll see a one-time, brief tutorial, as well as several Global
palettes: the System Bar comes pre- configured with many useful
buttons; the Task Bar displays buttons for each launched program;
and the Launch Strip quickly opens anything that the Finder can
open, including programs, files, and folders. OneClick also
supports application-specific palettes that are only available
when a particular program is active - including a pre-configured
palette for the Finder as well as palettes for several popular
applications (I particularly like the ones for ClarisWorks). You
use the OneClick Editor to customize each of these palettes and to
create more palettes - I'll talk more about that in a bit.
- Palette buttons cause programs to launch, files to open, or
scripts to run. Each button shows an icon, or text - or both -
that indicates its function, so you don't have to remember key
combinations. (You may assign keyboard shortcuts to buttons if you
wish.) If a button's function is not self-evident, OneClick
thoughtfully provides either Balloon Help or a less-obtrusive,
yellow, pop-up description tag. It's easy to toggle either help
option, and you can also edit the help text - a thoughtful
feature.
- Many OneClick buttons perform basic functions like Paste,
Insert Date, Change Font (displays a pop-up list of available
fonts in their actual typefaces - very neat), Change Font Size,
Page Setup, Empty Trash, Make Alias, and Get Info. A small
sampling of some of the more powerful buttons that come with the
program includes Insert Character (like PopChar, this lets you
select and quickly insert any character available in a given
font), Glossary (create a glossary of commonly used bits of text
and then quickly insert those bits; I use this button to create a
signature glossary), Pop-up Hierarchical File List (shades of
PopUp Folder), Pop-up Phone Book/Dialer, Pop-up Hierarchical List
of files in the System Folder, Auto Save (at user specified time
intervals), and Tile Windows. [Additionally, OneClick can use
modules from Apple's Control Strip. -Tonya]
- OneClick also adds a OneClick menu to the menu bar, though you
can also access this menu from any palette. The OneClick menu lets
you quickly show and hide palettes and switch to the OneClick
Editor.
- OneClick Editor can create a new palette for any program, or
modify an existing palette. To add a button to a new palette, you
simply drag it from the OneClick Library to the palette, or you
drag it from an existing palette.
- An Undo option is not available.
- Palettes can be collapsed to a small icon or a small Title
Bar. You can hide all palettes and can configure their location on
the Desktop.
- There is a Record feature to make a button script for almost
any action you perform including keystrokes, clicks, menu choices.
OneClick records such actions not in terms of mouse movements, but
in terms of what you did. OneClick Editor can edit the scripts and
offers built-in help and error checking. You can use it to write
scripts from scratch with either AppleScript or OneClick's own
(easier) EasyScript
- [In addition, Matt Neuburg <matt@tidbits.com> notes
"OneClick's language is spectacularly well thought out and easy to
learn, with splendid data types and object-oriented messaging and
a full battery of control structures. OneClick can gather all
sorts of information about what's happening on your system, in
real time, and make it available in fascinating ways.
- A OneClick button is programmable - you can drag & drop
things onto it, press it with or without modifier keys, and have
it react in different ways; it can display a pop-up menu for you
to choose from. OneClick has superb abilities for communicating
with other scripting milieus." -Tonya]
- OneClick's Editor includes a basic graphics editor and the
ability to borrow icons from other files. This, plus the ability
to add text to a button's icon and create help text lets your
buttons be self-descriptive.
- The WestCode and
Button
Circle Web sites include palettes for programs like Eudora,
Photoshop, Netscape Navigator, Emailer, and AOL, as well as
buttons that provide an almost unbelievable array of features,
such as saving multiple text clippings, printing selected text on
or across pages, creating notebooks or address books, displaying
available memory, and pasting quoted text.
- Although most users report no or few problems with OneClick, I
have encountered numerous bugs, most of which are fixed in the
current 1.0.2 release. WestCode plans to release OneClick 1.5
later this year. Important enhancements center on more powerful
Task Bar and Launcher palettes. A Task Bar button will display and
launch recently used applications (think Apple Menu Options), and
another Task Bar button will pop up the Launcher; especially
useful should you keep the Launcher hidden. The new Launcher will
be able to keep file sets, such as a separate Internet
Applications set.
