344 lines
17 KiB
Plaintext
344 lines
17 KiB
Plaintext
RAndY s RumOR RaG
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March 1993
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BBS BUST
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I don't know the source of the following, but I had heard of
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Rusty & Edie's getting busted.
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The Federation Bureau of Investigation on Saturday, Jan. 30,
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1993, raided "Rusty & Edie's", a computer bulletin board located in
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Boardman, Ohio, which has allegedly been illegally distributing
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copyrighted software programs.
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For the past several months, the Software Publishers
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Association(SPA)has been working with the FBI in investigating the
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Rusty & Edie's bulletin board, and as part of that investigation
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has downloaded numerous copyrighted business and entertainment
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programs from the board. The SPA investigation was initiated
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following the receipt of complaints from a number of SPA members
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that their software was being illegally distributed on the Rusty &
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Edie's BBS.
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The Rusty & Edie's bulletin board was one of the largest
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private bulletin boards in the country. It had 124 nodes available
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to callers and over 14,000 subscribers throughout the United States
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and several foreign countries. To date, the board has logged in
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excess of 3.4 million phone calls, with new calls coming in at the
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rate of over 4,000 per day. It was established in 1987 and had
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expanded to include over 19 gigabytes of storage housing over
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100,000 files available to subscribers for downloading. It had
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paid subscribers throughout the United States and several foreign
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countries, including Canada, Luxembourg, France, Germany, Finland,
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the Netherlands, Spain, Sweden and the United Kingdom.
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"The SPA applauds the FBI's action today," said Ilene
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Rosenthal, general counsel for the SPA. "This shows that the FBI
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recognizes the harm that theft of intellectual property causes to
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one of the U.S.'s most vibrant industries. It clearly demonstrates
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a trend that the government understands the seriousness of software
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piracy." The SPA is actively working with the FBI in the
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investigation of computer bulletin boards, and similar raids on
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other boards are expected shortly.
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NEWS IN YER FACE
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Back in February 1992, Novell and Microsoft were talking about
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a merger. Microsoft offered about $85 per share at a time when
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Novell stock was trading in the low $60's. Novell balked when
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Microsoft bought Fox and never told them. The relationship further
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deteriorated when Microsoft embedded NetWare code in Windows for
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WorkGroups.
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Novell has converted Microware accounts receivable into stock
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in the company. Microware has been struggling financially and this
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move could help. Novell noted that this move does not mean they
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will take an active role in running Microware.
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Microsoft has released Macintosh and Windows versions of
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Office on CD-ROM.
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Intuit (makers of the popular Quicken) have filed an initial
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public offering, attempting to raise $25.5 million through the sale
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of 1.5 million shares of stock.
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Logitech is releasing a 16-bit sound card using the Spectrum
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chip licensed from Media Vision. This is basically a Pro Audio
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Spectrum 16 card under the name of Logitech. Included utilities
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are the same and until August, Logitech will sell buyers one of
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four Accolade games for just $5.
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Creative Labs, makers of the popular SoundBlaster series,
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recently bought E-Mu, a digital audio company well known for their
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keyboard line. The stated goal is to combine E-Mu's expertise and
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sound libraries with Creative Labs' manufacturing and distribution,
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but no immediate changes are planned for the SoundBlaster line. E-
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Mu will continue to supply chips to other sound board makers (like
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Turtle Beach).
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Intel and Chips & Technologies have settled their patent
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litigation. Each party is releasing the other and its customers
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from past liabilities, and are granting each other license rights
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on selected patents.
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Expected for release by the time you read this are Freelance
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Graphics and 1-2-3, both for OS/2. To follow soon are 32-bit
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version of cc:Mail and Ami Pro. Meanwhile, Borland is backing off
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from tentative OS/2 versions of Quattro Pro and Paradox.
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The dispute between Microsoft and Stac Electronics continues
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over Microsoft s alleged pilfering of Stac patents. Apparently the
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two companies had talked about a DOS 6/Stacker bundle and Bill
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Gates had expressed an interest in the Stacker product back in late
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1991.
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Microsoft next beta of NT will include 32-bit electronic mail
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and scheduling applications. Improved support for IPX and improved
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network awareness will also be included. Microsoft is hinting that
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8 megs of memory will not be enough, hinting that 10-12 megs will
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be necessary.
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Microsoft is scheduling a DOS 6 rollout for March 30. The
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focus of the blitz will be the data compression technology, but
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there is concern about the 8% performance degradation it causes
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with some applications.
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As you read this, Autodesk should have released a Windows
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version of AutoCAD and a set of mechanical CAD products. List
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price of the Windows product will be $3750, but AutoCAD owners can
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get it free within the first 30 days and for $75 after that.
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Certain models of Compaq's Prolinea line are having battery
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problems. You d think that since battery-backed CMOS was
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implemented in the first AT's, they d have it figured out by now.
