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MMOUG June 1995 Newsletter Volume 3 Number 6 The views expressed in this newsletter are not necessarily the views held by the MMOUG or it's members. Don't agree with something you've read here? Write and tell us about it! If you have any contributions, please upload them to area 18 of the WoodMeister or send them to me via Internet at USDSSKZS@IBMMAIL.COM. If you work for the State of Missouri and have access to DISOSS, you can send them to POOLMWV at DSSHOST. MMOUG May Minutes Mid MO OS/2 Users Group May 17, 1995 Jefferson City, Dept. of Social Services. Attendees: Ben Hoffman, Penny Shepherd, Ken Gray, Dayton Shepherd, Steve Petzel, Randy Wright, Gary Pool, Harvey Summers, Carole Mosley, Jay Robertson, Blake Lewis Guests: Charles Steinhaus, Steve Gramblin The meeting was called to order. Ben Hoffman said he had talked to Phillip Wilson this morning. The Columbia BBS machine is very sick and needs help. The best solution seems to be to replace the motherboard. Phillip ask for authorization to spend up to $700 to buy a replacement motherboard and memory. There was some discussion as to the cost of the solution and what could be donated by club members. Phillip's request was approved. Several members said they would contact Phillip to see if they could help with the final solution. The group's copy of Partition Magic is here. Blake Lewis volunteered to use it and present his findings at the next club meeting. Next month's meeting will be in Columbia will be at the meeting room at Columbia Photo. A discussion of the Warp Connect product took place. An IBM Satellite broadcast on 5/18/95 will be on Warp Connect. Ben Hoffman gave a brief report on the Disney Children Art's Festival where IBM used OS/2 Warp for a session. The meeting was adjourned. Harvey Summers did a presentation on how to customize the Workplace Shell with either INI file compiles or using REXX procedures. Information Officer Input/Output Well, things are looking up! The flood waters are going down, the sun has made a few appearances, and Warp Connect has finally hit the streets. The WoodMeister has been up and running a little more consistently lately, and I have people offering (OK, I did a :hp1.little:ehp1. arm-twisting) to write articles for the Newsletter. This month there is a peek at the freeware IBM Employee Written Software, WorkPlace Shell for Windows. What a neat product! If you know of anyone who is running Windows instead of OS/2 (or even Win-OS/2), Program Manager can be replaced with this shell to give the look, feel and some of the benefits of OS/2's WorkPlace Shell. Definitely a very neat product. Harvey Summers has a delightful series of articles cooked up, the first that will appear next month with the intriguing working title "The Tachyon Processor". He thinks he may need to trademark that name! You may have noticed the talk of IBM purchasing a German company this week. The word-processor, StarWriter, is supposed to look and feel like Microsoft Word. For you corporate types, DeScribe has a :hp2.wonderful:ehp2. corporate license. Purchase a license for all of their flavors for the entire corporate account for $10,000. What a bargain! We'll also have a review of Partition Magic in the next Newsletter (it didn't make the cut in time for this one). By sending the company a copy of the review, they will send us another copy of Partition Magic to give away! Yep, things are looking up! Rebound -- Off the Boards ▄▀▀▀▄ █ █ █▄ ▄█ █ █ █ ▄ █ █▀█▀█ ▀▄▄▄▀ ▀█▀█▀ █ █ <══════════ The OS/2 Woodmeister ══════════> Overview of downloadable files (314) 446-0016 FIDO Node 1:289/27 1200/2400/9600/14400 D/S <══════════════════════════════════════════> (Tue May 30 05:32) Last 1 months newest of a total of 3090 files (537 MB) Maximum privilege shown: Disgrace Newest: OWM_NEW.ZIP dd 5-29-95 (avail: 5-29-95) Date flag: new on this system since: * = 1 week, + = 1 month Filename Area Size Date Description ──────────── ──── ───── ───────── ───────────────────────────────────────────── AIC7870.EXE 7 56K 5-09-95+ The latest Adaptec Drivers for the 2940 SCSI for OS/2 2.x and WARP. This card is shiping in the 6886-4CJ models. BILL_AVI.ZIP 51 1167K 5-27-95* See and hear Bill Gates *proclaim* OS/2 as the operating system of the 90's. 8sec 15fps CL15LTD.ZIP 15 849K 5-27-95* Clearlook OS/2 WordProcessor - Fast! Limited Evaluation Copy. COSMOS.ZIP 8 662K 5-28-95* Cosmos - an Edutainment OS/2 Game DOOMOS2.ZIP 8 2154K 5-28-95* DOOM for OS/2 V1.6b Requires WARP w/ VIDE extensions (Incl. w/ WARP) FRLNCH.ZIP 10 380K 5-28-95* FreeLaunch - a New OS/2 Launch program GOHTTP.ZIP 16 15K 5-27-95* Revised filter for GoServe. Supports a number of enhancements including common log format HTMLG105.ZIP 16 132K 5-27-95* HTMLGen (V1.05) A HTML Script Generator