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A2 GEnieLamp, May 1994
- Subject: A2 GEnieLamp, May 1994
- From: taob@io.org (Brian Tao)
- Date: 7 May 1994 01:45:03 -0400
- Newsgroups: comp.sys.apple2
- Organization: Internex Online (io.org) Data: 416-363-4151 Voice: 416-363-8676
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|| |||||| || || |||||| RoundTable
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|| |||||| |||||||| |||||| RESOURCE!
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~ WELCOME TO GEnieLamp APPLE II! ~
""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""
~ POLISHING GREEN APPLES: Hooked on Storage, Part 3 ~
~ HARDVIEW A2: BlueDisk Controller Card ~
~ DR'S EXAMINING TABLE: VCR Companion ~
~ APPLE ANECDOTES: My First GS ~
~ APPLE II HISTORY: Part 20/21c, Magazines ~
~ HOT NEWS, HOT FILES, HOT MESSAGES ~
\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\////////////////////////////////////
GEnieLamp Apple II ~ A T/TalkNET OnLine Publication ~ Vol.3, Issue 26
""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""
Editor....................................................Douglas Cuff
Publisher.............................................John F. Peters
\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\////////////////////////////////////
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GE Mail: GENIELAMP Internet: genielamp@genie.geis.com FTP: sosi.com
////////////////////////////////////\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\
>>> WHAT'S HAPPENING IN THE APPLE II ROUNDTABLE? <<<
""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""
~ May 1, 1994 ~
FROM MY DESKTOP ......... [FRM] HEY MISTER POSTMAN ...... [HEY]
Notes From The Editor. Is That A Letter For Me?
HUMOR ONLINE ............ [HUM] REFLECTIONS ............. [REF]
God and the Bureaucrats. Economics of Electronic Mail.
BEGINNER'S CORNER ....... [BEG] TECH TALK ............... [TEC]
Polishing Green Apples. Macintosh Apple IIe Card.
ASCII ART GALLERY ....... [ASA] HARDVIEW A2 ............. [HAR]
Swallowtail Butterfly. BlueDisk and MTOOLS.
DR'S EXAMINING TABLE .... [DRT] THE TREASURE HUNT ....... [HUN]
Oldie review: VCR Companion. Yours For the Downloading.
APPLE ANECDOTES ......... [ANC] APPLE II ................ [AII]
On Getting My First GS. History Part 20/21c: Magazines.
LOG OFF ................. [LOG]
GEnieLamp Information.
[IDX]"""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""
READING GEnieLamp GEnieLamp has incorporated a unique indexing system
""""""""""""""""" to help make reading the magazine easier. To
utilize this system, load GEnieLamp into any ASCII word processor or
text editor. In the index you will find the following example:
HUMOR ONLINE ............ [HUM]
[*]GEnie Fun & Games.
To read this article, set your find or search command to [HUM].
If you want to scan all of the articles, search for [EOA]. [EOF] will
take you to the last page, whereas [IDX] will bring you back to the
index.
MESSAGE INFO To make it easy for you to respond to messages
"""""""""""" re-printed here in GEnieLamp, you will find all the
information you need immediately following the message. For example:
(SMITH, CAT6, TOP1, MSG:58/M475)
_____________| _____|__ _|___ |____ |_____________
|Name of sender CATegory TOPic Msg.# Page number|
In this example, to respond to Smith's message, log on to page
475 enter the bulletin board and set CAT 6. Enter your REPly in TOPic
1.
A message number that is surrounded by brackets indicates that
this message is a "target" message and is referring to a "chain" of two
or more messages that are following the same topic. For example: {58}.
ABOUT GEnie GEnie's monthly fee is $8.95 for which gives you up to
""""""""""" four hours of non-prime time access to most GEnie
services, such as software downloads, bulletin boards, GE Mail, an
Internet mail gateway, and chat lines, are allowed without charge.
GEnie's non-prime time connect rate is $3.00. To sign up for GEnie
service, call (with modem) 1-800-638-8369. Upon connection type HHH.
Wait for the U#= prompt. Type: JOINGENIE and hit RETURN. When you get
the prompt asking for the signup/offer code, type: DSD524 and hit
RETURN. The system will then prompt you for your information. Need
more information? Call GEnie's customer service line (voice) at
1-800-638-9636.
