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KANSASFEST!!!
~ SPECIAL A2/A2PRO DOUBLE ISSUE! ~
~ RUNNING YOUR OWN BBS! ~
~ THE FUTURE OF APPLE II SOFTWARE ~
~ CHATTING WITH MATT DEATHERAGE ~
\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\////////////////////////////////////
GEnie Lamp A2/A2Pro ~ A T/TalkNET OnLine Publication ~ Vol.1, Issue 5
""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""
Publisher............................................Kent Fillmore
Senior Editor........................................John Peters
Editor (AII).......................................Tom Schmitz
Co-Editor (AII).................................Phil Shapiro
~ GEnie Lamp MAC ~ ~ GEnie Lamp IBM ~
~ GEnie Lamp ST ~ ~ GEnie Lamp Elsewhere ~ ~ GEnieLamp A2/A2Pro ~
////////////////////////////////////\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\
>>> WHAT'S HAPPENING IN THE APPLE II ROUNDTABLE? <<<
""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""
~ August 1, 1992 ~
FROM MY DESKTOP ......... [FRM] APPLE BITS .............. [BIT]
Notes From The Editor. A2/A2Pro - August 1992.
HEY MISTER POSTMAN ...... [HEY] HUMOR ONLINE ............ [HUM]
Is That A Letter for Me? A Slight Misunderstanding.
PROGRAMMING CORNER ...... [PRO] A2 PRO ROUNDTABLE ....... [PRO]
Part II, Apple I. A2 Pro News & Features.
ONLINE FUN .............. [FUN] WHO'S WHO ............... [WHO]
Search-ME! Who's Who In Apple II.
KANSASFEST .............. [KAN] FOCUS ON ................ [FOC]
News & Views. Shared Minds: Book Reviews.
SOFTVIEW A2 ............. [SOF] COWTOONS ................ [COW]
A2 Software Reviews. Mooooooo Fun!
THE ONLINE LIBRARY ...... [LIB] SHAREWARE SOLUTIONS ..... [SHA]
Yours For The Downloading. FTA Contests.
APPLE II HISTORY ........ [HIS] GAMES PEOPLE PLAY ....... [GAM]
Apple II History, Pt. III. Focus On Computer Games.
LOG OFF ................. [LOG]
GEnieLamp Information.
[IDX] """"""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""
READING GEnie Lamp GEnie Lamp has incorporated a unique indexing
"""""""""""""""""" system to help make reading the magazine easier.
To utilize this system, load GEnie Lamp into any ASCII word processor
or text editor. In the index you will find the following example:
HUMOR ONLINE ............ [HUM]
[*]GEnie Fun & Games.
To read this article, set your find or search command to [HUM]. If
you want to scan all of the articles, search for [EOA]. [EOF] will take
you to the last page, whereas [IDX] will bring you back to the index.
MESSAGE INFO To make it easy for you to respond to messages re-printed
"""""""""""" here in GEnie Lamp, you will find all the information you
need immediately following the message. For example:
(SMITH, CAT6, TOP1, MSG:58/M475)
_____________| _____|__ _|___ |____ |_____________
|Name of sender CATegory TOPic Msg.# Page number|
In this example, to respond to Smith's message, log on to page
475 enter the bulletin board and set CAT 6. Enter your REPly in TOPic 1.
A message number that is surrounded by brackets indicates that this
message is a "target" message and is referring to a "chain" of two
or more messages that are following the same topic. For example: {58}
ABOUT GEnie GEnie costs only $4.95 a month for unlimited evening and
""""""""""" weekend access to more than 100 services including
electronic mail, online encyclopedia, shopping, news, entertainment,
single-player games, multi-player chess and bulletin boards on leisure
and professional subjects. With many other services, including the
largest collection of files to download and the best online games, for
only $6 per hour (non-prime-time/2400 baud). To sign up for GEnie
service, call (with modem) 1-800-638-8369. Upon connection type HHH.
Wait for the U#= prompt. Type: XTX99368,GENIE and hit RETURN. The system
will then prompt you for your information.
""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""
/////////////////////////////////////////// GEnie_QWIK_QUOTE ////
/ "When my Apple ][gs eventually conks out, I want to invest in /
/ an equally powerful computer; Therefore, I think I'll invest /
/ in a CRAY." /
//////////////////////////////////////////////// PROPTOSIS ////
[EOA]
[FRM]//////////////////////////////
FROM MY DESKTOP /
/////////////////////////////////
Notes From The Editor
"""""""""""""""""""""
By John Peters
[GENIELAMP]
TOP OF THE PAGE The GEnieLamp Computer War contest is heating up with
""""""""""""""" entries from several computer platforms. Surprisingly,
we have received responses from platforms that GEnieLamp doesn't directly
support (like the Amiga and NeXT computers). Even more surprising is the
fact that we have received _zero_ entries from the IBM and Macintosh crowd
while the Apple II/A2Pro response has been tremendous.
The contest is simple: Tell us why you think your computer is HOT.
Why and how do you use your computer in everyday life? What are its
strengths. What are its weaknesses? What keeps you from switching
platforms?
There are only a couple of weeks left to get in on the contest, so if
you're planning on entering do it now. Just send your entry of 400 words
or less to GEmail address GENIELAMP or upload it to Library #8 in the
GEnieLamp RoundTable on page 515. And don't forget, there is over $200.00
worth of GEnie online credit time which will be given away!
Amigians Ask, Where Is GEnieLamp AMI? I have received several GEmail
""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""" asking me why we GEnieLamp doesn't
support the Commodore/Amiga line of computers. The reason is simple: You
already have a great newsletter, Viewport. Viewport is edited by Jim Meyer
and published by Livewire editor, Peggy Herrington. And like GEnieLamp,
Viewport is distributed via the main menu and is included in your
GEnie*Basic package. Check it your copy of Viewport out in the *STARSHIP*
RoundTable on page 555.
GEnieLamp Elsewhere Update Our "elsewhere" issue is undergoing a complete
"""""""""""""""""""""""""" make-over. In order to better serve you we
are hiring reporters/writers to cover the Computing RoundTables that are
currently not included in the GEnieLamp magazines. If you would like to
become part of the GEnieLamp team, write to GENIELAMP today.
MINI_HUMOR! This small poem has been floating around GEnie lately. I
""""""""""" reprint it here for those of you who might have missed it.
Spellbound
""""""""""
I have a spelling checker
It came with my PC;
It plainly marks four my revue
Mistakes I cannot sea.
I've run this poem threw it
I'm sure your pleased too no.
It's letter perfect in it's weigh.
My checker tolled me sew.
- Pennye Harper
[*][*][*]
That's about it for this month. Until next time...
Take care!
John Peters
[GENIELAMP]
///////////////////////////////////// GEnie_QWIK_QUOTE ////
/ "After four years in that game [Air Warrior] there are /
/ still players that, if I see them coming, all I can do /
/ is run. The others that I can kill are most satisfying; /
/ they come back up a minute later cursing you. Gives me /
/ that warm fuzzy feeling...." /
///////////////////////////////////////// C.TOWNSLEY ////
[EOA]
[BIT]//////////////////////////////
APPLE BITS /
/////////////////////////////////
A2/A2Pro - August 1992
""""""""""""""""""""""
By Thomas M. Schmitz
[TOM.SCHMITZ]
WELCOME! Welcome to the August GEnieLamp A2/A2Pro. Now that KansasFest
"""""""" is over we can catch our breath and take stock of what is
happening in the Apple II world. You will find a special section devoted to
the best KansasFest post so you are amongst the first to get the scoop on
what went down.
GEnieLamp A2/A2Pro wants to hear from you! We start on GEnie, but it
goes much farther. We encourage you to upload copies of GEnieLamp to your
favorite BBS's and to share it with your local usergroup. So it only
makes sense that you be able to write us and let us know what you think.
Send me a letter telling me what you think about GEnieLamp and our
articles. We also want to hear what you do with your Apple II. If you are
a developer or programmer, send us a letter telling us what you are doing.
If you send us a program we will review it. (We accept Commercial,
Freeware, Shareware & Public Domain. Make sure you indicate if we may
place it in the GEnie online library.)
Do you have fresh news or a hot rumor? Send it in and we will share
it with the world. (Subject to editors' discretion and/or verification.)
Send your letters and programs to:
GEnieLamp A2/A2Pro
%Thomas M. Schmitz
6750 Hawaii Kai Dr., 1005
Honolulu, Hawaii 96825
Make sure you have the correct postage since we cannot accept postage
due.
BULLETIN BOARDS ARE HOT! If you have not been in the message center
"""""""""""""""""""""""" lately you owe it to yourself to take a visit.
Here is a rundown of current events:
To help celebrate GEnie's Hot Summer Nights Promotion, the A2
Roundtable will be the host for several Special Guests in Real Time
Conferences. Scheduled so far, noted Apple IIgs programmer Bill Heineman
has agreed to be a guest on Sunday August 2, to discuss his latest HOT
arcade game for the Apple IIgs. Kitchen Sink Software, publishers of a
wide variety wonderful 8-bit Apple II software for home, education, and
small business, will be the guest on Tuesday August 11. SoftDisk
Publishing, makers of Softdisk and Softdisk GS, will be our guest on
Thursday, August 20, and have agreed to give away a free subscription or
two to lucky attendees!
An agreement has been reached with Roger Wagner, publisher of over 100
Apple II and Apple IIgs products, to be our guest. No final date has been
set, but watch for announcements within A2 very soon! Tom Zuchowski of the
Eamon Adventurer's Guild has also consented to be our guest at a
soon-to-be-announced date.
Right now the A2 and A2Pro sysops are at the yearly A2-Central Summer
Conference speaking to many more Apple II developers and publishers, so
expect even more exciting Real Time Conference announcements for August!
A2 will also be conducting an Upload Contest in the A2 Libraries.
Every week the GEnie Sysops will choose their favorite new Apple II 8-bit
and new Apple IIgs specific upload, and the uploaders will receive TWO FREE
hours in A2 and A2Pro RoundTables. August is THE time to upload your
favorite piece of software, or your neatest file, or WHATEVER you think
would interest other Apple II users - don't put yourself down, you'd be
surprised what others might like!
The BIG contest is already happening in A2 and A2Pro. Joe Kohn,
author of ShareWare Solutions, a monthly article in A+/InCider magazine is
sponsoring a contest for the best, neatest, most awesome levels for the
FTA game Bouncin'Ferno. Bouuncin' Ferno is an amazing arcade game for
IIgs users, available from the A2 Library as:
File #18948 BOUNCNFERNO.BXY Desc: Bouncin' Ferno game from the FTA!
The game includes a level editor, which can be used to create your own
levels. Those who create the best new levels may win prizes from the
contest sponsored by Shareware Solutions. To help Mr. Kohn's contest, A2
has decided to allow GEnie users to "get in on the action" early. Create
your own levels for Bouncin' Ferno, upload them, and maybe WIN A PRIZE! The
winner will win TWO FREE WEEKEND DAYS in the A2 and A2Pro RoundTables, and
the runner up will receive ONE free weekend day. Whether you win in A2 or
not, you'll also be eligible to participate in the Shareware Solutions
column, so check out Bouncin' Ferno and create those levels right away!
8-Bit Apple II users should not feel left out, because A2 is also
sponsoring a contest for Print Shop Graphics. Create a new Print Shop
Graphic (in either New Print Shop or original format) and upload it to
enter our contest. Winner will receive TWO FREE WEEKEND DAYS in the A2
and A2Pro Roundtables, runner-up will receive one free weekend day.
/////////////////////////////////////// GEnie_QWIK_QUOTE ////
/ "I always assumed it meant "read the font-editor manual". /
/ What do I know. <g>" /
///////////////////////////////////////// CHERRY.FONTS ////
[EOA]
[HEY]//////////////////////////////
HEY MISTER POSTMAN /
/////////////////////////////////
Is That A Letter For Me?
""""""""""""""""""""""""
By Thomas M. Schmitz
[TOM.SCHMITZ]
>>> APPLE II ODDS & ENDS <<<
""""""""""""""""""""""""""""
RTC HUMOR If no-one has told you, insanity abounds in the Apple II RT.
""""""""" Just look at this clipping from a live RoundTable Conference:
<A2.HANGTIME> KFest?
<A2.HANGTIME> 5 days, 10 hours, 29 minutes, 18 seconds until KFest
<A2.HANGTIME> KFest?
<A2.HANGTIME> 10 hours, 29 minutes, 9 seconds until KFest ... YAY!!
<A2.HANGTIME> KFest?
<A2.HANGTIME> 10 hours, 29 minutes, 8 seconds until KFest ... YAY!!
<A2.HANGTIME> Are you enjoying yourself, Hang?
<A2.HANGTIME> Why, yes. As a matter o' fact I am. SO there.
<A2.HANGTIME> Man you're weird
<A2.HANGTIME> Define weird.
<A2.HANGTIME> YOU are the definition of weird!
<A2.HANGTIME> In who's eyes? Yours?
<A2.HANGTIME> Yes mine.
<A2.HANGTIME> Pttthhhh. Look who's talking!
<A2.HANGTIME> - --===[} Hang
<A2.HANGTIME> Oh yeah? ---===[]
<A2.HANGTIME> OUCH!
<A2.HANGTIME> Yeah, serves you right.
<A2.HANGTIME> Yeah, but I just threw a pie, you threw a pie TIN!
That's not very nice.
<A2.HANGTIME> I'm not a noce person.
<A2.HANGTIME> I know you're not a "noce" person. You also can't
type worth $#!+
<A2.HANGTIME> B-P> You know I meant "nice", you dork.
<A2.HANGTIME> on
<A2.HANGTIME> your
<A2.HANGTIME> knees
<A2.HANGTIME> Oh my? Now I'm not sure who's taking? Is it you, or me?
<A2.HANGTIME> I don't know. But I'll make it easier for you ... I'll
leave. bye
<A2.HANGTIME> Okay, later.
More on SoundSmith DISCLAIMER: These are my personal views and not that
"""""""""""""""""" of Seven Hills, my users' group, or any other group.
I may not disclose any proprietary information and will not willing do so.
If I do so, it is involuntary.
As a Seven Hills Partner and "kind of" beta tester (I was real late on
Express - but the final version doesn't conflict with Pointless like one of
the early ones did), I have seen SoundSmith in a "commercial form". I also
signed a non-disclosure agreement.
It was/is nice. I played with it quite a bit. I can not / will not
discuss the program itself.
The only BBS I ever saw it on was the Seven Hills area (closed to
non-Partners) here on GEnie, but then, except for my brief monthly forays
onto AOL, this is my only BBS.
If some Seven Hills Partner let it out by giving it away to a pirate
BBS, then shooting is too good for that person. Hot coals, v-e-r-y
s-l-o-w-l-y, maybe.
I really liked the "commercial version". As the PD librarian of a
users' group, I had played with SoundSmith, but never kept it because of
the way it never liked my system configuration (i.e., it wouldn't run off
my hard drive and I hate booting from a floppy). So I used AOL's
pre-System 6.0 version of SynthLAB and later FTA's freeware NoiseTracker
(I just listen to other people's compositions).
When I was in Germany I wrote to FTA and to Huibert Aalbers. I even
paid for Photonix II prior to it's release (still don't have it...).
Olivier and Huibert are talented guys, but they were writing for a platform
that was never even supported in Europe to a tiny fraction of it's US
support - slim as that was!
Sr. Aalbers might be tempted if _every_ person who _uses_ SoundSmith:
(a) paid their shareware fee; and (b) deluged Seven Hills with prepaid
orders for the "commercial version" - AND cheerfully and uncomplainingly
accepting the "final beta" without a manual until any bugs are worked out.
[BTW, I have suggested in the past that Apple II users could commission
programers to write programs for them. In other words, Bill Heineman
gets, say $5,000 for a program, we raise $5,000 and pay him for his work.
If any one of these "alliance" operations ever got off the ground, that
would be one vehicle to raise programmers' commissions with. Perhaps GEnie
could even be convinced to allow electronic fund raising?]
Seven Hill's is committed to the GS. People who pirate their
programs in these day of faint support should be ashamed - by doing so
they are actively helping to kill a fantastic platform (the GSd a very good
company (Seven Hills, not Apple!). I hope they enjoy their putrid PC's
when that's all that's left. Try my suggestions of getting people to pay
the shareware fee and trying to preorder the finished program. Money
talks, all else walks. Just remember, you'd also have to be happy with the
"final beta" until Huibert Aalbers' ruffled feathers are smoothed.
Mike (On all but beta testing information, you may quote me in print
if you credit me) Murley
(M.MURLEY3, CAT 6,TOP12, MSG:4,/M645;1)
Best of Music Studio Just thought you would all like to know what is in
"""""""""""""""""""" A2's Best of Music Studio Songs (file 18976).
(You must have Music Studio to listen to these files.
Allatrk.SNG Alla Turca -- Mozart
Annies.SNG 11747 Annie's Song -- John Denver
Beethvn5th.SNG
Benhur.SNG 3944
Blackbird.SNG
Blue.Moon.SNG 6943
Bo.Rhapsody.SNG 13897 Bohemian Rhapsody -- Queen
Bolero.SNG 13896 Bolero -- Ravel
Brickwal.SNG 15027 Another Brick in the Wall -- Pink Floyd
Bristl.Stmp.SNG 10998 The Bristol Stomp
BumbleBee.SNG 13898 Flight of the Bumblebee
Can.Can.SNG 16173
Cantina.B.SNG 16174 Star Wars Cantina Band
Closer.SNG 6858 Closer to the Heart -- Rush
Colour.SNG 15139 Colour My World -- Chicago
Concerto.SNG 2849
DownUnder.SNG 16244
Dwarves.SNG 13630 March of the Dwarves
Entertainer.SNG 13334
Every.Day.SNG
Falcon.Crest.SNG 16247
Flashdance.SNG 13959
Games.Play.SNG 16563 Games People Play
GBusters.SNG 15136 Ghostbusters Theme
GGROBAR.SNG Grandma Got Run Over by a Reindeer
Ghostriders.SNG 14216 (with Wavebank)
Heartbreak.SNG 13960
Help.Rhonda.SNG 3557
Here.There.SNG Here, There, and Everywhere -- Beatles
Hill.St.SNG 13410 Hill Street Blues Theme
I.Hav.2.Do2.SNG 6047? All I Have to do is Dream
Invention10.SNG 5362
Invention12.SNG 5362
Invention15.SNG 5362
Linus.Lucy.SNG
Lion.Sleeps.SNG 10998 Wimoweh (Lion Sleeps Tonight)
Lollipop.SNG 4238
Lonely.SNG 3647 Only the Lonely
Lucifer.SNG 16562
Mork.SNG 13371 Mork and Mindy Theme
Mple.Lf.Rag.SNG 16246 Maple Leaf Rag -- Scott Joplin
Nacht.MIDI.SNG 3947 Eine Kleine Nachtmusik -- Mozart
NineToFive.SNG 13372
One.Ur.With.SNG 6938 Love the One you're With
Overture.SNG 6828 Overture -- Rush
Paint.Blak.SNG 2878 (with Wavebank) -- Rolling Stones
People.Eat.SNG 4239 Purple People Eater -- Sheb Wooley
PeterGunn.SNG 13370
Play.W.Fire.SNG 2878 (with Wavebank) -- Rolling Stones
Rock.Round.SNG 10998 Rock Around the Clock
RockUSA.SNG 3444
Rudolph.SNG 16243 Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer
Running.SNG 3445
S.L.T.Wind.SNG 4803 She's Like the Wind -- Swayze
Sd.Silence.SNG 13901 Sounds of Silence -- Simon & Garfunkel
SilanceAG60.SNG 4028 Sounds of Silence -- Simon & Garfunkel
Sinfonia12.SNG 16573
Soliloquy.SNG 6862 -- Rush
Something.SNG 6862 -- Rush
Soolaimon.SNG 14497 -- Neil Diamond
Spaulding.SNG 16172 Hooray for Cpt. Spaulding - Groucho Marx
Spirit.SNG 6858 Spirit of the Radio -- Rush
St.Else.SNG 15190 St. Elsewhere's Theme
Surfin.USA.SNG 3557
Syrinx.SNG 6862 Temple of the Syrinx -- Rush
Under.Sea.SNG 13023 Under the Sea
Vincent.SNG 15271 -- Don McLean
Wonderful.SNG 16565 Wonderful! Wonderful!
Yakety.Yak.SNG 10998
Z812.SNG 15138 1812 Overture
Cello.WBNK 15193 For Falcon Crest Theme
Rock2.WBNK ? For Rolling Stones Songs
Tim Tobin
A2 Head Librarian
(A2.TIM, CAT3, TOP6, MSG:42/M645;1)
PRE-KANSASFEST NEWS Even Before the KansasFest convention began Zip
""""""""""""""""""" Technologies announced new, faster accelerators for
the II GS -- up to 14 megahertz! But if you already have a Zip and want to
save money you can make the upgrade yourself. Lunatic found this on the
Internet:
Article 38578 (266 more) in comp.sys.apple2:
From: bazyar@teal.csn.org (Jawaid Bazyar)
Subject: High Speed '816s from Sanyo
Date: 4 Jul 92 18:18:47 GMT
Organization: Colorado SuperNet, Inc.
Lines: 32
I was talking to Bill Heineman and he mentioned a new chip that's
available from WDC. It's a fairly standard 65c816, except for two things:
o It runs at 14MHz
o It was reengineered almost from scratch by Sanyo to run at 14MHz
This is no joke; I called WDC and asked them (talk to 'Deb'). They
have them, they cost $95 just like the old 'high speed' (not) chips they
had. And, they have what's probably an unlimited supply of them.
