NetNews Usenet Archive 1992 #20

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Internet Message Format | 1992-09-12 | 46.9 KB

Path: sparky!uunet!haven.umd.edu!mimsy!dtix!darwin.sura.net!wupost!gumby!destroyer!ubc-cs!unixg.ubc.ca!kakwa.ucs.ualberta.ca!ee.ualberta.ca!jpenne From: jpenne@ee.ualberta.ca (Jerry Penner) Newsgroups: comp.sys.apple2 Subject: GEnieLamp Sept 1992 [4 parts] Message-ID: <jpenne.716322175@ee.ualberta.ca> Date: 12 Sep 92 18:22:55 GMT Sender: news@kakwa.ucs.ualberta.ca Organization: University Of Alberta, Edmonton Canada Lines: 935 Nntp-Posting-Host: eigen.ee.ualberta.ca This is GEnieLamp, from the GEnie Information Service. It is being posted to the Internet by request from Tom Schmitz, one of the A2 editors of GEnieLamp. This is part 2 of 4 parts. ---8<------8<------8<------8<--- cut here ---8<------8<------8<------8<--- JUPITER PAYMENTS >> does anybody know if it's possible to """""""""""""""" >> pay the shareware fee with Jupiter >> Systems by VISA-card? The members of Jupiter Systems (Dan Wellman, Mike Fleming, Marco Busse, Brian Clark, Jonathan Stark, Chris Trimble, and Rob Lathan) are all high school students, and just aren't set up to take credit cards. There are a few suggested ways for non-Americans to pay shareware fees to American shareware authors. You may be taking a risk with unscrupulous postal employees, but chances are that a carefully wrapped $10 bill would make it through. Another method would be to find a local branch of an American International Bank, and purchase an international check or money order. Of course, you may have to pay a fee on your end, but Jupiter probably wouldn't have to pay a fee on this end.The last method would be to visit your local bank, and have them issue a check drawn on US funds. Again, you may have to pay a fee on your end. -Joe Kohn (J.KOHN, Cat. 2, Top. 4, Msg. 52, M645;1) TRACKBALL PROBLEMS Kensington Turbo Mouse: Old versions worked as """""""""""""""""" trackballs, but attempting to use the mouse's "chording" feature (pressing both buttons at the same time to issue a macro) causes the computer to hang. The newest version tracks verrrrrrry slooooowlllly on the IIGS (there is Mac software included to adjust the tracking but the default tracking is much too slow on the GS). CH Products RollerMouse: The extra buttons cause the computer to hang in various programs. Trackballs that should work all right on the IIGS: Logitech TrackMan: Their MouseMan works fine, so I assume the TrackMan would too. The two extra buttons generate left and right arrow keys on the GS. (QC [Jerry], Category 12, Topic 28, Message 8, M530;1) ICON INFO There is no specific limit to the number of icons you can put """"""""" in a file. There ARE several things to keep in mind, though: 1) The icon EDITORS may have a limit. Going beyond this limit may result in an error, a crash, inability to save the file, or worst of all, a corrupted file. 2) Earlier versions of Finder had problems loading in very large icon files. Finder 6.0 is much better with this, but I personally don't want to try pushing it. 3) Finder must allocate a single large block of memory for every icon file it loads. If it can't allocate a large enough block of memory, it won't load in the file. I don't even want to guess what happens if it tries to load in a file larger than one bank (64K) of memory. _ (_)n the other hand, the fewer icon files you have, the faster Finder starts up, and the less _fragmented_ memory becomes. My personal advice is that if you keep to around 50 icons per file, you should have absolutely no problems whatsoever. I have pushed a file up to near 80 icons, but all the icons in that file were very small, keeping the size of the file itself relatively small. The way I, personally, organize my icons is in about five files: o System.Icons (anything as shipped on a system disk, including replacements for Finder's icons), o Document.Icons (graphics files, sound files, word processing files, etc.), o Applic.Icons (icons for the applications themselves), o Develop.Icons (icons for source code, utilities, etc.), o and a file I call Last.in.Folder, to remind myself where it should go (the most generic custom icons, like text files, binary files, disks and drives, the trash can, folders, etc.). This way also keeps almost all icons for a specific type in a single file (except for Last.in.Folder) so that they can all go in any order within my icons folder (again, except for Last.in.Folder). -= Lunatic (: (LUNATIC, Cat. 9, Top. 2, Mesg. 15, M645;1) STANDARD LANGUAGE PRACTICE This will be a little long. There seems to """""""""""""""""""""""""" have been a lot of traffic here in the last couple of days! 1. Jay: I'm not trying to play God when I implement a language, just the opposite -- and that's why I'll never do what you suggested. That's not the contradiction it sounds like at first. I feel very strongly that if you pick up a package that says it's Pascal, it ought to be Pascal -- period. There is (or should be) a big distinction between a language designer and a language implementor. That doesn't mean you can't add to a language, and in fact, the Pascal standard even addresses that issue. If you look in our Pascal manual, you'll find all sorts of extensions, and more will undoubtedly come in the future. When I extend the language, though, I do it with great care. I feel like any extension should be clearly labeled as an extension -- and our manual does just that. I feel you should be able to block any extension (so you can write portable programs) and my compiler has a directive to do that. I feel any extension