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Intel is now saying that the Pentium chip will be available
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only in limited quantities at the end of this year. Availability
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will be limited to 50,000 units this year due to heat difficulties
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manufacturing the 66MHz chip. They re considering producing a
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60MHz chip in the meantime and there are rumors of a redesign for
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a lower heat generating 3.3 volt chip.
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PLUG-IN FOR PROGRAM MANAGER
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Plug-In for Program Manager is an enhancement utility that
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adds to and improves upon the feature set of Program Manager. It
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operates "behind the scenes" and cooperates fully with Program
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Manager.
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Plug-In includes the ability to: copy groups, instantly
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activate/deactivate groups (deactivated groups stay on disk, but
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are removed from Program Manager), reset all group windows to their
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original positions, dynamically change the StartUp group. You get
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visual browsing, and included is a Speed List feature to get to
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your favorite icons quickly.
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Each group can be assigned an icon of its own and you can
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change the default group icon. The standard pointer and the
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hourglass cursor can be replaced with a selection of alternates.
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There is an enhanced run command, including a history list,
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browse feature, and various runtime options. A single menu choice
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will install a new Windows application. Just place an installation
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disk in a drive and you will be given a chance to view any ReadMe
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files prior to installation.
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An improved "Exit Windows" dialog also allows you to restart
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Windows. Enhanced group window commands allow you to minimize all
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open groups at once, as well as do both vertical and horizontal
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tiling.
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System resources and available memory is constantly displayed
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on Program Manager menu bar and in Program Manager's icon when it
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is minimized. An alarm can be set to warn you of low system
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resources and/or memory.
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The QuickRun menu provides an easy way to access frequently
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run applications. Complete context-sensitive help is available
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from all dialogs. There is support for standard multimedia sound
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associations for dialogs and alarms.
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All of this sounds real good and the program is easy to
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install and quite versatile. So what does all this functionality
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cost? Just send $20 to Plannet Crafters, 2580 Runic Way,
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Alpharetta, Georgia 30202-5078. I don't normally endorse products,
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but this one is well worth the money.
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WORDPERFECT DELAYS
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Product delays are plentiful these days in Orem. WordPerfect
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announced that Office Version 4 will be delayed until the second
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quarter and InForms will be postponed until May. WordPerfect 6 for
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Windows is now scheduled for year end release. (Part of this delay
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was the decision to implement OLE 2.)
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There are several factors behind these delays. Months of beta
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testing and demand for cross platform applications slows product
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development. WordPerfect is trying to make all versions of
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software share common code and that takes a lot of time.
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PAGEMAKER 5
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Aldus is set to release Version 5 of PageMaker. I haven't
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seen it yet, but have read some articles in the mags, including
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Aldus Magazine. Here are some of the new features and changes.
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New to Version 5 is something called a Control Palette. This
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is basically a button bar which changes according to whatever mode
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you're in. In Character Mode you have access to type
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specifications, kerning, and type related things. In Paragraph
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Mode you choose styles, set alignments and indents, and other
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operations related to paragraphs. This Control Palette should make
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an easy program even easier to operate.
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The familiar Toolbox remains, but the rounded corner tool has
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been replaced with a tool which lets you rotate text and graphics
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in .01 degree increments.
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In the area of color, PageMaker comes with eight color
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matching systems with over 10,000 colors to match to. In addition
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to the commercial color libraries you can also create your own.
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You can now do color tints and print process color separations.
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You will be able to print any pages you want in any sequence.
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They've also overhauled the code so that it prints more compact
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PostScript code than the present version and printing overall is
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supposed to be faster. Aldus claims that PageMaker 5 generates 20%
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less PostScript code than Version 4.
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You will now be able to open as many publications as you want
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(limited only by memory) and copy text and graphics between them.
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Cross platform compatibility will be greatly improved. You'll also
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be able to create custom line weights, instead of the present few
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predefined ones.
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There is also a library palette which is like a graphical
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clipboard for storing multiple items, letting you search with
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keywords if you've got a large library.
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Aldus expects to ship PageMaker 5 in the first quarter of this
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year, so don't expect to see it until the end of March. Even then,
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these long overdue improvements should be worth it.
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RED HOT & PUBLISH
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Quark is offering a software package called Red Hot & Publish,
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the proceeds of which will go to support AIDS research.
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I hesitate to talk politics here, but I feel compelled to
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speak out. I've seen similar promotions in the photography
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business too.
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While I have sympathy for those afflicted with AIDS, you must
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remember that it is a disease promoted through deviant behavior.
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Don't drag out the .0001% who get it through a tainted blood
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transfusion - this disease is directly related to behavior.
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This country is already spending ten times more money on AIDS
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research than on cancer research.
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I avoid these promotions as I avoid the behavior which spreads
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the disease.
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MORE NEWS IN YER FACE
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It seems that Microsoft has removed network client, electronic
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mail components, and disk compression features from the current DOS
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6 beta release. They claim that it was causing confusion with
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consumers. Network client functions for connecting to Windows for
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Workgroups will be offered as a separate product. The disk
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compression feature is the center of a dispute with Stac
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Electronics.
