BBS in a Box 4/BBS in a Box - Macintosh - Volume IV (January 1992) (BBS in a Box).iso/Files/Word/U-V/USENETV3-23

Text File | 1987-05-25 | 30.8 KB | 790 lines | [TEXT/MACA]

Network_Server.Daemon 03/21/87  1106.2 est Sat info-mac
Subject:  Usenet Mac Digest V3 #23
From: [e-mail]

Usenet Mac Digest     Friday, March 20, 1987         Volume 3 : Issue 23

Today's Topics:
     Hooking up a mac to external speakers
     Re: MacWorld inaccuracies
     Speech generation
     3D software opinions wanted...
     Apple -> Mac file transfer
     Re: Sad Mac -- HELP!
     Re: fonds and fonts
     RE: mathematical word processors
     Lightspeed Pascal and Mac II??
     Scrapbook usage with internal Hyperdrive 20...
     Re: System 4.0 on a Mac Plus
     Font/DA mover
     Re: BSD features in A/UX
     Baseball for Mac?
     Re: Hooking up a mac to external speakers
     Repairing failed video on Mac
     MacXL (Lisa) to LaserWriter
     Re: Mac SE - compatibility (where's the horizontal retrace bit?)
     Re: Networking and A/UX
     Re: Repairing failed video on Mac
     Re: Baseball for Mac?
     Bug in LSC Unix Simulation
     cache FKEY wanted
     Re: Of Games (Dark Castle)
     Dialog sans Resources
     MacWrite 4.5 BOMB
     Word 3.0 bug and workaround
     Who is Cooke Publications?
     Re: Baseball for Mac?
     Re: asynchronous serial driver calls

----------------------------------------------------------------------

From: [e-mail] (Nick Zentena)
Subject: Hooking up a mac to external speakers
Date: 18 Mar 87 22:52:18 GMT
Organization: University of Toronto Computing Services

          I was wondering if any problem existed with hooking up an audio system
to a Mac. I have been told that the resulting output wave is too square
and that clipping will result. Did Apple design the Mac with hooking it
into audio systems in mind?

                    Nick --
          Nick Zentena

          UUCP:           zen@utgpu
        BITNET:         [e-mail], [e-mail]
        UofT LAN:       [e-mail]
        Internet:       [e-mail]


{utai,allegra,cbosgd,mnetor,pyramid}

------------------------------

From: [e-mail] (Frank Owen )
Subject: Re: MacWorld inaccuracies
Date: 18 Mar 87 17:53:16 GMT
Organization: AT&T, Skokie, IL

In article <[e-mail]>, [e-mail] (Dan Graifer)
writes:
>
> The most recent (April) MacWorld had a couple of glaring inaccuracies:  The

The April MacUser also has at least one glaring inaccuracy. They show a
picture of the Apple Macintosh II graphic controller card and claim it
is the Macintosh II motherboard! They even go as far as pointing out
that "the large square chip is the 68020", when it is in fact the Apple
custom graphics chip.

------------------------------

From: [e-mail] (Brian Mayoh)
Subject: Speech generation
Date: 18 Mar 87 10:06:28 GMT
Organization: DAIMI: Computer Science Department, Aarhus University, Denmark

Does anyone know the locations of the sound waveforms in MacIn
Talk,SmoothTalk or any other speech generation program?We need the
information to get the Mac to speak Danish,Arabic,Japanese,and Tuareg.

------------------------------

From: [e-mail] (John Gilbert)
Subject: 3D software opinions wanted...
Date: 18 Mar 87 23:32:07 GMT
Organization: FileNet Corp., Costa Mesa, CA

I am looking for some 3D software for some simple drawing and rotation
type needs.  I know very little about the features in these types of
packages, and was wondering if anyone out there has opinions on the
what's available.  I am aware of:

    Mac3D
    Easy3D
    Pro3D
    MiniCAD

Prices range from $79 up to $399, from what I have seen, and most are
available from mail order places.

It seems I could wind up spending quite a bit just for demo disks, which
are not redemable through mail order if I buy.  Before I go doing that,
I thought I would see what I could learn here.

Please ... EMAIL any opinions.  Thanks for the help....

