Moderators.Jon.Pugh;Dwayne.Virnau;Lance.Nakata@SUMEX-AIM.STANFORD.EDU (05/01/88)
INFO-MAC Digest Sunday, 1 May 1988 Volume 6 : Issue 45
Today's Topics:
PROTECT LASERWRITER
MACPAINT ARCHIVES
Re: Symbolic Math Software
Applelink <-> Bitnet
Dollars and Sense 4.0 flames
May Vaporware -- rumors welcome/ reply by email
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Date: Thu 28 Apr 88 16:32:42-PDT
From: TIEU@ECLA.USC.EDU
Subject: PROTECT LASERWRITER
WE JUST INSTALLED A FEW KINETICS FASTPATHS TO BRIDGE SEVERAL APPLETALK
NETWORKS. IT'S NICE TO BE ABLE TO CHOOSE LASERWRITERS IN OTHER ZONES.
BUT HOW DO WE PROTECT THE LASERWRITERS FROM UNAUTHORIZED USE? IS THERE
A WAY TO PASSWORD PROTECT THE LASERWRITERS? OR MAKE THE LASERWRITERS
UNAVAILABLE TO OTHER ZONES ON THE NETWORK?
THANKS IN ADVANCE FOR ANY RESPONSE.
HAN
TIEU@SKAT.USC.EDU
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Date: Mon, 25 Apr 88 17:26:23 EDT
From: Jim Tedeschi <JTT58%ALBNYVM1.BITNET@forsythe.stanford.edu>
Subject: MACPAINT ARCHIVES
I am an ms-dos type who is using Ventura and am looking for a mine of
pictures to incorporate in my documents. I have a utility that converts
macpaint files into usable format. Now my problem is to find archives (a
source) of macpaint files. Can someone guide me to the right place or the
appropriate process to do this? Thanks to you folks in the MAC world.
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Date: Mon, 25 Apr 88 20:00:59 EDT
From: Scott Robert Anderson <phssra@emory.arpa>
Subject: Re: Symbolic Math Software
In a previous issue, <JRCLARK%UTKVX1.BITNET@forsythe.stanford.edu> writes:
>One of my colleagues in the Mathematics Department is looking
>for a symbolic math package on the Macintosh.
You might want to tell him to keep an eye out for a new program by
Stephen Wolfram called Mathematica. As you might expect, it is
very similar to SMP, although it is not completely compatible with
it (and Wolfram, not Cal Tech, has the rights :-). He was demonstrating
it at the American Physical Society March Meeting in New Orleans on
the Mac, for which it is supposed to be available in a few months.
It will run on Mac Plusses as well as Mac IIs, but you will need LOTS
of memory (in the best SMP tradition :-). He was using 5MB on his
Mac II.
The distribution method is interesting: Mathematica will be available
for several mainframes (including the Cray 2) and workstations (in
particular Suns), and will be distributed *free* with the system
software. However, it will have to purchased separately for the
Macintosh (I guess Apple wasn't interested in such an arrangement--
one large program distributed free of charge is enough for them :-).
I don't recall the price, but I believe it was on the order of $500.
Manuals can be purchased separately; here is the ordering information
for anyone who might like a preview and doesn't mind shelling out $20:
Mathematica: A System for Doing Mathematics by Computer
By Stephen Wolfram
Published by Addison-Wesley
0-201-19330-2/Paperbound @ $22.75
0-201-19334-5/Hardbound @ $43.25
(Disclaimer: This may sound like an advertisement, but I have no
connection with either Wolfram or Addison-Wesley, other than as an
interested bystander.)
* Scott Robert Anderson
* ** gatech!emoryu1!phssra
* * * ** phssra@emoryu1.{bitnet,csnet}
* * * * * **
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
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Date: Tue, 26 Apr 88 00:06 CDT
From: JEFF SMITH <CS_JSMITH@uta.edu>
Subject: Applelink <-> Bitnet
Does anyone oout there in Info-mac land know anything about the Applelink
Bitnet connection??
