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1996-05-19
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/ ____/___ ____ ___ ____ __ __/ | / /___ / /____ _____
/ / / __ \/ __ `__ \/ __ \/ / / / |/ / __ \/ __/ _ \/ ___/
/ /___/ /_/ / / / / / / /_/ / /_/ / /| / /_/ / /_/ __(__ )
\____/\____/_/ /_/ /_/ .___/\__,_/_/ |_/\____/\__/\___/____/
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This Week's Contents:
My Notes:
1) Format Clarification . . .
2) Help for the Tired Hands . . . Thanks! Another Request . . .
3) File Format Help!
4) ThinkPad Update . . .
5) FTP Sites for CompuNotes?
Columnists' Corner:
1) Bushman is Back!
News:
1) Father of Internet Honored!
2) Novell NetWare 4.1, GroupWise 4.1 Win PC Week IT Excellence Awards!
Reviews:
1) Bandits on the Information Superhighway Book
Reviewed by: Craig E. Bull (bull@opus.oca.udayton.edu)
2) Visual Basic 4.0 Reviewed By: Paul Ferrill (pferrill@fwb.gulf.net)
3) Whiplash by Interplay Reviewed By: Mike Gallo (gallomike@aol.com)
4) WordPro96 for Windows 3.1
Reviewed By: Doug Reed, Associate Editor (dreed@panda.uchc.edu)
Web Sites:
1) Indy 500 Live (http://www.theautochannel.com)
2) Create A Check (http://www.createacheck.com)
FTP File:
1) Internet Marauder!
Interview:
1) History of the Internet by Phillip Johnson!
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Date : May 20, 1996 |CompuNotes is a weekly publication available
Issue : 47 |through email and many fine on-line networks.
--------------------------|We cover the IBM computing world with
CompuNotes is published |software/hardware reviews, news, hot web
4Point, Inc., |sites, cool FTP files and interviews. We also
1315 Woodgate Drive |give away one software package a week to a
St. Louis, MO 63122 |lucky winner for just reading our fine
(314) 909-1662 voice |publication! Never dull, sometimes tardy, we
(314) 909-1662 fax |are here to bring you the way it is!
------------------------------------------------------------------------
The Backroom Workers: |We are always looking for
Patrick Grote, Managing Editor |people to write honest,
(pgrote@inlink.com) |concise reviews for us. Send
Doug Reed, Asst. Editor / Writer Liaison |a message to Doug Reed at
(dreed@panda.uchc.edu) |dreed@panda.uchc.edu with
Judy Litt, Graphics Editor/Web Master |your list of qualifications.
(jlitt@aol.com) |If Doug thinks we can count
------------------------------------------|on you to make things happen
I am looking for a collection of shareware|you'll receive free software
reviews I put out in the 87-88 timeframe |of your choice for review.
under my handle of NEVER BEFORE. I think |We like new writers!
they started as NB*.ZIP. Can you look |-----------------------------
on your local BBS? THANKS! | Go Chicago Bulls!
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Every issue of CompuNotes ever published can be found at the following
ftp site: ftp.uu.net:/published/compunotes. Thanks to UUNET!
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Our Web Site is at http://users.aol.com/CompNote/
Please Add Our Link to Your Homepage!
------------------------------------------------------------------------
To subscribe, send a message to notes@inlink.com with the command
subscribe compunotes in the subject.
To unsubscribe, send a message to notes@inlink.com with the command
unsubscribe compunotes in the subject.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
You Can Write for Us! See Masthead!
------------------------------------------------------------------------
SYSOPS READ HERE!
Wanting to make CompuNotes available on as many BBS as possible, we
can't afford to call everyone's BBS every week. What we would like to do
is send those interested sysops a UUENCODED version for posting on their
BBS. If you can volunteer to receive the UUENCODED version, turn it into
a ZIP and upload it to your BBS, we'll list you in our sysops directory.
If you are interested, fill out the following lines and send them
back to notes@inlink.com with SYSOPS.
We'll list your BBS in our SYSOPS LIST which will be included in
each version of CompuNotes we ship out. If you have a WWW link we'll
throw that up on our page.
BBS NAME:
BBS SYSOP:
BBS NUMBER:
URL:
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Patrick's News
Being The Publisher and Managing Editor Has Its Perks!
------------------------------------------------------------------------
FORMAT CLARIFICATION . . . |
----------------------------
We've been publishing CompuNotes (even as CyberNews) for more than a
year. We have always tried to accommodate all points of view in the
computing world. It always seemed that when we tried to be as balanced
as possible we'd tick folks off. The last week I received a few more
flame mails about our lack of OS/2 coverage. My standard response is
when I can walk into a CompUSA and buy the *latest* software in OS/2
we'll start doing reviews. Oh, then again, CompUSA was thinking about
dropping OS/2 from the stores a few months back . . .
Seeing as this publication is a labor of love and is not designed to
please everyone, I've decided to scale back our coverage. After many
minutes of thought during the Simpson's here's the deal:
* We will primarily cover the Windows world. This includes 3.11, 95
and NT. Yes, this means we actually like Microsoft and the direction
they're taking. This also meshes well with my chosen career <grin>
* We will bring more of the helpful articles like the ThinkPad article
last week. I received such positive response to that article that I
know we need to do more.
* We'll cover the DOS world with a little more emphasis. I would like
to see more in the way of shareware or what to do with an under
achieving PC. I'm not sure. If you would like to help in this aspect
let me know.
* We'll have more hardware reviews. Not just things like modems, video
cards, etc. but helpful little items for your desk or cables.
If you are an OS/2 advocate, a MAC afficienado or, gulp, someone who uses
another type of computer, CompuNotes will still provide the same web
sites, news and interviews.