You can pump your Zips up to 12.4MHz (their gate array is now the
bottleneck, although there are about 100 Zips out there with faster gate
arrays). Transwarps can probably go the full 14MHz, though I don't know for
a fact. There is no power supply boosting necessary; these chips run
straight off the regular 5V (they were reengineered, remember?). Just plug
'em in, put in a new crystal, hope you particular accelerator card doesn't
have some odd fault, and GO! Ultra fast IIgs's.
WDC will require you to look at some outdated (and because of the new
chip, obsolete) information on modifying TWGS's and Zips before they'll let
you order the chip; but that's free, and well worth a IIgs at 12 or 14
MHz.-(81%)
Again, *THIS IS NOT A JOKE*. WDC's phone number is 602-962-4545.
Jawaid Bazyar | Ask me about the GNO Multitasking Environment
Procyon, Inc. | for the Apple IIgs!
bazyar@cs.uiuc.edu | 11738 W Aqueduct Drive
--Apple II Forever!-- | Littleton, CO 80127 (303) 933-4649
End of article 38578 (of 38932)--what next? [npq]
We do not know anyone who has done this themselves as of this
writing, but the logic behind the posting is sound and the people quoted
are reliable. No, I do not plan on pulling out my welding torch and
performing surgery. You need to know what you are doing to attempt this.
>>> WHAT'S NEW <<<
""""""""""""""""""
Warp Six in the Works Just to keep everyone up-to-date, I'm working on
""""""""""""""""""""" the next version of Warp Six BBS, which will
either be 8.9.4 or 9.0. So far, I've re-written the forum module to
support hundreds of messages per forum.
Any other suggestions will be welcome. ---
Jim Ferr, Fantastic Software
GEnie: J.FERR
TechLink BBS (416) 513-5544
9 Fulton Crescent rem.com
Whitby, Ontario, Canada L1R 2C8
Author of Warp Six BBS - Shareware
(J.FERR, CAT10, TOP10, MSG:50/M645;1)
New AppleNET Coming Soon AppleNET v2.0 may sport a slightly different
"""""""""""""""""""""""" name from current AppleNET versions! This
will be to emphasize the major changes that have taken place from current
AppleNET versions to the new version under production.
AppleNET 2.0 is like nothing you've ever seen. X/Y/Zmodem transfers,
file enclosures, new user fields, more efficient storage of data...
EVERYTHING has been revamped completely! As AppleNET's new author, I'm
trying to make it the best possible software I can, and I'm going to need
all the user/sysop feedback I can get.
As a small show of my gratitude, if anyone suggests an extension to
the AppleNET name that I like and use, I'll give you full credit in the
AppleNET v2.0 docs! So let me know what AppleNET name extensions (eg:
AppleNET Pro, AppleNET Doo-Dah, etc.) you'd suggest! -Derek Fong
(M.POTTER4, CAT41, TOP 2, MSG:2/M645;1)
Spaced-out Price Increase Well, I hate to do it but I find that I must
""""""""""""""""""""""""" increase the price of Astronomer GS if you
buy it directly from me (there is no change if you download it from GEnie.
A major increase in the prices I must pay for disks and Xerox is the
reason. Here's the latest breakdown:
The Works: 7 Disks, Manual w/ labels is $41
Registration and Manual Only : $28 (you get the program from GEnie)
This price increase is effective 15 July 92. and are for U.S. orders
only. Orders from other countries may cost substantially more to cover the
cost of postage. If you have questions, post them here or in E-Mail I'm
L.Bell13 or write to: Larry Bell, 2537 Jefferson St, Long Beach, CA
90810. (L.BELL13, Category 13, Topic 14, Message 10)
FantasyWorks ~ The Elite Fantasy Football League Management System ~
"""""""""""" FantasyWorks version 3.0 is now available from FantasyWorks
Software, Inc. for the start of the 1992 NFL season. FantasyWorks again
remains the ONLY Fantasy Football software for the Apple II line.
Fantasy Football is a seasonal event that coincides directly with the
National Football League's 17-week season. A commissioner runs a league
where members become team owners by drafting a team of NFL players and
decide who to play each week. Each NFL player scores points based upon
their performance in actual NFL games.
FantasyWorks gives you everything you need to run a top-notch Fantasy
Football League on your Apple (or Mac LC or LC II with Apple II emulation
card) using Classic AppleWorks, Publish It and your favorite
telecommunications software. Our thick 300-page manual covers everything
from publishing your own league newsletter to setting up a league hotline.
The included telecommunications scripts automatically capture NFL stats
from Computer Sports World (CSW) and Fantasy Point Scoring is accomplished
automatically using the included UltraMacro TaskFiles within AppleWorks.
Basic, Distance, Performance and our "Elite" method are included. If
necessary, custom scoring TaskFiles are available separately.
FantasyWorks Version 3.0 runs with AppleWorks 3.0 and includes more
than 60 templates to help manage a proficient Fantasy Football League and
requires at least two 5.25" drives or a single 3.5" drive. A TaskMaster
version of all TaskFiles are available free for those AppleWorks owners who
don't have TimeOut UltraMacros. Version 3.0 will have many enhancements
such as automatic weekly scoring sheets and automatic ranking of NFL
players. Numerous customer requests were also added. Registered owners
can upgrade to Version 3.0 for $14.95. A version compatible with
AppleWorks 2.0 is still available for an additional $14.95. A discount
coupon to join CSW is also included.
Fantasy Football is becoming more popular each year and now has 5
paperbacks and 3 magazines dedicated to it. There's lots of stuff here so
if you want to start your own league, now's the time to do it. The NFL
season is almost here.
FantasyWorks normally sells for $74.95 but is available to GEnie
members through December 1st for $59.95 plus $6 s/h (Canadian members,
please add $1 s/h). Please identify yourself as a GEnie member when you
order. Visa and MasterCard orders are accepted.
FantasyWorks BBS ONLINE A new BBS dedicated specifically to Fantasy
""""""""""""""""""""""" Football called the "Fantasy Football
Information Exchange" (FFIE). Access to the FFIE is FREE through November
1st. After Novemebr 1st, our initial, first-year membership fee is $14.95
plus $4.95 per month for usage. All FantasyWorks owners who are registered
by October 1st, 1992, do not have to pay the monthly fees in their first
year online. The FFIE will include: NFL draft reports, rookie info,
player ratings, injury status reports, various fantasy forums, NFL stats,
FantasyWorks software updates, weekly scouting reports, and more. The BBS
will be officially online in mid to late August and enrollment will be
limited. BBS#: (214) 642-9559.
>>> APPLE HEADS WANT TO KNOW <<<
""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""
IIGS Music Thoughts \/\/ell, it's kinda funny when people ask to hear
""""""""""""""""""" "computer" music with "real" instruments in it.
Sure, it can be done, but that's far from where the strengths of computers
lie. The reason you see so much "euro-disco-industrial-pop-dance" music
available for our favorite computer is because that's the kind of music
that is being CREATED on computers, predominantly, in the first place. As
such, it's ideal for the translation to something that we can play on our
own machines.
One example I'd like to make is a song in the library called ACID.BXY.
I would consider this song not just an approximation of a "real world"
song in the style of acid house dance music, but actually an example of
that music ITSELF. Obviously, the music style of acid house dance music is
predominantly created on computers, with a lot of samples. Anyway, there
are still quite a number of artists who use computers to make their music
and who DON'T end up making "euro-disco-industrial-pop-dance" music.
For example, there is a CD called Bachbusters, recorded by Don Dorsey
in 1985, which is a selection of Bach pieces done entirely with
synthesizers (using an Apple II Plus as a synchronizer/sequencer). These
synthesizers were dedicated musical instruments, though (a Fairlight was
used, for example), which become increasingly difficult to duplicate with a
IIGS when you're trying to make it sound like a "real instrument." Now,
synthLAB can be pointed out as an example, but almost all of the people who
actually MAKE music on the IIGS who I've seen comment do not take synthLAB
very seriously, due to quite a number of shortcomings (difficulty in
creating instruments is one -- even the original author did a bunch of
tricks to create his instruments and used MPW IIGS to assemble them, from
what I've heard).
It's surely possible to do forms of music other than
"euro-disco-industrial-pop- dance" with NoiseTracker and SoundSmith, but I
don't think you should be too upset if you don't see very much of it, since
the "euro"etc. music is where their strengths lie. -= Lunatic (:
Hmm, neat trick, talking about acid house and Bach within the same
message.... (CAT3, TOP4, MSG:78/M645;1)
Mac Icons on the IIGS |)ave, here's another way to do it that may
""""""""""""""""""""" be a bit easier: Use the program called Resource
Spy (I know it's in A2Pro, and it may be in A2, as well) to open the
original Mac Desktop file and copy the Calvin and Hobbes icons out of it.
Resource Spy will save them directly as IIGS Finder icons. Now all you
have to do is edit their attributes in an icon editor, and maybe colourise
them if you want. Set the file type attribute of each one to $FFF1, if
your hard drive is SCSI. If it's not SCSI, set it to $FFF3, or maybe even
$FFFD (this is what an older Sider partition would use). Set the file
names of each icon to the names of your partitions. Finally, put the new
icon file in the Icons folder on your BOOT disk, to make sure that they
will show up.
Whatever you do, don't put the icon for a partition in the Icons
folder of that partition itself (except for the boot partition) or the icon
won't show up. The reason for this is that, except for the boot partition,
Finder shows the icon for the partition first, and THEN reads all of the
icons on that partition. On the other hand, at the urging of myself and
probably several other people, Finder 6.0 reads all the icons on the boot
volume FIRST, and then shows that volume on the desktop. Having all of
your volume/partition icons on your boot volume makes sure that they're
always in memory before Finder starts looking at other devices.
BTW, once you've got 'em working, why not upload them so we can all
take a look? -= Lunatic (:
(CAT9, TOP2, MSG:142, M645;1)
Hyper Card Update Info I know why the upgrades for HCGS aren't available
"""""""""""""""""""""" thru Apple dealers (I had a big hand is
establishing that policy, so I should know... <grin>).
We wanted a single point of contact for customers upgrading and we
wanted to keep the cost as low as possible. If the upgrade went through
the "dealer" channel, it would have _HAD_ to be packaged like a regular
product (fancy box, etc) and that would have driven the cost up quickly.
Instead, we chose to go through APDA. As reality unfolded, APDA worked out
a deal with Resource Central to allow RC to take over distribution of
APDA's A2 packages - including the soon-tob-be-released (at the time this
happened, HCGS v.1.1 hadn't quite been released yet) HCGS v.1.1 upgrade
package.
By putting the product through APDA, we could do away with the
traditional packaging requirements and get the cost down considerably.
As for why RC wasn't sent a list of registered owners - _THEY WERE_!
But that doesn't solve the problem you mentioned (avoiding having to send
in your Installer & Tour disc [not "discs", "disc", only one disc and it's
named "Installer and Tour"]). See, the vast majority of HCGS customers
never bothered to send in their registration cards, so we had no way of
telling RC who those users were. We didn't want to leave those users out,
so RC established a policy that solved the problem at minimal hassle to the
customer (a single floppy can be easily mailed in a normal envelope - I've
done it often when sending out updates to ShareWare subscribers).
If I left something unanswered, let me know...
Tim S. (my opinions are my own)
(TIM.SWIHART, CAT5, TOP3, MSG:22/M645;1)
Running Astronomer GS Boy...I don't know if a floating point engine will
""""""""""""""""""""" help or not. I'm not familiar with them on the
Apple. Remember, Astronomer is a 16-Bit program. As for the speed...I
know it seems slow but there's a reason for it. All calculations are done
in double precision and I don't use many of the approximation equations
used by other programs. Where ever possible, I use the most accurate
calculation algorithums available (see Astronomical Algorithums by J.
Meeus). The emphasis has always been on accuracy vs speed.
Having said that, I have found that some folks have had problems with
incompatible DA's Inits etc that cause the program to slow WAY DOWN. Try
booting from System 6 holding the shift key down till the thermometer
appears then run Astronomer and see if it improves. You must also remember
that for some routines the farther your date is from present, the longer
calcs may take. For a quick test, find the Sun Rise/Set time for your
area on a date in 1991 (any date). If the calc takes less than 60- sec
you're probably OK. For most folks it should take less than 20 sec.
(L.BELL13, CAT13, TOP14, MSG:8/M645;1)
Laser Computer Ram >R.ROEHNER [RJ]
"""""""""""""""""" >I could use Prosel 8 to load the whole thing into
>this RAM disk and then when it came time to check my spelling I would
>press open-apple V as I do now, but the dictionary would already be in
>memory so there would be no need to swap discs? And Nibbler, when you
>say the Laser ram expansion behaves like the RamFactor from AE, what is
>RamFactor and is it something that could be used with the Laser?
I haven't attended here in awhile but just noticed all of the
discussion on using the Laser 128EX's RAM disk.
For the Laser, Copy II+ is also a great utility for loading the RAM
disk, as well as ProSel 8. Like Prosel, you can copy all of the files in an
entire directory by designating it, or you can copy the files one-by-one.
Copying individual files has the advantage of allowing you to increase
desktop space by being selective about which subroutines you wish to use.
For example, you can leave out spread sheet, database, printer routines,
dictionary or various TimeOut apps, if you want to increase desktop space.
Use only your word processor and dictionary, your database, whatever. Both
ProSel and Copy II+ version 9 can be configured to launch apps from RAM.
Since the RamFactor was mentioned, I thought I'd also add that if this
card is used with the Laser in the expansion box, I believe that you can
increase the Laser's RAM beyond 1 MB. The Laser's built- in RAM card is 1
meg only, while Ramfactor can go beyond 1 meg.
I should also comment about "Autocopy 2." If you want to get really
fancy, Applied Engineering supplies a little utility with their RAM cards
called "Autocopy 2." It is an uncompiled basic program that you can go into
and edit to suit your needs. Basically, Autocopy 2 copies everything in the
directories you designate onto your RAM disk...automatically at bootup.
The advantage to Autocopy 2 over ProSel and Copy II+ is that it
occupies very little memory if you're trying to cram a lot of apps on a
single microfloppy. With Autocopy 2 installed on your microfloppy, you can
simply boot a disk. (It takes awhile for 500K + of applications to load to
RAM, so go get a cup of coffee.) When you come back, press "return," et
voila! No muss, no fuss; everything is the re in RAM.
You only have to know a little bit of basic, i.e. "load," "list,"
"save," etc., and ProDOS file structure. The docs that come with Autocopy 2
tell you the rest to let you customize it for yourself. I believe that
there are also some basic programs in the Genie library that will do the
same thing.
I've always wondered why Apple didn't encourage programmers to use
these kinds of copy routines in their programs by manufacturing and selling
their machines off-the-shelf with more RAM than the basic 64k or 128k. A
stock Apple IIe or IIc with 512K or 1 MB would have been a nice product 6
or 8 years ago. It sure would have been interesting to see what kinds of
programs developers would have come up with for an Apple with that kind of
memory. It would have kept Apple IIs more competitive (sigh!).
Not being a programmer or engineer, I've never seen much difference
between "extended" RAM, "expanded" RAM or RAM disk. Heck, if you can call a
program's subroutine from memory instantly, what's the diff??
Good Luck, J-Bird (J.CURTIS8, CAT2, TOP2, MSG:59/M645;1)
SoftSwitch on 6.0 The SoftSwitch.Init file does have a problem with
""""""""""""""""" System 6.0. You can disable (or just remove) the
SoftSwitch.Init file, and as Luny mentioned, the only drawback is loss of
the hot-key features. You can also just mail your SoftS witch disk back
to RWP with $10, and we'll re-copy the disk with the latest version which
works fine with System 6.0, and mail the disk back to you.
-Roger Wagner (ROGER.WAGNER, CAT32, TOP5, MSG:98/M645;1)
Modem to Modem >I am wondering if two people with ordinary BB type
"""""""""""""" >software - TIC for me and the MS-DOS equivalent -
>can communicate in this way.
My brother and I do this all the time, now, between his PS-2 and my
IIgs (ProCOMM to ProTERM). A secretary who does private work for me uses a
rickity old XT clone and an out-of-date term program to communicate with
my IIgs over the phone. She types up my dictated notes on her machine using
WordPerfect. Calls my computer and uploads her files. I can turn them into
AppleWorks WP files effortlessly using either ProTERM or Beagle's
Textloader.
>My understanding is that if the two computers and their modems are using
>Hayes protocols and text files, it doesn't really matter what operating
>languages they're using.
Amen! It is amazing to me how stupid a lot of IBM folks are when it
comes to connecting different systems over the phone. My brother once had a
PROFESSOR in a telecommunications class tell him that it was impossible for
IBM and Apple Systems to talk to one another. It simply couldn't be done,
period, even with Hayes-style modems and ASCII. IBM folks seem to like this
techno-myth. I think it is something like the caste social system in India
where one group is perceived as beneath another and therefore unworthy of
communication.
>Sounds like ProTERM is one of the programs which does at least VT100,
>and its scripts may allow integration. Can anyone confirm this?
Yep. But there are others, too. In my experience, if there are
problems in hooking into an IBM system, the problem usually lies with some
deficiency or limitation in the IBM system's equipment or software, rather
than the Apple. -J-Bird
(J.CURTIS8, CAT12, TOP6, MSG:33/M645;1)
RAMdisk Settings From your comments I take it that you have a ROM 01
"""""""""""""""" like I do. One factor to remember when setting a
RAMdisk is NEVER set a different Max and Min size - never. It causes
problems - which is the reason the capability was removed in the ROM 03
machine. Remember PT3 claims all unused memory for itself - then if the
RAMdisk has to expand to receive more data, it seems to me that it might
well be "lockup-city".
I learned about the possibility of problems very early and never had
any reason to want to make the sizes different when I wanted a RAMdisk.
Try setting up your RAMdisk with EQUAL settings to see if these
lockups occur. -Dale
(WASH.A2, CAT24, TOP2, MSG:165/M645;1)
Formatting Dos 3.3 To make a bootable disk under DOS 3.3, you need
"""""""""""""""""" to format a 5.25 inch disk with the command INIT
HELLO. INIT formats the disk and puts an image of DOS 3.3 in the first 3
(or was it 2?) tracks. When you boot this disk it will look for an
AppleSoft startup program named HELLO and run it. HELLO was the
traditional name - it could be anything. A BRUNnable binary file might also
work as the HELLO program - I'm not sure of that, though.
Copy the game files from the DOSless disk to the bootable one, make
sure the menu or startup program, if any, is named HELLO, and you should
have a self-starting game disk. If you can't fit all the files on the
bootable disk, you'll have to make two bootable disks and put some games on
each. -Bill Dooley (A2.BILL, MSG:63)
Why Use SuperConvert? I imagine that some folks who've been using
""""""""""""""""""""" SHR.Convert for years have never bothered to
purchased SuperConvert, so I'll give you one good reason to spend the $28
that mail order vendors are charging for SuperConvert.
In an online conversation with Jason Harper, I was commenting that it
seemed to me as if SuperConvert can create a GIF graphic 10 times faster
than SHR.Convert did. Jason Harper, the author of both programs, admitted
that when he wrote SHR.Convert he hadn't implemented GIF file creation
properly. He fixed it in SuperConvert.
I'm not the type to sit in front of my computer with a stop watch, so
I don't know if that "10 times faster" is accurate. But, SuperConvert is a
heckuva lot faster than SHR.Convert.
That's just one good reason to buy SuperConvert. But, by no means, is
it the only reason! -Joe Kohn
(J.KOHN], CAT3, TOP8, MSG:4/M645;1)
Want An Extra Phone? You may be able to hook up an extra phone in you
"""""""""""""""""""" computer room and not know it. Most phones are
wired with 4 wires. R/G/Y/B. Red and Green are the main lines and yellow
& Black are/or can be the second lines.
At my house this is how it is. I set up one line with the modem and
the other for a telephone. I also went a step further and installed a
toggle switch so I can switch between lines for the modem and have a two
line phone in the room. This gives me the most versitility with a teenager
in the house:)
If you only have one incoming line you can use a splitter and have the
phone and modem on one line. I did that before I had two lines. ( (_) Bob
Cherry (R.CHERRY2, CAT10, TOP2, MSG:138/M645;1)
NoiseTracker And Amiga MODs are in a totally different format from
""""""""""""""""""""""""""" SoundSmith songs. Beyond that, one really
big difference between the types of files is that MODs can (and usually do)
have instruments larger than 64K in them. This requires a special program
such as NoiseTracker, MODZap, or soniqTracker to dynamically swap data in
and out of the limited 64K of sound RAM in the IIGS. It's a lot like
displaying a 3200 colour picture: the computer is so busy doing the work
of presenting the data to you that it can't really do much else. This
precludes anyone from effectively writing a CDA or NDA player for MODs,
because you can't be running some other program while the MODs is playing.
The MOD players that are out there _do_ have other things happening while
the music is playing, but it's very limited. Only a few simple graphic
displays that don't take up much processor power are possible. It can be
compared to the way DreamGrafix is able to edit 3200 colour pics. -=
-Lunatic (: (LUNATIC, CAT6, TOP7, MSG:131/M645;1)
>>> MESSAGE SPOTLIGHT <<<
"""""""""""""""""""""""""
Best Phone Call of my A lady called up today asking about
""" Tenure at Resource Central software for an old Apple. She had put
"""""""""""""""""""""""""" it in a garage sale last weekend for $100
and it didn't sell. She was going to lower the price to try and sell it
again but she wanted to locate some software to encourage buyers.
