Macintosh Animation Showcase/Macintosh Animation Showcase CD-ROM.iso/FORUM/480-505

Text File | 1988-04-20 | 17.0 KB | 503 lines | [TEXT/MSWD]

#: 480 S3/CDROM Applications
    18-Apr-88  10:59:54
Sb: KeyWord Reference System
Fm: Corey Haslett 73717,2270
To: ALL

I am looking for a system that will allow multiple levels of keywords.  For
example Role-KeyWord-Document Where Role is a set of keywords.  A role helps
narrow down the keywords.  For example you can have Role (Author) and Role
(chemical) as well as several other Roles.  You would choose a number of
keywords from each role and tell the system to go find the documents you want.
It will then display various synopsi of the found documents. Some kind of hook
into A.I. must also be provided. This is a product needed by the Research Labs
of Continental Can Canada Inc. If anybody knows of such aproduct please let me
know. The $ range is in the $10K to $30K



#: 481 S1/General Information
    18-Apr-88  12:28:48
Sb: #471-Standards
Fm: rolfe windward 70014,646
To: Tom Roscoe 71777,2564

OK Tom, that seems reasonable ... can you give me any thoughts on the adoption
of SCSI as an interface standard ... I confess that I don't know too much about
it except that it is supposed to be more "intellegent" than most ...
   <<RW>>



#: 482 S1/General Information
    18-Apr-88  13:05:14
Sb: #465-CDI or DVI
Fm: Aegis Development 76067,2500
To: James Jones 76257,562 (X)

With RCA, a consumer electronics company, behind DV-I ... costs are going to
come down.  Video compression can't deal with all kinds of video, but it can
deal with a majority of the cases.
Here's the real story.

At the last CD-ROM conference the folks from DV-I not only showed a vast
improvement in video quality and motion support.  They also showed a
development system that allowed for lower-quality video to be compressed in
real time!  This is a PC-AT based development system.  This implies that a
company creating a DV-I title will not have to rely on a few development
stations at a few locations in the US.  They will be able to have multiple
development stations in house.  Right now DV-I's all high-end stuff .... not
consumer level.  But with companies like Activision, CTW, and Bank Street
behind it ... a consumer player must be on the horizon.

What's more interesting is that we (Aegis) have been playing with a software
based video compression/decompression system for the Mac II.  We can run 15
frames pre second full screen stuff from the CD-ROM.  If we go partial screen
we can up the quality.  Remember the Mac II is 640 x 480 pixels.  This is ONLY
possible with Mode I (150K/sector apromx) tracks that can be read in real time.
CD-I's real time I/O is limited to Mode II (172K/sector) which does not provide
for 100% data integrity.  Without 100% data integrity you cannot use
sophisticated compaction schemes.  The data rate of mode I's in not a fixed
figure for CD-I because hardware ECC for this second layer of correction isn't
in the spec.

My main point is that the "closing" of the formats for real-time files limits
the addition of new techniques that can yield real-time full-motion video in
many cases.  Also that authoring costs must be controlled via. reasonable
price/performance authoring systems (Apple's the winner on this score,
HyperCard is reasonable).  Hand coding's O.K. for a demo, but you need a real
scripting system for production work.



#: 483 S1/General Information
    18-Apr-88  13:05:26
Sb: #472-CDI or DVI
Fm: Aegis Development 76067,2500
To: Tom Roscoe 71777,2564

If the level of improvement continues as it has in the last 2 years.... DV-I
should be up to VHS EP and SP modes shortly.  What I saw in March was many many
times better than 1 year previous...



#: 484 S1/General Information
    18-Apr-88  13:05:35
Sb: #475-CDI or DVI
Fm: Aegis Development 76067,2500
To: Noboru Toyoshima 76662,330 (X)

Yep.  I think Apple's got a clear advantage in the multimedia game with
HyperCard and all it's extensions....



#: 485 S1/General Information
    18-Apr-88  13:05:44
Sb: #478-CDI or DVI
Fm: Aegis Development 76067,2500
To: Tom Roscoe 71777,2564

A combi player with CD-ROM and LV tracks would be a nice comprimise also.