-------------------------
HELP FOR TIRED HANDS II!|
-------------------------
Thanks to all who responded with custom programs and advice. The folks
are inter1@pi.net, francesA-EP@worldnet.att.net and baechler@crl.com. I
settled on a nifty utility. Here is the info:
WriteLn ('FILTER v0.0 Written for Patrick Grote by Fred Schenk');
WriteLn;
WriteLn ('I hope this is what you ment in compunotes...');
WriteLn;
WriteLn ('And my own add: http://www.IAehv.nl/users/mbs/fred');
WriteLn (' The STEALTAG support-site');
WriteLn;
WriteLn ('Usage filter: FILTER INFILENAME OUTFILENAME');
WriteLn (' Infilename is the ascii-file with the names and addresses');
WriteLn ('Outfilename is the resulting ascii-file with only the addresses');
This baby works great! Unfortunately I misplaced the author's email
address :-( Can you resend your address!
What I need now is a utility that can take a text file with one address
on each line and delete that address from another text file that
contains the master subscription list. Any ideas?
------------------
FILE FORMAT HELP!|
------------------
OK, it's time for someone to pull my rear out of the fire :-) I'm trying
to automate the clean up of viruses off a NetWare network using the
Norton AntiVirus NLM. The sad part is that the log file that contains
the infected file information is in binary format of some sort. Symantec
won't give us the file format. Can anyone make a small .COM or .EXE to
decipher it? Let me know and I can send you a sample file.
------------------
THINK PAD UPDATE!|
------------------
Still have coworkers who will steal the Pad if I leave it unattended.
Fortunately for me the auto shut off feature works great when you close
the screen. When someone reopen the machine it asks for a password.
Great security.
Another couple of Windows 95 gotchas:
1) For MIDI support you have to install another five disks.
2) The MWAVE modem support slows down the orientation through the menus
as well as cuts off the sound from the CD when you are working in it.
--------------------------
FTP SITES FOR COMPUNOTES?|
--------------------------
We FTP CompuNotes to FTP.UU.NET for permanent archiving and then to
FTP.SIMTEL.NET for broad distribution. Do you know of any other FTP
sites or lists we should be distributing to? Send a mail message!
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Columnists' Corner - We bring you a different person each week!
------------------------------------------------------------------------
The Royal Flush
by Jefferson Bushman (jbush@indirect.com)
The Trouble and Delights of Shareware Shareare is a wonderful idea.
The concept behind shareware is that you get to try a program, and if
you like it, you're honor-bound to pay a fee to the author/seller of the
program.
It beats the bejesus out of the "normal" way in which software is
obtained, i.e., you buy it and if you like it you're gratified. If you
don't like it, you're like the guy who bought a new house sight unseen,
thinking it was made of brick. You get stucco.
I use, everyday, a product which was created as shareware, called
PC-Deskteam.
Among other things, it shows me the time in the upper corner of my
monitor, allows me to set alarms, gives me a notepad (particularly
useful when trying to grab URL's from the 'net), and allows me to look
for files while I'm in an application.
It's useful and it was cheap.
On the other hand, some of the programs I've obtained have
been...uhh...marginal.
I've obtained a "spool" program, which is supposed to be like an in-line
printer buffer, thus allowing me to "multi-task" on my antique DOS-based
system.
I've gotten it to work once.
Then, there's the ultimate frustrater, "Memsim." Memsim is supposed to
allow the user to utilize unoccupied space on the user's hard drive to
simulate RAM (Random Access Memory).
Greater RAM would be useful fr a variety of purposes (especially in St.
Louis, but that's for another publication), including faster running of
programs and (dare I say it after my last column about GUIs?) being able
to load and use Windows.
I have consulted the manual-on-disk (most shareware programs come with
such aid) numerous times, tried everything it said, and the puppy gives
me an error message every time.
The first time I tried the program, I had downloaded it. Like I said,
didn't work.
When seeing a shareware collection in a local computer store, I found
Memsim and bought it, thinking I might just have had a bad copy.
No such luck.
Typically, when you obtain shareware and have yet to pay for it, y get
no support from the company which created it (in this regard it's
similar to a number of programs you purchase commercially, even after
you buy it).
Nevertheless, I called the number that was listed for the makers of
Memsim, and they tried to be helpful, but still no go.
When I migrated, finally, to a '286, I tried loading Memsim again. You
guessed it. Nada.
On the other hand (we're running out of hands here, and need help!
Friends, Romans, Countrymen -- lend me your hands!), I did obtain a
somewhat useful word processing program which I didn't need, called
Galaxy Lite.
I didn't register it, because I don't use it, but it does do a pretty
good job. The reality is that with all of the word processors I own,
the second one I bought, "Q&A," is still my fave.
If I didn't already have a functional word processor, Galaxy Lite might
be a good choice.
The present problem with shareware, however, is price.
Some commercial programs (OK, not Word, WordPerfect, Lotus, etc.) are
selling for $30-$35, and shareware is selling for only a little less.
It still has the advantage of "try before you buy," but when you do buy,
it's relatively too expensive for what it is.
Alas, it's time for shareware providers to take the next step and reduce
their prices to make their programs more attractive.
That, however, seems as likely as gasoline prices dropping
substantially, before the end of summer.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
NEWS OF THE WEEK| This section is dedicated to verified news . . . All
News (C)opyright Respective Owner - Will Only Reprint
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Father of Internet to be Honored!|
----------------------------------
His work will be honored on Monday, June 3, at the annual Computerworld
Smithsonian Awards (CWSA) ceremony in Washington, D.C. at the National
Building Museum. The Information Technology Leadership Award for
Innovation is made possible by MCI.
