II Computing Vol 2 No 3 Feb Mar 87

bya sroaparenann os: # z [COMPUTING U.S.A. $2.95 CANADA $3.50 FEBRUARY / MARCH 1987 | a t Write with an Apple 4 16 Word Processors — Find the Right One! Ne “TYPE Dvorak’s Keyboard . Program OKING, es, : cated. BO YOUR TAXES WITH Sach APPLEWORKS Be. \\ more 1986 Type-In Template Slat | Also on Softstrip and Disk Kye 7 Type-In Programs | 17795 | _f 74470 Reasons like being able to quickly correct any Put pizzazz in your printouts by selecting anything mistakes with MouseWrite Speller. It’s built-in so it’s | from Color to Custom Fonts. Save time with Print there whenever you need it. Want form letters, While You Work. Get in touch with the world with labels, or 1000 individually addressed envelopes? MouseWrite Communications. 12 more great reasons MouseWrite’s Mail Merge and Glossary get the job are the 12 documents you can open at once on the done for you. Expanded Desktop. “Cut, Copy, Paste & Undo with “Add style to your writing with “Correct errors fast with the Mac-like pull down menus” downloadable Custom Fonts” integrated MouseWrite Speller”’ “Make a splash by adding color with “Send and receive files with “Form letters in a flash ImageWriter II and others”. built-in Communications” with Mail Merge” Bere praca ot ve a BTW Mae a List to male MouseWrite will also load AppleWorks documents directly, or even your old DOS 3.3 Text files. It works with your 5-1/4" disk, Unidisk 3.5, hard disk, or Extended RAM card. Suggested Retail Price: $149.95 Ask your local dealer, or get all the details in the fact-filled MouseWrite brochure by calling: 800-421-6526 IN CA 619-562-3670 MouseWrite requires an Apple //c or 128k Enhanced Apple //e / Apple, Appleworks, ImageWriter are trademarks of Apple. RWPI Customers: Special Update Prices are available on many RWPI products. If you're not registered, please write now with your name and product owned to receive complete update instructions. SYLVIA PORTER'S PERSONAL FINANCE SERIES MANAGES IT ALL Your day-to-day finances. Your financial future. And now, your investments, too. Your Personal Your Personal Financial Planner Investment Manager Helps you track your day-to-day financial data, then Whether you're a first-time investor or a combines this information with your future financial sophisticated one, this program enables Objectives to produce the most comprehensive and you to efficiently organize, analyze, and easily-understood financial planning program available. manage up to 15 individual investment portfolios. (Unlimited on hard disk) + Manages your investment transactions: Records, organ- izes, and classifies all important data on your purchases, sales, and other types of investment transactions. * Tracks your investment portfolios: Displays more than 35 kinds of vital statistical data, plus financial profiles on individual companies. + Alerts you to investment deadlines: Transaction deadline dates for dividends and interest; buy and’sell positions; bond maturities; and much, much more. Maintains your electronic check- book and credit card transactions. Writes your checks and balances your checkbook. Prepares and monitors your budget. Classifies and tracks your taxable income and expenses. Calculates your net worth and generates customized personal financial statements. Tracks your financial assets — and your insurance policies. Leads you step-by-step through a series + Tracks your retirement investments of questions regarding your financial + Monitors your investment taxes: Tracks, organizes and goals, and your current financial condition. classifies your interest and dividend income, and your capital Your answers will enable your computer to gains or losses. Generates year-end reports. GSE EN CITES Tan 5: Includes Telecommunications Access to outside eliaertien you mueteave Gach Veal to1mest your, {inancial Database Sources: Lets you access all major outside objectives — in both real and inflated dollars databases for automatic price updates (modem required). Each SYLVIA PORTER program: Includes Investment Strategies and Fundamental & * Interfaces with the others in the Series. You need to Technical Analyzers enter data only once. + Generates unique graphic representations that display PLUS... your data in colorful charts. FR. from DOW JONES News/Retrieval Your Password and 1 Hour of Prime Time (Value over $120!) | TARAS L0 | Suggested Retail List Prices: giao <= a ED IBM (265K) — $99.95 each Lae 2S Fee ] Apple (256K) — $99.95 each C128 (128K )—$69.95 each C64 ( 64K)-$49.95** MORE POWER FOR YOUR DOLLAR Includes a Customized Report Writer that prints out any report you want, tailored to your specific needs. At your favorite dealer now, Timeworks, Inc., 444 Lake Cook Rd., Deerfield, IL 60015 or order from Timeworks 312-948-9200 today: “Registered trademarks of International Business Machines Corp., Apple Computer Systems Inc. 1-800-535-9497 ‘and Commodore Electronics, Ltd ©1984 Sylvia Porter's Personal Finance Magazine Co. & Timeworks, Inc. All rights reserved. “Volume 1 available only CIRCLE 018 ON READERS SERVICE CARD egse excuse the interruption, but a scheduled event has come due... Time-Trax II™ is an active, time and date oriented calendar program. When a scheduled event is due Time-Trax II will beep and display your entry! Time-Trax II will remind you of meetings, appointments, errands, phone messages, birthdays, holidays, bills to pay and much more. With Time-Trax you can even schedule advance notice reminders so that you are ready for your important event! No more excuses that you forgot to look at your calendar! Time-Trax II is easy to use. With just a few simple keystrokes you can make, review, copy and edit entries. Easily change the time or date of an event and edit text of any entry. Time-Trax II's cut, copy and paste commands along with its clip- board makes it simple to enter regularly scheduled events. Search for any name, phone number or other information in any entry. Customize Time-Trax II with your own meaningful category labels for your entries. Print out a day, a month or any period of time easily. Keep schedules for any number of users. And best of all Time-Trax II uses the AppleWorks™ user interface, so if you're using Appleworks you're ready for Time-Trax II! Busy people everywhere need Time-Trax IL. Time-Trax II can be installed as a Pin- point Desk Accessory and then either run as a normal desk accessory or an active one! When active Time-Trax II will run behind other programs like AppleWorks, Manzanita BusinessWorks™ and Profiler™ and will actually interrupt you while you are working to notify you of a scheduled event! llc System Clock SEIKO*° DATAGRAPH 2001 The //c System Clock™ is a perfect addition to Imagine having your Time-Trax Il schedule any Apple //c or Laser 128. Simply plug it into | loaded into a wrist watch. That's exactly ri ‘ ‘ what you get with the Seiko Datagraph either your printer or modem serial port and then 2001. Now you can be anywhere and plug your printer or modem into the //c System Time-Trax II will notify you of your Clocks pass through port. Your Pro- important events with an alarm and DOS software willthenbeableto | display on an easy fo read 4 line read the time and date. | LCD poate Seno Dale. ; grap! version comes com- - Included with soft- | Flete with Time-TraxIL, the Seiko ware to display | Wrist Terminal (it’s also a very the time and nice watch) and a combination date on the ProDOS clock/interface for your computer. No other cards or \ AppleWorks accessories are needed. We , menu too! include everything you need. ai PRICING 4, Time-Trax $69.00" 2. Time-Trax I with SYSTEM //e ProDOS Clock $188.00 Value Only $129.00" REQUIREMENTS 3. Time-Trax Il with i Ik te Clock $158.00 Value Only $129.00° 4, ProDOS compatible clock 4, Hoettst FSS mee Creative Peripherals 2. Apple //c, //e Enhanced , Oatagraph 2001 (speci //e or //e) $229.00 imi 5. //c System Cloct s ee He , He recommended) or Iss @ pinpoint V2.0 (ordered with any product) Call }00- lational = 3. 