#: 486 S2/Conference/Seminars
    18-Apr-88  18:00:52
Sb: #396-NFAIS Seminar
Fm: Ty Wait 76701,231
To: Lawrence Woods, Public A 76164,2420

Announcements of such programs are very welcome.  However, instead of using the
message area, I suggest you upload your announcement to the data library for
seminars and conferences.  That is also where we will be posting a calendar of
events after we have put one together.

My apologies for taking so long to get back to you on this.





#: 487 S1/General Information
    18-Apr-88  21:07:51
Sb: #452-Mac WORM
Fm: Dennis E. Brunskill 72746,1424
To: Reuben Mezrich 72356,252 (X)

Yah!  A name like "Lo Down" probably did not inspire business cofidence.-=DB=-



#: 488 S1/General Information
    19-Apr-88  00:47:00
Sb: #456-HFS vs. High Sierra
Fm: Larry Phillips 76703,4322
To: Aegis Development 76067,2500

Bill,
  (it is Bill isn't it?)... Amigados seeks like it does because of the layout
of the disks (floppy at least). I would think that the way to go would be to
write both a file handler and driver specifically for whatever the 'standard'
format of current CD-ROms is.

-larry



#: 489 S1/General Information
    19-Apr-88  00:50:59
Sb: #441-#Software
Fm: Larry Phillips 76703,4322
To: Jack Ryan 76164,1273 (X)

Jack,
  From your comments, I gather that there is no accepted standard for file
layout and directory structure. Am I wrong? I hope so.

  If this is the case, do you know of any movement afoot to standardize on
format?

-larry

1 Reply


#: 490 S3/CDROM Applications
    19-Apr-88  07:45:46
Sb: #459-#OED CROM
Fm: Earle Robinson 70135,141
To: Eiichi Hishikawa 76661,132

Cost is $1250, plus shipping (!).  Alas, the attitude of the publisher here is
quite discouraging.  They are only targeting institutions, i.e. university
libraries, a mistake in my opinion, because with a decent price, there are
quite a few individuals who would purchase.  Further, you can only return it
for a refund if you haven't opened the package!!!!  So, there is no way to
determine if the software is adequate to do boolean searches, how fast things
go, etc.  Given that you can buy the complete oed for circa $800, and that
includes vol 13, the original supplement, while the cd rom version doesn't
include that volume, and is more costly, and that the documentation is a meagre
flyer, I fail to see how they are going to sell very many, outside of
universities with ample library budgets, of which there are very few today,
especially for 'literary' topics.              -er

1 Reply


#: 491 S1/General Information
    19-Apr-88  08:56:58
Sb: #HyperCard & CDROM
Fm: Noboru Toyoshima 76662,330
To: Aegis Development 76067,2500

Yes...yes... when I read the book "HyperCard Handbook" (I forgot its real
title), I found out that HyperCard is rather an authoring tool for CDROM
software.  Now, as Apple  CD SC has been introduced to the market, I am anxious
to see a lot of good multimedia CDROMs coming out.  And I hope we ourselves
could produce one, too, although the drive has not arrived in Japan.. (maybe
one or two at Apple Computer Japan).  How many titles for Apple CD SC so far?
Noboru Toyoshima <<Hary & Company>> Tokyo, Japan

1 Reply


#: 492 S1/General Information
    19-Apr-88  09:11:49
Sb: #Device Drivers
Fm: Michael Macewich 76267,375
To: Ty Wait 76701,231 (X)

I read in a recent issue of CD-ROM review, that just because a CD-ROM title
comes in HSF it can't necessarily be used on a PC without adding a unique
device driver and rebooting the machine. I'm interested in putting a CD-ROM
production system to work at the company where I work but can see great user
resistance if they will frequently have to reboot whenever they want to use a
different title.
Is there reallya problem here?
--- MACE ---

1 Reply


#: 493 S1/General Information
    19-Apr-88  12:33:34
Sb: #269-NEW MEMBER
Fm: Joel Nagy 76701,232
To: Bill Sturdevant 73200,3332

Hello Bill --- Welcome to the CD-ROM Forum!

I hope your time here will be rewarding.

You'll find a number of fairly experienced folks who seem happy to answer
questions... lots of people just getting started in CDROM... and all the rest
of us in between.

It's good to have you aboard.

--- Joel



#: 494 S4/Adding CDROM Access
    19-Apr-88  12:33:58
Sb: #277-new memeber
Fm: Joel Nagy 76701,232
To: Robert C. Osburne 76357,2402

Hello Robert --- Welcome to the CDROM Forum!