should be compatible with the language as a whole, never breaking the original language, and all of the extensions I've added fulfill that requirement. Finally, I feel that any extension to a language should be made in the spirit of the language. Each language, after all, has a unique feel and basis. Pascal is safety. C is staying out of your way. BASIC is simplicity. Ada is industrial strength with rigid standards for portability. And so on. Think about it from the other side: if you pick up a book that shows a program for the IBM PC, don't you want to be able to type it in on your Apple IIGS? If every compiler writer did what I do, and the program either enforced the standard using some directive or encapsulated things like graphics calls in easy to change subroutines, you could do that. Unfortunately, far to many compiler writers do exactly what you suggest, and far to few programmers have any idea what parts of a language are standard and what parts are extensions. As a result, it's hard to use a program on another computer. Even C, the "portable" language (what a laugh!) has this problem -- more so than Pascal, in fact. I've been told that Turbo C has four distinct compatibility modes: C++, ANSI C, K&R C and UNIX C -- and that doesn't even count the different memory models, each of which can cause problems. (And, keep in mind, UNIX C was always advertised as _being_ K&R C, yet they needed two distinct modes!) No, standards are there for a reason. It's a good reason. Compiler writers owe it to you, me, and every other person to implement a language faithfully. Add if you want, but only within the constraints of the language, and only to solve specific problems (like toolbox access) that can't be handled without the extension. -Mike <standards 'R Us> Westerfield (BYTEWORKS, Category 6, Topic 8, Message 86, M530;1) WPL On Apple Writer WPL is the Word Processing Language built into """"""""""""""""""" AppleWriter. Essentially, AppleWriter has a built-in programming language, and a pretty darned powerful one. Randy Brandt told me at KansasFest that part of the reason he wrote his first macro program for Appleworks (he's the guy who wrote Timeout Ultramacros) was because he AppleWriter had a programming language but AppleWorks did not. WPL is really quite remarkable. AppleWriter as a consequence is also rather remarkable. There's stuff you can do with AppleWriter that you still can't do with much more "advanced" word processors. Even AppleWorks with souped-up macros can't do everything it can. What's most interesting about it is that AppleWriter SEEMS deceptively simple and lackluster. It doesn't look like much until you start exploring what it can really do with WPL and a few other nifty features. -Dean Esmay (A2.DEAN, Cat. 28, Top. 4, Msg. 47, M645;1) IS JOE A DREAMER? The idea of setting up some type of Shareware Solutions """"""""""""""""" Buddy program was just something that came off the top of my head. If you remember some of the first messages I posted here, I said that my Shareware Solutions column is mainly directly at those who don't belong to user groups or own modems. That's still the case, and I think it's a very safe assumption that the vast majority of people who write to me for the shareware solutions companion disks have never used a freeware or shareware program before. I really do believe that. In the back of my mind, I thoroughly believe that the more people that use freeware and shareware, the longer the Apple II lives. After all, everyone reading this note has probably downloaded zillions of programs from the A2 library and has more than enough software to last a lifetime. But, what about all those other folks who use one or two programs? What about those who still use AppleWorks v1.1? What about the GS owners using System 1.1? I believe many of them read inCider, and have to at least be a little intrigued by the shareware goodies I write about. How can we get them better connected? How can we get them to buy modems, or to join user groups? How can we make them aware of freeware and shareware? That's what got me thinking along those lines. Here's my fantasy: Suppose we had people all over the country who were giving away great Apple II software? Suppose they contacted schools in their area, and offered to visit and supply them with freeware? Through my involvement with a non profit organization (CompuMentor), I visit non-profits that use Apple II's and give them free software, as well as providing free consultation. A few weeks ago, I went to a homeless shelter in San Francisco that uses Apple II's to teach basic computer keyboarding skills, and gave them Charles Hartley's freeware Computer Keyboarding program. Since that program is so superior to what they had been using, that homeless shelter will now be able to get lots more mileage out of their Apple II's. You may say I'm a dreamer, but I'm not the only one. I'd love to be involved with setting up some kind of Shareware Solutions Outreach Group of Volunteers who could provide software and who could answer questions about using it. This is not something that will happen today or tomorrow, as I am not at all clear on how this could be set up, or how it would operate. It'll take time, it'll take some talk, and it will take some other idealists like me to get something like this going. Any thoughts? -Joe (J.KOHN [Joe], Category 28, Topic 4, Message 49, M645;1) UPDATE YOUR ZIP GS Someone recently asked me in e-mail how many chips """""""""""""""""" were required to update the cache on a Zip GS. Since I thought other people might be interested in the information