461 lines
24 KiB
Plaintext
461 lines
24 KiB
Plaintext
RAndY's RumOR RaG
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December 1992
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DIGITAL IMAGING
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As a professional photographer, I have a great interest in
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digital imaging. Many people think it strange that I have two
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businesses - professional photography and computer sales. I tell
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them that this is where silver meets silicon.
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Anyway, for over 20 years I've used Hasselblad cameras.
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They're made in Sweden (lenses in Germany) and they are the Rolls
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Royce of photo equipment. When I started seeing digital cameras
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like the Canon Xapshot and the PhotoMan, I wondered why this
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technology could not be applied to conventional photo equipment.
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The Hasselblad uses a system of removable film magazines which
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allow the photographer to switch between color and black-and-white,
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for example. Well, I just read in a photographic journal that
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Hasselblad will soon be releasing a digital camera magazine which
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will attach just like any other film magazine. It will have a CCD
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(charge coupled device) area array with a resolution of 2000,2000
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pixels. Unfortunately, it connects to a Macintosh via a SCSI
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cable. The array can be used with flash and it takes 10-15 seconds
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to transfer the image to the Mac after exposure.
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Yeah, I know that Nikon has had an attachment for
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photographing directly to disk, but the equipment is cumbersome (to
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say the least) and you're still stuck with 35mm level hardware.
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If it works via SCSI, I would assume that it can also work
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with a PC. I sure hope so, although the price will likely be
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astronomical.
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What does this mean? Until now, digital imaging has either
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required a photographic print , negative, or transparency (slide)
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run through a scanner. Another alternative is to use one of the
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digital cameras available, but they are all oriented toward the
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amateur market with fixed-focus lenses and built-in flash. Now,
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professional photographic equipment will have the capability of
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producing first generation images with exposure and focus controls.
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NEWS IN YER FACE
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If you follow the RaG, you know that I've had Sierra's Pinball
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for Windows on order ever since it was announced last spring in
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their self-serving magazine. I've gotten delay after delay and the
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ship date keeps getting extended. They're now saying February of
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1993 for shipment. Dammit, these companies make me mad that
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advertise vaporware.
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Aldus has announced that they will support the Photo CD format
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in PageMaker, FreeHand, Persuasion, and other products. On the
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Macintosh side of things, Aldus Fetch will be the first PhotoCD
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compatible product.
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Microsoft attempted to demonstrate how Windows NT can be
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trusted for use with your important applications during their
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Windows on Wall Street show. The demo didn't work.
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At the Comdex announcement of their database Access, the demo
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crashed. Borland's Philippe Kahn made a point of mentioning this
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during his speech.
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Due out by the end of November is WordPerfect for Windows
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Version 5.2. I reported on this last month, but details are now
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more plentiful. Button bars similar to Word for Windows will be
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included (does that mean tiny, little, unintelligible things?) as
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well as Grammatik 5 (ugh), ATM, and new macros for replacing
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specific formatting codes and adding bar codes to documents.
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Upgrades to existing users will be $39.
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Look for a review next month.
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It is predicted that next year will see 1.2 million CD-ROM
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drives shipped. IBM is even suggesting bundling OS/2 with a SCSI
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CD-ROM drive for $300 (available to developers only).
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Datastorm has in interim release for Procomm Plus for Windows
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available to registered users. Among the 41 fixes and enhancements
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are fixes to Zmodem, Kermit, and CIS-B, improvements to the dialing
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directory and terminal emulation modes, and enhancements to the
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ASPECT script language.
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MediaVision has plans to release a line of multimedia products
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for the Macintosh. Look for a Mac version of their CDPC and the
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excellent Pro Audio Spectrum 16 card which will upgrade the Mac to
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16-bit audio.
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What's this I hear about someone going to release a new
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program called the Dan Quayle Spalling Tutor? I think it will be
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bundled with Neil Bush's "Teaching Your Child To Save".
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Practical Peripherals has come up with a unique product.
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FAXME is a cartridge that plugs into an HP LaserJet. Just plug in
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your phone line and you've got a receive-only fax machine. This
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cartridge requires 1M of printer memory and supports fax machine
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features like time/calendar notations, Station ID, etc.. Look for
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a street price in the area of $200.
