Hope everyone's Holidaze were filled with comfort and iMacs (or G3s, or Power Macs, or Unreal, or whatever else was on your Wish List)... and welcome to a brand new year - the year of preparation for the supposed "impending doom". Not to cast a dark cloud on anyone's hangover, but it's better to be prepared than to be caught with that dreaded "blinking question mark" flashing across your screen (of course, this would be the extreme case and not the norm!). It's a given that this year will be filled with Y2K reverie in all aspects of life. And while you may not have control over the stock exchange, banks, or the government, you can better prepare your faithful Mac and all of its files for the next century.
First off, good news... the majority of all Macs should not be affected by the Year 2000 roll-over date. Your Mac's System generally interprets dates in 4 byte/32-bit integers (seconds). This calculation will not roll-over until the year 2040, so next year shouldn't pose any problems, and current versions of the Mac OS will not have any problems with any dates in the next century. This brings us to software. While most software programs shouldn't be affected, any program that interprets a date as a text file may be in trouble. For programs that display dates within itself, it's been reported that if you set your Date & Time in your Control Panel to display the year as a four-digit number, your Mac shouldn't have a problem interpreting the changing date {four-digit year: 1999 -> 2000 = OK, two-digit year: 99 -> 00 = (19)00?}. I've also included a useful program called "Y2K Software Audit" from Pedagoguery Software that will help you sort through your files and analyze which programs may not be Year 2000 compliant. I highly recommend visiting their web site to update the list throughout the year (and don't forget to abide by the Shareware Honor). OK, enough already...
On a lighter note, this month's CD is chock full of goodies that'll inspire new resolutions for this year. Perhaps your New Year's Resolutions will be to:
1) Upgrade to QuickTime 3 - gee, it's on the disc, and how can you go another month without seeing our bright, shiny mugs in the Staff Video...
2) Learn how to play the piano - or at least a virtual one. Check out BitHeadz Retro AS-1 and play a little ditty straight from your Mac's keyboard.
3) Learn basic programming with REALbasic. Hey, maybe you can even get your program on The Disc - get crackin'!
4) Discover your inner self - or something like that. Find out what's in the stars for you with Matthieu Thibault's Astrology 1.2.2.
5) Finish all those games you started. While I'd like to think that you'd reach the endings in the traditional way, check out the Codebook, a huge database of cheats and hacks, if you're seriously stuck or just want to whiz through to the endings.
6) Learn the meaning of "trigger finger" by blasting through Electronic Art's new game demo, Future Cop: LAPD. It's seek and destroy action - and a carpal tunnel killer!
7) For you stress mongers, dwell in the art of pure procrastination with Paul B. Jones's FleaCircus IV...
8) Get organized with the latest version of Chronos's Personal Information Manager, Consultant 2.52. Maximum efficiency and punctuality are key, but not necessarily the rule (see #7).
9) Balance that checkbook and pay off that credit card with the help of Freelance Enterprise's Finance 2.5.2. Now if it could only slap me each time I pull out my wallet...
10) Become more literate, or at least appear to be in printed word, with the help of Newer Technology's SpellTools. If you guys could only see some of the letters that come bounding into our office...
And of course, all of you readers should make a resolution to honor the Shareware ethic, and send in those shareware fees to all of the guys and gals who slave away to bring you great programs, and who continue to support the Mac platform.
And on that note, I will now step down from my soap box and simply say, "Enjoy The Disc!".
Kris Fong
MacAddict/Digital Media Editor
"A better machine. A better magazine"
About the Disc
Documentation included with each program will make it clear whether it is shareware, freeware, a demo, etc. Please read all accompanying documentation prior to using any software contained on this disc.
Note that not all software contained on this cd is available/installable from the MacAddict Tour. Last minute changes and additions make it impossible to have everything listed there. Look through the disc in the Finder to access programs you can't find in the MacAddict Tour.
First, our standard disclaimer:
We are NOT RESPONSIBLE for any problems caused by using the software on this disc. We did not create the software, we have simply made a collection that we think is useful. If you have problems with any particular piece of software, please contact the author or company directly for help. We will not provide technical support for software.
If you use our disc, you are doing so at YOUR OWN RISK (please read the legal disclaimer and agreement of usage document at the root level of the disc). We test things out as much as possible before sending it out, but we can't exhaustively test out each piece of software on every type of machine and system configuration each month. If you lose data, or your system becomes corrupted, or your computer blows up, don't say I didn't warn you.