It was an Apple _I_.
I double-clutched and explained to her that it was probably worth
somewhere between $6,000-$10,000 if she could find a collector who knew the
real value (especially since I assume it was _working_ if she was looking
for more programs). That seemed to make her perk up. :)
(A2-CENTRAL, CAT2, TOP7, MSG:155, M645;1)
[*][*][*]
While on GEnie, do you spend most of your time downloading files?
If so, you may be missing out some excellent information in the Bulletin
Board area. The messages listed above only scratch the surface of
what's available and waiting for you in the bulletin board area.
If you are serious about your APPLE II, the GEnie Lamp staff strongly
urge you to give the bulletin board area a try. There are literally
thousands of messages posted from people like you from all over the
world.
/////////////////////////////////////// GEnie_QWIK_QUOTE ////
/ "The JSR $FE1F method is the only Apple-documented way to /
/ detect that your program is running on a IIGS. I'd never /
/ seen the PEEK (65055) before. I do remember that Bill /
/ Basham "documented" another IIGS ID byte -- if PEEK /
/ (-1) = 192 then the machine is a IIGS. Be warned, /
/ though; that method may not work on future IIGS /
/ models! (Hoo hahahah, I crack myself up sometimes.) /
/////////////////////////////////////////////////// QC ////
[EOA]
[HUM]//////////////////////////////
HUMOR ONLINE /
/////////////////////////////////
A Slight Misunderstanding
"""""""""""""""""""""""""
Ctsey. Of Terry Quinn
[TQUINN]
>>> THE OYSTER <<<
"""""""""""""""""""
The sign upon the cafe wall said, "Oysters: 50 cents"
"How quaint," the blue eyed sweetheart said, with some
bewilderment.
"I didn't know they served such fare out here upon the plain."
"Oh, sure," her cowboy date replied. "We're really quite urbane."
"I guess they're Chesapeake, or Blue Point, don't you think?"
"No m'am, they're mostly Hereferd cross, and usually they're pink.
But I've been cold, so cold myself, that what you say could be
true.
And if a man looked close enough, their points could sure be
blue!"
She said, "I gather them myself out on the bay alone.
I pluck them from the murkey depths and smash them with a stone."
The cowboy winced, imagining a calf with her underneath.
"Me, I use a pocket knife and yank 'em with my teeth."
"Oh my," she said. "You Animal! How crude and unrefined!
Your masculine assertiveness sends shivers up my spine!
But I prefer a butcher knife too dull to really cut;
I wedge it on either side and crack it like a nut.
"I pry them out. If they resist, sometimes I use the pliers.
Or even Grandpa's pruning shears, if that's what it requires!"
The hair stood on the cowboys neck; his stomach did a whirl-
He'd never heard such grisly talk, especially from a girl!
"I like them fresh," the sweetheart said, and laid her menu down.
Then ordered oysters for them both when the waiter came around.
The cowboy smiled gamely, though her words stuck in his craw.
But he finally fainted dead away when she said, "I'll have mine
raw."
[*][*][*]
I just had to put this here - after all the talk about
"unmentionables" - I have to confess, that it took me a few minutes to
realize the kind of "oysters" that were on the menu!
(COOKIE.LADY, CAT2, TOP14, MSG:293/M1150)
/////////////////////////////////////////// GEnie_QWIK_QUOTE ////
/ "I truly don't understand the apparent fascination with tower /
/ cases. I mean, be artistic - use an old breadbox, peach /
/ crate, or old wood-case radio, grandfather clock, any- /
/ thing. <g> Heck, build it all into an old briefcase or /
/ portmanteau, voila - a portable!" /
/////////////////////////////////////////////// M.JONES52 ////
[EOA]
[PRO]//////////////////////////////
PROGRAMMING CORNER /
/////////////////////////////////
Apple II And You
""""""""""""""""
By Darrel Raines
[D.RAINES]
>>> THE FUTURE OF APPLE II SOFTWARE <<<
"""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""
The text before you represents the first column of a new GEnieLamp
series on programming for the Apple II computer. However, this column will
not be like any other that you have seen that went by a similar title.
More on that subject later. I should introduce myself first. My name is
Darrel Raines. I am also the author of the Computer Games article that
appears elsewhere in this issue. You may want to refer to that column for
a brief biography. For the purpose of a brief statement, I would say that
I have many varied computer interests. One of those long term interests
has been programming on the Apple II.
The next order of business will be to explain why I was interested in
starting a regular series on Apple II programming. I have seen more
columns about programming a personal computer than I can count. Most of
them started with a bang and then faded away before too long. That brings
me back to why this series of articles will be different than any you have
ever seen before. I want to cover a broad set of topics that will interest
not only the hardcore programmer and the novice programmer, but also the
person who has never diddled a bit before in their life. That means that
we will cover more than just how to program. We will also cover topics
like how to select and use the software that you need.
If you have owned an Apple II computer for more than one year, you
cannot have failed to notice the diminishing support for the computer from
Apple Corp. I have been noticing it for about four and one half years now.
My first reaction was one of anger and frustration. "How can Apple Corp.
take my money spent on Apple II equipment and use it to shove Mac's down
the throat of corporate America?" It has gotten worse over the last few
years. After a while, my anger gave way to reason and I have been a happy
camper for the past few years. As long as my computer does what I want it
to do, I will remain content and enjoy what it CAN do. This seems to be
much more productive than sitting around hating Apple for abandoning the II
line.
One of the reasons to stay happy is the introduction of some new
software products during the last few months: two of note are Apple System
Software 6.0 and Pointless (by WestCode). Granted, Apple Computer will not
be doing any more software updates for the II line. That just makes this
last gasp effort at product support that much sweeter. Seven Hills has a
few new releases and Q-labs has some new updates and products. All of
these sources are nice, but they do not represent the future of Apple
software. And THAT subject is the one I want to focus on for this first
article.
"Where", you may ask, "do you expect future Apple II software to come
from if it is not from these companies? Do you expect it to grow on
trees?" I have been accused of being a raving optimist, but I am not quite
so bad as to expect software to magically appear. The question still
remains: what company will be the source of most future Apple II software?
The answer lies at the other end of your modem. Have you played Solitaire,
Euchre, or Gin Rummy with your computer lately? Have you ever printed a
text file in multiple columns on your wide carriage printer? Have you
sampled the power of a relational database with a sophisticated report
generator? If you have done any of these activities or thousands more just
like them, then you know where to look for future software. Shareware and
Freeware are the future of Apple II software.
I need to be absolutely clear here. I do expect to continue seeing
some commercial software appear during the next few years. I applaud the
efforts of the remaining Apple software companies and will try to support
them through the purchase of their products. However, these developers
cannot hope to provide the Apple II users with the variety of software that
we have become accustomed to over the last few years. Too many of the
various software manufacturers have moved over to Mac and IBM products.
Beyond this fact, I believe that Apple II users will need more and
different applications than can be produced by what is left of the
supporting software industry. On the other hand, I have seen more powerful
shareware programs over the last two years for the Apple II computer than I
ever thought possible. The part-time and leisure-time programmers have put
together some very nice products.
One of the reasons that I believe Shareware to be our future is the
continually decreasing use of the Apple II computer in school systems. The
majority of software purchasers will soon be the home computer owner. The
home computer owner does not traditionally buy as much software as the
school or business user. Again, this points to a reduced commercial market
and an increased informal distribution system. Most home computer users
are not too excited about spending a lot of money on a product that they
have not seen in action. Shareware offers them an opportunity to try
before they buy.
Of course, the good news about this situation is that GEnie users are
in a prime position to receive new software straight from the producers.
You are already aware of the fantastic benefits available to you by simply
logging into the Apple II Library and browsing through the latest uploads
for your computer. Any of these potential gems may be yours for the price
of a download. Over 19,000 separate files have been placed in the Apple II
Library area. Most of these files are still available and offer a rich
variety of software for you to choose from.
If my analysis about software production is correct, the users of
Apple II software have an unprecedented chance to shape their future
computer use. Most of the Shareware authors that I know have a common
problem: what program do I write next? You might be surprised by how many
programmers are willing and able to write good software, but do not have a
specific goal in mind for a project. This situation lends itself well to a
productive cross-fertilization between software users and authors. I
propose that this problem can be alleviated with some simple communication
between the two groups. Like most problems, once it is understood the
solution can be achieved without too much trouble.
In my next article, I will to address the issue of how to get these
groups together. We will discuss a number of different ways to develop
synergy between them. If I am correct about the future of Apple II
software, then it is in everyone's best interest to keep the Shareware
authors busy producing software that we want to see and buy. In future
articles I will discuss how programmers can use the resources available in
the A2Pro area to develop software that people want to buy. Until we get
together again, why don't you sit down and register your favorite piece of
Shareware. You may just help insure your computing future.
///////////////////////////////////////// GEnie_QWIK_QUOTE ////
/ "Your help in diagnosing and suggesting a solution is a big /
/ part of what makes GEnie so great -- people helping people, /
/ sharing wisdom and knowledge." /
/////////////////////////////////////////////// J.SAFFER ////
[EOA]
[PRO]//////////////////////////////
A2 PRO ROUNDTABLE /
/////////////////////////////////
A2Pro News & Features
"""""""""""""""""""""
>>> WHAT'S GOING ON IN A2PRO? <<<
"""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""
A2Pro Survey We need to know more about what you want from A2Pro, so
"""""""""""" PLEASE take a minute to complete the A2Pro Survey. It's
item 7 on the A2Pro menu, and the results will help us serve you better.
Thanks!
The June 1992 Apple II Technical Notes in text files are here! Loaded
with new file formats, 6.0 programming information and tons more useful
stuff you as an Apple II developer need to know -- sparse files,
documentation errors, resource formats, dealing with interrupts and more.
File #2373 contains all the new Notes -- file #2759 contains just the
Technical Notes and file #2762 contains just the File Type Notes. Download
them and learn all kinds of things!
Win FREE printed Apple II Technical Notes just for showing up to the
A2Pro weekly Monday Night conference. Also, program a great Finder
Extension and win a FREE WEEKEND in A2 and A2Pro. See category 1, topic 16
in the bulletin board for details.
Got some time and want to beta-test ShrinkIt for the Apple IIgs? Read
category 16, topic 14, message 2 and you might find yourself on the
ShrinkIt Beta-Testers Honor Roll!
What do you want to learn? A2 University wants your input on courses
for the summer and fall. See category 1, topic 14 for the ideas so far and
tell us what you'd like to know.
Procyon, Inc., makers of the GNO multitasking environment (GNO/ME) now
have their own category and library here in A2Pro where they answer your
questions about programming under GNO and give you the latest GNO goodies.
Check out category and library #30 for more details.
Coming soon: Company Support, KansasFest technical summaries, New A2U
categories and topics, and more.
>>> ROUNDTABLE OUT-TAKES <<<
""""""""""""""""""""""""""""
Who Uses A2Pro? You'll get a serious argument if you contend most of
""""""""""""""" the people who _use_ A2Pro are experts. A lot of the
people who _post_ are, and one of our goals is to make sure everyone
realizes that no one got to be an expert overnight.
Lots of the people you see as "experts" learned a lot of what they
know in this very roundtable.
We just have to make sure everyone realizes there's plenty of room for
_them._ --Matt (speaking for myself, not for Apple)
(M.DEATHERAGE, CAT1, TOP14, MSG:24/M530;1)
5.25 Drive Bug Yeesh. We've been through this in detail on CompuServe,
"""""""""""""" and I'll try to summarize (and I'll leave out all the
part about the guy who was nearly ready to file a lawsuit against Apple
for obsoleting his disk drives):
The new 5.25" driver tries to be clever and notice when there are
actually drives connected to your 5.25" interface by turning on the motor
and looking for noise on the bus. Theoretically, no drive is so quiet that
it won't return noise, so the driver can only build DIBs for drives that
are actually there and not give you more devices than you have drives.
In reality, there are _lots_ of drives out there this quiet, and so
the new 5.25" driver doesn't think you have any drive connected at all.
The two ways to get around the problem are to 1) use the 5.0.4 driver, or
2) always keep a formatted disk in the drives when booting or restarting
GS/OS.
Engineering now accepts this as a bug and they intend to fix it.
(M.DEATHERAGE, CAT8, TOP5, MSG:47/M530;1)
Modula-2 Revisited Modula-2 has been available for the Apple II series
"""""""""""""""""" since 1984, in the form of Volition Systems' Modula-2
(later, Pecan Power System Modula-2). It features a syntax very much like
Pascal's, special language elements that make low-level programming easier
without sacrificing readability, maintainability or (in many cases)
strong-type checking. Mostly, however, Modula-2 is centered around the
concept of the module, a collection of procedures and data structures that
are known to clients by a separately compilable definition section, and
realized in an implementation section. Modules permit better organization
of code, the implementation of opaque, abstract data types, and many more
advantages that are often claimed for object-oriented languages, although
Modula-2 is not itself an "object-oriented" language. Oberon, designed to
succeed Modula-2, is a "minimalist" notation that retains Modula- 2's
module mechanism, and also adds an inheritance mechanism that can function
across modules. It is much closer to a classical "object oriented" design
than Modula-2, but to draw closer to "true OOP," Oberon had to eliminate
many features that were deemed "superfluous" in a minimalist design, such
as enumerations, subranges, direct support for coroutines and
multiprocessing, and other aspects.
Modula-2 that many Pascal and Modula-2 fans liked. Oberon is still
quite young, as languages go, and it will certainly be several years before
a generally acceptable dialect -- perhaps reintegrating old M2 features
that are now absent, while keeping Modules and cross-module inheritance --
is defined. Modula-2 is the more mature language, for which an ISO
standards effort is now underway and many implementations are available,
depending on your computer platform. For example, minicomputers and
mainframes support Modula-3, a new language based on M2, and designed to
support OOP. Macs have versions of Modula-2 that include special
extensions for OOP. I believe the same is true for IBMs; there are several
implementations for the IBM world, in any case. Modula-2 is available for
Commodore Amiga and Atari 68000 machines, as well. Sadly, only the original
(and now unsupported) Volition and Pecan M2 implementations work on the
Apple II. This situation may change in the near future, however, at least
for Apple IIGS owners. Stay tuned for more details. In the meantime, I
hope to discuss M2 and Oberon with other Apple II programmers, especially
those who used the earlier systems or those who have questions about those
languages. Regards; Jim Merritt
(JIM.MERRITT, CAT14, TOP4, MSG:1)
Want C? Get ORCA Marc - let me make this REAL SIMPLE. I'm the Product
"""""""""""""""" Manager at Apple for all Apple II Developer Tools, so
APW C falls under my responsibility. If you want to learn C on a IIGS,
get ORCA/C! It's an ANSI C compiler (i.e.: supports function prototypes
for stronger type checking) and has some other capabilities that APW C
doesn't have and won't have in the future. APW C is only a "K&R" C
compiler, so you don't get the stronger type checking and you're lacking a
few other things that you'll find in ORCA/C (for example, ORCA/C supports a
desktop environment for code development and debugging - APW C's interface
is closer to what you find under MS-DOS, ugh). -Tim S.
(my opinions are my own)
(TIM.SWIHART, CAT4, TOP2, MSG:90/M530;1)
Don't Make System Tools If memory serves, these tools are "system" tools,
""""""""""""""""""""""" and third-parties writing system tools is
strictly against Apple's compatibility guidelines. There are user tools
for that purpose. However, you can't use _LoadOneTool or _LoadTools on
user tools, so some people get lazy and write system tools.
(This is the bad side to having a toolbox that does so much for you
-- some programmers have no problems making things difficult for the users
or in breaking compatibility guidelines if it saves them four lines of
code, which is exactly the wrong attitude for programmers to have.)
Anyway, StartUpTools has to know the startup _parameters_ to each
tool, so it only knows about the legitimate, Apple-provided system tools.
--Matt (speaking for myself, not for Apple)
(M.DEATHERAGE, CAT16, TOP17, MSG:12/M530;1)
Contest Extended In our A2Pro Finder Extension Contest, we neglected one
"""""""""""""""" little point. Until now, Finder Extension and 6.0
programming documentation hasn't been available except through ERSs, only
on the 6.0 GM CD.
Now that "Programmer's Reference for 6.0" is released, and _everyone_
can (and should!) get it, Finder Extensions are within the reach of every
programmer.
Therefore, to try to get it right the second time, we've extended the
deadline for the A2Pro Finder Extension Contest to _September 1st_.
You now have an extra month to read the documentation and crank out
the world's greatest Finder Extra, and win a free weekend in A2/A2Pro for
the effort.
--Matt (I speak for A2Pro, not for Apple) ------------
(M.DEATHERAGE, CAT1, TOP16, MSG:22/M530;1)
Byte Works, A Force in A2Pro Apple II Programmers have a great friend
""""""""""""""""""""""""""""" at A2Pro in Mike Westerfield. Mike is the
driving force behind the Byte Works, a software company specializing in
programing and development aides. You can catch Mike in A2Pro answering
questions and offering his views several times a week. One current
discussion which has been raging is what should a Pascal compiler be
capable of in conjunction with the
Toolbox. If you are a regular visitor you know Mike has strong views
on the matter. No matter where you fall on the issues, Mike Westerfield
certainly makes A2Pro a more exciting place.
The Byte Works recently released The Programmer's Reference for System
6.0. This book is the latest in the series of Apple IIGS reference books
which include the Apple IIGS Toolbox Reference Volumes 1-3 and the Apple
IIGS GS/OS Reference. Programmer's Reference for System 6.0 covers all of
the changes, enhancements and additions to the Apple IIGS operating system
since these books were published for System 5.0.
This complete technical reference to System 6.0 includes:
* New tool calls and tool updates
* Documentation for these new tools: MIDI Synth, Media Control Tool
Set, and Video Overlay Tool Set
* Finder documentation
* GS/OS Update
* Information about the new FSTs
* Sound Control Panel documentation
* A complete toolbox concordance listing every page a tool is
documented over all 4 volumes of the toolbox reference manuals.
The Toolbox Concordance The toolbox documentation streatches across four
""""""""""""""""""""""" volumes, now. Between the original
documentation, error corrections, clarifications, and new features, some of
the tool calls are actually documented in as many as three different books!
The Toolbox Concordance lists all of the places you need to look to
find information about a tool call. Every tool call in the entire suite of
books is listed. You also get a comprehensive list of all of the error
codes used throughout the Apple IIGS operating system, from the tools to
GS/OS errors to the System errors.
Includes All the Toolbox Updates System 6.0 came with a lot of new
"""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""" features, including the new rectangle
and thermometer controls, animated cursors, named resources, new dialog
tools that handle all of the controls and the new Media Control Tool Set,
Video Overlay Tool Set and MIDI Synth Tool Set. Programmer's Reference for
System 6.0 tells you how to use these new features in your own programs.
Changes to GS/OS Programmer's Reference for System 6.0 is your best
"""""""""""""""" source for changes to GS/OS. You'll learn about the
new GS/OS calls, changes to the existing calls, and the errors in the
original documentation. You will get an update to Apple IIGS GS/OS
Reference, which was written for System 5.0. You'll discover the latest on
the new FSTs (AppleShare FST, HFS FST, DOS 3.3 FST, and the Pascal FST),
the new Initializatino Manager, and more.
Finder 6.0 Our documentation of the 6.0 Finder really includes two
"""""""""" different kinds of information. First, it tells you how to
use the Finder. It describes all of the cool new features for Finder 6.0,
but it assumes you are a reasonably computer literate person, and don't
need to be told which end of the disk to stick in the drive. You also get
all of the technical details you need to make your programs work smoothly
with Finder 6.0, including information about the new rBundle and rVersion
resources, how to write Finder extensions, and how the Finder communicates
with other programs.
New Resource Types There are a lot of new resources, and the
"""""""""""""""""" Programmer's Reference for System 6.0 tells you all
about them. You also get information about the changes to the system
resource file, so you know about the new resources you can use from your
own programs.
While there are several new resource types, the major ones are the
rBundle, rComment, rVersion and rFinderPath resources. You need to use
these resources in all new programs, since they tell the Finder what kinds
of data files your program can handle, what icons to use, what version
number to display, and what to tell the user about your programs and data
files.
Technical Appendices Several other appendices fill in the details. You
"""""""""""""""""""" will learn about the new uses for the Battery RAM,
get an update on how to write your own tools, and get a complete listing of
the standard font characters for both the Apple IIGS and Macintosh
computers.
What You Get Programmer's Reference for System 6.0 comes in a 3-ring
"""""""""""" binder to make it easy to use. Because of the format, you
can add your own notes, and we will be able to mail update chapters if the
need arises. The binder includes attractive inserts, so you can quickly
find the book on your shelf.
The documentation itself is a whopping 478 pages of detailed technical
information, following the same style as the toolbox reference manuals.
This is final documentation, not beta documentation. A comprehensive table
of contents makes it easy to find the information you need, and the
extensive index and concordance help cross-reference information by topic
Note from the Boss By the way, folks: "Programmer's Reference for System
"""""""""""""""""" 6.0" is _THE_ official reference for programmers
using features beyond those in 5.0.2. It supersedes the ERSs and all
documentation in interim form before it.
If you're programming with 6.0 and want to release anything, you
_need_ this book just as soon as you can get it. It's as vital a reference
as the Toolbox and GS/OS manuals and you should _not_ be without it.
