If you are looking for better ImageWriter II output, try this: fiddle with the DIP switches. First, note the current position of the switches, in case you decide that setting is the best one. Next, turn off the ImageWriter and change one DIP switch. Turn on the ImageWriter and print a test page. Mark this page with the new DIP settings.
Turn off the ImageWriter and make one more change. Turn it back on, prfint and mark this test page. Continue until you reasonably exhaust the setting combinations. Pick the best setting and leave your DIP switches set that way. The message is that Apple’s technicians don’t always set the DIP switches right. (Thanks, MadMacNews, Madison WI MUG.)
A Word 3.0X file, saved in MacWrite format, can grow to more than seven megabytes. If you look at the file with ResEdit, you’ll find new STR resources numbered in the 800 series. They are full of repetitive garbage. Vaccine does not “see” this happening.
Here is a script for HyperCard’s Home stack which remembers the last message in the message box. It provides a way to paste this message back into the message box:
on returnKey
global lastMsg
if the option key is down then
put lastMsg
exit returnKey
else
put the message into lastMsg
end if
pass returnKey
end returnKey -- (Thanks MadMacNews, Madison WI
-- MUG)
The LaserWriter IISC is as good as a Postscript laser printer, Apple says, provided that
• you use the four installed fonts and only those other fonts which have large sizes installed;
• confine yourself to 9, 10, 12, 14, 18 and 24 point sizes;
• avoid Postscript-based applications, unless they are “second generation” versions which will work with the IISC;
• use a hard disk; and
• preferably have 2+ megs of RAM. The IISC prints very fast if you have enough RAM.
If you play with HyperCard and do not have Steve Maller’s ResCopy stack, get it. Get the latest version you can (ends with b17 or b19 or better). Once installed in your Home stack, you can type rescopy into the msg box and you get a Font/DA Mover-like utility to move ICONs, snds, XCMDs and all manner of resources around.
You might want to look for a HyperCard stack called Syntax Helper. Type syntax into the msg box and you get prompted for the command you want help with. The proper syntax then appears in the msg box. Syntax Helper is shareware. I haven’t seen a copy yet.
A similar syntax help is the DA called HyperTalk Dictionary. It is free, thanks to Bill Steinberg.
Which leads me to Bill Steinberg’s System Errors DA. This DA tells you what those bomb codes mean. You will still not know a thing, but you’ll feel better pulling down Bill’s DA and seeing what ID-01 means.
Sometimes someone sends you a word processor file prepared with a program you don’t have. Since PageMaker imports more word processing programs than most, open PageMaker and see if you can “Place” your document. Once you have it in PageMaker, you can take it to the Scrapbook, or create a backup file in a word processor which you do own — most notably Word 3.0X, which is created almost next door to PageMaker’s Aldus Corp.
Or, if you have the commercial First Aid Kit (not Apple’s Disk First Aid), or any other repair utility which allows you to see and copy the text in a file. (Thanks, Eugene, OR MUG.)
If you are running a RAM cache and do a Save, you are saving into the cache, not to the disk. That means that a bomb or power failure will wipe that Save out. I seldom use the RAM cache for this and assorted other problems.
And since HyperCard has its own caching and compression algorythms, you should turn off RAM cache when running HyperCard, since t just gets in the way.
While we are on the subject of RAM caching, how about a Toggale Cache FKEY that gives you an on-screen indication as to whether you just turned the cache on or off — like the Preview FKEY, which presents an on screen message telling you whether your FKEY keystroke turned the Preview output on or off.
Is that a simple request, or what?
There are some neat commands in HyperCard 1.2 and newer. Use these in the message box:
xy— returns the mouse location
c — shows card information
b — shows background information
s — shows stack information
And adding the shift key to the enter key puts you into the stack’s script.
Do not name your System Folder ANYTHING but System Folder. No shortcute, no cute names, no abbreviations. Trust me — any other name courts disaster.
While we are at it, select FindFile in the Apple menu and ask it to find any System and any Finder on your hard disk. If it finds more than one, shame on you. You are definitely headed straight for disaster. This once has seen the light of day before, but needs constant repetition. It is so easy to copy an entire disk to your hard disk, thereby placing an additional System Folder on your hard disk. This is a BIGGIE, folks. Clean out all those extra Systems and Finders RIGHT NOW. I wouldn’t even wait for another beer.
If MacWrite 5.0 slows down to a walk, see if Pyro is installed. Remove it and regain your speed. Maybe Pyro is fixed by now, but this is worth a try.
If you installed Vaccine, consider turning off the “Expert Display” since it is too easy to hit the Yes and install a virus when you meant to hit the tiny little No.
Don’t let your pets near your Mac. Cat and dog hair can stop your floppy drive dead in its tracks. Goldfish are OK, as long as they don’t splash water on your keyboard.
Is your mouse just crawling? Open the Control Panel, click the Mouse in the left side of the display, and click on something other than Tablet in the display at the right side.
Have you replaced your battery yet? The one in the back that powers PRAM (parameter RAM). If your Mac is two years or so old, you might at least get one on hand. Printers refusing to print and wrong times and dates are signals of a low battery.
Cigarette smoke is hazardous to your hard disk as well as your heart, lungs, and throat. It coats the platters with a microscopic film until it eventually damages the disk surface.
The chip in your mouse is available from electronic supply stores for less than 50¢. If you are electronically minded, save some dough if the chip poops out. (Thanks, Mouse Times, Rich Segal, Santa Barbara CA MUG.)
You can print the Option/Shift K apple symbol on LaserWriters, but Linotronics don’t know anything about it. Neither do other non-Apple printers. (Thanks, Linda Spaulding, MacValley Voice, Burbank, CA MUG.)
