If you want to do vision experiments on your Macintosh computer, and haven’t programmed a Mac before, there are various things you should get for yourself. I’ve listed what I consider essential. The stuff I use. There are lots of baby books that hold your hand while you learn, but the ones that I’ve looked at weren’t helpful for setting up vision experiments. They’re oriented towards producing Mac-like applications with the right look and feel, which is unimportant when the experimenter is the only person that will ever run the program. Be warned that the bible, Inside Macintosh, is intimidating at first. The classic comment about Inside Mac is that you have to have read the rest to understand any part. Fortunately, the new edition, called the New Inside Macintosh--of which only part has been published--is much more readily assimilable. Mac programming is tough going at first, but I’ve come to like it, as the Apple routines are generally intelligent solutions to complicated problems. Anyway, by looking at the sources for the various demos in the VideoToolbox you should be able to get going much more quickly than I did. Good luck. -Denis Pelli
If you like this file, you may also want to read Mike Kelly’s help file “csmp-faq-1.txt”, which answers some frequently asked questions for the Mac programming section of UseNet. It’s in the Info-Mac archives in /tech.
ESSENTIAL BOOKS AND SOFTWARE:
The C Programming Language, Second Edition
Kernighan and Ritchie
Prentice Hall, 1988
This book describes the new Standard C. Most new C compilers are 99% compliant.
THINK C 7
A C compiler and programming environment (combined editor, linker, librarian, loader). It’s the best that I’ve ever used on any computer. For a little more money you can get Symantec C++, which includes THINK C 7 as part of the package, but the VideoToolbox makes no use of C++.
Symantec Corporation
10201 Torre Ave
Cupertino, CA 95014
(800) 800-1438 fax
(800) 441-7234
You can use ftp to download Symantec's updates from:
ftp://ics.uci.edu:mac/think-c/symantec/
Metrowerks CodeWarrior C Compiler on a CD
Until now the main alternative to THINK C has been Apple’s MPW C, which is slow, and clumsy, at least in comparison to THINK C. (The only thing I use MPW for is CompareFiles.) However, MetroWerks released a beta version of their "Code Warrior" C compiler in January, 1994, and the 1.0 release in May, 1994. Apparently they have copied everything that Symantec did right, and then added their own improvements. There are three versions. Bronze $199 generates 680x0 code; Silver $299 generates PowerPC code; Gold $399 generates both.
Questions:
Metrowerks Inc.
(514)-747-5999
(514)-747-2822 fax
metro@info.uqam.ca
Order from APDA (address below) or from BookMasters:
EDUCATIONAL PRICES:
Gold $99
Silver $79
Bronze $59
$15 shipping and handling for US orders. You must fax BookMasters proof that you are either a student or officially affilliated with a University.
BookMasters
1-800-247-6553
(419) 281-6883 fax
THINK Reference 2
Also from Symantec. This program acts as an online reference manual to the information in the Inside Mac books, volumes I-VI. Highly recommended. $129
Numerical Recipes C Set for Macintosh, 2nd ed.
(textbook, example book, and disk) $90
Useful book and mathematical library in source form. You can read the code, understand what’s going on, and modify it if necessary. From:
Cambridge University Press
40 West 20th Street
New York, NY 10010-4211
(800)-431-1580
914-937-9600
Inside Macintosh: Volumes I to VI, and X-Reference (i.e. index)
New Inside Macintosh: Files, Memory, Processes, Imaging, ...
Designing Cards and Drivers, 3rd edition
from:
Addison-Wesley
(800)-447-2226
or APDA
You’ll need these books. Apple is in the process of issuing the new edition of Inside Mac. So far they’ve only issued a few volumes. The old edition had numbered volumes--I to VI--the new edition has named volumes, e.g. Files. The new edition is significantly easier to use than the original and includes examples in C, not just Pascal.
