Date: Wed, 26 Jul 95 10:05 PDT From: xxltony@crash.cts.com (Tony Lindsey) Subject: Mac*Chat#083/26-Jul-95 Mac*Chat#083/26-Jul-95 ====================== Welcome to Mac*Chat, the free, weekly electronic newsletter biased toward Mac users who are production-oriented professionals. Other Mac users may find many, many items of interest as well. I'd enjoy hearing your feedback and suggestions. Unfortunately, due to the massive numbers of messages I get every day, I can't guarantee a personal reply. Tony Lindsey, . http://www.cts.com/browse/xxltony Mac*Chat back-issues may be found within any Info-Mac ftp archive at info-mac/per/chat See the end of this file for legalisms and info on how to subscribe. Any [comments in brackets] are by Tony Lindsey. Topics: Highlights Of This Issue Editor's Notes Advertising In Mac*Chat - Tony's Views Timetracker Reviewed EWorld Is Now On The Web! Web Sites Of Note, Continued Zip Drive Complaint Info Scanning At Various DPI's, Continued. Hot Software Deals Mac Sale International Quad-Speed CD-ROM Drives And Speakers Online Banking And A Nice Web Site Rebuilding Parameter RAM Other Design-Related Lists? PortShare Works Superbly! Legalisms Free Subscriptions To This Newsletter Highlights Of This Issue ------------------------ It appears that I have found a new way to avoid allowing advertisers within Mac*Chat, TimeTracker gets rave reviews, eWorld's Web access gets a thumbs-up, even more juicy Web sites are revealed, we learn where to take our complaints about Zip drive tech support, we are given some more feedback about proper scanning for a particular printer, two businesses that provide stunningly low prices for good stuff are revealed, Quad-Speed CD-ROM drives are reviewed, we learn that there ARE really, really nice computer speakers out there, online banking info is moved further along (and we find out where more such info can be found), we learn the fancy keystrokes for rebuilding Parameter RAM, a designer asks for other worthy newsletters, and I heartily endorse PortShare by Stalker Software as a real winner. Editor's Notes -------------- By Tony Lindsey There has been a lot of work going on behind-the-scenes for a while now, preparing the HTML version of Mac*Chat and its back-issues. These files are meant to be copied all over the earth to various mirror sites, which will then be linked to my main Home page. I will be making the formal announcement in next week's issue. If you would be willing to store the Web version of Mac*Chat to prevent overloading any one site, please let me know! ---------- I never mentioned this before, but I've written many articles for the San Diego Mac User Group newsletter since 1986. I know it takes a certain, special type of person to put in so much volunteer time to help so many folks. I salute the many, many folks who have been keeping the spirit of User Groups alive, and I'd like to ask if somebody out there could add me to their MUG mailing list for a few issues. I've kind of lost touch with the grass-roots groups in the last few years. ---------- I'm going to start including people's Web sites just below their e-mail addresses starting with the next issue. It's not a big deal, and it may help somebody. ---------- Ha! I knew it! I've had a heck of time convincing folks that at least forty percent of Mac*Chat's readers were women. There appears to be a prevailing idea that women are a tiny online minority of around ten percent. All you have to do is look at the names attached to Mac*Chat's letters to see that women are very actively involved and well-represented. There are new studies published on the Internet by the Survey Working Group that bear out my observations about women online, plus other Internet statistics that you may find useful. http://www.zilker.net/swg/ ---------- I'd like to ask for help from any of my readers who subscribe to eWorld, Prodigy and CompuServe. I'm interested in storing Mac*Chat back-issues on those services, but I don't know who to approach, since I don't have accounts on those services. I'd appreciate some e-mail addresses and some guidance. Advertising In Mac*Chat - Tony's Views -------------------------------------- By Tony Lindsey I'm very happy that I posted my original questions about allowing ads inside of Mac*Chat. The letters I re-posted in the previous issue have sparked even more letters, nearly all of which are strongly against advertising in this newsletter. I could easily fill up twenty issues with their letters, but