Cerf is currently senior vice president of data architecture for MCI's
Data and Information Services Division, a unit of MCI Business Markets.
He is responsible for the design and development of the network
architecture to support MCI's future data and information services.
Previously, Cerf was vice president of the Corporation for National
Research Initiatives (CNRI), Reston, VA, where he conducted national
research efforts on information infrastructure technologies.
Cerf co-developed the computer networking protocol, TCP/IP widely used
in the industry and for communications between the diverse university,
government and commercial data networks, known collectively as the
Internet. In addition, he played a major role in sponsoring the
development of Internet-related data packet technologies during his
stint with the Department of Defense's Advanced Research Projects Agency
(ARPA) from 1976 to 1982.
The MCI Award recognizes an individual who uses information technology
to design, implement, manufacture or manage genuine technological
innovation. In receiving the MCI Award, Cerf joins an illustrious group
of information technology leaders, including C. Gordon Bell, architect
of the world's first minicomputers; Seymour Cray, founder of Cray
Research; Kenneth Olsen, founder of Digital Computers; Gordon Moore,
Chairman of the Board of Intel; and Erich Bloch, former director of the
National Science Foundation.
MCI, (NYSE: MCIC) headquartered in Washington, D.C., has expanded from
its core long distance business to become the world's third largest
carrier of international calling and a premier provider of data
communications over the vast Internet computer network. With annual
revenues of more than $13.3 billion, the company today provides a wide
array of consumer and business long distance and local services, data
and video communications, on-line information, electronic mail, network
management services and communications software. The MCI Leadership
Award for Innovation is one of five Information Technology Leadership
Awards presented annually at the Computerworld Smithsonian Awards.
Established in 1989, the Computerworld Smithsonian Awards Program was
created to identify and honor individuals who use information
technology, across a spectrum of industries, to make our planet a more
humane, healthful and cooperative place to live. The program annually
attracts hundreds of nominations from around the world which are
included in the Smithsonian's permanent research collection.
Information on Computerworld Smithsonian Awards and the Leadership Award
winners is available on the World Wide Web at the Innovation Network,
http://innovate.si.edu.
--------------------------------------------------------------------
Novell NetWare 4.1, GroupWise 4.1 Win PC Week IT Excellence Awards!|
--------------------------------------------------------------------
OREM, Utah -- May 13, 1996 -- Novell, Inc. has announced that two of its
products, NetWare# 4.1 and GroupWise# 4.1, have been recognized by PC
Week in its First Annual Corporate IT Excellence Awards. The awards from
PC Week, a leading industry trade publication, honor products that best
meet the enterprise-wide needs of corporate information technology (IT)
professionals through excellence in product design and implementation.
NetWare 4.1 was recognized for offering the best Operating
System/Network, File and Print Services, while GroupWise 4.1 was named
the best Groupware/Mail solution. This is the sixteenth award NetWare
4.1 has won since its 1994 launch and the fifth GroupWise 4.1 has won
since its introduction in 1994. The award winners were determined
through rigorous quantitative and qualitative testing of more than 1,000
products in PC Week Labs.
"In conjunction with NetWare's recent Network Computing Well-Connected
Award for 'Best Network Operating System (NOS),' the PC Week award
highlights the industry's continuing recognition that Novell provides
the best networking solutions to meet business needs," said William
Donahoo, vice president of marketing for Novell's NetWare Products
Division. "Businesses increasingly implement NetWare 4.1 to reap the
benefits of intranet/Internet solutions, as well as NetWare's proven
reliability, scalability and directory environment. According to a
recent International Data Corporation (IDC) report, NetWare shipped more
connections in 1995 than all other server operating systems combined,
demonstrating NetWare's growing momentum as the NOS standard for users,
resellers and developers."
"GroupWise continues to earn praise and recognition in the industry and
from users as the fastest-growing messaging solution," said Stewart
Nelson, vice president and general manager of Novell's GroupWare
Division. "With more than six million users, GroupWise has the largest
installed base of any groupware product. GroupWise sales are growing at
a compound annual rate of 75 percent, as increasing numbers of
businesses turn to GroupWise for messaging and groupware solutions that
are easy to implement and use right out of the box."
NetWare 4.1 is the latest version of Novell's market-leading NOS, which
commands 63 percent of the server operating system market according to a
recent IDC report. GroupWise offers messaging, calendaring and
scheduling, and a Universal In Box that allows users to receive and send
internal and Internet e-mail, voice mail, faxes, pages, schedule
requests and task management assignments in a single location.
Both NetWare 4.1 and GroupWise 4.1 support Novell Directory Services#
(NDS#), Novell's industry-standard global directory services. NDS
simplifies users' access to network resources and information, eases
administration and reduces the cost of network ownership for businesses
of all sizes. The tight integration between NetWare and GroupWise
enables users to leverage NDS to provide global directory services and a
single point of administration for both messaging and network resources.
The integration of NetWare and GroupWise through NDS demonstrates
Novell's commitment to simplify the complexities of networking and
enable people to connect to each other and to the information they need.
"PC Week Labs chose NetWare 4.1 as the best network operating system
because of its industrial strength and proven track record, as well as
its NDS, which simplifies the integration and management of
heterogeneous, wide area enterprise networks," said Dave Berlind,
director of PC Week Labs. "We also recognized GroupWise as the only
solution that provides a true Universal In Box, as well as extensive
cross-platform support for both clients and servers."
"The single point of administration provided by NDS greatly reduces the
burden of managing my network, freeing my time for more
business-critical tasks," said Bob Hanson, systems support analyst for
LAN/WAN computer systems at General Nutrition Corporation (GNC). "By
using GroupWise as well as NetWare, I'm able to leverage my investment
in NDS to simplify my users' access to messaging as well as network
information and resources."