The MacAddict Disc Catalog
I have used a program called "DiskTracker," by Mark Pirri, to catalog each and every MacAddict disc back to #1. This program is located on most of the recent discs, in the "Utilities" folder in the "Software" folder. The catalog file itself is located at the root of the disc, and is named "MacAddict CD Catalog (1-x)." You will need to install DiskTracker on your hard drive, and then extract the catalog file (by double-clicking it) to your hard drive. Then use DiskTracker to open the catalog file.
If you continue to use the DiskTracker program, please register it. It is a great program, and the author deserves to be rewarded for his hard work.
Using the Disc
If you still have questions or problems with the disc after reading this file, visit our cd-rom help pages at the URL below. You can view problems reported by others, possible workarounds or solutions, send bug reports, and request a new disc from customer service if your disc is broken or missing. You can also use the phone number below to request a new disc in the latter case.
http://www.macaddict.com/cdrom/
The direct phone number for customer service is 1-800-666-6889. Please call them to request a new disc if yours is missing or broken, or for any issues regarding your subscription.
The MacAddict Tour
Pressing command + Q will quit to the finder from anywhere in the interface.
When you double-click on one of the "MacAddict Tour" icons (either 68k or PPC), you launch our custom-designed REALbasic interface. BE AWARE before doing so that the interface requires Mac OS 7.6 or greater and AT LEAST 8 MB of real RAM (i.e. without RamDoubler or some other software ram, such as virtual memory). This is IN ADDITION TO the amount of RAM used by your system software. For example, if you have exactly 8 MB of real RAM installed and you are running system 7.6.x, you will not be able to reliably run the interface because your system software takes up some of that RAM. We also recommend installing QuickTime 3 (if you haven't already, the freeware version is in the Apple folder on the disc). We found that compressing our movies using the Sorenson codec resulted in better video quality and handling, and kept the file size down (especially with our bigger size format). This codec is supported in QuickTime 3. The upgrade to QuickTime 3 Pro is also recommended if you integrate multimedia files into your everyday work.
If you aren't sure what version of the system software you are using or how much RAM you have installed, select the "About This Macintosh..." menu item under the Apple menu in the Finder. The version of your system software and some memory details will be displayed. Without any applications running, look at the number labeled "Largest Unused Block." If it is 8,000K or greater you can run the interface.
If you don't have the required amount of RAM, launching the "MacAddict Tour" is just asking for trouble. It will probably launch, and then at some point your computer will freeze up or give you a strange error.
Okay, Wiseguy, I don't have enough RAM...is my Phat Disc useless?
No! You can still just use the ol' finder to look through the disc and install what you want, even if you can't run the interface. The disc software is organized by category, so you can easily find things.
I have included a software index in every software category folder that provides descriptions of each software title, as well as contact information, version #'s, and the type of software it is (demo, shareware, freeware, etc.). Many of the installers will give you information about a program when launched, with the option to cancel before you actually install anything. Also, many of our installers do NOT put extensions, control panels, etc. into your system folder for you. They simply install a folder on your desktop with all the necessary parts with instructions on where to put them. This way, you will know exactly what went into your system folder (because you put it there personally) and you won't have to go hunting to get rid of it.
Unfortunately, some of the installers are not made by us, and we can't control their behaviour.
A Final Note About Installing Stuff From The Disc
When you use the software from our disc, PLEASE be careful! We try to test everything before we put it on the disc, but due to possible installer corruptions, bad discs, conflicts with your particular system, a less tolerant cd drive (meaning it is less forgiving of minor flaws on a cd), and a myriad of other variables beyond our control, you may still have problems with some or all of the programs on the disc.
To avoid causing yourself frustration and possibly losing important data, the first thing you should do is BACK UP IMPORTANT FILES before using anything on our disc. Then, install things ONE AT A TIME and try them out to make sure they don't cause problems on your system before installing the next one. You will save yourself a great deal of trouble.
Keep in mind that none of the software on the disc is written by us, so we can only offer limited technical support if you call or email us. You should always try to contact the author or company directly, since they are the ones that wrote it. Again, any program you use from our disc is at your own risk (please read the legal disclaimer and agreement of usage document at the root level of the disc).