--
John Gilbert
.!trwrb!felix!john

------------------------------

From: [e-mail] (Randy Burns)
Subject: Apple -> Mac file transfer
Date: 19 Mar 87 04:12:51 GMT
Organization: Teknowledge, Inc., Palo Alto CA

Hello, I am posting this message for a friend, Jeff Hook. Jeff needs to
transfer some binary files from an Apple IIe with a super serial card
(or a IIgs) to a Macintosh. He's been able to use a print  driver on the
apple II end to transfer straight ascii files. He's wondering if anyone
can suggest a procedure that works or a combination of software packages
that will work with each machine.

You can call Jeff at Greenleaf Scientific Software- 415-325-0488.

------------------------------

From: [e-mail]
Subject: Re: Sad Mac -- HELP!
Date: 18 Mar 87 02:13:48 GMT
Organization: U. of Waterloo, Ontario

In article <[e-mail]> [e-mail] (Walter Hunt X7031) writes:
>Help!

>I was in the middle of a file copy yesterday and my Mac+ froze
>up.

>I seem to be SOL, and am now facing the prospect of paying large $
>to get it looked at.  I'm disappointed and quite annoyed (the machine
>is 4 months old . . . just out of warranty!)

Here in Canada, Apple has been supplying 1 year AppleCare warranties
with all Macintoshes since the middle of last summer.  Is the situation
different in the states?
--
Doug Moen (watmath!watcgl!kdmoen)
University of Waterloo Computer Graphics Lab

------------------------------

From: [e-mail] (David Phillip Oster)
Subject: Re: fonds and fonts
Date: 18 Mar 87 15:53:18 GMT
Organization: University of California, Berkeley

(Caution: twisty road ahead) If you didn't understand the interaction
between the Font Manager and the Resource manager under the old ROMs,
this article will only confuse you more.

In the new world of FONDs, to renumber a FONT by hand you must:

1.) Renumber the FOND.
2.) Open the FOND (you'll need a version of
ResEdit recent enough that it knows about the internal structure of
FONDs. Scroll it to the end. You'll find a list of point sizes -
resource id pairs. Renumber each resource id.
3.) Open FONTs as general
(i.e., with the option key held down.) (you do this to turn off
ResEdit's funky way of telling you what fonts are available.)
4.) Renumber that evil font. Don't forget point size 0, which holds the name
for everybody using the old ROM font manager.

The current version of Font/DA Mover, version 3.2 (displayed on the menu
bar while Font/DA Mover is running) is supposed to automatically
generate FONDs if they are missing, and it is supposed to renumber any
new FONT so it doesn't conflict with the Fonts you already have
installed. (FONDs exist so that their resources CAN be renumbered.) It
may be that the Font/DA Mover can't work its magic if the FONT has a
number that conflicts with Apple's.

(I have a soft spot in my heart for burdvax.PRC.Unisys.COM. I use to
work at the end of a basement corridor there when it was Burroughs
Research and Development Vax at Information Modelling and Management,
Federal and Special Systems Group, Burroughs Corporation.)
--- David Phillip Oster                 -- "We live in a Global Village."
Arpa: [e-mail]  --
Uucp: ucbvax!ucblapis!oster     -- "You are Number Six."

------------------------------

From: [e-mail] (Ron Beloin)
Subject: RE: mathematical word processors
Date: 19 Mar 87 03:57:17 GMT
Organization: Theory Center, Cornell University, Ithaca NY

 I **highly** recommend MathWriter for heavy duty mathematical
 equation processing. I haven't used it exhaustively, but it
 seems to do everything that I can imagine would be in an equation.
 It is a separate application, but you (of course) can transfer PICTs
 to a word processor. The price is somewhere around $50, I beleive.
 contact:
        MathWriter
        Cooke Publications
        P.O. Box 4448, Ithaca, NY 14852
 I have no financial whatever with these folks.

 Ron Beloin, Ecosystems Research Center, Corson Hall, Cornell, Ithaca, NY 14850
 >>opinions<< BITNET: U2DJ@CORNELLC     INTERNET: [e-mail]
 >>are mine<<UUCP:{cmcl2,shasta,uw-beaver,rochester}!cornell!batcomputer!beloin

------------------------------

From: rs4u#@ANDREW.CMU.EDU (Richard Siegel)
Subject: Lightspeed Pascal and Mac II??
Date: 19 Mar 87 13:56:35 GMT

Does Lightspeed Pascal work on {prototype, existing} Mac II's? I
remember THINK saying that LSP won't work on a Prodigy board, so I am
suspicious that it won't work on a Mac II either. :-(

Does anyone have an answer?

