INFO-MAC@SUMEX-AIM.Stanford.EDU.UUCP (01/27/87)
INFO-MAC Digest Monday, 26 Jan 1987 Volume 5 : Issue 44
Today's Topics:
First European MacWorld Expo
Mac user-interface suggestion for SFGetFile
Connecting a Mac to a Summagraphics digitizing tablet
Counting milliseconds?
New DB9 Hardware for Mac+
Icon Hacker
800K disk initialized as 400K...now what?
APDA Misgivings
DeskZap 1.3
Disktimer II results on lots of drives
Computer Genealogy
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Date: Sun, 25 Jan 87 22:22 N
From: <FRUIN%HLERUL5.BITNET@WISCVM.WISC.EDU> (Thomas Fruin)
Subject: First European MacWorld Expo
The UK sister publication of MacUser (also called MacUser - that had me
puzzled for a while) carries an ad which announces the first European
MacWorld Expo, to be held in Rotterdam in the Netherlands on April 22nd,
23rd and 24th. The fair is being organized by Ytech in Amsterdam.
Telephone: 31.20.250869/242052
Telex: 28977 Ahoy NL
P.O.Box 14572
NL 1001 LB Amsterdam
Holland
Finally! This looks like the expo for the rest of us (Europeans)...
-- Thomas
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Date: Sun 25 Jan 87 01:27:35-PST
From: Elliot Bennett <ELLIOT@SPOCC.STANFORD.EDU>
Subject: Mac user-interface suggestion for SFGetFile
Hey Apple - are you out there?
The other day a friend of mine came up with what I think is a pretty clever
idea to make the Mac more compatible with its own user interface:
The problem: My friend has a hard disk drive partioned into 6 different disks
plus an internal and external disk drive. When opening a file from within a
program, he gets the standard "SFGetFile" dialog box. Well, as you are all
too well aware, to move from one disk to the next you must click on the "Drive"
button (or hit tab) to cycle around to the disk you want. With 8 disks in
rotation, this can take a while. If you do it often, it can get infuriating
as well as waste lots of your time.
The Solution: If, instead of "Drive" being a button, "Drive" were a pop-up
menu with a list of all possible disks (ala the pop-up menu for the folder
where all folders above the one you're currently in are displayed), the
selection of a disk would be not only easier and faster but also a more Mac-
like type of user-interface. (Note: we, at first, came up with the idea of
having a small icon for each disk available - and one would click on the
desired disk - but it turns out that you very quickly run out of space to put
all the possible disks). The other advantage to this, is that it could be a
scrollable pop-up menu - so that if you were connect by AppleTalk (or
AppleShare ?) to other disks/hard drives, they would also be as easily
selectable.
Any comments anyone?
Elliot Bennett - elliot@star.stanford.edu
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Date: Sun, 25 Jan 87 23:58 PST
From: <C9017%UWAV4.BITNET@WISCVM.WISC.EDU>
Subject: Connecting a Mac to a Summagraphics digitizing tablet
Hello,
I was wondering if anyone has attempted to hook-up a
Summagraphics digitizing tablet to a Macintosh? I realize that the
tablet gives serial output and therefore could be connected via the
modem or printer port, but is there any way to use the tablet in place
of a mouse. The model I am using is the Summagraphics MM1200. This
is not one of the tablets advertised to work specifically in place of the
mouse, rather the model was in production before the introduction of the
Macintosh.
Thanks,
Bob Ruderman
-- Bob Ruderman
-- Department of Geography
-- University of Washington
-- Seattle, Washington 98195
Bitnet: C9017@UWAV4.BITNET
Arpanet: C9017%UWAV4.BITNET@WISCVM.ARPA
Usenet: C9017%UWAV4.BITNET@WISCVM.WISC.EDU
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From: mdjones%castor.usc.edu@usc-oberon.arpa (Mitch Jones)
Date: 26 Jan 87 19:55:08 GMT
Subject: Counting milliseconds?