--Matt (M.DEATHERAGE, CAT1, TOP4, MSG:10/M530;1)
>>>>> Another recent release, which this author eagerly awaits Snail Mail
""""" delivery of, is the Toolbox Programming in Pascal set. The course
is designed to guide programmers through the ins and outs of the
GS toolbox using the ORCA/Pascal development environment.
The course has been broken down into 18 lessons covering all aspects
of designing and writing toolbox programs:
Lesson 0 - Before We Start
Lesson 1 - Current Events
Lesson 2 - What's on the Menu?
Lesson 3 - Be Resourceful
Lesson 4 - Keep Alert!
Lesson 5 - Why, Yes. We Do Windows!
Lesson 6 - File I/O
Lesson 7 - Move Over Gutenberg
Lesson 8 - Thanks for the Memory
Lesson 9 - Drawing on the Front Side of the Screen
Lesson 10 - Fonts
Lesson 11 - TextEdit
Lesson 12 - Scraps
Lesson 13 - Controls, Part 1
Lesson 14 - Controls, Part 2
Lesson 15 - Meaningful Dialogs
Lesson 16 - Sound Off!
Lesson 17 - Professional Polish
Lesson 18 - New Desk Accessories
Appendix A - Abridged Toolbox Reference Manual
Appendix B - Resources Used in This Course
Appendix C - Where to Go for More Information
Appendix D - Tips for ORCA/Pascal
Geared toward intermediate and advanced programmers, "Toolbox
Programming in Pascal" uses a hands on teaching approach. A long the way,
the programmer will write dozens of working desktop programs, including a
slide show program that views, prints (in color), and loads and saves
screen dump pictures; a small text editor; a scrapbook; a music instrument
sampler; and much more.
"Toolbox Programming in Pascal" comes with the largest library of
Pascal toolbox source code ever assembled. Four disks filled with source
code are included in the package. This includes the source code to all of
the examples in the book, and working solutions to every problem. The
disks also include a copy of Apple's Rez resource compiler and sample data
files for programs developed in the course.
"Toolbox Programming in Pascal" also includes an abridged toolbox
reference manual. This manual is so comprehensive that no other reference
materials are needed for this course.
The course fully supports Apple's latest operating system, 6.0. It
uses new 6.0 features throughout the course to create up to date programs.
System Requirements
"""""""""""""""""""
Software:
ORCA/Pascal 1.4
Apple's System Disk 6.0
Hardware:
(for programming in Pascal's text environment)
1.25M of memory
1 800K floppy disk drive
one other disk drive of any kind
(for programming in Pascal's desktop environment}
1.75M of memory
hard drive
Byte Works products tend to be designed conservatively, paying strict
attention to industry standards and protocol. This makes it easier for
programmers to use their knowledge of other systems to program the Apple
II line.
If you have even thought about becoming a programmer, check out Mike
Westerfield in A2Pro and see what he has to say.
//////////////////////////////////////// GEnie_QWIK_QUOTE ////
/ "Yes, topic derailing is wonderful, isn't it. The tangent /
/ usually winds up being _sooo_ much more interesting than /
/ the original subject matter." /
////////////////////////////////////////////// T.GIRSCH ////
[EOA]#65
[FUN]//////////////////////////////
ONLINE FUN /
/////////////////////////////////
Search-ME!
""""""""""
By John Peters
[GENIELAMP]
SEARCH-ME! Welcome to Search-ME, our new monthly puzzle program. Each
"""""""""" month we will have a different theme. This month the
Search-ME! puzzle contains 20 keywords taken from the Computing
RoundTables here on GEnie.
This month's keywords:
*********************************************
* A2 AMIGA ATARI8 *
* CESOFTWARE COMMODORE GENIELAMP *
* GEOWORKS IBMPC IBMPROD *
* LAPTOPS MAC MACPRO *
* MAINFRAME PCALADDIN PORTFOLIO *
* ST STALADDIN TANDY *
* TI UNIX WP *
*********************************************
N C X K G O P Z S N W M B J D W A K P H S C V
O H O U T J Y V B S M L C A E Z A B A Y V S T
Y B N K I P B Y A I N A U A E D C A M X J T V
F D O R P M B I A R Q T I Q Z U X H A R 2 I E
S B N B E Q S P O T P A L N C U J I P A G M Z
W Z B A Q O I L O F T R O P F P P N E X R D R
A S L V T S X U W U K Z O X Z R M L Z P Z S S
P A A S U A G I M A T I P X D S A B J Z S K C
X Z T C U Z H M N I D D A L A C P M I D R E Z
Q C B A K I U E V H H F W L O J Y C E O S I Z
H O O U R P P M R B N S I M F F Y K W O E Q T
D M X G L I L M C C X D A G N M T O F J A F I
D M O I K X 8 T A I A C D H B V E T J F F L Y
X O P N U B D V N L P X T H A G W E R W B F Y
H D F J E T V U S R E D V P K A Z T B H T O Y
Z O Z B F C Q G O E R I Z I R Q N R B R J W G
L R L C W C O P D G S Z N E P H A M J F A S N
A E B H W U I N J K D D R E S Q N G Q U G H P
S T A L A D D I N W P A S F G Y V Y P X Y B J
Z C U L B Q F J Z M P F A D P Z P P S Y S O C
GIVE UP? You will find the answers in the LOG OFF column at the end of
"""""""" the magazine.
This column was created with a program called SEARCH ME,
by Atari ST programmer, David Becker.
/////////////////////////////////// GEnie_QWIK_QUOTE ////
/ "Good news Dorothy!! I have in front of me Webster's /
/ Ninth New Collegiate Dictionary (copyright 1983) and /
/ in it, on page 653, it says "judg-ment OR judge-ment" /
/ so you can go back to making the same mistake with /
/ the rest of us peons. :-)" /
////////////////////////////////////////////// ISD ////
[EOA]!!@
[WHO]//////////////////////////////
WHO'S WHO /
/////////////////////////////////
Who's Who In Apple II
"""""""""""""""""""""
>>> CHATTING WITH MATT DEATHERAGE <<<
"""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""
GEnieLamp Can you tell us a little about how you first became interested
""""""""" in the Apple II?
Alan Bird My introduction to the Apple II came from Mark Simonsen who is
""""""""" now the owner of Beagle Bros. He and I became acquainted while
seniors at Brigham Young University and then went on to work for GTE
Network Systems in Phoenix, AZ. The first time I had ever used an Apple was
when Mark went on vacation for two weeks and asked me to baby-sit his Apple
II Plus. I really had a lot of fun with it.
GEnieLamp Can you recall any anecdotes from your first forays into
""""""""" computer programming? When did you first realize that you'd
like to make a career out of programming computers?
Alan Bird At BYU I had a hard time declaring a major but was leaning
toward accounting. One of the required accounting courses was an
introductory computer programming class. We were programming in FORTRAN on
IBM 360's using punch cards. We would type in one statement per card on a
huge punch-card machine, take our stack of cards to a card reader where we
normally had to stand in line for our turn, submit the job and wait for a
printout. Then it was back to the punch-card machine to fix bugs. My back
pack was always full of stacks of cards held together by rubber bands. It's
hard to believe it now, but I actually enjoyed this much more than I did my
accounting classes.
GEnieLamp Please describe your educational background and how you came
""""""""" to work at Beagle Bros. Was Bert Kersey still there when you
joined the company?
Alan Bird I finally declared Computer Science as my major when I was a
""""""""" junior and finished the entire program in two years. Several
times I took a course and its prerequisites simultaneously in order to
finish quickly.
After graduation, I went to work for GTE in Phoenix designing
telephone switching systems. It was there that I got to know Mark Simonsen
quite well. Mark wrote a program called Flex Text which he sent to Beagle
Bros. Bert Kersey was the owner of Beagle Bros and he decided to sell it
and soon after invited Mark to come to San Diego to take over tech support
so Bert could get off the phone. After Mark write "Double Take" he was
making enough off his royalties that he wanted to get off the phone, so he
asked me to come take his place. I jumped at the opportunity.
Bert was still running Beagle Bros out of his house. I worked at home
in our apartment where Beagle Bros would forward the calls. The business
got to the point where they couldn't fit it into their house anymore, so
when they got an office, I actually commuted to work.
After about two years, I was fired from Beagle Bros by Bert's wife
over a policy dispute. By this time, however, I was making enough off the
royalties from my programs that I didn't need the job anymore. It was
actually a great opportunity because Mark Simonsen and I decided to start
our own company which we called Software Touch. We did surprisingly well
with that company and after about two years, Mark became interested in
buying Beagle Bros. I had become a little frustrated at Software Touch
because I would go months at a time without programming because we had to
spend so much time running the business. This was another great
opportunity, so I went home to program and have been doing that ever since.
GEnieLamp Over the years you've independently created or contributed to
""""""""" some Apple II classics: the Beagle Compiler, Program Writer,
the TimeOut kernel, AppleWorks 3.0, InWords, and Pointless. Which of these
do you consider your most inspired work? Which required the most creative
programming work?
Alan Bird Most inspired: TimeOut. Most creative programming: Beagle
""""""""" Compiler. Most difficult to develop: InWords (by far). Most
successful: QuickSpell. Program I wrote that I use the most: Program
Writer. Program I wish I didn't have to claim writing: Fatcat.
GEnieLamp Who do you consider your mentors? What about them do you
""""""""" admire most?
Alan Bird I would have to say first and foremost, Bert Kersey. He was a
""""""""" lot of inspiration and helped me get started. Without him, I
never would have been able to do this work which I love so much. Others
that I have greatly admired are Steve Wozniak (for obvious reasons) and Bob
Lissner (author of AppleWorks). AppleWorks is the best-designed,
best-written program I have ever seen.
GEnieLamp What are some of your favorite books? Favorite authors?
"""""""""
Alan Bird Unfortunately, most of what I read is technical manuals and
""""""""" computer magazines. My wife, however, is an avid reader and is
very much into Agatha Christie and Star Trek, The Next Generation books. I
have greatly enjoyed some of her Star Trek books.
GEnieLamp Are there any Apple II programming utilities you use on a
""""""""" daily basis?
Alan Bird I have always used the Merlin assembler. For AppleWorks 3.0 and
""""""""" Pointless I used the MPW cross assembler (on the Macintosh). I
use GSBug for debugging and have recently been using Nifty List quite a
bit. For the occasional BASIC programming I need to do, I use Program
Writer.
GEnieLamp Jean-Louis Gassee, former Apple executive, once remarked that:
""""""""" "Programming in BASIC is dangerous to the mind." Granting
that this statement involves poetic exaggeration, how much underlying
validity do you think there is in the statement?
Alan Bird BASIC has weaknesses when compared to more modern structured
""""""""" languages, but I wouldn't agree with his statement at all.
BASIC is easy to learn and is great for turning out quick-and-dirty
solutions when you don't have a lot of time. It is not good, however, for
writing large applications. It's biggest strength is that it is interpreted
instead of compiled so that changes to the program are instantaneous and
you can run the program immediately after making a change.
Applesoft BASIC's biggest weaknesses are variable names significant to
only 2 characters and no ELSE statement.
GEnieLamp Where do you see personal computers going in the next five
""""""""" years? Ten years?
Alan Bird The biggest change will be portability. Hand-held computers
""""""""" will go with us where calculators now go.
GEnieLamp What accomplishments are you most proud of?
"""""""""
Alan Bird I would have to say TimeOut. It gave me and several other
""""""""" programmers the opportunity to let AppleWorks do almost
anything. I don't think I've seen any other program with so many add-ons as
AppleWorks has had.
TimeOut started out as a tool I was writing to make it more convenient
to use Mark Simonsen's FontWorks program. His program allowed you to print
AppleWorks documents in various fonts. The biggest complaint we received
from customers was that it was inconvenient to save the files, quit
AppleWorks, run FontWorks, print the files, and then restart AppleWorks.
From my work with AutoWorks, I knew the insides of AppleWorks quite well
and was looking for a way of temporarily interrupting AppleWorks so we
could run FontWorks (that is sort of where TimeOut got its name). What I
stumbled into was a way of seamlessly adding virtually any utility into
AppleWorks.
GEnieLamp After working at Beagle Bros for several years, you co-founded
""""""""" WestCode in 1990. What lead you to decide to start this
publishing company?
Alan Bird Actually, WestCode was started by Rob Renstrom and John
""""""""" Oberrick--two good friends from Beagle Bros. Since Mark and I
dissolved Software Touch, I have always been self-employed and worked as an
independent.
GEnieLamp Can you tell us a little about the types of things you like to
""""""""" do for fun? (Speaking of "non-computer" fun, here.)
Alan Bird I enjoy running (I run 10K races during the summer), gardening,
""""""""" going to the San Diego Zoo and Sea World with my family,
reading to our children, skiing, water-skiing, motorcycles, etc.
GEnieLamp You've succeeded so well as a software developer, Alan, do you
""""""""" have any aspirations to move on to hardware design? Do think
microcomputer hardware can still be designed by a solitary designer these
days?
Alan Bird No. Software is much more fun.
"""""""""
GEnieLamp As a person who has produced a great deal of creative output,
""""""""" can you share with us any thoughts you might have on the
nature of human creativity? Any insights on ways to nourish the creative
spark?
Alan Bird I think one of the most valuable parts of my career is the
""""""""" years I spend on the telephone as technical support at Beagle
Bros and Software Touch. It gave me the opportunity to talk to customers to
see what they were doing with their computers and to listen to their
complaints about ours and other company's software.
The two most important things about software development are: 1)
choosing a program that has a market--a program that people have a need or
desire for--and, 2) to write it so that it is easy and convenient to use.
Both of these require that you look at things from the customer's
perspective. Creativity for me means putting myself in my customer's shoes
and imagining what they would want.
For some reason, many of my creative thoughts come while I am taking a
shower. Too bad I can't shower all day.
//////////////////////////////// GEnie_QWIK_QUOTE ////
/ "How did you find out about it though? You must be /
/ either phenomenally brave or blindingly stupid to /
/ post that here. Don't you realize how powerful the /
/ networks are? They should be knocking on your door /
/ right about now. Sorry to see you go, Mike. Alas, /
/ I knew him well...<G>" /
/////////////////////////////////// R.MARTIN22 ////
[EOA]
[KAN]//////////////////////////////
KANSASFEST! /
/////////////////////////////////
News & Views
""""""""""""
DO'N THE SHOW! The first shuttle busses have transported the Kfesters
"""""""""""""" to the college and I (the shuttle busser) have a few
minutes to fill you in on my impressions. This KFest is better attended
than last years, and the new people here are very interesting. In one
BearMobile shuttle there was a contingent from down under and a lovely
Southern Belle. The weather here is beautiful, a little on the cool side,
and the OZians are very hospitable. -Bear
(A2.BEAR, CAT44, TOP7, MSG:5/M645;1)
>>> Apple Publicly Announces MS-DOS FST For Apple IIGS <<<
""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""
A2 CENTRAL SUMMER CONFERENCE 1992 ("KANSASFEST"), KANSAS CITY, MO.,
U.S.A., 1992 JUL 23 (A2 ON GENIE) -- Apple publicly announced today
that they are working on an MS-DOS File System Translator (FST) for the
Apple IIGS. Currently the FST is read-only, and writing ability is
being worked on. It is not expected that the writing ability will be
ready in time for its initial release. The MS-DOS FST is expected to
ship with Apple IIGS System Software version 6.0.1.
Apple IIGS System Software 6.0.1 is a maintenance release made necessary
by the Apple II Ethernet Card. When the Apple II Ethernet Card ships,
expected by the end of the year, System 6.0.1 will be made available.
Besides bug fixes to System 6.0, the only other major change announced in
System 6.0.1 is the addition of keyboard navigation to the Apple IIGS
Finder.
The MS-DOS FST will work on any MS-DOS volume that can be accessed by
the Apple IIGS. Currently, the access of MS-DOS 3.5" disks is limited
to 720K and 1.44M MS-DOS 3.5" disks read via an Apple SuperDrive or
equivalent, connected to the Apple II SuperDrive Card (formerly known as
the Apple II 3.5 Drive Card). Other known methods to access MS-DOS data
on an Apple IIGS include MS-DOS formatted Syquest cartridges and MS-DOS
5.25" floppy disks read via an Applied Engineering Transdrive, connected
to an Applied Engineering PC Transporter card.
(Lunatic E'Sex, reporting for A2, the Apple II Roundtable on GEnie)
\_/
|ou read it here first! More information will be forthcoming,
live from KansasFest 1992!
-= Lunatic (:
(LUNATIC, CAT44, TOP1, MSG:2/M645;1)
MORE KANSASFEST Dateline: KansasFest - The annual A2-Central Summer
""""""""""""""" Conference. Thursday July 23,1992.
This morning at 9:05 Kansas time, Resource Central Founding father,
Uncle-Dos, otherwise known as Tom Weishaar, opened the Conference with a
brief talk on the 15 years of the Apple Ii computer. Tom followed his
talk with a surprise video of a telephone conversation with Steve Wozniak,
taking Steve on a 30-year trip down memory lane, including discussions of
15 years of Pre-Apple II History. Steve praised many early contributors of
the Apple II line. Mike Markula, Del Yocam, Mike Scott, Chris Espinosa,
Randy Wiggington, and Rod Holt were all praised by Steve. The 150
Conference Attendees were suitably impressed by the video, and really
enjoyed it (despite the large numbers of hangovers in evidence from the
impromptu arrival parties which took place in the dorm rooms of Avila
College last night).
The NOMDA Conference Center has provided excellent facilities for the
Conference, including an outstanding menu for lunches this year. Many
participants enthusiastically commented on the menu.
Following the break from Tom's opening and video, Tim Swihart -
Manager of the Apple II Continuing Engineering Team - gave a talk on the
status of the Apple II. Included was a review of the past year since the
announcements made at last year's KansasFest. Three of the four product
announcements were actually brought to fruition, including Apple IIgs
System Software v6.0, the Apple Superdrive Controller Card, and Hypercard
IIgs.
Tim brought a few figures from Apple USA showing that there are nearly
1 million Apple IIgs' in circulation. Of these, nearly 2/3s are Rom 01s,
and about 3/4s are in Education environments. Very few have been accounted
as "Retired". Tim gave these figures to explain Apple's current direction
with regard to the Apple II. The company has decided to reduce the level
of staffing allocated to Apple II development and support. There are
currently approximately a half dozen people with _some_ support staff
assigned to the "Apple II Continuing Engineering Team", managed by Tim.
Apple has decided to place its efforts to maintaining and supporting the
established User Base, as listed above.
With this in mind, APDA products have been turned over to Resource
Central for distribution. What this means, is that the Apple II products
from APDA will receive more attention from the distributor, and because
Resource Central is already set up for it, there will continue to be
WorldWide availability. Some products have been dropped from the line,
such as APW-C. The Byteworks' ORCA/C is better maintained and supported,
more bug-free, and it is felt that in the best interests of the developers
and users, it was better to discontinue the products.
Developers were informed that other decisions have been made which
affect them in a hopefully more positive light, such as the granting of
permission to the Byteworks to publish the Official System 6.0 Reference
manual.
It was stressed that proper development under 6.0 _required_ this
reference. It is less time consuming and expensive to do this, than for
Apple to continue publishing documents such as this, itself. Additionally,
extensive effort has been put into updating the Techinical Notes. Steve
Gunn was praised by Matt Deatherage of Apple's Developer Technical Support
for taking on the thankless job of converting the Tech Notes into ASCII
Text files for uploading to the major Online Services.
The Apple II activity level at Apple, as previously reported, has been
reduced, but it is certainly a non-zero level. The products fall under a
"Continuing Engineering" group, which handles all post-release product
issues. This includes handling bug reports, manufacturing difficulties,
distribution difficulties, etc. The Apple II C.E. group, as time allows,
plan _some_ new work.
This has been identified to include System Software enhancements, but
nothing at all in the way of a Major (i.e. System 7.0) update. What is
planned, are some new features, improved compatibility with 3rd party
products, some enhancements for both the 8-bit and 16-bit platforms.
Tim proceeded to provide a few "Sneak Peeks" at the future, including
the one previously announced, but not-yet-released product - the Ethernet
Card (announced at last year's KFest, but not mentioned since). The
original design was discarded and the project was re-started. This, of
course, wreaked havoc with the original schedule. As of this morning, the
project was nearing Beta Testing, and plans are to begin Seeding this week
(during late Alpha phase). Apple hopes to begin shipping a finished product
by the end of this year.
The card uses Friendlynet connectors. There is an expected
significant speedup on crowded, multiple-machine systems. There is not
expected to be that significant a speedup noticed on smaller, isolated
workstations. The Ethernet card will require an Enhanced Apple IIe, or an
Apple IIgs. On the IIgs, System Software v6.0.1 !!!! will be required.
Apple IIgs System v6.0.1 is planned for release with the Ethernet
Card. Support for the Ethernet Card is the Number 1 Priority. It will
contain new drivers, updates to some Control Panels, and it is expected
that there will be a few Low-Level changes, including bug fixes for
compatibility problems. The focus of the release will be user-oriented,
not developer-oriented (i.e. no new Toolsets).
Apple is currently investigating an MS-DOS FST. It is currently a
read-only FST, but it is hoped that upon completion, it will be a
read/write FST. It hasn't been fully tested yet, and may very well be
deferred beyond v6.0.1 rather than hold up release for supporting the
Ethernet Card.
Keyboard Navigation is being added to the Finder. What this means is
you will be able to highlight a file in a window in the Finder by pressing
a letter on your keyboard, as you are currently able to do inside
applications when opening a file. A more in-depth peek at System Software
updates will be forthcoming during the Apple Team's System 6.0 session on
Friday morning.