------------------------------------------------------------------------
REVIEWS OF THE WEEK | Interesting software/hardware you may need . . .
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Product: Bandits on the Information Superhighway - Book
Author: Daniel J. Barrett
Publisher: O'Reilly & Associates, Inc.
Reviewed by: Craig E. Bull (bull@opus.oca.udayton.edu)
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Bandits on the Information Superhighway is the latest offering in
O'Reilly's "What You Need to Know" series. I've read several other
O'Reilly books (not in this series) and have been very impressed with
the quality of the information in the books. This book is no exception.
As stated in the introduction, this book is written for all computer
users. While I consider myself pretty literate about computers and the
Internet, there were some points brought up in the book that gave me
something to think about. The book is browsable, meaning you don't have
to read the chapters in order. Of course, reading it in sequence
certainly helps give you more background, but each chapter addresses a
specific topic.
The first chapter is an introduction to the Internet. I'm not real fond
of the term "Information Superhighway." But he uses the term because
"although the book focuses on the Internet, the risks we'll discuss can
happen on any other computer network, BBS or online service as well."
He does point out that the Information Superhighway is just a vision at
this point, and that the Internet is the closest thing so far. The
basic Internet tools are discussed, such as email, WWW, Usenet, etc.,
with an outline of the risks involved with each service.
Chapter 2 talks about privacy issues. Many people think that the
information on the Internet is private when in fact it isn't. The
chapter discusses what types of things are at risk and how users can
protect themselves. Choosing hard-to-guess passwords, controlling what
information you make available via finger, and being aware of just who
can access what on your system.
Chapters 3-5 discusses everyone's favorite topic on the Internet - "Get
Rich Quick" schemes. With some basic math, the author illustrates how
it's impossible to make money on these schemes. He also points a few
ways that people try to disguise these schemes and lists several
questions that you should ask before you respond to them. There are
also cautions against "free information...for a price." This is about
paying money for information that you can get for free.
For those interested in buying and selling on the Internet, the book
discusses ways that buyers and sellers both can protect themselves in
their transactions. As the intro to this chapter points out, and which
the media likes to ignore, most people on the Internet are honest. But
there are a few cheats, just like anywhere else. He lists "The 10
Commandments of Safe Buying and Selling." These are points that anyone,
buyer or seller, should be aware of and follow.
There is also a discussion of time wasters. As anyone subscribed to an
active mailing list knows, April Fool's Day brings out a lot of
messages. The GAMES-L list I'm subscribed to has information on a new
"game" every year. This year, the game was Baywatch. Of course, the
game doesn't exist, except in the minds of some very creative people.
The author gives some pointers on things to look for that might indicate
that a message might be a prank. There is also a brief discussion of
urban legends on the Internet, including the FCC modem tax story and the
Good Times virus hoax. (If I had a nickle for everytime I see that
one....) Of course, the famous Canter and Siegel Usenet spam of 1994
gets discussed. Not only is time wasted by a lot of people, but many
users have to pay to get their mail or news, and are not happy when they
get junk mail.
Interested in a relationship over the Internet? That gets covered, too.
And the author is a good candidate to discuss it; he met his wife
through the Internet. The section talks about ways to protect yourself
when meeting other people. It also warns to be careful about names. You
may start communicating with someone who you think is male/female, based
on their name, only to find out that they're really of the opposite sex.
The last chapter is for parents concerned about what their kids might
see. This is an area that really annoys me, and the author, too. If
you watch the news and the tabloid talkshows, you are led to believe
that the Internet is full of twisted, perverted individuals who are just
waiting to corrupt your children. It's not! As the author points out,
the Internet has a dark side. But like any other large city, it's
relatively small. There are adult sites, with pictures that you
wouldn't want your kids to see. But then, the local bookstore has
magazines with the same pictures. And television and movies have the
same sexual content. The author illustrates the options available to
parents to protect their children from the darker side of the Internet.
The most important one, and one which more parents would do well to
follow, is to talk to your children. Some of the topics suggested in
the book include never giving out a phone number or address, recognizing
that you should be cautious on the net, just as you would at the mall,
and never tell your password to anyone.
Every page of the book has notes in the margin relating comments from
users the author contacted while writing this book. Some are anonymous,
to protect the identity of the user. There are also a number of
sidebars with more detailed information and stories.
I think my only complaint with the book is the volume of the comments in
the margins. For me, it's distracting. Do I read the text or the
comments? In some cases, I think the comments could have been left out.
But that's a minor, personal preference. On the whole, the information
presented in Bandits on the Information Superhighway is well worth the
$17.95 price.
O'Reilly & Associates, Inc.
103A Morris Street
Sebastopol, CA 95472-9902
800-998-9938
http://www.ora.com/
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Product: Visual Basic 4.0
Reviewed By: Paul Ferrill (pferrill@fwb.gulf.net)
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Microsoft's Visual Basic (VB) 4.0 updates the popular programming
environment for the 32-bit world of Windows 95 and NT. VB 4.0 is a
complete rapid application development (RAD) environment that lets you
develop real programs in short order. For this review I looked at VB
4.0 Professional Edition. Microsoft also sells a version called the
Enterprise Edition which includes Microsoft Visual SourceSafe, an
integrated version control system.
You'll need Windows 95 or NT to run the 32-bit version and 70MB of free
disk space for a complete installation. Installing from CD-ROM makes
the process almost painless. I was able to install the package in under
30 minutes with very little intervention on my part.
Unlike the Visual C++ (VC++) 4.0 development environment, VB 4.0 also
runs under Windows 3.x. The only catch to make your program run under
both environments is that you must use either the 16- or 32-bit version
of the custom controls depending on the operating system. You also
won't be able to use your old 16-bit VBX controls in the 32-bit version
of Visual Basic.
