|||||| |||||| || || |||||| |||||| || || ||| || || || || ||| |||| |||||| || |||| Your || || || || ||| || || |||||| |||||| || || |||||| |||||| GEnieLamp IBM || |||||| || || |||||| RoundTable || || || ||| ||| || || || |||||| |||||||| |||||| RESOURCE! || || || || || || || ||||| || || || || || ~ TECH_TALK: ALL ABOUT UPS ~ ~ NEW! 3 ON 1 MINI_BYTES REVIEWS ~ ~ PD_QUICKVIEW: TEXTRIS ~ ~ THE PLAIN VANILLA GUIDE, PART 4 ~ ~ HOT FILES, HOT MESSAGES ~ HOT NEWS ~ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\//////////////////////////////////// GEnieLamp IBM ~ A T/TalkNET OnLine Publication ~ Vol.2, Issue 11 """""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""" Publisher.................................GEnie Information Services Editor-In-Chief........................................John Peters Editor...............................................Bob Connors ~ GEnieLamp IBM ~ GEnieLamp [PR]/TX2 ~ GEnieLamp ST ~ GEnieLamp A2 ~ ~ GEnieLamp MacPRO ~ GEnieLamp A2Pro ~ GEnieLamp Macintosh ~ ~ Member Of The Disktop Publishing Association ~ ////////////////////////////////////\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ >>> WHAT'S HAPPENING IN THE IBM ROUNDTABLE? <<< """"""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""" ~ February 1, 1993 ~ FROM MY DESKTOP ......... [FRM] HEY MISTER POSTMAN ...... [HEY] Notes From The Editor. Is That A Letter For Me? HUMOR ONLINE ............ [HUM] YES, I DO WINDOWS ....... [WIN] Safe Fax. From The Windows RT. CowTOONS! ............... [MOO] REFLECTIONS ............. [REF] Great Cows From Literature. Online Communications. TECH_TALK ............... [TEC] MINI_BYTES .............. [MIN] Down To The Wire... 3 On 1:Writing-Style Analyzer. THE MIGHTY QUINN ........ [QUI] THE ONLINE LIBRARY ...... [LIB] Random Access. HOT Files In The Library. PD_QUICKVIEW ............ [PDQ] ONLINE FUN! ............. [PDQ] Textris: Spell Fast. Search-ME! DOCTOR BOB .............. [BOB] CLASSICS ................ [CLA] The Plain Vanilla Guide, Pt.4. Try Some Triangles. ADD ALADDIN ............. [ADD] LOG OFF ................. [LOG] Cut & Paste Scripts. GEnieLamp Information. [IDX]""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""" READING GEnieLamp GEnieLamp has incorporated a unique indexing """"""""""""""""" system to help make reading the magazine easier. To utilize this system, load GEnieLamp into any ASCII word processor or text editor. In the index you will find the following example: HUMOR ONLINE ............ [HUM] [*]GEnie Fun & Games. To read this article, set your find or search command to [HUM]. If you want to scan all of the articles, search for [EOA]. [EOF] will take you to the last page, whereas [IDX] will bring you back to the index. MESSAGE INFO To make it easy for you to respond to messages re-printed """""""""""" here in GEnieLamp, you will find all the information you need immediately following the message. For example: (SMITH, CAT6, TOP1, MSG:58/M475) _____________| _____|__ _|___ |____ |_____________ |Name of sender CATegory TOPic Msg.# Page number| In this example, to respond to Smith's message, log on to page 475 enter the bulletin board and set CAT 6. Enter your REPly in TOPic 1. A message number that is surrounded by brackets indicates that this message is a "target" message and is referring to a "chain" of two or more messages that are following the same topic. For example: {58}. ABOUT GEnie GEnie costs only $4.95 a month for unlimited evening and """"""""""" weekend access to more than 100 services including electronic mail, online encyclopedia, shopping, news, entertainment, single-player games, multi-player chess and bulletin boards on leisure and professional subjects. With many other services, including the largest collection of files to download and the best online games, for only $6 per hour (non-prime-time/2400 baud). To sign up for GEnie service, call (with modem) 1-800-638-8369. Upon connection type HHH. Wait for the U#= prompt. Type: XTX99368,GENIE and hit RETURN. The system will then prompt you for your information. """""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""" //////////////////////////////////////// GEnie_QWIK_QUOTE //// / "The best way to sum it up would be: / / $1CFA,$1C5A,$4310,$717E,$19FA,$09D2,$4620,$61F6 / / $12FA,$10D2,$4D20,$61F6,$0772,$105A,$58A8,$60F6 / / $9019,$7FF7,$7FF7,$0010,$71F7,$F22F,$4FF2,$1301 / / $A245,$54FB,$7DFB,$7DFB,$0FF0,$5300,$0630,$0110 / / $2FEE,$258E,$7F74,$40F2,$31EE,$2086,$7F74,$43F2 / / $3EEE,$2086,$7F74,$4012,$3DEE,$218E,$7E74,$40FA / / $3BE6,$2206,$7C7C,$40FA,$36EE,$2686,$7974,$43F2 / / $2F0E,$2916,$7074,$41F2,$31EE,$388E,$6074,$48FA" / /////////////////////////////////////////////// D.ENGEL //// [EOA] [FRM]////////////////////////////// FROM MY DESKTOP / ///////////////////////////////// Notes From The Editor """"""""""""""""""""" By John Peters [GENIELAMP] FROM MY DISKTOP When chatting online or when leaving messages to other """"""""""""""" RoundTable members, sometimes problems, misunder- standings or downright angry confrontations are created simply because the other person doesn't understand what you're _really_ trying to say. If you're not careful in how you convey your thoughts via the keyboard, what you meant as a joke or wrote in jest, can sometimes be taken the wrong way or blown entirely out of context. The problem is it's not _what_ you say that creates this situation, but it is _how_ you say it. For instance, a sentence said with a smile can take on a whole new meaning than if it was said with a frown or angry look. Facial movements and voice inflections are difficult to interject into your writing, especially when you're writing on the fly as in an informal RoundTable Conference or when writing a message or reply online. Since the reader can't see your face or body-language, he or she may not know that you're making a joke or that you are teasing. There is a solution. Over the years a "modem-language" has developed to help take care of this predicament. By interjecting a smiley face, " :) " within your message or a descriptive word in brackets, such as [grin] or [laugh], you can tell the other person, "Hey, don't take this seriously, I'm just having fun." A well placed [grin] can go a long way to help stop a misunderstanding. Another reason this modem-language developed is to help minimize the amount of typing it takes to convey a message to someone else while online. For example, it is much quicker to type, "BTW" then to type, "By The Way" or "IMHO" instead of "In My Humble Opinion." Confusing? Not really. As you become more familiar with the lingo, the strange characters and funny faces will be easier to figure out. If you do come across an unusual cluster of letters and you don't understand what they mean, by all means ask the person who sent them. To help you get started, here's a partial list of some of the more popular modem-phrases being used today on GEnie. (Note: The following has been collected from online posts, unofficial dictionaries and other sources.) >>> THE UNOFFICIAL GEnieLamp ONLINE DICTIONARY <<< """""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""" b4 - before BCNU - Be See 'N You brb - be right back BTW - By the way chuckle - something was kinda channel hoppers - someone who funny jumps from one channel to another c u l8tr - see you later go pri - go into private GR8 - that's great grin - something was humorous groan - I can't believe you hahaha - something was funny said that HAHAHAHAHAHAHA - something was MORF - Male or Female REALLY funny OIC - Oh, I see re - about (as in re last night) rehi - hi again TTFN - Ta Ta For Now turbo sta - doing a /sta * to get UR- you are a list of all Chat Lines users wave - to someone monitoring yawn - I've heard that before (like "Waving at Fuzzball on channel 15) ???? - I don't understand... [] = hugs or What? :) - a sideways smiley face ;) - a winking smiley face :P - a smiley face sticking :( - a sad face tongue out :/ - frustrated/perturbed =:0 - surprise :-I - Indifferent smilie. :-> - User made a really biting Better than a Frowning sarcastic remark. Worse smilie but not quite as then a :) good as a happy smilie >:-> User just made a really >;-> Winky and devil combined. devilish remark. A lewed remark was made. [SMILE] [LAUGH] LOL - Laughing Out Loud ROFL - Rolling On the Floor Laughing IMHO - In My Humble Opinion WTG - Way To Go! Think about what you're typing. Does what you write really say what you mean? [*][*][*] PARTING SHOTS GEnieLamp Script users take note! The GEnieLamp RoundTable """"""""""""" (M515) is undergoing some major menu changes. Unfortunately, this means that your script files will no longer work. Once the changes are in place we will be uploading new scripts to the GEnieLamp Library. We're sorry for the inconvenience, but we think you'll like the new menus. (Hint: Lots of new goodies in store! :) NEW BBS ONLINE NEWSLETTER February 1, 1993 marks the start of a new """"""""""""""""""""""""" online newsletter for members of the BBS RoundTable. How the newsletter will be distributed is still undecided. For more information, drop by the BBS RoundTable on page 610. (Keyword: BBS) ASK DOCTOR BOB Do you have a question about operating systems, GEnie or """""""""""""" anything concerning computers? If so, you can get your questions answered here in GEnieLamp by Doctor Bob. Any question is fair game...and if the good Doctor Bob doesn't know the answer, he'll find someone who does. Stop wandering around in the dark, send your question via GE Mail to GENIELAMP. Until next month... John Peters [GENIELAMP] /////////////////////////////////////////////// GEnie_QWIK_QUOTE //// / "***** - Warning: Long post and lousy spelling ahead - *****" / ////////////////////////////////////////////////// K.CAVAGHAN2 //// [EOA] [HEY]////////////////////////////// HEY MISTER POSTMAN / ///////////////////////////////// Is That A Letter For Me? """""""""""""""""""""""" By Bob Connors [R.CONNORS2] o BULLETIN BOARD HOT SPOTS o IBM ODDS & ENDS o WHAT'S NEW o TIPS AND HINTS o HOT TOPICS & RUMORS o QUESTIONS & ANSWERS o MESSAGE SPOTLIGHT >>> IBM BULLETIN BOARD HOT SPOTS <<< """""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""" [*] CAT3, TOP13...............Quicken and SuperStor - a Less than Great Fit? [*] CAT7, TOP19...............Which games are better - IBM or Amiga? [*] CAT14, TOP21..............Speed Up Windows Video [*] CAT21, TOP6...............DRDOS - More than a cult favorite? [*] CAT30, TOP 23.............Telecomm for OS/2 >>> IBM ODDS AND ENDS <<< """"""""""""""""""""""""" GOOD NEWS FOR OS/2 USERS I have a small announcement to make. I have """""""""""""""""""""""" recently received a promotion and a new job at IBM. The new job is with the OS/2 Marketing Organization. I have just recently moved from Los Angeles, CA to Boca Raton, FL, where the OS/2 team is based. Due the hectic and sudden nature of the move, I have not logged on to GEnie for over a month. I apologize to anyone whose questions or E-Mail have been un-answered during this time. The good news is that now, as a member of the OS/2 Group at IBM, I will be able to directly influence both IBM's marketing and products. I have been very impressed by the quality of the feedback on OS/2 here on GEnie. I am looking forward to taking your suggestions and criticisms forward and making positive things happen. I now return you to your normally scheduled topic. :) -Neeraj Srivastava, IBM OS/2 Marketing (N.SRIVASTAVA, CAT6, TOP8, MSG:416/M615) 16 (OR MORE) MEGS? HERE'S WHY Large amounts of RAM (16 Megs or more) do """""""""""""""""""""""""""""" have their uses. Mostly, having a lot of RAM while running a multitasking system allows for running more applications concurrently, faster, because the system has all the memory it needs and doesn't need to swap chunks of it to disk to make space for more. Today, this applies to every major OS (i.e. OS/2, Windows, Unix, etc), except for DOS. Under DOS, you can use the extra memory (basically everything above 1 Meg) as RAM disks and simulated EXPANDED memory. Also, there are a number of programs that use EXTENDED memory, so they could benefit too. However, in my opinion, getting something with a lot of memory (or the capability to hold a lot of memory) is not so much important today, when most people are still pretty much stuck in the DOS world, but in the near future, when the advanced OSs become more established and displace DOS. Then, 16 Megs and more will be the minimum standard and, by getting a machine that can handle that today, you will prepared for what comes in the future. -Chago (A.SANTIAGO3, CAT12, TOP16, MSG:10/M615) BORLAND REPORTS THIRD QUARTER FISCAL 1993 RESULTS SCOTTS VALLEY, Calif. """"""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""" -- January 18, 1993 -- Borland International Inc. (NASDAQ:BORL) today announced third quarter revenues of $104.3 million, a 9.0 percent decrease compared with $114.6 million for the same period of fiscal 1992. Net loss for the quarter, which ended December 31, 1992, was $61.3 million compared with a net profit of $7.5 million in the third quarter a year ago. The company lost $2.34 per share for the third quarter of fiscal 1993, compared with a 28 cent per share profit in the third quarter of fiscal 1992. On December 9, 1992, the company announced a consolidation of its organization and a related reduction of its workforce. The results for the quarter ended December 31, 1992 include a pre-tax charge of $25.0 million principally for workforce reduction, facilities and write-off of software technology. Subsequent to the announcement of the restructuring, the company announced certain promotional pricing programs on the company's Quattro Pro spreadsheet products, including price protection. Reported revenue reflects a $10.7 million reduction principally related to these programs. Additionally, the results for the quarter ended December 31, 1992 include a $9.8 million charge to cost of revenues for inventory write- downs, freight and rework. Revenues for the nine months ended December 31, 1992 were $346.9 million, a 5.1 percent decrease compared with $365.7 million for the nine months ended December 31, 1991. The company lost $54.3 million, or $2.08 per share in the nine month period ended December 31, 1992. The company reported a loss of $83.5 million, or $3.42 per share, for the nine month period ended December 31, 1991. Selling, general and administrative expenses for the quarter ended December 31, 1992 were $81.1 million, a 12.3 percent increase from $72.2 million for the same quarter the previous year. Research and development costs for the quarter were $18.9 million, a 34.8 percent increase from $14.0 million for the same quarter the previous year. The increase in selling, general and administrative costs was principally related to greater marketing efforts, especially related to new product introductions. The increase in research and development costs related to the company's development efforts on a new generation of products for the MS-Windows operating system. Borland International Inc., headquartered in Scotts Valley, California, is a leading developer of object-oriented software and programming languages. >>> WHAT'S NEW <<< """""""""""""""""" POWER BASIC 3.0 Well I got my Power BASIC 3.0 today. The docs are """"""""""""""" written much better than the QB docs. The Docs on comm programs look particularly good. (Bob, take note! :)) The new features look real powerful and the edit-compile-run- load-edit-debug cycle is not quite as bad as I expected. At least for short programs. I like the binary, bit manipulation, array string search and and array sort features. I wish this Basic had come along a a month or two ago. I might now be using a lower cost, faster GPS receiver that puts out binary strings rather than ASCII strings. :) One of the first things I checked is DO WHILE NOT EOF(x). Unlike Quick BASIC this works fine in Power BASIC. The WordStar like, block moves and saves-to-disk are greatly appreciated. By contrast the QB editor has no way of saving a block of source code to disk. The biggest down side I have found so far, relative to QB, is the subtle beneficial effects of the QB editor's syntax checking. When you make a mistake while still in a line, the QB editor refuses to capitalize the key words when you press Enter. This in effect is telling you about the mistake right then and there. Instant reward and punishment :). Instant feed back. I am sorry to say this, but the QB smart editor was and remains a major breakthrough in programming languages. This feature alone puts QB head and shoulders above all other programming languages. It is just too bad the Evil Empire is off on the Windows kick. The potential of this idea is enormous. Boy what I could do with QB if I had control of developing and marketing. Power Basic's editor on the other hand is not smart! It accepts the line regardless of how many mistakes are on it. It is not until you compile or try to run the PB program that you discover the mistakes. Since the Power Basic editor is not smart it does not capitalize the key words at all... ever... making the resulting source code harder to read. Manually capitalizing key words is a pain in the butt. This also makes it quite difficult to write a routine that analyses the source code and comes up with a sorted list of labels and variable along with their line numbers. You must also type in all space characters if you want your code to look half way readable. Well I guess I could load the PB source in QB temporarily and let the QB editor capitalize and space everything :) Now the question remains, do the new features of Power Basic outweigh the down side? More experience with and exposure to PB is in order. -Paul (P.LAMAR, CAT18, TOP31, MSG:20/M615) BORLAND LAUNCHES AGGRESSIVE PRICE PROMOTION FOR PARADOX DATABASE AND QUATTRO PRO SPREADSHEET SOFTWARE PRODUCTS New Prices Leave Competitive Products As Much as 500 Percent Higher SCOTTS VALLEY, Calif. -- January 18, 1993 -- Borland International Inc. (NASDAQ: BORL) today announced an aggressive 90-day price promotion for its Quattro Pro for Windows spreadsheet and soon-to-be-released Paradox for Windows database. Quattro Pro for Windows will be available for $99.95. Paradox for Windows, due to be shipping shortly, will be available for just $139.95. The