For OS/2. Assists you in creating HOME PAGE scripts for the World Wide Web. MMIX1B.ZIP 9 33K 5-08-95+ This is the latest mixer for all you Pro Audio fans out there. Its the newest and works great. must have......KG MMOUG495.ZIP 2 109K 5-07-95+ Mid Missouri OS/2 Users Group April Newsletter. MMOUG595.ZIP 2 116K 5-07-95+ Mid Missouri OS/2 Users Group May Newsletter MR2_223.ZIP 9 280K 5-27-95* MR2 Offline Mail reader version 2.23 ONCMD2.ZIP 6 753K 5-27-95* OnCmd xBase for OS/2 V1.1.5. Demo. Native 32 bit xBase programming language & includes a database engine that outperforms DOS OWM_ALL.TXT LIST 338K 5-29-95* All files on the OS/2 Woodmeister OWM_ALL.ZIP LIST 123K 5-29-95* All files on the OS/2 Woodmeister OWM_NEW.TXT LIST 4K 5-29-95* New files (last 30 days) on the OWM OWM_NEW.ZIP LIST 2K 5-29-95* New files (last 30 days) on the OWM POP3D12.ZIP 16 44K 5-27-95* POP3 server v.1.1 for OS/2 TCP/IP SBNCH.ZIP 9 137K 5-27-95* OS/2 Benchmarking program. Contains Source for enhancements TOPFLOOR.ZIP 14 121K 5-28-95* Cool OS/2 bitmap WIN95PTR.ZIP 14 3K 5-27-95* Win95 style pointers for OS/2 Warp v3. WPSFW410.ZIP 4 595K 5-15-95+ Workplace Shell for Windows. Works on Win/DOS and WINOS2 XTRCIM.ZIP 12 67K 5-27-95* Save $$$ w/OS/2 CIM Offline-reader! Includes Rexx program XtraCIM which adds Offline reader to OS/2 CIM ════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════ List created with DOWNSORT 5.5g by Rob Hamerling on Tue May 30 05:32 under OS/2 2.3 ════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════ The Dog House I've had an interest in phonetic search techniques for years and Jeff Prosise's recent C program got me to thinking that this cforum would be an excellent vehicle to present REXX programs that appear in other venues. The interest and educational value could spur support. So to that end I've coded his PS.c in REXX. BTW, I would love to hear comments about how to make it faster/more efficient. /* Phonetic Search engine */ arg file name if file="" ║ name ="" then do say "Syntax: PS filename string" return 1 end if stream(file, "C", "QUERY EXISTS")="" then do say "Error: File not found" return 2 end call stream file, "C", "OPEN READ" namecode=soundex(name) do while lines(file) line=linein(file) do i=1 to words(line) if namecode=soundex(word(line, i)) then do say line leave i end end end call stream arg(1), "C", "CLOSE" return 0 /* Soundex function */ soundex: procedure name=translate(arg(1)) scode=substr(name,1,1) tableo='01230120022455012623010202' tablei='ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZ' if length(name)=1 then return scode'000' scode=scode║║translate(substr(name, 2), tableo, tablei) i=2 do length(scode)-2 while length(scode)>2 if (substr(scode, i, 1)="0") ║ (substr(scode, i, 1)=substr(scode, i+1, 1)) then scode=delstr(scode, i, 1) else i=i+1 end return substr(scode, 1, 4, '0') <<<<<>>>>> J. D. Wells Humor MICROSOFT UNVEILS NEW JOE-BOB(tm) SOFTWARE by Andrew Burke (ABurke@eworld.com) REDMOND, Wash. -- April 10, 1995 -- Microsoft today announced the release of Joe-Bob(tm), a new software package that the company hopes will open up a huge untapped computer market. With the motto "The software for the rest of y'all(tm)," Joe-Bob reaches out to the same demographic group that buys 4x4s, supports the gun lobby, and drinks Miller Lite. "Computers have been commonly seen as for leftists and intellectuals," explains Microsoft spokesperson Willy Maclean, "but we've recently seen people like Newt Gingrinch embracing new technology -- the time is right for the rest of America to get wired!" Instead of a desktop or office metaphor, Joe-Bob(tm) puts the user in a garage. "Click on the Lynyrd Skynyrd tapes, and get a complete music library in digital stereo. Click on the pinups, and get hooked up to the Internet's hottest gifs," the promotional materials explain. The package does not include a word processor or spreadsheet, but does have software that keeps track of the football season, lists the best roadhouses between Florida and Nevada, and can even order spareribs and beer at the click of a mouse. "This is righteous software, man," says beta-tester Billy Grugg. "It thinks like I think." Brad Cunningham agrees: "I take it everywhere," he says, pointing to a Pentium laptop racked under his 12-gauge in his pickup truck. Microsoft is offering desktop users a special clip-on beer holder for their monitors. "Look at what's popular out there," says Microsoft Chairman Bill Gates. "Four of the top-10 Usenet newsgroups are about sex, and splatter video games like Doom and Mortal Kombat are bestsellers. We're just catering to a demand, that's all." Microsoft is reportedly distributing badges and bumper stickers saying things like: "Joe-Bob: Make Your Disk Hard," "Go Microsoft -- Go Intel -- Go America," and "QuickTime is for