One of the most visible enhancements for version 4.0 is the use of
32-bit OLE custom controls, otherwise known as OCX modules. The OCX
modules replace the older VBX versions with added OLE functionality. VB
4.0 attempts to keep pace with its object-oriented VC++ cousin by using
a similar concept of objects and classes. Previous versions of VB had
the same type of features but didn't stress the object-oriented nature
as does 4.0. Most hard-core programmers would argue the fact that
Visual Basic is not a true object-oriented language although Microsoft
has attempted to use the same buzz words to describe the different
aspects of the language.
VB 4.0 includes an Object Browser similar to the one in VC++ 4.0 that
lets you view the objects currently used by your project and other
objects available for use. Selecting a class or module displays the
associated methods and properties. You can also paste a template of VB
code for that method or property into a procedure.
One of the strongest benefits of a RAD tool like VB is the ability to
quickly create and debug a new application. Creating an input screen is
as easy as dragging-and-dropping the desired controls onto a form.
Since VB is an interpreted language you can make changes to your program
and immediately see the results without having to go through a
compile-and-link cycle as with VC++. The added benefit of the debug
window allows you to display the current value of a variable or execute
any legal VB statement.
The database access tools have been updated to take advantage of the
32-bit operating system and offer a significant improvement in speed.
The 32-bit version of VB 4.0 also supports database replication.
Data-aware controls include grid, combo, list, and an OLE container for
connecting to other OLE applications. You can also take advantage of
Windows 95 features such as tabbed interfaces and drag-and-drop
controls.
A revised tutorial provides a good introduction to the VB way of doing
things. Topics include the basics of getting started and event-driven
programming along with building a sample application, accessing
databases, debugging your program and more. A searchable index makes it
easy to find help for the topic you're currently stuck on.
All of the example programs have been updated to use the latest 32-bit
controls. Microsoft has also added some newer examples in an attempt to
show off the enhanced capabilities of VB 4.0. I find it much easier to
grasp a new programming language when I can see concrete, working
examples that let me see how it's done. VB 4.0 provides that and more.
Four manuals with over 2700 pages cover everything from the basics of
the language to creating OLE servers. I like having paper copies of
manuals that I can kick back and browse through as opposed to the CD-ROM
machine readable kind. Microsoft also included copies of the manual on
the CD-ROM for those that prefer to read the manual sitting in front of
the computer.
If you're looking for a tool to quickly build Windows 95 applications
you won't go wrong with Visual Basic 4.0.
Microsoft Corporation
One Microsoft Way
Redmond, WA 98052-6399
(800) 426-9400
http://www.microsoft.com
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
Product: Whiplash by Interplay
Reviewed By: Mike Gallo (gallomike@aol.com)
Requires: 486-66, 8 meg RAM, 30 mb disk space, DOS
Reviewed on:Pentium100,16mb RAM, 4X CD, 16bit sound
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
Playing Whiplash may be hazardous to your driving habits. However, if
you could use a little bumping and grinding or outright roadside
aggression, then InterPlay's new race car game may fit the bill.
Unlike some other games currently on the market like NASCAR racing,
Whiplash is more of an arcade game than a hardcore racing simulation.
There are no tires to select or steering to adjust, or wheel angles to
tweak.
That does not mean Whiplash is a watered down product.
There are some serious pixels being pushed around the screen in this
game. Two graphics modes are offered: VGA and SUPER VGA. The screens
include such goodies as clouds, buildings, ground textures, car
textures, and perspective correction. I had no problem running the game
in standard VGA mode, but the game looks truly fantastic in Super VGA.
However, even on my Pentium machine, I had to reduce the screen size
when playing in Super VGA mode in order to get an acceptable frame rate.
Otherwise, I ended up crashing side to side into the walls because the
slow screen updates caused me to oversteer. Yeah, you can shut off all
the extra options so that all you see are the track and the other cars,
but then you'd be back to playing with circa 1990 game technology. If
you do want all the options turned on while playing in full screen SUPER
VGA mode, you'd better have an ultra-fast gaming system. With the
advent of new 3D graphics cards and the new Windows '95 gaming APIs, I
would expect the next version of Whiplash to offer dizzying frame rates.
There are eight different cars(representing eight different
manufacturers) to choose from. Each car has its own strengths and
weaknesses against seven attributes: Acceleration, top speed, braking,
turning, grip, durability, and mass. Some cars are average across all
attributes, while others are number one in at least one attribute. I
found top speed, turning, and grip to be the most important. Sadly, the
selection of cars is fixed and there is no opportunity to change a car's
attributes.
So what else separates Whiplash from other racing games? THE TRACKS!
You won't find boring ovals from Indianapolis or Daytona Beach, in
Whiplash. Instead, you'll find tracks with names like Snake Pass, Death
Drop, and The Reaper. There are a total of sixteen tracks to race on.
You're allowed to choose from eight of these, but you must win a
championship at the medium level of difficulty to gain access to the
other eight tracks. All of the tracks are hard. Quick twists and sharp
turns are only part of the challenge. Pits, loops, and jumps make the
race even harder. The really cool tracks have corkscrews, barrel rolls,
and twisted jumps and offer spectacular views and makes for a good movie
playback.(I could not get through the Gateway's corkscrew to save my
life. I always ended upside down after a bone crunching crash that left
the sound of crackling metal and glass in the background.)
