507 lines
21 KiB
Plaintext
507 lines
21 KiB
Plaintext
Chaos Corner V02 N11 21 December 1992
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Here we go with the last issue of the year. Once again,
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Gary Buhrmaster is the first to request a bound copy of this
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year's issue of Chaos Corner. While the bound version of
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volume 2 will not be available for giving this holiday
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season, Dr. Chaos hopes you will keep it in mind for that
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special someone on Valentine's Day.
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-------------------------------------------------
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Information on getting Information about Germany
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A wealth of information on contact telephone numbers and
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addresses for various sources of information about German
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and Germany is assembled in the Frequently Asked Questions
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list for the NetNews news group soc.culture.germany [Note:
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the correct newsgroup is soc.culture.german]. Sources in
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North America for German Language videos and cassette tapes
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are included, as well as the address/phone number for
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getting a (free) 8-page weekly summary of news from Germany
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(available in German or English). If you would like a copy
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of this FAQ, send electronic mail to chaos-
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request@pelican.cit.cornell.edu. Those of you with
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satellite dishes probably know that Deutsche Welle TV is now
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(since 1 Nov) available on INTELSAT K (338.5 degrees East)
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at 11.605 GHz. To celebrate the new service, Deutsche Welle
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transmitted live a new production of Richard Wagner's
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Parsifal performed by the German State Opera in Berlin.
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-------------------------------------------------
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Turtle PostScript and Fractal Images
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In response to the item in the last issue about a PostScript
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program for generating Sierpinski's Gasket, Christian
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Wettergren in Sweden sent a Logo-like PostScript program
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that uses a turtle language to implement a number of
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examples from the book _The Science of Fractal Images_, by
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M.F Barnsley; ISBN 0-387-96608-0. For a copy of the
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postscript program, send mail to Dr. Chaos at chaos-
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request@pelican.cit.cornell.edu.
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--------------------------------------------------
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Call Deutsche Welle to be added to their Mailing List
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Would you like to get on the mailing list for the Deutsche
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Welle world-wide programs but can never bring yourself to
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send an international letter to Cologne? Now, in North
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America, you can call 1-800-393-3248 [the correct phone
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number is 1-800-392-3248] to give DW comments on their
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short-wave programming or request a subscription to their
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"tune-in" programming guide. If you are ever driving on the
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autobahn between Aachen and Koeln (Cologne), the radio
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antenna array near the town of Juelich (we have seen it a
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number of times at 5 am as we drive to catch a plane from
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Frankfurt back to the USA) ranks right up with the brown
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coal pits as some of the most amazing things to see in the
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area. (We assume that our friends at the KFA will correct
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us if those antennae are not for DW.)
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-------------------------------------------------
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Macintosh interface for Gopher, WAIS, etc.
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Peter Shames, at Jet Propulsion Lab has a recommendation for
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you Mac users. Peter says, "I've been using TurboGopher for
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some time now and find it to be an ideal Mac client for
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Gopher, Archie, and even WAIS though I like WAISstation
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better for that. Find TurboGopher at:
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boombox.micro.umn.edu under /pub/gopher/
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ftp.uu.net under /pub/archiving/gopher
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Highly recommended ... it even knows enough to display
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README files and to un-binhex files automatically and ask if
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you wish to UnStuff any .sit files. Pretty slick."
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--------------------------------------------------
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New "Best of Journal of Irreproducible Results" coming soon
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Mark Dionne tells Dr. Chaos that a new volume of the best
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articles from the Journal of Irreproducible Results has just
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been finished by the current editor, Marc Abrahams, and it
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will soon be available. Dr. Chaos is eagerly awaiting the
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January thaw so he can capture some cluster flies and try
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out the fly-powered airplanes described in volume 1.