I don't even have room in THIS issue! So, it's time for me to make a decision. I originally had the impression that I only had two options - Stay ad-free and totally unbiased (but continuing to do it as an eternal labor of love), or allow ads and fight being TOO biased (but being able to afford better infrastructure for Mac*Chat). At the time, I thought I had no other choices, and it was looking pretty grim. It now appears there is a third option. I rather like it, too. I'm currently negotiating with several services that will handle financial transfers from all over the planet for the Shareware version of Mac*Chat. This allows me to keep advertisers from pressuring me to write certain articles or withhold others. These services are part of a totally new category of online business, and I didn't expect to see anything like them for at least another year. I'm pretty certain I will be following this new path, and I expect to have quite a few more details in the next issue. Until then, I'm asking what people think about the concept of "Mac*Chat, the Shareware Version," and what you feel would be an appropriate requested donation for 40 issues per year of Mac*Chat with no advertising. Timetracker Reviewed -------------------- By Leslie Parsons You asked about "TimeTracker." Great program! This is how I use it: I have accounts at 3 different online services, and they all have different "month starting/month ending" dates. I quickly realized that I needed to keep track of my time online, or I would get THE BIG SURPRISE at the end of the month when the old credit card bill rolled in. Luckily, I stumbled across TimeTracker, and I love it. I use it every time I log on to any service. It will track the time of day I log on, the minutes (and seconds if I wish!) that I spend online, the amount of time I want to 'pause' (useful for services such as AOL that have a "free" area) and the time of day I log off, as well as the elapsed time and the COST! (These are all editable later, by the way.) If I log on again later that day, I have the option of reopening the first track, or starting a new one. TimeTracker allows me to set up a budget for each online service, and I've configured it to account for the fact that eWorld, for example, is $2.24 an hour for the first four hours, and $2.95 an hour after that. One feature that I really love is that it has a "shrink" button that shrinks the active window down to the size of a stick of gum, and I can see the pennies (and dollars) roll by when I'm online. (Similar to watching a gas pump.) At the end of the various billing months, I print out my TimeTracker window, and print out the billing detail that I've requested from the online service, and reconcile the two, and compare them to the credit card bill. However, TimeTracker can be put to much more sophisticated use. It would be an ideal program for someone such as a graphic designer, architect, etc. who had multiple accounts that were billed by the hour. TimeTracker is highly user configurable, robust enough for complex uses yet easy to understand for beginning users. It is always the first program I encourage new online users to download. I was just looking through Adobe Magazine (July/August '95) today and saw an article by Harry C. Edwards, titled "Something For Almost Nothing," about shareware. Among the 6 Macintosh picks is TimeTracker 2.7. He's posted a page on the Web with links to the programs mentioned and other shareware libraries at: http://www.accessone.com/~hedwards/ Internet address for Adobe Magazine editors: magazine.editor@adobe.com. Phone (206) 343-3275. -------- By medunn@helix.net (Malcolm Dunn) Here are a few thoughts on TimeTracker 2.7.5 and the upcoming commercial release of the 2.8, currently in beta: Personally, I find TimeTracker 2.7.5 a tight piece of shareware. It's well written, simple to use, and produces results. At US$25 it's a steal! The main window is well organised and the colourful menu buttons provide short cuts to most of the settings and functions one would use. Leave the full window open in the background or reduce it to a small window with only a few buttons, project clock and cost total visible. Records are organised by various columns: times, hourly rate, accumulated charge, project and category names. You can display as few or as many of the record columns as you wish, through the preference settings. When you are finished for the day, or just heading out for a cup of coffee, you can stop or pause the