I must admit, put a race car driving game in front of me and the first
thing I want to do is race around the track in the opposite
direction!(Bet you can't do that in an arcade!) The game even shouts
back at you that you're driving the wrong way! This makes for some
cataclysmic crashes. What fun! The game also includes a record and
playback system. You can record your race by turning it on in the
options menu. After that, the entire race will be recorded
automatically for you.(No fussing with turning the recording on and off
while trying to play the game.) The manual warns you however that about
1 meg of disk space is consumed for each minute of race time, however
most races last no longer than about five or six minutes so the space
gobbled up is temporary and minimal. While recording you may experience
some pauses in the game with the recording turned on. If this happens
either defragment your hard drive or turn the record option off.
You can control the game via keyboard, joystick, or the special racing
steering wheels. I found my joystick to be adequate. Several
multi-player options are available. A special two player mode will
split the computer screen into half size top and bottom screens, one for
player one and the other for player two. I found this format to be a
bit confusing. Every now and then I'd look at the wrong screen and
crash my car into the wall. The modem option allows you to dial up
someone to race against, but the really neat mode is the network mode.
With one CD, you're allowed to have sixteen players on a network! Wow!
Now we're talking some fun. While seeing who can reach the finish line
first is okay, I would rather see if I could just survive.
With 16 people playing, that makes for quite an exciting demolition
derby!
I would rate Whiplash overall as a very good game. I had no problem
installing the game and did not experience any glitches or crashes while
playing. I wish InterPlay had expanded the offering of cars and allowed
users either to either "earn" improvements or to outright modify their
cars. The story line printed in the manual described each of the car
manufacturer's background. The story emphasized how important it was
for their cars to win in races. However, this information is not
utilized in the game.
Interplay
17922 Fitch Ave.
Irvine, CA 92714
Customer Service: (714) 553-6678
Hintline: 1-900-PLAY
Internet: AOL - Go to keyword INTERPLAY
Compuserve - GO GAMEPUB, Section 4
Prodigy - email to PLAY99B
Web - http://www.interplay.com
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
Product: WordPro96 for Windows 3.1
Reviewed By: Doug Reed, Associate Editor <dreed@panda.uchc.edu>
Reviewed On: 486DX250, 12 MB RAM, CD-ROM, Windows 95
Requires: 486, 8 MB RAM, CD-ROM, Windows 3.1
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
WordPro96 is the latest version of Lotus award-winning, crowd-pleasing
word processor (originally title AmiPro). For those new to Windows or
word processing, AmiPro 3.0 was the definitive word processor for
Windows users for several years. AmiPro is probably best known for
popularizing the concept of SmartIcons. With this new version, Lotus
has thrown in lots of new bells and whistles, including on-the-fly spell
checking, divisions, task-specific tool bars and shortcuts, and many
more. While maintaining a similar look and feel to AmiPro, WordPro is a
significant upgrade.
Installation of WordPro96 is a snap. The installation shield guides you
through the process, giving you the option of doing a default or custom
installation. The default installation requires about 30 MB of hard
drive space. With the custom install, you can remove components you
wont use, such as sample files, the tutorials, and other pieces that are
nice but not necessary for WordPro to function. Using a custom
installation, I was able to get it down to 28 MB, which included
installing the tutorial
Not a huge footprint, and noticeably similar in size to my old AmiPro
files. Upgrading from AmiPro is fairly easy; WordPro installs to a
different directory so you can convert your customized macros and files
and then use your favorite uninstaller to remove AmiPro. Macros and
files can also be converted from Word and WordPerfect.
Once WordPro is booted it looks much the same as AmiPro, although you
quickly begin to realize that there are subtle changes. The taskbar is
now task-sensitive, which means that it can change depending on the task
you are performing at the moment. Tell WordPro that you want to draw
something and up pops icons for drawing-related tools. You can also
customize what SmartIcons are always present and which pop-up with the
various tasks. This way you can very easily create a work environment
customized t your special needs. WordPro also has task-sensitive
shortcuts that you can access from the text on the screen. What this
means is that you can highlight a portion of your document (say a
drawing you have made), and when you right click with your mouse up
comes a menu containing drawing-related tasks. WordPro also now has
nearly unlimited undo support, although this can be reduced if system
performance is slow. WordPro can also auto-backup your files, insuring
that even if you forget to back up occasionally, your precious data is
saved in the event of a catastrophe.
Reading through the manual I quickly discovered that WordPro carried one
new feature borrowed from latest version of Lotus 1-2-3, the ability to
create divisions within a single file. What this means simply is that
if you are creating a document made up of several different sections,
you can easily divide these while keeping them in the same file. For
example, my "day job" involves scientific research. If you remember
from school, scientific papers follow the general format of an
introduction, the materials and methods used, the results of the
experiments, and a discussion of what the results mean. Using WordPro,
I can easily create divisions for each section of any paper I am
preparing. Text added to the end of the Introduction stays right where
it belongs and does not spill over into the Materials and Methods.
Simply put, I love this feature. In about five minutes, I managed to
put together one fairly large file that contained all of the chapters of
my doctoral dissertation. Now three hundred pages of writing is
consolidated into one (admittedly very large) document that I can easily
scan to find what I need.
Fortunately for the rest of you, this is not the only new feature in
WordPro. Spell checking has been updated to include SmartCorrect, a
relatively unobtrusive on-the-fly spell checker that will only make
corrections if you hit the spacebar. I like the fact that SmartCorrect
actually waits for you to tell it to make the correction. In science
you often use jargon that is not part of ordinary language and which
might throw SmartCorrect for a loop. Another nice touch to SmartCorrect
is that you can penalize it, adding to it words that you commonly make
mistakes on while typing. If your computer is limited on RAM, you may
want to turn this off; SmartCorrect caused no noticeable slowdowns on my
system but Lotus does mention turning it off as a means of improving
system performance. WordPro also comes with a fully integrated
thesaurus and grammar checker.