80 column capability “Introductory offer Only $59.00 714-770-3334 Calif. Mastercard, Visa and COD Dealer Inquiries Welcome ‘AppleWorks, ProDOS and Apple are trademarks of Apple Computer, Inc. BusinessWorks, Profiler Seiko, Pinpoint and Laser 128 are trademarks of Manzanita Software, Custom Computer Products. Hatton Corporation of America, Pinpoint Publishing and Virtual Combinattcs. nc.. and Video Technology. inc. respectively, Time-Trax ILis a trademark of Creative Peripherals Unlimited, Inc Creative Peripherals Unlimited, Inc. 22952 Alcalde Drive, Suite 160, Laguna Hills, CA 92653 CORCLE 005 ON READERS SERVICE CARD FOR APPLE Il USERS COMPUTING. Features 9 Word Processors by Robert Scarola, Cynthia E. Field and Chris Albertson Student Use, Personal Use, Power Use 23 Message Coder by Charles Bell Send Secret Notes Type-In Software 25 Dvorak’s Keyboard by Michael Murray and Frank Hayes The Alternative to QWERTY Type-In Software 30 When Your Disk Dies by Robert Grossblatt Disk-Saving Tips 69 Income Tax Spreadsheet by Tom Chandler Use Your Apple For ’86 Type-In Template Columns 66 Advanced Computer Concepts by Daniel Wolf, Ph.D. Fractals on Your Apple II Type-In Software 71 For the Fun of It by Neil Shapiro Games & Entertainment Software Software Library '7 Contents 38 No More Typing! 39 If All This Is New To You 40 Typo II, Typing Checker 58 II Err Is Human 58 Softstrip (86 Tax Template) Add power and style to your writing! See inside for details. Anthony Abuzeide, photographer Departments 45 Teacher/Parent Tips: by Sara Armstrong Lesson Plans for Talking Text Writer, Message Coder, Dvorak’s Keyboard, Text Appeal 62 Utilities: Multi-Column Printer & Text Appeal by William V.R. Smith and IT Computing Staff Type-In Software 75 Power Programming: Applesoft’s Defined Function by Roger Wagner 78 Reviews: Grammar Gremlins, I Can Write and Be a Writer, Time Is Money, Skyfox and Sundog Reader Services 6 Editorial 7 Reader Forum 88 New Products 90 Advertisers’s List Vol. 2, No.8, February/March 1987. I COMPUTING, for Apple II Users (ISSN 0889-9134) is published bimonthly by Antic Publishing, Inc., 544 Second Street, San Francisco, CA 94107. Application to mail at second class rates is pending at San Francisco CA and at additional mailing offices. POSTMASTER: Please send address changes to IIT COMPUTING, PO Box 1922, Marion, OH 43306. Publisher James Capparell Editorial DeWitt Robbeloth, Executive Editor Anita Malnig, Editor Frank Hayes, Assisiant Editor Michael Biancalana, Programs Editor Heidi Brumbaugh, Editorial Assistant Jon Randall, Editorial Clerk Robert Grossblatt, Contributing Editor Art & Production Claudia Steenberg-Majewski, Art Decor Linda Tapscott, Assistant Art Director Mary Webster, Design/Production Asst Katherine Murphy, Advertising Production Coordinator Julianne Ososke, Collateral Printing Goordinator Contributing Artists & Photographers ‘Anthony Abuzeide, Cover Photography Mary Rhomberg Lavery Mercedes McDonald Max Seabaugh Erik Weber Circulation Margot Olmstead, Director Dixie Nicholas, Subscription Coordinator Eric Gupton, Distribution Coordinator Daniel Barrett, Ken Warner, Dealer Sales Marketing Jon Loveless, VP Marketing Gary Yost, Director Lisa Wehrer, Director of Consumer Serices Brian Sarrazin, Director of Dealer Sales Administration John Cady, Controller Lorene Kaatz, Credit & Collections Suzann Thompson, Accounts Receivable Lydia Chee, Accounts Payable Kimberlea Johnson, Lawrence Sumpter, Order Processing Griselda Lopez, Cash Receipts Susan Allison, Administrative Secretary Advertising Sales John Taggart, Director for regional Advertising Representatives. General Offices (415) 957-0886 544 Second Street, San Francisco, CA 94107 Subscription Customer Service (614) 383-3141 Credit Card Subscriptions (800) 433-0100 ext. 700 Continental U.S. and Hawaii Subscriptions: US. $11.97 (6 issues), Action Edition $59.95 (6 issues with disk). Canada and Mexico $16.97 (6 issues), $72.45 (6 issues with disk). Other foreign $21.97 (6 issues), $84.95 (6 issues with disk). Copyright 1987 by Antic Publishing, Inc. All rights reserved. Printed in USA No part of this publication may be stored in an elec- tronic retrieval system except by the purchaser for his or her own use, nor reproduced by any means (electronic, magnetic, mechanical, optical, photo- graphic, or other) by anyone without prior written permission of the publisher. H Computing — for Apple IT Users is an indepen- dent periodical not affiliated in any way with Apple ‘Computer, Inc. Apple, Apple II, Apple II+, Apple Me and Apple Ie are registered trademarks of Apple Computer, Inc. All references to Apple prod- ucts are trademarked and should be so noted. ‘DITORL Word processing. The computer term most everyone—even those whove never touched a computer—knows. Tt gave the machine a raison detre and continues to do so (along, of course with other applications). Yet in this industry that doesn't sit still, we say, what's next? Desktop publishing, that natural extension from writing words to creat- ing a designed, publishable product, may be next. Next for Apple IIGs, that is. The Macintosh is already in the forefront, with IBM and others edging close. What else is next? Talking word processors? A rumor on computer frontiers is of a word processor that we talk at, and it records and prints out our words. We haven't seen that yet, but Talking Text Writer, reviewed in our Word Processing feature, reads aloud the words we write. But back to desktop publishing. In July of 1986 while preparing our “Apple Unveils the IGS” issue, we were excited by wonderful reports of several desktop publishing systems for the IIGs. As of this writing, we're still waiting to see them. No doubt some will be terrific. But there are delays. One manufacturer is waiting for Apple to complete some necessary work, another is developing the sys- tem for the Mac first. Let’s hope these are temporary snags. Meanwhile we continue to bring you the latest IIGS product news. Software és becoming available; in fact, see our New Products department for information about a colorful graphic word processing program, as well as other exciting products. For the record, the IT Computing staff still uses Apple IIs— Iles and Ics. With so much software available for these machines, we have a waiting list in our offices for who will try out what. You can read about some of this soft- Beyond Word Processing? & & fr Es x & ware in our Word Processing feature. Word Perfect for the Apple is a trea- sure trove of features and Manuscript Manager lets academics and others meet all those exacting style standards. Young people will find a choice of straightforward, uncomplicated writ- ing programs. Frankly, there’s no end of what your Apple IT can do. . . right now. eee Naws flash! We're giving away a com- plete home creativity Apple IIGs system. Apple Computer, Inc. has generously donated the Apple IIGs computer with keyboard and mouse, amemory expansion card with 512K, an RGB color monitor, and two 3.5- inch disk drives. A printer and some dynamite software will be supplied by other manufacturers. The winner re- ceives everything needed to be up and running on the Apple IIGs. (No vaporware included. . .) The drawing will take place at Activision’s booth at the Consumer Electronics Show in Chicago in June. There are other prizes too—see page 22 in this issue for details. Good luck to you all!