MAGAZINES AND CATALOGS:
MacWEEK
Customer Service Department
P.O. Box 5821
Cherry Hill, NJ 08034
(609)-428-5000
Try to get a free subscription.
MacTech Magazine
PO Box 250055
Los Angeles, CA 90025-9555
310-575-4343
310-575-0925 fax
custservice@xplain.com
The only Mac magazine for programmers.
TidBITS
A free weekly email newsletter about Macintosh software and hardware published by Adam and Tonya Engst. To subscribe send email to info@tidbits.com
APDA
Apple Programmers and Developers Association
Apple Computer, Inc.
20525 Mariani Avenue, M/S 33G
Cupertino, CA 95014-6299
1-800-282-2732 (US)
1-800-637-0029 (Canada)
716-871-6555
716-871-6511 FAX.
APDA@applelink.apple.com
Get an APDA catalog, since some Apple software and documentation is ONLY available from them.
develop: The Apple Technical Journal (with the Developer Essentials CD-ROM),
$27 in US, $47 outside US.
APDA.
The develop magazine has four issues per year. It has lots of examples and helpful in-depth explanations. Useful.
Subscription to the Developer Mailing. Each month you receive a newsletter and a CD. Doesn't include ETO, but I think it does include the develop magazine.
$250/year plus shipping
APDA
Essential Tools and Objects CD-ROM (also called “ETO”)
$1,300 for first year, $300/year thereafter.
APDA
I don’t subscribe to this--it’s too expensive--but you may want to. It’s updated several times a year and has the latest versions of Apple’s development tools, MPW, C, etc. Doesn't include the Developer Mailings.
ONLINE SERVICES:
UseNet
The comp.sys.mac.programming UseNet news group has knowledgeable active discussion. Experts at Apple often jump in with helpful answers to thorny questions. You can participate in UseNet from your your Mac using telnet (NCSA Telnet and MacIP are both free) to log into a local unix system. Or you might use Nuntius (available by ftp from the Info-Mac archive) if you can get tcp/ip access to a net news server.
CompuServe Information Service
P.O. Box 20212
Columbus, OH 43220
(800)-848-8199
If you can’t join UseNet, then you may want to join CompuServe, to follow the discussions and post your seemingly insoluble Macintosh problems on the bulletin boards, MacPro, MacDev, or Symantec:THINK C, to get free advice from experts. Buy the program Navigator from CompuServe, as it makes CompuServe much easier to use. You’ll need a modem.
AppleLink
(408) 974-3309
ALINK.MGMT@applelink.apple.com
AppleLink is Apple’s bulletin board and email system. It provides some system software updates and technical information. Most companies that make Macintosh products have AppleLink accounts, and you can use the online directory to get their email addresses. You’ll need a modem.
Anyone can submit a bug report to APPLE.BUGS@Applelink.Apple.com. They prefer, but don’t require, a certain format that is produced automatically by a hypercard stack called Apple Bug Reporter, which can be downloaded from:
ftp://ftp.apple.com/dts/mac/bugs
SOFTWARE ARCHIVES ACCESSIBLE THROUGH THE INTERNET:
"Anarchie" is a great new program that makes it easy to find and download software available on public internet sites. You tell it the name (possibly incomplete) of the program you want. It consults an archie server and tells you from which sites it's available (with dates and sizes) and you can just double click any line to download the file. Here are two sites from which you can download Anarchie:
The Internet Starter Kit for Macintosh, by Adam C. Engst.
This book is pretty good and includes a free disk that has MacTCP (a $50 value) and lots of other important utilities for accessing the Internet.
Published by Hayden Books. ISBN 1-56830-064-6.
$29.95 USA $37.95 Canada. (Mention the magic code "310D" for a 20% discount.)
