NeXT Nugget News Digest (vol. 2, issue 6, March 30, 1992) ISSUE SIX issue of the 1992 NeXT NUGGET NEWS DIGEST Table of Contents I. Largest Known Prime Number and NeXT II. Attention NeXTSTEP developers - from the Developer Association: ANDI III. rmNUG newsletter is now available IV. OpenCAD on the NeXT is shipping V. NeXT Computer is seeking a great CIM Engineer VI. MIDIapolis Systems ships SoundBursts Digital Sound Collections VII. NOW SHIPPING, SpeedDeX: a Multimedia Information Manager VIII. Federal Office Systems and Equipment Show (FOSE) IX. Massachusetts NeXT Network Admin for 130 systems X. Spring 92 NeXTanswers available XI. Magazine contacts XII. NeXTwatch publication information Conrad Geiger International NeXT User Groups Email: user_groups@next.com ___________________________________________________________________ I. Largest Known Prime Number and NeXT News: Largest Known Prime Number Verified in U.S. Using NeXT Technology REDWOOD CITY, Calif., March 27, 1992 - NeXT Computer, Inc. today announced that the largest prime number, discovered by Cray scientists Gage and Slowinski during a random search at a computer laboratory in Great Britain, was verified in the U.S. using a NeXT program. The new prime number was reported in the March 26, 1992 issue of Nature magazine. The new world record prime was verified by Crandall, Doenias and Smitley on a government supercomputer running a software program written at NeXT, using NeXTstation workstations and NeXT-to-supercomputer connectivity tools. The software development for the program took place over the last two years, using connections between NeXT and the San Diego Supercomputer Center. The new number is (2 ^756839) - 1. The NeXT program verifies in about 16 Cray hours that this number is indeed a prime number. "When they stumbled upon this new prime in England they asked a group of us in the U.S. P a team we refer to as the `Gang-of-Eight' to prove the number was indeed prime," explained Richard E. Crandall, NeXT's chief scientist. The "Gang-of-Eight" had been searching on their own for many months for primes in the region of 2^200000 to 2^500000; the newly discovered prime is way beyond this range, but still easily handled by the software. In fact, the NeXT method can test numbers for primality, up to 2^32000000. When the team became aware of the possibility of a new prime beyond their search region, Crandall and Josh Doenias, a programmer at NeXT, asked David Smitley, a government scientist, to perform the test overnight. In this way a Cray-2 supercomputer at a U.S. government supercomputer center in Maryland ran the C software code from NeXT, 16 hours later verifying the British-discovered number as the world's largest prime. "The verification program we developed with NeXT software technology arose from several ideas exchanged among the Gang-of-Eight over the last few years," Crandall said. "Modern programs such as this one combine ideas from the fields of number theory and signal processing. One basically treats the digits of a monster number as a signal, and applies some new algorithms from the field of signal processing. It says a great deal for NeXT technology, portability and connectivity that we not only developed the program using NeXT tools, but also found it so easy to run the program overnight on a Cray supercomputer, the most powerful computer in the world. "In addition to Crandall, Doenias and Smitley, members of the Gang-of- Eight included Barry Fagin at Dartmouth College, Walter Colquitt at HARC, Joseph Buhler at Reed College, Roger Frye at Thinking Machines, Inc. and David Slowinski at Cray Research, Inc. ___________________________________________________________________ II. Attention NeXTSTEP developers - from the Developer Association: ANDI From: strehl@socrates.umd.edu (Bill Strehl) Subject: ANDI goes to Moscow and Dallas Greetings, ANDI is going to be at the "COMDEX of Russia" April 6-10. ANY developer (developer-Individual and up) can have their product shown if we receive your product by Wednesday, April 1 along with membership application and payment. ANDI will be at a conference in Dallas April 22-23 and we must have any products, application and payment by April 20. We are committed to getting the word out about your products, so we hope you will be joining us. Hope to have you on board soon. Bill Strehl Executive Director Association of NeXTSTEP Developers International Email: strehl@socrates.umd.edu ___________________________________________________________________ III. rmNUG newsletter is now available Date: Thu, 26 Mar 1992 22:04:20 -0700 From: Glenn Davis Subject: Electronic Version of the March Newsletter is