promotion is open to any customer and does not require proof that the customer owns a competitive product. The 90-day promotion runs February 1, 1993 through April 30, 1993. In conjunction with its Windows market debut and price promotion, Borland has redesigned its packaging to focus on customer value. "Borland is celebrating its two-pronged entry in the Windows market with this limited-time, while-supplies-last promotion," said Philippe Kahn, chairman, president, and CEO, Borland International. "Quattro Pro for Windows and Paradox for Windows are the highest quality PC spreadsheet and database products on the market, and this 90-day price promotion and new product packaging kick off our entry in the Windows market while guaranteeing incredible value for our customers." Paradox for Windows, like its DOS counterpart Paradox 4.0, sets new standards in relational database management systems. "Paradox for Windows is the most hotly anticipated Windows database product in the computer industry," said David Watkins, vice president, product marketing, Borland International. "With Paradox for Windows at $139.95, there is simply no reason to buy any other Windows database." Paradox 4.0, Borland's most recent DOS version, won the most recent National Software Testing Laboratories (NSTL) MultiUser Database evaluation, and was awarded the best overall database product over Microsoft's FoxPro database. Paradox 4.0 also beat FoxPro 2.0 in the September 28, 1992 InfoWorld Database Roundup (Volume 14, Issue 39), receiving the magazine's Buyer's Assurance seal. Paradox beat FoxPro in all transaction tests, performing up to 25 percent faster. As well, the InfoWorld tests show Paradox beats FoxPro by 21 percent in querying and 450 percent in reporting. At COMDEX Fall, top-ranked Quattro Pro for Windows (QPW) was awarded PC Magazine's coveted Tech Excellence Award over Microsoft's Excel product, and QPW has ranked much higher than Lotus's 1-2-3 Windows spreadsheet in industry trade reviews. At a $495 SRP, Excel and Lotus 1-2-3 for Windows are five times the price of Quattro Pro for Windows during Borland's promotion. "These incredible prices reinforce Borland's persistently aggressive stance in the competitive software market," said Dan Ness, senior industry analyst, Computer Intelligence, a La Jolla, Calif., market research firm. Customers can take advantage of the limited-time, while- supplies-last promotion at their nearest software retail store, or by ordering from Borland directly at 800-331-0877. Prices are in U.S. dollars and apply to the U.S. and Canada only. Actual dealer prices may vary from suggested retail prices. For millions of software developers and end users worldwide, Borland International Inc. is the leader in application development software. A pioneer in the use of object computing technology, Borland is committed to offering the world's best database management, programming languages, development tools, spreadsheets and applications software. Borland's products include dBASE, Paradox, InterBase, Quattro Pro, ObjectVision, Borland C++ and Borland Pascal with Objects. Founded in 1983 by Philippe Kahn, Borland is headquartered in Scotts Valley, California. QWK MAIL READER FOR OS/2 2.0 PRE-RELEASE AVAILABLE TO PUBLIC Mankato, MN, Jan. 4, 1993 - Oberon Software announced today that the current pre-release version of its 32-bit application PMQWK, a QWK Mail reader for OS/2 2.0, will be made available to the public effective immediately. The program is available for download from Oberon Software's BBS at 507-388-1154. "QWKMAIL" is a standard procedure for reading and replying to BBS mail off-line and is supported by the majority of BBSes through- out the world. PMQWK is designed to interface with any BBS or on-line service which offers QWKMAIL uploads and downloads. PMQWK is the first and only off-line mail reader available which exploits OS/2 2.0 to fully multi-task your off-line mail reading. PMQWK allows the user to read and reply to any number of confer- ences and messages from any number of BBSes simultaneously; allowing for easy cross-referencing, cut and paste between mes- sages and replies, and much more. PMQWK has built-in support for automatic quoting of message text in replies, Fidonet and Inter- net addressing, regular expression searching through message text and envelopes, a personal address book feature, custom tagline generation, and interfaces with all popular text editors and OS/2 based archiving programs. Users of this pre-release version will be able to place early orders, at a special introductory rate, for the general release version of PMQWK when it become available later in the first quarter of 1993. Oberon Software has been developing OS/2 software and providing OS/2 related services since 1988. More than just a specialty, OS/2 related products and services are Oberon Software's only business. Other Oberon products include TE/2, the Oberon Termi- nal Emulator/2, a general purpose telecommunications program for OS/2; FSHL, Oberon Software's Alternative Command Line Executive; and the Commpak/2 Programmer's Toolkit for creating telecommuni- cations routines under OS/2. The release of the 32-bit Commpak/2 Dynamic Link Library marked the first step by Oberon to convert its entire line of software to OS/2 2.0 compatibility. In addition to the conversion of its present product line to OS/2 2.0 and 32-bit operation, Oberon Software intends to expand its product line in 1993 to include several new, native 32-bit applications. Contact: Brady Flowers President-507-388-7001 ** OS/2 is a registered trademark of International Business Machines (B.FLOWERS, CAT30, TOP25, MSG:250/M615) >>> TIPS & HINTS <<< """""""""""""""""""" HARD DRIVES: TURN IT OFF OR LEAVE IT ON? The basic theory is that the """""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""" most stress is placed on the system at power up. This is when the most stress is placed on the power supply (takes more power to spin hard disks up to speed than to keep them spinning once at speed), and also there can be a sort of 'surge' as the power initially reaches the circuits. (much in the same way that bulbs burn out most often as they are first turned on). In addition the heating up and cooling causes stress on the parts as things expand and contract due to the heat. One symptom of this is "chip creep" the expanding and contracting can actually cause chips to creep up out of sockets (not as much of a problem with SIMMs due to how they mount, more a problem with SIP and DIP type chips. There is also the issue of the heads of the hard drive, which often 'land' on the disk itself (even if over a parking zone) when the drive is powered down. This is what causes 'stiction, the landing spot to be more worn than the rest of the disk and actually gets polished very very smooth by the heads, so smooth that sometimes the fit is so good that there is no air between the two and they stick together much like two plates of glass. Of course if the drive is always spinning then there is more wear on the bearings, so... My personal preference is to leave it all running and use a screen saver (BLANK-IT, available in the RT libraries) that simply blanks the screen entirely. (SCOTTV, CAT1, TOP9, MSG:130/M615) STACKER SOLUTIONS Sounds like Stacker found a media defect on your hard """"""""""""""""" drive. I had a similar problem when Stacker v2 found some bad clusters on my hard drive. Neither CHKDSK or SCHECK reported any problems, but SDEFRAG kept stopping with a fatal error. Stacker v2 says that it is compatible with most disk fix utilities. The manual gives instructions for using SpinRite. Use these instructions as an example if you use any other disk fix utility. Read the instructions VERY CAREFULLY. *** Make a complete backup before trying any of the disk fix utilities. *** -Bob (R.BENSING, CAT4, TOP4, MSG:466/M615) GEnie LIBRARY SEARCH TIP Search for ARCE, not the whole string. GEnie """""""""""""""""""""""" does a substring match on the first part of the name or keyword. The trick is to be specific enough so that you don't get a list of 1000 files, but not so specific that you don't miss what you are looking for. Also, make certain you haven't IGNORED any categories with the JOIN/IGNORE option on the GEnie software library menu. The archivers are stored in Category One, so you have to be certain that one is JOINed. (HOMCHICK, CAT1, TOP9, MSG:72/M615) TROUBLE LOGGING ON? First of all, regardless of what the Zoom manual """"""""""""""""""" tells you, GEnie does not support MNP5 nor V32bis. GEnie only supports MNP4, so if you are using any data compression or MNP5, you will not be able to connect to GEnie. > I get "f'|f^" and nothing else. This means that GEnie and your modem are not negotiating properly or you didn't type the "HHH" fast enough when you get the "CONNECT" message. > AT&F&C1&D2, RTS/CTS=ON, Autobaud = OFF. This won't work. "&F" is incomplete. You need a variable in there. The correct setting is "&Fn" where "n" is "0" for factory setting, "2" for MNP setting, and "3" for V42 setting. Better yet, dump this init string altogether and try this one: ATM0&C1&D2&Q5EE1V1X4Q0%C0\N2\V1 This one works for me just fine. :) (PROF.MARK, CAT23, TOP1, MSG:2/M615) FIRST, SX MEANS SOMETHING IS CRIPPLED! """""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""" 1. 486SX= 486 DX + not working math coprocessor! 486SLC from Cyrix= a chip can support 486 instructions with 1 K cache only, no math coprocessor 2. 486DX > 386 +387+ 8K internal cache, and instructions are executed faster than 386. 3. 486DX33: Internal clock rate 33 MHz, external 33 Mhz 486DX2 66: Internal clock rate 66 Mhz, external 33 Mhz about 70 to 80 % faster than 486 DX 33 Best buy of 486 family """""""""""""""""""""" 486 DX 33 system with upgradable mother board, such that you can replace the CPU by a 486 DX2 66 when the cpu price falls. Street price: Under $1600 with 120Mbyte hard disk, 4M ram and SVGA display up to 1024x768x256 and .28 dot pitch. This system would perform much better than those 'name brand' low class systems in Circuit city, and etc with the same price.-Hope this will help! -C.C.Hsu (C.HSU2, CAT12, TOP43, MSG:49/M615) >>>>> I can help on a couple of these, as I've been shopping for quite a """"" while for a clone, along with a LOT of reading... I've probably purchased 10 PC mags a month since this shopping process :-) A DX is a computer that has a bus speed (motherboard) that is usually the same as the processor speed... ie a 486/33 has a 33 Mhz internal clock speed, and communicates with SOME things at that speed (memory)... a DX2 has a processor that has DOUBLE the speed of the bus, so 486/50/25 DX2 has an internal clock speed of 50 Mhz, while communicating with memory and external peripherals at 25 Mhz. It is subjective on which is better, but for some applications, a 486/50 DX2 is somewhat faster then a 486/33... Local bus (VESA is an association of companies TRYING to standardize some things, video, hd access, etc... normally, an ISA bus speed is 8 Mhz and 16 bits wide, a Local Bus is a special slot where a video card, hard drive interface, or network card would reside, and the cpu communicates with these slots at the internal clock speed... a 486/33 local bus talks to the video card (special local bus versions) at 33 Mhz and 32 bits wide, not the normal 8 Mhz & 16 bits wide... so it has a large speed advantage. I'll let someone else tackle the other topics... OH, yes, the 486 DX chips and DX2 have a built-in math coprocessor, the 486 SX do NOT... (G.D.EDWARDS, CAT12, TOP45, MSG:59/M615) LOCATING FILES - FASTER The ONLY reason for that line is to EXPAND your """"""""""""""""""""""" environment. The space that DOS uses, like for environment variables, SET statements, PATH= commands, etc. The DEFAULT is, I beleive, 160 Bytes. The /E:512 sets the DEFAULT to 512 Bytes of environment space. Actually, this is the SMALLEST amount that this can be set to, using the SHELL statement. Any lower value is ignored, and any value over 32,751 is also IGNORED. If these values are exceeded, then the DEFAULTS to the MINIMUM value. Now as far as the "/MH" goes, it's not really needed. If you have the "HIDOS" switch in your CONFIG.SYS file then this switch is redundant. With the "HIDOS" switch ON then the COMMAND.COM program is automatically loaded into the UPPPER memory area. According to the manual the "/MH" switch just specifies that the command.com program to be loaded into high memory. The "/P" Option has many uses. But in this CASE it is used to FORCE the execution of the AUTOEXEC.BAT. Actually you should NEVER use the SHELL statement without the "/P" command. Simple reason - IF your EVER type EXIT at the DOS prompt, you WILL send your computer to NEVER-NEVER-LAND. Why? Real SIMPLE - you just removed your command processor, from the computer. You can probably figure out what that means. That's the REASON for the "/P" switch. It makes the COMMAND.COM program PERMANENTLY resident. NOW, as for the WHOLE Line? Well, that's hard to say. What you need to do is fine out mow much of your environment is currently being USED. Then see what OTHER programs put into the environment. Most of the time the default size (160) is enough. But there are exceptions. "I" personally DON'T use the SHELL statement. I run WINDOZE, and lots of other programs and I've NEVER seen the error "out of environment space" (that is a VALID DOS ERROR). It's a personal choice. You'll recover a small amount of RAM and that's about all. To "ME" it's a WASTE of RAM. No program that I have run across YET has ever DEMANDED more environment space than the default, provided by DOS(DR DOS). So, again, I say it's a personal choice. As far as FASTOPEN goes? Aladdin isn't the only one that does NOT like it. Many of the NEW programs that are comming out don't like it either. FASTOPEN was a cure that has been bypassed by time. It was designed to keep track of the programs that "you" have RECENTLY used and where the information is stored on the hard disk. It is a sort of LOOK UP TABLE. It's intended purpose was to help you locate files FASTER. To keep "disk hunting" to a minimum. This WAS and IS the case when people start adding LONG path statements. BEFORE, it would "hunt" through ALL the directories until it found the program you asked for. So FASTOPEN was invented. If you invoked a program "A" and then left it and went to program "B" and then went back to program "A". The "hunting" would start all over again. SO, FASTOPEN was written to KEEP a look up table, in memory, of the MOST RECENTLY called programs. Where is was on disk, the directory, etc., etc. It was and IS a good idea. But technology has passed it by. Many programs, today, use environment variables. These, environment variables, allow the program to "know" where everything is. It can be used as a "reference" to many functions. Well, let get off the soapbox and let someone else speak. -W.B.(Bill) (W.ROWLAND4, CAT4, TOP38, MSG:50/M615) OS/2 AND ALARMS - HELP! I'm looking for a OS/2 PIM that will have """"""""""""""""""""""" alarm's pop up over any OS?2 app and also start OS/2 applications at certain times. I found Almanac for windows on a local BBS but I don't think it's worth Registering. Any Suggestion's? (P.DUNNIGAN, CAT6, TOP7, MSG:308/M615) >>>>> Dunn: I don't know if you have anything against the applets for """"" daily planning that come with os/2, but they can do exactly what you were mentioning. Go to alarms, and open the object. The select, Create a new alarm and up pops a dialog with all the settings. Look at the lower left hand area, under Actions: you will find one labeled execute comment as command. If you check this item, when the alarm goes off, it will execute the comments. You need to have the full path and file name if the program isn't in the path already. The only draw back is that it won't both give you a message and execute the comment as a command. Try it, it's pretty good. It also has just about a zillion tunes that you can play, about 25 graphics to use, selectable fonts and it will also allow you to customize the tune, via the tune editor, if you are so inclined. later, -jtpolk (J.POLK3, CAT6, TOP7, MSG:311/M615) >>>>> Alarm Clock and Alarm Clock Pro will do what you want. I believe """"" one or both are in the library. They're shareware, either $25 or $35, I forget. (K.LAUX, CAT6, TOP7, MSG:312/M615) AUTOEXEC.BAT TRICKS Good, nice to here you have more memory. But don't """"""""""""""""""" throw away that "SHELL" statement. Keep it around. REM it out or write it down some where. With only 83 bytes left of environment space, it could get tight. But after running your programs for a while and IF there are no errors then, I'd get rid of it PERMANENTLY. About those envirnoment variables? You got a few in your AUTOEXEC.BAT file. The following are there: SET TEMP=C:\TEMP SET GS=\GOSCRIPT SET PCTOOLS=C:\PCTOOLS\DATA Do you know how much environment space that takes up? 47 Bytes. Don't count the "SET" nor the space after "SET". Count the rest of the letters and spaces (if any) and that is how much environment space is used. Now your path statement is: PATH C:\;C:\DRDOS;C:\PCTOOLS;C:\BATCH;C:\UTIL;C:\DV;C:\ADDSTOR That's 62 Bytes. Count everthing, PATH to ADDSTOR and the spaces too. Now your prompt: PROMPT LeMutt $P$G Count everything. 18 Bytes. Sub-Total = 127. Now with 83 bytes left out of 256. That means that you should have used (256-83) 173 Bytes. Little short? Difference of 43 Bytes. Did you SHELL out of ALADDIN to get that figure? If you did that would just about be the difference. Aladdin creates that "EXIT" prompt for you and getting rid of it makes it pretty close, though. Just type SET at the DOS prompt. Then count every thing that appears on the screen after that. If the "guess"(WAG) I made above is correct then "I" don't think that you will have any problems. But you said in an earlier communication that you do a lot of things with BAT Files. You could do it like "I" do mine. Let's take that PCTOOLS environment variable: SET PCTOOLS=C:\PCTOOLS\DATA That just WASTES environment space. WHY? Because the only time that it is USED is when PCTOOLS is called. Why not put it in the PCTOOLS.BAT? Then when PCTOOLS is FINISHED, get rid of it. Let the BAT File Dynamically use the environment space. Here's a rough sample BAT for PCTOOLS. PCTOOLS.BAT --------------- @ECHO OFF CLS SET PCTOOLS=C:\PCTOOLS\DATA > ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ Sets PCTOOS environment variable > > The rest of the regular PCTOOLS.BAT File goes HERE.! > SET PCTOOLS ^Clears the environment of the PCTOOLS variable I know it's a CHEAP trick. BUT it works. There's NOTHING in the manuals about doing this. BUT there are some good tricks in the DOS POWER TOOLS book. This is one of them and I've been using it for years. Another trick, and this ones simple. Make a BAT File called DOS.BAT. Put your current dos PATH statement in it. THAT'S ALL. When a program messes up your DOS path. Just type DOS and it's fixed, or in the worst case change to the BATCH SubDir and type DOS. -W.B.