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TidBITS#316/26-Feb-96
=====================
People who like to push the Web's edge will be pleased to read
about beta releases of Java-enabled Netscape and of Amber, an
Acrobat plug-in for Netscape. We also have news about
California's NetDay, a cheap way to buy a Mac, Open Transport
1.1b16, and the testing tool QC 1.2. The issue continues with a
helpful review of FileMaker 3.0, a look at problems InterNIC has
had administering domain names, and an essay about personal Web
servers.
This issue of TidBITS sponsored in part by:
* APS Technologies -- 800/443-4199 -- <sales@apstech.com>
Makers of hard drives, tape drives, and neat SCSI accessories.
For APS price lists, email: <aps-prices@tidbits.com>
* Northwest Nexus -- 206/455-3505 -- <http://www.halcyon.com/>
Providing access to the global Internet. <info@halcyon.com>
* Power Computing -- 800/375-7693 -- <info@powercc.com>
Now shipping... The Award-Winning First MacOS Compatible!
Press comments! <http://www.powercc.com/News/quotes.html>
* America Online -- 800/827-6364 -- <http://www.aol.com/>
The world's largest provider of online services.
Give Back to the Net -- <http://www.aol.com/give/>
* DealBITS: A very low-sodium publication.
<http://www.tidbits.com/dealbits/> -- <dealbits@tidbits.com>
Copyright 1990-1996 Adam & Tonya Engst. Details at end of issue.
Information: <info@tidbits.com> Comments: <editors@tidbits.com>
---------------------------------------------------------------
Topics:
MailBITS/26-Feb-96
InterNIC Employs a Guard Dog
Cooking with FileMaker Pro 3.0
Personal Web Publishing
Reviews/26-Feb-96
<ftp://ftp.tidbits.com/pub/tidbits/issues/1996/TidBITS#316_26-Feb-96.etx>
MailBITS/26-Feb-96
------------------
**NetDay 96** -- On 09-Mar-96, thousands of volunteers in
California will go to their local schools and help connect them to
the Internet. In each school, volunteers will pull Category 5
twisted pair cable from five classrooms and a library or computer
lab to a central wiring closet. Hardware vendors are providing
wire, jacks, connectors, and a patch panel at cost (between $350
and $500) and other companies and individuals are sponsoring
specific schools by paying for the hardware. Internet access
companies including MCI, Netcom, AT&T, and America Online have
committed to providing free Internet dialup access for every
school in California. Frankly, this is a fabulous way for everyone
to put money and time where it can accomplish something. If you
want to support education in California, check out the Web page
below for the details and to find your local school. If you're not
in California, as so many of our readers aren't, keep an eye out
for similar projects in your area. If you're really committed, I'm
sure the NetDay folks would be happy to provide information on how
you can duplicate NetDay in your area. [ACE]
<http://www.netday96.com/>
**Open Transport 1.1b16 Public Beta** -- Apple has a released a
public beta of Open Transport 1.1, which addresses many existing
problems plus runs on both 68K and Power Macintosh machines. The
beta is unsupported (so you can't ask Apple for help) and is only
recommended for experienced users familiar with their network
configuration; however, users of PCI Power Macs might be
particularly interested in the release. The beta does not function
on Performa 5200, 5300, 6200, and 6300 computers, along with the
Macintosh IIvi, and Apple also recommends against installing it on
the PowerBook 190, 2300, and 5300, or on PowerBook 540s running
System 7.5.2. Be sure to check out the ReadMe files and notes
before installing; so far, reports I've seen indicate that the
beta is functioning well. There are two installations available,
one with a set of floppy disk images and one as an all-in-one Net
Install; both are a little over 2.5 MB in size. [GD]
<ftp://ftp.support.apple.com/pub/apple_sw_updates/US/mac/Unsupported/>
**Cheap Macs Via Apple Employees** -- Through 31-Mar-96, Apple is
running a program that allows employees to purchase up to four
Macs, four Newtons, and four printers at seriously low prices. The
program is specifically designed to make it easy for Apple
employees to buy Macs for friends and relatives (the employee can
order the equipment, and it will be shipped to the recipient and
charged to the recipient's credit card). The limitations are that