available After a 4 month hiatus, the newsletter of the Rocky Mountain NeXT User's Group is back. New editor: Leann Coulter New name: "Nextword" (This is vol 1, num 1) New electronic format: Rich Text (rtf) Same old place: nugget.rmnug.org (138.67.4.15) ~ftp/pub/rmNUG/newsletters This one is named nextword_1_1.rtf.Z. It includes articles, opinions and old news by such luminaries as myself, Russ Schissler and Barbera Dyker. Kudos to Leann (Leann.Coulter@rmnug.org) !!! -glenn President of rmNUG ___________________________________________________________________ IV. OpenCAD on the NeXT is shipping DESCRIPTION OpenCAD 2-D is the first CAD available on NeXT computers. It is a bidimensional CAD for technical design and project. It was born as 2-D module of a 3-D CAD. (The 3-D version will be available soon). Commands can be given by using mouse and menus or by the keyboard. Menus are fully customizable by the user. New macro-commands can be defined and included in personalized menus. Multiple windows allow the user to focus on different details of the same project. OpenCAD includes HPGL as communication protocol. This guarantees perfect compatibility with a vast number of graphic peripherals. Drawings can be exchanged with other systems by using the standard IGES interface (Initial Graphics Exchange Specification). OpenCAD uses a X-Window environment. It has been tested with various X implementations on NeXT (Cub'X, Co-Xist and a public-domain X11-R5). A public-domain version X11-R5 is available at the cost of the media to customers who request it when buying OpenCAD. OpenCAD 2-D users will be able to upgrade to OpenCAD 3-D as soon as it will be available. PRIMITIVES OpenCAD allows to generate the following primitives: - Points - Lines - Circles - Ellipses - Hyperbolas - Parabolas - Cross-hatchings - Text - Quotation EDITING The package has many commands for modifying the primitives. In particular, available commands for the graphic primitives include TRIM/EXTEND, DELETE PART, INTERSECT, DIVIDE, JOIN, SMOOTH, STRETCH, and MOVE SPLINE POLES. It is also possible to modify the attributes of text and quotations primitives (character height and inclination, number of digits, arrow shape, reference distance, etc.) QUOTATION Many OpenCAD commands are available for quoting the drawings. Several options can be combined, making quotation an easy and quick task. Quotations are composited primitives, which can be freely modified by the user. Whenever the graphic primitives are modified, corresponding quotations are automatically updated. Dimensional tolerances can be given directly according to ISO standards. The following commands are available: - 2 points - line - parallel lines - angle - radius - diameter - axis diameter - incremental (Cartesian coordinates) - chain - label as well as the following options: - series - parallel - progressive - aligned - optimal CROSS-HATCHINGS All kind of cross-hatchings specified by IGES are available. OpenCAD can provide the following informations of any cross-hatched area: - perimeter - area - baricenter - principal axes of inertia - inertia momenta - resistence module MACRO A macro is a sequence of commands and operands, grouped so that they can be recalled with a single instruction. Macros are defined interactively. They can be saved to a library and later recalled by the user, who can use them exactly like a normal command. GSL LANGUAGE GSL (Graphic Structured Language) is an OpenCAD module which makes it possible for the user to interact with the drawing and its elements through procedures instead of through normal commands. Such procedures are written in a C-like programming language: GSL. Besides having the common functionalities of a structured language (like if, while, for etc.), GSL also offers specific functions for operating on the graphic elements which form an OpenCAD drawing. GSL advantages are obvious, since it allows to personalize OpenCAD so as to solve user's special requirements. Among the GSL utilities we mention the possibility to define object (like a chair, bolt, tank or gear) in a parametric way. From parametric templates one can then, for instance, obtain rescaled or stretched objects. GSL also includes I/O functions which allow to exchange data with other programs, such as management software or programs performing intensive calculations. OpenCAD 2-D V1.0 Availability ------------------------------------------------ OpenCAD 2-D March/April 1992 OpenCAD 3-D May 1992 IGES module April 1992 Mapping module May 1992 Multilicense discounts avaliable. CONTACT for pricing: EclipsE S.r.l. Largo Posta, 5 I - 38068 Rovereto (TN) Italy Phone: +39 (461) 234460 Fax: +39 (461) 