SPECIAL OFFER FOR GEnieLamp READERS! If you sign onto GEnie using the
"""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""" method outlined above you will
receive an *additional* six (6) free hours of standard connect time
(for a total of 10) to be used in the first month. Want more? Your
first month charge of $8.95 will be waived! Now there are no excuses!
*** GET INTO THE LAMP! ***
""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""
//////////////////////////////////////// GEnie_QWIK_QUOTE ////
/ /
/ It's too bad we can't make the lawyers cease and desist. /
/ /
////////////////////////////////////////////// K.LUCKE ////
[EOA]
[FRM]//////////////////////////////
FROM MY DESKTOP /
/////////////////////////////////
Notes From The Editor
"""""""""""""""""""""
by Douglas Cuff
[EDITOR.A2]
>>> GOING THE EXTRA MILE <<<
""""""""""""""""""""""""""""
Deadlines love to lie in wait for me. What's more, while they're
waiting, they invite their friends to gang up on me.
The fact is, I always have at least three monthly deadlines -- not
counting the rent check -- and they're all exactly the same day: the last
day of the month. GEnieLamp A2 is one of those deadlines, of course, but
the one that's been giving me the most trouble lately is editing the
newsletter for the local Apple II user group, the London Apple Corps.
Two months in a row, my other commitments kept me from finishing the
newsletter in time for our monthly meeting. (My other commitments will
keep me from acting as editor for the London Apple Corps next year, but
that's another story.) I was determined not to make it three in a row, and
bled time from other projects to get as much advance work done on the
newsletter as possible.
It wasn't enough to not to be late; this time I had to be early, for
my parents were paying us a visit over the Easter weekend. Once my father
and mother arrived, all work would have to cease. As my wife -- the
long-suffering Tara -- and I drove to the airport to greet the travellers,
one computer was uploading copies of GEnieLamp A2 while another was
printing out the final proofs of the London Apple Corps newsletter. When I
finally dropped the proofs off at the printer, I felt great relief and
satisfaction.
Except that the printer, normally reliable, didn't have the
newsletter ready in time for the meeting. So I couldn't hand out copies to
the attendees. So the group's postage bills were going to be over budget
again.
Anger is powerful, but irrational anger has a greater strength. I
couldn't do a thing about the fact that I had no newsletters to hand out at
the meeting, but after the meeting was over, and the newsletters ready to
be picked up, the thing began to gnaw at me. I had invested a lot of time
in trying to keep the postage bill down. It wasn't my fault that the
newsletters weren't ready, but that didn't make me any less angry.
I looked at the pile of newsletters with distaste. If they'd chosen
that moment to make a sarcastic remark, I would have chucked the lot into
the fine-paper recycling bin. Instead, I hauled out a city map and began
plotting addresses on it.
It soon became apparent that there were too many to deliver, so I
started culling. Anyone outside the city limits would have to rely on
Canada Post. Ditto for anyone who hadn't paid their club dues. By this
process, I managed to get it down to a couple of dozen.
I don't know the city we live in terribly well. Perhaps that
accounts for the fact that it took me three and a half hours to deliver 20
newsletters. (Some addresses I never did find. I only hope Canada Post
fared better.)
That's how I came to travel the extra mile -- quite literally -- this
month. I'm glad I did it, too. It taught me something about the city I
live in and even a little something about the members.
Still, I wouldn't have done it if it hadn't been for someone who had
just gone the extra mile in a less literal sense: Harold Hislop.
If you hang around the A2 RoundTable, you already know how another
Apple II journal reprinted some advice on hooking up hard drives that Mr
Hislop had posted. Unfortunately, that journal missed a minor but
important correction that he posted afterward. When a couple of
subscribers to the journal followed the advice, bad things happened. We're
not talking about puffs of black smoke, but something that makes your heart
sink almost as much: data loss.
The subscribers called a bewildered Harold Hislop, who took the view
-- without pleasure, but also without flincing -- that if the advice had
his name on it, then it was his responsibility to help the unfortunate
subscribers.
Bravo, Harold. It was remembering this that kept me trudging around
peering at house numbers when I felt like slinging my stack of newsletters
into the nearest post-box and charging it to the London Apple Corps.
Sometimes, knowing that someone else took the responsibility of fixing a
problem that s/he hadn't created is all the inspiration you need.
[*][*][*]
You'll notice that there's no PAL Newsletter in GEnieLamp A2. Don't
worry, it'll be back next month.