- The street price for OneClick is around $75, and QuicKeys
users can purchase a competitive upgrade for about $40 (the exact
price depends on what version you have).
- OneClick requires System 7.0 or higher, and a 68020 or later
processor.
- WestCode Software
Nisus Writer Turns 5
- by Tonya Engst
<mailto:tonya@tidbits.com>
- Nisus
Writer's primary claim to fame is that its Power Mac version
is among the first applications to act as an OpenDoc container.
Nisus Writer also scores a first with its support of drag &
drop for non-contiguous selections.
- The new version supports numerous Macintosh standards,
including Internet Config, Apple Guide, AppleScript (Do Script and
a modest Nisus Writer suite), robust drag & drop, Macintosh
Easy Open, QuickDraw GX printing, and the Word Services suite for
third-party utilities like spelling and grammar checkers. I'm
particularly looking forward to checking out the changes in the
HTML capabilities of the new version.
- Upgrades cost $89 if you want a printed manual; $69 if you use
an Acrobat version of the manual. There's also a $10 discount if
you upgrade by 22-Nov-96.
- Nisus Software -- 800/890-3030 -- 619/481-1477
- 619/481-6154 (fax) --
<mailto:info@nisus-soft.com>
ShrinkWrap 2.1
- Chad Magendanz has released version 2.1 of his now-classic
disk image utility
ShrinkWrap, which
corrects a few rare problems (including troubles mounting network
images and using older versions Speed Access and the StuffIt
Engine), along with some optimizations and performance tweaks.
- This release is notable in that it is the _last_ major release
before ShrinkWrap becomes an Aladdin product. Beginning in 1997,
ShrinkWrap will be available from Aladdin Systems (all commercial
and shareware licences and registrations will be carried over),
and its technology will be incorporated into products like StuffIt
Expander and InstallerMaker. [GD]
- TidBITS#353/11-Nov-96
Apple supports LDAP
- Apple announced it would be supporting LDAP, the Lightweight
Directory Access Protocol. LDAP has the support of numerous other
large companies, and it mainly remains to be seen what form
Apple's LDAP support will take beyond the existing maX.500 client
program.
- Interestingly, the bulk of Apple's
Press
Release focuses on Apple's plans to support IMAP, Interactive
Mail Access Protocol, a protocol for sending and receiving email
on the Internet along the lines of the current standards, SMTP and
POP. It will be interesting to see if this results in the next
version of Apple Internet Mail Server supporting IMAP as well as
SMTP and POP.
- TidBITS#353/11-Nov-96
Tip for Thunder
7/SpellCatcher
- Careful manual readers will learn that to insert a Return in a
glossary entry, you must press Option-J.
- TidBITS#353/11-Nov-96
OnLine Army Knife
- Online Army Knife
(OAK) may have shipped by the time you read this, and it will
offer universal spell checking, but take a more Internet-oriented
approach and include a different mix of additional features.
- TidBITS#353/11-Nov-96
Anarchie 2.0.1
- Peter N Lewis has released version 2.0.1 of his popular FTP
client Anarchie (2.0.1 fixes a minor bug with international
character sets in the three-day-old 2.0). New features include the
ability to upload and download entire folders, various user
interface improvements (such as a kangaroo progress indicator),
plus a Tips window to familiarize users with Anarchie's
capabilities. Most significantly, Anarchie 2.0.1 sports a new
MacSearch feature (developed in conjunction with Ambrosia
Software) that quickly locates Macintosh files in the Info-Mac and
UMich archives, now that Archie is a less-than-reliable service
for finding files on the Internet. Anarchie is $10 shareware for
new users, free for users who registered a previous version in
1996, and $5 for other previous users.
- The
download
is about 1 MB.
- TidBITS#353/11-Nov-96
AetherWorks 43.2 Kbps
Modem
- AetherWorks Corporation last week announced its first
ready-for- market technology, a high-speed analog modem that will
offer symmetrical 43.2 Kbps connections over an ordinary analog
telephone line.
- The company plans to license its technology to an undisclosed
array of modem manufacturers, with the first models expected by
the middle of 1997. Though AetherWorks says its reference platform
includes support for all current modem standards including v.34+
(33.6 Kbps) and backward compatibility for previous standards all
the way down to 300 bps, it's not certain all manufacturers will
be able to include support for uncommon protocols, such as
AT&T's v.32terbo (19.2 Kbps, included in Global Village
Mercury modems). Compression and error correction standards such
as the MNP suite and v.42 and v.42bis are supported in current
prototypes and should be handled by most, if not all, licensee
modems.