Hayden Books
201 West 103rd Street
Indianapolis, IN 46290 USA
800/428-5331 orders
317/581-3500 orders
800/448-3804 fax
317-581-3550 fax
orders@hayden.com
FTP is a file transfer protocol used to transfer files across the Internet. FTP programs typically have very rudimentary user interfaces. Some of the bigger ftp servers are now also Gopher servers. Gopher (developed at University of Minnesota, originally for a campus-wide information server) is sort of a superset of ftp that provides a quite good user interface and allows access to a wide variety of Internet resources. Public ftp servers require that you log in as “anonymous and will accept any password, but it is considered a courtesy to supply your electronic address as the password. If for some reason you can’t use ftp or gopher, some of the sites will help you out by allowing you to request transmission of files to you by email.
There are two ways to use ftp from your Mac. The traditional, indirect, approach is to remotely log into a mainframe (preferably one running unix), use its ftp facilities to move the file to it, and then download the file from it. The modern, direct, approach requires that your AppleTalk network have a gateway to the Internet, so that you can run an ftp program on your Mac (provided you have Apple’s MacTCP init, available from APDA; many universities have site licenses). I recommend Anarchie or TurboGopher for anonymous ftp downloading and Fetch 2.1 for general ftp uploading and downloading. Both are free from the Info-Mac archive.
Info-Mac archives (VideoToolbox is in info-mac/Development/SourceCode/)
ftp: sumex-aim.stanford.edu [36.44.0.6]
gopher: Info-Mac Archives
email: send a query to Info-Mac-Request@sumex-aim.stanford.edu
This is the largest collection of public domain Mac software. Unfortunately in 1994 user demand has overwhelmed the resources and it is now very difficult to access. There are many "mirror" sites all over the world that keep more-or-less up-to-date copies of Info-Mac and they are usually much easier to access. Here are a few that you might try:
amug.org:pub/ftp1/info-mac
wuarchive.wustl.edu:systems/mac/info-mac
src.doc.ic.ac.uk:packages/mac/info-mac
MacPsych archives
ftp: ftp.stolaf.edu [130.71.128.9] (look in /pub/macpsych/).
gopher: St. Olaf University/Network Resources/St. Olaf Mailing Lists/MacPsych/
email: send a query to macpsych-request@stolaf.edu
Apple archives
ftp: ftp.apple.com [130.43.2.3] (look in /dts/mac/).
(ftp.apple.com is an alias for bric-a-brac.apple.com.)
SOFTWARE ARCHIVES ON CD-ROM:
Info-Mac CD-ROM II (May '93) $49.95 plus shipping.
A May ‘93 snapshot of the info-mac archive on a CD-ROM containing about 600 MB. (Includes the February 1993 edition of the VideoToolbox.)
Pacific HiTech, Inc.
4760 Highland Drive, Suite 204
Salt Lake City, Utah 84124
800-765-8369 (orders only)
801-278-2042
801-278-2666 (fax)
71175.3152@compuserve.com
Apprentice $35 (includes shipping in US and Canada)
CD-ROM of 450 MB of Mac source code and utilities. I haven't received mine yet, but the price is right. (Includes the May 1994 edition of the VideoToolbox).
Celestin Company
1152 Hastings Avenue
Port Townsend, WA 98368
800 835 5514
206 385 3767
206 385 3586 fax
celestin@pt.olympus.net
EMAIL:
Your email service ought to have a gateway to Internet; complain if it doesn’t. Here’s how to send Internet mail to various commercial services when you only know the person’s service-specific address:
America Online: “Adam Engst” becomes “adamengst@aol.com”.
MCI: Joe Doe 123-4567 becomes “Joe_Doe@mcimail.com” or “1234567@mcimail.com”.
Prodigy: user ID “abcd12a” becomes “abcd12a@prodigy.com”
HARDWARE:
In my experience a plain old (now obsolete) Mac II is fast enough for many things, but faster Macs can show bigger movies. If you’re going to synthesize images then make sure your computer has a floating point chip. So far we’ve never needed more than 8-bit color, making the obsolete Apple Toby and TFB video cards our favorites, because they work perfectly (unlike Apple’s 1992 crop of video cards--see Video synch), and they’re available for $90 from Shreve Systems (800-227-3971), but, of course, they don’t support the latest large monitors. We also like the built-in video on all of Apple’s newer computers because you can load images into them at extremely high speeds (try the demo TimeVideo), since they bypass the NuBus bottleneck. We use the mouse or keyboard to collect observer responses. We’ve bought a few Data Translation A/D boards to automate our photometry, moving the cards from machine to machine as needed, but they are probably not the best brand.