Pinko Hippie Wimps." OS/2 Tips 'N' Techniques Subject: Opening an OS/2 Window at the directory of the current folder Actually it's very simple, Create an OS/2 Window object (you can copy/modify the current one in the command prompts folder), Open it's settings notebook, and in the 'Parameter' field, put '/K CD' instead of the '&' that is there by default (at least on Warp systems). Now all you got to do, is when you have a folder in sight, and I mean the folder's Icon, just drag it to the new OS/2 Window icon, and it will open in the directory of the folder. This is quite usefull, for those Drives-Folder users who just want to 'open a window in that folder to do a single command' Enjoy! Arie Tal Report from New Orleans I have to apologize to Bob here. Apparently, without my original append, he would not have to be here, meeting customers and getting sore feet and legs from standing out in the middle of the ehibit floor. So he says--the story is that because of my original note he found it less easy weasel out of comming here to New Orleans. Sorry Bob. I should be worth the sore feet to meet me Bob. ;-) The Interchange has been good. Lots of new stuff is comming out. The next version of OS/2--Klingon--will have about 700 Win32 APIS supported natively by OS/2. This makes Lotus and Novell happy. One of the sets of APIs being embraced by Klingon is the Windows registry API set. This has major implications for how the config.sys is treated, the system ini files etc. It also has major implications for how applicationscan/will store their data. I have also divined the future of 16 bit drivers. They are going away. the ADD32 driver model (not yet even complete) is what is going to be used in the Power PC and on Intel when it gets the microkernal. This model allows for the use of object oriented techniques for DD creation and is reputed to take 20% of the code required by a traditional device driver. At least for NIC drivers. Klingon will not be micro-kernal based, but I hope it will support the ADD32 driver model. A Microkernal based INTEL OS/2 will be coming eventually, though. Because of the above, and other things LAN networking is going to change radically. NDIS is going away. 16 protocol APIs are going away. The first incarnation of portable OS/2 will support multiple protocol stacks, but will only present SOCKETS and CPI-C APIs to the applications. No Netbios APIs, no IPS/SPX APIs. Simpler to write new code, but not to port existing applications. I wonder how we will configure applications vis-a-vis protocols? Hybrid protocols such as RFC Netbios may/will be delayed. IBM is writing a 32 bit Netware requester for the PowerPC. This will be ported to the Intel platform. I hope it is full function and includes management app support. Matt Hickman Chevron Information Technologies Co. voice (713) 754-2389 Internet: bhic@chevron.com fax (713) 754-2771 Support PBS, Get Warped! Here was an Interesting marketing idea! --> Tune in and you may win an IBM Thinkpad and OS/2 Warp! At approximately 3:30 pm CDT, June 3, 1995, Chicago's WTTW Channel 11 television station, a PBS affiliate, will air a program which explains the Internet and the "Information Superhighway." Channel 11, like other public television stations, depends on viewer support. The Internet program will be accompanied by pledge breaks, inviting viewers to call in and pledge their support to Channel 11. IBM, as part of the company's ongoing support for public television, has given the station special gifts to say "thank you" to WTTW's contributors during this Internet program. The first 50 callers to pledge a certain dollar amount will each receive a copy of the most popular 32-bit PC software, IBM's OS/2 Warp. OS/2 Warp includes quick, easy, and complete software for accessing the Internet, with three free hours online. OS/2 Warp's BonusPak also features a word processor, calendar, fax program, database, spreadsheet, address book, Multimedia Viewer, workgroup/videoconferencing capabilities, and much more. Designed to run the widest variety of software (DOS, Windows, and OS/2), OS/2 Warp makes PCs easier to use and more powerful. As a special bonus, all callers during these Internet programming pledge breaks will be entered into a drawing for a complete IBM ThinkPad 360C notebook computer system, with 8 MB of RAM, a 340 MB hard disk, high speed 14.4 data/fax modem, and preloaded OS/2 Warp software. IBM is proud to support many educational programs, including public television. On this same TV station, for example, IBM sponsors the "Golden Apple Awards," a program honoring excellence in teaching. In Chicago alone, IBM has given the public school system a two million dollar grant to promote better education through the use of new technology. WTTW Channel 11 serves the Chicago, Illinois, area (and