- AetherWorks president and CEO Dr. Jonathan Sachs commented
that the V.Mach technology performs especially well on noisy
telephone lines, where some modem protocols fall down. He added
that V.Mach performs at least as well as previous technologies all
the way down the line quality spectrum.
- He says that recently announced asymmetrical 56 Kbps
technologies require a digital local loop on one end of the
connection and unusually high analog line quality, so these
technologies will not be well-suited to most consumer and business
applications where higher-speed technologies such as ISDN aren't
appropriate.
- AetherWorks
Corporation -- 888/552-3309 -- 888/552-3301 (fax) or email
mailto:info@aetherworks.com
- by Mark H. Anbinder
mailto:mha@publiccom.com
- TidBITS#354/18-Nov-96
OT/PPP 1.0
- Last week, Apple released Open Transport/PPP 1.0, its first
in- house implementation of PPP, the first version anywhere to be
Open Transport-native (rather than relying on mechanisms designed
for MacTCP) and only the second PPP implementation to be supported
officially by Apple.
- OT/PPP requires a 68030 processor or better and Open Transport
1.1.1 (also available from the URL above; see TidBITS-351_). Apple
recommends using OT/PPP with System 7.5.3 or higher, although it
can also be used with System 7.1.x. Even so, OT/PPP cannot be used
with System 7.5, 7.5.1, or 7.5.2 - you can upgrade those versions
to System 7.5.3 or 7.5.5 for free.
- You configure OT/PPP in the new Modem and PPP control panels
- OnLinehelp is available Like Open Transport's AppleTalk and
TCP/IP control panels, the Modem and PPP control panels can switch
between saved configurations without restarting the Mac. The PPP
control panel has send and receive indicators and built-in
logging.
- Sadly, it uses flexible but difficult modem scripts (called
CCLs) rather than init strings to manage modems. Apple, Info-Mac,
and other sources maintain archives of third-party CCL scripts,
and Apple has an unsupported Modem Script Generator in the OT/PPP
Extras package - it can help create CCL scripts, and contains some
CCL documentation
- OT/PPP is slightly faster than FreePPP 2.5 on my Supra 28.8
modem (usually between 50 to 100 bps faster during sustained
transfers). This improvement might seem tiny, but remember the
bottleneck is the sluggish pace of a modem. Users of ISDN terminal
adapters and other higher speed PPP connections can expect bigger
improvements. Also, because OT/PPP is Open Transport-native, the
performance of applications developed specifically for Open
Transport will improve.
- It takes an additional 500-600K of RAM, plus a little over
350K for the PPP control panel (if you leave it open). Considering
that Open Transport itself requires 500-1500K of RAM, that's a lot
of overhead, especially for Power Macs currently using MacTCP.
- OT/PPP is scriptable right out of the box. Although other PPP
implementations are not, Mark Aldritt's Control PPP scripting
addition gives some script control to MacPPP and FreePPP users.
<ftp://ftp.scriptweb.com/pfterry/applescript/osaxen/
MacPPPControl1.5b2.sit.hqx>
- OT/PPP can co-exist with previous installations of MacPPP,
FreePPP, and other PPP implementations quite happily.
- Reports so far indicate that OT/PPP can be more stable than
FreePPP or MacPPP.
- FTP
OT/PPP
- FTP
ARA
- OT/PPP
web page
- TidBITS#354/18-Nov-96
Insight into Tape Backup
- Just learned that VCRs and better tape BU systems spin the
head. The magnetic part is all around a spinning cylinder in a
spiral. It spins faster than the tape moves, so it can write to
the whole height of the tape.
Microsoft Internet
Updates
- Microsoft recently released two new Mac Internet programs:
Internet Mail and News 1.0 and the first beta of Internet Explorer
3.0. Internet Mail and News, a separate application (based in part
on John Norstad's NewsWatcher and Marco Piovanelli's WASTE text
engine), replaces the email and Usenet news functionality in
Internet Explorer. Although its interface barely departs from its
Windows cousin and is no competition for mature programs like
Eudora, Internet Mail and News is speedy and offers reasonable
functionality, including a subject filter for newsgroups, drag
& drop text editing, and easily-organized mail folders. The
download is about 800K.