So, is that all that is new? Not by a long shot. WordPro comes with a
host of tools especially made for working with other people (called the
Team Computing Tools). An example of how this might work can be applied
to my example of a scientific paper. Papers in science are rarely
written entirely by one individual; it usually takes two or more people
to produce the work required as well as write it all up. WordPro gives
you the ability to send your document over a LAN to other people who
might want review and make changes. WordPro can then save these changes
as different versions of the same document. Once everyone has reviewed
the document, you can go back in and consolidate the various changes
into a final, master document. Changes made by others can be viewed
separately or made to stand out by highlighting with various colors.
The Team Computing Tools are a powerful, well-done addition to WordPro.
That sums up the new features in WordPro. I received the version for
Windows 3.1, but there is very little difference between this version
and the Windows 95 version (except for long file name support). I
encountered no bugs or glitches, and was impressed with the overall
speed and smoothness at which the program ran and performed various
chores. The new features make for a very powerful but easy to use word
processor. It will be sad parting with AmiPro, which I've had for five
years now (longer than I've been married!), but it will definitely be
worth it.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
WEBSITES OF THE WEEK! | This section is devoted to cool WebSites . . .
------------------------------------------------------------------------
TUNE INTO THE INDY 500 OVER THE NET!|
-------------------------------------
HOUSTON, May 17 /PRNewswire/ -- For the first time ever, sports fans all
over the world will be able to hear the actual track announcer's call at
this year's Indianapolis 500 race, thanks to The Auto Channel (TACH), an
Internet supersite which offers a wide spectrum of content on
motorsports and other automotive topics. TACH is sponsored by Pennzoil
Products Company.
TACH will break new media ground with its exclusive cybercast of
continuous reports of the Indy 500 from the Brickyard on May 26, 1996.
The live audio reports will emanate directly from the track announcer's
booth.
Tom Floyd, chief marketing officer for Pennzoil Products Company, says
he's excited about the TACH cybercast. "We are proud of our heritage of
market leadership. Through our sponsorship of The Auto Channel, we are
promoting exhibitions of this emerging communications technology."
Floyd says that the Internet presents "a whole new world of
communication and marketing opportunities," and that by supporting the
Pennzoil brand in this emerging media, the company is demonstrating the
leadership its customers have come to expect.
Bob Gordon, president of TACH, said the cybercast is a tremendously
exciting first for everyone involved. "It's the first time that motor
sports fans all over the world will be able to hear the actual track
announcer's call," he pointed out. "It's the first major auto race to
be presented live on the World Wide Web, and its the first of a series
of live events we'll be covering throughout the year."
TACH's audio coverage of the Indy 500 begins on Saturday, May 18, with
live interviews, track-side reports and practice results. It will also
cybercast live feeds from local Indianapolis sports radio talk shows
that are discussing this year's race and Indycar events. In addition,
TACH will use VDOLive technology to present Internet users with video
highlights of past Indy 500 races.
TACH went on-line earlier this year and is already recognized by USA
Today, Mecklermedia, Multimedia World Magazine and the Magellan and
Yahoo Internet guides as one of the world's best websites. Users can
reach the TACH supersite through its global on-line address --
http://www.theautochannel.com.
----------------
CREATE A CHECK!|
----------------
SALT LAKE CITY, May 17 /PRNewswire/ -- Create-A-Check Inc., a leading
developer and provider of check-writing and negotiable document-
printing software and systems, today announced it has finished
construction of its homepage on the World Wide Web. The page is up and
running and can be visited at http://www.createacheck.com.
According to John Bechard, vice president of sales and marketing for
Create-A-Check, the web site is another sales and marketing tool Create-
A-Check is using to sell and promote its products and services.
"Due to the recent explosion of the Internet and the World Wide Web, and
since Create-A-Check is a technology-driven company, we needed to
augment our marketing scope with an electronic marketing vehicle to
leverage our sales and marketing ventures," Bechard said. "Not only
will we use the web site as a marketing tool, but more importantly we
want it to be a leading site in educating web browsers on check- and
negotiable document-printing issues that help organizations save money
and secure their check- and document-printing processes, as well as
providing information related to check fraud and MICR (magnetic ink
character recognition) printing."
Visitors to Create-A-Check's Homepage will find seven informational
sections: Check Fraud in the News, a database of published check fraud
and forgery articles; Common Causes of Check Fraud; American Banking
Association (ABA) Information, facts on check document standards and
testing and a hyperlink to the ABA's web site; Tools for Fighting Check
Fraud, Create-A-Check's total security solution; Conferences and
Seminars, a listing of conferences and expositions on banking and
security; Will Checks Die, a white paper on the check-printing industry
and MICR printing; and Create-A-Check Information, product and service
information about Create-A-Check.
Bechard said Create-A-Check developed the Homepage to be more
information-driven than sales-driven in an effort to educate browsers on
the extent of check fraud and the need to combat it. "We wanted to
address check fraud upfront since that is what drives our industry and
is such a damaging criminal enterprise," Bechard said. "The site is
actually titled `Fighting Check Fraud,' and it displays an exact daily
updated calculation of how many billions of dollars ($3,654,889,332.83
as of May 17) have been stolen since Jan. 1, 1996 due to check fraud."
Create-A-Check is a market leader in the developing industry of check
writing software and related computer products. Create-A-Check
customers use their existing accounting package, a standard laser
printer, a special toner cartridge with "magnetic ink," and blank check
stock to produce their checks.