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Novell is working on making DR-DOS work with Windows for
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Workgroups. Novell claims that Microsoft can write software so
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that DR-DOS' memory management system will not operate properly.
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Cooperation between Microsoft and Novell continues despite recently
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publicized disagreements.
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Novell is trying to better market NetWare Lite while industry
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insiders are noting slow sales of Windows for Workgroups, earning
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the moniker of Windows for Warehouses.
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In order to exploit dBase for Windows delays, Microsoft will
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soon unveil a free package which will convert dBase IV files to
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FoxPro 2.5 format. Rumor has it that Borland will release dBase IV
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2.0 for DOS in mid-April.
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Borland is shipping an interim release for Paradox 4. The
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release corrects problems with the Show Pull Down command which has
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tended to grab memory and not release it. Also included is the T
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utility for fixing corrupted data tables. The charge is $15 to
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registered users.
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WordPerfect acquired a controlling interest in Reference
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Software International, makers of Grammatik. I hate Grammatik and
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all software of like it, but this is certainly a feather in the cap
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of WordPerfect.
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VIDEO FOR WINDOWS
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I don't even own a VCR that works right so why should I care
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about video for my computer?
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Video for Windows is the final piece of the multimedia pie.
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We've improved the sound quality of PC's with the multitude of
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sound cards on the market. The graphics and animation capabilities
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of the PC world have also improved tremendously in recent years.
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The only thing missing has been full motion video.
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Video for Windows replaces the Media Player with one that's
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been enhanced. You also get VidCap and VidEdit, capture and
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editing utilities respectively. WaveEdit, BitEdit, and PalEdit let
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you fine-tune your digital audio and video data. A QuickTime
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converter lets you convert between PC and Macintosh.
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Video clips are then treated like any other type of data. You
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can cut and paste video from the Clipboard and use it as an OLE
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object.
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Yeah, but how good is it. By default, the video is displayed
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in a small window (about 2 inches square on a 14-inch monitor).
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You can play the images full screen. The window cannot be resized
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with the mouse like a conventional window.
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I was surprised. If you're used to looking at jerky loops
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done with GRASP or Animator, Video for Windows makes them look
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sick. The color is good and the motion is very smooth. Be aware
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that you'll need the hottest processor and video combination you
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can muster. Even on my lowly 386-33 and ATI VGA Wonder+ the motion
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was smooth and clean.
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You're going to need megs of storage space and CD-ROM will be
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the normal distribution medium as you might expect. Even so, if
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your presentations or whatever you're doing require video, look
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into Video for Windows.
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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. I can foresee the day in the not so distant
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future where a customer will come into my studio, have a portrait
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done, and select the images to purchase on the screen before
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leaving. I then do electronic retouching and product the prints on
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some sort of electronic printer - the customer returns later in the
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day and picks up (and pays for) the order. I can see the days of
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silver-based emulsions fading.
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We all know that it's not too difficult to get an image into
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the computer with a fair degree of quality. It's not too tough to
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manipulate an image to product a desired effect. The tough part is
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getting it out of the computer with enough quality that someone
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will pay money for it.
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I recently saw a couple of digital images and was completely
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blown away. I didn't know that technology had advanced this far.
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One image had been produced with an electronic camera using no
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conventional silver-based film. The print was made using Kodak's
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fancy electronic imaging system. The print didn't look bad, but
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the colors resembled a Cibachrome print (too saturated). The
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second image was printed from a Photo CD. An untrained eye would
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not be able to detect that this print was electronically printed.
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The limitation at present is that the printer is limited to a
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maximum file size of 9 megs. A hi-res image from a Photo CD can
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easily get in the 15 meg area.
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Don't sell your stock in Kodak just yet. The technology is
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expensive - but the days of silver are numbered.
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PERSONAL NOTE
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Look out on GEnie - I'm back. I recently discovered that
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GEnie has both 2400 and 9600 access available through an 800
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number. I only log on once a week (either Friday nights or
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Saturday mornings) but I'll now be able to respond to your
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messages.
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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
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COMPUTER SERVICES and is available on various local BBS's, GEnie,
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and America Online as well as in Modem News.
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In case anyone cares, RAndY's RumOR RaG is produced on a DTK
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386-33 with 16 megs of memory, Cyrix Fasmath co-processor, ATI VGA
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Wonder+ card (1 MB), 105 MB Toshiba IDE hard drive, Teac 1.2 MB and
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1.44 MB floppies, Pro Audio Spectrum 16 running a Hitachi 3750 CD
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ROM drive, Sceptre SVGA display, Microsoft mouse, WordPerfect for
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Windows and transmitted through a US Robotics HST Dual Standard
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modem.
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Opinions expressed are those of the author. Comments should
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be addressed to Ainsworth Computer Services on GEnie, America
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Online, phone, analog mail, or whatever method makes you feel good.
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AINSWORTH COMPUTER SERVICES
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605 W. Wishkah
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Aberdeen, WA 98520-6031
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(206) 533-6647
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GEnie Address: RAG
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America Online: RumOR RaG |