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--------------------------------------------------
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Become your own Holistic Detective
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In the Macintosh archive at the University of Michigan you
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can solve the paradox of the sofa and the staircase as
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detailed in _Dirk Gently's Holistic Detective Agency_ by
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Douglas Adams. Look for
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mac/graphics/graphicsutil/holisticsofa0.91.cpt.hqx in with
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many other interesting files (like new After Dark modules)
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at mac.archive.umich.edu or one of the mirror sites:
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N. America wuarchive.wustl.edu in
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mirrors/archive.umich.edu/mac
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Australia archie.au in micros/mac/umich
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Europe src.doc.ic.ac.uk in
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packages/mac/umich
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If you would like to be on the frequent ftp'ers (recent
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files) mailing list, just drop a note to mac-recent-
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request@mac.archive.umich.edu.
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-------------------------------------------------
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Text of the Maastricht Treaty Online
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As an informed citizen of the world, Dr. Chaos is certain
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that you will want to know where to obtain your own personal
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copy of the treaty signed recently in Maastricht. If you
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use anonymous ftp to get to Princeton.edu, just look in the
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/pub directory for the file named Maastricht.Treaty.tar.Z --
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remember to specify "binary" before transferring the file.
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Dr. Chaos must sadly report that it was not immediately
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obvious where the Chaos Corner archive was located on
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Princeton.edu.
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-------------------------------------------------
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Netfax becomes a GNU Project
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Peter Ware at Ohio State University has the following good
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news:
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"I've started maintaining netfax for the Free
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Software Foundation. I'd like to collect fixes to
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incorporate into the next release. In particular,
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I'm interested in any fixes you have needed to
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incorporate to get netfax to compile on your system.
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"I'd also like to start maintaining a list of OS's
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netfax runs under and a list of modems netfax works
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with including revision information. If you could
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email me this I'll include it in the list.
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[ware@cis.ohio-state.edu]
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"My goals for the next release (within two months)
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are:
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1. Remove dependencies on GNU make
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2. Automatic configuration
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3. Have an "install" target for the Makefiles
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4. Improve the documentation
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5. Improve portability to other OS's, modems.
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"After that there are several directions I can go
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with netfax:
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- Incorporate "chat" scripts so netfax can work with
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any modem. This may be fairly painless as I can
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build off of taylor-uucp.
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- Add an X UIF for sending, receiving and viewing
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faxes.
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- Allow a person to receive and then distribute
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faxes electronically.
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- Make netfax independent of postscript for
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rendering (i.e. assume input is in g3 format).
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Any additional ideas? Any preferences?
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[ware@cis.ohio-state.edu]
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"Finally, continue to send bug reports to bug-
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fax@ai.mit.edu"
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--------------------------------------------------
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Interested in more information about free Unix (Linux)?
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One of the best places to get more information about the
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very popular free Unix-like operating system, Linux, is from
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the Linux Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ). Matt Welsh at
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Cornell provides the following methods of getting the file:
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1) ftp to tsx-11.mit.edu. It's the file
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/pub/linux/FAQ. It's one big ASCII file (about
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150k). or ftp to sunsite.unc.edu. It's the file
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/pub/Linux/docs/FAQ. Again, one big ASCII file,
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same thing as on tsx-11.mit.edu.
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2) If you don't have FTP access, retrieve it via the
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mailserver at pit-manager.mit.edu. Send mail to
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mail-server@pit-manager.mit.edu with the word "help"
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in the body. or If you simply can't find the FAQ,
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Matt will mail it to you. Just send to mail
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(mdw@tc.cornell.edu).
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3) The most recent FAQ will be posted to
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comp.os.linux and news.answers every month (if you
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want to wait...).
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-------------------------------------------------
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Problems with W4W under the OS/2-Win3.1 Beta?
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If you are having problems running Word for Windows under
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the OS/2 beta that supports Windows 3.1, in that some of the
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drop-down menus don't -- Jason Mitchel at Harvard suggests
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copying user.exe from the system directory of a running
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Windows 3.1 system, and putting it in the
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os2/mdos/winos2/system (or wherever you have Windows 3.1)
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directory named os2user.exe. Be sure to rename the old
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version of os2user.exe in case this doesn't work for you
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(Dr. Chaos happily reports that it solved his problems with
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Word for Windows under OS/2-Win3.1 Beta.