as well, I decided to post it here. To upgrade the cache on a Zip GS to 32K, you need two SRAM chips, one for the TAG side and one for the DATA side. To upgrade the cache to 64K, you need four SRAM chips total, two for each side. Since these chips are 32K each, you might wonder why you need two of the them for 32K or four for 64K. The reason is that each side of the cache needs to be upgraded to the full memory size. Since there's two sides to the cache, you need twice the chips. -= Lunatic (:- (LUNATIC, Category 22, Topic 10, Message 164, M645;1) MODEMWORKS $ APPLENET !!! IMPORTANT !!! A couple of people have """"""""""""""""""""" contacted me telling me that they can't get ModemWorks 3.0 to work properly with AppleNET 1.5a and previous versions. This is quite normal, and even easier to explain. Due to the new architecture of ModemWorks 3.0, AppleNET 1.5a will not only not load MW 3.0 properly, but with the new command implementations in MW 3.0, you won't get too far even if you -do- manage to get the loading sequence in there properly (which isn't too hard, mind you). As AppleNET 2.0 is so far into production right now (release date is -- cross your fingers! -- next summer or earlier), I just don't think it would be feasible to re-write AppleNET 1.5a to support ModemWorks 3.0, no matter how much I'd like Zmodem transfers to work. However, AppleNET 2.0 will FULLY support all of MW 3.0's newest features, including Ymodem and Zmodem transfers, new terminal emulations, and the whole kit-and-kaboodle (and AppleNET will remain as easy-to-use as ever!). So, to all those who are cursing me right now saying, "I bought ModemWorks 3.0 to work with AppleNET 1.5a, and now I find out it's a waste of my money!", HANG ON A SEC! Just hang onto the package, and wait for AppleNET 2.0. I guarantee that you'll agree it's worth the extra wait.... -Derek Fong (M.POTTER4 , Category 41, Topic 3, Message 63, M645;1) >>>>> You're right. What we have planned for AppleNET 2.0 -is- """"" too long to get out in one breath. But, here's the low-down on what we currently plan on getting out in the final release version: o Faster and more efficient than previous AppleNET versions o Completely rewritten from the ground-up -- no more Kevin D'Haeze/Larry Edwards program code o Complete support for X/Y/Zmodem, and their subsets o New fields o (You asked for it, and got it) More bells and whistles o The editors have all been improved at least tenfold o We're planning on either writing our own AppleNET network, or at least writing a patch to link to another major network (ie: Fidonet or the Internet) o Full screen editors and split-screen chat for PSE/ANSI users o A full-fledged accounting system, much like GEnie and CompuServe, which will allow sysops to charge users for access to certain areas. You can also assign freeflagged areas to certain users whom you may not want to charge for entering a certain area... o The new RAMDisk loader is GREAT! *blush* o The new menu system will blow away previous AppleNET versions o System events are now fully-configurable o All this (and, as the old saying goes..) and a LOT LOT more for the low shareware price of $20-30 US (haven't decided yet), and $39.95 for ModemWorks Lite (all you'll need to run AppleNET 2.0). -Derek Fong (M.POTTER4, Category 41, Topic 2, Message 4, M645;1) DECISIONS, DECISIONS Speaking of which, I've heard great things about """""""""""""""""""" the Shadow. But, is it really so great that I should spend the extra $$$ to get a Shadow instead of the TMS Pro External? My desktop has enough space to accommodate a HD.... I'd avoid the 3.5-sized drives (such as the Shadow), if I were you. They take their power from your computer's power supply. Hard drives demand a great deal of power while starting up...probably more than you should be pulling from a stock Apple IIe or IIGS power supply. When you buy a drive in the larger (usually Mac-sized) case, the drive gets its own power supply. According to the Apple IIe tech reference, the +12 line on the power supply is capable of supplying 1500 mA continuously. It can handle surges up to 2500 mA for up to 20 minutes if followed by at least 10 minutes at no more than 1500 mA. According to the tech manual for my hard drive (a Conner CP-340), the drive draws 1000 mA for startup and 300 mA in normal operation. That's 40% of absolute maximum for startup and 20% of operating maximum at full speed--and you still have floppy drives, peripheral cards, and the motherboard to share those 1500 mA with. With a 3.5" floppy drive, a 5.25" floppy drive, and a hard drive spinning all at once, you might overload the power supply...and when that happens, your computer will cycle power until the cling power like that to a hard drive is a Bad Thing (TM). If you have an Apple SCSI card, the problem is even worse. Recently, one of the members of the local user group bought a drive and an Apple DMA SCSI card from LRO. Apple's card only gives you up to a 3-second delay before it starts looking for a device to boot. The average hard drive takes about 10 seconds to spin up and go active. If your hard drive has its own power supply, you can turn it on first and turn the computer on a few seconds later. If the hard drive takes its power from the computer, though, you're stuck with a Catch-22--the computer won't boot from the hard drive until it's spun up completely, but the hard drive won't spin up until you turn the computer on. Open-Apple-Control-Reset doesn't fix the problem, either...if Apple's SCSI card doesn't find a drive, you'll have to cycle power...and you're back to Square One. Save yourself a lot