timing function with ease, by clicking on the required button. Appropriately enough, the Pause button icon is a coffee pot! Depending on how intensely you work on your computer, you may forget TT while it is timing away in the background. The Auto-Pause feature, once it is switched on, will stop timing at the limit pre-set by you, after 'n' minutes of inactivity. A "hot corners" feature of Auto-Pause allows you to pause while leaving your current application in the foreground. TT 2.8, currently in beta and set for release "By the end of summer...", improves on all its features and adds more. This will be a commercial release called TimeTracker Pro, with a sticker price somewhere between US$50 and US$100, and which will include a manual for use with a proprietary reader. The pull-down menu settings have been rationalised and many more of them are linked to buttons or boxes or records in the main window. My favourite new feature is Auto-Link. Links may be forged between your TT file and your application or applications of choice. With TT running, launching a linked application will cause the corresponding TT file to open and begin timing automatically. Clicking on the background will cause TT to stop timing until the application window is made active again. When you quit your application the TT file closes too. TT will show your progress against the $ and/or time budget you set. The addition of a Client column gives one a great deal of flexibility in organising how time charges are recorded. Records are easily printed or exported as an Excel spreadsheet, in both versions of TimeTracker. TimeTracker deserves a spot in the shareware Hall of Fame along with PopChar and many of the other fine apps which make the Mac platform a joy to use. One has to wonder why it didn't appear years ago! EWorld Is Now On The Web! ------------------------- By David Weiss I thought you might want to know some more info about the eWorld online service. I have two accounts, AOL and eWorld. I have used the AOL browser for almost a month now and with only a 19200 connection things can go a bit slow. I have always watched my modem lights and I think that the reason the WWW browser is slow is because of the way AOL sets up their www access. At first I thought it was just because I had a slow connection until the eWorld browser came out. The actual browser is the same one that AOL uses, but when I surf the Web things load much, much MUCH faster. My modem lights never stop, the Data In light is always going and the pictures, sounds, text, everything, loads faster on eWorld then when I'm using AOL! There are now about 100,000 members on eWorld. eWorld doesn't allow different screen names, so each one of those accounts is one person. I think I will continue using eWorld as my main account, especially since the Web access is so much faster. I can't wait until apple makes a 28.8 GeoPort modem and allows eWorld access at 28.8! (right now the only modems at the eWorld servers are 14.4) With that speed eWorld might just rival a regular internet connection in speed. The price is right (same as AOL), but I wish for more hours with the basic fee, surfing the Web is time consuming, but it's fun! :-) I am a satisfied eWorld user. (Something that doesn't happen very often with me and Apple, many times I want more, but right now Apple's eWorld is just fine for me. When AppleLink is all there things should really get exciting!) Web Sites Of Note, Continued ---------------------------- By medunn@helix.net (Malcolm Dunn) Thought I'd pass on one minor update [to the info-mac and umich web sites mentioned in an earlier issue]: The URLs have changed slightly, though the old ones are still working "for now". Info-Mac: http://www.msc.wku.edu/Dept/Admin/MSC/Macintosh/search_infomac.html UMich: http://www.msc.wku.edu/Dept/Admin/MSC/Macintosh/search_umich.html -------- By Brenda Daverin http://www.jumbo.com I have no idea who is behind it. At this juncture, I hardly care. What these lovely people are doing is setting up a Yahoo for shareware. When I first visited the site three days ago, they had over 13,000 pieces of shareware and freeware available for download, either directly or via ftp links to several sites around the world. This morning, it was over 17,000. It's organized by category and CPU. They intend to include online documentation and a search function, but for now, all you get is the list of available software in the subsection of your choice and the link you need to