// Ot a ANITA MALNIG Editor 6 | COMPUTING, FOR APPLE II USERS ‘TEAR ALONG PERFORATION. FOLD HERE AND SEAL. UPGRADE POLICY Products that are developed exclu- sively for The Catalog are backed by an excellent upgrade policy. Just send your current original program disk with proof of purchase and specify the revision you want. We will copy the new version directly onto the original disk. Please include $7.00 for upgrade and handling fee. Send it to The Catalog Upgrades, 544 Second St., San Francisco, CA 94107. PRODUCT WARRANTY The Catalog warrants that the products sold in this catalog will operate prop- erly and be free of defects for a period of 30 days. Should you require war- ranty service, assistance or informa- tion, contact: The Catalog, 544 Second St., San Francisco, CA 94107— (415) 957-0886. GUARANTEE OF COMPLETE SATISFACTION We guarantee every product we sell to be free of defects and to operate properly. If you are not completely satisfied, or if any item is defective, just contact our customer service depart- ment by mail, or phone within 30 days of receipt of merchandise to arrange for a prompt replacement. Only returns in good condition, with the original packaging materials will be accepted. d THE CATALOG” 544 Second Street San Francisco, CA 94107 CLOCKLESS TIMESTAMPING Tm sold on IT Computing and have requested a subscription for my birth- day.. You’ve got a different twist to things than the other magazines that makes II Computing more interest- ing than most. Thanks. Now a request: I loved Rick Robey’s Clockless Datestamping pro- gram, but would like it even better if it would also timestamp ProDOS files. Tuse AppleWorks quite a lot and like to have the time on files. I have been using a modified version of the time and date set routine from the ProDOS User Disk. This routine has no storage ability and so the information must be entered every time ProDOS is restarted. I tried to figure it out myself, but have not been successful. Would you please do another part to save the world from excess typing by releas- ing a fime and date setting program that remembers? T look forward to seeing all of you in the mailbox soon. . . Ross McIntosh Boulder, CO WHAT'S THE POINT? The article “New Vistas for Disabled” by Neill S. Rosenfeld (August- September 1986) reported that David Rubin is developing software to help children read by “gulping in words at a glance.” This is simply the look-say method and is largely ineffective in teaching reading. A normal reader learns that words need to be sounded out. Hence the need to learn letter sounds, enuncia- tion, inflection, articulation and dic- tion. Neither does phonetic reading take all of one’s cognitive capacities to sound out a word. It is after sound- ing out a word that a person is likely to recognize it. This develops and expands one’s cognitive capacities. The word “dog” may be “tall in the front and hangs down in the back” but so does “bog:’ What's the point? Is it that every short word that is tall in the front and hangs down in the back represents a canine? Shape recogni- tion of a word is probably the least effective of the look-say reading methods. In special education a person may have a number of visual irregulari- ties. For them the look-say shape- recognition method of reading is even less effective. My own experience with the shape-recognition method is that it is non-effective. I would hope that some computer- educator-programmer would write a computer program for Christian Broadcasting Network's Sing Spell, Read & Write phonics program. It has graphic components as well as sounds (saying and singing) and would lend itself well to computer usage. Sing Spell, Read & Write is based upon the theoretical model developed by Noah Webster in his Blue-Backed Speller of the 1800s, since revised and reissued as A Handbook for Reading. The theo- retical foundation of Webster’s model for teaching reading by the phonetic method has yet to be improved upon. David D. Dunn Louisville, KY Neill S. Rosenfeld replies: I checked with David Rubin, to ensure I'd interpreted his project accurately. I had. If Mr. Dunn has this misunderstanding of Rubin's work, I suspect other readers do as well. Mr. Dunn decribes a debate between the look-say and phonetic methods of decoding the meaning of words, but Rubin’s work is directed at a level of comprehension below that. Some children with reading dis- abilities have a hard time looking at aletter or collection of letters and see- ing differences from another letter or collection of letters—that a b isn’t a d. Rubin’s software does not teach them to discriminate between a 6 and a d because he wants them to know that bog means “bog” and dog means “dog”, which would be a look-say decoding method. It’s so that when they look at bog they won't see it as dog, regard- less of which decoding method they use. Yes, as Dunn notes, both dog and bog are tall in the front and hang down in the back. But at least a child with this reading disability learns that they're both different from peg, which hangs down in front and_ back. Rubin's software teaches them the salient features of letters, so they can eliminate the vast majority of three- letter words in figuring out what the word in front of them is. Once they can tell a 4 from a d, they can worry how to pronounce it and how it is connected to other Jetters. With that threshold crossed, teachers can determine whether to use the look-say or phonetic method to teach them to link dog with the four-legged critter with a tail. “We know our stuff is effective because we've measured reading speed before and after and the ability to dis- criminate shapes before and after;’ says Rubin. “These are pretty unambig- uous measures of performance.” MORE MODEMS AND MACHINE CODE A few days ago I received my second copy of II Computing. I would like to see some articles on telecommuni- cations and programming in machine language. I am very satisfied with IT Computing and I think it’s the best magazine for my Apple Ile and I would recommend it to all Apple users. Mirek Otremba Windsor, Ontario, Canada We welcome your comments and suggestions. Address your letters to Reader Forum, 11 Computing, 544 Second Street, San Fran- cisco, CA 94107. continued on next page FEBRUARY / MARCH 1987 READER FORUM II BITS Tired of typing? You probably know there's a special Action Disk version of IT Computing that gives you all the type-in programs on disk, ready to use —along with special bonus pro- grams and other features. Starting this issue, it's easier than ever to get the Action Disk if you’ve already bought the regular edition of the magazine. Just clip (or copy) the coupon on page 38. The Action Disk by itself is just $10.95. . . This issue’s Action Disk has two disk bonuses: a special version of this