- Microsoft Internet
Explorer for Macintosh 3.0b1 still lives in a relatively
svelte 4 MB memory partition (although it hungrily consumes
temporary memory in the system), and offers configurable toolbars,
built-in video, audio, plus support for HTML 3.2 style sheets,
Netscape plug-ins, and VRML (with QuickDraw 3D). Internet Explorer
3.0b1 also supports Java, using either Apple's MacOS Runtime for
Java or (soon) the Microsoft Java VM developed jointly with
Metrowerks (although using Java consumes another 4 MB of system
memory). So far, reports of the beta's performance and behavior
have varied widely. The download is about 5 MB. [GD]
- In a surprising move,
Microsoft and
ResNova announced that
Microsoft has acquired ResNova's Web server products: the personal
Web server WebForOne, and the full-featured Boulevard. Microsoft
plans to release a beta version of WebForOne, renamed Personal Web
Server. Personal Web Server will eventually be bundled with
Microsoft Internet Explorer. Although this may seem unusual, it's
a matter of parity, since Microsoft already has a free Windows 95
entrant, called Personal Web Server for Windows 95 (Microsoft's
naming creativity astounds!). Microsoft claims it has no plans to
release a full-featured Web server for the Mac.
- TidBITS#355/25-Nov-96
Apple Offers Meta
Content Format
- [The concept is a standardized way of summarizing information,
for improved searching and linking]
- Apple has submitted MCF to the Internet Engineering Task Force
(IETF) for consideration as an Internet standard for describing
content, and I'm unaware of any similar counter-proposals. If the
IETF does accept MCF as a standard, we can presume there will be a
set of standard attributes for describing data (common things like
"name", or "URL"; maybe a "description", or "creator", or other
similar tags), but extra data can still be included.
- TidBITS#355/25-Nov-96
Disable the
CFM-68K Runtime Enabler
- If you use a Macintosh with a 68K processor, Apple is
recommending that you disable the
CFM-68K
Runtime Enabler either by using an extensions manager or by
removing it from your System Folder. Some applications that use
the CFM-68K Runtime Enabler can crash your Macintosh, possibly
causing data loss and other problems. This problem does _not_
affect Power Macs.
- The Code Fragment Manager (CFM) was originally developed for
Power Macs and lets Power Mac applications use shared code
libraries (trust me, they're neat). Later, Apple ported the CFM
backwards to 68K machines to make it easier for developers build
68K versions of Power Mac applications. Those 68K applications are
just now starting to appear, although plenty more are in
development.
- However, Apple now admits to a problem with the 68K version of
CFM, and it can't be used reliably in all cases. Though this bug
doesn't impact every program that uses CFM-68K, there's no simple
way to know which applications are affected. Programs using CFM-
68K include OpenDoc, Cyberdog, Apple Media Tool, LaserWriter 8.4
and 8.4.1, Microsoft Internet Explorer 3.0b1, and the preview of
AOL 3.0. If you use any of these programs, Apple recommends you
revert to earlier versions or stop using them. If you disable the
CFM-68K enabler and try to use one of these applications, you'll
see an error, but no damage will be done. Apple is working on a
fix, but there's no public timetable for when a solution might be
available. [GD]
- [editor - I tried to disable this with my IIci and it simply
refused to print with LW 8.4.1]
- TidBITS#356/02-Dec-96
Soft Power Switched Macs
- [Most new macs have a keyboard button to start them or to
initiate a shutdown. That is a problem if you want it to be always
on, and there is a power failure. Somebody must come hit the key.]
- All soft-power Macs have a reset switch (originally in the
back, although it's on the front of newer Macs). On older Macs
with the rear-mounted reset switch (including the IIci and the
7100) the switch is notched, like a screw. To ensure that the Mac
restarts when power returns, you used a screwdriver to turn the
switch and press it in. Clean and simple, if not inherently
obvious.
- But, with the newer, newer macs, that won't work. Since the
Quadra 840AV, the switch no longer locks on soft-power Macs.