We're just starting to use a Power Mac 6100/60av. It appears to be excellent for vision research, even in emulation mode. Its university price is about $2,000, and its two built-in video ports are very fast; as fast as the fastest Quadra. We don't need any slots. If you want slots, I'd suggest waiting until 1995 when Power Macs with PCI slots will appear. The PCI bus is fast and is fast becoming the bus of choice for Intel-based computers, so there will soon be a huge array of cards to choose from. (Making a PCI card compatible with both PowerPC and Intel processors will require a bigger "plug and play" ROM, but it seems likely that most manufacturers will take the trouble.)
You’ll want a fast CD-ROM drive, mainly to read Apple’s Developer Essentials CD-ROM disk.
You’ll need a modem to call CompuServe or AppleLink, and to dial in from home and elsewhere using AppleTalk Remote Access (ARA). You can now buy v32bis (i.e. 14,400 baud) modems for several hundred dollars. Phone lines are still expensive though, so you may want to cost-share by using a shared modem and a single phone line, in which case you'll want to devote an old Mac or buy an AppleTalk Remote Access server to connect the modem to your AppleTalk network.
APS Turbo DAT $1,399
APS Technologies
6131 Deramus
PO Box 4987
Kansas City, MO 642120=0087
(800)-354-1213
816-483-6100
816-483-3077 fax
My department uses a single DAT tape drive (with compression, from APS) and the Retrospect program to backup dozens of Macs every night automatically. We’re very happy with it. Retrospect maintains a historical backup so you can go back to older versions of your data, many backups ago. Get a sufficiently large-capacity tape drive so that you can do unattended incremental backups without having to change the tape.
Moustrak Pad (large 9”x11”, blue or gray). One for each Mac. You really need this. $9
Chip Merchant
9285 Chesapeake Drive
San Diego, CA 92123
(619)-268-4774
(619)-268-0874 fax
At $30 per megabyte it’s worth buying enough memory to take your computer up to at least 8 MB. (To show movies, we've taken several of our computers up to 24 or 40 MB.) This outfit has good prices.
MONITORS:
We’ve done nearly all our research using Apple’s High Resolution Monochrome monitors, which are inexpensive and adequate, though one could wish for higher luminance (100 cd/m^2 peak when new), better high voltage regulation, and dc coupling instead of dc restoration. I suspect that a color monitor might be better regulated and might be excellent used as a monochrome monitor. Use with the ISR Video Attenuator would require that you: 1. use only the green channel, or 2. build a video amplifier to drive all three channels from the single output of the video attenuator, or 3. snip two of the 75 ohm termination resistors inside the monitor and tie all three channels together.
I know very little about color monitors, but people keep asking me to recommend one. Tom Robson of Cambridge Research Systems gave me a brochure for what appears to be a rather nice color monitor:
Sony 20-inch Trinitron Multiscan GDM-2038
field rate of 50 to 160 Hz
about 160 cd/m^2
$2,500
RECOMMENDED:
(The free & shareware stuff is available from Info-Mac or CompuServe or both. You can use Anarchie to quickly search most ftp sites in the world. To search Compuserve use their “GO MACFF” command.)
Anarchie - quickly find a public-domain file anywhere in the world. Free.
ApplWindows - INIT helps you go quickly go to any window of any application. Free.
ARA Commander - streamlines your use of Appletalk Remote Access. Shareware.
ATM 3.6 - Adobe Type Manager, $7.50 from Adobe at 800-521-1976 x4400.