of potential grief. Insist on a hard drive that has its own power supply--preferably an internal power supply instead of an external "brick." _/_ / v \ (IIe ( Scott Alfter \_^_/ ------------ (S.ALFTER, Category 11, Topic 10, Message 64, M645;1) >>>>> There is an external power supply available for the Shadow, just a """"" little power cube that plugs into the wall. TMS recommends the purchase of this thing for any Shadow that is to be used on a II, and so do I. I think the thing is like $15-$20, but I could be way off on that (either way :). -Gary R. Utter (GARY.UTTER, Category 11, Topic 10, Message 66, M645;1) PROBLEMS As far as I can tell, the only way to do this is to use one of """""""" the older printer drivers that has the "custom" page setup option but if I remember right, they were REALLY slow. Does anyone have any ideas?? The Claris folks couldn't figure out how to do what they wanted in the Print Manager, so they cheated. They licensed Apple's ImageWriter code for the express purpose of creating an Epson printer driver, which they did and which Apple later purchased and included in the system software. Unfortunately, they didn't stop there. They rebuilt the ImageWriter driver as ImageWriter.CL and added a few new private commands to it for the things they couldn't figure out how to do otherwise. Multiple horizontal items on the page is one of them. If you want to do these, you have no choice but to use the old .CL driver because AWGS doesn't know how to use a real printer driver for these things. (This is also why Apple doesn't license printer driver source to developers anymore -- the .CL driver was a support nightmare for dealers and customer support people, especially once the newer ImageWriter drivers came out and AWGS features didn't work with them, and Apple's not anxious to repeat that mistake.) --Matt (I speak for myself, not for Apple) (M.DEATHERAGE, Category 17, Topic 17, Message 45, M645;1) DISK ARCHIVES Here follows a few clarifications on doing "disk" """"""""""""" archives: A2 normally insists on "file" archives for all ProDOS and GS/OS uploads. This is because we can't know what kind of hardware every downloader may have, and because hard disk owners get downright irate when they have to dust off their 5.25 drive and plug it into their GS just to unpack a file that they will then have to transfer to their hard disk. And I can't blame them. In fact, if the upload is a collection of related files, we really prefer that they be placed in their own folder and the entire folder be archived, though this is by no means a required step. However, some things such as DOS 3.3 files, the TETRIS2 upload, etc. cannot be placed on a ProDOS disk. Since ShrinkIt is a ProDOS program, the only way it can handle such files is by shrinking the entire disk without worrying about the contents. Let's consider what this means. If you are archiving a well-used DOS 3.3 disk, much of the "blank" disk space will actually contain files that have been erased from the disk catalog. Remember, deleting a file merely removes it from the catalog; it does NOT remove it from the disk. That's why "Undelete"programs are able to work. Now, ShrinkIt cannot read this disk and has no way of telling which disk sectors are in use and which are free, and archives all 560 DOS 3.3 sectors. This means that all those previously deleted files are ALSO archived, even though they aren't in the catalog. Needless to say, this is incredibly inefficient and you can easily wind up with a disk archive that is larger than the unpacked length of the files you are uploading! Some people have tried to get around this by transferring the DOS 3.3 files to a ProDOS disk and putting them in a "file" archive. This is an ungood idea for several reasons. First, the downloader must convert it back to DOS 3.3 to use. You'd be amazed how many people don't understand how to do that or why it's necessary. The confusion factor is just too much. Secondly, the files will have to be renamed to something that ProDOS will take. All too often, the new name will cause the program to crash. And the user will be unable to fix it because he won't know what the original names were. We also want to remember that DOS 3.3 uploads must not contain a copy of the DOS 3.3 system software. Apple Corp. still owns it and frowns on this practice. We check all DOS 3.3 uploads for this and do not release the ones that still have DOS on them. Here's how to fix all of these problems: 1) Format a blank DOS-less disk. I use Copy II+. 2) Copy all of the files to be uploaded to the new disk. 3) Archive the new disk. The freshly formatted disk will have all unused sectors "zeroed out". These "zeroed" sectors compress to an extremely small space, so that the resulting "disk" archive is at most just a block or two larger than a "file" archive would have been. I hope this makes the reasoning behind our rules clearer to you. -TomZ (T.ZUCHOWSKI, Category 2, Topic 4, Message 109, M645;1) PRIME BBS - ROLL YOUR OWN With the rapid spread of the Prime BBS system """"""""""""""""""""""""" since its introduction onto GEnie, I suspect that there are some of you who want to start modifying your own BASIC programs to run online with Prime. This is not nearly as hard as it might seem on first glance and I highly recommend it as a fun thing to do as well as an excellent way to get a handle on the Prime ampersand set. Here is about all there is to it.... 1. Look in your copy of the doc file. This is file 18837 on GEnie and it is called Prime.DOCS.bxy. On pages 57 to 69 you'll find a full description of all the amper commands. Look carefully at & PRINT, & GET, & INPUT, & AT, and & VLIN. These are about the only ones you'll need for your first cut. 2. I use Program Writer to edit my BASIC files. Makes the job a whole lot easier. You old timers like me might prefer GPLE:) Go through the program and carefully replace all the PRINT statements with & PRINT. This results in the program printing to BOTH your BBS screen and to the modem so the user can see it. A comma after the & PRINT will print a carriage return. Ie, & PRINT ,,"This is a test" will print two carriage returns and then "This is a test" to the screen and to your modem. 