                    --Rich

Richard M. Siegel
NASA/Langley Research Center
Mail Stop 231
Hampton, Virginia 2365
                 ^23665

Arpa: [e-mail]

------------------------------

From: [e-mail] (Jeff Harrow, NCSE LKG1-3/F16  Boxborough  DTN=293-5128)
Subject: Scrapbook usage with internal Hyperdrive 20...
Date: 19 Mar 87 15:08:17 GMT
Organization: Digital Equipment Corporation

I have a  20  Megabyte internal Hyperdrive split into several HFS
volumes.  The  system folder resides on its own (startup) volume,  and
most applications reside on other volumes.

However, when I'm running  an  application off of one volume (say
Volume_A) and choose Scrapbook from  the  apple menu, it does NOT  get
the same scrapbook in the  startup  volume.    In  effect, it  attempts
to  use  the  Scrapbook  from  WHATEVER    volume   the  application
was  launched  from,  which  certainly  destroys the  intent of one,
common Scrapbook across the entire system.

Does anyone know of a fix so that THE Scrapbook  is THE Scrapbook  for
applications launched from ANY volume?

Thanks,

Jeff Harrow

Work address:
ARPAnet:  [e-mail]
Usenet:             decwrl!exodus.dec.com!harrow        or
                {allegra,Shasta,decvax}!decwrl!dec-rhea!dec-exodus!harrow
Easynet:  EXODUS::HARROW
Telephone:          [phone]
USPS:               Digital Equipment Corp.
                    Mail stop: LKG1-3/F16
                    550 King Street
                    Littleton, MA  01460

------------------------------

From: [e-mail] (Paul G. Nevai)
Subject: Re: System 4.0 on a Mac Plus
Date: 19 Mar 87 13:02:33 GMT

I've been using them on my XP 40 and XP 20. Everything is perfect. I
love the new ShutDown feature. Open up the string resources of the new
Font/DA over (v. 3.4). Surprise: there is a string "you cannot install
more than 52 DA's". Is this a hint to what's gonna happen to System 4.1?

------------------------------

From: [e-mail] (Paul G. Nevai)
Subject: Font/DA mover
Date: 19 Mar 87 13:28:54 GMT

The 4/87 issue of MacUser has a cute article "One D A at a time" on how
to patch Font/DA Mover v. 3.2 so that it shouldn't stop installing DA's
when it hits ID#27. It's great, I recommend reading and using it. Before
this I used to install my three dozen DA's manually into the system.
What a waste of time.

If you have Font/DA Mover version 3.4 then you got to modify the
patches: instead of searching for 001A 5EC0 (see page 124, column 1,
line -14), you just search for 001A 5EC and replace 001A by 002F
(convert back to decimals and you will know what it means).

If you are already resediting Font/DA Mover version 3.4 then open up the
STR# stuff and you're gonna get surprised by one of the warning there!

Good luck.

Paul Nevai

(I love OPs)

------------------------------

From: [e-mail] (Fred Huxham)
Subject: Re: BSD features in A/UX
Date: 19 Mar 87 20:34:33 GMT
Organization: Apple Computer Inc., Cupertino, USA

In article <[e-mail]> [e-mail] (Yuval Tamir)
writes:
>
>Does A/UX have
>(1) Job control ?
>(2) Symbolic links ?
>(3) vi ?
>(4) File names longer than 14 characters ?
>(5) BSD system calls (e.g. wait3, setreuid, getpriority) ?
>(6) Virtual memory ?
>(7) A tty driver that keeps track of "window size" ?
>    (e.g. in 4.3BSD you can set #rows with "stty rows 40").
>
[1] Yes
[2] Yes
[3] Yes
[4] Yes
[5] Yes, Yes, don't think so
[6] Yes
[7] I don't believe the tty driver is completed yet.