(Bill) (W.ROWLAND4, CAT4, TOP38, MSG:52/M615) ARRRGH! IT'S GONE! Accidentally deleted the OS/2 full screen folder. Is """""""""""""""""" there a way to restore it short of a reinstall? Also is it normal for the hard drive to sound like it's making coffee as it loads? hard to believe all that activity is doing it any good. I have 386DX 8megs ram,120meg HD with 40 partitioned off for OS/2. (R.GORDON28, CAT6, TOP1, MSG:767/M615) >>>>> Just open your templates folder, drag out an OS/2 prg with your """"" right mouse button, and in the settings where it asks for the program name & path, put an *. Then click on the session tab and click on the OS/2 full screen radio button. Now you have your full screen session back. You rename the session in the settings where you are now or you can close the settings and - left mouse button on the Icon title and change it there. When you have how you want it, just click anywhere on the desktop. Os/2 is pretty busy at load time so yes, a lot of disk activity is normal. You have enough ram so that swapping shouldn't be excessive. -Doug (D.ROBISON, CAT6, TOP1, MSG:768/M615) >>> THROUGH THE GRAPEVINE... <<< """""""""""""""""""""""""""""""" EVEREX IN CHAPTER 11 Everex is voluntarily in chapter 11 to buy """""""""""""""""""" themselves some breathing room. Prior to filing chapter 11 they had done most of the staff and product line reductions needed to make them a leaner, more competitive company. They are shipping product and we are hoping for the best. -Tom (T.DUCHESMEAU, CAT13, TOP39, MSG:29/M615) CLASS ACTION COMPLAINT FILED AGAINST BORLAND SCOTTS VALLEY, Calif. -- """""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""" January 14, 1993 -- Borland International Inc. (NASDAQ:BORL) today announced that it has been served with a law suit that alleges certain securities law violations by Borland and certain of its officers and directors. The lawsuit purports to represent a class of investors who purchased or otherwise acquired Borland common stock between March 5, 1991 and April 27, 1992. Borland has reviewed the allegations and determined that they are baseless. Borland intends to defend the action vigorously. ZIP-TALK PK has started distributing a BETA for PK204d, which """""""" supposedly fixes the known bugs. It appears that some of problems come from defaults which have unpopular features as defaults. Actually they may not be unpopular just different from previous versions. They hope to be able to distribute a maintenance (bugfix) in about 2 weeks or so. In the meantime I'm using the new Unzip but sticking to the old ZIP for compatibility. -Len (L.GROSSMAN2, CAT13, TOP3, MSG:16/M615) BORLAND RUMORS Ah, folks, lately there have been some rumors running """""""""""""" around that Borland was considering merging with Lotus, and that Phillippe Kahn had met with Jim Manzi at a hotel to talk about a merger. Phillippe's said that when he read the story, it's the first he'd heard that he had met with Jim Manzi to talk about anything. Apparently someone decided to participate in some interesting rumor- mongering. :) -Juan (J.JIMENEZ, CAT11, TOP27, MSG:32/M615) PKZIP MOANS & GROANS One unhappy user's comments on PKZIP 2.04C: """""""""""""""""""" 1. The severely abbreviated unregistered manual (MANUAL.DOC) is the pits. Important info is missing. You must register to get important info regarding PKZIP operation. This seems contrary to ASP standards. 2. Documentation is seriously inconsistent. Example: If you type PKZIP alone to get HELP, SCREEN #3 says that the -o option dates the ZIP file according to the LATEST file in the archive. But MANUAL.DOC says that -o dates the archive accoding to the OLDEST file in the ZIP. In fact, -o dates the file according to the LATEST file in the archive (my preference). 3. The documented option (in MANUAL.DOC) to SET PKZIP.CFG options apparently NO LONGER WORKS; it did before. My revised PKZIP.CFG, which is properly SET in AUTOEXEC.BAT (on my system: SET PKZIP.CFG=D:\PK), reads as follows, but is apparently IGNORED: ZIPDATE=latest COMPRESS=maximal To get these options now, I set my NDOS (COMMAND.COM or 4DOS replacement shell) alias for "PKZIP" to substitute the following command line: PKZIP -ex -o %1 %2 %3 %4 %5 %6 %7 %8 %9 I'm NOT impressed with PKWARE's latest release, though they certainly took the time they SHOULD have needed to do it RIGHT. I think that LHARC offers superior RESULTS -- including superior compression -- though it's slightly harder to use than PKZIP. LHARC is also friendlier to shareware developers, with NO complicated payment-for-use arrangements to consider. (BRAUB, CAT4, TOP15, MSG:91/M615) >>>>> FINDING PKZIP - PKZ204C.EXE is a self-extracting archive that """"" includes both PKZIP and PKUNZIP, as well as a few other related utilities. (PETERZ, CAT1, TOP17, MSG:2/M615) BAD NEWS, FOLKS I just received a letter in the mail today from """"""""""""""" Nationwide Warranty Corporation. They say that Centrix went out of business in the middle of December. Not only did this bring our Centrix 'lifetime' labor warranty to an end, but NWC says that they can no longer honor the one year on- site service warranty either. NWC is willing to SELL you a warranty for your Centrix computer. One year of toll-free tech support will put you out $99.50. One year of on-site service starts at over $200. I am not happy. "With Centrix, you are not just getting a great computer. You are getting a great computer company." NOT! (D.HANNU, CAT16, TOP5, MSG:4/M615) >>> MESSAGE SPOTLIGHT <<< """"""""""""""""""""""""" Windows RoundTable Category 2, Topic 2 Message 69 Sat Jan 16, 1993 S.DOYLE at 13:55 EST Well once again I feel compelled to comment on the state of the Windows interface. (Maybe I should just lie down until the feeling passes.) Despite any worries about "user interface innovation", a plethora of Windows shells, tools and hacks continue to sprout like weeds. These are all aimed at making Windows easier and more complete. Unfortunately, I wonder if they just don't confuse the less computer oriented user. Just like a "hundred flowers" of DOS shells, tools, utilities sprung up, arming each sub-cult of DOS a religion of their own. Now don't get me wrong. I have softened a little lately and found that there are several programs that do overcome Windows shortcomings. Problems is, one has to slug thru a passel of them to find out which ones behave the best as a whole (if one is at all fussy about that). Then you have to wonder if the latest Windows widget will be around a year from now or if Microsoft will figure out that it's best they add the feature to Windows anyway. Flexibility has a price. And Microsoft's version of Darwinism will sift out the losers. Steve [*][*][*] While on GEnie, do you spend most of your time downloading files? If so, you may be missing out some excellent information in the Bulletin Board area. The messages listed above only scratch the surface of what's available and waiting for you in the bulletin board area. If you are serious about your IBM-PC, the GEnie Lamp staff strongly urge you to give the bulletin board area a try. There are literally thousands of messages posted from people like you from all over the world. ////////////////////////////////////////////// GEnie_QWIK_QUOTE //// / "We have to do something to be trendy. How about we all decorate / / our computers and hard drives with anchovies, wrap small wood- / / land animals around our necks, and chant Mexican operas while / / we embroider "Censorship is for the *" on our underwear. / / Either that, or we can go out for pizza." / ////////////////////////////////////////////////// R.MARTIN22 //// [EOA] [HUM]////////////////////////////// HUMOR ONLINE / ///////////////////////////////// Safe Fax """""""" >>> THE FRIENDLY GUIDE TO SAFE FAX <<< """""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""" Dr. B. Comfortable answers some of your questions.... Q.: Doctor, I am new to fax, I have not had much fax, and I am worried. Is it safe to have fax? A.: Fax is perfectly safe, providing both you and your partner maintain your equipment in good order, keep it clean and have a regular check-up by a qualified consultant. Do not be embarrassed at your lack of experience. There are many excellent fax manuals available, including my own "The Joy of Fax". Q.: About how often should I fax? A.: Those who are new to fax often can't get enough, and do it all the time. We usually find, however, that as we get older and the novelty wears off, the desire for fax decreases rapidly, particularly if we still have the same old machine. (It is not unknown for jaded faxers to have a brief "fling" with a new, exciting machine, but this, too, will usually burn out quite quickly.) Q.: Can I have fax with more than one person? A.: By all means. This is perfectly normal, even necessary in most circumstances. It is time we cast aside our hang-ups about fax, feel free to "let it all hang out" and share your true self with the world. Q.: Do I have to be married to have fax? A.: Good Lord, no. People who hardly ever fax their wives will spend most of their working lives faxing complete strangers. Q.: My parents say they never had fax when they were young, and were only allowed to write memos to each other until they were twenty-one, is this true? A.: Yes, but why worry about boring old twits like them? Q.: If I fax something to myself, will I go blind? A.: Certainly not, as far as I can see. Q.: There is a place on our street now, where you can go and pay to fax, is this legal? A.: Yes. Many lonely people have no other outlet for their fax drives and must pay a "professional" when their need for fax becomes too strong. Q.: What are the consequences of indiscriminate fax? A.: Very high telephone bills /////////////////////////////////////////////// GEnie_QWIK_QUOTE //// / " >Good thing you're almost done! Ultima Underworlds II is out!" / / / / "Oh no! :)" / //////////////////////////////////////////////////// J.JIMENEZ //// [EOA] [WIN]////////////////////////////// YES, I DO WINDOWS! / ///////////////////////////////// Windows RoundTable """""""""""""""""" >>> PEEKING THROUGH WINDOWS <<< """"""""""""""""""""""""""""""" ~ From the Windows RoundTable on Page 1335 ~ WINDOWS ALADDIN? """""""""""""""" >CHAZ > >The PC version is nice, but I was spoiled by the Atari ST >version, especially the ability to PERm IGNore topics while reading >them offline. Not to worry, the author of ST and AMI Aladdin, is also a windows advocate. He also sent me a beta copy of a windows frontend to play with. It does everything ST and AMI Aladdin does, and much more. -Tim Purves (TIMPURVES, CAT16, TOP10, MSG:390/M1135) >>>>> Wait a second, Tim, I thought YOU were the author of ST and AMI """"" Aladdins! Did you mean You sent Yourself a beta of a Windows front end? -JN (J.NESS, CAT16, TOP10, MSG:395/M1135) >>>>> Correct. """"" (TIMPURVES, CAT16, TOP10, MSG:396/M1135) >>>>> I know of at least 3-4 Windows front ends for GEnie in """"" development, some ready to go beta. Two of those people are right here, the others are more low-key and I haven't heard from them in a while since I last read their messages in the IBM RT. -Juan (J.JIMENEZ, CAT16, TOP10, MSG:397/M1135) >>>>> No argument, I just find it hard to believe that people are waiting """"" for PC Aladdin 2.0 before they release. You know why I am waiting. (TIMPURVES, CAT16, TOP10, MSG:398/M1135) >>>>> >Actually, if your new Aladdin (AladWin?) is as good as the ST """"" >version is, PC owners will finally understand what they've been >missing. Better, than ST, Windows is a more mature GUI than GEM. >Yeah, but you're in the same position as I am, none of them are >in our shoes or have the advantages we have. Not really. >Correct me if I am wrong, Tim -- but what Tim is working on is >not Aladdin for Windows. True it's not called Aladdin For Windows, and it's not a GEnie effort. >Not really, please enlighting me why you are waiting. Cannot enlighten you at this time. Sorry. (TIMPURVES, CAT16, TOP10, MSG:405/M1135) IS MICROSOFT ABANDONING TCP/IP SYSTEM? We just got our copies of WFW """""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""" yesterday. We develop Windows software, and thought WFW would be ideal for setting up a configuration management environment for product development. I was dismayed when I saw that there is no TCP/IP support. We use TCP/IP to talk to our print server, and our end product uses it. I tried using two network cards, one for WFW and one for TCP/IP using that system as a bridge between the two networks. No luck. Does anyone know of a way we can do this? We have to be able to support FTP's TCP interface, because the software we develop requires it. Does Microsoft have any plans for supporting TCP/IP? If not, we'll have to abandon WFW and figure out something else. -John (J.WAYCOTT, CAT22, TOP3, MSG:4/M1135)\ >>>>> I hear via PCWEEK that a new version of WFW is in beta. This new """"" version supposedly has support for TCP/IP as well as native IPX. (T.KLIMEK, CAT22, TOP3, MSG:5/M1135) INSTALLING THE CLOCK To have a clock visible on title bar..... """""""""""""""""""" o Put the accessory 'clock' in startup group. o open clock go to 'settings' and choose what you want (analog or digital) o Go to '-' /or/ press alt-spacebar o Choose 'always on top' o Go back to options....choose 'no title' o Re-size and position clock where you want it. o In program manager options choose 'save setting on exit' o quit and restart Windows o In program manager options un-choose 'save setting on exit' (E.STUTSMAN, CAT2, TOP2, MSG:81/M1335) WHAT'S THE BEST WINDOWS FRONT EDN FOR PKZIP? I'd recommend WinZip. I'm """""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""" using 3.2, and it handles the most popular formats, has built-in Unzipping routines for files created with PKZip 1.1, allows "drag-n-drop" with file manager, can automatically put the proper associations into WIN.INI (i.e. double- click an archive in file manager automatically pops up WinZip), etc. etc. I tried QZip, and really hated it. The interface is non-standard (there's no menu, the file open function is implemented weird, etc.) An especial annoyance about it is it apparently will only let you open files with the extension .ZIP. I sometimes use different extensions when I need the filename to stay the same (when I want to save different versions of a program I'm writing, I use the same name, and an extension of ".Vxx", where xx is a pseudo- version number). The only thing I think it still needs is support for comments in archives. A single _and_ multi-line comment editor for the archive as a whole, and single line comments for files in the archive would be great. Bottom line: WinZip is fast, flexible, powerful, has a standard windows interface _and_ button bar, and is easy to use. A winner. DaveG (D.GOLDEN, CAT14, TOP32, MSG:14/M1335) 778 WINZIP40.ZIP X PETERZ 930117 152576 345 11 Desc: WinZip v4.0 - compression shell MAKING AMIPRO EVEN BETTER I purchased a book called "Guide To Ami Pro" """"""""""""""""""""""""" written by Gerry Litton and put out by PC Magazine and I'd recommend it to ANYone when they first get the program. It's packed with tons of common english help and lots of little "tricks" to make AMIPRO more efficient. It's one of the thickest books on my shelf and probably one of the most used right now. I actually use Pagemaker more than anything due to heavy DTP work but this book makes AMI a breeze - I wish I'd had something like this when I first started with PAgemaker, the learning curve wouldn't have been so large. Almost every magazine I receive now raves about AMIPRO. With all this positive publicity they must be doing SOMEthing right. I love the program and look forward to when they upgrade to include better image control for scans,etc. (Then I'll use it as much or more than Pagemaker - -- the image control is what's keeping me in PM right now.) I really love the built in Thesaurus (didn't spell that right, did I?) and sometimes I'll be writing something in PM, need another word for something, flip over to AMI and find the perfect word to put in the PM doc. A hassle but worth it to find the right word. But in my opinion I'd give it a 9.5 on a scale of 1 to 10. -Mari (M.COUTURE2, CAT13, TOP4, MSG:67/M1335) INSTALLING ICONS AND WALLPAPER To change an icon, open the Settings """""""""""""""""""""""""""""" dialog box (select the object, right mouse click, then Open Settings) and choose General. To change "wallpaper" (that's a Windows term I think), with the cursor on the desktop click the right mouse button, Open Settings, and choose Background. (K.LAUX, CAT6, TOP1, MSG:761/M615) /////////////////////////////////////////// GEnie_QWIK_QUOTE //// / "Techies write and writers go hungry. And users are baffled." / ///////////////////////////////////////////////// W.LIVELY //// [EOA] [MOO]////////////////////////////// CowTOONS! / ///////////////////////////////// Cows from Literature, History, and the Arts """"""""""""""""""""" Volume I, Number 1 D============(==)==D / \ By Mike White `~~~~~~` [M.WHITE25] (__) (oo)-------\ /~~~~ \/ ~~~~\ | \ | || * """"""""""""""""""~" Sir Thomas Mooer 1478 - 1535 A Cow for All Seasons ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Moovie starring Paul Scowfield, 1966 ________________ ||____________|| ~||\ ||~ || \ || || \ || || \ || || \ || || \ || || (__) ~|| ||----(oo)----|| || \/ || || || """""""""""""""" Moorie Antoinette 1755 - 1793 "Let them eat cake." ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 200 years later, all cows agree |~~~~| | | _|____|_ (o~~o) /---------(..) / | ) ~~ Watch for another thunderin' herd of * |/ || Moo Fun from Mike White in the next ||-------|| issue of GEnieLamp. ~~ ~~ Abraham Lincown 1809 - 1865 "...all cows are created equal." ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ( ) \_ /"\_/ /----------------------| ( ! ! ) / AN' A ONE, AN' A TWO. | ( " ) < | / = \ \ EVERYBODY POLKA! | / / ~ \ \ \ _____________________| / / \ \ / |X X X X X X| \ \_ | \ / \ /| _/ ( | \/ \ / | ) CowTOONS? Stephen Litwin took us up \| X X X X X |/ on our offer and sent in this month's \ / CowTOONS selection. \_ __ _ / || || If you have an idea for a CowTOON, we || || would like to see it. And, if we pick ]| |[ your CowTOON for publishing in GEnieLamp we will credit your account with 2 hours A Pol-Cow of GEnie non-prime time! ~~~~~~~~~~~ Playing His Cow-Certina By Stephen Litwin [S.LITWIN2] ////////////////////////////////////////////// GEnie_QWIK_QUOTE //// / "...honor and morals _do_ help when you don't have X$...In fact, / / it's when you can't pay that honor and morality will most often / / be brought into play." / //////////////////////////////////////////////// D.A.BRUMLEVE //// [EOA] [REF]////////////////////////////// REFLECTIONS / ///////////////////////////////// Online Communications """"""""""""""""""""" By Phil Shapiro [P.SHAPIRO1] >>> APPROACHING A MORE PERFECT STATE OF HUMAN COMMUNICAION <<< """""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""" ~ Part I ~ COMMUNICATION BARRIERS Have you ever stopped to consider the many types """""""""""""""""""""" of barriers that exist in human communication? Some barriers are barriers of cost. Some are barriers of inconvenience. And some are barriers of time delay. It's interesting to take a closer look at these barriers to see how online communication helps eliminate or minimize them. The Barrier of Cost The barrier of cost takes on two principal forms: """"""""""""""""""" 1) The cost of transmission, and, 2) The cost of production. The cost of transmission usually involves first class or second class postage costs. And the cost of production usually involves editing costs, page-layout costs, printing costs, and paper costs. Online communications radically minimizes both transmission costs and production costs. In some cases the transmission costs of sending ASCII text can amount to a small fraction of the cost of sending the same text via the postal service. This is especially true if people take full advantage of flat-rate electronic mail. Of all the many barriers, the barrier of production costs is the one that most severely restricts useful information from passing between human beings. The restrictive barrier of production costs was recently brought to mind in a very personal way. Just last week a national magazine sent my software publishing company a strongly favorable, but extremely brief, review of my company's new educational software product. Despite the positive tone of this review, I could not help but be disappointed about the brief length of review. One can only speculate that their production and transmission costs were so exceedingly high that they had to condense each of their reviews to the absolute minimum number of words. Another consideration could be that they wanted to give equal space to fifteen or twenty new software products. The only way to be fair-handed would be to give short shrift to each product. Had this same publication been published online, the production and transmission costs would be a fraction of their current costs. The editors of the publication would then have no problem in "printing" complete and informative reviews of new educational software products. The beneficiary of such improved communication would include not only the software publishers (who might benefit from increased sales), but also the teachers and students who ended up using the software. In a very real sense, society as a whole benefits from the opening of improved communication channels. Another example of the barrier of production costs can be seen in newspaper classified ads. Whether it be employment, for-sale, or housing classifieds, the content is almost always boiled down to twenty five or thirty words, with each word so radically abbreviated as to constitute a veritable dialect of the English language. (This "dialect" was charmingly spoofed in the 1960's dramatic play titled: "4 RMS, RVR VU," about two people who meet while searching for a four-room apartment with a river view.) Imagine if each classified fully and completely described the job available, the merchandise for sale, or the housing situation offered. People could actually browse the classified with a reasonable chance of finding something that meets their needs. Currently, newspaper classifieds can only give you an inkling of the opportunity expressed by the classified. Online communication does not place such rigorous limits on the length of "classified" communications. On both local bulletin boards and national information services classified notices often run to several hundred words in length. Luxuriating in the available space, persons selling second-hand computers have been known to list all two hundred titles of software accompanying the computer. Buyers, likewise, can luxuriate in knowing the complete details of the computer system they are purchasing. The Barrier of Inconvenience The second barrier to human communication, """""""""""""""""""""""""""" the barrier of inconvenience, is not as obviously pernicious as the barrier of production costs. Yet this barrier remains doggedly irksome. A prime example of such inconvenience is the game of telephone tag. Nobody but the most persistent person would continue the game of telephone tag past the first few missed connections. Even when substantial benefits could be gained on both sides, few persons have the resolve and tenacity to continue playing telephone tag for more than a few days. A second example of inconvenience is the trip to the post office that is required each time you need more postage stamps. Next time you're standing behind ten other people at the post office, take a moment to consider the heavy burden of the "barrier of inconvenience." A third barrier of inconvenience is the time-consuming chore of affixing an address and postage stamp to your postal correspondence. (Not to mention the chore of printing out, signing, and folding each letter you send.) Online communications almost totally eliminates the barrier of inconvenience. E-mail makes telephone tag history (or at least more bearable.) You'll never run out of postage stamps when sending electronic mail. And you can bypass the "envelope game" entirely. The Barrier of Time Delay A third barrier to human communications is the """"""""""""""""""""""""" barrier of time delay. If it takes too long for communications to travel back and forth, the rhythm of human communication is seriously disrupted. The example that immediately comes to mind is the interminable delays of sending and receiving mail between the United States and Canada. It's not unusual for an air mail letter to take ten days to travel between the United States and Canada. That means that an ongoing postal correspondence between the United States and Canada would yield a maximum of two interchanges of letters in any given month. It is amazing our two countries have remained such good trading partners given such slow-motion postal exchanges. A second example of the time delay barrier is overseas correspondence. An air-mail letter traveling between Washington D.C. and Moscow takes about two weeks to be delivered. Interestingly enough, the letter actually travels to Moscow in less than three days. It takes the Moscow postal authorities about ten days to sort and deliver their local mail. Such time delays degrade the natural rhythm of human communication. If you sent a letter on the first of the month, would you even remember what you wrote when you received a reply on the 31st? Conclusion As each of the above-described communication barriers is """""""""" eliminated or minimized, communication between human beings flows smoother and faster. And history has repeatedly revealed that the forward progress of civilization is directly proportional to the quantity and quality of communication taking place. Businesses grow through communication. Children learn through communication. Social fabric is formed through communication between human beings. Improved communications yields rippled benefits that extend far out in all directions. -Phil Shapiro [*][*][*] [The author can be reached on GEnie at: p.shapiro1; on America Online at: pshapiro. GEnieLamp invites others to share their ideas in this forum about our ongoing journey into this new communications age. Submissions can be sent via GEnie mail to any one of the GEnieLamp editors listed at the end of each issue.] ////////////////////////////// GEnie_QWIK_QUOTE //// / "How do you kill the Mother Festor in Xenophobe? / / No hints, just tell me straight. / / I can take it! " / //////////////////////////////// ZRATH-SMILEY //// [EOA] [TEC]////////////////////////////// TECH_TALK / ///////////////////////////////// Down To The Wire... """"""""""""""""""" By Paul H. Davis [TELASKA] >>> ALL ABOUT UPS <<< """"""""""""""""""""" Our business is in creating satisfied UPS customers. Here is our recommended checklist: o How big? o How good? o "Standby" vs true "Uninterruptible" o On-line (double conversion) vs. line-interactive o Conditioning, grounding, sine waves, etc. o Communication Your decisions in working through the above considerations will determine the third corresponding one: How much money? Your intuition is correct here; bigness and goodness DO vary more or less proportionately with How Much Money (although there are some note- worthy exceptions). Ideally, the process is to determine How Big and How Good and then go shopping for the best deal offered within the performance requirements you have defined for yourself. Unfortunately, in the real world it often works the other way around. People are absolutely limited on acquisition cost and end up backing into the other two; i.e. they buy as much capacity and as much quality as they can afford, even if it's less than they really needed. This can be dangerous, because the UPS world is a real cowboy marketplace and there are situations where something can actually be worse than nothing. Let's go through the above checklist step-by-step, starting with Big. This is the simplest of the two steps because it's entirely arith- metic. Go around to all the equipment you want to protect and read the nameplates off the back. If it lists volts and amps, multiply the two together: For example a 120 volt monitor which draws 0.6 amps is 72 volt/amps (VA). Many manufacturers use "watts" instead. If the equipment shows watts, multiply this times 1.4 to convert to VA. Get all the VA ratings for all your equipment and add them up. Remember to count monitors, terminals and external data storage devices. Don't include laser printers. If your final figure exceeds 1000 you'll express it in "KVA"; 1000 VA = 1 KVA. One last step: to allow for "growth factor" (the equipment you haven't even thought of yet but which you're going to buy next year) we recommend you multiply by 1.25. Now you have a figure you can use to match up with the figures you'll see in UPS equipment catalogs. Now comes the hard part: How Good? This is a judgment call not reducible to numbers. However it can be evaluated incrementally, and we recommend doing this to avoid getting drowned in a sea of gobbledygook. So let's go through the list a step at a time. (1) "Standby" vs. true uninterruptible. This probably generates more confusion and rhetoric than anything else. There is no industry (let alone Federal) standard for defining "uninterrup- tible". Some people claim that, for all reasonable purposes, a break in power of less than 5 milliseconds (thousandths of a second) is the same as no break at all. Others insist that a break in power is a break in power, and that if you have a break in power your power is no longer "uninterruptible". We prefer the latter definition, if for no other reason than to differentiate between categories of products. There is one category which does produce a break in power, another that doesn't. We call the former "standby", reserving "uninterruptible" for those which don't break, period. Unfortunately this convention is not even casually observed in the industry. Many (if not most) of the products you see advertised as "uninterruptible" or "UPS" are, in reality, standby units. APC units are a good example of this. For example, the 200DL, SmartUPS 600LS, 800-RT, SmartUPS 900, UPS1250, SmartUPS 2000 are all Standby supplies, not Uninterruptible, even though they're advertised as such. Nothing wrong with a standby supply if that meets your needs. Just good to understand what you're getting. What are your needs? Why do you care? Maybe you don't. APC units are very popular; they do have a very lively customer service effort, and this probably adds to their success. We recommend standby supplies only in non-critical applications. The failure window for a standby supply is extremely small ... in other words you would have to be extremely unlucky to have your computer ever notice a 5 millisecond break in power. But it could theoretically happen, so applications people looking at life- critical installations, for instance, generally refuse to consider standby supplies. Sometimes people with accounting applications feel the same way, apparently placing as much weight on their accounting records as on human life itself! The thing to look at closely with standby systems is the "transfer time" specification. This is critical because of course the longer the transfer time the more chance of your computer noticing and dumping your data or fouling the operation of your hard drive. Don't be satisfied with published specs; insist on seeing actual test results. If they can't or won't show you test results, there may be a good reason. For example, none of the above-cited units met their published transfer-time specs in independent tests! By industry standards they were reasonably close, but, unfortunately, no cigar. For example, one of the better ones, the 800-RT, claims a transfer time of 2-4ms; actual tests ranged from 1.0 to 6.8ms. By comparison, the Trippe model SB/BC-2000 publishes a 6- 10ms transfer, while actual tests on that one ran from 5.0 all the way to 53.8ms! Best Power Technology does make an honest line, called "Patriot". These are published and tested at 2ms typical, 4ms maximum. The Patriot line ranges in size from 250 to 850 VA. (2) On-Line or Double-Conversion vs. Line-Interactive The On-line systems are the traditional architecture for achieving no-break power. The concept is simple: Line-feeds-battery-charger-feeds-battery-feeds-inverter-feeds-load. It has the appear- ance of providing the ultimate protection to the load because the load is apparently totally isolated from the utility. Since you're not getting your power from the utility in the first place, the loss of utility power (or anything else happening to it) won't effect the load. The appearance can be subverted by a little detail called "continuous neutral", but we'll get into that later. The traditional architecture has two major Achilles heels (one for each foot?). They both have to do with the nature of the inverter. (A) Inverters are inherently sensitive to overload, so designers apply two remedies: (1) They make the inverters extra big, driving up the cost and (2) They employ what is known as a "static bypass switch" which continually monitors the amount of load being put on the inverter. If it senses that there is too much (as might be the case when equipment is first starting, for example) it pops the load momentarily over to raw utility power until things settle back to what the inverter can handle. This may never be a problem. Unless, of course your overload situation occurred during a power outage when there was no raw utility power to switch back to! (B) Inverters, being active devices, are subject to failure. Since the inverter is running all the time as a critical component, the reliability of the system, or Mean Time Between Failure (MTBF) is only as good as that of the inverter. MTBF figures for on-line systems tend to be not that wonderful ... in the range of 10,000 hours or so at most. Otherwise, the architecture DOES have a considerable amount of tradition and experience going for it and, if one keeps an awareness of those limitations in mind, the traditional on-line system can be a pretty effective solution. The Line-Interactive systems evolved partially as a response to the shortcomings noted above. The way they function is to keep the inverter OUT of the normal circuit, using it only during power outages in just the same way standby systems do. The difference is that they achieve no-break power by using some sort of short-term energy storage to fill in the gap for that approximately 5 milli- seconds while the inverter is coming up and getting ready to go to work. Some die-hard proponents of the double-conversion architecture pooh-pooh this scheme, saying it doesn't provide the same level of protection because it doesn't completely isolate the load from the line. However, Best Power Technology, the chief proponent of line-interactive systems, produces both specs and test results which suggest otherwise. In their traditional line "FERRUPS" Best uses a ferro-resonant transformer which acts both as the energy storage device for the millisecond gap and as a filter- conditioner-regulator during normal utility power operation. So effective is the ferro that utility power, after passing through it, appears to many to be a far preferable source than the inverter- generated power of the double-conversion units. And here we come back to the above-cited weaknesses of the double-conversion. The FERRUPS units don't have and don't need a "static bypass switch" because there is never a time when they would need to throw you back to raw utility power. Even under surge loads, the FERRUPS protects the inverter by using its stored energy instead. And by keeping the inverter OFF most of the time the MTBF goes up over 100,000 hours with no problem! Best