You'll also notice that there are no CowToons this month. They won't
be back new month, because Cowboy Mike has hung up his spurs. All hail and
farewall, Mike.
You'll already have noticed that our profiles of Apple II
personalities have been absent for a while. Is anybody missing them? Is
anybody bidding a good riddance to bad rubbish. Can anyone out there hear
me? Hello?
-- Doug Cuff
GEnie Mail: EDITOR.A2 Internet: editor.a2@genie.geis.com
__________________________________________________________
| |
| REPRINTING GEnieLamp |
| |
| If you want to reprint any part of GEnieLamp, or |
| post it to a bulletin board, please see the very end |
| of this file for instructions and limitations. |
|__________________________________________________________|
[EOA]
[HEY]//////////////////////////////
HEY MISTER POSTMAN /
/////////////////////////////////
Is That A Letter For Me?
""""""""""""""""""""""""
by Douglas Cuff
[EDITOR.A2]
o BULLETIN BOARD HOT SPOTS
o A2 POT-POURRI
o HOT TOPICS
o WHAT'S NEW
o THROUGH THE GRAPEVINE
o MESSAGE SPOTLIGHT
>>> BULLETIN BOARD HOT SPOTS <<<
""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""
[*] CAT2, TOP4 ................. Software of the Month Club
[*] CAT3, TOP28 & CAT10, TOP2 .. LineLink 144e modem cable
[*] CAT5, TOP3 ................. Apple II laptop wish list
[*] CAT13, TOP36 ............... One World Software Wizards
[*] CAT23, TOP4 ................ Messages as property
[*] CAT34, TOP2 ................ II Scroll
>>> A2 POT-POURRI <<<
"""""""""""""""""""""
REPLACING SYSTEM SAVER FAN > "Is there room in a system saver for a
"""""""""""""""""""""""""" > second fan?"
Sorta. You'll have to move some wires around, maybe, but you can MAKE
it fit without a lot of effort.
Gary R. Utter (GARY.UTTER, CAT2, TOP4, MSG:542/M645;1)
>>>>> Just how the *&^% does one pop open the System Saver. I found two
""""" small screws (besides the ones holding the fan) but there must a
trick to opening up the beast. I'm just a curious type and the talk about
changing fans made me want to peek inside. Whoaaaaa......Rubic's Cube time.
Larry (LKRUPP, CAT2, TOP4, MSG:543/M645;1)
>>>>> Larry, look under the foam, there are several screws hidden there
"""""
--HangTime [Script-Central] B-)>
(A2.HANGTIME, CAT2, TOP4, MSG:544/M645;1)
<<<<< What Hangtime said. It's not as mysterious as it looks. It's not so
""""" much that they HID the screws to build a deliberate puzzle, just
that the foam goes on after it is assembled. If you feel through the foam,
you'll find them. I recommend cutting a little "x" over each screw with a
razor blade before you take the screws out.
Gary R. Utter (GARY.UTTER, CAT2, TOP4, MSG:547/M645;1)
>>>>> I'm using their 3" (80mm) 32 CFM fan, part #273-242. It fits
""""" perfectly where the original System Saver fan goes. However, the
screws that clamp the wires to the original fan don't fit the new fan so I
just dug up some screws that do fit.
Tony Ward [via GEM 4.21/PT 3.1]
(A2.TONY, CAT2, TOP4, MSG:549/M645;1)
LACK OF RESPONSE TO FREEWARE File Passage is a freeware file utility for
"""""""""""""""""""""""""""" the Apple IIGS. It implements file commands
such as copy, backup, move, catalog, and delete, and lets you customize how
each command works by the use of a great variety of options and filters.
I recently wrote to the author, Charles Bartley, to note a problem with
version 2.0.1 sometimes getting a "resource not found" error during
startup. Along with the fix, he responded to a question I had asked...
"No I haven't heard from anyone concerning FP except another
programmer on the east coast who I sent a random free copy to."
No comments or encouragement after 100 GEnie downloads? After File
Passage was included on a GEnie Disk of the Month and on A2-Central?! I'm
surprised that no users dropped Charles a note to thank him for his
efforts, but it's unbelieveable that nobody from Resource Central or GEnie
let him know that his work is being distributed on their disks.
The new version (2.0.2) has been uploaded to the A2 library, and will
be file # 22558. If you want to send him a note of encouragement, the
address is:
Charles C. Bartley, 1310 Cholla Ct., Lake Havasu City, AZ 86406.