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--------------------------------------------------
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New releases of Excel and Word for Windows
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Without a lot of fanfare, Microsoft has released some fixed
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versions of W4W and Excel. If you haven't received your
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fresh copies from Microsoft in November/December 1992,
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you're backlevel. The current version of W4W is 2.0c ---
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Excel is probably 4.0a, but Dr. Chaos hasn't had time to get
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it loaded to check. Call your Microsoft support number for
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the free update.
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-------------------------------------------------
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FLIST for OS/2
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People that work with computers hate to have to learn new
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tools when they move between platforms -- they believe that
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they shouldn't have to conform to the "brain-dead" tools
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that are available on the new system. For current or former
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CMS users moving to OS/2 and looking for a full screen file
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utility like FLIST, try /pub/os2/all/diskutils/flist58.zip
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from ftp-os2.nmsu.edu.
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-------------------------------------------------
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Movie credits for actors, actresses, directors, writers
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Each year, many books are published that rate movies and
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tell which actors and actresses starred in them. But where
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do you find an up-to-date list of the movie credits for each
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actor, writer, director? Correct, the network, of course.
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At boulder.colorado.edu in the pub/tv+movies/lists
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directory, Dr. Chaos found a README file that is quoted in
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part below:
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This directory contains the latest releases of the
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USENET rec.arts.movies lists. The lists are intended
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to provide useful, current references to TV and film
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credits in an electronic form.
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actors.list maintained by Col Needham
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<cn@otter.hpl.hp.com>
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actress.list maintained by Andy Krieg
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<kreig@titan.med.ge.com>
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cinematographers maintained by Michel Hafner
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<hafner@ifi.unizh.ch>
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composers maintained by Michel Hafner
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<hafner@ifi.unizh.ch>
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dead.list maintained by Col Needham
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<cn@otter.hpl.hp.com>
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directors.list maintained by Dave Knight
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<dknight@elm.sdd.trw.com>
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writers.list maintained by Andy Krieg
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<kreig@titan.med.ge.com>
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The lists are posted to rec.arts.movies on roughly a
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monthly basis, spread randomly throughout the month.
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They will be updated here at the same Frequency.
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The tools directory contains a set of Unix shell
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scripts that enable users to create and search a
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massive movie database using the information
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contained on the lists.
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-------------------------------------------------
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Helpful FTP but no dates?
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Many sites are now running a version of FTP that provides
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you with a single line description of the file when you do a
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'dir' command. The problem with that feature is that
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sometimes you want to see what files are new since a certain
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date and that information is not displayed. It turns out
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that the date information is available if you specify 'dir -
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d' -- we are sure this is clear if you read the
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documentation available at those sites (READ THE
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DOCUMENTATION?), but such things aren't always possible (or
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even likely). (Parenthetical comments courtesy of Dr. Chaos)
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-------------------------------------------------
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Looking for a good Majongg game to run under OS/2?
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Naji Mouawad at the University of Waterloo recommends that
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you try out majongg.zip [Note: the correct name for the
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games is Mahjongg and the file is named mahjongg.zip] from
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the soft/os2/Demo/Games directory (case matters) on
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rusmv1.rus.uni-stuttgart.de. He says that it is better than
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several other versions he has found, although it is
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optimized for use with a 8514/A video driver.
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-------------------------------------------------
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Guide to Books about Unix
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The Concise Guide to Unix Books is an excellent starting
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point for finding out where to look for more information on
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the Unix operating system. The subject areas covered
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include:
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A. General Unix Texts
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B. Shells
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C. Unix Editors
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D. Networking and Communications
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E. System Administration
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F. Unix Security
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G. Programming
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H. TeX
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I. X Window System
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J. Dictionary
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K. Other Lists
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where "Other Lists" references other Unix bibliographies.