------------------------------
Date: Tue, 26 Apr 88 23:08:34 PDT
From: lars@ACC-SB-UNIX.ARPA (Lars Poulsen)
Subject: Dollars and Sense 4.0 flames
In volume 6 # 38, Samir Kaleem posted a fairly harsh attack on Dollars and
Sense 4.0. Having used the program extensively, I would like to add a few
comments.
I purchased Dollars and Sense 1.4 last year, and was fairly satisfied with
the program, though I foresaw that some of the limitations would eventually
become problems. I therefore wrote to the publisher with detailed specific
recommendations for improvements. I never heard back.
8 months later with tax time coming up, I hit a bad bug in the program:
My data file would cause the program to bomb when posting transactions to
a specific account. "Rebuild account file" made no difference.
I tried to call Monogram's software support, but failed to get through
in two whole working days (at least 15 calls). Finally tried the business number
where the operator refused to take a message for support to call me back.
I was mad.
The next week, I tried again, got through immediately; was informed that
a new edition was ready to ship in two weeks, and was a complete rewrite.
As an existing customer I was offered the update at a greatly reduced price
and received it two weeks later as promised.
I did have slight problems in converting my old account file, until I discovered
that on my SE, the conversion program would ONLY run under multi-finder,
while the main program would NOT run under multi-finder. To my gret joy
I found that virtually all of the areas I had been troubled by had been
addressed in the rewrite, and most restrictions had been lifted.
Even better: 3 weeks later, I received ANOTHER UPDATE IN THE MAIL:
a warranty bugfix update. This release is 4.1, and this is what I am currently
running. (The disk was labeled 4.0). The problem described by Samir cannot
be reproduced on 4.1.
Samir should call Monogram support and ask for the update.
In short, I think Monogram is doing an excellent job; I don't know why
I had such bad luck the first time I tried to reach them.
I have no relations with Monogram other than as a happy customer.
/ Lars Poulsen
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Date: Fri, 29 Apr 88 00:42:42 EST
From: Murph Sewall <SEWALL%UCONNVM.BITNET@forsythe.stanford.edu>
Subject: May Vaporware -- rumors welcome/ reply by email
VAPORWARE
Murphy Sewall
From the May 1988 APPLE PULP
H.U.G.E. Apple Club (E. Hartford) News Letter
$15/year
P.O. Box 18027
East Hartford, CT 06118
Call the "Bit Bucket" (203) 569-8739
Permission granted to copy with the above citation
Picking Up Speed.
Intel and Motorola both have announced faster versions of
their 32-bit processors. Motorola will offer a 33MHz
version of the 68020 processor (currently running at 25MHz)
used in the Mac II and a 16MHz version of the 68000 CPU used
in other Macs (which now run at 12.5MHz). Motorola also
will offer a low-power consumption 16MHz 68HC00 CMOS chip
that is expected to find a home in Apple's planned LapMac.
It may be 6 months to a year before Apple announces upgraded
Macintoshes using the new chips. Although the new 33MHz
68020 has a faster clock rate than the more advanced 68030
(at 20MHz), the 68030 remains more powerful because it
contains the 68851 memory management functions internally
and is "pipelined" (capable of carrying out more than one of
some operations in a clock cycle). Meanwhile, Intel is
about to begin shipping 25MHz versions of the 80386
processor and companion 80387 math coprocessor.
- InfoWorld 4 April and PC Week 5 April
Virtual PC-AT.
A major difference between Intel's forthcoming 80486
processor (see last March's and last July's columns) and the
current 80386, besides a 3 to 4 times increase in speed,
will be the new chip's 80286 virtual-mode capability. The
80386 has a virtual 8086 mode that will allow it to run
multiple sessions of MS-DOS. The 80486's virtual 80286 will
allow it to run multiple sessions of OS/2 with each session
capable of running multiple applications. The 80386 permits
each session to access up to 1M-byte of memory in 64K-byte
pages; the 80486 will allow each session to access 16M-bytes
of memory in 640K pages (much less memory swapping).
- PC Week 5 April
For The Power Users.