-- Dave Tribby (D.TRIBBY, CAT3, TOP25, MSG:80/M645;1)
MULTI GS Reply-To: ltchean@iss.nus.sg
"""""""" From: Lim Thye Chean
Subject: Multi GS
I am very excited over Multi GS v2.0. In fact I am pretty impress! As
you might have known, I am a Switch It user, and have been using it for
quite sometime. So I am writing this mini-review for Multi GS v2.0, from a
Switch It user perspective.
Btw, I have also played with The Manager (demo), and the other few
switchers (including Alan Bird's and LeapFrog).
Multi GS v2.0 seems to combine the best of both world of Switch It
and The Manager. It uses similar metaphor of The Manager, where you can
click on the window to switch application, and all application shares the
same screen. Like Switch It, it has stack sharing!
I am very surprise to know that Multi GS stack sharing is even BETTER
than Switch It! First, it works. :) And it excels Switch It in this: Lets
say you have stack sharing shares set at 4K, and under Switch It, that
means that you are not able to run application like AWGS! But Multi GS
allows! All it does it to create a new stack space for AWGS since it is
larger than 4K. I think this feature is pretty cool, and should be
implemented in Switch It in the first place.
The second feature that impressed me is: it is able to launch ProDOS
8 program - and beyond what The Manager does - it is also able to launch
desktop application! You see, manay applications are sure to crash. For
example - GNO/ME or many games. I try launching GNO from Multi GS, and it
works beautifully. And upon quitting, returns me to Multi GS. This alone
can eliminate one of the major reason to buy Switch It.
Up to my surprise! I can run my own Mandelbrot IIGS v2.2 on Multi GS!
And I can switch it and out without any problem. Wow. Switch It and The
Manager simply fails to run it nicely. And I am even more surprise to see
my other applications such as Super Magic demo to run without any problems.
I have tested Multi GS with many applications, and with correct setting
(like some you have to set the write direct to screen as on), this software
is as stable as both the commercial products. Btw, it runs Proterm fine
too.
It is also the only switcher than can load more than one application
during startup. It can load up to 7! And like The Manager, it traps error
quite nicely.
Of course, I am still using Switch It right now, due to some
"problems" in Multi GS.
First - I hate the screen updates! Icons on desktop flashes here and
there, and this is exactly why I choose Switch It over The Manager in the
first place. I found that irritating. Backdrop (desktop pictures) also
drops the background occasionally.
When switching application and Multi GS trying to close all the DAs,
if the DAs present a dialog (like ShadowWrite with "Save..."), Multi GS
will enter infinite loop.
I can't find the Show window option documented.
The 3 major reasons I prefer Switch It over Multi GS: 1) Many times
during switching, there is a noticable pause; 2) Multi GS takes up 11K of
stack space! 1) Even if I request Multi GS to run Finder on Start up, it
will load Finder and returns control to Multi GS. This force me to manually
switch to Finder everytime.
Personally I think Multi GS is now a very powerful opponent for both
Switch It and The Manager. It is stable and has many features lack in the
commercial software. $20 shareware price is very reasonable, and I suggest
users who has not bought any switcher yet take a close look at this
software. This might be exactly what you want, with a much lower price.
For user who has The Manager, the only 2 advantages Multi GS offer
are ability to launch incompatible GSOS application and stack sharing.
Switch It seems to be having the least feature among the 3. Its main
selling point - stack sharinga is unfortunately not as good as Multi GS.
And since you can't launch GNO from Switch It (but you can launch Switch it
from GNO), Multi GS will be more attractive to GNO users who use it
occasionally (like me). But Switch It is a test and proven product, and it
is faster and less irritating when switching application.
I am still using Switch It. But it is a little aging now. It needs
more functions to be able to fight with The Manager (new version is coming
out) and Multi GS (with better stack sharing and able to launch GNO). I
have the following suggestions:
* Ability to launch ProDOS 8 program.
* Ability to launch GSOS program (not switch. Switch it just quit
Finder and itself and pass control to the software).
* Needs stack sharing as good as Multi GS.
* Most important - the main advantage I saw in Switch It is the
compatibility with GNO - if somehow it can ALSO be an extension of
GNO - this will be able to differential itself from the rest. For
example, if GNO attempts to run an application while Switch It is
the desktop application, and Switch It able to trap this, this will
be very convenient for GNO users.