has, within the last couple of years, also come out with a new design of line-interactive no-break, sine-wave output systems which don't use ferros. They call these "Fortress". Much lighter weight (one of the user objections to the FERRUPS), extremely quiet (another objection) and much less expensive. (3) Conditioning, grounding, sine-waves, etc. Some people automatically assume that a UPS also provides line conditioning during normal operation. This is especially not necessarily true in the case of the not-really-uninterruptible "standby" systems. Most don't, in fact. Surprisingly, it is also not necessarily 100% true in the case of some double-conversion on- line UPSs. "How can it not be true", you ask, "when the power isn't even coming from the utility? Surely that's the ultimate in power conditioning ... to be not even connected to utility power at all!" If you look under the hood at some of the systems, though, you find that although your power indeed isn't coming from the utility, they've still got you hooked to the utility via the "neutral" wire. So disturbances, especially spikes, which happen to come down the neutral wire, can come right on into your system through a big open door. This can be a big disappointment. If you decide on an on-line system, be sure and ask for an "isolated neutral". With the Best systems you're covered on this with FERRUPS but not with Fortress or Patriot. Sine waves are the shape of the ideal waves you are supposed to get from the utility. When running on inverter most of the standby power systems don't give you sine waves, they give you square waves. Some manufacturers call them "modified sine waves". They're almost all really just square waves. Who cares? Does it matter? For a lot of computers it doesn't matter. But if you want to be sure that the power you have available will be right for whatever you plug into your box, there's peace of mind in knowing that you'll be furnishing the same wave shape all equipment was designed for: sine waves. Ask for sine waves if you can afford it. Related point: Harmonic Distortion. Big rooms full of computers will throw harmonics back onto the power line. Harmonics are bad for computer power supplies, creating currents where they don't belong. Look for a UPS (or a conditioner) which takes care of harmonics, especially if you've got quite a few computers working together. (4) Communication. Why communication? Because from the moment you plug in and turn on your UPS you're going to be constantly wondering what it's doing and not doing and what it will or won't do when you need it. There's lots of peace of mind in being able to find out such things as (a) that your UPS is working, (b) how much run time it has left in it, (c) how much load you're putting on it, (d) what the current input and output voltage is ... etc. APC does a pretty good job with communication; they are right out front, if not the industry leader, in interface software. Our favorite for this, though, is with the Best Fortress line, where all of the above plus more is displayed on an LED digital display on the unit itself, controllable with some front-panel pushbuttons. No need for even using software if you're within view of the box. Otherwise, Best also has software to go with almost all its boxes, the only exception being the smallest of the Patriot standby units. More information? Real-time mouth-to-ear consultation via telephone on 800-488-6748. (TELASKA, IBM, CAT15, TOP46, MSG:120/M615) //////////////////////////////////////// GEnie_QWIK_QUOTE //// / "That's "Voila!", not viola. Your fans are going to / / wonder how to fiddle (uh, viola) with their cash flow." / /////////////////////////////////////////// K.VANDELLEN //// [EOA] [MIN]////////////////////////////// MINI_BYTES / ///////////////////////////////// 3 On 1: Writing-Style Analyzer """""""""""""""""""""""""""""" By John Peters [GENIELAMP] Program Name : Wintertree Writing Style Analyzer (WStyle) Filename : WSTY113.ZIP Library Area : 3 Program Number : 31610 File Size : 109568 Program Type : Text utility Author : Wintertree Software Inc. Version Reviewed: 1.13 File Type : Shareware ($25.00) [*][*][*] FROM THE AUTHOR The Wintertree Writing-Style Analyzer -- WStyle for short """"""""""""""" (pronounced "Double-you Style") -- helps improve your writing style in two ways. First, it examines your writing for common problems, such as redundant words, wordy phrases, and awkward sentence structure. Second, it analyzes your writing style and presents statistics that tell you where your writing is weak and where it is strong. Although WStyle is not a substitute for an independent review, it can help you to write more clearly and directly and avoid common writing- style errors. WStyle runs on MS-DOS-compatible computers. You can install WStyle on a hard disk or a floppy diskette. WStyle can check files produced by most word-processing programs. [*][*][*] MINI_BYTE BY BRAD [57] I am skeptical of any style checker, but I went """""""""""""""""""""" into this review with an open mind. Unfortunately, I was disappointed with WStyle. "F4 Ignore" did not appear to work (to bypass flagging the same word(s)). I managed to hang my system trying to use Edit Path when choosing a file. I tested WStyle with my Classic column this month, and every use of "program" was flagged with no explanation. The authors point out this is a strictly mechanical process to flag the most frequent problems encountered in writing. For example, every time it finds the word "is", it tells you it's a passive verb, and suggests you rewrite with an active phrase. You have to decide whether or not it's appropriate. I'm sure there are people who would find WStyle useful, but I am not one of them. MINI_BYTE BY TIPPY [84] WStyle is a "poor-man's" grammar checker that """"""""""""""""""""""" will suffice for most casual users. The program documentation claims to check just about any word processing file, and it had no problem handling the ASCII, Enable, Wordstar and Ami Pro files I threw at it. I really liked having the ability to set the error checking level. This gives you the flexibility of having the program report anything from all errors to only the most severe errors. Additionally, you can set a target reading level prior to checking a document. The error checking is thorough and gives appropriate suggestions for each error. After the document is checked, it gives you a nice summary screen with some applicable statistics. The reported grade level however, appeared to be a bit high. The only drawback I found is the inability of the program to fix errors on the spot. Instead, you can either save the error reports to a disk file or print them, then return to your word processor to correct the errors. This, however, is only a minor drawback and should not prevent you from trying this program out. WStyle should prove handy for users needing to check letters and small documents, but lacks the power features of it's commercial sister products. MINI_BYTE BY JOHN [80] I've had some prior experience using WStyle long """""""""""""""""""""" before its release in the IBM RT Library. How? Wintertree Software Inc. started out by releasing grammar oriented programs for the Atari ST. One of their programs, GramSlam, is a popular grammar checker. I wasn't surprised to see WStyle following along the same path as GramSlam. Unfortunately, although WStyle is similar, it has neither the speed nor ease of the ST version. Still, for those without a commercial grammar checker, it's a good alternative. This is the first (shareware) release of WSTyle whereas GramSlam is a now a full-blown commercial product. No, you can't edit files on the fly, and yes, it does have a few problems when flagging suspect words or phrases. However, based on past performance, I suspect that future releases of WStyle will develop into a popular grammar checker for the IBM - just as it did for the ST. [*][*][*] GEnieLAMP MINI_BYTE'S RATING """""""""""""""""""""""""""" BRAD ............................................... 57 TIPPY .............................................. 84 JOHN ............................................... 80 """" MINI_BYTE SCORE .................................... 73.6 MINI_BYTES RATING SYSTEM """""""""""""""""""""""" 0 / 9 Not worth the download - pass on this one. 10/20 Bored? Looking for something to do? 30/40 Got money to burn? Go for it! A definite maybe. 50/60 You may like this one - unfortunately, I did not. 70/80 I like it! You will probably like it too. 90/100 What? You haven't downloaded this program YET? If all three reviewers give the program a 90 or higher rating, it will receive the ~ A GEnieLamp Excellence Award! ~ >>> REVIEWER PROFILES <<< """"""""""""""""""""""""" BRAD.........uses his 286/12MHz clone to run a shareware distribution business. He's saving his pennies to buy a 486 screamer with a _big_ hard disk. He is also a computer consultant in the IBM mainframe environment. TIPPY........uses his 386 based system for Word Processing and Database Management to enhance the computing power of a large Air Force Squadron in Washington D.C. He also enjoys playing games, but between CPU time for work and a Masters Program, the game directory usually sits and waits. /////////////////////////////////////// GEnie_QWIK_QUOTE //// / "This looks like 'The People's Court', without da judge!" / /////////////////////////////////////////////// J.P.C. //// [EOA] [QUI]////////////////////////////// THE MIGHTY QUINN / ///////////////////////////////// Random Access """"""""""""" By Mark Quinn [NEWSIE] "A Whole Buncha Milliseconds with Mark" by Mark Quinn, DOA GEnie address: NEWSIE VIRTUAL REALITY CHECK Most of us have heard about, seen, or even partaken """"""""""""""""""""" of today's crude "goggles and gloves" brand of virtual reality. The attraction and benefits of the many-generations- removed grandson of such a technology are obvious, especially at a time when ads for laser disc players proclaim that the medium is "60% closer to reality", and during the year that Congress is due to make a decision on which brand of HDTV (High Definition Television) we'll all be drooling over in the closing years of this century. The "goggles and gloves" forays into VR seem almost laughable when compared to visions concocted by futurists and science fiction writers. No one knows what shape tomorrow's VR will take. Speculations of VR couches complete with Medusa-like helmets, or biochip interfaces, or simple headsets are nice, but are merely icing on the VR cake: the importance of VR lies in its applications. So here are some of the obvious and the not-so-obvious applications for virtual reality that occur to this tech-crazed modem monkey. 1) Medicine. How about training interns on virtual patients instead of real ones? Or teaching someone who has recently broken a leg how to walk on crutches? Or spurring the memories of an amnesiac? Or bringing out the true personality of someone with split personalities? Listening to white noise in the background is comforting, but how about _actually being_ in a picturesque setting for as many hours as it takes the hurt to disappear? How about letting a paraplegic have the experience of climbing a virtual Mount Everest? Letting a (however base and hackneyed it sounds) neutered person have a universe-shattering orgasm? How about having people relive experiences in their lives in a _positive_ way -- actually going back to childhood and stifling that mouthy person or bully? 2) Education. It is said that experience is the best teacher, and virtual reality ought to be at least second best. Virtual reality field trips could range farther afield than any mundane one. Students could descend miles into the earth, and leap light years into space while in the comfort of a virtual reality classroom. Students flying in a VR spaceship could see relativistic physics at work, witness the birth of our galaxy, and preview its eventual demise. Or they could wing above a Jurassic landscape on the backs of pterodactyls, phone home on a re-creation of the set of _E.T._ to see how movies of our time were made, or peek over Segovia's sheet music as he sight-reads _Estudio Sin Luz_. 3) Military. Entire battles could be planned in virtual reality. It's raining brickbats, the terrain is muddy/rocky, the enemy is approaching from the east, your men are fatigued -- don't kiss your corporal goodbye, mister, DO something! I might as well stop here. What I'd like to leave you with as you're reading this on your screen or from a printout is that the idea is the important thing. First comes the idea, then the hardware, then the applications for that hardware. (So we're leap-frogging the middle step? Who knew?) You've undoubtedly thought of other uses for virtual reality, too. Uses which are as varied as virtual reality promises to be. And I hope I've (very quickly) outlined some you haven't thought of. What intrigues me so much about cyberspace/virtual reality is not how it will take us where we will go, but what we will do when we get there. ////////////////////////////////////////// GEnie_QWIK_QUOTE //// / "It's "funny" we've generated MUCH more message traffic here / / talking abut the pros and cons of such a topic than many / / such messages would have otherwise :-)" / //////////////////////////////////////////// JOHN.DENNING //// [EOA] [LIB]////////////////////////////// THE ONLINE LIBRARY / ///////////////////////////////// Hot Files In The Library """""""""""""""""""""""" By "Tippy" Martinez [TIPPY.ONE] >>> FILES! FILES! FILES! <<< """""""""""""""""""""""""""" THE IBM SOFTWARE COLLECTION Welcome to The Online Library, home of the """"""""""""""""""""""""""" largest software collection on GEnie! During January, a large number of files were uploaded to the IBM Roundtable's Software Library. This month's issue highlights some of the more interesting ones available. Each entry includes the file number, file name, approximate number of bytes and the long description of each file. Some of the most popular shareware products had new versions uploaded, among them Hyperdisk and PKZIP. Many of the newer uploads are compressed with the new version of PKZIP, and it will be needed to extract them. Without any further delays, lets check out this month's collection of goodies just waiting to be downloaded! [*][*][*] 31344 HYDK432.ZIP 279936 FASTER THAN SMARTDRV?? Hyperdisk, """""""""""""""""""""""""""""" "the ultimate disk caching utility", increases hard & floppy disk drive's performance. Supports read & write caching in any type of memory, and any size of cache. Requires just 10-35K DOS RAM. Supports Windows 3.x. Package also includes HyperKey keyboard enhancement package. 31349 OPPM42L.ZIP 392960 OWL Personal Portfolio Manager 4.2. """""""""""""""""""""""""""""" An easy to use program that combines stock charting/technical analysis with complete investment record keeping. Completely menu driven with on-line user's guide. Tracks up to 5000 securities in up to 500 portfolios with cost basis accounting using FIFO, Specific ID, and Single or Double Category Cost Averaging. Plots price volume charts with multiple moving averages, relative performance, momentum analysis, correlation and net worth charts. 15 reports for net worth, capital gains, portfolio income and return on investment analysis. Included PORTFOLIO PRICE LOADER to automatically update prices from GEnie, Prodigy, Dow Jones NR and Compuserve. REQ: 640k and Graphics. 31358 CPAVSOS.ZIP 274688 This is a scan only version of """""""""""""""""""""""""""""" Central Point Software's Anti-Virus program. It will detect over 1200 different viruses. There is no charge for this program. 31377 SW-440.LZH 61696 SW 4.4 is the newest release of the """""""""""""""""""""""""""""" popular batch file enhancer. Create text window messages fast and easy without an ECHO. Full color support. Batch file branching is also possible. SW v4.4 adds support for VGA 28 line mode, cursor positioning and expanded text handling. DI 1.4 has a new /TYPE switch which returns the storage device type by errorlevel. When you register, you will receive SWV.EXE, a text file viewer that works with SW and SW-DIR.EXE, a file picker for batch files. Shareware. Uploaded by author. 31384 STAX92.ZIP 271488 1992 user-friendly Form 1040 tax """""""""""""""""""""""""""""" program for individuals and paid tax prepares. Prints IRS-approved high-quality graphic Form 1040 on LaserJet, DeskJet, IBM ProPrinter, Epson FX and LQ. Prints IRS-approved substitute for all other forms on any printer. Automatic installation, pull-down menus, mouse support and on-line help. Includes: 1040, A, B, C, D, E, EIC, F, R, SE, 2106, 2119, 2441, 3903, 4137, 4562, 6251, 8606, 8615, 8829, worksheets ad Client Invoice. This is the final version, ready to use to file your tax return (Version 2.1). Requires 370K RAM and 1 diskette. Economical Shareware. 31385 FB301.LZH 185088 A unique file viewer that allows you """""""""""""""""""""""""""""" to view and manipulate ASCII, dBASE, ARC, ARJ, LZH, PAK, ZIP, BIF, GIF, PCX, TARGA, and TIF files. dBASE support includes database management and a report writer. Archive support includes archiving, extracting, and deleting files. Image support includes processing, cropping, saving across formats, "slide-show" viewing, and printing to a HP LaserJet or compatible printer. 