As a leading developer and provider of check-writing and negotiable
document-printing software, Create-A-Check provides high quality
software solutions to businesses and organizations that print checks and
other "Magnetic Ink Character Recognition" (MICR) documents with laser
printers. For more information on Create-A-Check and its products, call
800-621-5720 or visit its World Wide Web site at
http://www.createacheck.com.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
COOL FTP FILE OF THE WEEK | You may need this file . . .
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Internet Marauder is a fully-automated, link-following, file-retrieving
web robot at your personal disposal. Not just another off-line web
browser, Internet Marauder will download only the types of files that
you want (sound, graphic, text, executable, html...), thereby working
much faster, saving you hours of connect time and charges, and keeping
your hard drive free from the clutter of unwanted files.
Internet Marauder works in the background, allowing you to work or relax
while Internet Marauder does your search and capture for you. Want to
grab 400 sound files for a multimedia presentation? Looking for just the
right background graphic? Found a huge archive of great graphics? Found
a great link site, but don't have the time to check out every link?
No more waiting for slow pages to download. No more clicking on links
for hours, only to find garbage at the end of your trail.
Internet Marauder version 1.2 for Windows 95 is now available as
Shareware, with a free 30 day trial evaluation period.
For more information, please check out the Bourbon Street Software web
site at http://wymple.gs.net/~bourbon
You can find this as MARAUD12.ZIP in the following FTP site:
ftp.simtel.net/pub/simtelnet/win95/inet/
------------------------------------------------------------------------
INTERVIEW WITH ????? | Weekly Interviews with the Movers and Shakers!
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Interviews will be back next week! Instead, I decided to run a piece on
the history of the Internet.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
The Internet is a worldwide connection of thousands of computer
networks. All of them speak the same language, TCP/IP, the standard
protocol. The Internet allows people with access to these networks to
share information and knowledge. Resources available on the Internet are
chat groups, e-mail, newsgroups, file transfers, and the World Wide Web.
The Internet has no centralized authority and it is uncensored. The
Internet belongs to everyone and to no one.
The Internet is structured in a hierarchy. At the top, each country has
at least one public backbone network. Backbone networks are made of high
speed lines that connect to other backbones. There are thousands of
service providers and networks that connect home or college users to the
backbone networks. Today, there are more than fifty-thousand networks in
more than one-hundred countries worldwide. However, it all started with
one network.
In the early 1960's the Cold War was escalating and the United States
Government was faced with a problem. How could the country communicate
after a nuclear war? The Pentagon's Advanced Research Projects Agency,
ARPA, had a solution. They would create a non-centralized network that
linked from city to city, and base to base. The network was designed to
function when parts of it were destroyed. The network could not have a
center because it would be a primary target for enemies. In 1969,
ARPANET was created, named after its original Pentagon sponsor. There
were four supercomputer stations, called nodes, on this high speed
network.
ARPANET grew during the 1970's as more and more supercomputer stations
were added. The users of ARPANET had changed the high speed network to
an electronic post office. Scientists and researchers used ARPANET to
collaborate on projects and to trade notes. Eventually, people used
ARPANET for leisure activities such as chatting. Soon after, the mailing
list was developed. Mailing lists were discussion groups of people who
would send their messages via e-mail to a group address, and also
receive messages. This could be done twenty-four hours a day.
Interestingly, the first group's topic was called Science Fiction
Lovers.
ARPANET became larger, a more sophisticated and standard protocol was
needed. The protocol would have to link users from other small networks
to ARPANET, the main network. The standard protocol invented in 1977 was
called TCP/IP. Because of TCP/IP, connecting to ARPANET by any other
network was made possible. In 1983, the military portion of ARPANET
broke off and formed MILNET. The same year, TCP/IP was made a standard
and it was being used by everyone. It linked all parts of the branching
complex networks, which soon came to be called the Internet.
In 1985, the National Science Foundation (NSF) began a program to
establish Internet access centered on its six powerful supercomputer
stations across the United States. They created a backbone called NSFNET
to connect college campuses via regional networks to its supercomputer
centers. ARPANET officially expired in 1989. Most of the networks were
gained by NSFNET. The others became parts of smaller networks. The
Defense Communications Agency shut down ARPANET because its functions
had been taken over by NSFNET. Amazingly, when ARPANET was turned off in
June of 1990, no one except the network staff noticed.
In the early 1990's the Internet experienced explosive growth. It was
estimated that the number of computers connected to the Internet was
doubling every year. It was also estimated that at this rapid rate of
growth, everyone would have an e-mail address by the year 2020. The main
cause of this growth was the creation of the World Wide Web.
The World Wide Web was created at CERN, a physics laboratory in Geneva,
Switzerland. The Web's development was based on the transmission of web
pages over the Internet, called Hyper Text Transmission Protocol or
HTTP. It is an interactive system for the dissemination and retrieval of
information through web pages. The pages may consist of text, pictures,
sound, music, voice, animations, and video. Web pages can link to other
web pages by hypertext links. When there is hypertext on a page, the
user can simply click on the link and be taken to the new page.
Previously, the Internet was black and white, text, and files. The web
added color. Web pages can provide entertainment, information, or
commercial advertisement. The World Wide Web is the fastest growing
Internet resource. In conclusion, the Internet has dramatically changed
from its original purpose. It was formed by the United States government
for exclusive use of government officials and the military to
communicate after a nuclear war. Today, the Internet is used globally
for a variety of purposes. People can send their friends an electronic
"hello." They can download a recipe for a new type of lasagna. They can
argue about politics on-line, and even shop and bank electronically in
their homes. The number of people signing on-line is still increasing
and the end it not in sight. As we approach the 21st century, we are
experiencing a great transformation due to the Internet and the World
Wide Web. We are breaking through the restrictions of the printed page
and the boundaries of nations and cultures.
Phillip Johnson
--END OF ISSUE--