now many cable subscribers throughout the Midwest) with the finest educational programming, producing several programs for local and national public television audiences. PKZIP Hack Copied from CompuServe: Science Fiction Media forum ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ FALSE "PKZ" FILE ALERT Some joker out there is distributing a file called PKZ300B.EXE and PKZ300B.ZIP. This is NOT a version of PKZIP and will try to erase your harddrive if you use it. The most recent version of PKZIP is 2.04G. Please tell all your friends and favorite BBS stops about this hack. Thank You. - Patrick Weeks, Product Support, PKWARE, Inc. +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ SpeedPascal/2 SpeedSoft USA 19528 Ventura Blvd. #133 Tarzana, CA 91356 (818) 887-3034 COMING IN JUNE! SpeedPascal/2 The OS/2 Solution At last! If you've been dying to program for OS/2 Warp, but can't bear to spend hours debugging obscure C and overly complex C++ code, SpeedSoft has just what you need! SpeedPascal/2 for OS/2! SpeedPascal/2 is a Borland Pascal 7.0 compatible compiler and an integrated development environment (IDE) with a host of features designed to ease the task of writing OS/2 Presentation Manager(TM) programs. At last, you can use the productive programmer's language of choice on the world's most productive operating system and not sacrifice a thing: NO runtime royalites! NO huge support .DLLs! NO lengthy compile times for small programs! NO sluggish interpreted code! NO limits! Here's what awaits you in the world of SpeedPascal/2! An OS/2 IDE that Really Is Integrated! The SpeedPascal/2 environment is a suite of tools centered around a Multiple Document Interface editor, with all the amenities that you expect from an IDE-- and more! From the IDE, you can access the power of the SpeedPascal/2 tools: A PM-based MDI editor An integrated debugger A 32-bit OS/2 compiler An OS/2 Assembler A Resource Editor and Compiler An Inline Assembler Context sensitive help Tired of floundering around with disconnected compilers and standalone debuggers? How about an editor/compiler/debugger that takes you right to your syntax errors, and lets you walk through your code to find those hard-to-get bugs? Bye, Bye Make Files With all the .LIB, .DEF, .C, .H, .RC and .MAK files you have to create with every OS/2 project, does it sometimes seem like you've exhausted the alphabet giving your project files extensions? With SpeedPascal/2 You can manage your projects entirely from the IDE. Don't care about linkers or compiler options? No problem. Think the compiler should handle what files should be made and when so you don't have to build make files? It's taken care of. You're free to concentrate on getting the most out of your development time. Got Your Own Editor? We're pretty proud of our IDE here at SpeedSoft but, hey, SpeedSoft is all about choices! If you prefer to use your own editor, that's fine with us. You still have access to the tools you need: A command line compiler A command line assembler A standalone resource editor A command line resource compiler Hate APIs? Just because you have access to the API doesn't necessarily mean that you want access to the API. If you're object-oriented, you'll want to check out the Object PM Library (OPML). Turn that 100 line "Hello, World!" program into something a bit more manageable with the power of objects. And we're committed to porting that library to other platforms! Trust No One! The last thing you need is some company telling you " Trust us, we know what's best for you." All the source to SpeedPascal/2's standard interface libraries is available for you to scrutinize. RTFM! SpeedPascal comes complete with electronic versions of: The User's Manual The Programmer's Manual The SpeedPascal/2 Language Reference The OPML Reference Manual You said you wanted hard copy manuals to be an optional extra purchase, and we salute your ecologically and economically sound decision by offering you manuals electronically in the three formats you're most likely to need: On-Line Help Format ASCII Text (for universal access) PostScript Format (for printing your own) You can print the sections you want, search for whatever you want, even make notes in the files, if you want. (Hard copies are available at a nominal fee.) SpeedPascal/2 additionally comes with sample code demonstrating the features of the compiler and OS/2. Metal Heads Welcome Like to program the fastest, meanest code around? You can do pure assembly with SpeedPascal/2, or integrate assembly into your Pascal programs with SpeedPascal/2's inline assembler. The Future SpeedPascal/2 for OS/2 is just the beginning for SpeedSoft. We're committed to being a cross-platform solution, and to providing you with the best tools around for any platform. We're currently at work