409 lines
18 KiB
Plaintext
409 lines
18 KiB
Plaintext
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Chaos Corner V02 N10 24Nov92
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Thanks to all who have written asking what has happened to
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Chaos Corner... shall we just say that the past couple of
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months have been hmmmm "interesting" (you remember the old
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Chinese curse, right?).
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------------------------------------------------------------
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Correction of error on Address Resolver in N09
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If you can still remember last issue, we managed to make an
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error in entering the name of the address resolver available
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on the Internet. The correct address is:
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resolve@cs.widener.edu
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------------------------------------------------------------
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Review/mention of pbm and sox
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Paul Joslin suggests we mention the two utilities "pbm" -
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the "swiss army knife" of Unix graphic utilities, and "sox"
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- a similar program but for audio files (pun not intended,
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but we'll let it stand). Of course, to find the latest
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version of these programs ... check with your local archie-
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server. If you think you don't have a archie server, ask us
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for the Internet Services List at chaos-
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request@pelican.cit.cornell.edu.
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------------------------------------------------------------
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On detecting VGA monitor type
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Joe Ahlgren has the following to say about how a program
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detects the type of monitor attached to the system on which
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it is running (PC):
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There is a shareware program called "VGAKIT" which
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scans for the videocard type, and provides low level
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services such as read and write pixel in 640x480x256
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and higher video modes. There is a sophisticated
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bankswitch routine included, which can be used to
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write higher level graphics functions in a card-
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independent manner. Your inquirer can get a copy of
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VGAKIT50.ZIP from my BBS (703-241-7980) and many
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other sources, or contact the author directly (John
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Bridges, CompuServe 75300,2137) [From the Internet
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you would use the address 75300.2137@compuserve.com
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(note the use of "." rather than "," in the Internet
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address)].
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------------------------------------------------------------
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Accessing the Mac software archive at U. Mich
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Bob Blackmun had two comments on the item about accessing
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the Macintosh software archive at the University of
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Michigan.
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1) the *very best way* to access this wonderful mac archive
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is via AFS; if you don't have AFS, you should! 2) I *did*
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experience some strange problems retrieving the directory
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(that arrives in about 14 sub-sections) via my mac e-mail
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'client' (Eudora); the problems appear to be with the client
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rather than with the archive's mail-server.
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------------------------------------------------------------
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Any Lawyers out there?
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Joe Morris was pleased when I told him of the popularity of
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his cheete sheete ... and offers the following alternative
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(addition) to Dr. Chaos:
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Speaking of Dr. Chaos, there's a similarly breeze column you
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might want to read which covers the personal computer
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world...from the viewpoint of the *user*, in a *law office*.
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It's "Technology Update", which appears in
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_Law_Office_Practice_, a publication of the American Bar
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Association. The author is Burgess Allison, who is one of
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the engineers here at MITRE(!). You can get an idea of his
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attitude by noting that many of his internal memos here are
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signed "Surly Ol' Burge (SOB)". While it isn't as technical
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in nature as Dr. Chaos' column, it's a fun read with a
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healthy dose of cynicism about the stupidities of the
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desktop system vendors.
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------------------------------------------------------------
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PostScript program to plot Sierpinski's gasket
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Have you ever wanted to plot Sierpinski's gasket on your
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local laserprinter (we certainly wouldn't recommend that you
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unleash this on someone else's laser printer)? Sierpinski's
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gasket, by the way, is the fractal pattern built up out of
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successively smaller triangles, ...maybe we will use it as
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the cover for this year's hardcopy version of Chaos Corner
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... in any case, we have a PostScript program that will
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print the gasket on a PostScript (tm)-capable printer. Let
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us know at chaos-request@pelican.cit.cornell.edu if you
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would like a copy.
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PostScript printing of a Digital World
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Patrick Dockhorn in Karlsruhe, Germany has contributed to
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the public domain his C program to convert map files (MP1
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format) from John Allisons "The World Digitized" package
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into EPSF 2.0 PostScript files. "The Digital World" data is
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evidently available from several servers (check with archie
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for "worldmap") and the format of the data is described in
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the header of the wmap2ps.c program. Note, the program is
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freeware (ask for it at chaos-
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request@pelican.cit.cornell.edu) but the data (if you find
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it valuable) is not ... but the shareware fee is $20 so it
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won't hurt you to repay someone for a lot of work.