Following Tim's presentation was a lengthy Question and Answer period.
One question was about which drives do the MS-DOS FST work with? The
answer, provided by Apple's Greg Branche, was "Any way you get it into the
computer, the FST will recognize it". However, it should be noted that a
Disk II, or Apple 5.25 drive _cannot_ physically read an MS-DOS formatted
disk. The Apple drives are only capable of reading the GCR encoding for
the Low Level Format. MS-DOS disks are formatted with MFM encoding. Any
MS-DOS formatted 3.5 disk can be read in a 3.5 High Density drive hooked up
to an Apple SuperDrive Controller Card. If you have an MS-DOS formatted
Syquest Cartridge and a Syquest mechanism in your SCSI bus, the MS-DOS FST
will be able to read it. An MS-DOS 5.25 disk can be read from a 5.25 drive
hooked up to an Applied Engineering PCTransporter card, if the driver for
it is installed.
Another question was whether the Superdrive Card supports 5.25 drives.
The answer was categorically NO. Any Apple brand 3.5 drive, such as the
Unidisk, 3.5 drive, or High Density 3.5 drive are supported. It was
reported by a Conference Attendee that Applied Engineering's High Density
drive works with the Superdrive Card.
A participant asked for more information about the Ethernet Card. Tim
explained that, because it does not support TCP/IP, a networking protocol,
the engineers wanted to call the card the EtherTALK card. It was decided
that, to avoid Customer Confusion, it would remain the Ethernet Card.
Apple hopes to support TCP/IP in the future, perhaps with a ROM revision.
There was much discussion, some of it with kind of vague direction,
looking for clues about the future of the Apple II. Tim was not able to
satisfactorily answer all of the concerns. Decisions concerning these
questions are made at levels above Tim's area of responsibility. To be
fair, Tim did the best he could. Unfortunately, many people appeared
disappointed by his answers.
KansasFest is off and Running! More information will be forthcoming
as it becomes available! -Donald A. Grimes
(DON.GRIMES, CAT44, TOP1, MSG:3/M645;1)
>>>>> I have a pair of Roger Wagner Tie Reports:
""""" Today, at NOMDA, Roger was wearing a mootiful Cow tie....Udderly
ridiculous! This evening, during the Creative Black Tie Dinner, Roger
managed to win 1st prize with his "SlideShow" tie. It was basically a tie
made from some Film strip.
Donnie (The Enforcer) Grimes
(DON.GRIMES, Category 44, Topic 5, Message 25, M645;1)
Last night, while wandering around, I happened upon Lunar Productions. I
managed to get a sneak preview of the long-awaited Foundation. It appears
at first glance to be a well thought out application....Light-years beyond
Genysis. It was, at the time, working over a netwoeve 4) files open at
the same time. It seems that it is easily expandable, and will be a HOT
item RSN. -Donnie
(DON.GRIMES, CAT44, TOP9, MSG:1/M645;1)
>>>>> I've been somewhat regretting trying to build excitement about our
""""" coverage of this year's KansasFest. Why? Well, I'm being quite
honest when I say that there hasn't been a lot in the way of "newsworthy"
items.
The first two days of the event were devoted to Apple IIgs
"colleges," which were devoted to various aspects of Apple II programming.
Unfortunately there's not a whole lot to say about them. People learned
about programming with things like C and HyperStudio. Those who attended
the colleges that we asked about them said that they enjoyed them and
learned about how to program these environments, but otherwise not much can
be said except that people had fun, learned things, and enjoyed meeting
other Apple II users from across the country.
It's been a great deal of fun renewing old acquaintances and meeting
new faces. One of the neatest things about KansasFest is meeting people
from across the country, especially meeting people I've seen many times
here on GEnie for the first time.
But the first two days were odd, because, well, the programming
colleges were exactly that - colleges. People learned about how to do
things with C, or with HyperStudio, or whatever. Not a whole lot to say
about those. <wink>
Yesterday KansasFest "proper" started with the hourly sessions and new
announcements, and I think Donnie Grimes covered that real well. There
are a few other things to talk about besides some of the things he
mentioned.
Probably the session that has the most people interested would be the
one on Bill Heineman's Avater project. Avatar, for those who haven't
heard, is supposed to be a "next generation" Apple IIgs computer.
Boiled down to its essence, what was revealed about the Avatar was:
A) It will use a 10 Mhz 65816 chip,
B) It will use an Ensoniq chip for sound, perhaps the one Apple currently
uses or perhaps a more advanced one,
C) Instead of using Apple type equipment, such as ADB devices, it will
rely extensively on off-the-shelf MS-DOS compatible equipment,
D) It will use a complicated bus-arbitration scheme to share processing
with other computers.
Those last are probably the most interesting two. Avatar will use a
great deal of IBM-style equipment, including four IBM "AT" style slots, IBM
style keyboards, and IBM-style interfaces for such things as hard drives,
disk drives, and CD-ROM drives.
Avater is also designed to share processing with other, plug-and-play
processing units. So, for example, you'll be able to plug in a card that
uses an 80386 processor, and with software supplied by the manufacturer
you'll be allowed to run MS-DOS software on it. But not just MS-DOS cards,
it will be theoretically possible to design plug-in cards to run Macintosh
(if the ROMs could ever be made to work), Amiga, Atari ST, Nintendo, Lynx,
or other systems.
Avatar will require its own custom operating system, which Mr.
Heineman is anticipating having to "clean room" design (meaning, have
someone write the software from the ground up, using programmers who've
never even seen Apple's code but who have seen the publically available
specifications to the system software).
Bill said he is almost certain he'll get sued if he goes through with
Avatar, in which case he says he hopes to either get Apple to license the
toolbox to him, or to be able to weather the lawsuit if not.
He also says that he hopes to have working prototypes available for
programmers by the next KansasFest, and if all goes well he hopes to have
it available for sale to consumers by spring of 1994.
When asked where he was getting funding, Heineman was rather evasive,
saying that he couldn't actually give full information on that.
After the presentation, it appeared that a great number of people were
skeptical. Programmers and engineers who saw the project stated that they
thought the idea was all very interesting, but reactions ranged from, at
its most negative, "I wonder who his drug dealer is," to, at its most
positive, "it's an interesting fantasy, but I won't believe any of it until
I see a working prototype."
Heineman seems to think he can make his machine Apple IIgs compatible
by using a whole lot of custom chips to duplicate or work around Apple's
patents and copyrights without infringing on them, while at the same time
offering a machine with a whole new purpose - a sort of "chameleon
computer" that supports parallel processing that boasts the ability to have
compatibility with many other systems, while starting with a base unit that
already runs an established base of software - i.e. Apple II and Apple IIgs
software. He said that he sees his main competition as being the Macintosh
LC II, and that the education market appears to be his biggest potential
market.
Whatever the truth of Avatar, it appears that a lot of experts are
highly skeptical if not outright scoffing, and at best this machine can't
possibly be available to consumers in less than two years or so.
Time will tell.
In the meatime, KansasFest has been an exciting even for Apple II
users, serving as a meeting ground for Apple II users from all over the
world, and a place where at least a few significant new announcements have
been made.
More in the next few days as things progress.
By the way, be sure to check out A2Pro's bulletin board, especially
Category 1, Topic 17, for some interesting programmer-related stuff on this
year's KansasFest! ;-) -Dean Esmay
(A2.DEAN, Category 44, Topic 4, Message 6, M645;1)
>>>>> The Down Under crew are very talented programmers. The author of
""""" Express, (his name escapes me at the moment) solved a printing
problem I was having. They also had the neatest looking tie at the Black
Tie dinner Thursday night but dye to sentimental reasons Roger Wagner won
the contest.
Last night Resource Central threw a buffet party in the cafeteria.
Steve Dizzzbrooow was the MC of a "Roast" of Roger and a good time was had
by all! Bill Heineman talked about his Avatar project at a well attended
conference session. If you are interested in what he said, order the tape
of the session from RC. Tape #AT2-09 price $3.00. I am not sure if that
is a special price on the tapes to KFest attendees or not. Such a deal!
Chester Page demonstrated PageWriterGS, a very impressive inexpensive
($35) word processor based on AppleWriter. There is a demo in the library,
and they are trying to solve copyright confusion right now.
The Lee Golden, Jay Jennings show on making billions was a treat. Not
only is SoftDisk a great way for programmers to fine tune their skills, it
should keep Jay in Shreveport for another year.
The days festivities started off with Uncle DOS selling hot dogs to
the hungry programming masses in the auditorium, and then a real treat.
Tom had recorded a telephone conversation with our favorite engineer the
Woz. Steve wanted to be here this year and but scheduling problems
prevented it. He did say he wanted to come to a future KansasFest.
-Bear (A2.BEAR, CAT44, TOP7, MSG:10/M645;1)
>>>>> I spoke with a conference attendee from the user ranks. His
""""" impression of the Avatar project is that it would be an exciting
product, but he was not convinced that Heineman has the business acumen to
bring the product to market and gain adequate market share to support a
going business. He wasn't really negative, just uncertain.
This is no time to be throwing wet blankets on any new possibilities
in the Apple II world. I hope Avatar succeeds, and I'll be up front
brandishing my MasterCard when the time comes. -Bill Dooley
(A2.BILL, CAT44, TOP4, MSG:7/M645;1)
>>>>> Last night, I wandered into Roger Wagner's room and wound up in
""""" front of a video camera while Roger demonstrated some really nifty
video tricks using new, inexpensive video chips for picture-within- picture
effects. It's too early to tell if a new product will result from these
experiments, but a few people in the room felt that a basic unit could be
made to sell at under $200 list.
I watched in amazement as Roger hauled the tools of his trade out of
his shipping cartons while setting up the demo: a crazed rat's nest of
cables and one gadget after another, including a breadboard video gadget,
video camera, an 8mm VCR/color TV in a package roughly the size and shape
of a 5 lb. sack of flour (didn't catch the maker), a Canon video still
camera that stores 50 images on a 2 inch magnetic disk, and lesser items.
He had composite and RGB monitors on the GS and a Video Overlay Card
inside. Sitting amid this jumble, Roger enthusiastically demo'd the
concepts he's working on to a crowd spilling out into the corridor. After
a couple of hours, about 11:30, I got tired and went off to bed. Roger
was still going strong.
He can generate video letters on 8 mm tapes with a HyperStudio demo
on the main screen and himself in the inset screen, or vice versa, and
mentioned many variations on this theme.
He has ideas for enhancements to HyperStudio that will enable
preschoolers to use it with a mouse or even a touch screen, a purely
audiovisual approach for non-readers.
Roger's enthusiasm is catching, and representative of the overall
mood at KansasFest this year. Few negative comments to be heard. We know
what to expect from Apple now, and we're focusing on the new and nifty.
Despite the lack of spectacular announcements thus far, there are plenty of
new things happening to keep Apple II enthusiasts pleasantly and
productively occupied. -Bill Dooley
(A2.BILL, CAT44, TOP9, MSG:3/M645;1)
>>>>> I thought some of you might enjoy a clip from some of our late
""""" night follies. In this case it was a "Roger Wagner Roast". This
was so incredibly funny, I really wish I could post an entire transcript of
the event (I must admit I wasn't expecting it to be very funny at all, but
_man_ was I surprised ... it was great!) , but not only doesn't one exist
(yet, at least), but I wouldn't want to be the one to type it all in
<grin>. What I _did_ do was write down an especially funny bit from
MoMan's routine ... so without further ado:
The Top 10 Reasons Why HyperStudio Crashes.
10) "Something you did"
9) "It must be a bug in your System"
8) "It must be a bug in the System Software"
7) "Ummmm, define 'Crash' "
6) "We can't seem to reproduce it"
5) "Next time, try exporting the scripts first"
4) "It's not a 'Crash', it's just a detour into GSBug"
3) "Real programmers don't use 'goto' "
2) "Oh yeah ... 'goto' doesn't"
1) "We've got an update coming up for that RSN"
(A2.GUEST, CAT44, TOP9, MSG:4/M645;1)
////////////////////////////////////// GEnie_QWIK_QUOTE ////
/ "Congratulations on your honorary membership in SPUDS. /
/ (Semi-Professional Users and Developers Society) <grin>" /
/////////////////////////////////////////////// MUSE ////
[EOA]
[FOC]//////////////////////////////
FOCUS ON... /
/////////////////////////////////
SHARED MINDS Book Review
""""""""""""""""""""""""
By Phil Shapiro
[P.SHAPIRO2]
>>> SHARED MINDS: THE NEW TECHNOLOGIES OF COLLABORATION <<<
"""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""
Michael Schrage
Random House, NY, 227 pages, $19.95
ISBN 0-394-56587-8
Each one of us is born into the world with different talents and
skills. Most of us spend a lifetime trying to hone and develop these native
born talents to maximize both our own potential and our contribution to the
greater social good.
But rarely can anybody these days maximize his or her talents working
cloistered and alone. In this world of increasing specialization and
complexity, rare indeed is the individual who achieves great success
working independently on his or her own.
Long ignored and overlooked, the wonders of collaborative creativity
are just beginning to be understood and appreciated. In an important and
revealing new book, Shared Minds: The New Technologies of Collaboration,
syndicated columnist Michael Schrage examines both the nature of the
collaborative process and methods of "fanning the collaborative flame."
With frequent reference to legendary creative collaborative teams of the
past (Orville and Wilbur Wright, Watson and Crick, Jobs and Wozniak, Lennon
and McArtney), Schrage articulates truths that well deserve to be lifted to
the forefront of our consciousness.
How This Book Came to be Written Initially Shared Minds was to be a book
"""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""" about the social dynamics of business
meetings, and how new technologies can help streamline these dynamics. But
the author soon realized that the most interesting group work doesn't occur
in large business meetings, but in small, energetic teams. So instead of
writing a book about business meetings, he decided to closely examine the
nature of creative "small group" collaborations. After interviewing many
famous scientific and artistic "collaborative teams," Schrage spent a year
as a visiting scholar at MIT's Media Lab synthesizing the ideas in this
book.
The Personal Attributes of
Successful Collaborative Teams One of the probing questions
"""""""""""""""""""""""""""""" examined in this book is: "What
personal attributes contribute to successful collaborative joint ventures?"
How is it that the family team of Orville and Wilbur Wright worked so well
together, when other sibling pairs find it a struggle to order pizza
together? And what role did Orville and Wilbur's parents play in fostering
their creativity and perseverance. (Apparently Orville and Wilbur's mother
played a decisive role in showing her sons the methodology of creative
invention.)
Along the same lines of thought, what personal qualities allowed
Watson and Crick to work together to formulate their landmark
three-dimensional model of DNA? True, they had differing and complementary
scientific backgrounds. But more than that, they both had a hunger to
understand the physical structure of DNA. That intellectual hunger united
them in a focused scientific quest.
Speaking on the subject of collaboration, Crick, in his memoirs, sheds
light on the nature of his successful teaming with Watson: "Our...advantage
was that we had evolved an unstated but fruitful methods of
collaboration....If either of us suggested a new idea, the other, while
taking it seriously, would attempt to demolish it in a candid but
nonhostile manner." Good collaborative teams, therefore, have a tacit
understanding that individual ego must necessarily be subsumed to the
larger team goal.
Examples of How a "Sharing
"""" Ideology" Can Develop Another subject examined in the book is the
""""""""""""""""""""" similar "sharing ideology" used by great
artists and great scientists. There comes a time when human beings rise
above the possessive attitude of "that's an idea I thought of first" to the
grander attitude of "that's an idea I had a part in creating."
One moving anecdote about collaborative artists occurred when Picasso
and his close associates stopped signing their paintings for a brief period
in their lives. These artists worked so closely together in producing new
art that they genuinely believed that signing any of their paintings would
be a misrepresentation of "authorship." In this case, keeping track of who
produced which paintings became subservient to the group goal of producing
excellent group paintings.
Thoughts About "Idea Development" At another point in the book Schrage
""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""" examines the concept of "idea
development." How is it that ideas get developed from nascent whims to
full-fledged notions? Quoting a modern expert on the subject, John Cleese
(the gifted comic writer of Monty Python fame): "The really good idea is
always traceable back quite a long way, often to a not very good idea which
sparked off another idea that was only slightly better, which somebody else
misunderstood in such a way that they then said something which was really
rather interesting.... [That's] actually why I have always worked with a
writing partner, because I'm convinced that I get to better ideas than I'd
ever do on my own."
One perceptive observation in Shared Minds is that some of the best
collaborative work occurs in informal, playful settings. The proverbial
doodle, hastily sketched on a cafeteria napkin, serves as a forceful
reminder of how creativity can best be unleashed in informal settings.
Likewise, brainstorming sessions in a formal conference room seldom yield
memorable creative results.
All in all, Shared Minds is an important, thought-provoking book. If
you've ever spent time thinking about the wonders of collaborative
creativity, you ought to find a rich vein of ideas to mine in this book.
The very act of reading the book ought to stimulate those areas of the
brain responsible for the "open-minded" reception of new and interesting
ideas.
Want To Know More? If you're interested in reading further about the
"""""""""""""""""" subjects of creativity and collaboration, you might
be interest in some of the recommended readings at the end of Shared Minds.
Here is a list of some of the juicier sounding titles.]
Bijker, Wiebe E., Hughes, Thomas P., and Trevor Pinch, eds.
The Social Construction of Technological Systems: New
Directions in the Sociology of and History of Technology.
Cambridge, MA: MIT Press, 1987.
Boettinger, Henry. Moving Mountains: The Art and Craft of Letting
Others See Things Your Way. New York: Macmillan, 1969.
Briggs, John. Fire in the Crucible: The Self-Creation of
Creativity and Genius. Los Angeles: Jeremy P. Tarcher, 1990.
Crouch, Tom. The Bishop's Boys: A Life of Wilbur and Orville
Wright, New York: W.W. Norton, 1989.
Eisenstein, Elizabeth L., The Printing Press as an Agent of
Change, New York: Cambridge University Press, 1979.
Gardner, Howard. The Mind's New Science: A History of the
Cognitive Revolution. New York: Basic Books, 1985.
Heim, Michael. Electric Language: A Philosophical Study of
Word Processing. New Haven: Yale University Press, 1987.
Koestler, Arthur. The Act of Creation. New York, Macmillan, 1964.
Levine, Howard, and Howard Rheingold, The Cognitive Connection:
Thought and Language in Mind and Machine. New York, Prentice-Hall,
1987.
McLuhan, Marshall. The Gutenberg Galaxy: The Making of Typographic
Man. Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 1962.
Nelson, Theodor, Computer Lib/Dream Machines.
Self-published, 1974.
Stent, Gunther. Scientific Genius and Creativity, San Francisco, W.H.
Freeman, 1975.
Turkle, Sherry. The Second Self: Computers and the Human Spirit. New
York: Simon & Schuster, 1984.
Winograd, Terry and Fernando Flores. Understanding Computers and
Cognition. Norwood, NJ: Ablex, 1986.
Zuboff, Shoshana. In the Age of the Smart Machine: The Future of Work
and Power. New York: Basic Books, 1988.
[*][*][*]
Phil Shapiro (Shapiro is the founder of Balloons Software, a
"""""""""""" new Apple II educational software company. He can
be reached at Balloons Software, 5201 Chevy Chase Parkway, NW,
Washington, DC 20015-1747, or via electronic mail on GEnie at:
P.Shapiro1, on America Online at: pshapiro)
///////////////////////////////// GEnie_QWIK_QUOTE ////
/ "I think you misspelled that, I believe the correct /
/ spelling is "THPPPT" or "THPTHPT" (at least /
/ according to Bloom County)." /
/////////////////////////////////////// T.GIRSCH ////
[EOA]
[SOF]//////////////////////////////
SOFTVIEW A2 /
/////////////////////////////////
A2 Software Reviews
"""""""""""""""""""
By Mel Fowler
[MELSOFT]
MUSIC LOVERS TAKE NOTE I was asked to write a review of some of the
"""""""""""""""""""""" programs currently in the A2 Software Library.
So what I decided to do was to write an article reviewing three music
programs, NoiseTracker GS 1.0, SoniqTracker 0.5, and MODzap 0.8. This is
not a review in the strictest since of the word because I am not a
programmer nor a musician and also SoniqTracker and MODzap are not
completed programs. This article is written from the stand point of a
music lover and an Apple IIGS fanatic.
First a bit of back ground concerning the Apple IIGS and music
programs. Music Construction Set was one of the first, followed by Music
Studio. Music Construction Set was mostly just a music player were as
Music Studio was more a word processor for music. Both programs had there
limitations and regardless how hard they tried they still didn't sound
like violins or horns. Mostly they sounded like organs trying to sound
like violins or trumpets. They did fairly well with pianos and guitars but
when it came to holding long notes or adding color to the music, forget it.
The music sounded like computer generated music. We were happy with these
programs at the time because they sounded great when compared to previous
Apple II music programs. Diversi-Tune sounded a bit better but again was
mostly just a play back program, although I loved the bouncing ball.
The next great music composition program was SoundSmith. The first to
incorporate a spreadsheet like front-end for the IIGS, SoundSmith made
writing original and cover music relatively simple with a minimum of
complexity. As its newer versions progressed, new features were added
making it possible to breathe greater life into the music. And while the
professional software community often ignore d the effort, SoundSmith
quickly became the new standard in IIGS music. Recently, the SoundSmith
fairy tale came to a bitter end when a beta tester for a commercial version
broke the non-disclosure agreement and caused the author to abandon work
on the application.