issue's type-in AppleWorks spreadsheet template for preparing your 1986 federal tax return, and the last of our free programs from New- tons Apple, a science quiz. . . If you’re an Apple IIGS owner who subscribes to CompuServe, there's good news: IT Computing is uploading special TIGS pictures to CompuServe's Apple forum, the Micronetworked Apple User’s Group (MAUG). The pictures are located in data library 9, which is dedicated to IIGS programs, pic- tures and information. If you’re not a subscriber to CompuServe, you can join by calling 1-800-848-8199, or (614) 457-0802 in Ohio. . . How fast is the Tics? In our October/November issue we compared it to a Ile, with a BASIC program called SIEVE. Us- ing similar benchmarks, the editors of the monthly newsletter Open- Apple compared the IIGS with Macintoshes and IBMs. The result: the IIGs beat everything but IBM’s top-of-the-line PC AT. Subscriptions to Open-Apple are $24 a year from PO, Box 6331, Syracuse, NY 13217... More software price-cutting this month: Strategic Simulations, Inc., is now selling seven of its Apple II war, fantasy and sports games for $14.95 each. That means new low prices for Gemstone Warrior, Computer Base- ball and Galactic Gladiators, among others. . . Meanwhile, Roger Wagner Publishing has a special offer for owners of MouseWord: you can up- grade to MouseWrite for half price. MouseWord was a mouse-based Apple II word processor published by International Solutions, which has gone out of business. To get Mouse- Write, send in your MouseWord disk and manual along with $75; Mouse- Write normally costs $149.95. If you have an earlier version of MouseWrite, you can upgrade to the current ver- sion of the program for just $45. For information, call Roger Wagner Pub- lishing at 1-800-421-6526, or (619) 562- 3670 in California. . . And Quicken, the personal financial software from Intuit, is dropping its price from $79 to $49 and eliminating copy protec- tion. Quicken is unique in that it’s endorsed and distributed by major banks in the U.S. and Canada, as well as sold through computer stores. For a 30-day trial offer, call Intuit at 1- 800-624-8742 (in California, 1-800- 468-8481). . . As tax time approaches, Broderbund is looking for crazy or outlandish financial management sto- ries. The best story of crazy schemes to keep track of financial records will win their “Off the Wall” story con- test and the storyteller will receive a complete Broderbund software library. Second place gets a software collection and runners-up will receive copies of On Balance, Broderbund’s new personal finance program. Write for more details: Broderbund, 17 Paul Drive, San Rafael, CA 94903... Newsletters abound: Research in Word Processing Newsletter has reviews and articles about word processing, including some complex techniques for those who want to squeeze the most out of AppleWorks and other word processors. A one-year subscription (nine issues) is $15; for information, write to RWPN, South Dakota School of Mines and Technol- ogy, 501 E. St. Joseph, Rapid City, SD 57701. . . For AppleWorks users, there’s Home & School Works News- letter, specially designed for those who use the Apple II’s most popular pro- gram at home or school. $19.95 a year (ten issues) from PO. Box 72, Leets- dale, PA 15056. . . And Terrapin, Inc., publishers of Terrapin Logo, has a free quarterly newsletter for Logo users called Terrapin Times, with short Logo programs and tips for using Logo. Write to them at 222 Third St., Cambridge, MA 02142... Think you're good at Infocom games? Teams from 20 San Francisco-area high schools spent all night last November trying to complete Infocom’s new Hollywood Hijinks. The program's creator, David Anderson, estimated it would take 20 hours to solve the puzzle. The winning teams—from Amador Valley High School in Pleasanton and Contra Costa Chris- tian High School in Walnut Creek, California— finished in just 12 hours. The competition was sponsored by Infocom and the California Academy of Sciences. LATE NEWS: There's a new public domain standard for uploading and downloading files and programs for the Apple IIcs, called Binary IT. It was developed at a series of online conferences on the Apple II Forum of CompuServe’s MAUG group, attended by represen- tatives from Apple Computer, Inc. and leading software companies. Binary IT allows files to be stored at a great savings in disk space. The new format also allows for error-checking protocols such as XMODEM to re- ceive and transmit files with greater accuracy. Gary B. Little, author of Pinpoint’s “Point-to-Point” terminal program programmed the Binary II standard into two public-domain pro- grams and a file format definition, all now available on MAUG in Database Library 10 of the Apple II Forum. (Use the command GO APPLE2 on CompuServe.) The next versions of “Point-to- Point” and PBI’s “Commworks” will feature built-in Binary II support.// 8 IL COMPUTING, FOR APPLE Il USERS MARY RHOMBERG LAVERY ORD PROCESSORS for STUDENT USE P...0:, the first software package most of us buy is a word processor. Certainly it’s the most widely used com- puter application across the board. Tf you're just beginning, how do you choose a program? And if you've been using a trusty word processor that took time to master, what in the world would get you to switch? Since needs vary so much, we've broken word processors down into three categories: Student Use, Personal Use and Power Use. With so many Apples in classrooms and in homes specifically for the children, it’s natural to include a “Stu- dent Use” section. Neat we created a “Personal Use” category. This type of word processor should fulfill your needs from writing memos to perhaps even composing that Great American Novel. You want and need a flexible, easy-to-get-into word processor without its necessarily having extensive format- ting capacities. But, for those of you who do need explicit formats we created the “Power Use” section. Are you preparing legal briefs? Arriving at the final stage of a Ph.D. dissertation? A “Power Use” word processor is in order. Three reviewers, adept in their particular areas, give you the lowdown on the word processor that will hopefully not only make your life easier, but perhaps inspire you to switch from the one you've been holding onto. continued on nex! poge FEBRUARY / MARCH 1987 9 WORD PROCESSORS for STUDENT USF THE MILLIKEN WORD PROCESSOR I don’t know of a simpler, easier to use or less confusing word processor for children in first to third grade than The Milliken Word Processor. The program is outstanding because it incorporates just the right number of essential word processing features to make it a useful writing tool for young- sters, and in addition provides all menus, commands and instructions on-screen in a language and format children can readily comprehend. The program menus are all en- hanced with icons that represent the “real-world” object of the word process- ing function offered. For instance, a line drawing of a desk with a file cabinet, 10 by ROBERT SCAROLA T. trend in elementary and secondary education is to integrate powerful—or potentially powerful—computer applications into the curriculum. Simply, younger and younger children will learn to write using a word proces- sor, or learn to keep track of facts with a database. As a parent, you probably want to keep up with what your child is doing at