3. Replace all GET statements with & GET. This one always killed me! This & GET tells the program to get a single key input from EITHER the sysops keyboard or the modem. If you leave a GET in there without the ampersand the program will get to that point and wait for an input from the sysops keyboard! Your user will be able to do nothing and your system is hung until he hangs up! NOT GOOD! So, look carefully for the GET statements. Same thing replies to INPUT and & INPUT. Use the 'find' feature of your editor to make sure that you got 'em all. 4. If your program writes any data to disk, (ie, high scores, etc.) then use the & AT command to set the prefix to one of the BBS prefixes. You CAN hardwire the prefixes with the normal BASIC commands, but I don't recommend it since this makes the program useless to other Prime sysops until they go edit it. 5. The & VLIN command can be used to restrict the allowable input characters to any set you want to define. You probably won't want this one often. 6. Lastly, you need some way to protect your system from syntax errors you didn't catch before you put your new gem online. In addition, you need to be able to protect yourself against the rude user who drops carrier right smack nab in the middle of your add-on external or game program. Historically, this is done by a fairly standard error trapping routine that does a few good things for you. o It hangs up the modem and resets to LOG if carrier is lost o It shows the user an error number and line if he runs into a bug. The user can then report it to you so you can go squash the bugger! The user is then returned to the BBS.1 code. o If you hit a control-C during execution of the program, this routine will tell the user to hang on while you work. I'll upload that little EXECable file with this TIP. When you make your BASIC code, leave line 1 unused and don't use any line numbers above 60000. Drop into BASIC, load your file, and EXEC this file. It will add the error trap to your program. Save the modified program as a PRG.XX or GAM.XX file and you're ready to rock and roll! Take a few minutes to study this code. In addition, take a few minutes to look at other PRG.XX and GAM.XX that I have uploaded. It'll go a long way toward enhancing the fun you can have with PRIME! (W.GOOSEY, Category 41, Topic 4, Message 52, M645;1) >>> MESSAGE SPOTLIGHT <<< """"""""""""""""""""""""" Category 9, Topic 15 Message 154 Tue Aug 11, 1992 GARY.UTTER [Dispatcher] at 05:39 EDT Time for a lecture on heat. Chips get hot. They heat the air at their surface. If that air remains at the surface of the chip, then the chip just gets hotter and hotter. If you can move the hot air away from the surface of the chip, and replace it with air that is not so hot, then the chip can heat THAT air. Heat that is transferred to the air in this fashion is heat that is not giving the chip itself a problem. Without a fan, the only way that air moves is by convection. (Hot air rises, remember that from high school science? :) Generally speaking, convection is not going to move enough air to keep the chip cooled to within its normal operating temperature range IF the ambient air temperature is much above 75 degrees, especially if you have a lid on the machine. This is why god made fans. A fan will move the hot air off the chip, and allow it to be replace with air that is less hot, thus allowing the chip to be cooled. So long as the air that is moving across the chip is cooler than the chip itself, this will keep the the chip within its operating temperature range. The variables here are how hot the outside air is, and how fast it moves across the chip. If you move enough air, then the chip will have no problems until the ambient air temperature is higher than the operating temperature of the chip. The operating temperature of the chip is certainly a lot higher than YOURS. Which is to say, when the outside air becomes hot enough that it cannot cool the chip with a good fan, it is so hot that you will have NO interest in computing, or anything else except escape, if you aren't already cooked, literally. (Wordy tonight ain't I ? :) Anyway, the answer to your problem (assuming you are correct in it being heat related) is a FAN, or SEVERAL fans. I myself have three high capacity fans sitting on top of my CPU (with the lid on). They are mounted in a board (actually a sheet of plexiglass that I happened to have on hand), and the board is cut to the size of the top of the GS and has a gasket of weatherstripping around the bottom edge, so it sits nice and airtight on the GS. This thing sucks so much air that I need both hands to lift it off the case when the fans are running. I do NOT have heat related crashes. Period. A Kensington System Saver or AE Conserver is the minimum level of fannage you should have on your machine, and if you have a serious problem with high temperatures in the area in which you must run your GS, you need MORE fannage. The absolute minimum I would suggest in a high temperature environment