Fred

------------------------------

From: [e-mail] (roger kitterman)
Subject: Baseball for Mac?
Date: 19 Mar 87 22:54:04 GMT
Organization: Harvard Univ. Science Center

I am looking for recommendations for a computer baseball program for the
Mac. Nothing arcade at all, something where you are the manager.  You
must be able to input your own teams, perhaps something similar to
Strategic Simulations Computer Baseball for the Apple II.  If anyone
knows what's available or something that's good, please let me know.

                                                  Thanks in advance,
                                                            Roger [e-mail]


------------------------------

From: [e-mail] (Steve Correll)
Subject: Re: Hooking up a mac to external speakers
Date: 19 Mar 87 22:03:22 GMT

In article <[e-mail]>,
[e-mail] (Nick Zentena) writes:
>         I was wondering if any problem existed with hooking up an audio
> system to a Mac. I have been told that the resulting output wave is
> too square and that clipping will result...

Yes, especially if you use the floppy port. :-)

The amplifier which drives the Mac's speaker has enough power to drive a
somewhat larger external speaker (I used one from a cheap portable
phonograph), but not enough to drive the typical high fidelity bookshelf
loudspeaker. You could connect it to an 'auxiliary' input (e.g. tape,
cd, tuner, or 'spare') on your preamp or receiver, but the voltage is a
bit high for most auxiliary inputs. I'd suggest putting a 1k ohm
potentiometer (see Radio Shack) between the two, setting the preamp's
volume control to its usual position, and adjusting the new
potentiometer to give the desired volume:

                             --------- + preamp (center pin)
                             |
                             v
(center pin) Mac + ------oMWMWMWMWo---- - preamp
                                  |
             Mac - ---------------|


If you have trouble with hum (I doubt you will), you need to use
shielded cables and put the potentiometer in a metal box, with the box
and the shields connected to the "-"s.  Good luck.--Steve --
...decwrl!mips!sjc                                                    Steve Correll

------------------------------

From: [e-mail] (Jim Tallman)
Subject: Repairing failed video on Mac
Date: 19 Mar 87 19:43:38 GMT
Organization: Tektronix Inc., Beaverton, Or.

My Mac+ video started wiggling on the right side intermittently. A
colleague's went to a horizontal line (the vertical quit). (Or it could
be the other way around; I can't remember on his.) We opened his and
jiggled stuff until we found the connector from the crt to the video
board wasn't connected well.  I believe it's marked J1.  Wiggling it
would make his vertical work and break depending on where it was held.
We resolder it back in  and his works fine.  I went home and re-soldered
mine. Both have been working for about two weeks and mine isn't  showing
the intermittent problem.  I'm so thrilled, because I was worried it
would go out during use at some unpredictable time. It may come back,
but it usually came about every day. So if you're having video problems
like the icons "shaking" you might consider trying re-soldering the same
connector before shelling out the coin for a new board.  It worked for
two out of two.

Caution--be sure to have power off.  I unpluged mine.  Could be
dangerous stuff around crts.

My chance to give something back to the net! regards, jim

------------------------------

From: [e-mail] (Rich Amber )
Subject: MacXL (Lisa) to LaserWriter
Date: 19 Mar 87 18:05:58 GMT
Organization: Tektronix Inc., Beaverton, Or.

HELP!  I am trying to integrate a Mac XL (Lisa with MacWorks) into my
group of Macs all Appletalked to my LaserWriter.  I have installed the
printer on the XL system and the machine recognizes an Appletalk
connection.  I have had a cable created that takes the 25-pin serial-B
port to a 9-pin to hook into the Appletalk cable. This cable *does* work
with the imagewriter, so I have no reason to suspect the cable (yet).

The problem is, when I want to print, the LASERWRITER does not appear as
an option in the CHOOSER menu.  I can only assume this means the XL
either doesn't know or doesn't recognize the existance of the LW.

Does anyone else out there have an XL or Lisa working with a
LaserWriter?  Does anyone have any ideas how I can make this work?  Do I
need to purchase some other software? HELP!

------------------------------

From: [e-mail] (Julian Vrieslander)
Subject: Re: Mac SE - compatibility (where's the horizontal retrace bit?)
Date: 20 Mar 87 01:07:56 GMT
Organization: Theory Center, Cornell University, Ithaca NY

I have encountered a pretty arcane incompatibility between the Plus and
the SE. On the Plus, you can read bit 6 in VIA register B to get at the
horizontal synch signal, which is also the clock for the sound generator
DAC.  I have been using this bit as a time base for a very tricky custom
sound driver.