with major vendors of Pascal products to see that your favorite libraries get ported to SpeedPascal/2. Top-Tier Tools, Wal-Mart Prices SpeedPascal/2 comes to you on a jam-packed CD-ROM disc for the low, low suggested price of $179. The CD includes floppy disk images for the portable computer crowd, as well as the current crop of freeware/shareware/demo programs written using SpeedPascal/2. The four SpeedPascal/2 manuals are available for an additional fee of $35. Limited Time Offer From now until July 31st, 1995, SpeedSoft is offering the SpeedPascal/2 compiler for the even lower suggested price of $129! (Sorry, we can't discount the manual hardcopies.) SHIPPING IN JUNE! SpeedSoft USA 19528 Ventura Blvd. #133 Tarzana, CA 91356 (818) 887-3034 Why I am a Teamer I see the press putting down OS/2 users lately. Calling anyone that disagrees with thier windows-centic views to be a fanatic or zealot. for me the word enthusiast would be a more accurate description. Over the last several months I have given some thought as to why I spend some of my time promoting OS/2. OS/2 is not my program, why not let IBM spend their money as best they can. Well, I thought I might share some of my reasons for being a Teamer to help others understand that emotion is not the driving force. 1. In a capitalist market there are many factors that affect the successfullness of a product. Only a few can be controlled or forecast by the capialist. Press coverage and actions of ISV's can not always be dictated in a democracy. IBM has control of product quality, service and marketing. No amount of money will buy IBM the market leading position. Spending lots of money can help to maintain a leading position with the aid of large numbers of dependent ISV's and the resulting large advertising potential this represents to the press. We as users by requesting press coverage of alternatives can temper the markets tendency to be monopolized. 2. Most people want to know that there are other people that are using a product. They want validation of their good decision making. If a friend of yours is having success with a product you will have a much higher tendency to choose that same product even if there are significantly better product available. By each of us Teamers being visible, many more people will at least consider OS/2. Just as friends of users who own Macs more thoroughly consider the Mac versus Windows decision. 3. I have purchased several computers over that last couple of years. On one occasion I needed to buy a system to replace an unrepairable system. As is usual with computers the software was transferable to the new system. However even though I had paid for DOS/WIN already I was forced to pay for it again. Since then I have purchased several computers to run alternative operating systems. Again as a consumer I was forced to subsidize the competitor of the product I had taken my time to select. If I wanted to purchase a name brand computer my choices were to subsidize the competitor or pay a significantly higher price to get the same hardware without the undesired software. If the market is made up of many competitors, many of which are OEMs then the subsidies are spread around such that none have a significant advantage over the other. If consumers have several truly varied products to select from subsidized purchase of an undesired component will not significantly assist any one competitor. In the last couple of years the policies of name brand computer makers has resulted in a major subsidy to a single supplier. The operating system market is definately large enough to support several major competitors, yet for the most part a single company now has almost complete control. This subsidy is a big factor in creating the current market enviroment. I beleive it costs much more today for a car company to design, build and market a new car and there are several major competitors both domestic and foreign. Would you like to go back to the days were you could buy a car in any color you wanted as long as it was Black. The bottom line is the operating system and applications market is large enough to support the R&D of multiple products. No one company has all the right ideas. The operating system choice has significant longterm ramifications for the functionality, serviceability and usability of a system. I am demanding a choice NOW. Otherwise it can take many many years for a capitalist democratic economy to correct this type of distortion in a market. Glenn Hudson Enthusiast Yet Another Virus Hmmm, with 3 new viruses created every day, I don't get excited about a "new" virus. BUT, this HAS gotten on to the Internet, and it apparently doesn't resemble any of the "common" new viruses routinely generated by one of the available "instant-build-yourself-a-virus" kits