download it. At this point in time, it's enough. Not too pretty, but it means Lynx users get as much from it as Netscape users. [It's very pleasant to finally start getting Web site tips from our friends on America Online and eWorld. Thanks for writing!] Zip Drive Complaint Info ------------------------ By patrickh@omni.voicenet.com (Patrick Henebry) If you have clients interested in Iomega Zip drives I can tell you from experience that technical support for that product has *big* problems. I still haven't received an answer to a query I placed on July 12th, despite follow-up by phone. Although through some testing on my own I determined the answer - not every user will have almost 15 years of knowledge to draw on. After contacting Iomega the last time by phone I was told that complaints about support should be sent to: Iomega Product Service 1821 W. Iomega Way Roy, UT 84067-9977 ATTN. Rick Kaylor Scanning At Various DPI's, Continued. ------------------------------------- By neal_sofge@rand.org (Neal Sofge) > **To print a 75 lpi halftone** Because of the limitations of > toner particles, laser printers do best printing 60 to 75 lpi > halftone screens. (In Quark, set this in the Page Setup dialog.) Using PhotoGrade, I've been printing 100 lpi photos off a LW Pro 630 for a year now. They look fine, "toner particle" limits or not. Apple and HP claim 106 lpi as the limit for their current machines. Using stochastic screening (like the StyleWriter 1200) should make lpi irrelevant. > **Scan at 150 dpi** This doesn't mean you only have to scan at > 75 dpi though. If you do that, you might get those tell-tale > square artifacts known as pixelization At 150 dpi, you still get visible aliasing across high-contrast break lines. Hot Software Deals ------------------ [I get quite a few press-releases and unsolicited ads every day. I pitch most of them, so you don't have to deal with them. However, this one interested me, so I obtained some references (user-group editors) and spoke with them long-distance on the phone. So far, so good - They gave it a thumbs-up, based on their own experiences. After asking for a re-written version of the original message, I'm passing it along. Please let me know how well this works for you...] By A.V.W. Inc.-Adobe Liquidators , a Florida Corporation We currently are offering to all Mac*Chat readers and to all members of MUGS (Macintosh User Groups) the following deals on the following Adobe Macintosh Software. We have sold our software to a number of MUGS including the Nashville TN MUG and Corvalis OR MUG. ~~~NEW PHOTOSHOP 3.0 $179 for Mac~~~~~~~ ~~~NEW PREMIERE 4.0 $169 for Mac~~~~~~~~~ ~~~NEW ILLUSTRATOR 5.5 $159 for Mac~~~~~~ When you see these prices you may ask what is the hitch, so here is how we do it. We sell you the older software (one version older) and then we take care of upgrading what you just purchased to the newest and current version. We fax Adobe your registration number and your invoice. You receive the newest and current version on CD ROM and diskette, registered to you with the latest books and manuals. We have limited quantity so we prefer you order by phone at 800-655-1675 or 305-730-4350. We take Mastercard or VISA. Mac Sale International ---------------------- By Tony Lindsey On the same topic of cheapo, older versions of wonderful software, I'd like to point everybody to Mac Sale International at http://www.getnet.com/macsale/ One of the User Group editors alerted me to the fact that MSI is charging $129 for Apple's Original Newton Message Pad, rather low prices for PowerMacs, and $25 for a new copy of System 7.0. The one item that jumped out at me was the $79 for BOTH MS Word 5.1 and Excel 4.0. I consider this to be an excellent price for programs I like better than their later versions. Quad-Speed CD-ROM Drives And Speakers ------------------------------------- [I recently asked for recommendations for Quad-Speed CD-ROM drives and speakers that were worth buying. I received quite a few responses, and I would also like to refer folks to Adam Engst's recent TidBITS issue which covers the theory behind Quad-Speed drives quite thoroughly:] ftp://ftp.tidbits.com/pub/tidbits/issues/1995/TidBITS#287_24-Jul-95.etx -------- By Tristan Li Tom Regarding a quad speed CD-ROM drive, why not consider the new Apple 600e external CD-ROM drive? Although I do not have personal experience with this exact drive, I have been very happy with my older Apple 300i internal CD-ROM drive. Apple is including