PageSentry has the
technote
- Instead, it turns out, the trick is to use the Energy Saver
control panel. If you open the control panel and choose Server
Settings from the Preferences menu, you get a dialog that offers a
checkbox for "Automatically restart after a power failure."
- Or there is another 3d party technique. PowerKey Pro, from
Sophisticated
Circuits, is an essential little device that (among many
other things) can restart crashed servers automatically.
- If you're a developer writing server software, however, you
don't have to be a slave to a machine's power switch. For many
Macs, it's possible to write code to configure a machine to
restart automatically after a power failure, in much the same way
as the Energy Saver control panel. See the
technotes
- TidBITS#356/02-Dec-96
- Actually, Energy Saver 2.0 works with all PCI Power Macs (and
possibly some late-model NuBus Power Macs). Auto Power On/Off
works with most soft-power 68K Macs since the IIsi (those that
have the "Cuda" ADB controller chip), and all soft-power NuBus
Power Macs. It might also work with PCI Power Macs, but has been
superseded by Energy Saver 2.0. Apple has a Tech Info
Library
posting that lists the compatibility possibilities for all
Macs.
- Although it seems Energy Saver 2.0 is always installed on PCI
Power Macs, Auto Power On/Off is not always installed on older
Macs that could use it (especially various Performa models) to
avoid butting heads with the MegaPhone software that lets some
Performas work as an answering machine. It's not clear when Auto
Power On/Off first appeared - it's in System 7.5, and we received
reports it was also in System 7 Pro. Even weirder, it appears
Power Computing doesn't include Energy Saver 2.0 on their System
Software CDs - you must get it from an Apple CD.
- Dave Warker**
<mailto:davew@waterw.com>
offers an alternate solution: Apple recently released a short tech
note covering Server Power mode. It seemed like just the thing for
our FirstClass BBS, so I wrote a small extension called
ServerPower
that turns on this mode if it's available on that particular Mac
model. It works fine on the IIvx and on my Power Mac 7500, but
doesn't work on my aging IIfx.
- TidBITS#357/09-Dec-96
Adobe PageMill 2.0
- Adobe's minimum requirements for PageMill 2.0 call for any
Macintosh with 8 MB total RAM (with at least 4 MB allocated to
PageMill), System 7.1, and a color monitor. The program lists for
$149, Adobe's estimated street price is $99, and the company
offers a $49 upgrade from 1.0, a $69 deal to owners of other Adobe
products, and a $79 crossgrade for owners of some competing
products.
- Adobe added an HTML Source view. Adobe has almost completely
crippled HTML Source view for those wish to work directly with
HTML - almost all the menus and buttons for creating a Web page
are disabled.
- A new Download Statistics dialog box shows how long a given
Web page, selected object (such as a graphic or table), or
frameset should take to download over a variety of connection
speeds.
- PageMill is unique in supporting some (and perhaps most)
Netscape plug-ins.
- PageMill has terrific tables by today's standards for an HTML
editor
- You can create multiple and nested frames
- In Preview mode, you can follow links you've set up and
display different pages in the frameset. When you switch back to
Edit mode, the pages that were displaying in Preview mode can be
edited.
- PageMill 2.0 can import PICT, GIF or JPEG images and
manipulate them to some degree. The background image will display
in Edit and Preview mode.
- There are options to help create server-side maps.
- PageMill still makes no effort to help with creating CGIs,
programs that can receive and process form data,
- Still only permits one form per page. PageMill does help with
creating a form interface.
- PageMill has no macros and supports only core Apple Events.
- The find and replace feature is too simplistic for even a
light wildcard search, though it does implement whole word
searching and wrapping, features that are surprisingly rare among
PageMill's competition. The find and replace has one unusual
feature: it can be restricted to act solely within tables and
forms.
- PageMill's spelling checker is only for final checks. The
manual makes no mention of how to use user dictionaries from other
programs or how one might create a dictionary from a text file.
Cyberian Outpost is offering a $4 discount to TidBITS readers who
purchase PageMill through this
URL.
- Adobe
Systems -- 800/411-8657 -- 408/536-6000
- TidBITS#356/02-Dec-96
RealAudio 3.0
- Progressive Networks has released
Real Audio Player and Real
Audio Player Plus 3.0.