* Features like memory map etc will be good.
--
%% GS Lover Loves GS %% Author of Super Magic 3 & Mandelbrot II GS
Lim Thye Chean: Lim is my surname. My name is Thye Chean.
My address: LTCHEAN@ISS.NUS.SG or 12, College Green, Singapore 1129
<<<
(B.TAO, CAT10, TOP10, MSG:274/M645;1)
WHAT DOES THE MANAGER HAVE OVER MUTLI-GS v2.0? Hmmmm. Good question. In
"""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""" my opinion, The Manager
v1.0 has very little over Multi-GS.
The only thing I see is that The Manager is more of an "elegant"
MultiFinder-like utility. I like the extra menu, and the icon of the
program you are using as that menu's "title", I like the fact that The
Manager is not a separate "application"; I don't like having to scroll to
the _bottom_ of my NDAs to get to another application while using Multi-GS.
However, Multi-GS seems to currently be more "feature-full". The
ability to set up a default of programs to run as soon as Multi-GS is
loaded, stack sharing, access to a CDA that will put you in Multi-GS so
that you can get to another application no matter what the "front-most"
application is doing (some exceptions apply, of course). TM 1.0 is also
pretty slow at doing some things because of some of its background
processing...
BUT, I am reserving my opinion (and my Multi-GS shareware fee (: )
until the release of TM v 1.1. I _truly_ believe it will outdo Multi-GS at
that time. I think Dave and the beta testers will make TM into a rock
solid MultiFinder-like utility with all of the "pluses" of Multi-GS with
all of the current "elegance" that TM offers. TM will also offer some
"extras" (if I remember correctly), like InterProcess Communication so that
programs will know what's going on (when they are switched to, switched out
of, frontmost, etc.). I feel this will offer programmers (like myself) and
ultimately users a greater "power" over the environment in which they work.
Anyway, that's my spur of the moment $0.02 (I could come up with
more +s and -s if I had the time (; ).
Rick (R.ADAMS48, CAT43, TOP15, MSG:492/M645;1)
FREEWARE FLOPTICAL DRIVERS I find that by placing a RamFAST SCSI
"""""""""""""""""""""""""" partition map on the floptical, it becomes
unreadable on an Apple HS SCSI system with Rich Bennett's freeware
floptical drivers. Does anyone know if this happens with the Tulin
drivers?
(B.TAO, CAT11, TOP16, MSG:297/M645;1)
>>>>> The reason is that when the RamFAST formats, it lay's down an Apple
""""" partition map, of about 32K or so (from memory). My driver doesn't
use a partition map. My reasoning was 1) Why partition 19MB? and 2) Easier
to write! ;) It also means that MS-DOS flopticals *SHOULD* work OK with the
MS- DOS FST and my driver, although I haven't tested it. The RamFAST will
recognise a disk without a partition map, but if you reformat, it WILL lay
one down for you.
Regards,
Richard (RICHARD.B, CAT11, TOP16, MSG:298/M645;1)
<<<<< > My driver doesn't use a partition map
"""""
Ah, so you're the culprit. ;-)
> My reasoning was 1) Why partition 19MB?
I didn't mean to partition any of my disks (except one), but once
it's there, you cannot remove it with the RamFAST software even if you do a
low-level format. One disk *is* divided into one 15-meg and 6 800K
partitions. The 15-meg one is a backup of my HD boot partition and the
remaining six hold System 6.01 disk images. Very handy for distributing
copies of it at the usergroup. :)
> It also means that MS-DOS flopticals *SHOULD* work OK with the
> MS-DOS FST and my driver, although I haven't tested it.
Haven't tried that either. I can't even get the $&$#%! Macs at
school to recognize the floptical without crashing. There are using the
drivers and utility software provided by PLI (I bought the drive at a Mac
store), although I may need a newer version.
(B.TAO, CAT11, TOP16, MSG:299/M645;1)
TURBO ASB WITH PROTERM 3.1 The Turbo-ASB is a daughter-board addition to
"""""""""""""""""""""""""" the SSC to allow the use of 38400 baud and
full hardware handshaking. There is a driver for ProTERM 3.1 and the
Turbo-ASB available for download from The InTrec BBS. When using the
Turbo-ASB driver with ProTERM 3.1, you dont need to do anything special.