info-mac@uw-beaver (07/07/85)
From: Temporary Moderator Rich Alderson <INFO-MAC-REQUEST@SUMEX-AIM.arpa> INFO-MAC Digest Sunday, 30 Jun 1985 Volume 3 : Issue 17 Today's Topics: Missing V3 #15 Electrostatic Discharge from 3.5" Floppy Plastic Sleeves MiniFinder MacWrite Italics problem MacDraw PICT format Re:Pasting large things (MacDraw) into MacPaint A+ Mouse and Mac fans and noise Broadcast packets and games Subject: Programming Languages Telegraph Desk Accessory (Binhex 4.0) ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: Fri 28 Jun 85 08:30:05-PDT From: Rich Alderson (Temporary Moderator) From: <INFO-MAC-REQUEST@SUMEX-AIM.ARPA> Subject: Missing V3 #15 Due to a slight bit of confusion on the part of your temporary moderator, there will be no issue V3 #15. Things should go more smoothly from here on out. Rich Alderson "We apologize for the inconvenience." --D. Adams ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 28 Jun 85 09:31:38 pdt From: perdue@AMES-NAS.ARPA (James N. Perdue) Subject: Electrostatic Discharge from 3.5" Floppy Plastic Sleeves I have been given an ALERT from the Government concerning the use of the plastic sleeves which the 3.5" floppy disks are packaged in. The word is that they create sufficient static electricity when used to store floppys containing data to destroy that data. The source says that " a measurement on a sample sleeve gave a surface resistivity of 1 x 10E12.5 ohms/squre (maxed out the meter). The source quoted several cases of lost data and computer hang ups on Mac's which they suspect is caused by storing these disks in the sleeves. The contact point listed for information is R.J. Vowles at Spar Aerospace Ltd 514-457-2150 Ext. 3193. Good Luck Newt Perdue/NASA Ames Research Center ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 28 Jun 85 20:39:44 EDT From: stew@harvard.ARPA (Stew Rubenstein) Subject: MiniFinder A couple of interesting things: I don't know if it says this anywhere in the documentation or not (I discovered it by disassembling the INIT resource), but if you hold down the option key as you exit from an application, the MiniFinder is bypassed, and the real Finder starts up. If you use MegaMax C's batch facility, you have probably noticed that if the minifinder is installed, it gets invoked after each line of your batch file, and you have to double-click the "batch" program to go on to the next step. Holding down the option key throughout the execution of a batch file is one way around this. I was thinking of ways I could rewire my keyboard so that the caps lock would be an "option lock" instead, when I hit upon the following solution: Patch the INIT resource so that it checks the Caps Lock key instead of the Option key! To do this, use FEdit to search your system file for the Hex string 67F2 0838 0002 017B 66EA. The ascii string "Minifinder" should appear a few lines down. Patch the 0002 to be an 0001 and write out the block. ShutDown, reboot, and presto! The caps-lock key is now a real-finder key! Stew Rubenstein Harvard Chemical Labs rubenstein@harvard.arpa {ihnp4, ut-sally, seismo} ! harvard ! rubenstein ------------------------------ From: munnari!fac1.anu.oz!smynmath@seismo Date: Fri, 28 Jun 85 14:17:00 AEST Subject: MacWrite Italics problem Concerning Mike Barton's problem with printung italics from an old MacWrite file: I also encountered this problem, but I don't believe the problem is with MacWrite. The clue comes from the fact that the problem does NOT occur on the MacXL using the same document, MacWrite, system, printer driver! I believe the problem arises from mixing the OLD ImageWriter driver with the NEW system; presumably there is a bug in the PrinterManager ROM which has been patched in the MacXL and the new system, but not in the old system (certainly the new version prints italics with better spacing); the old printer driver however expects the bug still to be there, and doubles up on the spacing patch. The fix is simply to instal the new ImageWriter driver. Simple, but unfortunately there is a bug in the new ImageWriter driver!!! I have a mathematics font (ANUMath) which has a number of overprinting characters. (Princeton font will have the same problem). With