There was a thread at one point about medical databases on CDROM, but it seems
to have rolled.

I recall three being mentioned: MEDLINE, MEDBASE and MICROMEDEX... but have no
personal experience with any of them.

There is a demo version of MEDLINE in one of the data libraries here, BUT IT'S
THE MACINTOSH VERSION so little use to you. (Maybe someone will upload the
equivalent for PC's). The Mac demo came to us from Aries Systems Corp.
(617)-689-9334. Maybe they can help.

MICROMEDEX on CDROM is a PC product. They don't have a demo version yet but
would be happy to talk with you at [phone]

You might also try contacting CAROL FENICHEL 72115,620, who seems quite
knowledgeable on the subject.

I hope this helps... thanks for joining us!

--- Joel



#: 495 S4/Adding CDROM Access
    19-Apr-88  12:34:33
Sb: #278-Apple CD reader
Fm: Joel Nagy 76701,232
To: Jeffrey G. Backes 72227,1130

Jeffrey ---

Sorry for the delay in responding... yes, that's a lot of questions! Here goes.

The impact of High Sierra for the AppleCD SC is anybody's guess. It should make
the release of a Mac version attractive to publishers with existing equity in
HSG format. And it should make offering both Mac & PC versions more attractive
to those developing new stuff. Apple hosted a hush-hush gathering of
influential publishers in Santa Clara last fall to pitch these points. But the
real issue is one of perceived market and perceived potential market. Every
publisher will make that decision in their own time, in their own way. Apple
has opened the door. We'll see who walks in.

Stuff out there now is all HFS. Image Club has a clip-art product, Aries
Systems a Mac version of MEDLINE (demo in DL3), Grolier has their encyclopedia
and Berkeley MUG has announced a major collection of public domain software &
shareware... to name a few. (There are several relatively narrow
vertical-market apps as well). Expect to see more later in the year.

Apple's opening price for the drive is about what you'd expect... from Apple.
There are other SCSI drives which run on the Mac, available at lower prices...
Toshiba and LoDown for example. I haven't heard any details about their
performance. Drives for the PC world also seem to run lower in price. There's a
good overview of hardware available, including prices, in the October '87 issue
of CDROM Review.

Hope this got a few of them!

Best --- Joel





#: 496 S1/General Information
    19-Apr-88  12:34:42
Sb: #313-Hello!
Fm: Joel Nagy 76701,232
To: Len Kaltman 71401,216

Hello Len ---

And welcome to the Forum... I've been interested in the Image Club disc you
mentioned... what does it offer and how do you like it for desktop publishing?

--- Joel Nagy



#: 497 S3/CDROM Applications
    19-Apr-88  14:08:09
Sb: #317-New Member Introduction
Fm: Joel Nagy 76701,232
To: Robert A. Gentile 71131,3411

Hello Robert ---

Good sources of info on CDROM include:

_CD-ROM Review_, a (now finally) monthly magazine from CW Communications. It's
available on the newstand in a surprising number of places... or the
subscription address is Box 921, Farmingdale NY 11737. A lot of libraries also
seem to get it. Back issues are especially worthwhile for catching yourself up
on the technology.

_CD-ROM:The New Papyrus_ from Microsoft Press (ed. Lambert & Ropiequet), a
collection of monographs by people involved with the technology.

The old faithful: _Readers Guide_ since most of news and business periodicals
have done piece about the technology over the past few months.

Last but (hopefully) not least... (plug follows)... the CDROM Forum, where
you'll find a wide variety of folks actually doing CDROM and a lot more working
toward it.

Good luck and thanks for joining us!

Best --- Joel



#: 498 S1/General Information
    20-Apr-88  00:09:28
Sb: kurzweil
Fm: John McCormick 76360,44
To:  71330,46

Dear Mark, sorry for the delay, TAXing time last week.  RE: Konica interface.
The connection of the kurzweil board to another scanner would be difficult if
possible at all, however this would not help the paper feed problem because the
only two scanners I have used with decent page feeder mechanism are the IOC and
CompuScan units and each of these has internal OCR processing ( 68XXX)
computers and the output is already in ascii. RE: storing legal information on
CD-ROM, do you know that WEST (i.e. Westlaw) is already placing their
information on CD-ROMs? I don't know if the products have started arriving yet,
I saw one disk and talked to someone fromWest at the FOSE show here a month
ago.