In the SE, that bit no longer follows the horizontal retrace (I think it
is used for reporting disk drive interrupts now).  In fact, I remember
seeing somewhere that the VIA chip used in the SE is a special version
of the SY6522, modified for Apple.

I was expecting to write a new driver for the Mac II, but I was
surprised to find that my program died on an SE.  Is there any other
place in the SE that software can read the status of the horizontal
retrace?  Or should I warm up my soldering iron?

--
Julian Vrieslander, Neurobiology & Behavior, Cornell Univ., Ithaca, NY 14853
   UUCP:   {cmcl2,decvax,rochester,uw-beaver,ihnp4}!cornell!tcgould!eacj
   BITNET: [e-mail]
   ARPA:   [e-mail]      MA BELL: [phone]

------------------------------

From: [e-mail] (David W. Berry)
Subject: Re: Networking and A/UX
Date: 20 Mar 87 05:56:35 GMT
Organization: Whole Earth 'Lectronic Link, Sausalito, CA

The initial networking stuff was done by Unisoft, basically being a port
of the 4.2 code and the addition of NFS.  Some more work has been done
by Apple.

--
          David W. Berry
          [e-mail]                   dwb@Delphi
          dwb@GEnie                       [e-mail]

------------------------------

From: [e-mail] (Straka)
Subject: Re: Repairing failed video on Mac
Date: 20 Mar 87 14:48:38 GMT
Organization: AT&T Bell Laboratories - Naperville, Illinois

Yes, this procedure seems to be common for the Mac.  The tech who
installed my disk and ROM upgrade resoldered the harness connections on
my analog board (for good measure).  They evidently crystallize with
time due to the heat factor.

I would like to add that it is very important not to fart around with
the 2nd anode potential which goes to the CRT (the big wire that goes on
the side).  It can hold a charge for hours (days?), and be quite a
shock.  Easy solution: ground a screwdriver with a test lead (eg with
alligator clips) to a major metallic part of the Mac chassis; then
gently insert the grounded screwdriver under the rubber cap until it
shorts (don't touch the metal part of the screwdriver, or you'll still
get zapped).  This is standard procedure when working with ANY CRTs in
the consumer field and hasn't ever hurt any circuitry that *I* am aware
of.  Note that a lesser, secondary charge can develop and give a lesser,
although still substantial shock.  Redo the above just before touching
anything close to that second anode.

This is serious stuff, and can cause DEATH if done in an incorrect
manner by someone naiive to electrical circuits.  Be CAREFUL if you
touch these kinds of things at all!!

I have worked with this kind of stuff on and off for 20 years, and still
feel nervous when working around ANY high voltage (I got zapped by a
color TV 2nd anode once in high school).  I like living.

Are you ALL clear on this? (I hope so; I think I just beat it to death!)

--
Rich Straka     ihnp4!ihlpf!straka

------------------------------

From: [e-mail] (Bruun)
Subject: Re: Baseball for Mac?
Date: 20 Mar 87 15:16:36 GMT
Organization: AT&T Bell Laboratories - Naperville, Illinois

Well, since you've asked, I can tell you that a truly fine statistical
simulation of Major League Baseball will be available RSN, probably by
this year's All-Star break.  I can assure you that it will include just
about everything you could possibly want in such a game.  I'm sorry to
say that I cannot reveal it's name, but I can tell you that it is being
developed by two devoted fanatics code-named Perfect Games, Ltd., using
LightspeedC.  What's more, it's entirely possible that it will be made
initially available as shareware, although it is also possible that it
will be released as a commercial product if backing can be obtained. How
do I know all of this?  I'm one of the two devoted fanatics.  Sorry to
have to cloak this message in so much secrecy, but you know how these
things are.  Believe me though, we've got an alpha version up and work-
ing, and it is already "insanely great," if we do say so ourselves! More
to follow.  Keep an eye on mod.mac.binaries:  If we go the share- ware
route, it will show up there long about the end of June.  Thanks for
providing me/us the opportunity to pre-announce our product.