If you use Suitcase, be sure that ALL sizes of a specific font are IN THE SAME PLACE. For example, you replace the System on your hard disk with a clean one from your original Apple System disks. That new System will have Helvetica, Courier and Times 10 and 12 installed. It will also have Geneva 9 and 12.
If you have the rest (or all) of Times, Helvetica, Courier, and Geneva in their own suitcase(s) within the Suitcase structure, your Mac will now “find” Times, et al in the System, and all of your 14, 18, and 24 point Times on the screen will be “derived” from these two small sizes and will look like hell.
Here is my solution — since Geneva 9 & 12 and Monaco 9 are required System fonts, create a special master disk for replacing your System. Place a clean System Folder on this disk. Now go in with Font/DA Mover and remove all fonts except any sizes of Geneva, Chicago and Monaco. Add ALL the additional Geneva and Monaco sizes you wish. Do not add Chicago extra sizes unless YOU KNOW WHAT YOU ARE DOING, since Chicago is IN THE ROM. If you use HyperCard, you might also install ALL SIZES of New York, since it is used a lot in HyperCard. Now open the DA’s and remove ALL EXCEPT Control Panel and Chooser.
Keep this disk or disks specially marked, in case of the need to replace the System. It is also handy if this “spare” has all of your FKEYs installed in it, and if it contains any other special ICONs or other resources which you like. Make it as easy as you can to replace your System and get back up and running.
Now you can build your suitcases with ALL OTHER FONTS, but NO sizes of Chicago, Monaco, Geneva, and, if you so chose, New York. Also all the additional DA’s you want to use.
If you back up using a backup program, keep a backup copy of this master System Folder and a copy of ALL the “Suitcase suitcases” for easy replacement. If you aren’t backing up a lot (shame, shame) or if you just want Finder copiable sets, keep each “Suitcase suitcase” less than about 750k. This way you can keep your backup fonts and DAs on floppies in Finder copiable format.
Canvas 2.0 will let you edit at 64X. You get there by going to 32X and then clicking the magnifying tool. It isn’t totally without problems, but it works pretty well.
Another Canvas hint is to hold down Command/Option and Shift to get the magnifying glass. Click now where you want to zoom in.
Press the spacebar in Canvas 2.0 and you can drag a menu off onto the screen (tear-off mode). And speaking of tear off menus, TOM-INIT from AIP in Nebraska City, NE, will make almost any application use tear off menus. Right now it is priced at $59.95, with a price increase promised soon.
If you have an old version of Aask INIT, you probably have a pirated copy. One of the early versions got loose and is all over the place. For one thing, it is not public domain or shareware. Secondly, there is a newer version which cleans up some bugs, so you want the new one anyway. CE Software sells Aask in the new Mock Package. You probably have an old Mock Package lying around somewhere, and unpaid for at that.
If you have Works 2.0, be cautious. Some bugs are reported, especially in converting old Works documents to 2.0, importing Works text into PageMaker, and a problem in saving files to 400k disks (don’t!). Keep up with the problems or wait for the bug fix.
If you want to hook up a LaserJet II or IID to a Mac, Insight Development has a device called MacPrint to let you use it. You won’t be abale to use PostScript with a LaserJet, though.
Hurray! Another way to label disks! Use Highland 6200 Permanent Mending Tape in 3/4“ wide 72 yard rolls. Apply the tape directly to the disk surface, or to any paper already adhered to the disk. Write on the tape with a variety of pens, pencils and felt tips. When you get ready to remove the tape, it peels off easily, without taking any backing material with it. At 72 yards, you get more than 1000 labels per roll.
Buy it at Viking Office Products, 1-800-421-1222. They are great to deal with. After your first paid up front order, you will be established as a customer who can be billed. All orders exceeding $24 are shipped UPS at no charge to you. Get on thier mailing list, and then ask for the “large“ catalog, since not everything is on sale every month.
Do NOT buy 3-1/2” disks from Viking, though. This is one product they haven’t located a bargain on yet.
So you thought that MouseEase was passé now that Mac mice have little Teflon bar and ring strips. Nope. They wear out fast. So get MouseEase and clip two of the little rings in half. Use half of one on each side of the Teflon bar, and half of the other on each side of the ring Teflon. Not on the Teflon, but beside it. Diskette Gazette has the feet for $5 if you c an't find MouseEase elsewhere. (Thanks, Bartlesville OK BUMS.)
For all you non-readers of manuals: HyperCard 1.2.2 lets you copy and paste a field including its text. Select the field. Cut or Copy. Now hold down the Shift key when you Paste. That pastes the text on the current card along with the field. I say current card, because if it is a background field, you naturally don't want the text from ALL cards pasted, but just the current card. That's exactly how this little feature works.
Try it out.
Also in HyperCard 1.2.2, yhou can drag/place a rectangle, rounded corner rectangle, oval or polygon while you are drawing the object. While drawing, without letting up on the mouse, press and hold the Command key and drag the object to its new location. Release the Command key and continue to finish the shape. You must do this exactly as described. If you have let go of the mouse, forget it.
If your application won't import an .eps file, open the ,eps file in Illustrator. Select all. Hold down the Option key and Cut or Copy. This saves the .eps file to the Clipboard and it will now Paste to any program which accepts PICT format. (Thanks, MacUser.)
Have you heard about Stack Cleaner from Softworks, Inc.? It runs through your stack scripts substituting abbreviations for full words in scripts wherever possible. That's like fld instead of field, btn for button, etc. Stack Cleaner is worthwhile, since it can remove 40k from a 160k stack in one example. That is worth it, especially if disk space is tight.