31397 TOUCHNGO.ZIP 376704 Touch-n-Go! is a multipurpose command """""""""""""""""""""""""""""" center for your personal computer. It includes file manipulation functions to include copying, moving, renaming deleting, encrypting, attribute change, and date/time stamping. It includes functions for disk copying and formatting, directory changing, creation, and removal. In includes a text editor and terminal communication module. Also included are system information and diagnostic functions. It allows other programs to be integrated into its menu system and contains many configuration options. Touch-n-Go! is shareware with a minimum registration charge of only $34.95. - 31400 HR31.ZIP 171136 Household Register is the only software """""""""""""""""""""""""""""" you'll care about the day your home or office is robbed or destroyed! Records! all the right information about your assets so that the insurance company pays. Record category, location, owner, serial#, model#, description, purchase/replace price, warranty information and more. Quick powerful searches. Prints numerous reports to the screen, printer or disk. Requires 384k and a color monitor. Uploaded by Author: Lemuel D. Turner, ASP Member 31401 VLB352.ZIP 203008 Powerful easy-to-use menu driven program """""""""""""""""""""""""""""" that quickly organizes and maintains any size video library. Includes context sensitive help, pop-up pick list for data entry, moveable, resizable and scrollable browse window. Mouse support. Holds all the right information about your movies, 18 fields, plus a 31 line memo field is available. Prints numerous reports to the printer, screen or disk. Also prints labels for your cassettes. Now includes a file re-index/re-build utility. Uploaded by author: Lemuel D. Turner Member ASP. Requires 512K, 31469 RDIR136.ZIP 78976 Graphic representation of subdirectory """""""""""""""""""""""""""""" size in Pir & Bar charts. Pinpoints where disk space is being used. CGA, VGA or EGA. Navigate around your disk by selecting & examining directories from the list on the graphics screen using arrow keys. Or enter drive/directory name from the command line. Latest revision adds PageUp & Down, Home & End while viewing the list of subdirectories. Reviewed in PCM Magazine June 1991 and the May issue of Compute. 31470 LAB3D.ZIP 450432 Ken's Labyrinth is a very fast 3-D action """""""""""""""""""""""""""""" game which supports PCspeaker, Adlib, Sound Blaster, and MPU-401 sound. For those with multi-sync monitors, a special 360x240 wide-screen video mode can be used. Each level has a wide variety of art and original music. 31472 PHYSICS.ZIP 103424 Physics Tutor 1.0: Helps high school """""""""""""""""""""""""""""" seniors and college freshmen to understand physics better. Uses graphical animation to demonstrate concepts. The program should supplement normal classroom learning. The author holds a Ph.D in physics and an M. S. in computer science. For IBM & compatibles with 640 KB RAM and EGA/VGA graphics. Volume II in a series; more forthcoming. Author will answer questions from registered users. Shareware ($20) from Z & C Software. 31481 RSCARDS.EXE 44672 This is the front end program for GEnie's """""""""""""""""""""""""""""" RSCARDS Multi-player games (Blackjack, Backgammon, Checkers, Poker, Reversi, and Chess). This program requires an IBM-compatible computer with a VGA, EGA, CGA or MCGA graphics adapter, at least 256K of free conventional memory, and a modem connected to COM1 or COM3 (IRQ4), or COM2 or COM4 (IRQ3). A Microsoft Mouse-compatible pointing device is optional. This program is distributed as a self-extracting archive file - after downloading, just type "RSCARDS-" (without the quotes) from the DOS prompt to extract. Please read the READ.ME file in the archive for further operating instructions. 31482 CILNK255.ZIP 348928 An elegant mouse driven comm program that """""""""""""""""""""""""""""" is easy to install and set up in a few minutes. While not a Telix or Telemate it has many advanced features such as Mouse Pass-Through, built in Zmodem auto and Zmodem recovery. A very good program for the new modem user with enough features for the advanced user. Shareware from Ceder Island Software Products. Registration $25.00. It deserves a look. 31480 PKZ204C.EXE 188928 Latest Version (2.04C) of PkWare's PkZip """""""""""""""""""""""""""""" utilities in selfextracting archive form. Includes all necessary utilities for archiving and dearchiving. This new Version will decompress files compressed with the older V1.10 (PKZ110.EXE). Please note that files compressed with this Version 2.04C be decompressed by older Versions of PkZip. 31489 FFLYER.EXE 341760 The FREQUENT FLIER MANAGER is a valued """""""""""""""""""""""""""""" asset for one or more frequent airline travelers. It estimates individual flight distances and bonuses between major cities; graphically displays monthly travel and examples of aircraft seating charts; monitors and displays the miles required to achieve your next award or personal goal; has a popup memo pad; provides a "bridge" for intercomputer data exchange; contains a schedule importing capability from your display, when connected to the WS or ES systems, - and much more! IBM/DOS3.0+ with C or D hard disk. Self-Extracting. Type "FFLYER", then read file "ReadMe.Now" BEFORE PROCEEDING. Professionally developed trial use SHAREWARE for individuals and businesses. 31495 LOTOPROF.ZIP 170624 LottoProf 3.0: Unique lotto program with """""""""""""""""""""""""""""" sophisticated analysis capabilities. Tracks a player's betting progress, showing how to win more often with the same amount of money wagered. Includes lottery's winning numbers, over 180 number wheeling systems, and the ability to print bet slips directly. Lets players design number systems to meet their own needs. Requires DOS 3.0+, EGA/VGA, 1 MB disk space, and 640 KB RAM. Shareware ($39.95) from ColorVision Computing. 31497 SOA.LZH 214016 SOA, (Skill-Oriented Algebra), is meant """""""""""""""""""""""""""""" primarily for teachers. It presents a complete, computer-based course in elementary algebra. The software is MENU driven and produces printed exercises and tests formatted for direct and immediate in-class use. Exercises and tests are random number based, so the supply is substantially unlimited. Difficulty level is teacher-adjustable with answers provided on following sheets. Using a photocopier and the full course documentation, a teacher can provide a creditable, highly teachable course in algebra., designed specifically for modern students. Alternately, SOA's exercises and tests can be used to augment and enrich a more traditional, text-based course. 31502 INVSTR.ZIP 312192 This is a demo version of an excellent """""""""""""""""""""""""""""" invoice/inventory program that was written by Michael Colucci. I recently downloaded 15+ invoicing program, and found this to be the best and easiest to use for people that are not computer oriented. It has too many features too list in detail, but include: customer, product, salesman, and invoice databases that are simple to work with. It also creates reports and summaries of all types. It also has pop-up help,calendar, and calculator. I was happy to spend the $35 to receive a registered version. I upload this at the request of Michael Colucci. This program is worth the download,and the 10 item limit per page of printed invoice is easily increased 31503 NWATCH10.ZIP 143744 NIGHT WATCH - PC ACCESS CONTROL keeps """""""""""""""""""""""""""""" unauthorized persons from using your PC by requiring entry of a valid User ID & Password. The program allows you to define a personal User ID & Password for each person who is authorized to use your computer. In addition, Night Watch maintains a complete log of all successful and unsuccessful attempts to gain access to your computer. A screen saver is included so that you can run Night Watch any time you are away from your computer. 31505 BL15.ZIP 184448 Easy-to-use book database management system """""""""""""""""""""""""""""" is ideal for managing your personal, church, club or corporate library. Capacity limited only by disk space. Each record can hold the following: Title, Author, Type, Subject, E Edition, Pages, Copyright Year, Catalog ##, ISBN, Purchase Date, Price, Publisher , Location, two Note Fields, and a 31 line memo field. Features context sensitive help, mouse support and much more. Quick search and Find procedures and extensive reports that can be listed to the screen, printer or disk. Req 512K memory. Upl/Author: Lemuel D. Turner. 31520 SHERLO15.EXE 100992 Sherlock is a game of deduction, a MUST for """""""""""""""""""""""""""""" logic puzzle enthusiasts. It is your task, based upon the information available in provided clues, to determine the locations of 36 blocks. Every puzzle can be solved by using the clues to eliminate possibilities until the location of a specific block can be determined. Sherlock may be played by a SINGLE person, or a TOURNAMENT may be set up, with each person in the TOURNAMENT attempting to solve the same puzzle as quickly as possible. A TIME LIMIT may be set if desired. Shareware $15. 31521 PCV45F.ZIP 233100 PC-Vault Plus v 4.5f Hard Disk """""""""""""""""""""""""""""" Security. Requires user name/password to access hard disk even when booting from a floppy. Administrator can grant up to 12 users separate Read/Write /Execute permissions for directories and keep a record of user file accesses. LunchBreak feature blanks screen, locks keyboard. Many other features. Shareware by Johnson Computer Systems, Inc., ASP Member. 31547 STKM14.ZIP 328576 This program converts GEnie closing quotes """""""""""""""""""""""""""""" so that they can be easily read into Quicken or your favorite spreadsheet. The program correctly converts all types of stock and mutual fund quotes saving you from manually typing in prices. Has built in Portfolio Manager which keeps track of portfolio totals, % gain on total and % gain on individual stocks. Includes many other performance measuring tools. V1.4 Shareware registration $7. Requires 512k. 31550 UMB11.ZIP 8192 Memory managers such as QEMM and """""""""""""""""""""""""""""" Microsoft's EMM386 allow loading drivers and TSR's into Upper Memory Blocks (memory in the first megabyte, but above 640K). This program modifies a DOS data structure to allow normally DOS programs to use the leftover UMB memory as if it were conventional DOS memory. Can help with compilers, etc. See enclosed UMB.DOC for details. 31551 IFSE10.ZIP 130816 New for 93, views bmp's and gif's, """""""""""""""""""""""""""""" zoom capability,jpeg compression all in 1 dos utility. In these days of limited Hard Drive space, this program can be a Life saver, (reduces gifs more than 50% with no discernible loss) Suggest when prompted for compression use 50% or less :) Enjoy! 31552 GIFLK100.ZIP 107520 Now you can view a gif while downloading """""""""""""""""""""""""""""" it from any comm program, using any protocol! I have successfully added this to TT20.exe and telix and it should work in any comm software! Not just for procomm plus anymore! 31555 PHONELST.ZIP 147200 Keep those phone numbers at your """""""""""""""""""""""""""""" fingertips with COMPUTER PHONELIST! This is more than an electronic phonebook, it is a telephone database with sorting capabilities by Name, Number, City, State, and Zip code. There are corresponding reports for each sorting criteria so you can send the information to your printer as well. The registered version includes a telephone log that enables the user to keep track of long-distance phone calls, and the report on this feature serves as an excellent way to double-check the accuracy of your telephone bill. Extensive help screens throughout program - great screen display! Uploaded by author. 31573 FSCR11.ZIP 268200 From Scratch-recipe processor for Windows """""""""""""""""""""""""""""" ASP Shareware, version 1.11. Card File interface, Toolbar, Shopping list,copy to clipboard, Converts yield, complete Search, Nutrition information, Prints unlimited pages, Unlimited ingredients, unlimited # of recipes, Fractions, more! Registration includes data conversion, import/export, bound manual, support, and over 90 recipes. ASP Shareware. [Note: This file is compressed with the new version of Pkzip, V2.04C]. 31575 ORG213.ZIP 65152 ORGANIZE is an easy to use, comprehensive """""""""""""""""""""""""""""" calendar/memo program that accepts your daily notes, appointments, and memos. ORGANIZE prints attractive calendars with your notes printed in their respective calendar blocks. Online help, support for IBM Graphics and HP laserjet family of printers, configurable options. David Pritchett (ASP) 31577 FORM1.ZIP 155320 Formula1 is a High School / College """""""""""""""""""""""""""""" Algebra program which combines Computer Based Training with an Artificial Intelligence algorithm. The AI algorithm becomes an Electronic Tutor which monitors performance and guides the student through the course. If you hate Algebra but have to learn it, this is the program for you. Contains anti-virus selfcheck. Requires Harddisk, Color Monitor, and 512K Memory. Shareware. Compressed with PkZip V2.04C. 31578 KRYP22.ZIP 41236 You can solve Kryptograms or you can """""""""""""""""""""""""""""" create them for others to solve. Since there is no challenge in solving puzzles you have created yourself, share them with others - your spouse, children, friends, colleagues or the world at large. Just give them a copy of KRYPTO and the Kryptogram files you have created, and let them have fun meeting your challenge. 31583 GIFLT200.ZIP 68096 This is the brand spanking new version of """""""""""""""""""""""""""""" the popular GIFLITE program (v2.00), dated 01/05/93. Compresses GIF files up to 30%, depending on the picture complexity. This version adds a few minor bells and whistles, such as increased VESA compatibility, and added support for the Acumos chip set. A couple bugs were also corrected. This unregistered version does have certain limitations, but overall, you should be able to compress most of your files and save disk space. [*][*][*] Well, that wraps it up for this month. Remember, this is just a small sample of the files available in the IBM and Windows Roundtables. The next time you are looking for that certain utility, game or application, head on over the Software Library and, chances are, it will be there just waiting for you to download. ////////////////////////////////////// GEnie_QWIK_QUOTE //// / "Just think how boring life would be without you guys... / / energize... 8^)" / /////////////////////////////////////////// D.HARRIS8 //// [EOA] [PDQ]////////////////////////////// PD_QUICKVIEW / ///////////////////////////////// Textris: Spell Fast """"""""""""""""""" By Brad Biondo [B.BIONDO] Program Name : Textris Filename : TXTRIS11.ZIP Library Area : 7 Program Number : 31439 File Size : 99,584 Program Type : Game, Educational Author : Thomas G. Hanlin III Version Reviewed: 1.1 File Type : Shareware / $8.95 [*][*][*] FROM THE AUTHOR Textris is a twist on the familiar Tetris game. Rather """"""""""""""" than blocks of varying shapes, it has falling letters from which you can make words. Words must be from 3-7 letters long, and must not be capitalized names or trademarks. Spelling counts! You may find that playing Textris helps improve your spelling. It'll help polish up those Scrabble (or Scramble) skills, too. Of course, the main point is to have fun! You can make words either horizontally or vertically. Textris will take the longest word it can find. If it finds two words of the same length, it will pick the first it comes across. In this context, it may help to know that Textris scans from left to right before checking top to bottom. You move using the arrow keys. Either the spacebar or down arrow can be used to make a letter drop faster. The keys are shown on the screen, so you can refer to them as needed. [*][*][*] PD_Q RATING 4 LAMPS """"""""""" DOCUMENTATION EXCELLENT """"""""""""" PD_Q COMMENTS If you're going to get addicted to one of these Tetris- """"""""""""" like games, you may as well do it with one that can be of _some_ benefit, no? Textris has the power to addict you, but spelling words while you're at it seems to justify the time spent. On-screen help lets you know you can use function keys to make the letters drop to the bottom immediately when pressing the down arrow or space bar, you can toggle the sound on and off, and you can also toggle the preview next letter feature, although it almost feels like cheating by looking ahead to the next letter. But then again, it helps you plan some strategy when you're first learning the game. Two other features include a blank tile, which you can set to any letter you want (or need), as long as you press that letter before it hits bottom. Otherwise, a random letter appears. There's also an on-screen high score board, for the competitive people out there who always want to go one better. Registering provides an additional benefit which perhaps justifies this game as being educational. The registered copy of Textris comes with a dictionary editor, just the item to add the children's spelling list. Hey, whatever it takes to get the homework done, no? Registration is $8.95, plus $3.00 shipping and handling. You get the latest version of the game and dictionary, plus the dictionary editor as mentioned above. Textris is available from Thomas G. Hanlin III, 3544 E. Southern Ave. #104 Mesa, AZ 85204. [*][*][*] PD_Q QUICKIES Shortly after last month's column on Business Plan Master """"""""""""" was submitted, a Window's version was uploaded. But as I write this, I'm thinking, doesn't that belong in the WINDOWS Roundtable library? Anyway, here's the abbreviated rundown: Program Name : Business Plan Master Filename : BPMWIN10.ZIP Library Area : 3 Program Number : 31218 File Size : 123,264 Also, for the great following that has (by now) grown, there's a new version of that great game Sherlock (really, the author isn't paying me!) that I uploaded: Program Name : Sherlock Filename : SHERLO15.EXE Library Area : 7 Program Number : 31520 File Size : 100,992 Enjoy! /////////////////////////////////////////// GEnie_QWIK_QUOTE //// / "And be careful! Wear rubber gloves! Stand on a rubber mat! / / Call 911 _before_ you open the case. ;-)" / ///////////////////////////////////////////// D.A.BRUMLEVE //// [EOA] [FUN]////////////////////////////// ONLINE FUN! / ///////////////////////////////// Search-ME! """""""""" By Scott Garrigus [S.GARRIGUS] THE PHOTO RT Hi everybody! Yep, it's February already. Can you believe """""""""""" it? Boy, I wish I could build myself a time machine and relive some of those great moments. Though I'm not too sure if there were really _that_ many great moments to relive but it would still be nice. :-) We _do_ have the next best thing. Photographs. Yes, everyone's talking about photographs these days, especially since Kodak's unveiling of that new CD photo stuff. Well, guess where I visited this month... Yes, you guessed it. The Photo RT! And what a great place it is! Some of the best photographs you'll ever see in your life are in the libraries there. There are pictures in all the standard formats available for downloading and