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I talked last month about rising DRAM prices due to a
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preliminary ruling by the Commerce Department that South Korea was
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dumping DRAM. Estimates are that prices will rise by as much as
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30%. Among those manufacturers accused of DRAM dumping by the
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government are Samsung, Hyundai, and GoldStar.
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Intel has stopped development of the V3 digital video
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interactive processing chip which was supposed to replace the
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existing i750 processor, working instead on a less expensive DVI-
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compatible chip.
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Look for Cyrix to unveil a Pentium-clone processor in 1993.
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Planned for unveiling at Comdex is a 16/33 486SX (upgrade for 16MHz
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386DX priced at $399), and a 20/40 486SX upgrade for 20MHz 386DX.
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Both will work with an 80387 coprocessor.
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Mustang Software, the BBS guys, will be releasing Qmodem-Pro
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in the first quarter of 1993. This differs from most
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communications programs in that it enables users to receive and
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send E-mail messages regardless of the originating E-mail source.
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Other features will include fax and documentation creation
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capabilities which will save users' long distance costs. An
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upgrade from Qmodem version 5 will be $35.
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My favorite candidate for a disk frisbee, Stacker, has
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released version 3 of their popular software. New features include
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a set of real-time gauges showing disk capacity, compression ratio,
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and fragmentation levels. The Tuner feature lets you fine-tune
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your system by achieving a balance between speed and space. De-
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installation of Stacker can be done quickly and you've also got two
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levels password protection. Stacker can now compress bigger drives
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and is compatible with standard disk drives, utilities,
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applications, and memory managers. My advice is to buy a bigger
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hard drive and avoid kludgy software like this.
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MicroHelp has released a program called The Uninstaller, a
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software program that guides the user through deinstalling a
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Windows application.
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Beta testing continues on PCTools for Windows. It's scheduled
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to be shipped in the first quarter of 93 and will be priced
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consistently with the DOS product.
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WORDPERFECT NEWS
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By the time you read this, WordPerfect Presentations should be
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on the shelves. Look for a review in the January issue.
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For the first 90 days, when you buy a full retail package,
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they're packaging a Sound Blaster with the software. Now 8-bit
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sound is pretty sad, but I suppose it's better than nothing. All
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of the specs for WordPerfect Presentations look pretty good for a
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DOS-based graphics program, but everyone is looking toward the
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Windows version (due out in early 1993).
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Also due out by the time you read this is WordPerfect for
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Windows Version 5.2. Unfortunately, the package will ship with
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Grammatik 5 and will be available from a pull-down menu. I hate
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grammar checkers - they're for people who didn't pay attention in
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the fourth grade.
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They're bundling ATM with the package and are including some
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fonts created by WPCorp. I wish they had used TrueType instead.
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There will be some new macros and new button bars with
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specific options for Generate, Font, Page, Layout, Tools, and
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Graphics. A new indexing feature called QuickFinder lets you build
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indexes for groups of files and speed up searching. You can define
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which files to index and then search any index by name or specific
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words, combinations of words, words by proximity, and even use
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Boolean operators.
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The software is also mail-enabled with support for WordPerfect
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Mail for Windows cc:Mail, Microsoft Mail, DaVinci e-mail, and any
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program that supports the VIM or MAPI standards.
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WordPerfect for Windows will finally become an OLE client.
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Gee, maybe drag-and-drop will finally work. Another feature is
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called QuickMenu. Just click the right menu anywhere on a Button
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Bar and you can choose editing options without wading through a
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menu tree or you can switch between button bars for quick access to
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a variety of features.
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There will also be a graphical installation, conversion for
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Word for Windows 2 and Ami Pro 2, an enhanced RTF conversion to
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improve DDE with Excel 4, improved Speller dialog and bitmap
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rotation in 90 degree increments.
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They've also included better support for Windows printer
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drivers, allowing multiple paper sizes and orientations in the same
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document. They say that this change "virtually eliminates" the
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"Updating Printer Information" message that has been so annoying.
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I sure hope so. Also included is an updated envelope macro that
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has been enhanced to work with Windows printer drivers and now has
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the option to select from multiple addresses and to position postal
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barcodes.
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HAVE IT BOTH WAYS
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OK, this is for all of you that think the Macintosh is really
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something - or that they have something we PC'ers don't.
