[Date Prev][Date Next][Thread Prev][Thread Next][Date Index][Thread Index]
GEnieLamp Nov 1992 [4 parts]
This is GEnieLamp, an Apple II newsletter. It's in four parts.
This is part two.
--------------------- cut here ---------------------
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 <onerr>
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
--
Jerry Penner jpenne@ee.ualberta.ca Try a 1-line .sig today.