viewing on your computer. You can also contribute your own pictures to the library too! You send your pictures through the mail to the sysop and he'll scan your photos and put them in the library for free! Neat, huh? And if your into picture taking at all, the Photo BBS is a great place to talk to other people just like you! To get there, type PHOTO at any prompt. So visit the Photo RT this month and have some fun with pictures! But before you do, be sure and solve this month's puzzle. You want to be hip by showing everyone you know all the latest buzzwords right? :-) Have fun! PHOTO & VIDEO ROUNDTABLE """""""""""""""""""""""" ~ PHOTO PAGE 660 ~ X N K E D X B I G N Z C Z J Z M N A C U Y D X D S M G N X N O H P I T E L U L A H Y S Q Y D T I Y I G V A X B Y I K Y J Y U I U K N Z D N Y W G F N S W A R C B H O A U D N W D Q D D V K I I I Q O K G U A D Z F N L G O Q R E P L G F D G C T G L Y Z N X K Q M E B S C M P H V E N F G R T I D T Q A N Z C P C O H S O P B R W D P B Y N X Z X A C V K J P X Z T K C G U L O C J O O I M K E O I L I I S F T I T C T T G X H O E M R W N F H N Y U E R T Q M B C Y B V G A T N Q P O J S F O Z P O W L J S I R K N J N S T E V N V P O O R F P T W E L P E K H Y X W C Q P A E C L E U B T G Q G L R L B N A S M C I E C D A R K R O O M K P O U L Q E A N D U Y H O S T J W S M B F X P M E A U G R X S G O C P T O R S W D I S S K D F G W A T O X X M Q K A O L E C E G B O B F F M V M N K B O T R S K R H V P D N W I E N V D U I D A H S X T Z Z Y G P S I Z I C A J I G I J C F C K Q Z E R E M Y Q G S J G V W X H E X T V D S P K M F L F X ART BRONICA CANON CONVERSION DARKROOM DIGITIZE GALLERY GIF GRAPHIC IMAGE JPEG KODAK MINOLTA NIKON PHOTO PICTURE PRINT SCAN SMITHSONIAN VIDEO VIEWER [*][*][*] 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 //// / "[The game] MAELSTROM has brought me close to carpal tunnel / / syndrome, I just know it! :^) / //////////////////////////////////////////////// J.BUDIL //// [EOA] [BOB]////////////////////////////// DOCTOR BOB / ///////////////////////////////// The Plain Vanilla Guide, Part 4 """"""""""""""""""""""""""""""" By Bob M. Connors [R.CONNORS2] >>> THE PLAIN VANILLA GUIDE TO DOS <<< """""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""" Editor's Note This series of articles was originally published in """"""""""""" TeleTalk Online Magazine and distributed via the now non-existent T/TalkNETwork. Back issues of TeleTalk Online Magazine are available in the GEnieLamp RoundTable Library (M515). In my first column, we discussed the CONFIG.SYS file and I alluded to such things as an AUTOEXEC.BAT, root directories, and paths. This month, we will look at all of these things which will hopefully give you a better understanding of what they are and how to use them. Before going any further, we must define and explain the use of directories since everything we do in MS-DOS (from now on, I will just say DOS which will mean MS-DOS or PC-DOS -- and don't forget, we are discussing version 3.x, and below, of these DOS's, not the new version 4.x) depends on paths for efficient operation. If your computer does not have a hard drive, paths are not as important to you so you might want to skip past this part in that case. A directory is a file on your disk(ette). It contains a list of all the files that are currently active and visible on the disk. You can see the contents of a directory by typing "DIR" while at the DOS prompt (the DOS prompt will be a drive letter followed by a greater than (>) symbol). If you have more files than will fit on a screen, the list will scroll up off of the screen. Typing "DIR /P" (the space is not needed; "DIR/P" works the same) will cause the display to pause when the screen becomes full. You continue the display by pressing again, repeating as necessary. So think of the "/P" as the "pause" command. Here is a sample of how a typical DIRectory listing looks: Volume in drive C is PC-DOS-32 Directory of C:\ PCD-UTIL 3-15-88 8:50p AUTOEXEC BAT 1078 10-18-88 8:35a . . (other files listed here) . NANSI SYS 2500 10-20-86 Strike a key when ready . . . SETCLK COM 116 1-01-87 12:00a . . (other files listed here) . 26 File(s) 405504 bytes free The first line of the directory is the volume name or label we have given the directory (if any) using the LABEL command. If there is no name assigned, it would say "Volume in Drive C has no label." Labels, or names, can also be assigned using a parameter with the FORMAT command (/V for volume label) which we will discuss in a future column. The second line, "Directory of C:\", tells us that we are looking at the "root directory" of disk drive C. Remember last month I stated that all drives are referenced by letters, usually followed by a colon (:). The slash (\) in this line is the key to what directory we are looking at. Since nothing follows it, we know we are at the root directory. Below this line is the list of files that are contained in the directory. The first column is the name of the file. It can be from 1 to 8 alphameric (alphabetical, numerical, or special characters) characters. The filename is followed by one or more spaces and then a 1 to 3 alphameric file extension. File extensions are handy ways to group similar files by categories. When the filename and file extension are put together, they are separated by a period (.) and called a file specification. For example, the file specification for the filename, AUTOEXEC with the file extension of BAT would be AUTOEXEC.BAT while SETCLK COM would be SETCLK.COM (notice the removal of any blank spaces in the filename). The only restriction for a file name or extension is that they cannot begin with a blank space. Next we have the size, in bytes, of the file followed by the date and time of day the file was created or last written to. With only a few files on a disk, file maintenance is not a problem. However, putting all your files into one directory can get very cumbersome to deal with very quickly. That is why we have what is called "subdirectories." Looking again at the sample directory listing, we see a line that says, "PCD-UTIL" followed by "" and the date and time. This a subdirectory (subdir), or a directory within a directory. We could list this subdir by typing the command, "DIR PCD-UTIL/P," at the DOS prompt. All the files that are contained in the subdir would be listed just as the files in our root directory were. We can use subdirs to put files together that are similar. For example, let's say I have Turbo Pascal. All the files for Turbo Pascal could be put in a subdir entitled "TURBO" in order to keep them together. Likewise, the TURBO subdir could contain other subdirs to group the source listings of programs I write, the .EXE(cutable) files created by the compiler, etc. So as you can see, directories can contain subdirs which can contain subdirs which can contain subdirs which.... well, you get the idea. Each of these subdirs then could be used to group together files of a similar nature. The following diagram is typical of the organization of directories: D:\-+-BATCH | +-CVCS--------+-CATALOG | | | +-CM------------DATA | | | +-G&J | | | +-QUARTET +-DOSUTIL | +-KITTY | +-WC------------REMOVED | +-WILDCAT-----+-BULLETIN | | | +-DISPLAY | | | +-DOORS-------+-TW200 | | | | | +-TW500 | +-HELP | | | +-LIVECAT | | | +-MENU | | | +-PROTOCOL | +-WORKAREA----+-ARC | +-TESTDOOR This diagram is commonly referred to as a "tree" and is used to graphically illustrate the structure of disk directories. I am sure, based on how it looks, you can see where it got the "tree" name. We start at the root (D:\) and "branch" out from there. Our root directory contains seven subdirs, BATCH, CVCS, DOSUTIL, KITTY, WC, WILDCAT, and WORKAREA. Some of the subdirs have other subdirs and some of the subdirs have more subdirs. Okay, here it comes, so pay attention here. What you are looking at are "paths" which are not to be confused with the DOS command known as "PATH" (although they are related). A path is nothing more than the way to get to a specific directory or subdir. For example, let's say we want to list the files in the TESTDOOR subdir. We already have covered the DIR command (partially; more will be covered later) so we have the basics on how to do it. There are different ways we could examine that subdir's directory listing. The easiest, at least at this point, would be to type "DIR WORKAREA\TESTDOOR" at the DOS prompt. Here is what we would see: Volume in drive D is DATADRIVE-D Directory of D:\WORKAREA\TESTDOOR . 6-28-88 9:07p .. 6-28-88 9:07p 2 File(s) 4632576 bytes free Hmm, looks a little different than the last directory display, doesn't it? The familiar volume name is there in the first line. Our second line looks almost the same but now contains information after the "D:\" which tells us the name of the directory (or subdir) we are looking at. However, there are no files listed even though the last line says that two files are there. What gives? Notice that there are two lines with shown. The first line contains a single dot in the directory/file name column and the second line contains two dots. These two lines (with different dates and times) will appear anytime you get a directory listing of a subdir. In the first line, the single dot represents the "current" directory or, as in this case, the directory D:\WORKAREA\TESTDOOR. The two dots in the second line represent the next higher, or parent, directory or, as in this case, D:\WORKAREA. Note that DOS considers these dots to represent files, thus, 2 File(s) are contained in this subdir. Later on, we will discuss how to use these shorthand dots when moving from directory to directory. The main point of this discussion is that "D:\WORKAREA\TESTDOOR" represents a "path" to the directory we want displayed. Paths are used by many DOS commands, one of which (DIR) we just covered. As we continue this column about DOS, you will see how important paths can be. This month, I will cover just the PATH command itself as we go over the second file that DOS looks for when it initializes, AUTOEXEC.BAT. What is a .BAT file anyway? The extension BAT stands for BATCH file. This file is a pure text file that contains a series of commands that are performed by DOS just as if you typed the commands from the keyboard one at a time. When you type a command, DOS will check to see if that command is part of its built-in library of commands. If not, it will next see if the command is a command (.COM) file. Again, if not, DOS checks to see if the command is an executable (.EXE) file. Finally, failing all else, DOS will check to see if the command is a .BAT file (if not, then it issues an error message, "File not found"). Assuming it is a .BAT file, DOS will open the file and read each line, one at a time, acting on each before going to the next. The file can contain DOS library commands or lines that contain the .COM or .EXE file commands, and can even jump to another .BAT file if need be. More detail about how to create and use batch files will be covered in a future column but for now, let's just concentrate on the AUTOEXEC.BAT file. The purpose of the AUTOEXEC.BAT file is to relieve you of the drudgery of typing various commands over each time you boot-up (or reset) your computer. I will use the AUTOEXEC.BAT file I use to initialize my BBS system as an example for this discussion and in the process, you will see some new DOS commands. I won't go into a lot of detail about these commands since most will be covered in later columns. I will tell you, however, what the commands are doing in this batch file. Each line of the batch file will be numbered for reference purposes only. The numbers should not be included in the batch file. Here it is: 1 ECHO OFF 2 REM set DOS path 3 PATH C:\;C:\PCD-UTIL;D:\BATCH;D:\DOSUTIL 4 REM Get battery backed-up DATE and TIME 5 GETCLK 6 MODE MONO 7 MODE COM1: 9600,N,8,1 8 PROMPT $P$G 9 REM Define EDIT Configuration file 10 SET EDCONFIG=D:\DOSUTIL 11 REM Force system into TURBO (8 Mhz) Mode 12 FAST 13 REM Activate DOS PRINT utility, with 1K buffer and 20 entries allowed 14 PRINT /D:PRN /Q:20 15 SPS > NIL 16 BRK ON 17 ECHO. 18 ECHO Press ^C to ABORT batch file at this point if desired 19 REM Pause for 3 seconds before continuing in case ^C desired 20 WAIT! 3 21 REM Execute CAT.BAT to load and execute WILDCAT! BBS 22 CAT.BAT In line 1, we see the ECHO command followed by the parameter, OFF. Normally, as a batch file is executing, all the commands are echoed to the display. The command, ECHO OFF, tells DOS we do not want to see all these commands. This makes the display look a bit nicer. Things tend to move pretty fast during batch execution and sometimes you won't even be able to read what is happening, so you might as well turn the ECHO OFF. Besides, echoing commands to the screen does slow down the batch execution. You can turn the ECHO back on by just putting the word "ECHO" or "ECHO ON" in a separate line. Line 2 starts with the REM command. REM is short for REMark and is used to document your batch file. Anything following REM is ignored by DOS. If ECHO is ON, REM lines will appear on your video display. By the way, both ECHO and REM are commands used _ONLY_ in batch files. Typing them from the DOS prompt has no effect. In our REM line, we indicate that we are going to set the DOS PATH (finally, useful path information!). Line 3 is the PATH command which is used by DOS to determine where to look for a file if it can not be found in the current directory or subdirectory. Remember a few lines ago my talking about how DOS searches for a file (the .COM, the .EXE, or the .BAT files)? If no path is set, DOS issues the File not found error message if the file is not in the current directory/subdir. If the path is set, DOS will search for the file in each directory/subdir specified by the command before issuing the error message (assuming the file isn't found in any of them). To see what your path is set to, just type PATH from the DOS prompt. If you see "PATH =" with nothing following it, then there is no path for DOS to use. Let's look at line 3 and see exactly what is there. Of course, we have the word, "PATH." Following that command, there are a series of "paths," each separated by a semicolon. Each "path" is the drive and directory we want DOS to search when looking for files. Since my C: drive has DOS in the root directory, I specified a path of "C:\." I put all the utilities for DOS (such as format, backup, chkdsk, etc.) in a subdir on drive C: called PCD-UTIL, so I included that subdir in the path line. Almost all of my batch files are on drive D: in a subdir called BATCH, so that is the next path I have included. The subdir of DOSUTIL contains many utilities that I have accumulated over the years and that is the final entry on the line. Note that each of these directories is separated by the semicolon except for the last one. The end of line characters (a carriage return followed by a line feed), which does not display, ends the PATH command. Once executed, DOS will search, in order, the current directory, and then the directories specified in the PATH command and either execute the file if found or issued the error message. To reset (delete) the PATH command, the command, "PATH=" at the DOS prompt or in a batch file will remove the path and DOS will only check the current directory once again. One final note about PATH. DOS uses it to find executable files only, not data files. Data files should always be in the current directory or the application program must be given the path in which the files can be found. Line 4 is another remark while line 5 contains a command, GETCLK. GETCLK is not a DOS command. It is the name of a .COM file that came on a diskette with my multi-I/O (input/output) board that has a battery backed-up clock on it. It causes the clock date and time to be used as the system (DOS) date and time and eliminates the need to manually set the date and time each boot-up. Note that I did not include the .COM designation since it is not needed (DOS adds it automatically, as it will the .EXE and .BAT designations if the .COM is not found). Lines 6 and 7 use the DOS MODE command. MODE is used to set values for various devices that you may have connected to your computer. Among these are the printer, a modem, and the video display. The first MODE command informs DOS that my system uses a monographic display (as opposed to color). The second MODE command initializes my communications port to use port 1 at 9600 baud with no parity, an 8-bit word, and one stop bit. What all these mean is beyond the scope of this article but if you use a modem with a communications program, your documentation covers them. The next line, Line 8, has a command called PROMPT. When you first boot-up DOS, the prompt line for DOS is the letter of the drive followed by the colon and a "greater than" symbol. For example, if you boot-up on drive C, your prompt is "C>". No matter what directory on your C drive you are in, you will see the same DOS prompt. I for one, like to know what directory (or path) I am currently in which is what my command, "PROMPT $P$G," does. If I am on drive D in subdir MENU, my DOS prompt shows: D:\WILDCAT\MENU>. If I change drives, the drive letter, as well as the path, also changes. This way, I am always aware of where I am at regardless of the drive or directory I currently have active. The PROMPT command has other options you can use to set colors and other neat things. We will cover them later. Line 10 contains the SET command. If you type "SET" at the DOS prompt, you will see such things as the location of the COMMAND.COM file, what your path is set to, what your PROMPT variables are (if any), and other SETtings that you have specified. In my batch file, I tell DOS that EDCONFIG should be set to the D:\DOSUTIL path. This setting is stored in reserved memory in what is called the DOS environment. DOS does not use this particular SETting, but another file I have does. The file is a text editor which will search the DOS environment for the term, "EDCONFIG=", and when found, extracts the path so that it knows where to place its configuration files. Many programs use this feature which acts almost like the PATH command. If a program you use takes advantage of the feature, it will be in the documentation for that program and it will tell