an internal quad speed CD-ROM drive in some of the new Performas (i.e. the 6200 and 5200 series). Regarding computer speakers-I have speakers made by a company called Reveal. I bought them about a year ago at a Computer City store for about $45. (although there are a number of different models to choose from , the higher the wattage, the more the money). I have been extremely happy with these speakers! They sound great, came with a good warranty and a 1-800 number for customer service. Also their color matches that of my Mac exactly. Another option for people is to plug the Mac directly into a stereo system. All you need is the correct cabling. If you have an AV mac or aftermarket sound card, RCA cables would probably work. If you have a non-AV mac, then a cable with a 1/8" plug on one end and two RCA plugs on the other end (available at Radio Shack) should work fine. On another note-Apple has just announced the release of the free Quicktime VR player. Quicktime VR (Virtual Reality) is the new technology which allows one to pan left and right a full 360 degrees and zoom in and out in a given scene. (Star Trek Virtual Tech. manual utilized this technology) The player is available for download at the Quicktime web cite http://www.quicktime.apple.com Along with the QuickTime VR player, at this web site you can download a number of various QuickTime VR scenarios. My favorite is the Alcatraz tour where you can walk around Alcatraz Island as if you were really there! -------- By Linda Lampe SoundWorks by Henry Kloss (Cambridge SoundWorks Inc.) are absolutely awesome. I was given a set for last Christmas; I would rather listen to them than to the big expensive system in the living room. Cambridge Soundworks Inc. 311 Needham Street Newton, MA 02164 800-367-4434/617-332-5936 email: info@hifi.com [They currently sell for US$199.99, which includes woofer and satellite speakers with stands. You can buy them at the above address, plus they are sold in the USA by Best Buy stores and the 17 Cambridge factory stores. The price is the same at all locations.] -------- By Suman Chakrabarti Cambridge Soundworks has an excellent set of speakers, called Soundworks by Henry Kloss, reviewed in MacUser 5/95. It has two satellite speakers and a subwoofer. You can get FANTASTIC bass from this: the music has as much "body" and "depth" as decent stereo systems. I don't own a CD-player: with my CD-ROM drive and these speakers, I have all the quality I need. Plus, Rebel Assault ROCKS with these speakers in a dark room! -------- By "Tim O'Malley" Any drive which works on your Macintosh should work with "AppleCD Audio Player". The Apple CD Software (which is freely available off their FTP site) includes all the necessary extensions. These extensions are: Foreign File Access --> Allows your Mac to read CD-ROMs in non-Mac (i.e. HFS) format *IF* you have the file describing the format. Audio CD --> The file describing the format of Audio CDs. (The name may be slightly off.) Also, I would recommend against buying a specific CD-ROM drive because it includes a "nice selection of free CD's". Personally, I would decide which CD-ROM drive to buy, and afterwards, see if I could acquire some free CDs with that drive. (After all, the "free" speakers that come with CD drives suck. I think most of the "free" CDs also suck.) Ok, so which CD-ROM drive would I recommend? I would recommend the Toshiba-3601 from APS. Why? 1) The drive has impressive technical specs. 2) The T3501 drive from APS got MacWorld's #1 choice rating in March (or maybe Feb. or April). 3) I own a T3501 drive, which I bought last December, and have had no problems with it. 4) I'm a big fan of APS. Their service is unparalleled. [I checked with APS, and the caddy-loading T3501 has been replaced by the faster, tray-loading model T3601 for the same price. The current price is US$349. This includes a 25-50-pin SCSI cable, which you probably have too many of. If you already have SCSI devices hooked up to your Mac, I strongly recommend you spend the extra $9.95 to get the 50-50 cable.] -------- By Martin Frobisher I got a 4X Sanyo CD-ROM drive from MacMall [800-222-2808/310-787-4500] for $249 that seems compatible with everything I've thrown at it, which hasn't been much. It does work with the Apple remote control. It came with nothing but CD-ROM toolkit, but I wasn't looking for bundled software. I think the same drive is available elsewhere, so maybe you can get it bundled with other stuff. The "brand" name