234358 E-mail: info@eclipse.sublink.org ___________________________________________________________________ V. NeXT Computer is seeking a great CIM Engineer... Job Description: NeXT CIM engineers write NeXTSTEP applications which increase productivity within Manufacturing. CIM engineers are expected to meet with internal groups, form project plans, and drive the implementation. Additionally, CIM engineers create reusable objects which increase productivity and ease support. The successful candidate will have a mix of solid programming skills and a practical awareness of the factory necessary to create the right tools. CIM Integration Includes: - CAD Driven PCA Assembly - Product Genealogy - Procurement and Supplier Management - Shipping and Receiving Operations - Service Operations - Quality Data Collection and Display - Barcode Data Entry - Electronic Data Interchange - Sawyer Motor Robotics - Device Control - Vision Applications Necessary Skills/Qualities: - BSCS, BSME, or BSEE - 3+ years of C programming ( you must be very solid ) - Potential to pick up new tools quickly - Possess a high degree of self motivation and project ownership - Solid teamwork and people skills - Able to identify new project opportunities and articulate the benefits Related Skills: - Objective C - UNIX - SQL - PostScript - Manufacturing experience Please Respond To: Steve Herrick NeXT Computer, Inc. 760 Mission Court Fremont, CA 94039 email: steve_herrick@next.com ___________________________________________________________________ VI. MIDIapolis Systems ships SoundBursts Digital Sound Collections For immediate release: Contact: Gerard Schwarz MIDIapolis SYstems 612-822-1604 MIDIapolis Systems ships SoundBursts Digital Sound Collections for NeXTSTEP computers. MINNEAPOLIS, Minnesota, March 16, 1992 -- MIDIapolis Systems today began shipping SoundBursts Digital Sound Collections for NeXTSTEP computers. SoundBursts allows users to enhance their NeXTSTEP presentations, musical compositions, voice annotations and applications with the impact of CD- quality sound. "As clip art is to graphics, SoundBursts is to sound. SoundBursts add color and flavor to the NeXT user's desktop," said Gerard Schwarz, president of MIDIapolis Systems. Two SoundBursts collections are available -- Sound Effects and Percussion. The Sound Effects collection includes sounds such as glass crashes, baby cries, gunshots, and sirens. The Percussion collection includes sounds such as cymbals, snare drums, congas, and drum and bass patterns. Each collection includes 12 diskettes (an average of 125 soundfiles per collection) of professionally recorded sounds. Also included is the 90-page SoundBUrsts manual that provides detailed information on how to use SoundBursts in many current NeXTSTEP applications. More than any other computer, the NeXTtm computer was designed with sound in mind. All NeXT computers come with hardware and software that gives them the capability to generate and play music, speech and CD-quality sound. SoundBursts takes full advantage of these built-in sound capabilities. SoundBursts are stored in the NeXT soundfile format, allowing them to be used by many current and future applications that will use this standard. Availability: SoundBursts Digital Sound Collections are available now from MIDIapolis Systems an its authorized dealers. MIDIapolis Systems, located in Minneapolis, Minnesota, is a software developer that specializes in MIDI, music, and sound software. SoundBursts is its first NeXTSTEP product release. NeXTSTEP and NeXT are trademarks of NeXT Computer, Inc. MIDIapolis Systems 3208 W. Lake Street, Suite 133 Minneapolis, MN 55416 Phone: (612)-822-1604 Email: midiapolis@cup.portal.com ___________________________________________________________________ VII. NOW SHIPPING, SpeedDeX: a Multimedia Information Manager SpeedDeX is a personal information manager based on an unstructured flat file database. Information can be organized on cards and may include images and files. SpeedDeX supports full rich text format files and the NeXT "drag and drop" operation allowing you to add images or files to SpeedDeX cards. Over 10,000 cards can be entered into each stack. Up to 20 card stacks can be opened at the same time. SpeedDeX has a very fast text search capability which can be used on a single card stack or on multiple stacks. A summary of search results can be viewed after a search has been completed. Text files can be easily imported and exported. In addition SpeedDeX can import files from the popular Macintosh program Quickdex. This program is intended as an easy to use information organizer. It is simple, straightforward and inexpensive. More