the Apple employees cannot resell the equipment for a profit, they
can't sell it to dealers, and they must be able to account for the
exact whereabouts of the equipment for a year. So, if you know an
Apple employee who might be willing to do you a favor, drop her a
line and see if she can send you the price list. Please do not
harass anyone about this - the Apple employee may have already
used up the quota, may not have the time, or may simply be
uncomfortable with ordering the equipment for you. In case you
don't believe me, the URL below leads to the original message from
Guy Kawasaki's EvangeList (for more information about EvangeList,
send email to <macway-request@solutions.apple.com>). [ACE]
<http://wais.sensei.com.au/archives/macway/1996/0201.html>
**Power Mac Netscape 2.0 Java Beta 1** -- On the heels of its
official release of Netscape 2.0 for the Macintosh, Netscape has
posted the first beta of a Java-enabled version of Netscape
Navigator 2.0 for Power Macs. The Java implementation is
compatible with the Java Development Kit released by Sun last
week, and (unlike other Java-capable versions of Navigator) cannot
be disabled via Netscape's preferences. This beta expires 15-Mar-
96 and is a little over 2 MB in size. [GD]
<ftp://ftp.netscape.com/pub/MacJava/>
<http://www.netscape.com/eng/mozilla/2.0Java/relnotes/mac-2.0JavaB1.html>
**Alpha Acrobat Plug-In Available** -- Last week, Adobe released
alpha versions of Amber, its Acrobat Reader plug-in for Netscape
Navigator, for both 68K and Power Macintosh. Amber is the codename
for a full update to both Acrobat Reader and Acrobat Exchange; the
Amber plug-in allows Acrobat PDF documents to be viewed directly
in Netscape's window, and integrates those documents directly into
Netscape's navigation commands. Though Amber includes some
optimizations for Internet use (including progressive rendering
technologies and the ability to go to any page in a PDF document),
these require specially-optimized PDF files and "byteserver"
capabilities on Web servers. Adobe is already working with
Netscape, Open Market, StarNine, and other vendors to include
these features; in the meantime, Adobe has a lot of information
about Amber available on its Web site. I have read reports of
problems downloading the 4 MB release; I'd suggest waiting until
non-peak hours (Pacific time) before trying to download it. [GD]
<http://www.adobe.com/Amber/>
**QC Goes PowerPC Native** -- Onyx Technologies has released the
long-anticipated PowerPC-native version of QC, its popular
software testing tool. Version 1.2 offers significantly increased
performance on Power Macs, plus additional tools previously
unavailable under the Modern Memory Manager. The update is free
for registered QC users and available online; QC normally costs
$99. If you don't use QC and do any serious programming or
software testing, you owe it to yourself to download a demo and
get a demo serial number from Onyx. [GD]
<http://www.std.com/onyxtech/>
InterNIC Employs a Guard Dog
----------------------------
by Glenn Fleishman <glenn@popco.com>
You wouldn't think the guy that John Markoff of the New York Times
described as one of the greatest computer security experts in the
world could have his domain name ripped off, would you?
It appears the InterNIC is not immune to many of the forces that
Tsutomu Shimomura and Markoff wrote about in Takedown, their book
about the tracking of hacker Kevin Mitnick. An unknown hacker used
social engineering - that is, talking somebody into something
rather than using cracking programs or computer tools - to
convince the agency that controls the registration for all domains
on the Internet that the information for the domain takedown.com
had changed. The InterNIC duly updated the info, and laughs
abounded as "takedown" was taken down.
The InterNIC doesn't think this is funny, and neither do the
managers of the now hundreds of thousands of domain names.
Although the agency says the frequency of illegitimate domain
changes is low, they have introduced a method of beating social
engineering by using a combination of public-key encryption and
password protection. The InterNIC has proposed a Guardian Object
structure in which each domain name's contact person can have
associated protection information. Without a password,
acknowledgment, or public-key signed message (or some combination
thereof), the domain information won't be changed.