the new "smart" ImageWriter driver, if you change font or style between an overprinting character and the character to be overprinted, the driver observes that the printhead has returned to its starting point, thinks that a null operation has occurred, and DELETES the first character!!! ******* APPLE PLEASE FIX, overprinting is essential for technical printing, and is supposed to be supported according to InsideMac. Its a real nasty, because what appears on the screen is ok. Neville Smythe, Maths, Australian National University. ------------------------------ Date: Sat, 29 Jun 85 11:17:42 pdt From: Larry Rosenstein <lsr%apple.csnet@csnet-relay.arpa> Subject: MacDraw PICT format The purpose of MacDraw PICT format is to provide a way for other applications to read or write files that MacDraw can understand, without having to document (or freeze) the MacDraw file format. A PICT file consists of 512 bytes of header followed by a standard Quickdraw picture. Applications generating PICT files can set the header to all zeros. MacDraw also generates/accepts certain picture comments to control things such as arrowheads on lines, smoothing of polygons, etc. It would be relatively easy to write a program that reads in a PICT file and generates a MacPaint file. (The trickiest part would be getting the program to run on a 128K machine; you would have to generate the bitmap 1 slice at a time.) Larry ------------------------------ Subject: Re:Pasting large things (MacDraw) into MacPaint Date: 28 Jun 85 22:06:40 PDT (Fri) From: cc-20%ucbcory@Berkeley In Thurs' Info-Mac, Andrew Mallis askes whether and how one could paste A full MacDraw page into MacPaint. To do this, you could use the software that comes with ThunderScan (a really neat little package that, along with the hardware, will attach to your Imagwriter and scan and digitize pictures put into the Imagwriter), and open a MacPaint picture, with four dots at the far corners (as the Thunderscan software only opens as large a document as there is data in the MacPaint picture), and paste what's on the clipboard (in your case, a MacDraw page). By the way, this software is also the only working solution I've found to getting a MacPaint picture within a MacWrite or MS-Word document to print correctly to the LaserWriter if it's larger than a window (i.e. you can open your MacPaint picture, and cut the whole thing, rather than parts!!!). This will also work for cutting between two MacPaint pictures, with, say, the switcher. Peter Korn cc-20%cory@Berkeley Standard disclamer: I don't work for/know personally, etc, anyone associated with producting this product. It's just a neat thing that does a job I need done. ------------------------------ From: <crash!rak@Nosc> Date: Thu, 27 Jun 85 21:57:45 PDT Subject: A+ Mouse and Mac [Bug food] One system I am envious of is the SUN systems workstation. I miss having a UNIX system all to myself, but what I really thought was classy was the optical mouse attached to the one I was introduced to. Yes, not HAVING to have a pad to operate a mouse is a definate convenience, but in practice, I got so tired of cleaning my Mac mouse that I got a "mouse pad" to run it on so it would pick up less dirt from my (physical) desktop. This meant I was already dedicating desk space to a mouse-action region already. Then I saw the Mouse Systems (Santa Clara, CA) A+ mouse for the Apple //c. Knowing that the circuitry of an Apple //c mouse was compatible with the Mac (having used a //c mouse on a Mac myself), I decided to give it a try. Sure enough, it works great! I feel I have more accurate control over the cursor in MacPaint, and I line the feel, the styling, the way it stays put when I let go of it, the apparently reduced "drift" when I pull-down a menu item, and even the high-tech look of the gridlined mouse pad. I keep my Mac mouse in a drawer in case of emercency (the A+ mouse is solid state, no internal moving parts at all), but I am very impressed with and confident in the A+ mouse, and thought I'd share my feelings about it with you all. Disclaimer: I simply want to express my satisfaction in this product, although somewhat expensive (at or above $100 depending on how much discount you