you exactly what the SET parameters should be. Be aware that you can issue a SET command over and over again, each one containing different parameters (similar to the DEVICE command in the CONFIG.SYS file we talked about last month). Next is the FAST command in line 12. Again, this is not a DOS command. Rather, it is the name of a .COM file that switches my computer into the TURBO mode, changing the operating speed from 4.77 mhz to 8 mhz. In line 14, I tell DOS to setup the printer spooler for 'future' use; that is, reserve space for it without actually printing anything at this time. The /D:PRN parameter tells the PRINT command that I want DOS to use the standard PRiNter device. I could have also stated LPT1 (line printer 1) since it is the same as the PRN device. Alternatively, I could have used LPT2 if, for example, I have 2 printers and want to use the second one for the spooler (or only one printer but it is connected to the second printer port). The /Q:20 parameter tells DOS that I want to specify up to a maximum of 20 files to be printed at one time (higher or lower numbers can be used). PRINT has many more parameters than the two specified here (which we will cover later) but I find that these two are sufficient for most purposes. Now whenever I want to print a file, I type (at the DOS prompt) "PRINT filespec" and DOS will put the file into a queue (pronounced cue) for printing. I can issue up to 20 such commands and each file will be printed one at a time in the order I issued the PRINT commands. DOS will send a form feed (page eject) after each file is printed. Anytime I want to see the current status of the queue, I issue the PRINT command without any parameters. The current file being printed is shown along with a list of all other files waiting in the queue to be printed. If there are no files being printed, DOS will display the message, "PRINT queue is empty." By the way, a queue is a term that describes a line (yes, even when in line at the bank, you are in a queue waiting for your turn). Queues can be based on 'first in, first out' (FIFO) or 'last in, first out' (LIFO). Our PRINT queue is a FIFO queue. DOS gives us the capability of sending to the printer anything that is on the screen. If, at the DOS prompt, we type Shift-PrtSc (hold down the Shift key and press the PrtSc key), whatever is currently on the screen is sent to the printer. If we type Ctrl-PrtSc, this process is continuous until Ctrl-PrtSc is typed again. Sometimes I don't want the entire screen sent to the printer but would rather have only a portion of the screen printed. That is the purpose of line 15. SPS is a .COM file that is called a TSR (terminate, stay resident) program. It loads itself into memory, hooks into DOS, and then returns to the DOS prompt (or back to the batch file). It sits there waiting for the Shift-PrtSc combination. When that combination is seen, it allows me to specify the starting and stopping point of the screen dump to printer. That way, I don't need the entire screen printed each time. The portion of the line that says "> NIL" tells DOS that this program will generate screen output when it is first run and that I don't want to see the output. So DOS sends it to NIL which means, nowhere. Actually, NIL is a file that DOS uses to reroute things of no practical value. Since there is no practical reason for me to see the output from SPS.COM each time, I route it to NIL (by the way, rerouting is also called "piping"). Remember, ECHO OFF only works with batch commands, not the output from an application program. The "BRK ON" in line 16 is similar to SPS. However, it does not load itself into memory; in fact, it is not even a .COM file. It is a command that has been added to DOS by a DEVICE driver I have in my CONFIG.SYS file (DEVICE=BRK.DRV). This driver permits me to allow or disallow processing of ^C/^Break keystrokes. Since my BBS uses live programs where the BBS is exited and a batch file is executed (which ^C or ^Break can terminate), having the ability to turn off ^C/^Break processing by DOS is essential. Otherwise, callers could break out of the executing batch file and cause havoc to my system (they would go to the DOS prompt). In this line, I turn the ^C/^Break processing on because of lines 17-20. In line 17, we see a variant of the ECHO command; it is followed immediately by a period (.) which causes a blank line to be displayed. It is useful for spacing. In line 18, we tell DOS to ECHO the phrase following the ECHO command. This turns ECHO on *only* for this one line; it turns OFF again right after the line is displayed. This is how you can send prompts for particular actions you may want to accomplish. In this case, I use it as a way to break out of the batch file if I do not want the BBS to activate. It tells me to press ^C to ABORT the batch file if I desire. Line 20 uses the WAIT!.EXE program (from Mustang Software, the authors of my BBS software) to countdown 3 seconds while waiting for the ^C. If I do not type ^C during that time, the batch file continues. If I do type it, DOS will ask me if I want to terminate the batch file. If I answer yes, the batch file is exited. If I answer no, it continues as if I never pressed ^C. If I do not press ^C or answer no to the termination prompt, line 22 executes the CAT.BATch file that initializes the BBS (turns it on) and this batch file (AUTOEXEC.BAT) is done. Let's summarize what we have learned in this month's column. AUTOEXEC.BAT is a text file that contains a series of commands, each on a separate line, that emulate (and eliminates) typing of the commands at the DOS prompt. AUTOEXEC.BAT is always looked for by DOS at boot-up or reset and if found, is executed. The file can contain any DOS command, .COMmand file names, .EXEcutable file names, or .BATch file names. Parameters for these files can be included in each batch line. We can document a AUTOEXEC.BAT using the special batch REM command and can turn on or off screen displays using the batch ECHO command. We can even direct the DOS send screen displays from any of the files to a special NIL file, resulting in cleaner displays (or no display at all). Finally, we can jump from our AUTOEXEC.BAT to any other batch file. We can change AUTOEXEC.BAT at any time simply by editing it to add, change, or delete lines using any text editor or word processor that does not imbed any type of formatting control codes in the file. By thinking through and planning your AUTOEXEC.BAT file, very powerful sequences can be put together. The best way to determine what you will need in your batch file is to keep track of all the things you now type from the DOS prompt (such as setting the date and time, establishing your prompt, etc.) and including those things in the batch file. It is a great time saver. I know that I promised you all last month that I would discuss the VDISK ramdisk utility, but I simply have no room for it this month. It will be first on our agenda next month. See you then. TTFN! Copyright (c) 1988 by Robert M. Connors Permission to Reprint is granted provided Copyright Notice is included in reprint. [*][*][*] Do you have a question or comment for Doctor Bob? Leave GE Mail to R.CONNORS2 or you can reach him in the GEnieLamp bulletin board (M515;1) or you can contact him on the BBS Wildcat! Orphanage at 719-392-6631. /////////////////////////////////// GEnie_QWIK_QUOTE //// / ">(Have anything against being quoted in print?) ;)" / / "Nah, anything I say is PD. :)" / //////////////////////////////////////// G.FUHRMAN //// [EOA] [CLA]////////////////////////////// CLASSICS / ///////////////////////////////// Try Some Triangles """""""""""""""""" By Brad Biondo [B.BIONDO] Program Name : My First Mosaic Kit Filename : MOSKIT1.ZIP Library Area : 14 Program Number : 25917 File Size : 70,656 Program Type : Graphics Author : James A. Porter Version Reviewed: 1.2 File Type : Shareware / $15 [*][*][*] FROM THE AUTHOR The idea for this program came to me when I visited my """"""""""""""" grandchildren in the spring of 1991. My eight year old grandson, Chris, had a birthday and he received a puzzle that had a number of plastic pieces that fit into a frame to make a pattern. This program uses pieces to help you explore designs. It is a process similar to that used by craftsmen who use pieces of stone or glass to create inlaid design called mosaics. You will use the computer and make your design on the computer screen. This program requires your computer to have a VGA color screen and a 'mouse'. A mouse is a small hand-held device that controls the movement of the cursor (the arrow in this program) on the computer screen. It allows you, the operator, to point to places on the screen. The pieces you will use to make your mosaic design are equilateral triangles (a triangle that has all three sides the same length). You will be able to select one of sixteen colors for your piece and place that piece within the frame used to display your design. You will also be able to mix your own colors. You can create more than 250,000 different colors with this program but will only be able to use sixteen at one time. [*][*][*] PD_Q RATING 3 LAMPS """"""""""" DOCUMENTATION EXCELLENT """"""""""""" PD_Q COMMENTS It's been a long time since I've been a kid, so it's hard """"""""""""" to decide how much appeal this program has to the younger GEnie members (or descendants of the older GEnie members). But if our little ones are anything like Jim's (the author) grandchildren, then they should enjoy this program. Although the hardware requirements mentioned above may limit the audience for this one, it would be just too cumbersome without the mouse. There is a grid of sixteen colors which you use to set the color of the next triangle you place in the frame. You can also turn on a grid in the frame. This is particularly useful when trying to achieve a geometrically symmetric design (wait a minute, does geometry have anything to do with symmetry?). The program allows you to save and retrieve your patterns, so you can record Johnny's or Suzie's masterpiece for posterity (and register two copies of the program and send the artwork to Grandma and Grandpa). Jim has also sent along six samples, including a nice 3-D pattern (my personal favorite). Registration is $15, which the author is donating to his grandchildren's school. My First Mosaic Kit is available from James A. Porter, 8400 Post Oak Road, Potomac, MD 20854. He is also working on a print program to go along with this program. ////////////////////////////////////////////// GEnie_QWIK_QUOTE //// / "First thing is don't panic!! And, don't give up until you have / / found help from someone more knowledgeble than I!" / /////////////////////////////////////////////////// R.MOSHER1 //// [EOA] [ADD]////////////////////////////// ADD ALADDIN! / ///////////////////////////////// Cut & Paste Scripts For Aladdin """"""""""""""""""""""""""""""" By Jim Lubin [JIM.LUBIN] >>> TOP 1OO WORLD NEWS SCRIPT <<< """"""""""""""""""""""""""""""""" TURBO-ALADDIN! The following script will log onto GEnie and capture the """""""""""""" latest 100 World News Stories to a file for viewing offline. ~ cut here ~ Script # Latest 100 World News Stories log onto "8013" sendline "2" waitfor "Reuter World Report" erasefile "world100.nws" capture "world100.nws" waitfor "or uit" sendline "" waitfor "or uit" sendline "" waitfor "or uit" sendline "" waitfor "or uit" sendline "" waitfor "or uit" sendline "" waitfor "or uit" sendline "" waitfor "or uit" endcapture sendline "1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12,13,14,15" capture "world100.nws" waitfor "Item Time Headline" endcapture waitfor "or uit" sendline "16,17,18,19,20,21,22,23,24,25,26,27,28,29,30" capture "world100.nws" waitfor "Item Time Headline" endcapture waitfor "or uit" sendline "31,32,33,34,35,36,37,38,39,40,41,42,43,44,45" capture "world100.nws" waitfor "Item Time Headline" endcapture waitfor "or uit" sendline "46,47,48,49,50,51,52,53,54,55,56,57,58,59,60" capture "world100.nws" waitfor "Item Time Headline" endcapture waitfor "or uit" sendline "61,62,63,64,65,66,67,68,69,70,71,72,73,74,75" capture "world100.nws" waitfor "Item Time Headline" endcapture waitfor "or uit" sendline "76,77,78,79,80,81,82,83,84,85,86,87,88,89,90" capture "world100.nws" waitfor "Item Time Headline" endcapture waitfor "or uit" sendline "91,92,93,94,95,96,97,98,99,100" capture "world100.nws" waitfor "Item Time Headline" endcapture waitfor "or uit" sendcommand "Q" EndScript ~ cut here ~ >>> HOW TO ADD THIS SCRIPT TO ALADDIN <<< """"""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""" Installing The Script First of all, you will need to separate this """"""""""""""""""""" script from the magazine. To do this, just load this magazine into any word processor or text editor, and cut or block this script file out to it's own separate file and save it as SCRIPT.TXT. Place SCRIPT.TXT into your Aladdin folder. Your script file will now automatically load in when you boot up Aladdin. IMPORTANT! If you are already running one or more script files, you will """""""""" need to append this file to the end of your present SCRIPT.TXT. To do this in... Aladdin IBM """"""""""" o At Aladdin's main menu, call up an available script, or overwrite an existing script: [F7,A] -to use an available script entry [F7,E,n] -to edit a script already used (n is the number of the script) o Make note of the script number in the script editor. o Use CTRL-Y to delete ALL the current text lines in the script editor. o Use CTRL-K,R to read the script file into the script editor. [CTRL-K,R,,ENTER] o Change the # in the line SCRIPT # to reflect the script number you've previously noted. o ESC to save ALADDIN ST/AMI """""""""""""" o Under the "File" menu, click on the "Edit User Script" option. This will load in your current script file. o Position the cursor at the end of your script file. Now, using the "Paste File" option under "Edit" add the new script file. o Change the # in the line SCRIPT # to reflect the script number you've previously noted. For example, if you have already installed 3 files, the line would like like this: Script 4 Latest 100 News Stories o ESC to save //////////////////////////////////////// GEnie_QWIK_QUOTE //// / A A A I I I I / / I I / / I E / / E ~~~~ / / E _____ ..~ / / E ______ O / / / E _____ /== / // / / ! // / ==/ / / \ ! / _ / / / / \ ! / ____ \\//\\ / / \ / _____ \/ \\_ / / _______SPLAAT!_______ \/ / //////////////////////////////////////////// R.MARTIN22 //// [EOA] [LOG]////////////////////////////// LOG OFF / ///////////////////////////////// GEnieLamp Information """"""""""""""""""""" o COMMENTS: Contacting GEnieLamp o GEnieLamp STAFF: Who Are We? o GET_THE_LAMP Scripts & Macros o SEARCH-ME! Answers GEnieLamp GEnieLamp is monthly online magazine published in the """"""""" GEnieLamp RoundTable on page 515. You can also find GEnieLamp in the ST (475), the Macintosh (605), the IBM (615) Apple II (645), A2Pro (530), Unix (160), Mac Pro (480), Geoworks (1050), BBS (610), CE Software (1005) and the Mini/Mainframe (1145) RoundTables. GEnieLamp can also be found on CrossNet, Internet, America Online and many public and commercial BBS systems worldwide. We welcome and respond to all GEmail.To leave messages, suggestions or just to say hi, you can contact us in the GEnieLamp RoundTable (515) or send GE Mail to John Peters at [GENIELAMP] on page 200. U.S. MAIL """"""""" GEnieLamp Online Magazine Atten: John Peters 5102 Galley Rd. Suite 115/B Colorado Springs, CO 80915 >>> GEnieLamp STAFF <<< """"""""""""""""""""""" GEnieLamp o John Peters [GENIELAMP] Editor-In-Chief """"""""" ATARI ST o John Gniewkowski [J.GNIEWKOWSK] Editor """""""" o Mel Motogawa [M.MOTOGAWA] ST Staff Writer o Terry Quinn [TQUINN] ST Staff Writer o Sheldon Winick [S.WINICK] ST Staff Writer o Richard Brown [R.BROWN30] ST Staff Writer o John Hoffman [JLHOFFMAN] ST Staff Writer ATARI TX2 o David Holmes [D.HOLMES14] TX2 Editor """"""""" ATARI [PR] o Fred Koch [F.KOCH] Editor """""""""" IBM o Robert M. Connors [R.CONNORS2] Editor """ o Peter Bogert [P.BOGERT1] IBM Staff Writer o Brad Biondo [B.BIONDO] IBM Staff Writer o Tippy Martinez [TIPPY.ONE] IBM Staff Writer MACINTOSH o James Flanagan [JFLANAGAN] Editor """"""""" o Richard Vega [R.VEGA] Mac Co-Editor o Tom Trinko [T.TRINKO] Mac Staff Writer o Bret Fledderjohn [FLEDDERJOHN] Mac Staff Writer o Bill Garrett [BILL.GARRETT] Mac Staff Writer MacPRO o James Flanagan [JFLANAGAN] Editor """""" o Erik C. Thauvin [MACSPECT] Supervising Editor o Chris Innanen [C.INNANEN] MacPRO Staff Writer o Paul Collins [P.COLLINS] MacPRO Staff Writer APPLE II o Darrel Raines [D.RAINES] Editor """""""" o Phil Shapiro [P.SHAPIRO1] A2 Co-Editor o Mel Fowler [MELSOFT] A2 Staff Writer A2Pro o Jim B. Couch [J.COUCH2] Editor """"" INTERNET o Jim Lubin [JIM.LUBIN] GEnieLamp IBM """""""" ETC. o Jim Lubin [JIM.LUBIN] Add Aladdin """" o Scott Garrigus [S.GARRIGUS] Search-ME! o Bruce Faulkner [R.FAULKNER4] CrossNET Support o Mike White [M.WHITE25] Cowlumnist (CowTOONS!) GEnieLamp CONTRIBUTORS """""""""""""""""""""" o Steven Weyhrich [S.WEYHRICH] o Dan "Remo" Barter [D.BARTER] o Jeffrey O. Panosian, M.D. [J.O.P.] o Stephen Litwin [S.LITWIN2] >>> SEARCH-ME! 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All articles must remain unedited and include the issue number and author at the top of each article reprinted. Reprint permission granted, unless otherwise noted, to registered computer user groups and not for profit publications. Opinions present herein are those of the individual authors and does not necessarily reflect those of the publisher or staff of GEnieLamp. We reserve the right to edit all letters and copy. Include the following at the end of every reprint: \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\//////////////////////////////////// (c) Copyright 1993 T/TalkNET Online Publishing and GEnie. To join GEnie, set your modem to 2400 baud (or less) and half duplex (local echo). Have the modem dial 1-800-638-8369. When you get a CONNECT message, type HHH. At the U#= prompt, type: XTX99368,GENIE and hit the return key. The system will then ask you for your information. Call (voice)1-800-638-9636 for more information about GEnie. \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\//////////////////////////////////// [EOF]****