Currently, the InterNIC won't change domain name information
unless the message originates from someone currently associated
with the domain. However, the ease of forging email makes this
method highly suspect. Coupled with "social engineering," there's
little protection now from any relatively committed individual.
The Guardian model should make domain name transfers more orderly
and stable, and protect the folks who own these domains. If you
are having a domain name registered on your behalf, _always_ have
it registered to your company (or yourself) and your physical
address; in this way, you protect the ownership of the domain
itself, separate from its technical information. So, if you're the
Flan Corporation, don't allow flan.com to be registered to "Bill's
Internet Shack" - they should be listed as the contact for
technical purposes only.
More information on the Guardian model is available online;
there's no current timetable for implementation.
<ftp://rs.internic.net/policy/internic/internic-gen-1.txt>
Cooking with FileMaker Pro 3.0
------------------------------
by Charles Wheeler <charlesw16@aol.com>
If you've read any reviews of the latest release of Claris's
database product FileMaker Pro, you're probably aware of two
things: it's relational, and it's Power Mac native. If you
currently use FileMaker just to keep Aunt Millie's cookbook on
your four-year-old Mac, you may be asking yourself if there's any
point to the upgrade. With that in mind, here are my experiences
creating and converting FileMaker databases, without a relation or
Power Mac in sight. I did all the work on a PowerBook 520c, an
SE/30, or Quadra 610.
<http://www.claris.com/>
**Starts Slow, Runs Fast** -- I noticed early on that FileMaker
Pro 3.0 is noticeably faster doing just about anything - startup,
sorting, searches, and screen redraws are all improved.
Apparently, previous versions of FileMaker had been written in
Pascal, and the new version is a complete rewrite from the ground
up. Unfortunately, some operations run quite slowly the first time
they're performed. For example, the first time you launch the
program after installation, it takes some time to build a font
list and a preferences file. After that, the application launches
rapidly, and the splash screen appears only very briefly before
you can begin working. Also, since indexing of fields is now
optional, you will probably spend some time waiting for a field to
index the first time you execute a find or sort on that field.
Speaking of indexing, if you ever use the Paste Special From Index
menu item, you will notice you can now select an individual word
("egg", "whites") or the first line of field entries ("egg
whites"). This makes the menu item much more friendly without
sacrificing its original features.
**The More That Things Change...** What's remarkable about this
upgrade is, for all the changes, so many things remain the same.
The interface is enhanced but not altered to the point of
frustration. One notable exception: in Layout mode, double-
clicking a field used to bring up the field attributes window,
while Option-double-clicking brought up the field selection
palette. Now they're reversed. If I had a nickel for every time an
experienced FileMaker user yells "Doh!" (or worse) before they get
used to this change, I could stop buying lottery tickets.
Most people will begin working with the upgrade by converting
FileMaker Pro 2.x databases. This is simplicity (if not
perfection) itself. Drag the file onto the FileMaker 3.0 icon or
open the file from within the program, and FileMaker will first
back up your original file and then create a converted file in the
3.0 format. Of the many files I have converted, I have had only
two minor problems, neither resulting in lost data. The first was
a restored find in a script that simply forgot what it was
supposed to find. The second was a bit more complicated: a
calculation field that stopped calculating after the conversion.
The records entered before the conversion contained calculated
data, but those entered after refused calculate, returning instead
a non-fatal "out of memory" message. Although I could not change
the calculation, I could copy it, change the field to a number
field, change the field back to a calculated field and paste the
original calculation back in. At that point, FileMaker pointed out
that I had a syntax error in the calculation, one that version 2.1
did not seem to notice. I changed the syntax, and all was well.
An exciting new feature for those who work with graphics is the
ability to either import graphics into container fields or store
just a reference to the graphic file. By storing references, I
created a graphics catalog with thousands of image files that is a
fraction of the size it would have been if I had imported the
files. The graphics can be viewed, manipulated, and printed as if
they were in the database. These images had previously been
managed by a graphics catalog program in a 60 MB file; the new
FileMaker Pro 3.0 file is under 16 MB. (Just image how Aunt
Millie's cookbook will look with all of those scanned images of
her great dishes!)