#: 499 S1/General Information
    20-Apr-88  00:14:04
Sb: #further info
Fm: John McCormick 76360,44
To:  71330,467 (X)

looks like I ran afoul of the message limit again.  I hope you get the two (2)
messages I am posting oday.  RE: Hypertext look for big things soon, Autodesk
(autocad) bought 80% of XANADU last week and took on Nelson as a research
Fellow, so XANADU now has plenty of backing.  RE: WordCruncher, if this won't
do what you need, I strongly doubt it can be done on a micro.  better check
with Electronic Text Corp, 5600 No. University Ave., Provo, Utah 84604 for a
demo disk and further information.  I think it costs about $300, but I have
forgotten and I don't pay for such things anyway so Itend to loose track. john

1 Reply


#: 500 S1/General Information
    20-Apr-88  00:28:07
Sb: #499-further info
Fm: Mark Schneider 71330,467
To: John McCormick 76360,44

Message limit? What's THAT???  Thanks for the scoop on Word Cruncher - I'll
check it out.  Do   you know about Bluefish? Computer Access of Cambridge put
it out,  then Lotus bought them and  took it off the market!!! I think it had a
100 MB limit; maybe  Lotus  will re-tool it  for CD-ROM and release it?
Thanks again for  all, Mark



#: 501 S3/CDROM Applications
    20-Apr-88  08:57:46
Sb: #490-OED CROM
Fm: J.S. Frentzen 76117,2127
To: Earle Robinson 70135,141

The latest version of the OED will be upgraded very shortly, according to
Tri-Star (the publisher).  There will be a different software interface and new
features to the product.  This is an odd policy since the initial version JUST
came out a short time ago.  The new retrieval interface will have new
capabilities and the package as a whole will be a major upgrade of the product.
-- Jeff



#: 502 S1/General Information
    20-Apr-88  09:00:01
Sb: #491-HyperCard & CDROM
Fm: J.S. Frentzen 76117,2127
To: Noboru Toyoshima 76662,330

The Apple drive is now available to developers, and I believe you can place
orders for them but an insider at Apple claims they are not shipping very much
if at all.  There are very few Apple titles out there, most notably the Aries
Knowledge Finder Medline and Multi-Ad Graphics' Kwikee Art Graphics packages.
-- Jeff



#: 503 S1/General Information
    20-Apr-88  09:51:41
Sb: #492-Device Drivers
Fm: Jack Ryan 76164,1273
To: Michael Macewich 76267,375

The environment where you have to reboot the system for each application is
when the developer of the application wrote their own device driver to access
the CDROM drive.  This happened for the most part prior to the release of
Microsoft Extensions.  The problem today, however, is that not a lot of the
existing products have converted over to using Extensions as their device
driver.  Until they do, you have to reboot in order to remove the installed
driver and replace it with one appropriate to the application desired.

Whether or not the logical disc format of the CDROM is High Sierra doesn't
really come into play.

Having to reboot between applications is definitely a pain in the neck. The
best thing to do is to let the application developers know that the market
desires use of Microsoft Extensions as a device driver and hope that they take
the comments and incorporate them into their product upgrade plans.

Regards..

Jack Ryan





#: 504 S1/General Information
    20-Apr-88  10:03:17
Sb: #489-#Software
Fm: Jack Ryan 76164,1273
To: Larry Phillips 76703,4322

Your are partially correct.  There are no standards in place today relative to
file layouts.  How information is organized within a file is totally at
 the discretion of the application developer.  The environment with CDROM is
really no different than magnetic media in this respect.  There are discussions
about designing a "standard" file format for full text search engines that
would allow different packages to access each others databases, but they are in
the very early stages and I wouldn't hold my breath expecting anything soon.

The directory structures, however, do have a standard today.  It is known
 as the High Sieera Group Specification or ISO 9660 in the MS-DOS world and HFS
in the Apple world.



1 Reply


#: 505 S1/General Information
    20-Apr-88  10:40:59
Sb: #504-Software
Fm: Vic Wagner/Metadigm 76046,3004
To: Jack Ryan 76164,1273

      How does one go about getting a copy of the standard?