can get), and have nothing to gain in doing so. Nyaah, so there. Richard Kaapke noscvax!crash!rak "If you can't say anything nice about something, you're well suited to send network messages." - R. Kaapke ------------------------------ Date: Sat, 29 Jun 1985 02:47 EDT From: LEVITT%MIT-OZ@MIT-MC.ARPA Subject: fans and noise I thought someone should respond to comments that the MAC should have a fan. I consider the MAC's quietness a very important feature, and if Jobs insisted on it (as one INFO-MAC message implied) he should be applauded. It's the only quiet computer I've ever used; if it was noisy I would never think it "personal". It's even tolerable with the Hyperdrive fan, though that could be quieter. I understand the next MAC hardware release will have a much quieter 800K stiffy disk drive. I suspect if Apple had used an efficient switching power supply, no fan would be needed, even with a Hyperdrive. Whether future rigid disks are internal or external, I hope Apple continues to make quietness a priority, and I know many other customers who feel the same way. ------------------------------ Date: 28 Jun 85 1125 PDT From: Tovar <TVR%CCRMA@SU-AI.ARPA> Subject: Broadcast packets and games One of the problems of using broadcast packets for games is that hosts which are doing "useful work" expend resources discarding them. To avoid this, multi-player games on the ALTOs sent all of their packets to a fake host number. They received packets in "promiscuous mode" (e.g. accept packets addressed to *any* host) and only looked at packets from this fake host. Thus on 3Mb ethernet, game packets were discarded very quickly by either hardware and/or microcode. I haven't looked at Inside AppleTalk, so i don't know much about this flavor of network. But i can imagine conflicts with non-game users may be more serious, especially with network bandwidth smaller and without special hardware for packet reception. I won't be surprised if Apple isn't excited about such usage, especially with its desire to penetrate the corporate market. Perhaps someone else knows what their actual arguments are on broadcast packets, as i'd be interested in the technical points. --- Tovar P.S. I can't get that excited about Mazewars, although i can certainly see why many people do. Now, if someone were to port the ALTO's Trek program, i might be interested. That was a multi-player game with nice graphics where cleverness and planning could dominate over manual dexterity and fast reflexes. ------------------------------ Date: 28 Jun 85 15:11 +0100 From: Kolbjorn_Aambo_UiO%QZCOM.MAILNET@MIT-MULTICS.ARPA Reply-to: Info-Mac_Mailing_list%QZCOM.MAILNET@MIT-MULTICS.ARPA Subject: Subject: Programming Languages A SIMULA 67 Compiler system i under development by TPH data here in OSLO. Prerelease may be available 4.Quarter 85. This will be a full implementation according to the Commonbase Simula as defined by Norwegian Computing Center. The implementation ofcourse demand a hardisk system because the entire system; Library, Sybolic debugger, linker, loader, pretty printer and runtimesystem takes at least 2Megabytes of disk storage. ------------------------------ From: supp@sphinx.UChicago.UUCP (Steve Upp) Subject: Telegraph Desk Accessory (Binhex 4.0) Date: Tue, 14-May-85 22:30:13 CDT Here is an interesting...if not totally useless desk accessory. It was written by Steve Capps from Apple, evidently testing the interface between D.A.'s and his version 4.1 of the Finder (I do not know what he was testing...), however this is the result. The file is in Apple's new Font/DA Mover format and as far as I can tells works only under 4.1. I tried to install it using the Resource Editor under 1.1g of the Finder, but it didn't work. Enjoy....And let me know if you come up with any useful purpose for using it. This came from CompuServe. Steve Upp University of Chicago Computation Center ARPA: Staff.Steve%UChicago.mailnet@Mit-Multics.arpa Bitnet: supp%sphinx@UChicago.bitnet Mailnet: Staff.Steve@UChicago.mailnet UUCP: ...!ihnp4!gargoyle!sphinx!supp [[This Binhex 4.0 file has been archived as [SUMEX]<INFO-MAC>DA-TELEGRAPH.HQX --RMA]] ------------------------------ End of INFO-MAC Digest **********************