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------------------------------------------------------------
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Keeping your Unix system intruder-free
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The program Tripwire provides a framework to allow Unix
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Sysadmins the ability to monitor changes to critical files
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and directories. The program was developed at Purdue
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University by Gene Kim as part of the COAST Project
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(directed by Gene Spafford). Copies of the program may be
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found at ftp.cs.purdue.edu in the pub/spaf/COAST/Tripwire
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directory.
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-----------------------------------------------------------
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Looking for more TrueType fonts to add you your collection?
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If you are looking for more TrueType fonts to add to your
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machine, look no further than ftp.cica.indiana.edu ... in
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the directory with the path of pub/pc/win3/fonts/truetype
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you will find fonts with such names as GoodBadUgly, Barcode,
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Hebrew, Mapmaker, and many more. Microsoft loves this
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because it helps to make TrueType fonts more popular.
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------------------------------------------------------------
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Interested in the Windows API for Sockets?
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A lot of information about Microsoft products is available
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on CompuServe. For those of you without CompuServe access,
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an alternative for some of the information is to ftp to
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ftp.uu.net and look in the vendor/microsoft directory for
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interesting information (for instance, the compuserve-libs
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directory). Another directory contains a Word for Windows
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document that describes the programming interface that has
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been worked out to allow multiple Windows applications to
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use the same TCP/IP stack. Dr. Chaos is eagerly awaiting
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software that actually USES the interface and TCP/IP stacks
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that IMPLEMENT the calls.
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------------------------------------------------------------
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Running multiple Unix sessions over one telephone line
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There is a server you can run on a Unix system that allows
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you to run a program on a Macintosh, or DOS, or Windows
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systems to run multiple Unix sessions at the same time.
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Rather than re-enter all the information, Dr. Chaos
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recommends that we just republish the information posted by
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Ted Richards:
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Unix Windows consists of two programs. One is a
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server that runs on a Unix system that you dial
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into, and the other is a front end that runs on
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your home computer. The combination lets you run
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up to seven separate shell sessions (on the Unix
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machine) with each session being displayed in a
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separate window on your home computer. The
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programs take care of multiplexing the separate
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communications streams through a single modem
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connection.
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There are at least four different front ends, all
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of which talk to the same Unix server. One is for
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the Mac, one is for the Amiga (neither of which I
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know anything about, but check your standard FTP
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sites), one is for Windows, and one for DOS.
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The Unix server supports many nice features, such
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as background downloads in a window while other
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things are being done in other windows, automatic
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resizing of windows, displaying of strings in the
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title bars of the windows, etc. The different
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front ends support these features to varying
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degrees. The Mac version was written by the
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person who wrote the Unix server, and so probably
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supports all of the features.
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UW-WIN is available as uwwin103.zip in
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pub/pc/win3/util on ftp.cica.indiana.edu. You
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need to run a server on the Unix machine, see
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uwserver.zip in the same directory. As far as I
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know, it is the same server as used for the Mac,
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and presumably Atari versions. UW-WIN is the
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shareware Windows version (but only $15, I think).
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Unfortunately, it does not support file transfers.
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It displays each shell session in a separate
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Windows window. You can move and resize each
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window independently (but if you try to change the
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window width, it crashes - you can change the
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height OK).
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It runs quite well under WIN-OS2, with one
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exception (besides the window width change
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problem) - it hangs my entire WIN-OS2 session if I
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try to reinitialize the modem, but I also have
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similar (or worse) problems with other Windows
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comm programs that others have used without
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problems, so I may have some strange hardware or
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configuration problems.