Steve Bruun
AT&T Bell Labs
Naperville, IL
ihnp4!ihlpa!sebruun

------------------------------

From: [e-mail] (Ed Anson)
Subject: Bug in LSC Unix Simulation
Date: 20 Mar 87 19:38:16 GMT
Organization: Calcomp Display Products Division, Hudson, NH, USA

I recently discovered a slightly bothersome bug in LightSpeed C's time()
function.  The manual says it returns the time in seconds since the
beginning of 1970, just like Unix does.  Great!  But it really returns
the time in seconds since the beginning of 1904, just like the Mac does.
 This could cause portability problems for programs intended for Unix,
or coming from Unix.  (Which is how I found out!)

Ed

------------------------------

From: [e-mail] (Arnold Reinhold)
Subject: Apple Desktop Bus info wanted
Date: 20 Mar 87 19:52:25 GMT
Organization: Automatix, Inc., Billerica, MA

I would like to get information on how to build devices for the new
Apple Desktop Bus used in the new Mac's and the IIGS.  Has anyone done
this?  What kind of support does Apple provide?  Is a sample driver for
the remote microprocessor available?

Any pointers would be appreciated.

cbvax----allegra---\                            Arnold Reinhold
                    ----encore---vaxine--agr    Automatix, Inc.
          decvax---/                            1000 Tech Park Drive
                        [phone] x2483    Billerica, MA  01821

------------------------------

From: [e-mail] (Julian E. Gomez)
Subject: cache FKEY wanted
Date: 20 Mar 87 18:49:44 GMT
Organization: RIACS, Moffett Field, CA

Has anyone written an FKEY to set the cache on/off? Just something that
duplicates whatever the control panel buttons do. --  "If Chaos himself
sat umpire, what better could he do?"

          Julian "a tribble took it" Gomez
          [e-mail] || {...decvax!}ames!riacs!julian

------------------------------

From: [e-mail] (Steve Kearns)
Subject: Re: Of Games (Dark Castle)
Date: 20 Mar 87 23:02:12 GMT
Organization: Columbia University CS Department

I have Dark Castles.  I liked it for a while, but I have put it away for
good.  Why?

The game designers made some really annoying mistakes.  The worst
mistake they made is in the screens on the way to the Black Knight.  The
trouble is that when you die, you invariably get thrown back into the
Dungeon.
>From there you have to slog all the way back up to the main hall.  This
is no challenge for anyone ready to face the Black Knight, so all it
does is replenish your materials (good) and make the game take a boring
eternity (bad).

Furthermore, it would be nice to be able to save games at different
points, so that one would not have to get the Fireball and Shield powers
after one has mastered those sections.

More intangibly, the game lacks surprises.  There is a certain lack of
cleverness that I have come to expect in home computer arcade games
(for example in the Infocom games, or the great puzzles in Loderunner).

It is a shame one can't define one's own boards, as we can in
Loderunner.

All in all, I am disappointed that I am prevented from killing the Black
Knight; stopped not by the forces of evil, but the forces of tedium.

-steve

p.s. I think the game was worth the money... I got many fun hours of
play  out of it.  But then I "was" an arcade fanatic...

------------------------------

From: [e-mail] (Paul G. Nevai)
Subject: Dialog sans Resources
Date: 20 Mar 87 12:58:37 GMT

Help! Help! Help!

I would like to make a dialog (in LightSpeed Pascal) without using
resources.So I say NewDialog. That's OK. Then I say NewControl. That's
OK too. But here comes the $1.99 question: how do I connect them, i.e.
how do I create the itemlist or whatever is necessary. Please give me a
simple example such as a dialog with a pushbutton in it created without
any resource whatsoever. You see, I'd like to use ModalDialog, plus I'd
like to be able to get itemNumbers etc.

Paul Nevai                                pgn%osupyr.uucp (PREFERRED)
Department of Mathematics                 [e-mail]
The Ohio State University                 ...!ihnp4!cbatt!osupyr!pgn
231 West Eighteenth Avenue                [e-mail]
Columbus, OH 43210, U.S.A.              1-614-292-5688

------------------------------

From: [e-mail] (Paul G. Nevai)
Subject: MacWrite 4.5 BOMB
Date: 20 Mar 87 13:11:58 GMT

Why? Why? Why?