school. Also, you may want to start your own home activities to complement or supplement what's hap- pening at school. The word processors in this “Student Use’ section include several time-tested programs, a new one that speaks, and a public domain program certainly worth more than a passing glance. manual, typewriter and paper and pencils arranged on it represents the “desk” area from which the child chooses to write (press the W key); access the disk drive (press F for file); or access the printer (press T for type- writer). Press ESCAPE to cancel any function and return to the previous menu. This “press one letter or number” selection process is used throughout the program, whether you are moving text, storing a file or printing a document. Consequently, any child who can read short words and sentences can under- stand and use the Milliken Word Processor. The “paper” section of the program, where word processing is actually done, is limited to 8 lines of text in either 40- or 80-column format. A very large “I? shaped blinking cursor guides the typ- ing. Arrow-key based text scrolling, deletion to the left, automatic insertion and wraparound are all built-in. Other functions like moving and finding words, copying text or block deletion of text are all available from the “writ- ing tools” menu which you call up sim- ply by pressing ESCAPE. At most, three keystrokes are required for any operation in the Mil- liken Word Processor, whether you are moving text, getting or putting away a file in the cleverly-pictured file folders, or printing out text. FREDWRITER FrEdWriter (Free Education Writer) is a unique student word processing I COMPUTING, FOR APPLE II USERS program — powerful, easy to teach and learn, and fre to schools, teachers and students (you are also permitted to make and distribute free copies to your friends). Others pay $20. FrEdWriter comes up on the screen with a main menu selection of seven topics. This menu provides all the information you need to use FrEd- Writer: a brief but thorough tutorial and utilities to set the date and time, format a new disk, copy a disk, and to view, delete or copy document files. ‘The text screen looks just like FrEd- Writer’s parent program, Apple Writer, and FrEdWriter works much like a simplified Apple Writer. For instance, simply pressing Ctrol‘T at any time puts a list of 15 commands in front of you along with a definition of what each command does. Want more help? Just press RETURN from this tutorial and you get clear, short, well-written summaries of each command. You just can't get lost or confused. Two slight drawbacks: disk file activities like copying or deleting a file must be done from the main menu. But if you access the main menu from the text area, you lose the document you are working on unless you remem- ber to save it first. Also, the main menu is not memory resident. It must be loaded from the disk, which slows things down considerably. These are minor drawbacks, though, compared to the program's overall ease of use and public domain. status. FrEdWriter is the natural transition to Apple Writer and AppleWorks, and will be used heavily by teachers and students in sixth grade and above in the years to come. A companion pro- gram, FrEdSender, available shortly, will make it easy to telecommunicate FrEdWriter files. BANK STREET WRITER Bank Street Writer has been greatly improved since its debut in 1984 as a powerful but easy-to-use word process- ing program for students in grades four to six. The latest, revised version eliminates the awkwardness of switch- ing to a different menu-select screen to edit text. You edit as you go, mov- ing through the text with the arrow keys. FEBRUARY / MARCH 1987 FrEdWriter is free to schools! et eee ose BANK STREET WRITER The “edit mode” in the new version is reserved for dealing with text in blocks so that it can be erased, moved or copied; for finding and replacing words; and for accessing the drives and printer by going to the “transfer” menu. This easy access to clear menus and functions with one press of the ESCAPE key, with the text still on- screen, is the heart and soul of Bank Street Writer and the reason it is still a valuable introductory word proces- sor. Happily, Broderbund did not des- troy this appealing simplicity in the process of adding features like text mode editing, an 80-column screen mode, underlining and direct printer access. And, hey, they even managed to keep the manual and disk tutorial easy to understand. One significant flaw is that it cre- ates binary files instead of ASCII text files, which is a problem if you want to telecommunicate your files or access them with a program like Apple Writer. Broderbund does include a file conversion program in the BSW utili- ties, but it’s a time- consuming process. BSW’s popularity with students and teachers over the last three years is well- deserved. The best testament to its quality and appeal is the extensive copying by other software developers of features BSW introduced, such as one press of the ESCAPE key to move among command modes or cancel mistakes. TALKING TEXT WRITER Talking Text Writer attempts to apply the reinforcement principle to creative writing. As students create text, the program, with an Echo speech syn- thesizer plugged into a slot in the Apple, can pronounce the letters, words or sentences the students type. The idea has real merit— many stu- dents are auditory learners rather than visual learners. Most students are naturally intrigued by a computer that “speaks.” Pre-school, primary and learning handicapped children can all benefit from having typed letters and words repeated verbally immediately after they are typed. I admit I am in- trigued by the possibilities, and I approached Talking Text Writer with high expectations. Unfortunately, for two important reasons, the program falls short of its potential. First, TT'W is not a very good word processor, especially for the very young or learning-handicapped students. Its menu selection system is difficult for an adult to use and beyond the reach of a young child or handicapped learner. The speech synthesizer func- tions are buried in the command sequence for the word processing func- tions. And the interrelationships of this menu structure can only be understood by reading through painfully obscure documentation. There are no on- screen help menus, and if you make a mistake, a nondirective message appears at the top of the screen— “Tnactive key pressed. Try another” Secondly, the Echo speech syn- thesizer, at least in combination with TTW, produces a tinny pronunciation of words and letters, and worse still, an unrhythmic and stilted pronuncia- tion of sentences, Everything comes out with the same mechanical pacing, as if there were no difference at all between “He took the dog for a walk.” and “She screamed ‘MURDERER!’ as he fired the pistol.” continued on next page ai Choose A Spelling Checker Spelling Checker Checker Document Spelling Checker: AppleWorks pop-up desk accessory, requires Pinpoint Desktop Accessories (1.1 or later); best for shorter documents. Checker Document: supports ProDOS ASCII text files, AppleWorks and Apple Writer II. 61,000 word dictionary; personal dic- tionary capability; requires 128K. Pin- point Software, 5901 Christie Ave., Suite 501, Emeryville, CA 94608. (415) 654-3050. $69 each. ‘GRCLE 244 ON READER SERVICE CARD Sensible Speller Sensible Speller IV Sensible Speller: ProDOS; supports ASCII text files, AppleWorks, Word Juggler and Apple Writer IT; features an autoload program for extended memory cards. Sensible Speller IV: DOS 3.3, Apple CP/M and Apple Pascal; supports ASCII text files, Apple Writer II, Bank Street Writer, HomeWord, Format II, PFS:Write, ScreenWriter, Superlext and Wordstar. 