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UW-PC is available on SIMTEL20 as UWPC201.ZIP in
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PD1:<MSDOS.MODEM>, or equivalently as uwpc201.zip
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in /pub/msdos/modem on oak.oakland.edu. This is
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the released DOS version (freeware). It is
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somewhat more complete than UW-WIN, but can only
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display one window at a time (a key switches
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between windows). It does supports file transfers
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in one window while you are doing other things in
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a different window. Again, you need the
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uwserver.zip file. I think it's in the same
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directory.
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------------------------------------------------------------
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Need some clues for the Minesweeper game under Windows?
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If, before you click on any squares, you enter "xyzzy"
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<enter><shift-enter> then it is reported that the pixel in
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the upper left corner will change whenever you are over a
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"safe" square. Depending on your monitor, it may be hard
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enough to see that you can ignore the pixel until you get
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into one of those situations where you have to guess which
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square the mine is under -- Dr. Chaos claims an easier way
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to a high score is just to edit the high score that the game
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keeps in its INIfile.
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------------------------------------------------------------
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Want to have a REALLY big Windows Desktop?
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A utility called bigdesk allows you to create a desktop that
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is nine times the size of your screen. The icon for the
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program give a very reduced picture of the desktop, and
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clicking on a part of that view will shift the focus of the
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screen to the part that you clicked on. It's really nice to
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work with, very intuitive, and it reportedly even works with
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seamless Windows under OS/2! That particular utility
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happens to be mixed in with one or two other utilities in a
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ZIP file called 'menudesk.zip' .... you can either look for
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it using archie, or get it from puffin.cit.cornell.edu
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(don't forget to used 'binary' when you transfer the file).
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------------------------------------------------------------
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Problems with transferring files from Puffin
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We have been using the 2.x version of QVTNET software on
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puffin.cit.cornell.edu and it is clear that a number of you
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have been encountering problems when attempting to do file
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transfers ... it appears that that particular version gets
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confused about ftp portnumbers ... so Dr. Chaos has to
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restart it every once in a while when he notices that there
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have been problems. In the mail file that Dr. Chaos sends
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to new subscribers, he has started recommending that they
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get back issues from pelican.cit.cornell.edu rather than
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puffin.cit.cornell.edu because of exactly those stability
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issues. However, since a number of you still seem to be
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using puffin, you might be glad to know that over the
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Thanksgiving break, we will be switching to the newer
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version of QVTNET (version 3.03) in hopes of getting more
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stability. Wish us luck!
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------------------------------------------------------------
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Free software for AIX on RS/6000 that is already patched for
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AIX 3.x
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While Dr. Chaos assumes that you already know about the AIX
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3.x software archived at aixpdslib.seas.ucla.edu, you may
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not know about the additional or more recently updated
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packages at such less well-known sites as
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straylight.acs.ncsu.edu (look in pub/rs6000) and also
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(across the pond) at iacrs1.unibe.ch (University of Berne).
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These archives take a lot of work to maintain, so if you
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find something useful or that saves you some time, spend
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just a little bit of that time to drop a note to Marin
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Schuetz (schuetz@iacrs2.unibe.edu) or David Joyner
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(david_joyner@ncsu.edu) ... it means so much to know that
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someone is out there (especially when your boss asks why you
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spend so much time doing this stuff, instead of your REAL
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job).
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------------------------------------------------------------
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It's now officially available - C-Kermit 5A
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C-Kermit 5A is now available for Unix, VMS, OS/2, Amiga,
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Atari, and others. Lots of new features ... Dr. Chaos
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thinks that it basically brings C-Kermit up to approximately
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the same feature set as PC-Kermit. (It even works on
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OpenVMS running on the DEC Alpha chip.) If you don't want
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to mess with compiling it yourself (some do, some don't),
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the Unix binaries for many systems are available from
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watsun.cc.columbia.edu in the kermit/binary directory --
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look for file names of the form wermit.<system-name> (e.g.
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wermit.next) [This has now been changed to ckuker.<system-
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name>]. The OS/2 version can be found in the same place,
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with a name of ckoker32.exe for the 32-bit version requiring
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OS/2 2.0, and ckoker16.exe for the 16-bit version that will
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run on all releases of OS/2. Dr. Chaos did point out to me
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that it might be a good idea just to mention that kermit is
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the nearly "universal" terminal emulator / file transfer
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package because (1) the price is right and (2) it has
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implementations for almost every type of computer (see(1)).