is a System Saver or Conserver in which the fan has been replaced by a higher capacity fan from Radio Shack. A lot of people here have made that particular modification with good results. However, if you do not have to have your monitor sitting on top of the CPU, I would recommend several fans in some type of enclosure like I built. I was at a local electronics surplus house this afternoon, and saw a whole big box of these "muffin fans" at $5/each. Gary R. Utter [*][*][*] While on GEnie, do you spend most of your time downloading files? If so, you may be missing out some excellent information in the Bulletin Board area. The messages listed above only scratch the surface of what's available and waiting for you in the bulletin board area. If you are serious about your APPLE II, the GEnie Lamp staff strongly urge you to give the bulletin board area a try. There are literally thousands of messages posted from people like you from all over the world. //////////////////////////////////// GEnie_QWIK_QUOTE //// / "I agree with everybody else. There, that should just / / about cover it. :)" / /////////////////////////////////////// FAIR-DINKUM //// [EOA] [HUM]////////////////////////////// HUMOR ONLINE / ///////////////////////////////// Python Fever Spreads in STRT """""""""""""""""""""""""""" By T.J. Girsch [T.GIRSCH] TOPIC COP HEADACHES! Most of you who frequent the message bases in the """""""""""""""""""" ST Roundtable have almost certainly experienced it. You're browsing through the messages, looking for ways to minimize your LZH difficulties, when suddenly you see a totally out of place message: < Your mother wuz a hamster anda your father smelled of elderberries! > The first thought that runs through your mind is "What the heck is this person talking about?!?" And the next thought, "IGN PERM," is synonymous with the next message: < Run away! Run away!!! > These thoughts undoubtedly pass through your mind, UNLESS you've seen "Monty Python and the Holy Grail." If you've seen it, then your first reaction is not one of confusion, but of hysterical laughter. The mere quotation of a line from the film puts you in a fit. If you're reading this, and you have already encountered these quotes and reacted with confusion, your next question is almost inevitably "What does any of this have to do with the Atari ST?" The answer: almost nothing. But once the craze was started, it proved nearly impossible to extinguish the flame. If you're wondering how it started, it's really quite simple. In the CATegory __, TOPic __ there is a "M.U.L.E. for the ST" topic, in which Network 23 Software (represented by Rod Martin) would regularly give news briefs and ask for feedback regarding his ST MULE clone, "Dromedary," which is currently under development. After a while, the topic seemed to be in danger of "disappearing" due to a seeming lack of interest. In a last ditch effort to save his topic, Mr. Martin released a 2 A.M. update on the development. His post, probably due both to a strong desire to save the topic and to the simple fact that it was 2 A.M., included a quote from the film "Monty Python and the Holy Grail." Immediately about a half-dozen GEnie users replied with their favorite quotes from the film, to which there were counterreplies, and replies to the counterreplies. In short time, the fever had grown to exponential proportion, resulting in possibly the worst occurrence of topic derailment in GEnie history. The difference here was that no one who frequented the topic seemed to mind one bit. What's more, about once every two weeks, Mr. Martin would still post an update, "relevant" to the topic. The problem with all this is that any newcomers to the topic may be scared off, because they wonder what "< What is the airspeed velocity of an unladen swallow? >" has to do with M.U.L.E. Plus, these "Python posts" began to spread to other areas of the RoundTable. So, in an effort to address these problems, I submit the "Atarians Guide to Python Awareness." I. How To Identify a Quote Identification of Python quotes, or any TV """""""""""""""""""""""""" Show/Movie Quote, is fairly simple, thanks to a convention which most of the "offending" posters (myself included) have adopted. An irrelevant quote is generally enclosed by a less than sign ( < ) and a greater than sign ( > ), as in: < Stop that, stop it!! There won't be any singing while _I'm_ 'ere > Note Be aware that the Holy Grail is not the only film that is quoted in """" this fashion. It has also become common to quote Star Trek: The Next Generation in a similar manner. II. How To Read Grail Quotes In order to get the "full effect" of a """""""""""""""""""""""""""" Grail quote, it must be read in the proper manner: with a thick British accent. The one notable exception to this rule is in cases where the enclosed text is a stream of insults, for example: < You stupid English pig-dogs! Now go away, before ah taunt you a zecond time! > In these cases, a pseudo-French accent should be used. III. How To Understand a Grail Quote The best advice I can give here is """""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""" to watch the movie. "Monty Python and the Holy Grail" can be found at video rental outlets everywhere, and is excellent for a lot of laughs. And you don't need to be a big Monty Python fan to appreciate it. Two things to bear in mind before watching the movie: 1) A general knowledge of the Legend of King Arthur is helpful in understanding some of the humor. 