80,000 word dictionary; personal dic- tionary capability; requires 64K. Sen- sible Software, 210 S. Woodward, Suite 229, Birmingham, MI 48011. (313) 258-5566. $125. ‘CIRCLE 245 ON READER SERVICE CARD MegaWorks AppleWorks add-on; 50,000 word dic- tionary; can add up to 10,000 words; requires 128K. Megahaus, 5703 Ober- lin Drive, San Diego, CA 92121. (619) 450-1230. $125. ‘CIRCLE 246 ON READER SERVICE CARD continued on page 20 The Milliken Word Proces- sor uses “real- world” icons. eta aree rae sc) How I you are! wonder what TALKING TEXT WRITER Despite these major faults, and a quiver of minor ones, I can still imagine a real, if limited, use for TTW to justify its $250 cost. The program might prove an effective reinforcement tool for teaching letter and word recog- nition, and encouraging a student to write and read. It could also in a pro- gram for learning-handicapped stu- dents where each student was super- vised one-on-one by a trained special education teacher. Otherwise, the program is too pricey and difficult to use for the general stu- dent or home environment. II Computing’s Teacher/Parent Tips offer lesson plans to enhance and ex- tend our type-in programs. See the pull-out section in the middle of this is- sue for lesson plans for TALKING. TEXT WRITER. GUTENBERG JR. Gutenberg Jr. is a specialty word processor for high school students or adults interested in creating a wide range of font styles, layouts and for- mats in their documents. I was impressed with the possibili- 7 ties offered—they included expanded and condensed pitch selections; user- designed headers and footers, titles, diagrams and pictures; and mixing for- eign language script with English text. But be warned Gutenberg Jr. is not easy to use. The manual offers at least three ways to do anything, and it takes time and attention to sort through the often dense explanations. For instance, to insert characters in existing text in Gutenberg Jr, you must dance through a three-step process from the “command mode” (where you are when you start the program), to the “insert mode” (which lets you type in text), and back to the “command mode” again in which you can move around the text with the arrow keys and insert and delete characters. If, dur- ing the dance, you wish to pause some- where in your text and dip into “insert mode” to add a word or two, the entire line to the right of the cursor inexplica- bly disappears and goes off somewhere on vacation, only to reappear on the job again when you skip back out to command mode. I found it all some- what dizzying. As a word processor the program could use some simplification and the addition of friendly on-screen help menus. But there is no question that as a typesetting and document formatting program, Gutenberg Jr. deserves the connotation its name implies. It cer- tainly offers any user who has the energy and patience to work through the snarls in the program and documentation the opportunity to enhance documents beyond the scope of anything I’ve seen on other word processors. If you are inclined toward that sort of print artistry, and you do use Gutenberg Jr., just be sure to run all the demos that come with the pro- gram, read the manual thoroughly, and practice for several hours before you work on a serious project.// Robert Scarola, a writer and educational con- sultant from San Anselmo, California, teaches teachers, parents and students to use educational software. || COMPUTING, FOR APPLE II USERS WORD PROCESSORS for PERSONAL USF MULTISCRIBE You mean you still haven't written those thank-you notes you intended to dash off right after Christmas? Procrastinate no more! With MultiScribe, word processing takes on new appeal. . .for the writer and for the reader. The main attraction is that, unlike most other word processing programs for the Apple II, MultiScribe is graphic. What you see on your moni- tor is what you will see on paper. And what you see in both cases is an array of plain or fancy fonts and typestyles that you can mix and match to create visually-striking letters, reports and flyers. Imagine the look on Aunt Mildred’s face when she receives your next thank- you note! Imagine your surprise when you realize, perhaps for the first time, that word processing can be fun as well as functional. Styleware’s easy-to-master program offers essential word processing options wrapped in the intuitive, Macintosh interface. Use a mouse (or a keyboard alternate) to pull down any of Multi- Scribe’s eight menus. Selecting pro- gram features this way eliminates the FEBRUARY / MARCH 1987 by CYNTHIA E. FIELD Trius of one word that summarizes your needs in a per- sonal word processing program. Inexpensive? Easy? Mac- like? Integrated? Whatever your key desire, take a look at the following five programs. There’ at least one you will want to add to your personal word processing wish list. need to memorize commands. MultiScribe lacks some of the fea- tures that power programs tout —like automatic footnoting or macros (abbreviated commands). Confess. How often does your writing require that level of sophistication? Besides, you already know that the real power in writing is in the words you choose and the way you make those words absorb the reader's attention. Documents created with MultiScribe almost guarantee positive reader response. THE BARD'S “PRO-AM” APPLE Ile/c WRITING SYSTEM If yours is a typical family, probably no single word processor “fits” every- one. Some programs, like most of those described in the Student Use section, are just too basic for the advanced needs of an electronic cottage. Other programs, like those reviewed in Power Use, are too feature-filled for everyday needs. Could your family benefit from three separate word processing pro- grams—at Starter, Experienced, and Professional levels? That’s what you get with The Bard’s “Pro-Am” Apple Ile/c Writing System —three word processors in one! All levels use a simi- lar command structure, so you can evolve nearly effortlessly into a higher level from a lower one. Beginners, whether children or adults, will appreciate the Bard’s disk- based tutorial; it explains what word processing is and what the program does. As you advance in your require- ments and in your level of proficiency, you will rely less on the full-word- prompting Command Menus and de- pend more on your memory. Recall- ing the Bard’s mostly mnemonic com- mands is easy, though—and doing so will speed up your work. The pocket- sized Memory Jogger Card is a handy cheat sheet when you run into word processing fogbanks. Program screens appear in an easy- on-the-eyes typestyle and support a 40- column display. Starter and experi- enced levels offer two different screen text styles, one of which has crisp, thick characters. . .for a family member who may be visually impaired or who tends continued on next page 13 to write in the wee hours. The Bard’s System supports many popular printers and the UniDisk 3.5 disk drive. Compatible with Quark’s Catalyst 3.0 program selector, The Bard’s System has