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------------------------------------------------------------
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Interesting X-Windows packages updated or recently available
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Generally speaking, the packages mentioned below are
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available on export.lcs.mit.edu in the contrib directory.
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xtpanel
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xtpanel provides a quick and easy way of producing a panel
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containing interactive objects such as buttons, sliders, and
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text fields, either from the command line or from an xtpanel
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script file. Each panel object maintains a string
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representation of its value. When the object is modified it
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updates its value and it can also perform an action such as
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printing its value or calling a system command. Object scan
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make use of the values of other objects in constructing
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their actions, and they can set the values of other objects
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as the result of an action. The result is an interactive X
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windows program, without the need for conventional
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programming.
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Xloadimage version 3.03 containing the following
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fixes/enhancements:
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* JFIF-style JPEG images are now supported.
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* Color PCX files are now supported.
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* -zoom now works with 24-bit images.
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* -rotate now works on all systems at all multiples of 90
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degrees.
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* A bug in root window handling for DEC and NCD servers has
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been fixed.
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* A bug in -normalize has been fixed.
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* Several bugs in -smooth have been fixed.
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* Several bugs in -merge have been fixed.
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* The man page now gives correct information on slide shows.
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xfishtank has lots or pretty fish swim around on the
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background of your screen (it's not just a screensaver --
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there are bubbles and swimming fish all the time -- a total
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of 29!).
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A Motif-based ftp client named nxftp -- look for it on
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osl.csc.ncsu.edu in the pub/ncsu_motif directory under the
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file name of nxftp.1.0.tar.Z.
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Last but not least is the Pie Window Manager. PieWM is
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built around the fact that menus are much easier to use if
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they appear as "pies" that pop-up around the cursor rather
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than dropping down -- each item corresponds to a large slice
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shaped target area and the farther you move the cursor, the
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larger target you have to hit. Several study papers are
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referenced. All features of tvtwm are supported. Get it
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from the machine bongo.garnet.cs.cmu.edu in the pub
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directory stored as the file piewm.tar.Z.
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------------------------------------------------------------
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From the Bookshelf
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We recently completed reading _The Fifth Discipline_ (The
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Art and Practice of The Learning Organization) by Peter M.
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Senge -- highly recommended. A two-page summary of the book
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was written by Dr. Chaos, he liked it so much (if anyone
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would like to fund the lecture series...). Another book you
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might find likeable is: _The Best of The Journal of
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Irreproducible Results_ edited by Dr. George H. Scherr (it
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covers issues from 1955 to 1983). As a part of another
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project, we have been looking for sources of cartoon-type
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line art having to do with computers. Dr. Chaos finds it
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amazing that search as he might, he cannot find any such
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books on the topic in the USA but managed to find many such
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books in Germany (many of the pictures are good enough that
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it's not necessary to translate the caption). Any
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speculations about what that says about German sense of
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humor (or sense of the absurd) as opposed to Americans?
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------------------------------------------------------------
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Needed: Single (inexpensive) console for multiple servers
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Does anyone have a solution for the problem of how to have a
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single ascii console (say, a VT-100) shared between a bunch
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of servers (say, RS/6000s) so that the single console can be
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used for sysadmin tasks on all the servers? We have seen a
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configuration from BlackBox, that almost allows such a
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configuration ... except that it is too smart and
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"interprets" some of the VT-100 control codes which means
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that it is impossible to run SMIT (the system management
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tool) through that interface. Anyone know of another
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vendor/solution?
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------------------------------------------------------------
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Product of the month IBM ThinkPad 700C
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Looks like a wonderful laptop; 486, 10.5 inch active matrix
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COLOR display; reasonable sized disk. Now, if it only cost
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half as much...
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To subscribe ... drop a note to chaos-
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request@pelican.cit.cornell.edu
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Dr. Chaos (I have a Master's Degree .... )
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