Other enhancements too numerous to cover fully here include drag &
drop support, phone dialing, speech, AppleScript embedding, and a
super-charged ScriptMaker that addresses virtually all the top
requests from FileMaker developers. I've been working with version
3.0 since late beta (fall of 1995) and am still finding plenty of
interesting new features.
**A Few Shortcomings** -- Although I am enthusiastic about
FileMaker Pro 3.0, Claris did drop the ball in a few areas. The
documentation is best described as a third-party opportunity.
Here's a glaring example: anyone who has developed databases in
FileMaker has probably had a love/hate relationship with the
"Today" function, a tool which updates a calculation whenever a
file is opened on a new date. Unfortunately, this updates all of
the records upon launching the file, a process that can guarantee
an early lunch hour if you're working with a large number of
records. FileMaker Pro 3.0 has a new function,
Status(CurrentDate), which Claris representatives tout as the cure
to the Today function blues. But they don't show how to use it,
and neither does the documentation, except as part of a script. So
we have a major improvement with no documentation, either in the
printed manual or the online help. (By the way, I have your
documentation right here: just substitute "Status(CurrentDate)"
for "Today" in your calculation. That's it.) These functions
should be cross-referenced in both places.
Fortunately, the CD-ROM version of FileMaker Pro 3.0 comes with
many examples and templates which can be used as is or modified to
your heart's content. In addition, Claris does provide some online
resources, and you can also take advantage of some outstanding
examples uploaded to major online services by FileMaker gurus like
Jeff Gagne and Bruce Robertson. I also heartily recommend Matt
Petrowsky's excellent free ISO FileMaker Pro online publication,
written in and about FileMaker. [ISO stands for Interactive
Support Online; Matt can be reached at <isoezine@aol.com>. -Geoff]
<http://www.kudosnet.com/ISO/ISOmain.html>
The biggest mistake Claris made with this release was not creating
a Windows 3.x version. Claris seems to have bought into
Microsoft's hype and believed every Intel machine would be running
Windows 95 by the time FileMaker Pro 3.0 came out. As we all
know, it didn't quite happen that way. Rumor has it Claris is
working on rectifying this little miscalculation. In the meantime,
I have client who can't upgrade about 40 Macs because they share a
FileMaker file over an AppleTalk network with two Windows
machines.
**In Conclusion** -- So, should you spring for the upgrade? Unless
you share FileMaker files with Windows 3.x users, absolutely.
You'll get speed, flexibility, and a host of new features, all for
minimal cost and effort. And should you ever decide to go
relational or upgrade to a Power Mac, so much the better. After
all, Aunt Millie's cookbook is worth it!
[Claris has just released a FileMaker Pro 3.0v2 Updater, available
for the U.S. version of FileMaker Pro. -Geoff]
<http://www.claris.com/TS/products/FileMaker/updater-mac.html>
Claris Corporation -- 800/544-8554 -- 408/727-9054 (support)
<info@claris.com>
Personal Web Publishing
-----------------------
by Adam C. Engst <ace@tidbits.com>
I've heard the term "personal Web publishing" a couple of times
recently, and it has started me thinking. I first heard it when
Chuck "Mr. WebSTAR" Shotton was talking about where he thought the
Web would go in the future. Chuck's idea is that whereas Web
servers now passively dole out information, in the future they
might work in a more active mode, going out on the net and
collecting information for you. In this mode, your personal Web
server would essentially act as an agent, or "knowbot." It would
be aware of your interests, work, and priorities, and
automatically seek, select, and present relevant information to
you. However, despite great promises, consumer level agent
software at this time does little more than basic filtering.
I can't remember when personal Web publishing came up the second
time, nor can I remember who mentioned it. However, the context
was that Web publishing is something everyone might want to do,
and thus it might behoove Apple (or someone else) to provide
simple, inexpensive Web server software that was utterly trivial
to use. Imagine having a folder whose contents could be made
available on the Web by flipping a switch in the Sharing Setup
control panel.