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Infiniti Systems is marketing ANDOR EX, a Motorola 68HC000-16
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based board which fits inside your PC. This board is compatible
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with all software which runs on SE, Plus, and Classic Macs. Just
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press both SHIFT keys to toggle between the two and you can also
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view portions of both PC and Mac screen simultaneously. It can
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even be set up to run under Windows or OS/2. It is possible to
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exchange files between the two formats with an included utility.
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You can even multitask PC and Mac applications with some
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limitations.
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The company claims that ANDOR EX will run twice as fast as a
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Mac Classic or SE. Reformatting of the hard drive is not
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necessary. You create a DOS file (1MB-30MB in size) to store your
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Mac files. When in the Mac environment, these files are seen and
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treated as normal Mac hard disks. Any format of hard drive will
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work. You use your existing PC mouse, monitor, and floppy drives.
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Printing is done through and AppleTalk compatible RS-422 port using
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the same printers you'd use on a Mac and additional software will
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let you use your PC printer. ANDOR EX has two SCSI ports for
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external drives, scanners, and CD drives. You can also connect to
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an AppleTalk, PhoneNet, or similar network.
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You're on your own for memory, but it will only take 4 megs
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which doesn't cost that much today. How much? I'd guess you'd see
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a street price of about $800.
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MAINTENANCE RELEASES
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Microsoft has made available maintenance releases for their
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two of their most popular products.
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Excel 4.0a adds support for Allways formatting and fixes some
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minor problems.
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Word for Windows 2.0b includes a much improved WordPerfect
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document converter, the ability to remove all on-screen elements so
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you can work in a character-based environment (YES), and a services
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directory and listing of top questions and answers.
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For more information or to get your update, call Microsoft at
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1-800-426-9400 (say HI to Bill for me).
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QUICKTIME FOR WINDOWS
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About the time that Microsoft releases their own Windows video
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standard (Audio Visual Interleave - AVI), Apple will release
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QuickTime for Windows. The new compression feature of QuickTime
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will follow the initial release by about 90 days. The initial
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version will also lack an editor. However, the file format, user
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interface, programming interface, and function and procedure calls
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are all identical to QuickTime for the Mac. QuickTime for Windows
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will offer an internal clock that provides scalable timing as with
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QuickTime 1.08, where frames are dropped to keep up with the audio.
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Explained an Apple executive, "When you make a movie on a very fast
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PC and then play it back on a slow one, it will not lose its
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synch".
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PHOTO CD EXPERIENCE
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A friend of mine who works in the local camera store was
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recently given a coupon to shoot a roll of film and get a free
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PhotoCD made. Since he doesn't have a CD-ROM drive in his
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computer, he brought it to me and we played with it one evening.
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The disk looks different from a conventional CD because it's
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gold. Kodak says this is so that it can be written to more than
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once.
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You can do a directory on the disk just like any other CD, but
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the files have strange extensions. To use the images in any
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application, you'll need Kodak's PhotoCD Access ($39.95) or
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something that will read a PhotoCD. The point I'm trying to make
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is that just by itself, you cannot read the images with a computer.
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The jewel case has thumbnails of each of the photographs and the
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reproduction on these was quite good. I'd judge them to be about
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3/4 inch square. They're big enough to see what's on the disk and
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each frame is numbered.
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I used Corel's Mosaic to get an onscreen thumbnail view of the
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images. You'd better have a fast computer and CD drive, because
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it's not real fast at displaying the images. The onscreen
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thumbnails were very good, though.
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The next step is to select the image you want and then convert
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it to a bitmap format. You then have a choice of three
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resolutions. I picked the lowest resolution (the highest was
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something like 1200x1200) and imported the image into Corel
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PhotoPaint. Keeping in mind that these images were created using
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a point-and-shoot dummy camera, the quality was impressive. Once
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in PhotoPaint, it was easy to use the tools to manipulate the
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image. Since I don't have a 24-bit VGA card, the image was
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dithered. My friend took the ZIPped image home on disk (1.8 Meg
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unZIPped)sand printed it on his HP III LaserJet. The quality was
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outstanding.
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I hope Kodak can promote this thing and get the public to
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understand what's going on. They'll have to get the price of the
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TV viewers down to a reasonable level, but there's enormous
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potential here.