its own quill pen icon. This 3-in-1 word processor with 50,000-word spelling checker offers unusual value. WRITER'S CHOICE If you own an Apple II Plus and long for a reasonably inexpensive integrated system, consider Activision's Personal Choice Series. Writer’s Choice (the word processor), Planner’s Choice (the spreadsheet) and Filer’s Choice (the database program) comprise the Per- sonal Choice trio. Writer's Choice would never be my choice, however. Owners of the 128K Ile and the IIc have so many “modern” word processors to choose from, that Writer's Choice with its old look and its awkward command setup seems out of date and out of touch with what many of today’s computer users want: performance without pain. In Writer’s Choice, emphasizing a line of text with boldface typestyle, for example, requires 16 keystrokes! To its credit, Writer’s Choice has enough features to warrant its quest to be “your personal word processor” The program has a straightforward configuration menu to help you con- vince an unlisted printer to cooperate. After all, not everyone owns an ImageWriter or an Epson. Unless you have a barebones com- puter system and, therefore, few choices among word processing pro- grams, you may want to investigate other possibilities before choosing Writer's Choice. APPLEWORKS (2.0) At first glance, you may shudder at AppleWorks’s $250 price tag. Take a closer look: AppleWorks is an undeni- able bargain. Apple’s popular personal and small business program integrates three applications: a moderately powerful word processor, a database manager and a spreadsheet module. But, wait! There’s more. This latest AppleWorks version has the capability to merge database information directly into word 7 MASTERTYPE’S WRITER processing documents in a new way. Now you can create customized letters for people in your condo association, bowling league or customer file. The hefty AppleWorks package holds physical evidence of the pro- gram’s intrinsic value. In the sturdy box, you find the non-copy-protected program in both 5.25-inch and 35-inch formats. (You don’t pay extra for backups.) Apple also provides a com- plete disk-based tutorial on both types of media. If these goodies were not enough, there’s a 162-page written tutorial . . -besides the separate 333-page refer- ence manual. The contents of these volumes is distilled into a four-page, folded Quick Reference Card. Though untrue for most writing, frequently “more ts better” when it comes to soft- ware manuals. . .and Apple's manuals are among the very best—for thor- oughness and layout. These tutorial and reference materials make it even simpler to use the already easy AppleWorks program. Menus appear in the form of stacked, tabbed index cards. On-line help is always available. Mnemonic Open Apple key commands are consistent from module to module. If you were to assign a $40 value to the mail merge feature and consider the manuals and disk tutorial to be freebies, then the main AppleWorks modules cost only about $70 each. You might even feel a twinge of guilt pay- ing so little for so much, right? Still, AppleWorks is not for every- one. If you need a word processor only—or if you require a more power- ful spreadsheet (one that has graphics capabilities for instance) — then Apple- Works may not be your program of choice. For many personal computing applications, however, AppleWorks has no peer. MASTERTYPE’S WRITER Masterlype’s Writer offers word processing novices of any age a friendly interface, ordinary (and some extra- ordinary) features and a revolutionary price —only $29.95. What’s the catch? You won't find one. The programs interface is unusually easy to get along with. You press the Escape key to display menu bars at the bottom of the screen. Each menu bar offers simply stated choices like Print, Load and Help. Instead of: using imbedded commands for underlining and boldfacing, you can use color (if you have a color monitor) to highlight the appropriate text. Elementary? Yes. But not just for kids. . . Older children and adults, too, can use the program to prepare letters and reports. You have a choice of seven screen display fonts. The larger fonts can make writing easier for young chil- dren or for the visually impaired. No matter which font you use for compos- ing, Writer's “Print View’ mode lets you see what the actual printed copy will look like. Other advanced features in this decidedly bargain-priced word proces- sor include the ability to split the screen so that you can compare two drafts of your report. . .or work from an out- line. Unlike many light-duty word processors, Masterlype’s Writer has macro capability, and the program can sort information—such as the names of paper route customers or club members. Tf you are a word processing novice, Masterlype’s Writer can help you get your feet wet without taking a soak- ing. The program offers so many attractions that you may never want to leave the shallow end of the pool.// Oynthia E. Field, a Ph.D. in food chemistry, has reviewed numerous word processors for com- puter publications. She lives in Wakefield, Rhode Island. I COMPUTING, FOR APPLE II USERS WORD PROCESSORS for POWER USF WORD JUGGLER Originally designed for the Apple ITI, Word Juggler has lost little in trans- lation to the IIe and IIc. The Apple III version—which I used daily for about three years— took full and clever advantage of that machine’s numeric pad, converting it into a set of handy function keys; Quark’s designers have managed to \make the Apple II versions just as easy to use by prudent employment of the FEBRUARY / MARCH 1987 by CHRIS ALBERTSON i can still recall the excitement I felt when I booted up my first Apple word processor— Easy Writer—in 1979. In those days one had to work on a 40-column screen with all caps, and formatting the teat often took longer than writing it. Still, just being able to insert, move and delete teat represented a giant step beyond the typewriter. Since then, many new word processing programs have come and gone. The following brief reviews will hopefully help you make the right choice from six disparate yet power- ful word processors that run on the Apple Ie and IIc. While the design of some of these programs is impressive, I was amazed to find that only two (Fleet System 3, and Word Perfect) do not feature one or two stationery, inverted status lines. That is a plus, because such lines burn themselves into the screen when left on for long periods of time. I still have a couple of monitors with Word Juggler’s status line Sorever etched in phosphor. Open Apple and ESCAPE keys. In this way, the 13 keys in the top row are given 34 additional functions, all easily identified on an accompanying tem- plate. Also included are 20 decals that adhere neatly to the front of as many keycaps— there is even a keycap puller, to make the task easier, and $29 will buy you actual replacement caps, com- plete with Word Juggler designations. Add to this a three-sided Quick Refer- ence card and you have a package re- quiring minimum perusal of the manual. Word Juggler is memory resident; once it has been booted, the program disk can be replaced by a data disk. The latter need not be preformatted, for Word Juggler lets you initialize a disk in midstream. If you have two drives, use the second drive for Word Juggler’s excellent Lexicheck spelling program. Should you need to call up continued on