The concept of personal Web publishing is powerful, and one which
Tonya and I both utilize and promote. In particular, we've started
using the Web to share our QuickTake photos with our far-flung set
of close friends and relatives. In this way, we can immediately
show off our Halloween jack-o-lanterns and Thanksgiving feasts to
many more people than we'd ever find the time to send photos.
These pages, like pages from a photo album, are not meant for
general public consumption, although it's not much of a problem if
other people see them. (In fact, I set up a robots.txt file to
prevent Web worms from indexing these pages - see the URL below
for information on keeping Web indexing programs like WebCrawler
and InfoSeek out of your personal pages.)
<http://info.webcrawler.com/mak/projects/robots/robots.html>
Along with our personal experience, we've tried to promote
personal Web publishing by adding a chapter about basic HTML to
the third edition of Internet Starter Kit for Macintosh, and later
turning that into Tonya's stand-alone book, Create Your Own Home
Page. But preaching about basic HTML and practicing what we preach
can only go so far - let's look at some of the problems that Apple
or another developer could solve to make personal Web publishing a
reality for anyone with a true Internet connection.
First, personal Web server software must have a small footprint
and be inexpensive. WebSTAR, as good as it is, likes a significant
amount of RAM and isn't cheap. The same goes for InterCon's
InterServer Publisher and most of the rest of the commercial Web
servers. Peter Lewis's NetPresenz is cheap enough at $10, but in
many ways it's still too much tool for the job. I think personal
Web server software should require no more than 500K of RAM,
preferably less, and cost $25 to $50. The barriers must be low,
and if we're aiming at individuals, we have to assume minimal
amounts of RAM and a desire for a low price.
Second, personal Web server software must be easy. I love the
concept of creating a personal Web server by merely flipping a
switch in the Sharing Setup control panel and then dropping files
into a Web folder on your desktop. Consider the possibility of
automatic translation, perhaps when files go into the folder.
Automatic translation would require a technology like XTND and
some seriously clever programming, but for basic pages and
graphics it should be feasible. Once the pages are converted, a
tool like PageMill (but perhaps one that made a better effort to
not choose sides in the various HTML arguments) would probably be
best for any editing the user wanted to do.
Third, but perhaps most importantly, we can't assume average
Macintosh users have direct Internet connections. To make a bad
situation worse, modem connections often go through a dynamically
addressed account, which means these users' IP numbers change each
time they connect. This effectively makes it impossible to connect
to their personal Web server unless you know their current IP
number. So, we need some way of permanently identifying personal
servers whose IP numbers constantly change. One solution, used by
Electric Magic's NetPhone software, is to create a centralized
location using specialized server software (called NetPub in the
NetPhone world) at which a personal server registers its IP number
when it comes online. That way, even if there's no way of
determining the IP number of the personal server each time, users
can go to the NetPub location and check to see if the server you
want is currently online.
<http://www.emagic.com/>
But let's take this further. What if a centralized NetPub/Web
server could act as an intermediary between the personal Web
server and the Web browser? Let's use a phone analogy first, since
it's easier. Sam checks in at the NetPub to see if Mary's online
with NetPhone. She's not, so he leaves a message. When Mary comes
online and her NetPhone registers its presence with the NetPub,
the NetPub server automatically delivers the message from Sam.
Now, take one step up to Web serving. Say Sam is using a normal
Web browser and wants to look at some baby pictures that Mary has
put in her personal Web server folder. She's sent him the URL, so
he knows where to go (or perhaps the NetPub/Web server knows all
the URLs available on a personal Web server, if not the contents
of those pages). Since she's not online, her personal Web server
can't provide the files. But, just as in the phone message
example, the NetPub/Web server would store Sam's URL request, and
when Mary comes online with her personal Web server, the
NetPub/Web server would request the files and store them for Sam,
making them available to him when he checks back in.
Needless to say, this is clumsier than it would be if Sam and Mary
had dedicated Internet connections, but most people aren't so
lucky. Clumsy or not, the technique is effective and neatly
circumvents the problem of non-dedicated connections with varying
IP numbers.