Even before Motorola's official mid-April announcement of
their powerful new 88000 RISC processor family (see last
month's column), Tektronix Inc. announced an intention to
offer a color graphics workstation built around the new chip
by the end of the year. The price is expected to compare
with the company's present $25,000 high-end graphic
workstation. Roger Ross, manager of Motorola's Advanced
Microprocessor Operations, says a typical configuration with
32 Mbytes of RAM (yes, that's 32 Mbytes) and a 380 Mbyte
hard disk will be cost around $68,000 to $85,000. However,
he expects the cost to come down rapidly to under $20,000 by
the end of the decade and less than $10,000 in the early
90's. - PC Week 22 March and InfoWorld 28 March
MIPS Claims Most MIPS.
MIPS Computer Systems of Sunnyvale, California will offer a
RISC (Reduced Instruction Set CPU) microprocessor with
performance specs even faster than the recently announced
Motorola 88000 family (see above). The R3000 microprocessor
with its companion R3010 math coprocessor is capable of
sustained performance 20 times that of a VAX 11/780 (still
the "workhorse" mainframe of many colleges). MIPS claims
the CPU alone offers four to six times the performance of
Intel's 80386 or Motorola's 68030. - InfoWorld 4 April
New Mac System Features.
Software designers at Apple are saying that Mac System 6.0
and Finder 6.0 could be released by mid June. Major new
features include: MacroMaker - a keystroke recorder designed
to work with popular Macware such as Microsoft's Works,
QuickerGraf - Andy Hertzfeld acceleration of QuickDraw that
should improve display of color images on the Mac II, and
Notification Manager - a program to tell users when a
background task running under MultiFinder has been
completed. The Notification Manager will have three
response options - "polite," "audible," and "alert." New
software drivers for the ImageWriter LQ and PostScript
compatible laser printers also will be added.
- PC Week 12 April
Price Multipliers.
Apple 2 programs running on individual computers will be
able to access server-based data on an AppleTalk network,
but programs stored on and run from the server won't work
unless they are "share-aware." Numerous companies,
including Beagle Bros, Claris (surprise), Pinpoint, Roger
Wagner, Sensible Software, Stone Edge, Styleware, the TML,
have announced plans for Apple 2 share-aware software.
Software announced so far appears priced to encourage
continued purchases of single CPU versions. For example,
Claris has priced AppleWorks/Network at $1,616 per server,
and Beagle Bros' TimeOut packages that go with
AppleWorks/Network will carry prices ranging from $249 to
$445 per server. Stone Edge's DB Master V/Multiuser looks
like a comparative bargain at $500 per server.
- Open Apple April
Mac Vapor Thickens.
Lotus Development has announced a two-month delay in the
shipping date of Modern Jazz (an enhancement to the the
ballyhooed but disappointing Jazz program introduced in
1985). Originally scheduled to ship in late March, Lotus
now hopes to deliver in late May. As an integrated software
package, Modern Jazz's prime competitor is Microsost's
Works. Modern Jazz will offer one major feature lacking in
Works: off-line macro recording which automates complex
tasks. Meanwhile, Apple spin-off, Claris, has announced its
initial line of software (not inherited from Apple), the
Smartform Designer and Smartform Manager won't ship until
the end of the year instead of in June as originally
announced. - InfoWorld 4 and 11 April and PC Week 12 April
PC Vapor Too.
In an embarrassing vapor double, Lotus also announced that
the announced mid-summer delivery of 1-2-3 Release 3.0 will
not occur; an end of year debut now is envisioned. Sources
close to the dBase IV development effort say they doubt that
debugging will produce a program clean enough to meet the
scheduled July 31 delivery date; official Ashton-Tate
spokesmen continue to describe the program as on schedule.
IBM's Presentation Manager may yet make the announced
October delivery, but 206 bugs have been documented thus bar
in the latest beta version. Meanwhile, Migent Software's
network database foundation, Emerald Bay, announced with
great fanfare in late 1986 appears seriously behind
schedule. Emerald Bay is not a single product but a concept
involving several distinct elements. As the original
shipping date passed, beta-test copies of the program still
do not contain the much discussed memory-resident "server
engine" designed to transparently shuttle database requests
between user applications and a network data base.
- PC Week 29 March and 12 April
Mac II Graphics Coprocessor.