available. (F-PROT and McAfee can spot THOSE in a micro-second) While _I_ am not concerned, (i.e. the anti-virus NNR group is NOT actively discussing this virus) I feel I would be negligent by NOT passing this information on to you. While this virus has caused angst for one person, it does not seem to be a "stealth" virus. Simply adding the string 4E47694B to your F-PROT "User Definable Search String" should give you piece of mind. >From Richard De A'Morelli, Editor, PC-Telephony URGENT!!! VIRUS ALERT!!! Please read carefully -- this is not a prank. A new virus has appeared on the Internet. It infected all eight of my networked PC's, and I have spent the past 72 hours trying to figure this thing out and get rid of it. (no sleep, really tired, excuse the typos). I have managed to disinfect my network, and this letter explains what I have learned about this virus and how it works. During the past week, I downloaded 10-12 from three very popular Internet sites and one busy BBS (6 or 7 of those files came from a Simtel mirror). I can say that the virus originated from one of those files. It is therefore an imminent threat to the Net community. Here is how the virus works... At about 5pm, a dumb-looking sprite (ASCII graphic) of a phallus appears at the bottom of the screen, scrolling slowly from the left. (about 6 columns wide, maybe 8 rows high) It stops at the center of the screen, beeps over and over, and then "shoots" an "!" up the screen in slow motion, beeping loudly all the while (damned annoying); this repeats three times, and then the graphic scrolls to the right and disappears off the screen. Immediately below the drawing appears the words "Big Caibua!" whatever the hell that means. This happens more and more often as you are working. Then, mysteriously, it stops -- until the next evening. By setting my system clock to 9pm, I was able to stop the stupid graphic from appearing (however, the virus was continuing to replicate in the background). Here is what I have learned about this virus, which I've named BUTTHEAD in honor of the juvenile jackass that wrote it... It is evidently NEW. During the past 72 hours, I tried at least a dozen different anti-virus programs, including McAfee's latest, IBM, ThunderByte, etc -- ALL FAILED TO DETECT THIS VIRUS. In addition, the BBS canning programs do not detect this virus. I upload a zip'ed file containing this virus to the IBM Anti-Virus BBS this morning (with their knowledge and consent of course), and their BBS scanned it and accepted it as being fine. Until a disinfectant for this becomes from McAfee and others, DO NOT ASSUME THAT FILES ARE SAFE SIMPLY BECAUSE YOUR LOCAL BBS IS RUNNING AN ANTI-VIRUS SCAN PROGRAM! BUTTHEAD affects *ONLY* .COM files. It does not seem to affect the hard disk boot sector and it does not reside in memory. It is extremely dangerous, however, because simply running one infect .COM file will cause ALL OTHER COM files in that directory to become infected. Running any of those files will then infect all .COM files in the next directory, and on and on. nearly 200 files all across my network were infected within minutes. Also important -- the stupid animation only runs at 5pm and stops after a few hours -- but the virus keeps right on working and infecting other .COM files regardless of the time. How to spot an infected .COM file... (1) It will be 2,280 or 2,285 bytes LARGER than the clean file started out. (2) The FIRST CHARACTER in the file will be an ASCII 231. (3) The 2K-plus packet that contains the virus is tacked on at the end of your infected .COM file. All infected files will contain the same unique "signature" or character sequence within those last bytes -- "NGiK" If you use a file searcher program, you will find this same signature can also be found in a .ZIP file that contains an infected .COM file. I scanned close to 20,000 files on eight machines and that character sequence turned up in 178 .COM files -- all infected. It did NOT appear in the any other file. (Note that case-sensitive does matter -- "ngik" will appear in some .WAV files is not a virus; "NGiK" is the character grouping to watch out for. What to do if this virus infects your machine... I have contacted IBM and McAfee about BUTTHEAD and I am sure that they will have disinfectants for this virus shortly. Until then, DO NOT RUN ANY .COM FILES AT ALL. This thing spreads quickly, and you will infect all other .COM files wherever you go. I was able to run .EXE files, how- ever, with no problem, and without infecting any other files. BE CAREFUL downloading files from Internet and other BBS sources. As I mentioned, the BBS scanning programs are NOT catching this virus at the present time. If you do find this annoying virus on your system... I was able to completely purge BUTTHEAD off my network using a text