To come full circle, if you think about the process I outlined
above, you'll realize that my hypothetical NetPub/Web server is
acting much like Chuck Shotton's hypothetical personal Web server,
pretending to be you when you're not there and later providing you
with information it has collected. So perhaps the two ideas about
personal Web publishing mentioned above are related and are
possible with today's technology. My impression is that the code
necessary to create a basic Web server (no CGI support or anything
fancy) is minimal - Peter Lewis said it only took him a couple of
days to add it to FTPd. Thus, the primary task would be
integrating such code into System 7's Personal File Sharing or
just making it sufficiently easy as a separate application. The
NetPub/Web server would undoubtedly be a trick as well, but since
it's similar to a proxy server, it shouldn't be a major
development task either.
The point is that as software companies increasingly try to think
of the Internet as a simple extension to their operating systems
and applications, it only makes sense personal publishing and
network services should be integrated as well. Given the
inherently cross-platform nature of the Web, products like this
could be extremely effective and powerful solutions for a wide
variety of people. Also, let's face it, all computer companies are
going after the holy grail of the individual consumer, but to turn
that individual into a customer when designing Internet products,
companies must start to think of what the individual wants, needs,
and can realistically afford.
Reviews/26-Feb-96
-----------------
[We are conducting a survey through 29-Feb-96 to determine whether
we should continue this Reviews column. To vote that TidBITS
continue its Reviews column, send mail to <reviews-
yes@tidbits.com>; to vote to discontinue the reviews, send mail to
<reviews-no@tidbits.com>. Web page voting is available at the URL
below. -Geoff]
<http://www.tidbits.com/surveys/reviews-list.html>
* MacWEEK -- 19-Feb-96, Vol. 10, #7
3D World 1.0 -- pg. 23
Timbuktu Pro 2.0 -- pg. 23
Data Desk 5.0 -- pg. 28
* MacUser -- Mar-96
Power Computing Macintosh Clones -- pg. 41
PowerWave 604/120, 604/132, and 604/150
Adobe PageMill -- pg. 45
Visioneer PaperPort Vx -- pg. 46
Kai's Power Tools 3.0 -- pg. 48
Big Business 1.0 -- pg. 50
Hewlett-Packard DesJet 850C & 340 -- pg. 55
NEC MultiSpin 4Xc -- pg. 59
Adobe After Effects 3.0 -- pg. 61
Fargo FotoFUN! -- pg. 64
Working Model 3.0 -- pg. 66
SoftWindows 2.0 for Power Macintosh -- pg. 71
Graphics program plug-ins -- pg. 94
(too many to list)
* Macworld -- Mar-96
Adobe After Effects 3.0 -- pg. 54
Adobe PageMill -- pg. 56
Newton MessagePad 120 (w/Newton OS 2.0) -- pg. 57
Painter 4.0 -- pg. 58
4th Dimension 3.5 -- pg. 60
Dabbler 2 -- pg. 63
MiniCad 6.0 -- pg. 65
COPSTalk for Windows 1.2f -- pg. 67
Personal MacLAN Connect 5.51 -- pg. 67
Metrowerks CodeWarrior Gold 7 -- pg. 69
PageNow 1.5 -- pg. 70
Astound 2.0 -- pg. 73
DOS Mounter 95 -- pg. 74
MacOpener -- pg. 75
Chinon ES-3000 digital camera -- pg. 77
Data Desk 5.0 -- pg. 79
Spelling Coach Professional 4.1 -- pg. 80
Visioneer PaperPort Vx -- pg. 82
CyberFinder -- pg. 82
You Don't Know Jack -- pg. 85
Marathon 2 -- pg. 85
upFront 2.0.1 -- pg. 86
Scripter 1.0.1 -- pg. 88
Adobe Premiere 4.2 -- pg. 90
Day-Timer Organizer 2.0 -- pg. 92
Drawing Programs -- pg. 106
SmartSketch 1.0
KPT Vector Effects 1.0
Envelopes 1.0
Infinite FX 1.0
LightningDraw GX
Color Flatbed Scanners -- pg. 118
(too many to list)
Multimedia speakers -- pg. 157
(too many to list)
$$
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