2) If you don't like extremely off-the-wall slapstick, in the tradition of the Zucker brothers (Airplane, The Naked Gun), then this film is probably not for you. IV. How To Reply To a Grail Quote Replying to Grail quotes requires that """"""""""""""""""""""""""""""""" you have seen the movie. For example, without seeing the movie you would not know that the proper response to "< But I've cut your arm off! >" would be "< No you haven't! It's a flesh wound. I've had worse! >" If you have seen the film, however, and you wish to reply to a Grail quote, feel free! More are always welcome. Just use the "greater than/less than" convention described above, and try not to stray too far from the topic, lest the topic police come and spank you! Note We apologize for the abrupt end to this article. Those responsible """" have been sacked. The rest of this issue of GEnieLamp has been completed in a totally different style and at great expense. //////////////////////////////// GEnie_QWIK_QUOTE //// / "ACCKK.. I've been arrested by the Topic Police!!! / / Did da judge set bail?" / /////////////////////////////////// D.D.MARTIN //// [EOA] [PRO]////////////////////////////// PROGRAMMING CORNER / ///////////////////////////////// Apple II And You """""""""""""""" By Darrel Raines [D.RAINES] >>> THE SHAREWARE CONNECTION <<< """""""""""""""""""""""""""""""" I want to start this month's column by giving an example of what I consider to be a bad marketing and project development decision. We will spend some time during the course of this article discussing a way to make sure that software written for the Apple II is wanted by the user community. I saw an advertisement for a product that, in my opinion, is not going to be useful to the common software buyer. SoftPC has developed a package that works on the Macintosh series of computers. It will allow you to run any Windows compatible software product on the Mac. (Windows is a IBM/clone version of the Mac operating system. Much of the current Windows software has been ported over from the Mac.) Does this strike anybody as a case of trying to sell California wine to a French wine connoisseur? Who in their right mind would want to buy something that will make IBM/clone software run on a Mac just like native Mac software? Buy the Mac software and be done with it. I do not understand why anyone would develop a product like this. In last month's article, we explored the future of software for the Apple II platform. I put forth the prediction that most of the software developed for Apple II's would come from Shareware sources. I explained my reasons for these ideas and encouraged readers to take heart in the fact that certain advantages are to be gained from using Shareware and Freeware programs. Chief among these advantages is the ability to guide the development of software that you want to use by paying for software that you find useful and asking for software that you want to use. This arrangement can work to the benefit of both the developer and the end user. The next question, and the one that I want to answer this week, is how do you get a software package developed if you really need one. The flip side to that question is how does a developer find out what users want to use (and pay for) on their computers. One way that doesn't usually happen is for luck to bring together the user and the developer in the same place at the same time. "Ha", you say. "It will never happen", you say. I think that you are correct. A much more likely circumstance is that a user seeks out a developer with a program idea and asks for software to be built to his specifications. The transaction usually requires an up-front fee and a guaranteed fee upon completion of the package. This is expensive since it requires one potential user to absorb the entire cost of the project. A much more financially reasonable plan calls for the joining of like-minded users that are willing to pool resources and contract for a program to be built. This begs the question of how you find other users who want the same software that you want. We can see that there are problems with this approach also. A third alternative is available when we consider the online community available through a service like GEnie. (Please excuse references to a nationally advertised alcoholic beverage in the rest of this paragraph.) Wouldn't it be great if you could register your software needs in a forum visited by both users and developers? And wouldn't it be great if other users could add to your ideas and produce a program specification that the group would be willing to pay for if the software was ever developed? And wouldn't it be great if the developers who were looking for their next project took these specifications and built the software that so many users were wanting to see? And wouldn't it be great if the result of all of this synergism was some of the best software that the Apple II had ever seen? Wouldn't it be great? Okay, I feel better now. Sometimes I get these flashes of inspiration and I just have to let them run their course. However, I hope that you saw something you liked in that last paragraph. I laid out, in brief detail, what I envision as a public clearing house for program ideas and software development. An entity can be created that will meet the needs of the software user and creator in a way that is beneficial to both. Perhaps a user can identify a software need that a developer was wanting to create anyway. Such a meeting can serve as a spark to get the developer started on the project. I can see that some software wants will be too big for a single programmer to tackle. Such programs (that are deemed worthwhile) could be broken down into sub-projects that are handled by