Do this: install MacsBug or something equivalent. Run MacWrite 4.5. Hit
the interrupt switch. Then try to resume or go to the Finder. I can't.
Can you? Why?

OR

Do this: make a simple FKey doing nothing but ExitToShell. Use it on
MacWrite 4.5 (or Excel). BOMBBBBB!. Why?

So far I couldn't reproduce this on other progra                         pgn%osupyr.uucp (PREFERRED)
Department of Mathematics                 [e-mail]
The Ohio State University                 ...!ihnp4!cbatt!osupyr!pgn
231 West Eighteenth Avenue                [e-mail]
Columbus, OH 43210, U.S.A.              1-614-292-5688

------------------------------

From: [e-mail] (Dan Graifer)
Subject: Word 3.0 bug and workaround
Date: 20 Mar 87 18:21:44 GMT
Organization: UCSD Academic Network Operations

Recently, my friend who has no printer on his Mac, stopped by with his
Word 3.0 and a document to print a draft on my IW before paying for time
at LW rental place.

Bug 1:  The printout (Times) appeared to switch randomly from plain text to
        italic on the printout, but not on the screen.

Bug 2:  Curious, we decided to see what MacWrite thought of the document, and
        did a SaveAs with MacWrite format.  My friend (foolishly) gave it the
        same name as the origaacement.  Count
        up to 100% and BOMB.

Workaround: After my DataFrame20 finished rebuilding, there weren Icons for
        a temp file, and a Word3.0 document.  Word wouldn't open the temp
        file, and complained about the document.  Curious, I changed the
        type/owner of these files to WORD/MACA.  MacWrite complained about
        the temp file, but loaded the document just fine ( it contained
        nothing too fancy for MacWrite).  I guess this is evidence that Word
        3.0's SaveAs problems lie in the system calls to complete the Save.

I hope this helps out others who have bombs on saves with this product.
Me? I'll save my $s until something more reliable comes along.
--
                              Dan Graifer
                              [e-mail]
Disclaimer: Nobody ever listens to me anyways; Why should they start now?

------------------------------

From: [e-mail] (Jay Roth)
Subject: Who is Cooke Publications?
Dmpany called Cooke Publications  in Ithaca, NY.  I tried to call up
the company, but the Ithaca operator has no listing for such a company.
Does anyone have a phone number for these folks or a way (other tham
USMail) to reach them?  Thanks.

------------------------------

From: [e-mail] (Marc Hannah)
Subject: Re: Baseball for Mac?
Date: 20 Mar 87 19:15:44 GMT
Organization: Stanford University

    Like any real baseball fan I have bought all 3 baseball games which
I know of for the Mac. They are: 1)   one from Activision (done by
GAMESTAR) 2)   HardBall by Accolade 3)   Computer Baseball by Strategic
simulations

For arcade type action I would recommend HardBall. It looks pretty good,
has a bit of digitized sound, plays pretty well (more features than the
one from Activision)

   If you want to manage a real Major league team then clearly Computer
baseball by Strategic is the one to go with. The program in in MS Basic
(ughhhh) and can be slow but you get about 24 teams which can be matched
against one another (for example the 1979 Orioles vs 1979 Pirates is one
of my favorites...I'm still trying to remove the blot of the comeback in
the real '79 series). There are a couple of glitches and bugs but it
does work reasonably well. If there were another one on the market which
had those features I would probably buy it first since this is not the
best job that could have been done.
   Hope this is useful.   David Gelphman


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From: Justin Chris Vallon <jv0l#@andrew.cmu.edu>
Subject: Re: asynchronous serial driver calls
Date: Sun, 15 Mar 87 16:53:18 est

I have two suggesstions concerning the async calls:

First, if you know that data comes in less than 2k blocks, call
serSetBuf (IM Vol II-251) to buffer the data and pass the routine a
block for the serial driver to use as buffer from hardware to your
application.

Also, you may realize an increase in speed if you call serGetBuf (I the number of bytes waiting in the buffer, make a
synchronous call to read that many bytes, and then process all of the
characters in a loop.  I wrote a protocol file transfer routine and it
is much faster to make one call for 128 bytes than 128 calls for 1 byte.
 If you don't already do this, you may also try to make the routine that
processes the data utilize strings (or blocks) rather than characters
(or bytes).

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