Apple is expected to release a 32-bit graphics coprocessor
card for the Mac II early next year. Graphics coprocessors
work in parallel with a computer's CPU, freeing the CPU for
image processing. Users of the card on a Mac II will
experience an up to 200% improvement in throughput.
Industry sources expect Radius to introduce (a less
expensive) 8-bit graphics coprocessor for the Mac II later
this year. - PC Week 5 April
Forthcoming (Maybe) Macware.
Nashoba Systems has announced plans to release an enhanced
version of its best-selling file-management software
FileMaker Plus by the end of May. The new features include
electronic-forms and database-report generation, ability to
perform computations within fields of text, support for
color on the Mac II, and compatibility with Quickdraw-based
laser printers and the AppleShare local area network.
Preliminary marketing literature refers to the new program
as FileMaker4 with a list price of $296 (the same as for the
current version). Revisions of Mac Write, Mac Paint, and
Mac Project already are in stores, and Mac Draw 2.0 which is
undergoing major revisions is on schedule for June. More
2.0, from Living Video Text, which is being touted as not
only an outline processor but also as a full function
desktop presentation program with sophisticated word
processing is expected (but not yet officially announced)
later in the summer.
- PC Week 29 March and InfoWorld 4 and 11 April
An All-in-One Clone?
Although Commodore's Amiga has been popular with hobbyists
and individuals, the company is struggling financially.
Rumor has it that Commodore will try to restore
profitability with a new line of powerful business computers
featuring both Intel 80386 and Motorola 68020 (maybe even
68030) coprocessors. - PC Week 5 April
FRAM Memory.
A new form of memory device is being developed by Ramtron
Corp., Krysalsis Corp. and a few others. The new devices
are based on the "ferroelectric effect." FRAMs
(Ferroelectric Random Access Memory) will be made of special
ceramic materials imprinted in silicon or gallium arsenide.
Application of a current to these magnetic ceramics changes
their polarity. Unlike today's dynamic RAM chips (DRAMs),
FRAMs are nonvolatile. That is, whatever data is stored on
them until the memory is rewritten or erased.
- InfoWorld 21 March
You Only Thought it Wasn't Vaporware.
It appears that programmer job security is an undocumented
feature of Microsoft's OS/2. The next release of the OS/2
Software Development Kit (SDK) will introduce changes in the
operating system that may require source code changes in
application programs that already have been written for
release 1.0 of OS/2. - PC Week 29 March
More Than You'll Ever Want to Know.
Microsoft's documentation for OS/2 Extended Edition (with
the Presentation Manager) matches the gargantuan size of 15
Mbytes of code, and 3 Mbytes of RAM (see last month's and
last February's columns). The "docs" fill four feet of
shelf space and weighs 125 pounds (remember when it was
called "micro" computing?). - InfoWorld 21 March
Unvaporware.
Hewlett-Packard executives are said to be thrilled with the
publicity for New Wave that has occurred since Apple filed a
lawsuit against Microsoft and HP. Even though the operating
system was introduced last fall, it might as well have been
vaporware for all the attention it received until it was
named in Apple's litigation. - InfoWorld 28 March
When You're Hot, You're Hot!
From the Freedom of Information Fact File: In the early 50's
there was a nuclear test code-named "Apple II" in which
scientists set up mannequins in the "survival evaluation"
test town on the edge of the blast zone in "sexually
compromising positions" (you could tell if you looked
through the Windows - version 2.03 no doubt).
- InfoWorld 4 April
Japanese PostScript.
Adobe is said to be developing a kanji version of PostScript
that will allow laser printers to output Japanese
ideographic characters. - PC Week 29 March
---------------------
Disclaimer: The "look and feel" of this message is exclusively MINE!
(subject to change without notice; void where prohibited)
ARPA: sewall%uconnvm.bitnet@mitvma.mit.edu Murphy A. Sewall
BITNET: SEWALL@UCONNVM School of Business Admin.
UUCP: ...ihnp4!psuvax1!UCONNVM.BITNET!SEWALL University of Connecticut
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End of INFO-MAC Digest
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