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Price for processing, printing, and putting a 24-exposure roll
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on CD is about $22, so the price is very reasonable. Next Spring,
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Kodak has plans to put images from larger formats (up to 8x10
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negatives and transparencies) on CD. I should also note that Kodak
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has image editing software available called PhotoEdge for a
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suggested list price of $139. Both Access and PhotoEdge run out of
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Windows and a DOS version of Access is available as are Mac
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versions.
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VENTURA PUBLISHER 4.1
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I've been a fan of Ventura Publisher since the GEM days, but
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the Windows versions just caused too many problems with crashes and
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general instability. I had abandoned Ventura for PageMaker.
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This newest version of an old favorite is enough to get me
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back. You'll still have to customize your width table and make it
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a part of whatever style sheet you power up with - otherwise
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Ventura spends too much time determining your system fonts. Once
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done, the speed of loading is excellent. The speed of loading
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without the previously mentioned trick is still good.
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During program startup, you're greeted with a very colorful
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and lively logo screen (lively for traditionally stodgy Ventura).
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You're then greeted with a clear screen with two rows of buttons
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running across the top. Using these buttons, you can access
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virtually any feature of Ventura. Buttons at the bottom and right
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side let you turn pages and switch quickly between enlarged,
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normal, and reduced views.
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Overall, the program seems very fast compared to previous
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versions. Remembering what the buttons do will take a little time,
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but once you become adjusted, you can work much more efficiently.
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When you select between Frame, Text, and Tag modes, some of
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the buttons change depending upon which mode you're in. In
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previous Windows versions, those damned boxes for tags and modes
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and stuff were either gone when you needed them or in the way when
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you didn't want them there. This double button bar idea is an
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excellent solution to this problem. If you like the old style, you
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can have that too.
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The previously separate scan and separator modules are now
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included. I am unable to test them as I don't have a scanner.
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The addition of frame tags is welcome. Also a great plus is
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the ability to set tabs, margins, indents, and outdents with a
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mouse.
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They've done an excellent job on this one and there are plenty
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of example files to help you get going. This is one upgrade that's
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worth the price.
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PANTHER
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I've taken it in the chops repeatedly for not talking much
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about DR-DOS. Users tell me it's a great operating system and
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devoted followers swear by it. I prefer to swear at it.
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Anyway, you may be interested to know that Novell is working
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on DR-DOS 7, code named "Panther". It is scheduled for release in
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the first half of 1993. Of course it will have networking
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capabilities, but will also feature a "Windows-like" graphical
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interface called ViewMax. Other features in the current beta
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version include a memory manager called MemoryMax; a task manager
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called TaskMax; an editor; a security log-in; and recover undelete
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features.
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They're also working on enabling DR-DOS to talk directly to
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peer-to-peer NetWare Lite servers as well as NetWare "heavy"
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servers through a common client.
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SOUND STATS
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When people are interested in buying a sound card, one of the
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frequent questions revolves around how much hard drive space is
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taken up when you sample something.
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Here's a chart showing different sampling rates for both mono
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and stereo as well as 8-bit and 16-bit. I hope this helps. The
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figures represent the amount of hard drive space needed for one
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minute of digital audio sampling.
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MONO STEREO
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16-bit 8-bit 16-bit 8-bit
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================================================================
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44.1KHz 5.28MB 2.64MB 10.56MB 5.28MB
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22.05KHz 2.54MB 1.27MB 5.28MB 2.54MB
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11.025KHz 1.27MB .0635MB 2.54MB 1.27MB
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Under the heading of interesting information, remember that
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VOC files are limited to 8-bit and cannot exceed 16MB in size.
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PENTIUM DELAY
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Intel is still having problems getting the 586 chip (oops)
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working correctly. Seems the chip still runs too hot at 66MHz and
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Intel is trying to sell vendors on mounting a fan on a small board
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to blow air over the chip.
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Meanwhile, Intel general manager and vice president Dave House
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said the company plans to bring out the Pentium at 60MHz and 66MHz
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speeds next year. (Why two speeds so close together?)
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Software must be recompiled to take full advantage of the
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chip's features and performance. Microsoft is working with Intel
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using Intel's compiler. Use of the new compiler is necessary
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because the Pentium can execute two instructions in a single clock
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cycle.