information is available from: NeXTConnection 1-800-800-6398 (800-800-NEXT) or Geordie Korper, Information Technology Solutions, Inc. 1-800-394-4487 (800-394-4ITS) email: gwkiv@its.com (NeXTMail OK) SpeedDeX is brought to you by: Information Technology Solutions, Inc. 400 West Erie, Suite 402 Chicago, IL 60610 USA (312) 951-7462 FAX: (312) 664-8409 or 1-800-394-4487 ___________________________________________________________________ VIII. Federal Office Systems and Equipment Show (FOSE) NeXT will be exhibiting in the upcoming Federal Office Systems and Equipment Expo, to be held at the Washington D.C. convention center from March 31 through April 2. We expect 75,000 attendees at this show, which is the largest both for this area as well as for the Federal marketplace. Ten of our third party partners will be participating in our booth, representing Federal solutions. ___________________________________________________________________ IX. Massachusetts NeXT Network Admin for 130 systems We have an immediate opening for a Network Administrator for 130 NeXTs and Macs in a heterogeneous Unix local and wide area network (Frame Relay, ARA and ppp). We're particularly looking for good application level experience in both NeXT and Macintosh environments and a strong interest in user support and interoperability across platforms. If you are interested in this position, please contact: Bill Southworth - southworth@ksr.com Kendall Square Research Corp. 170 Tracer Lane Waltham, MA 01451 ___________________________________________________________________ X. Spring 92 NeXTanswers available The Spring 1992 release of NeXTanswers is now available on the Internet archive servers. NeXTanswers is a collection of answers to commonly asked technical questions about the NeXT Computer System. The topics covered include system administration, programming, and NeXT applications and are indexed for use with Digital Librarian. NeXTanswers can be obtained three ways: by ftp from an archive server, by email from Purdue, or as a subsciption on floppy disk from NeXTedge. Also, if you have access to the NeXT network, you can find the current release in /LocalLibrary/NeXTedge/NeXTanswers. You can obtain NeXTanswers via anonymous ftp from one of the following Internet archive servers: ________________________________________________________ hostname IP address directory ________________________________________________________ sonata.cc.purdue.edu 128.210.15.30 pub/next/docs/NeXT cs.orst.edu 128.193.32.1 pub/next/documents/NeXTanswers etlport.etl.go.jp 192.31.197.99 pub/NeXT/documents/NeXTanswers (note: site is in Japan) There are two versions of NeXTanswers: a complete set, and a monthly supplement for those who already have the previous month 's complete set. The former is called 92_spring_NeXTanswers.tar.Z and occupies 608 Kb of disk space. The latter is called 92_spring_NeXTanswers_Supplement.tar.Z, occupies 92 Kb, and contains files that are new or changed since the Winter 1991 release. When the Spring 1992 release is installed and indexed, it occupies about 2.38 Mb. Each release also includes instructions on how to install and use NeXTanswers. The documentation (INSTALL.rtf, README.rtf, and CHANGES) is included in a separate file called 92_spring_NeXTanswers_docs.tar.Z. NOTE: As of the Winter 1991 release, NeXTanswers no longer contains entries relating to the 1.0 software release. ___________________________________________________________________ XI. Magazine contacts Here are a few magazine contacts for those that would like to see more NeXT artices in the press: UnixWorld Alan Southerton (Email: alans@uworld.com) The email address for UnixWorld is letters@uworld.com Publish Rick Reynolds (Email: rick@yes.com) Open Systems Today! (formerly Unix Today!) Mitch Wagner (Email: mitch@utoday.com) Byte Tom Yager (Phone: 603-924-9281) PC Week Chris Stetson (Phone: 617-393-3700) PC Magazine Keith Thompson (Phone: 904-864-2495 ext. 496 ) Network Computing Eric Hall (Email: ehall@cmpny.sscnet.ucla.edu) ___________________________________________________________________ XII. NeXTwatch publication information NeXTwatch is a new newsletter keeping a pulse on newly released NeXT applications and reviews of those apps. To find out more about this frequently released and timely publication... the info-please e-mail address (to which an autoreply daemon will hurriedly send you information on NeXTwatch) is: nextwatch-info@skylee.com (ASCII e-mail) nextwatch-info-next@skylee.com (NeXTMail) Jiro Nakamura Technical Editor / NeXTwatch +1 607 277-1440 Voice/Fax/Data ___________________________________________________________________ end of vol. ii, issue six