Then came NoiseTracker GS from the french base group the Free Tool
Association or FTA. With its rich, full basses and quality, high
fidelity, and full dynamic range of instruments this was indeed the next
generation in music software for the Apple IIGS. This was the first music
program to break the 64K size barrier for instruments and could provide
full rich sounds never before heard on any Apple computer.
NoiseTracker GS is SoundSmith compatible so all the available
SoundSmith songs and instruments could be used. NoiseTracker GS also
includes an editor which can be used by musicians to create a full range
of musical sounds only limited by their imaginations. Just about any sound
can be made into an instrument including human voices.
Even a novice like myself can re-orchestrate compositions with the
Instrument Add, Replace and Delete features of the program. I was able to
setup the stereo effects that I wanted by setting instruments to the right
or left channels or both. I was also able to set the tracks to a desired
right or left channel. If the bass drum is too loud, just lower the volume
on that one instrument. Does the song seem to be playing to slowly for
you, change the tempo.
The main difference between NoiseTracker GS and all previous music
programs was its ability to sustain long notes and the ability to import
Amiga Mods. Music can be saved in two different formats, a songs file with
a separate instrument wave file or as modules which include the instruments
in one file.
Speaking of modules, Amiga MODs. It is somewhat limited in this
capability in that NoiseTracker does not support all the special effects
required by Amiga MODs. However, you can load in an Amiga MOD file and
save it as a NoiseTracker module. If you then load the NoiseTracker module
you can use the NoiseTracker program to change tempo, change instruments,
etc., as with any other NoiseTracker son g.
The music editor screen is well organized and easy to use. To play a
SoundSmith or NoiseTracker song you simply "Open Musicfiles" from the Music
pull down menu, then select the "Scrolly Player" which shows you a 15
channel VU meter. Like all FTA software there are "Easter Eggs" hidden
inside the program. Click on the Scrolly Player and notes will come flying
around the screen. Click on the song title location and the program
changes colors, gray, blue, green or black.
There appears to be a running gun battle between SoniqTracker and
MODzap as to who can write the best Amiga MOD player for the Apple IIGS.
Both programs have jukebox features and you can load in a list of your
favorite Amiga MOD songs and listen for hours on end.
I like the "Dancing Lights" in SoniqTracker and the more conventional
look of the player. The Player controls are more in line with those of a
standard CD player with Volume control and Mono or Full Stereo or even 25%,
50%, or 75% Stereo. In Jukebox mode the N key takes you to the next song.
The Track Meter is also a nice feature. The Volume control is especially
nice for those of us without external volume controls on our speakers.
SoniqTracker is indeed an impressive program and plays Amiga MOD song with
crisp, clear sounds and superior channel separation. The documentation is
adequate but a bit preachy.
MODzap is more technically oriented and supports more features in
setting up the player. For example there is a "Force 31 Inst" and "Force
15 Inst" in the "File" pull down menu. I have never had an occasion to use
these selections but they are there. Another feature is the ability to
loop the music so if you like a particular song you can have it played over
and over in a continues loop. Under the Option menu are options such as
Ignore Tuning and Ignore Arpeggiatos, also Turbo, Normal, Enhanced and
Premium. The documentation is not very clear as to what Tuning or
Arpeggiotos means or when to use these options. Turbo, Normal, Enhance and
Premium has to do with the quality of the play back. However again the
documentation is not to clear as to what the differences are between them
or when to use them.
MODzap version 0.8 added a keyboard so that you can select an
instrument from the currently load Amiga MOD and play it on the keyboard.
The sound quality is superior on some selected Amiga MODs but t his mostly
has to do with special effects such as bends up and down.
Overall the music outlook for the Apple IIGS is tremendous.
SoniqTracker and MODzap are still in there development stages but already
show a great future for music on the Apple IIGS. The developers of these
two wonderful programs are to be congratulated and encouraged. Although
both of these programs are currently freeware, your monetary
considerations would help to keep things going. The dream music program
would be a combination of all three of the music programs. Compatible with
Sound Smith, NoiseTracker GS and play Amiga MODs with all the required
special effects. Editing capabilities currently available in SoundSmith
and NoiseTracker GS should be compatible with all formats. Hopefully this
is what the developers of soniqTracker and MODzap are working towards. We
can only hope.
[EOA]
[COW]//////////////////////////////
CowTOONS! /
/////////////////////////////////
Moooooo Fun!
""""""""""""
By Patrick Hart
[P.HART4]
______
| |
| (__) |
| (OO) |
| \/ |
| |
======
"Cow Caught at Bootup"
_________________________________________________
| ______ |
| | | |
| | (__) | Welcome to MacCOWintosh |
| | (OO) | |
| | \/ | |
| | | |
| ====== |
|_________________________________________________|
_________________________________________________
|_____________About This MacCOWintosh_____________|
| |
| System COWware 1.0.7* |
| MacCOWintosh IIcow (c) Cow Computer, Inc. |
| |
| Total Memory: 307,200K Largest Unused Block: 1K |
|_________________________________________________|
| System Usage: 307,199K |||||||||||||||||||||| | |
|_________________________________________________|
_________________________________________________
| ______ |
| | | The application 'unknown' has |
| | (__) | unexpectedly quit, because an error of |
| | (OO) | type C occurred. ______ |
| | \/ | | | |
| | | | OK | |
| ====== |______| |
|_________________________________________________|
_________________________________________________
| ______ |
| | | Force The Cow to quit? |
| | (__) | System failure will occur. |
| | (OO) | ___________ ________ |
| | \/ | | | | | |
| | | | Force Out | | Cancel |J|
| ====== |___________| |________| |
|_________________________________________________|
_________________________________________________
| ______ |
| | | The application has unexpectedly quit. |
| | (__) | The Cow suggests user error. |
| | (OO) | _________ |
| | \/ | | | |
| | | | Restart | |
| ====== |_________| |
|_________________________________________________|
_________________________________________________
| ______ |
| | | |
| | (__) | There is not enough memory to open |
| | (OO) | TapplicationU (100,000K needed, 1K |
| | \/ | available). |
| | | |
| ====== To make more memory available, try |
| adding more RAM. ______ |
| | | |
| | OK | |
| |______| |
|_________________________________________________|
[*][*][*]
(__) CowTOONS? Patrick took us up on our
(oo) offer and sent us this month's CowTOONS
/---------\/ selection. Thanks, Pat!
/ | x=a(b)||
* ||------|| If you have an idea for a CowTOON!, we
^^ ^^ would like to see it. If we use it here
Mathematical in GEnieLamp, we will credit your account
Cow with 2 hours of GEnie non-prime time!
(developer of
cow-culus)
/////////////////////////////////////////// GEnie_QWIK_QUOTE ////
/ "Question from the floor is: If the "Gno/Me" gang is writing /
/ the system software for Avatar, will it be called "Gno/Way"? /
///////////////////////////////////////////////// A2.GUEST ////
[EOA]
[LIB]//////////////////////////////
THE ONLINE LIBRARY /
/////////////////////////////////
Running Your Own BBS!
"""""""""""""""""""""
>>> RUNNING YOUR OWN BBS! <<<
"""""""""""""""""""""""""""""
BBS SHARE/FREEWARE MAKES IT EASY! Have you ever wished that you could
""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""" run your own mini telecommunications
service? Wouldn't it be interesting to control passwords, monitor
discussions, and maintain a file download library? Well Apple II users are
lucky to have quite a large selection of BBS options available to them.
And some of these BBS's are even freeware or shareware.
A search under the keyword "BBS" in the Apple II Roundtable library
turns up several dozen files relating to running your own BBS. Some of
these files are actual BBS programs.
Some of the BBS options for the Apple II include the public domain
"Prime BBS," the shareware "AppleNET BBS," and the shareware "Office BBS"
system. Most of these BBS's use ModemWorks, a special set of modem
ampersand routines develop by the Morgan Davis Group.
To help you learn what GEnie has to offer in terms of Apple II BBS's,
a new AppleWorks file titled "BBS.Files.bxy" has been prepared. This file
lists all the BBS files available for downloading from the A2 Roundtable
library, along with file descriptions of some of the more interesting
sounding files.
WHY A BBS? "Why would someone want to set up and maintain his or her own
"""""""""" BBS?" you might ask. Many user groups find that a BBS
facilitates user group communications. But the BBS you set up need not be
computer related. You could set up a BBS for your local school or PTA; you
could set up a BBS for a boy scout or girl scout troop; you could set up a
crime prevention BBS; you could set up a BBS to offer editing or desktop
publishing services; you could set up a BBS just to learn about what it
takes to run a BBS.
Learning about bulletin boards need not even require a modem. Dean
Esmay, chief Apple II Roundtable system operator (sysop) recommends KidMail
BBS, a bulletin board simulator. (File number 8723: KidMail.bxy). This
program simulates an actual BBS allowing multiple 'users' to 'sign on,' get
a password, and leave electronic mail for other users.
With the price of second hand Apple IIe's dropping down to the $200 to
$300 range, the cost of setting up a BBS has likewise fallen dramatically.
You don't even need a hard drive with some Apple II BBS systems. (Although
almost all of them recommend at least two 5.25 inch, or one 3.5 inch disk
drive.)
The following information about the popular public domain Prime
bulletin board system (BBS) was collected from Category 10, Topic 6, in the
Apple II Roundtable message area.
Prime BBS A while ago one of you asked us to step back and explain what
""""""""" the Prime BBS was and what it had going for it. I was so
busy uploading files and getting some beginner downloaders going that I
neglected to respond to that posted message. Hopefully, I can rectify that
here in a question and answer format. By doing a few of these, I hope I
can answer the most frequently asked questions. Here we go....
Q: What is Prime? Is it new? Why haven't I heard of it before?
A: The Prime BBS system has been around the Apple II world for 7-8 years
now. It began as Alfa III and was supported right here on GEnie by Bob
Garth and Vince Cooper. The program was advertised in classifieds of
major magazines but most of its customers (including me) got in
contact with the authors by way of the Demo/Ad called Alfa/EZ. The
most recent support for the program was in the Smoke Signal Software
area on America Online.
Prime is a great BBS and now that its in the Public Domain, is the
potential new sysop's _best_ option possible. I've seen a lot of
shareware and p.d. BBS's over the years and nothing compares to Prime.
This software is PERFECT for smaller BBS systems of the 10-200 user
variety...great for user group boards, local Apple II support groups
etc. It can handle much larger user numbers, but I find it perfectly
suited for smaller groups.
Q: What do I need to run it?
A: You need any 64K Apple ][. I've run it or helped run it on ][+'s,
//e's, Franklin Ace's, and IIGS's. You need two or more disk drives.
A hard drive is not necessary...but recommended. I've run this software
on everything from 4 Disk II's up to 200+ megs of hard drive all chained
together off a RamFast and a TransWarp GS. In addition, you need a
Novation AppleCat, Hayes Micromodem, Datalink 2400, or a Super Serial
Card with an auto-answer 300, 1200, or 2400 external modem. Others may
work, but may take some playing around... A Prodos compatible clock is
nice but not mandatory.
Q: What are the limitations of Prime and why did it go public domain?
A: The most recent owner of Prime (Danny Haynes) found that he and the
others responsible for maintaining Prime simply did not have time to
update the system. They concluded that Prime would have the best
chance of growing in the hands of a new generation of Prime
Sysops....so, they decided to offer it to potential Prime sysops for
FREE! Prime is currently a full featured BBS. We'll talk about all
those features a bit later, but we might as well get the limitations
out in the open first because these are the things that we hope new
Prime sysops will help to rectify.
1. Prime requires a Super Serial Card (SSC) (even in a GS). Bob Garth
found that the Apple modem port didn't do things quite the same way
as the SSC and never supported the port. Paul Parkhurst has this
problem 'almost' fixed but we all need to call him and encourage
him to finish that goodie.
2. Prime's transer (Xfer) system is GREAT. However, support for newer
protocols is lacking. It does handle normal Xmodem, Xmodem CRC,
Prodos Xmodem, Standard Xmodem, (with Binary II for Apple users).
Ymodem and Zmodem would be nice if someone has the ability to take
it on. Andy Nicholas posted once that he had written a Zmodem
driver for Prime but we've not tracked that down yet.
3. While Prime sysops across the country once had a networking scheme
set up, this never became an official part of Prime. Prime's strong
point are its elegance and simplicity. I'm sure future sysops will
be writing schemes to network but they don't currently exist.
4. I've never heard of Prime's compatibility with newer 9600 baud
modems. New drivers or empirical set-ups may need to be developed
for these.
That's about it! Not really too limited is it? Frankly, I've never
found any of these detrimental to my BBS.
Q: What features does Prime offer?
A: Prime is a full-featured BBS. I'll summarize only a few here....
1. Hot key menus of either the autoformatting internal type
or fancy ones made from external text files of your design.
2. Multiple Boards, Email, full line editors for all posts
and mail. New message scans. Autosignature capability.
Private posts can be set. Autodelete old messages at sysop
controllable levels to minimize sysop interaction required.
Many more options.
3. Feedback commands, sysop page and chat mode.
4. User can set configuration from normal to expert turning
menus on and off.
5. User search and listing built in.
6. G(iant) file reader to allow readers to read any text
files the sysop chooses to put online.
7. Complete transfer system capable of tracking up to 215,622
files and 10 line description of each in up to 99 libraries
of 99 files each in each of 22 prefixes! New file scans can
be set up in multiple combinations for your users convenience.
8. BASIC programs and Games can easily be modified to run with
the Prime BBS system. Many examples have been uploaded here
to GEnie. The modifications are pretty easy and lots of fun.
These include user Voting Booths, BBS databases, Adventure
games, etc.
Q: What does the Sysop have to work with?
A: A lot! There is a completely menu driven maintenance system. The
sysop simply keys up a Control-C from the keyboard and can then menu
his/her way to anything in Prime that needs attention. Among these are:
1. Board and Menu editors.
2. Prefixes (you can put any part of Prime on any prefix
on your system).
3. User time restrictions can be set by time limits (if you
have clock) or number of bytes transmitted if you don't.
4. You can create and toggle on or off Pre and Post new user
messages and Pre and Post login in messages.
5. You can create Theme messages at the beginning of each board
to keep things going in a reasonable thread.
6. Email and transfer have their own complete set of utilities...
all accessible with the Control-C when you've entered their
area.
7. Remote sysoping available on ALL features so you can take
care of the system from a remote location or have a co-sysop
care for the system while you're on vacation.
Q: What about SECURITY? Can I closely control what users see what on
my BBS?
A: Yes, more than you will ever need. There are 9 user class codes for
gross set ups. In addition, each user has a 19 byte index string that
determines what he can do on your BBS. Each of these bytes can be set
from A to Z. You can then tie EVERY MENU KEY to one of these bytes and
levels and therefore control who can execute (or even SEE) these
commands. In addition, the sysop can give users ability to post
private messages, make entire boards restricted, record phone numbers
that the system will not accept for a user, allow or disallow login of
new users, offer a side door entry with proper password.... and allow
or disallow the use of alias's for users. All these things are handled
with ease by way of the comprehensive menu and user data editors.
Q: Who is this Goose fellow?
A: Nobody special.. I've been using and enjoying Prime (and its
predecessors) for nearly 8 years. Its been so much fun that I've
learned just enough about it to be dangerous. I hate to see such a
strong BBS die just because nobody knows about it. I'll help anyone
who tries to use it. No guarantees, but hopefully this is a GREAT way
to start small inexpensive pockets of Apple II users. My old trusty
II+ sits in the corner with a castoff 30 megabyte Seagate hanging there
serving as our user group communication port. How about it? Can you
use your old hardware to create your own private user group? Go for
it! <Grin>.... (W.GOOSEY, CAT10, TOP6, MSG:121)
These are the minimum necessary files to run the Prime BBS:
[*][*][*]
Number: 18837 Name: PRIME.DOCS.BXY
Address: W.GOOSEY Date: 920613
Approximate # of bytes: 142720
Number of Accesses: 102 Library: 39
Description:
This file is the documentation for the Prime BBS system for the Apple ][.
This is a very mature BBS that has been around for several years. The
entire BBS comes in 7 packed files. This file is the entire documentation
as published by Smoke Signal software when the BBS was commercial. The BBS
has all the desirable features for the Apple ][ sysop. Boards, Games, Vote
modules, Quote system, Other BBS databases, etc. Written in Basic (using
included powerful amper set) so you can modify it or modify other Basic
programs for use as external programs.
Keywords: BBS,Public Domain,PD,Prime,Manual,Documentation,ProTree,Smoke
Signal
[*][*][*]
Number: 18894 Name: SYSTEM.BXY
Address: W.GOOSEY Date: 920617
Approximate # of bytes: 75136
Number of Accesses: 46 Library: 39
Description:
This archive contains all the needed system files for the Prime BBS package
recently released to the Public Domain by Danny Haynes. Originally written
by Bob Garth. Excellent BBS for any Apple ][. In addition to this file
you will also need PrimeManual.shk, Install.shk, Xfer1.shk, Xfer2.shk, and
the optional Source1.shk and Source2.shk. Great BBS. Best I've ever seen
for simple, but powerful operation.
Keywords: Prime, BBS, modem, SmokeSignal,PD, Public Domain
[*][*][*]
Number: 18896 Name: XFER1.BXY
Address: W.GOOSEY Date: 920617
Approximate # of bytes: 48128
Number of Accesses: 42 Library: 39
Description:
This archive comprises the first of two Xfer system disks for the Prime BBS
system. Other files needed for this BBS are PrimeManual.shk, System.shk,
Install.shk, xfer2.shk and the optional Source1.shk and Source2.shk. Great
Apple II BBS!
Keywords: Prime, BBS, Modem, SmokeSignal,Public Domain
[*][*][*]
Number: 18897 Name: XFER2.BXY
Address: W.GOOSEY Date: 920617
Approximate # of bytes: 77696
Number of Accesses: 48 Library: 39
Description:
This archive is the second part of the Prime BBS xfer system. This is a
great Apple ][ BBS. Other files you need are the Primemanual.shk,
Install.shk, System.shk, Xfer1.shk, and the optional Source1.shk and
Source2.shk.
Keywords: Prime, BBS, modem, SmokeSignal,Public Domain
////////////////////////////////// GEnie_QWIK_QUOTE ////
/ "Ugh, maybe this will be the "scare" that brings him /
/ to the 'Church of the HD Backups'!" /
/ ~ /
/ "Funny you should put it just that way. Last time /
/ we spoke, he said he would start making backups /
/ 'religiously.' <g>" /
////////////////////////// J.GNIEWKOWSK/R.GLOVER3 ////
[EOA]
[SHA]//////////////////////////////
SHAREWARE SOLUTIONS /
/////////////////////////////////
FTA Contest!
""""""""""""
>>> SHAREWARE SOLUTIONS FTA CONTESTS <<<
""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""
~ Conceived by Joe Kohn ~
~ Sponsored by inCider/A+ Magazine ~
The French Free Tools Association, better known as The FTA, burst upon
the IIGS scene at the 1989 San Francisco AppleFest when their freeware
Nucleus demo stunned, dazzled, and astounded all who saw it during Jean
Louis Gassee's mind-blowing presentation.
The FTA, a small group of French programmers, graphic artists and
musicians continued to awe the IIGS community, releasing one smash hit
after another. Their demos, including ACS Demo, Modulae, California Demo,
Xmas Demo, Animaga, and Delta Demo pushed the IIGS to the limit with their
astounding 3 dimensional animations and rock n roll soundtracks. The
freeware FTA games of Easy Dead, Flobynoid, Star Wizard, and Mini Prix have
provided countless GS owners with innumerable hours of super hi res fun.
Their shareware disk copy program, Photonix, must be the only copy program
in existence that contains animation and music and efficiently copies
entire 3.5" disks in just one pass, using only a single 3.5" disk drive.
NoiseTracker, released in December of 1991, must surely be the most talked
about IIGS music program of 1992.
And then, as 1991 drew to a close, the FTA disbanded. According to FTA
founder and president, Olivier Goguel, "We stopped programming for the IIGS
for a lot of reasons, but we don't deny it and are still very proud of what
we've done, or tried to do on it".
The FTA may be gone, but they will surely never be forgotten. They
have left a legacy for the rest of us who remain with the IIGS. They showed
us what was possible, and they inspired and stimulated us by demonstrating
just how much fun it can be to own a IIGS. In our hearts and minds, the FTA
will live forever.
In late Spring, 1992, a package arrived in SiliKohn Valley with a
postmark of Dijon, France. The package contained a number of disks, and
they were described by Olivier Goguel as "the latest gifts from the former
FTA group to the IIGS community". Just as the FTA's software resulted in so
much joy and fun and respect for the IIGS, we would like to use those gifts
as a way to provide the IIGS community with a positive focus. We are
pleased to announce the first ever "Shareware Solutions Contest". In an
effort to double our pleasure and double our fun, we're actually going to
institute 2 different contests; one for programmers, and one for
non-programmers.
One of the programs provided by Olivier Goguel is Bouncin'Ferno. It's
a Marble Madness type game, with incredible graphics, sound effects and
music. 3 levels, each with 25 different play fields, are already defined,
and you can play the game with either a mouse or a joystick. On each level,
you'll try to roll over small objects and pick them up before advancing on
to the next level. Some objects are suspended high above the ground, and
you'll need to jump up to get them, while other objects are hidden under 3
dimensional ramps. As it is, Bouncin'Ferno is a lot of fun, but, it's not
quite complete; there's no scoring module. But, the complete Merlin 16+
Source Code is provided.