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---------------
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TELL ME WHY
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Can anybody tell me why every Windows program has to copy the
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Common Dialog Dynamic Link Library? How tough is it to check to
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see if it already exists or needs to be replaced by a newer one?
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And while I'm on the soapbox, what ever happened to keyboard
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templates? We used to get them with software, but now everyone is
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using quick reference cards or some other cheap method.
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---------------
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ACCESS
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Have you ever tried figuring out a relational database
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management system? I started with dBase III+ and quickly gave up.
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Paradox was much easier to work with, but there was still too much
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work involved as well as some programming experience. I've been
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anxious to see Paradox for Windows, but Borland is having great
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difficulty getting it to market.
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Microsoft has finally fleshed out their Windows lineup with a
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superb relational database management system. We're all skeptical
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with Versions #1 of any Microsoft software, but they've been
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working on this since Ansa released the original Paradox back in
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1985. They've done an outstanding job.
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Look for a basic installation to take about 9 megs of hard
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drive space and closer to 12MB for the full dose. Existing
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databases in dBase, Paradox, and Btrieve formats can be directly
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imported into Access. You can also import fixed length and
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delimited ASCII files.
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It's quite easy to either import an existing file or create a
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new database. Creating forms is very easy and mostly intuitive,
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and the speed of queries is excellent.
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Relational database management systems are very complex
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products and I don't have the full understanding of how it all
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works. The bundled applications are excellent, especially the
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order entry application.
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Most relational database management systems store data in
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separate files. Data is stored in one file, forms in another, etc.
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Access saves your database in one relatively compact file. The
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advantage of saving everything in one file is that all your forms,
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queries, joins, etc. are in one file and transporting your database
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is much easier.
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Microsoft has a new help feature besides their now common
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Wizards (which are also included in Access). Cue Cards guide you
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through a multitude of procedures. Cue Cards stay on the screen
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and let you either read the procedure or have Access walk you
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through it. Cue Cards are a nice innovation.
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Aggressive pricing on the introduction of Access are sure to
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anger the folks at Borland. If you've been looking for a Windows-
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based relational database management system, Access is very worthy
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of your consideration.
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---------------
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V.FAST SPECIFICATION
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Be careful about buying a modem advertising V.Fast
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compatibility. The CCITT is not expected to complete the
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specification until late 1993 or early 1994. Some modem
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manufacturers have jumped the gun by announcing proprietary
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products based upon their understanding of the specification. As
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happened with early V.32 modems, none of these modems are
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compatible with each other at higher speeds (but manufacturers plan
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to provide an upgrade path once the specification is written in
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stone).
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V.Fast will provide the highest data transmission rate
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|
possible over analog circuits (dial-up or leased lines). Once the
|
|
spec is complete, synchronous data can be transferred at rates from
|
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19.2Kbps to 28.8Kbps, and up to an additional 4 to 1 asynchronous
|
|
data compression rate.
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=================================
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DISCLAIMER
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|
RAndY's RumOR RaG is published on a monthly basis by AINSWORTH
|
|
COMPUTER SERVICES and is available on various local BBS's, GEnie,
|
|
and America Online as well as in Modem News.
|
|
In case anyone cares, RAndY's RumOR RaG is produced on a DTK
|
|
386-33 with 16 megs of memory, Cyrix Fasmath co-processor, ATI VGA
|
|
Wonder+ card (1 MB), 105 MB Toshiba IDE hard drive, Teac 1.2 MB and
|
|
1.44 MB floppies, Hitachi 3750 CD ROM drive hooked to a Pro Audio
|
|
Spectrum 16 card, Sceptre SVGA display, Microsoft mouse,
|
|
WordPerfect for Windows and transmitted through a US Robotics HST
|
|
Dual Standard modem.
|
|
Opinions expressed are those of the author. Comments should
|
|
be addressed to Ainsworth Computer Services on GEnie, America
|
|
Online, phone, analog mail, or whatever method makes you feel good.
|
|
|
|
AINSWORTH COMPUTER SERVICES
|
|
605 W. Wishkah
|
|
Aberdeen, WA 98520-6031
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(206) 533-6647
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GEnie Address: RAG
|
|
America Online: RumOR RaG |