Hi, I'm new to the net and I'm trying to find some 68000 or possibly
TML Pascal code that will allow me to count the number of milliseconds
from a starting point to the time a user presses a key. Does anybody know
of any existing code to do this?
Thanks,
Mitch Jones
mdjones@castor.usc.edu.UUCP
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Date: Mon, 26 Jan 87 13:04:16 PST
From: Michael_Hui%UBC.MAILNET@MIT-MULTICS.ARPA
Subject: New DB9 Hardware for Mac+
I thought of (and am actually doing) the same thing as Andy Hertzfeld,
obtaining the power from the floppy disk connector on a Mac+.
It is actually a 19 pin D type connector, not 25 pin as reported
by PUGH%CCC.MFENET@nmfecc.arpa.
But I cannot find any manufacturer with a 19 pin D type connector.
Anyone know where I can get some? I am just using bare pins right now.
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Date: 26 Jan 87 21:18:00 EST
From: Richard Zaccone <ZACCONE%BUCKNELL.BITNET@WISCVM.WISC.EDU>
Subject: Icon Hacker
I can't seem to get Icon Hacker to work properly. I tried creating
an icon for a new application. I told icon hacker to replace the icon
on the desk top. When I exited, I still had the same old icon. If
I open the application with Icon Hacker, it shows my new icon. The same
thing happens if I try to change an existing icon. My changes appear
when I open the icon in Icon Hacker, but not on the desk top. I have a
feeling I'm missing a small but important point. What am I doing wrong?
Rick Zaccone
Bucknell University
zaccone@bucknell.bitnet
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Date: Thu, 22 Jan 87 11:20:14 PST
From: Mike_Dustan%SFU.Mailnet%UBC.MAILNET@MIT-MULTICS.ARPA
Subject: 800K disk initialized as 400K...now what?
I know, I know, READ the dialog box you get when you put a
double-sided disk into a 400K external drive! Now, I always do,
but a friend of mine, groggy from lack of sleep late one night,
did not, and clicked Initialize instead of Eject. (No, really, it
wasn't me!)
Question 1: are there any utilities or goodies that will (a) fool
a disk into thinking it's double-sided without actually
reformatting it (possibly by tweaking the volume signature or
something), or (b) read blocks from both sides of a disk even
though the disk is formatted as single-sided? I think Disktester
will do the latter but you can't write the blocks into a file.
Question 2: is there any step-by-step way to use Fedit+ or
MacTools or some such to accomplish the recovery of blocks from
the back side of the disk?
Question 3: (somewhat unrelated to the above but not entirely) is
there a utility that will rescue some or all of a damaged Excel
spreadsheet document? If it were in SYLK or TEXT format it would
be easy, I know, but this is a real worksheet document.
Any help would be appreciated; otherwise this poor fellow is
looking at 16-20 hours of data re-entry.
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Date: Mon, 26 Jan 87 15:16 CST
From: WKISS%UOFMCC.BITNET@WISCVM.WISC.EDU
Subject: APDA Misgivings
There has been some discussion here about APDA but not
as much as I would have thought so I'm going to throw in my
two-bits worth.
I applied to APDA in August of '86 and by the time I got
my membership card it was December. I should have realised at
this time that this was not the Speedy Gonzalez of organisations.
Anyway, when I received my card I decided to order some of their
offerings (about $100.00 US. worth) on Dec. 2. December went by,
January came, and I was still waiting. I know that US Mail and
Canada Post are not the fastest of deliverers but this was a bit
too slow, so I phoned up APDA. They told me that they had some
problems with Canada Customs (huh...?) and that deliveries to
Canada would soon be started. That was on Jan. 4. Now it is
Jan. 24, it is impossible to get through to APDA on their
(206) 251-9798 line and when I phone their main office all they
can tell me is to keep trying. By this time, I've phoned somewhere
in the neighborhood of 70-80 times, I know their numbers by heart,
backwards and forwards, and still no product. If they do this
to everybody just think of the killing that they can make with the
interest on our money. My current position is that if I don't have
my goods by the end of January then I will lodge formal complaints with
Canada Post, US Mail, VISA, and Apple Computer (for all the good
that that will do me...sigh!).