- The RealAudio Player is free for individual use, and provides
improved audio quality and stereo streamed audio over 28.8 Kbps
modems, while the $30 commercial Player Plus features improved
playback via buffering (even on slow or flaky connections) and a
"record" mode for offline listening. The free Real Audio Player is
about 1 MB and requires a 68040 or better processor; Player Plus
requires a Power Mac. [GD]
- TidBITS#357/09-Dec-96
Beta MPEG for QuickTime
2.5
- Apple has released a
beta
extension to QuickTime that provides software-only MPEG
support on Power Macs. The extension provides a separate track for
MPEG I streams, and though you can't save MPEG tracks, you can
play MPEG video in a Web browser using QuickTime plug-ins. [GD]
- TidBITS#357/09-Dec-96
Quicken 7 Arrives
- For an overview of the basic Quicken feature set, please refer
to the detailed review of Quicken 6 in
TidBITS-299_.)
- As with Quicken 6 (Q6), two versions of the program are
available: Quicken and Quicken Deluxe. Both versions include
account tracking, reports and graphics, and features for tracking
investments, budgets, and loans, as well as online banking and
bill payment features. In addition, Quicken Deluxe (available only
on CD-ROM) features planners for retirement and debt reduction,
plus home inventory management, a free 30-day introduction to
Investor Insight, and a Mutual Fund Finder database.
- 7.0 offers a radically new user interface. This is in large
part a result of Intuit incorporating a runtime version of
WestCode's excellent OneClick Shortcut Technology.
- Q7 provides a nice library with several dozen additional
buttons. Buttons can be Option-dragged to new locations New live
display of the check number as you use the scroll bar Pop-up menus
for assigning categories to transactions Sorting by date or check
number Additional options for quickly manipulating data entry in
transactions involving splits.
- Many of the significant new features in Q7 involve the
Investment Module. For starters, Quicken now provides built-in
support for handling lots!
- The Detail View has been expanded to include a tabbed window
which quickly enables you to customize the Detail View's graph, as
well as view other data related to your securities.
- When downloading either a price history or news stories -
using the optional Investor Insight (Deluxe version only) - the
information automatically updates your records and can be
displayed in the Detail View. Immediately after the download, a
window appears showing the change in value for the downloaded
positions since the last price update. You can also set high and
low price alerts.
- The list of reports and report filters and graphs has been
further enhanced in Q7.
- Intuit continues to increase Quicken's online banking
features. Though I have not tested these, Intuit says bill
payments can be made online with any U.S. checking account,
single-call access to bank statements, money transfers and bill
payments, and automatic archiving of historical bank statement
data.
- I found Q7 to be noticeably faster than Q6 when running
reports and bringing up the Portfolio Window.
- It has many major and minor bugs. If you don't use Q7's
Investment Module, many of my concerns about Quicken will not
affect you. If you do use that part of the program, the next
Quicken update should fix some of the most serious bugs.
- Quicken 7 requires a 68030 processor or better, System 7 or
higher, 6 to 8 MB of RAM, 9 to 18 MB of hard disk space, and a 640
by 480 monitor capable of displaying at least 256 colors.
- Intuit, Inc. -- 800/624-8742 -- 415/944-6000
- Steve Becker
<mailto:steve@macease.com>
- TidBITS#359/16-Dec-96
This just in - Apple
buys Next
- On December 23, 1996, I learned that Apple didn't choose to
meet the price for the BeOS, and instead acquired rights of some
extent to the NextStep Operating System. Steve Jobs, an Apple
Co-Founder, is also the founder of Next. He had parted company
with Apple.
- Evidently, this was necessary to enable Apple to achieve the
modern system they have been promising.
- See the articles in the MUGSHOT.
Sorry, that's
all the time I have.
-
This Jaques
Law Bits was delivered by:
-
- Kevin Jaques, B.A. LL.B.
- of the
- Jaques Law Office
#101 - 2515 Victoria Avenue
Regina, Saskatchewan
Tel: (306) 359-3041
Fax: (306) 525-4173
Home: (306) 586-2234
email:
jaques.law@dlcwest.com
Remember, like any other form of communication, email may be
intercepted.
-
-
This Jaques Law
Bits was prepared for:
The MacIntosh User's Group of Regina Saskatchewan
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