The programming contest rules are very straightforward: use the
Bouncin'Ferno source code to create a completed game. We don't care if you
make it a desktop program, or use the toolbox. We don't even care if you
translate it to run under Orca/M or APW. What we do care about is game
play, artistry, creativity, fun, sounds, animation, documentation, user
friendliness and compatibility with both ROM 01 and 03 machines. We don't
even care if you use the source code to create a totally different game;
just impress the judging panel of inCider/A+ editors. Make our eyes bug out
of our heads, and make our toes tap. In short, we suggest that you let the
FTA guide you in spirit, and that you create a program that the FTA would
be proud of.
Included with Bouncin'Ferno is a screen editor that will allow you to
create your own levels. So, the second contest is focused upon new
Bouncin'Ferno levels. Make them hard or make them easy, make them fun or
make them frustrating. Just submit your favorite new Bouncin'Ferno levels,
and you'll be eligible to win some valuable prizes.
As it is now, Bouncin'Ferno is hard drive installable; if copied to
hard drive, just double click on P8.LOADER to run the game. If run from
floppy disk, just boot the disk. If you have any problems booting the disk,
just run P8.LOADER from either ProDOS-8 or GS/OS. Documentation in both
French and English is also provided.
Bouncin'Ferno has been placed by the FTA into the public domain.
Therefore, all contest submissions, being derivative works, will also be in
the public domain. To enter the contests, just print out, complete and sign
the contest entry form that's provided on disk as a standard text file, and
send along with your disk to FTA Contest, c/o inCider/A+, 80 Elm St,
Peterborough, NH 03458. All entries must be postmarked by 12/31/92.
We will be making the Bouncin'Ferno disk available, along with the
contest entry form, for downloading from the large online networks (America
Online, CompuServe, and GEnie). No restrictions of any kind are placed on
it, so please make sure your user group, and all your friends, know about
it.
After the contest winners are announced, the winning entries will also
be uploaded to the online networks, and will spread from there.
Bouncin'Ferno version 1.03 by F.T.A
[*][*][*]
(Translated haltingly from la belle langue by ToH)
Board Editor
4 editing modes:
1 - Move mode :
THIS MODE IS SELECTED BY THE SPACE BAR
To move (square by square) use the 2,4,6,8 keys on the numeric keypad.
Move vertically with the + and - keys (pixel by pixel).
By simultaneously holding down the apple key, you can increase the
movement speed of the cursor (by 4 squares and by 10 pixels)
By simultaneously holding down the option key, you can move from room to
room with the 2, 4, 6 and 8 keys.
By simultaneously holding down the shift key, the cursor will follow the
terrain, that is to say :
- for horizontal movement, it corrects its altitude automatically to
follow the slope.
- minus key : it puts itself on the first plate down.
- plus key : it puts itself on the first plate up.
This allows rapid passage from one floor to another when there are
superimposed levels.
The effects of the apple and shift keys are cumulative (rapid movement
and terrain following).
Cursor Selection :
- the 0 to 9 keys on the top row of the keyboard select the 10 special
plates :
0 : deadly plaque
1 : left projector
2 : back projector
3 : right projector
4 : front projector
5 : icy plate
6 : invisible icy plate
7 : invisible plate
8 : spring
9 : can-bearing plate
- the 0 key on the numeric keypad selects the normal horizontal plate
- the 4 arrow keys select inclined plates, rising in the direction
indicated by the arrow. To obtain the 3 possible inclinations, press
repeatedly on the corresponding arrow.
2 - Trace mode
THIS MODE IS SELECTED BY THE RETURN KEY
The cursor remains identical to the one in movement mode if there is
a plate identical to itself at the position it occupies. You can move it
like before, but now it leaves a trail behind it. The terrain-following
mode is replaced here by a continuously sloped movement if you trace with
an inclined plate.
DON'T FORGET TO QUIT THIS MODE WITH SPACE (RETURNING TO THE PREVIOUS) IF
NEED BE.
3 - Erase mode
THIS MODE IS SELECTED BY THE DELETE KEY.
The cursor is then replaced by a two-tone horizontal plate (red and
orange). This cursor erases all the plates it passes.
4 - Block mode.
A block is a continuous collection of all the plates within a selected
box.
This mode allows selection of blocks, cutting them, moving them, pasting
them, reshaping them...
Selecting a block :
- place the cursor on one of the 8 vertexes of the box.
- type apple-B.
- the display becomes monochrome (yellow) with the exception of the
plates in the block (orange)and the shadow of the selected box on the
floor (green rectangle).
- move the cursor to the opposite vertex.
- Press ESCAPE to cancel the selection.
Otherwise :
- apple-C copies the block into the clipboard.
- apple-X also copies the block, but then erases it from the board.
- apple-M selects the block in block editing mode.
- apple-V recovers the last block copied and selects it in block editing
mode.
- apple-W recovers the last block copied and uses it as a brush (the
block remains behind after each movement)
NB : in brush mode, the shift key produces a continuous slope which
is set up according to the shape of the cursor. This is displayed, but
doesn't leave a trail.
- delete erases the block from the board.
Features of block editing mode :
- the cursor movement keys move the selected block.
- return accepts the editing and the block is replaced on the board at
its actual position.
- Escape cancels editing and the block disappears.
- also, 8 keys allow reshaping the editing block :
- option-L turns the block one-quarter turn on its vertical axis.
- option-X reverses the block left-to-right.
- option-Y reverses the block front-to-back.
- option-Z reverses the block top-to-bottom.
- option-arrow (right, left, up or down) changes the inclination of the
block by one unit in the arrow direction. (Note: given the small
numbers of inclined planes, this operation is sometimes neither
perfect nor reversible.)
5 - The library :
The library is for the storage of copies of blocks that you use
often, or which you think you'll reuse. It allows you to recover copies at
any time without having to return to the board where they were found.
To copy a block into the library, use the usual copy commands:
- apple-C
- apple-M
or apple-X plus hold down the option key. The command will execute
normally, but in addition a copy of the selected block will be stored in
the library.
To recover a block from the library, use the normal command to recall a
block (apple-V or apple-W), plus hold down the option key. Instead of
recalling the last block copied, this will connect on the selector of the
library.
The library selector :
- the + and - keys stream through the different components in the
library.
- for housekeeping, the delete key erases the displayed block from the
library.
- the return key selects the displayed block. It then becomes the last
block copied and your initial command (apple-V or apple-W) executes
normally.
- the escape key quits the selector and cancels the command.
Library capacity :
- the library's capacity is sufficient to store approximately the
equivalent of 25 rooms of a board. It's therefore possible that you may
fill it in normal usage. Nevertheless, in this case a message will inform
you that copying into the library is impossible. You'll then have to do
some housekeeping with the selector's delete command. - the library
selector position defaults to the last selection made.
6 - Miscellaneous commands
- / and * (keypad) : Retreat and advance the first plane seen.
- apple-Q : Quit the editor.
- apple-H : See the high scores (press Del to reset, any other key to
close the high score window)
- apple-U : Undo.
Restore the previous state :
- change mode
or - change the cursor
or - block layout (return after apple-V)
or - block copy (apple-C, apple-X or apple-M)
or - ... (you're out of luck for other cases.)
[not _quite_ what it said] B-)
- escape : Cancel the operation in progress.
- apple-? : Help from god.
- apple-P : Play the board from the cursor position.
[*][*][*]
>>> BOUNCIN'FERNO CONTEST ENTRY BLANK <<<
"""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""
(Source = GEnieLamp)
Please read this contest entry blank, fill it out, sign it, and mail it
in, along with a 3.5" disk containing your contest entry, to:
FTA CONTEST
inCider/A+ Magazine
80 Elm Street
Peterborough, NH 03458
NAME_______________________________________________________________________
ADDRESS____________________________________________________________________
CITY__________________________________________________ STATE_____________
ZIP___________________________________________________
COUNTRY________________________________ I saw it on GEnieLamp!
PHONE__________________________________
Remember, all contest entries must be postmarked by December 31, 1992.
The enclosed disk is submitted for the (circle one):
PROGRAMMING CONTEST BOUNCIN'FERNO LEVEL CONTEST
Briefly describe your submission:
_________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________
I understand that the FTA's Bouncin'Ferno program, and all the source
code provided on the Bouncin'Ferno disk, is in the Public Domain. I further
understand that my submission, being a derivative work, is also in the
Public Domain. I understand that public domain software cannot be
copyrighted, and that no restrictions can be placed on its distribution.
I understand that the decision of the panel of judges is final.
_________________________________
SIGNATURE
____________________
DATE
[*][*][*]
ADDITIONAL NOTES Greetings. I personally feel that there's been way too
"""""""""""""""" much "doom and gloom" in the Apple II world recently,
and conceived of the Shareware Solutions Contests as a way to turn some of
that doom and gloom around. I just feel that for the next few months, the
IIgs community is going to have something to look forward to, namely, some
mind boggling games based on the FTA's Source Code, and some great user
submitted Bouncin'Ferno levels that we can all play.
This is a time to celebrate the glories of the IIgs!!
I just wanted to make a few small comments.
In order to enter the inCider contests, we want everyone to fill out
and sign the Contest Entry Blank. When I put together that entry blank, I
was thinking about legal ramifications, especially knowing that contests
are against the law in some states. I just want everyone that enters the
contest to sign the form, agreeing that whatever work is submitted becomes
the property of the Apple IIgs community. Obviously, you'll need to have a
printer to print out the entry blank. Well, if you don't have a printer,
then just create a facsimile of the entry blank, and send that in. Use ink.
At the time I write this, we do not have all the prizes lined up. Paul
Statt and I are working on that, and don't really expect that we'll know
what prizes we have to offer until after KansasFest. We will have some good
ones, that I have no doubt about. As is said in every Hollywood movie:
"Trust Me". We'll have some great ones.
Have fun playing Bouncin'Ferno, and have fun creating something that
the FTA would be proud of.
Questions, comments, problems?
Contact me online at the following addresses:
America Online: JOKO
CompuServe: 76702,565
GEnie: J.KOHN
Internet mail can be sent to either America Online or CompuServe. If
you don't have a modem, you can always contact me by US Mail at:
Joe Kohn
166 Alpine Street
San Rafael, CA 94901
One last note Copy the disk and give it to everyone you know. The more
""""""""""""" people that enter the contests, the better. Have fun, and
just remember: Apple II Forever!
Please feel free to re-format the entry blank before printing it out. I
have a feeling that it'll be a little easier to read if some of the lines
are double spaced. Either that, or write small <g>.
The other comment has to do with the FTA themselves. In a recent
letter from Olivier Goguel, founder of the FTA, he says "The idea of a
contest to create levels for Bouncin'Ferno is great. We tried the same
thing in France when we were programming it, but it didn't work as we
thought. About programming FTA programs, this is a challenge because our
source code is not commented (or only in French) and we're not using
academic programming ways and tools. But, I hope someone will manage to
create something great from our source code".
The challenge is offered. Let the games begin! -Joe Kohn
////////////////////////////////////////// GEnie_QWIK_QUOTE ////
/ "Hey, I can't complain with that kind of service, eh?? It's /
/ called, "Next Day GEnie".. <Grin>.." /
/////////////////////////////////////////////// T.EVANS21 ////
[EOA]
[HIS]//////////////////////////////
APPLE II HISTORY /
/////////////////////////////////
Apple II History, Part III
""""""""""""""""""""""""""
By Steven Weyhrich
[S.WEYHRICH]
>>> APPLE II HISTORY <<<
""""""""""""""""""""""""
Compiled and written by Steven Weyhrich
(C) Copyright 1991, Zonker Software
(PART 3 -- THE APPLE II)
[v1.1 :: 12 Dec 91]
This third part of the Apple II History deals with the original
AppleII and the design features that went into it. What is most amusing to
me is this: The decisions Wozniak made when laying out his revision to the
AppleI involved not only those that would make it a good computer, but
also would let him use his computer to play "Breakout". The color, the
graphics, the sound, and the paddle circuits had the primary intention of
making that possible.
What is also interesting is that the success of the Apple II was
strongly related to the free reign given to Wozniak the hacker, rather
than allowing several people decide on features the computer should have.
Also found in this part of the History is a glossary to some of the
common terms used in the microcomputer world; it makes the novice more
able to appreciate things discussed later in the history.
>>> THE APPLE II: HARDWARE AND FIRMWARE <<<
"""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""
Moving our time machine on to 1977, we can now look at Steve
Wozniak's next generation Apple. Even as the Apple I was completed and
was slowly selling, Wozniak was already working on making enhancements
that would make his computer faster and more functional. He wanted to make
it display in color. He worked to combine the terminal and memory
functions of the Apple I by moving the display into main memory, allowing
instant screen changes. Many of his changes were not added with the end
user specifically in mind. Wozniak stated:
"A lot of features of the Apple II went in because I had designed
Breakout for Atari. I had designed it in hardware. I wanted to
write it in software now. So that was the reason that color was
added in first--so that games could be programmed. I sat down
one night and tried to put it into BASIC. Fortunately I had
written the BASIC myself, so I just burned some new ROMs with
line drawing commands, color changing commands, and various BASIC
commands that would plot in color. I got this ball bouncing
around, and I said, 'Well it needs sound,' and I had to add a
speaker to the Apple II. It wasn't planned, it was just
accidental... Obviously you need paddles, so I had to scratch my
head and design a simple minimum-chip paddle circuit, and put on
some paddles. So a lot of these features that really made the
Apple II stand out in its day came from a game, and the fun
features that were built in were only to do one pet project,
which was to program a BASIC version of Breakout and show it off
at the club."<1>
Wozniak added other features that he felt were important for a
computer that was useful, one that he would want to own. Since the 6502
processor could address a total of 64K of memory, he designed the computer
with the ability to use either 4K RAM chips, or the newer (and more
expensive) 16K RAM chips. The first Apple II's came standard with 4K of
memory, and more could be added, to a maximum of 12K (if using the 4K
chips) or 48K (if using the 16K chips). Specially wired strapping blocks
attached to the motherboard told the Apple II how much memory was present
and where it was. According to the 1981 edition of the APPLE II REFERENCE
MANUAL, the Apple could have memory in the following sizes: 4K, 8K, 12K,
16K, 20K, 24K, 32K, 36K, or a full 48K. (These sizes were determined by
the different ways that three RAM chips, either 4K or 16K, could be
installed). The strapping blocks were even designed with the flexibility
of allowing blank spots in memory if there were no RAM chips available to
fill those spots.
The first 4K of memory always had to have RAM present, since it was
used by the 6502 processor, the ROM routines, and the text screen display.
If, for example, you only had two other 4K RAM chips to install and you
wanted to display hi-res graphics, you could strap one chip to the lower
half of hi-res memory from $2000-$2FFF, and the other to the upper half of
hi-res memory from $3000-$3FFF.<2> Since 16K RAM chips cost about $500
when Wozniak designed the Apple II, not many users could afford them.
Whereas the Commodore PET and the Radio Shack TRS-80 could not easily be
expanded beyond the 4K they came with, the Apple II from the beginning was
designed with expansion in mind.<3>
The row of eight expansion slots was another feature about the Apple
II that was a strong selling point. Unlike the TRS-80 or PET, you could
easily expand the Apple II by simply plugging a card into one of these
slots. This degree of expandability made it more expensive to build,
however. Steve Jobs didn't believe that anyone would ever need more than
two slots, one for a printer and one possibly for a modem. Wozniak knew
from his experience with computers at Hewlett-Packard that computer users
would always find SOMETHING to fill those extra slots, and insisted that
they keep the number at eight.<4>
One problem Apple had to deal with was getting FCC approval for the
computer. The RF (radio frequency) modulator that had been designed gave
off too much interference, and it was probable that the FCC would not
approve it. (The RF modulator allowed a user to attach the Apple to a
standard television receiver, instead of requiring the purchase of an
expensive computer monitor). Rather than have the release of the Apple II
delayed for re-engineering of the RF modulator to get that FCC approval,
Apple gave the specifications for the RF modulator to Marty Spergel. He
ran a small company (called M&R Electronics) that specialized in obtaining
hard-to-get parts that electronics and computer hackers wanted for their
projects. Their agreement allowed M&R to make and sell the RF modulators,
while Apple could concentrate on making and selling the Apple II. Dealers
would sell an Apple II with a "Sup'r Mod" (costing about $30) if the buyer
wanted to see the graphics on their color TV. Jobs assured Spergel that
the item would sell well, maybe as many as fifty units a month. (Years
later Spergel estimated that he had sold about four hundred thousand Sup'r
Mods).<5>
Other features that Wozniak (and Allen Baum, who helped him with the
project) included in the Apple II ROMs included the terminal software to do
screen text display, expanded Monitor functionality, and cassette
input/output routines. They added the ability to split the screen into
different sized windows. They also wrote a disassembler, which was one of
the most important features of the Apple II from the beginning and a
significant part of its open design. It allowed ANYONE to view the 6502
code that ANY program used, and matched the philosophy of the Homebrew Club
of making all computer knowledge available to everybody. In the Apple I
days, when Apple was supplying software "free or at minimal charge",
Wozniak and Baum published an early version of their 6502 disassembler in a
hacker's magazine. It was designed to be loaded in memory on the Apple I
from $800 to $9D8 and the routine could be executed from the monitor. This
early code was quit similar to the disassembler that was later included in
the Apple II ROM.<6>
Having an expanded Monitor program in ROM and color graphics were not
the only features in the Apple II that attracted people to it. Having
Wozniak's BASIC language in ROM, available immediately when the power was
turned on, made it possible for non-hackers to write programs that used the
Apple II's color graphics.
An interesting bit of trivia about Wozniak's Integer BASIC was that he
never had an assembly language source file for it. He wrote it in machine
language, assembling it by hand on paper:
"I wrote this BASIC processor, and I wrote a little ALGOL
simulator and got it simulated. It looked like it would work,
but I had forgotten to build the machine. I had no assembler,
that was another thing. To use an assembler, they figured that
somebody was going to buy this processor [the 6502] to use for a
company, and their company can pay a few thousand dollars in
time-sharing charges to use an assembler that was available in
time-share. I didn't have any money like that, so a friend
taught me that you just sort of look at each instruction, you
write your instructions on the right side of the page, you write
the addresses over on the left side, and you then look up the hex
data for each instruction--you could assemble it yourself. So I
would just sit there and assemble it myself. The [Integer]
BASIC, which we shipped with the first Apple II's, was never
assembled--ever. There was one handwritten copy, all
handwritten, all hand-assembled. So we were in an era that we
could not afford tools."<7>
Even to this day there is not an official source code listing of
Integer BASIC at Apple. And interestingly, the only error I am aware of in
the Integer interpreter is one involving a single byte. If a line is
entered that has too many parentheses, the "TOO LONG" error message is
displayed instead of the "TOO MANY PARENS" message.<8>
>>> NOW A WORD FROM OUR SPONSOR: BACK TO THE BASICS... <<<
""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""
I want to take a short break in this discussion of the Apple II
firmware to look at some other items that will make further descriptions
easier to understand. If you are a programmer already, you may want to
skip this section, since you probably already know this stuff. First we
will examine some definitions of terms that are commonly known to
programmers, but possibly not to you. Next will be a brief excursion into
the realm of hexadecimal, and finally a look at the memory map of the
original Apple II.
First, let's look at definitions of some words that I have been
loosely throwing around:
BIT The smallest piece of information that a computer can deal
""" with, it is either a "0" (off, clear) or a "1" (on, set).
BYTE The most convenient piece of information (for humans) that
"""" computers use. One byte consists of eight bits, and ranges
from "00000000" (0 decimal) to "11111111" (255 decimal).
NIBBLE (also spelled "nybble"). One half of a byte, consisting of
"""""" four bits, ranging from "0000" (0 decimal) to "1111" (15
decimal).
WORD Two bytes (or four nibbles, if you prefer), consisting of
"""" sixteen bits, and ranging from "00000000 00000000" (0
decimal) to "11111111 11111111" (65535 decimal). Not used
much in microcomputers.
BINARY A system of counting using only two digits, "0" and "1"
"""""" (base 2). Computers speak in binary at their most basic
level; anything else is translated into binary, so the
computer can understand it.
DECIMAL A system of counting using ten digits, "0" through "9" (base
""""""" 10). Most of the Western world uses this system.
HEXADECIMAL A system of counting using sixteen digits, "0" through "9"
""""""""""" and "A" through "F" (base 16). Programmers use this system
as a convenient way of organizing groups of binary numbers.
KILOBYTE Abbreviated "K", "KB", or "Kbytes", it refers to 1,024
"""""""" bytes. A 64K computer has 64 x 1024 = 65536 bytes.
MEGABYTE Abbreviated "M", "MB", or "meg", it refers to 1,024 Kbytes,
"""""""" or 1,024 x 1,024 = 1,048,576 bytes. A 32 MB hard disk, the
largest size volume that ProDOS can handle, holds 32 x 1,024
= 32,768 Kbytes, or 32 x 1,024 x 1,024 = 33,554,432 bytes.
GIGABYTE Abbreviated "G", "GB", or "gig", it refers to 1,024 MB, or
"""""""" 1,048,576 Kbytes, or 10,737,441,824 bytes. The Apple II
Smartport (which will be mentioned later in this history)
can handle disk devices up to 4 gig in size (although the
software to handle that type of size has yet to be written).
RAM Random Access Memory. Any data stored in this memory
""" disappears when the computer is turned off.
ROM Read Only Memory. Data cannot be stored in this type of
""" memory, but instead it usually contains programs or other
information that does not disappear when the computer is
turned off.