is Hi-Val or something like that... I threw the box up in the loft already. Online Banking And A Nice Web Site ---------------------------------- By Michael Kaufman In the July 19th issue of Mac*Chat Bill Barhydt talked about wishing Intuit/Quicken might provide other types of banking services. You probably know this by now but the July 17th issue of Interactive Age http://techwebe.cmp.com/ia had a short piece on Intuit linking to 19 banks to provide 'home banking' services. By the way, Interactive Age is a free publication (to those that qualify) and I recommend it. Also, their web site is quite good (I like the links to other businesses, like the 1000 top business sites!). Rebuilding Parameter RAM ------------------------ By Nathan Kugland , Redwood Coast Macintosh User's Group - RCMUG [I recently saw the following advice concerning incessant modem problems, and obtained Nathan's permission to re-post it.] Try zapping the PRAM-preferences/parameter RAM. This tiny chunk of RAM is powered by the battery on the motherboard and stores various settings which need to be at the ready while the Mac is off, like the date/time, monitor stetting, etc. Many times in my consulting business I have seen PRAM gone bad. This has fouled up the Chooser and/or the serial ports, often giving messages like " could not be used because selected port is busy" . To zap it, hold down the command-option-P-R keys at startup. If this worked, your text hilite color should be black and your mouse speed re-set to sllooowww. If this doesn't help, try Tech Tool. It can do a better job of zapping the PRAM than the Mac can do on its own. Then try disabling stuff in the System Folder. info-mac/cfg/tech-tool-106.hqx I write two monthly columns for our small MUG. We're inviting any Mac types in the North Sonoma County coast (CA) area to drop by every first Saturday for our MUG meeting. Other Design-Related Lists? --------------------------- By michael@hsdesign.com (Michael J. Sullivan) http://www.hsdesign.com/ Dear cyber-designer-types, Are there other design-related lists I should subscribe to? I have thoroughly enjoyed reading the threads so far and look forward to more. Michael J. Sullivan Creative Director Haywood & Sullivan PortShare Works Superbly! ------------------------- By Tony Lindsey A few issues back, I asked if anyone knew of a good, solid way for a group of folks on a network to share a modem for occasional e-mail, Web-cruising with AOL and direct transfer of files to service bureaus. We discussed the topic in issues 76, 80 and 82. Many people recommended PortShare by Stalker software, and I gave it a try, installing it for my clients on an Ethertalk network. I'm happy to say it works well, with no problems, everybody's happy, and I came out looking like a hero. I can strongly recommend it. You can find the demo version at /info-mac/comm/atlk/port-share-pro-241-demo.hqx Legalisms --------- Copyright 1989-1995 Tony Lindsey. Nonprofit groups (such as Mac User Groups) or other non-commercial publications) are welcome to use any part of the Mac*Chat newsletters if full credit is given. All others will need to contact me. This newsletter is intended purely as entertainment and free information. No profit has been made from any of these opinions. Time passes, so accuracy may diminish. Publication, product, and company names may be registered trademarks of their companies. This file is formatted as setext, which can be read on any text reader. Tips from readers are gratefully accepted. Please write them in a user-friendly way, and if you are mentioning an Internet site, please include a paragraph explaining why others should visit it. Free Subscriptions To This Newsletter ------------------------------------- You may subscribe to Mac*Chat by sending e-mail to: listserv@vm.temple.edu The Subject line is ignored, so it can say anything. In the body of the message include the following line: SUBSCRIBE MACCHAT Your full name As an example: SUBSCRIBE MACCHAT Juliana Tarlton You will receive a nice long message explaining acceptance of your subscription, how to end it (if desired) and general listserv info. You will then automatically receive Mac*Chat in your e-mail box, for free, every week. ============== ____ ================================================ Tony Lindsey \ _/__ Free, weekly e-mailed Mac-oriented newsletter Mac*Chat Editor \X / xxltony@cts.com, http://www.cts.com/~xxltony/ ================= \/ ===============================================