searching utility to find the infected files and then replacing them with clean files -- I will put this utility and some instructions in my FTP directory if anyone needs it -- after I get some sleep -- 72 hours non-stop of this is enough. Richard De A'Morelli The Workplace Shell for Windows. By Dweezil and Wally (Denzil B. and Dave S.) It is common knowledge that the Windows interface leave a great deal to be desired. Witness Microsoft's complete redesign of the user interface in Windows95(96?). The interface in Windows95 allows the user to use nested folders to organize their work. Does this sound familiar? It should. This is quite similar to what the MacOS and OS/2 have been doing for YEARS. This is great for those people with a machine capable of running Windows95. Unfortunately, even thought Microsoft has stated the intention to be able to run Windows95 in 4MB RAM, most magazines state that 8MB is the minimum workable configuration and recommend more. Another problem is that Windows95 isn't here yet. We are still waiting. If you are one of the fortunate(unfortunate?) beta testers of Windows95, you likely are already tasting the benefits of a object-oriented user interface. Mere mortals however, are not so lucky. So what can be done? Well, enter the Workplace Shell for Windows. This simple little shell for Windows 3.1, Windows for Workgroups 3.11, and the various flavors of WinOS2, gives these old operating environments the power of OS/2's Workplace Shell. Such perks as nested folders, pop-up menus, object property settings, and 100% compatibility with existing Windows applications. :-) Take the following examples to illustrate how the WPS for Windows makes your life easier: You wish to change the wallpaper on you desktop. Under mundane Windows, you'd have to venture into the intricacies of the control panel and then into desktop settings and then into wallpaper settings. Under the WPS for Windows, this procedure is dramatically abbreviated. Simply right-click on the desktop and choose settings from the pop-up menu (the desktop is an object after all). Then select the BACKGROUND tab. Then choose the desired bitmap. You wish to place a program on the desktop for easy access. Under mundane Windows, you'd have to purchase a $300 shell replacement program as the standard Windows interface does not allow this. Under the WPS for Windows, merely open the folder containing the desired program, and drag it to the desktop. One can even create what are called shadows, which point to the program. This feature in Win95 is known as the shortcut. In short, the WPS for Windows gives a Windows user about 80% of the functionality of the Win95 interface and yet how much does the WPS for Windows cost? $50? $40? $10? $5? $1.95? <===== it's a joke... get it? How about this people: it's FREE (read $0). That's right FREE, not SHAREWARE, but FREEWARE. A copy can be obtained from the OS/2 Shareware BBS, Hobbes, the WoodMeister, and other large OS/2 depositories. Get one and experience the power of IBM's Workplace Shell for Windows. *Note: The WPS for Windows does not include the mult-tasking capabilities of OS/2 Warp nor is it SOM enabled. (Too bad Bill, we can't give you everything...) Next MMOUG Meeting Next month's MMOUG meeting will be held in on Wednesday, June 21, 1995, 4 pm at: Columbia Photo and Video 10th Street Columbia, MO MMOUG Registration Form Name:_____________________________________ Nickname:_____________________ Last Name, First Initial Company Name:_____________________________ Address:___________________________________ Work Phone:___________________ ___________________________________ Home Phone:__________________ City:_________________________ State:_______ Zip Code:_____________________ Questionnaire Your Operating System: ___ DOS ___ OS/2 ___ WINDOWS ___ UNIX ___ OTHER __________________ Your Interest in Computers Include (Check all that apply): ___ Education ___ Business ___ Entertainment ___ OTHER ________________ _______________________________________________________________________________ Annual membership fee for the Mid Missouri OS/2 Users Group is $30.00 US. Purchase Orders are accepted. Please make your check payable to MMOUG and mail to: MMOUG, P.O. Box 30654, Columbia, MO. 65205-0645 Thank you for your support. _______________________________________________________________________________ The Mid-Missouri OS/2 Users Group is a non-profit corporation who's dedicated purpose is to aid and facilitate the education and communication between individual computer users, different computer groups, and the general public. The Woodmeister BBS is the official Bulletin Board of the MMOUG. A copy of the Bylaws is available for downloading from the Woodmeister BBS (314-446-0016). For assistance with OS/2, call our Voice Mail at 314-636-0805.