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The latest version of the guide is at pit-manager.mit.edu
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(along with many other FAQ lists from Usenet news groups) in
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/pub/usenet/news.answers/books and look for the file named
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'unix'.
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--------------------------------------------------
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Release 1.2 of Xgopher is now available
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Support for new types (image files, binary files, tn3270
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sessions), new bookmark support and a host of other features
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have been added to the most recently released version of
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Xgopher. Look for the file on ftp.cso.uiuc.edu in the
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uiuc/src directory or on export.lcs.mit.edu in the contrib
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directory (the name of the file is xgopher.1.2.tar.Z). Of
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course, another good place to try is the home of all gopher
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software boombox.micro.umn.edu (in the pub/gopher/Unix
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directory).
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-------------------------------------------------
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Network News - Other sources
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Dana Noonan publishes Network News about library collections
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and other things that might be of interest. One way
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suggested to find out if there might be a bitnet discussion
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list of interest to you on a particular topic is to send a
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mail file to listserv@bitnic.bitnet with the following one
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line command:
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list global /topic for example: list global /chaos
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The results of the search will be sent back to you within
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several minutes. If you are interested in trying out Net
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News, send a mail file to listserv@ndsuvm1.bitnet containing
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the line:
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subscribe nnews <first-name> <last-name>
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The ftp archive for back issues is on vm1.nodak.edu in the
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NNEWS directory. Another good list of Internet sources is
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Jean Polly's Surfing the Internet, now in version 2. Use
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anonymous FTP to access host nysernet.org and look in the
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pub/resources/guides directory for the file
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surfing.the.internet.2.0.2.txt (check for similar names
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because the version number is changing as it is being
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updated).
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--------------------------------------------------
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Preview Issue of the CYBERSPACE VANGUARD is now available
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A new electronic magazine is just starting up with an area
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of focus on things of interest to the science fiction
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community (Dr. Chaos claims that that doesn't focus things
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down very much). They are also looking for authors, so here
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is your chance if you want to contribute to a new
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publication. For more information, write to
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cn577@cleveland.freenet.edu. If you would like to see the
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preview issue, let us know at chaos-
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request@pelican.cit.cornell.edu -- a sample from one of the
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articles is shown below.
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--------------------------------------------------
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What do Captain Picard and Scrooge have in common?
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The following article is excerpted from the preview issue of
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the CYBERSPACE VANGUARD.
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[Note: Patrick Stewart's one man version of Charles
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Dickens' "A Christmas Carol" will run from December
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15, 1992 until January 3, 1993 on Broadway at the
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Broadhurst Theater (235 West 44th Street in New York
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City). Tickets are $45 and can be ordered from
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Tele- Charge at (212) 239-6200.]
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OK. Jean-Luc Picard as Scrooge. You can
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picture that, can't you? Heck, some of you probably
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think he IS Scrooge. All right, how about Picard as
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Bob Cratchit? Or Marley's Ghost? Now. How
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about Patrick Stewart, the man who plays Picard on
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Star Trek: The Next Generation, as all of them.
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And Tiny Tim. And dozens of others. At the same
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time.
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"It's the ultimate piece of fun for an actor,
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because not only do I get to play the dramatic role
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of Scrooge but also the children, Mrs. Cratchit and
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Mrs. Fezziwig," Mr. Stewart said in an interview
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with the New York papers around this time last year.
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This is the third year that Patrick Stewart has
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taken time off during the holidays to perform his
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one man adaptation of Charles Dickens' "A Christmas
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Carol." Mr. Stewart has created his own adaptation
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of the book. More than just a reading, he performs
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all the roles, including the props. (You know it's
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not English 101 when you're dealing with a man who
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takes a break for an imaginary glass of water.) At
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one point, during the Fezziwigs' party, he plays
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eleven roles at once. "It's a stupendous actors'
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workout and that's what it's meant to do: Keep my
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stage arteries from clogging up."