HARDWARE The physical electronic components and mechanical parts that
"""""""" make up a piece of computer equipment. Examples would be
the keyboard, disk drive, or television monitor (also called
CRT, or Cathode Ray Tube).
SOFTWARE The digital instructions executed by the computer in RAM.
"""""""" They may act on the hardware that is attached to the
computer. Examples would be a BASIC or Pascal program, an
assembly language routine to read a clock, or a disk
operating system. Since software is executed in RAM, it
disappears from memory when the computer is turned off.
FIRMWARE The same as software, except it is executed from ROM, and
"""""""" does not disappear when the computer is turned off. Almost
any software could be in ROM, except programs that modify
themselves as they run.
Next, let's look at hexadecimal numbers in more detail. Since
computers deal in binary (base 2), the true language of computers is either
in terms of "0" (off) or "1" (on). However, it quickly becomes cumbersome
to refer to large numbers in binary; the base 10 number "458" is
"111001010" in binary. So programmers have decided to group numbers in
such a way as to make it easy to convert part or all of that number to
binary if necessary, but still have numbers (almost) as easy to deal with
as our standard base 10 system.
Now, in the familiar base 10 system there are ten digits, 0 through 9.
When counting, after you pass 9, you add one to the digit to the left of
the 9, change the 9 to a 0, and continue. So, "09" becomes "10", "19"
becomes "20", and so on. However, in the base 16 system there are sixteen
digits, 0 through 9, and then A through F (representing decimal 10 through
15). When counting, then, you go 7, 8, 9, then A (not 10), B, C, D, E, F,
10, 11, 12, and so on. In the Apple world we have traditionally used a
preceding dollar sign to signify a hexadecimal number, so "25" means
twenty-five, but "$25" means thirty-seven (2 x 16, plus 5). To translate a
hexadecimal number to decimal, use powers of 16:
$B65F = (11 x 16^3) + (6 x 16^2) + (5 x 16^1) + (15 x 16^0)
= (11 x 4096) + (6 x 256) + (5 x 16) + (15 x 1)
= 45056 + 1536 + 80 + 15
= 46687
The same thing can be done in reverse to convert base 10 to
hexadecimal, starting by dividing the number by 4096, then the remainder by
256, then 16. If the number is greater than 65536, you need a bigger power
of 16 (and you are probably not dealing with an 8-bit Apple II!) Or you
can just get a programmer's calculator like mine that automatically does
the conversion for you...
When dealing with memory addresses on an Apple II, we usually
designate them as four digit hex numbers (such as the $B65F example above).
Numbers less than $1000 often are printed without the leading blank ($400
instead of $0400), and numbers less than $100 are treated the same way ($32
instead of $0032).
>>> THE APPLE II: MEMORY MAP <<<
""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""
To understand the memory layout of the Apple II, consider this
analogy: Imagine a cabinet with sixteen shelves, and sixteen separate
slots or pigeon holes on each shelf (similar to those found in old roll-top
desks). Each slot refers to a specific address in memory on the computer,
and each slot can hold a number between 0 and 255. (Since a byte is eight
bits wide, the largest number that can be represented by eight binary bits
is 255). The bottom shelf is row "0", and the leftmost slot in that row is
slot "0". The address of that slot, then, is $00. As we move to the
right, the addresses increase, $01, $02, $03, and so on to $0F at the end.
We then go up to the next row, (row "1"), and the addresses continue in the
same fashion with $10, $11, $12, and so on as before. The sixteenth row is
row "F", the rightmost slot in that row is slot "F", and the address of
that slot is $FF. This cabinet has, then, 256 slots (16 x 16), and
represents what is called a "page" in the Apple memory. The cabinet itself
has an address (since computers need addresses for everything), and this
one's address is "00". The full address of row "5", slot "A" on cabinet
"00" is $005A.
Only the Altair 8800 came with just 256 bytes of memory, so we have to
account for the entire 64K memory space that the 6502 chip in the Apple II
can handle. There is a cabinet sitting on top of cabinet "00", and it is
laid out in the same fashion with its 256 slots in sixteen rows. This is
cabinet "01", and on top of that one is cabinet "02"; this continues on up
until we reach cabinet "FF" way up at the top. Apple programmers refer to
these cabinets as "pages" of memory. There are 256 pages of memory, each
with 256 bytes on a page, making a grand total of 256 x 256 = 65536 bytes
of memory (or slots that can hold a number, if you prefer the analogy).
In discussing the memory map on the Apple II, we can refer to pages of
memory with a hexadecimal two-digit number for shorthand if we wish. The
general layout of the Apple II memory is as follows:
Page $00: used by the 6502 processor for storage of information that
it can access quickly. This is prime real-estate that is
seldom available for general use by programmers without
special care.
Page $01: used by the 6502 for internal operations as a "stack."
Page $02: used by the Apple II firmware as an input buffer when using
the keyboard from BASIC, or when a program uses any of the
firmware input routines.
Page $03: general storage area, up to the top three rows (from $3D0
through $3FF) which are used by the disk operating system
and the firmware for pointers to internal routines.
Pages $04-$07: used for the 40 column text screen.
Pages $08-$BF: available for use by programs, operating systems, and for
hi-res graphics. Within this space, Woz designated pages
$20-$3F for hi-res "page" one, and pages $40-$5F for hi-res
"page" two.
Page $C0: internal I/O and softswitches
Pages $C1-$C7: ROM assigned to each of the seven peripheral cards
Pages $C8-$CF: switchable ROM available for any of the seven cards
Pages $D0-$D7: empty ROM socket #1
Pages $D8-$DF: empty ROM socket #2
Pages $E0-$F7: Integer BASIC ROM
Pages $F8-$FF: Monitor ROM
The memory space on the Apple II between $C000 and $CFFF was assigned
to handle input and output. From $C000 to $C0FF the space was reserved for
various soft-switches used to control the display, and various built-in I/O
devices, such as the keyboard, paddles, annunciators, and the cassette
port. (A soft-switch is simply a memory location that, when a number is
stored there, changes something in the computer--such as switching on
graphics mode). From $C100 to $CFFF the space was reserved for ROM on the
plug-in peripheral cards for each of the seven slots. Slot 1 was given the
space from $C100 to $C1FF, slot 2 from $C200 to $C2FF, and so on. The
$C800 to $CFFF space was special slot-selectable ROM that was uniquely
available for each of the seven peripheral cards. For example, a program
running on the card in slot 6 to control a device could use the $C800-$CFFF
space for its own purpose. When control passed to the card in slot 3, that
card could use a program of its own that ran in the same $C800-$CFFF space.
This was accomplished by allowing each card to have ROM code that covered
pages $C8-$CF, and making that space "switchable", depending on which card
wanted to use it. Having this space available made writing ROM code
simpler, since it would not have to be capable of running at various memory
locations (depending on which slot a card was plugged into).
The memory from $D000 to $D7FF and $D800 to $DFFF was empty on all
early Apple II computers. On the motherboard were two empty sockets that
were available for the user to plug in their own ROM chips. The
$D000-$D7FF space was most often used by a plug-in ROM chip sold by Apple,
known as "Programmer's Aid #1." It contained various utilities for Integer
BASIC programmers, including machine language routines to do the following:
Renumber BASIC programs
Append one BASIC program to the end of another
Verify a BASIC program that had been saved on tape (to confirm it was
an accurate save)
Verify non-program data that had been saved on tape
Relocate assembly language routines to a different location in memory
(most would only run in one place in memory)
Test the Apple II RAM
Generate musical tones through the built-in speaker
Handle hi-res graphics from BASIC, including code to clear the hi-res
screen, set colors, plot points and lines, draw shapes, and load
shapes from tape.
All the routines on the Programmer's Aid #1 ROM were written by
Wozniak between June 1977 (the RAM test routine) and April 1978 (program
renumber and append), except for the music routine, which was written by
Gary Shannon.
The other empty ROM socket (covering memory from $D800 to $DFFF) was
never filled by Apple. Various third-party vendors sold ROMs for that
socket (or for the $D000-$D7FF socket used by the Programmer's Aid #1 ROM),
but none made enough of an inroad to be preserved in the INTBASIC file that
would later be included on the DOS 3.3 System Master disk. In fact, the
$D800-$DFFF space in the INTBASIC file on that disk contains an image of
that same space taken directly from the Applesoft ROM! It is completely
useless to Integer BASIC, of course, but disk files being what they are,
Apple had to fill that space with SOMETHING!
The Integer BASIC interpreter lived in the ROM space between $E000 and
$F7FF. However, BASIC only used the space up to $F424. Between
$F425-$F4FB and $F63D-$F65D could be found a floating-point math package
that was not used by Integer BASIC, but was available for BASIC programmers
who were astute enough to figure out how it worked. (An early Apple user
group, the Apple Pugetsound Program Library Exchange, or A.P.P.L.E., sold a
tape and notes by Steve Wozniak they called "Wozpak", that documented some
of the secrets of the Integer BASIC ROM). Between $F500-$F63C there was
code that was known as the "miniassembler", which was executed starting at
the ominous address $F666. The miniassembler allowed you to enter short
machine language programs using the standard 6502 mnemonics (the three
letter codes that referred to a specific type of operation; for example,
"LDA #" represented the 6502 opcode $A9) instead of entering the program
byte by byte in the monitor. The $F689-$F7FC space contained Woz's SWEET
16 interpreter. Wozniak wrote SWEET 16 to simulate a 16-bit processor; it
simplified some routines he wrote for the Apple II ROMs, including the
Programmer's Aid #1 renumber, append, and relocate routines. Simply put,
he took a series of hex bytes, defined them as "opcodes" the way HE wanted
them to function, and when executing the code used his SWEET 16 interpreter
to translate the code into legal 6502 operations. It ran slower than
standard 6502 code, but when memory space was at a premium it was better to
have a slow program than to not have enough room for the program at all.
For those who are keeping count, there are a few unreferenced bytes in
the latter part of the Integer ROM. Those bytes contained filler bytes
that were not used as any program code.<9>,<10>,<11>
The last part of the Apple II memory, from $F800-$FFFF, contained
Wozniak's Monitor program which has already been discussed above.
[*][*][*]
NEXT INSTALLMENT The Apple II, cont.
""""""""""""""""
NOTES
"""""
<1> Jack Connick, "...And Then There Was Apple", CALL-A.P.P.L.E., Oct
1986, p. 24.
<2> -----, "Memory Organization", APPLE II REFERENCE MANUAL, 1979,
1981, pp. 70-73.
<3> Val J. Golding, "Applesoft From Bottom To Top", CALL-A.P.P.L.E. IN
DEPTH #1, 1981, p. 8.
<4> Michael Moritz, THE LITTLE KINGDOM, p. 157.
<5> Steven Levy, HACKERS: HEROES OF THE COMPUTER REVOLUTION, pp.
260-261.
<6> Steve Wozniak and Allen Baum, "A 6502 Disassembler From Apple",
Dr. Dobb's Journal of Computer Calisthenics & Orthodontia, Sep
1976, pp. 22-25.
<7> Jack Connick, p. 23.
<8> Christopher Volpe, "Beep: A Tale of (T)ERROR", CALL-A.P.P.L.E.,
Mar 1983, p. 114.
<9> Bob Bragner, "Open Discussion", SOFTALK, Nov 1983, pp. 51-52.
<10> -----, PROGRAMMER'S AID #1, 1978.
<11> Dick Sedgewick, "SWEET 16 - Introduction", MERLIN USER'S MANUAL,
1982, pp. 103-109.
////////////////////////////////////////////// GEnie_QWIK_QUOTE ////
/ "(Someday I'll have to tell the story of the well-known hardware /
/ company that found, in reality, the IIgs memory expansion slot /
/ was actually being made with tighter signals than were specified /
/ in the Hardware Reference. So they designed their card to require/
/ the tighter specs and saved a few bucks -- until Apple made a /
/ production change that made the signals looser but still _well_ /
/ within the specs, and they had to run an upgrade program. Oops.) /
/////////////////////////////////////////////// M.DEATHERAGE ////
[EOA]
[GAM]//////////////////////////////
GAMES PEOPLE PLAY /
/////////////////////////////////
Focus On Computer Games
"""""""""""""""""""""""
By Darrel Raines
[D.RAINES]
>>> IS THAT GAME ANY "GOOD"? <<<
""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""
A few words of introduction are in order. My name is Darrel Raines.
I will be writing a new column for the Apple II version of GEnieLamp
dealing with games and gaming. Since this is our first article together, I
thought you might want to know a little bit about my background. I am a
long time computer user and hobbyist. I have owned an Apple II+ since 1982
and a IIgs since 1987. I have used personal computers at work and at home
ever since I graduated from college. I currently work for NASA as a
contractor on the Space Station Freedom (SSF) Training Simulator. I still
work with computers on a daily basis, yet enjoy working/playing with my
Apple II when I get home.
My Apple IIgs is used for a programming service that I run out of my
home. I also spend a fair amount of time playing games on my computer. I
consider computer games to be an important part of the reason to own a home
PC. Along those lines, I have written my own game software and released it
as freeware or shareware. When it comes to gaming, I enjoy playing all
types: on a computer or otherwise. In this column, I hope to explore
various games available for the Apple II series of computers. Along the
way we will discuss many topics that I hope are of interest to the general
computer user and/or programmer. I thought it would be fair to start with
a look at what criteria we measure a game against to determine if it is
"good".
Let us get started by discussing some of the skills acquired while
playing games, on or off the computer. I believe that learning to play
games helps to build a number of character traits that are important to a
person's development. Logical thinking is a skill that can be learned and
honed while playing many games. Sportsmanship and fair play can be taught
through games (no one wins every game). Since games are played by a set of
established rules, a person learns something about citizenship and living
under a government. Hand/eye coordination and motor skills are developed
through participation in sports games (and, the couch potato says, using a
joystick). Cooperation and teamwork are learned while playing games
between teams.
All of the traits listed above can be acquired while playing at one
game or another. Stated differently, every well designed game gives the
participants the opportunity to learn one or more of these traits. Going
back to the subject of this article, we have slipped into what I consider
to be the prime quality that defines a "good" game. For your
consideration, I will now place before you a shopping list of
characteristics that I believe to be important in the development of game
software. I will also indicate some games (past and present) that meet the
criteria given here.
Skill Development How well does the game teach one or more of the various
""""""""""""""""" skills that we discussed in the previous paragraphs?
A single game cannot hope to accomplish every expectation of a "good" game.
However, ONE or more of these characteristics will be developed in a well
designed game.
Chess will always be a favorite game for millions of people since it
epitomizes the logical game. Nothing is hidden and all possible moves are
known by both players. Therefore, it is sheer thinking ability between the
players that is the deciding factor in the outcome of the game. Computer
versions of this classic game have done nothing to diminish the allure of a
head-to-head battle. I am always joyous at any victory that I am able to
eek out over Chessmaster 2100.
Adventure games can teach a player how to cooperate with other team
members. You will not make it very far in any of the Bard's Tale scenarios
if you do not heal your wounded companions. I always spend the first part
of any role-playing adventure game trying to determine how to best use my
various characters. This helps out in the later part of the game where it
is imperative that you kill off your foes with the least amount of effort.
Playability Does the game make you want to come back and play "just one
""""""""""" more time"? Does it draw you back to the keyboard when you
know that you should be hitting the pillow instead? Measuring a game's
ability to addict the player is not always easy. But it is certainly
undeniable that certain games are very addictive.
How many of you have fallen prey to the mesmerizing pleasures of that
fiendish delight, Arkanoid (I or II)? Come on, be honest and raise your
hands. Both my wife and I were caught up in this wonderful game. The
premise is simple and the game is very easy to learn. All you have to do
is hit the ball with your paddle and make sure that it does not reach the
bottom of the screen. The problem is that a gamer wants to play just one
more time to reach that next level. Eventually, you can't seem to stop
until that evil demon has been knocked back into the far reaches of space
from whence he came.
At one time, Lode Runner was the hottest game going on almost any
computer system. I can remember spending hours dissolving bricks, picking
up lodes, climbing stairs, hanging from the high wire, and eventually
clearing the current level: only to have to do it all over again on the
next screen. What fun! I once was enjoying a particularly successful game
of Lode Runner, when I hit the pause button to rest my hand. I had cramps
from hitting the fire button on the joystick too many times. The fact that
I was on level fifty pleased me very much until I looked at the clock. I
had been playing for two hours and I still wasn't done with one game!
Stimulation Does the game make you think in new and creative ways? Are
""""""""""" you faced with challenging situations that allow you to do
things that you don't get to do in real life? Admittedly, this is
something that you don't want from every game that you play. However, the
joy of discovery and the excitement of the unknown make some games well
worth the time spent playing.
When you play the Infocom game Sherlock Holmes and the Riddle of the
Crown Jewels, you are forced to think like a detective. You begin to look
for clues. You try to determine motive behind actions. You try to emulate
Holmes knack for deducing so much information from so few clues. When I
began to play this game I was reminded of my love of the character and the
story telling ability of Arthur Conan Doyle. This stirred me to the point
that I pulled out my old books and reread some Sherlock Holmes stories. I
had first read these stories as a teenager. The experience was extremely
enjoyable.
I have always loved to play basketball. I enjoy officiating basketball
(more than six seasons of experience). I even enjoy watching basketball.
Currently, I do not have the time to do any of these activities. So how do
I get my basketball fix? I plug in Gamestar's Two-on-two Basketball and
dunk to my heart's content. This is especially nice since I could never
even come close to dunking a basketball in real life. By the time that my
team has made it through the playoffs and won the world championship, I
feel like I have accomplished the real thing. The Chicago Bulls had better
watch out.
Random Events Does the game have some amount of random occurrences or
""""""""""""" situations? This factor makes a game less predictable and
more entertaining. The random events should not be so prevalent that they
alone determine the outcome of a game. No one wants to play a game where
their efforts do not make any difference in the outcome. However, the
addition of factors that the players cannot predict can add to the
excitement of a game.
I enjoy playing war and tactical games when I have a good bit of time
to spend with them. The games can tend to be somewhat on the dry side if
the designers are not careful. Even the best strategists in a real world
battle may be hampered by the onset of an unexpected blizzard. Therefore,
I want the simulations that I play to have the same type of possibilities.
The space war game Reach for the Stars has a number of random event options
that may be selected. If you turn on the natural events option, you may
start to wage an all-out offensive on a neighboring planet only to find
that your best production planet gets hit by the plague.
Computer Player Modes -- Does the computer opponent (when available)
adapt to my skill level? Can I select a level of opponent to match my
playing ability? If a game is too easy to win, then you loose interest
easily and do not play it for long. If a game is too hard to win, then you
get frustrated by it and no longer play. This factor can do much to extend
interest in a game to a wide variety of players.
One of the reasons that I prefer to play Jack Nicklaus Golf (JNG)
instead of Mean 18 has to do with the computer players. JNG does not have
very many courses to choose from and it is very slow. But all of the bad
things about the game are compensated for by the computer players that are
available to compete against. When you get really good at the game, you
can invite Jack himself to a friendly (growl) game of golf. One of my
greatest thrills in computer gaming occurred the day that I finally beat
Jack in a head-to-head skins match. Now if I could just do that on a real
golf course...
Fun Factor Is the game fun to play? There is no way to quantify this
"""""""""" item. The only defense I have in listing it as a criteria is
that it definitely exists. Perhaps a way to test for this factor would be
to take ten average computer game players. Put each of them in front of a
computer running the game in question. Have them play for an hour and ask
them the question "did you have fun"? If at least three answer to the
positive, then you may have a "good" game.
If any of you have played Infocom adventures you know that many of
them can be very tough. I usually get frustrated at some point along the
way in any of these games. I just cannot seem to find the right word or
command to progress in the adventure. I have come to the point where I
will not even start an Infocom game without a walk-through in my possession
for emergency reference. With this type of frustration likely while
playing a game, you might think that I would not even bother playing. An
illustration should suffice to show you why I keep going back for more.
In the hilarious adventure Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, you
eventually get stuck on an alien ship. You need to get a babel fish stuck
into your ear so that you can understand what the aliens are saying.
However, the stubborn little fish just will not seem to cooperate. I
finally had to give up and get some help. The answer to the puzzle was not
at all obvious. You needed some material that I had tossed away much
earlier in the game. Then you had to perform two very unlikely acts in
sequence. The result of your maneuvers puts that pesky little devil in
your ear where he belongs. I would have NEVER figured out how to solve
that problem. So why did I keep playing? Because the description of what
goes on to the little babel fish on the way to my ear had me in the floor
with laughter. In a word, it was fun.
If a computer game can succeed in one or more of the areas listed
above, I would consider it to be "good" game. If I ever find a game that
stands up well to all of the categories listed, then I may never see the
light of day again. Since most of the criteria that I have put before you
are subjective in nature I expect that various people will disagree as to
whether or not they enjoy a particular game. That is okay. My purpose
here is to establish a set of guidelines for future discussions on the
subject. Now that we are done until next month, let the games begin!
You may contact me via electronic mail to register opinions, gripes,
ideas, or your favorite games for future examination. My GEnie address is
D.Raines . I will try to respond to each letter so long as the volume does
not get too high. If you are writing a commercial or shareware game that
you would like to see reviewed in an upcoming column, please contact me via
GEmail.
//////////////////////////////////////// GEnie_QWIK_QUOTE ////
/ "Of course, if using GEnie is a regular habit for you, you /
/ may want to check out Aladdin. It works great with a TT! /
/ I've even used it to call CompuServe!! :)" /
//////////////////////////////////////////// BOB-BRODIE ////
[EOA]
[LOG]//////////////////////////////
LOG OFF /
/////////////////////////////////
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