individual programmers. A project lead would be established to manage getting the pieces built and put together. On the other hand, many programmers like to work by themselves. This can certainly be accomplished by allowing software package ideas to be "checked out" by a programmer indicating that it is currently being worked on. Profits, for shareware packages, would be distributed according to who worked on the project and to what extent. Users would be much more likely to pay for a software package that they helped bring to life by establishing what the package would do. A promise sheet could even be created which tracks the people willing to pay a certain shareware fee if a package is finally produced. I can hear the nay-sayers now. "This idea will never work since it requires people to pay shareware fees." "Who would write these programs?" "I only wanted to read a game review and got lost in the wrong article! (Oops)" I will grant you that this is a radical idea and certainly requires more thought before being put into action. However, the investment is small for everyone concerned. All the users have to do is register their software needs. All the developers have to do is write programs that they want to write. If the idea works, then many people may be happy. If the idea does not work, then no one loses. The argument that the developer loses his valuable programming time can be countered with a quick check to see how many people have registered shareware programs by some of the prominent Apple II authors. Putting a program without a guaranteed audience on the market will produce mixed results. Writing a program with an established audience can go a long way toward maximizing profit. Since there is so much to gain, and so little to lose, why don't we get started right away? I will volunteer to gather program ideas that users want to see written for the Apple II. If you have such an idea, please send a brief statement about what you want to my online address (see bottom of article). I will tabulate these ideas and find a good way to distribute them to the programming community. I am not sure that GEnie Lamp is the proper way to get these ideas in front of the Apple II community as a whole. Therefore, I will explore the possibility of getting something going on the A2/A2Pro Bulletin Boards. I would like to hear from any person who has suggestions concerning the information in this article. If you have an inspiration on how to establish such an idea/program exchange, I would be glad to hear about it. If you want to tell me how ridiculous I sound, then blast away. If you want to volunteer to write some of these new programs, then step right up. If you have a catchy name that will get peoples attention and focus it on what we are trying to do, then by all means send it to me. I do not live in a vacuum. I am connected to GEnie and hopefully you are too. I am out of breath for this month, so let us stop for now. I have probably launched more ideas than I have distributed information. Next month I will try to swing more to the other side. We will discuss the ins and outs of the Apple Human Interface Guidelines. Until then, let me know that you are out there and reading this by sending e-mail (its free). I will attempt to respond to every letter that I receive. [*][*][*] Author: Darrel Raines [D.RAINES] welcomes any feedback or comments via electronic mail to the listed user name. ///////////////////////////// GEnie_QWIK_QUOTE //// / "But I think it's great.. I love GEnie, and the / / diverse personalities that I meet here, for / / better or for worse.. <Grin>.." / ////////////////////////////////// T.EVANS21 //// [EOA]#66 [FUN]////////////////////////////// ONLINE FUN / ///////////////////////////////// Search-ME! """""""""" By John Peters [GENIELAMP] SEARCH-ME! Welcome to Search-ME, our new monthly puzzle program. Each """""""""" month we will have a different theme. This month the Search-ME! puzzle contains 21 keywords that are associated with MIDI. This month's list of words was sent to us by Scott Garrigus. [S.GARRIGUS] Thanks, Scott! >>> MIDI! <<< """"""""""""" U U W D G D H W E F D U Y Y U T L G S O G S W C V L Q X N H P P C S S O I R E F B U M O P F P R G V H C L E F C K E B Q K E P O A E P D U R D J O V S J K Q T W B C D K S C P D G M B P Q E W D O M C P E P J R W N W H W N Y A B J R H B C S C D G K C Y E O L O M E F Y E E Z M O T I N M E Q H R B H W Z B D X F R L C U L J T N X V L J W H I X M Q O B U A S Q X D S Q Q E Y U A E Q C R Q V S Q S R T P X P S V O B E U S Y R M Y V U K L E H L S D W R S C N Z U G S R M X R U X Q B Q Y W U I O O Y J A J T N B V T A D E Z T M I A H Z G M L H R I X N O Q C M J P M V R Y D M X S R J A O B P O V I P W O N X H C E W B A S S I E N A I W Z C T S X W V V C G B R W H N S C E D H H K X T A W A B U B Z P C G B A R E E K M Z P Q F Q T N Z K T V C R K T L G M J W L T M E J F E O U C P Y O O E T Y H O R D E R H H O Z P R N S S T K B P X N Y T X K O M D O G S H N S J V F U L R X I P G D Z H S K X L O B F R Q D X E T S O F M E X O A [*][*][*] CLEF CUBASE DAT DELAY EQ FOSTEX KEYWORD KORG MIXER NOTATION NOTATOR NOTE OMEGA PIANO PROTEUS REVERB ROLAND SEQUENCER STAFF SYNTH YAMAHA GIVE UP? You will find the answers in the LOG OFF column at the end of """""""" the magazine. If you have an idea of a theme for Search-ME!, send your list of keywords to GENIELAMP. Lists selected that are used in this column will get you one hour of GEnie credit. Cool! This column was created with a program called SEARCH ME, an Atari ST program by David Becker. [EOA]!!@ -- Jerry Penner jpenne@ee.ualberta.ca Try a 1-line .sig today.