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--------------------------------------------------
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Need access to NetNews?
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If you have a newsreader, or something that can talk to NNTP
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servers on TCP/IP port 119 (telnet will do this if you
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want), give uwm.edu (129.89.2.1) or sol.ctr.columbia.edu
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(129.59.64.40) a try [another site worth trying is
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umd5.umd.edu]. For a public access Unix system with Usenet
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NetNews, try using telnet to nyx.cs.du.edu (130.253.192.68)
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-- login as "new" -- reports are that it is a nice system
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but can be a little slow.
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--------------------------------------------------
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Results of the November and December Internet Hunts
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First with archie, then gopher, wais and now veronica ...
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it's almost becoming TOO easy to find things on the
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Internet, right? Let Dr. Chaos know if you would like a
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description of how the winners did it when it came down to
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finding incredible things on the network (the December
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winner did almost all his work from within gopher). Have no
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fear, look for Dr. Chaos on a wais server near you in the
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coming year. For the Hunt results send your request to
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chaos-request@pelican.cit.cornell.edu.
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--------------------------------------------------
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Scientist's Workbench Version 2.0 is now available
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The following information has been provided by Caroline
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Hecht, Project Manager at the Cornell Theory Center:
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The Scientist's Workbench (SWB) is an X and Motif-
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based software package developed at the Cornell
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Theory Center. The main functions of the
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Scientist's Workbench are to bring together the
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tools and software required by scientific
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researchers in a distributed computing environment,
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to provide a graphical interface to access those
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tools, and to provide the software necessary to
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allow researchers to easily build their own
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graphical interfaces.
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Included in the distribution are executable widgets
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(small X clients) that provide graphical interfaces
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to common tasks such as displaying and responding to
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a prompt, or specifying a file name. The output
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from the executable widgets is sent to standard
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output by default. Executable widgets may be
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invoked from the command line or shell scripts,
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enabling users to easily replace text-based
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interfaces with graphical ones.
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Version 2.0 of the Scientist's Workbench software is
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now available from the Cornell Theory Center. The
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new software may be obtained via anonymous ftp from
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info.tc.cornell.edu, in the directory pub/swb. The
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file README.TOP describes the rest of the files in
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the anonymous ftp. We are now providing binaries
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for Sun SPARC, RS/6000 (AIX 3.2), SGI, and DEC 5000
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(and 3100), as well as the source code. To build
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from the source, the user must have OSF Motif;
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however, to install and run the binaries Motif is
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not required.
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--------------------------------------------------
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CCITT Documents to be available across the network!
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Carl Malamud, author of several Interop books, has been
|
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waging a campaign for several years to get the CCITT
|
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documents widely available. It stands to reason that
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without wide availability of the standards documents, not as
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much software will be developed that conforms to the
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standards. At long last, starting in November 1992, the
|
|
TELEDOC distribution system became operational. Document
|
|
formats that are planned to be made available include ASCII,
|
|
Microsoft RTF, Word for Windows, PostScript and CCITT
|
|
ODA/ODIF. For more information or to obtain a user's guide,
|
|
the press release recommends you contact either
|
|
shaw@itu.arcom.ch or bautista@itu.arcom.ch.
|
|
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--------------------------------------------------
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Subscribe to Chaos Corner
|
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We will now close off the year of 1992 as we head into the
|
|
winter season. Dr. Chaos and I hope you have found some
|
|
items in the past year that have been helpful, amusing,
|
|
outrageous (where did we put the Complete Set of Clinton
|
|
Jokes?) or instructive. If you would like a subscription,
|
|
send your request to chaos-request@pelican.cit.cornell.edu
|
|
and you will be sent a confirmation and directions for
|
|
obtaining back issues (hint: look in the pub directory of
|
|
pelican.cit.cornell.edu).
|
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Dr. Chaos (I have a Master's Degree ... )
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