Thus, I can only repeat, BUYER BEWARE!!!!
- William Kiss
<wkiss@uofmcc.bitnet>
PS. ...and we thought that APDA was going to improve the situation...
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Date: Sun, 25 Jan 87 19:46:42 pst
From: Herb Barad <vito%trwspf.UUCP%usc-oberon.ARPA@usc-oberon>
Subject: DeskZap 1.3
This is DeskZap (version 1.3) - a very useful utility for file diddling,
adding/removing linefeeds, control characters, etc. It is a DA and
it is shareware (well worth it).
Herb Barad - TRW Data Systems Lab
ARPA: barad@brand.usc.edu or vito%trwspf.uucp@brand.usc.edu
USENET: ...!{brand|trwrb}!trwspf!vito
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Date: 23 Jan 87 20:07:00 EST
From: <bouldin@ceee-sed>
Subject: Disktimer II results on lots of drives
Since people are always interested in guidelines for buying hard discs, I
thought I would send this in. This is the largest survey that I know of on Hard
disk speeds. These have been tabulated by Steve Brecher from reports sent in on
Compuserve. I am posting this as a guide to buyers and in the hopes of getting
reports on other drives. The numbers reported here are times, so smaller is
better. As it says below, there is NO direct translation from disktimer numbers
to user time for opening applications, quitting to the finder, etc. I can only
say that disktimer results do NOT at all map linearly onto perceived user time.
Disktimer seems to exaggerate the differences between drives. My feeling is
that anything with read/writes under 200 is "fast". Numbers much lower than
that don't help too much, as overall "waiting" time of the user is probably
determined by other factors. CB.
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Date: Sun, 25 Jan 87 21:59:16 est
From: magill@eniac.seas.upenn.edu (Operations Manager)
Subject: Computer Genealogy
There have been several requests tecently about MAC software for Genealogy.
There are two excellent publications (newsletters in the field). They
are both only about 5 years old. They list just about all software for all
PC systems. They have reviews of each of the various versions as they are
available and have a chance to be tested. The software falls into about
4 basic program groups with versions for various machines:
1- PAF - Personal Ancestral File - from the Mormons
2- Family Roots - from Quinsept, inc.
3- Roots and Roots II from COMMsoft
4- everything else.
The first three are considered "the leaders" (They have been around the longest
I think.)
I'm not going to pass on any reviews here, however virtually every genealogy
program has a FREE demo disk available from the manufacturer.
Publication number 1 - GENEALOGICAL COMPUTING (ISSN 0277-5913) is published
quarterly. $25. per subscription year, by
Ancestry Incorporated
PO Box 476
Salt Lake City, UT 84110
801/359-2000
There is a virtually 100% complete listing of all know PC Genealogical
software published in every issue.
Publication number 2 - THE GENEALOGOCAL COMPUTER PIONEER is published
bi-monthly by Posey International
POBox 338
Orem, UT 84057 $25 for 6 issues
801/377-5504
Posey is also a "supplier". They maintain an inventory of much of
the software and associated genealogical supplies that one might
want. They are very friendly and helpful over the phone.
Computer network 1 - Ther is the "Genealogical Round Table" available over
GEnie(tm)- but that costs bucks
Computer network 2 - This is just being formed and is based upon FIDOnet.
I can't begin to detail it here, but get the Vol 5 number 1 and
especially number 2 issue of the Pioneer. They cover the computer
communications aspectes of genealogy in depth.
I've been dealing with computers since 1963 (an IBM 1620) and have just
begun to get involved with Genealogical computing and have been looking
for a better way to maintain my family records than emacs on a VAX and
MacDraw on a Plus. I am eagerly awaiting the arrival of the MAC versions
of the existing programs. The test copies are just now begining to become
available. I expect reviews to be along shortly.
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End of INFO-MAC Digest
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