next page 15 ahelp screen, you will have to reinsert the program disk, but with all those decals, the template and reference card, I doubt if anyone will require on-screen help. Word Juggler’s work screen is blank, except for the status line, and that makes it a joy to use. Imbedded printer commands appear at the point of inser- tion, and their function is spelled out (in inverse, to distinguish them from text), so there are no little symbols to memorize. A correctly formatted text, sans imbedded commands, is but a keystroke away. Tt even comes with its own telecom- munications program, which has auto- dial and macro features, and supports most common modems and serial cards. All word processors should have this feature, but very few do. APPLE WRITER II Apple Writer II, also originally writ- ten for the Apple III, has been around for a few years. Its adaptation for the Apple Ile made it one of the first ProDOS-based word processors. Some refinements have been added, but the program is basically the same, and holds up very well. This is another memory-resident program, and the master disk has to be reinserted only to access help screens, modify print and tab files or run WPL programs. The latter are instructions to the computer, written in WPL (Apple Writer's proprietary Word Processing Language), a power- ful tool that lets you automate many time-consuming routines. The pack- age comes with a 164-page WPL manual. The relative ease with which a WPL program is written might sur- prise you, but you should first learn to use the word processor itself. To make that a painless process, a superbly designed, 12-lesson stand-alone tutorial disk is included in both 40- and 80- column versions. Apple Writer II does not support a mouse, which—based on my mouse experience with other Apple II word processors — is probably a blessing; nor does it come with a speller, although it supports several excellent ones. With sensible use of WPL, this becomes one of the most versatile ProDOS-based 16 Word Juggler comes with its own telecom- munications program. PAPER CLIP word processing packages ever created for the Apple II series of computers. FLEET SYSTEM 3 Fleet System 3 gives you a lot of fea- tures for $79.95. It comes with a 90,000-word dictionary, a healthy thesaurus, and a fully accessible user dictionary, which holds approximately 10,000 words and can be updated, searched and printed. That alone might cost $79.95, but the program is also a full-fledged word processor that boasts virtually all the features one has come to expect from a_ top-shelf product, and then some. Among the unusual extras is a statistics report that counts the number of words by length. The work screen is uncluttered, with a single (not inverted) status line at top. Formatting dot commands will even- tually generate a bit of confusion, but a see-what-you-get screen is just a key- stroke away. Also at hand is a help screen containing all the major com- mands; when called up, this screen uses the alternate text area, a work space of 57 to 85 lines (depending on the column width setting), so it is not acces- sible while working with two files. The practical user will take advantage of the option to print the help file. = — On the negative side, I have to wonder why the ESCAPE key has been renamed; referring to it as the “FCN” (Function) key merely adds unneces- sary confusion. But my main objection to Fleet System 3 is that the program disk is copy protected, and a backup disk must be purchased separately — that is simply outrageous. In practice, waiting for a replacement could cause tremendous problems. These complaints notwithstanding, Fleet System 3 is fairly easy to use, crammed with good features, well documented, and certainly worth the price of admission. PAPER CLIP For value, it would be difficult to beat Paper Clip, a $59.95 program that was originally written for Atari computers. The Atari version drew high critical praise, but the program is up against far stiffer competition in the Apple world—still, it holds its own. Thave not seen the Atari edition, but the designers seem to have modelled the Apple II version after the Mac- intosh—at least the main menu has that trendy look. The program boots up to the work screen, but CON- TROL-F (for “Finder,” a Macintosh term) pops a window onto the middle of the screen, and offers handy file manipulations. Loading a data file is a breeze, but Paper Clip comes with neither decals, a template, a reference card, nor a help screen, forcing one to go hunting for commands through 125 pages of a poorly-organized manual. A steady user will of course eventually learn to maneuver through Paper Clip and, in the learning process, discover an impressive number of special fea- tures (including the sorting of column entries, and math with fixed decimal places), but should a word processor play hide-and-seek with the user? I think not. There are some quirks to be wary of, such as all text in memory being erased, without warning, whenever the line length is changed! There are enough ways to accidentally lose data without also having one built into a program. Because it is awkwardly designed and documented, I do not recommend IL COMPUTING, FOR APPLE I! USERS. it for the first-time computer user, but it is fine for the more experienced who don’t mind spending considerable time deciphering an informative but poorly structured, ill-worded manual. Better documentation, a step-by-step tutorial, and a simple template or Quick Reference card would make a world of difference, because this is ba- sically a useful program. MANUSCRIPT MANAGER From Pergamon Press comes a new and unusual word processor, aptly called Manuscript Manager. What sets this one apart from the rest is its availability in various versions, each one geared to produce copy in accor- dance with a particular format, or style. Style, here, is a manner of dealing with forms of expression and typographi- cal detail. The academic world, for instance, also demands a certain uniformity. Manuscript Manager is available in two styles, so far, APA (American Psychological Association) and CBE (Council of Biology Editors). We received the latter for this review. However, Manuscript Manager is flexible and can be used without adher- ing to any particular style. But, if you need to turn out journal articles, dis- sertations, theses, or any kind of manuscript that must conform to the stylistic rules of the CBE Manual (Fifth Edition), this program will save you a tremendous amount of time, not to mention headaches. It will not take you long to learn how to use Manuscript Manager; just fol- low the steps in the manual, a most sen- sibly structured and literate piece of software documentation. There are also concise, well-laid-out help screens, which can be invoked at any time, and helpful reminders that appear auto- matically when you might need them. Now for the magic of Manuscript Manager. Creating footnotes, citations, title pages, references, tables, equations, abstracts, running heads, author notes and figures is a breeze. One merely selects the task from a command menu and follows a series of straightforward prompts. Proper formatting, which can be a time-consuming, frustrating job, is automatically taken care of, and the continued on page 36 Our Three Rabbits Are Revolutionizing “The Three R’s” Reader Rabbit, Writer Rabbit and ‘Ages 5-7 The Learning Compamy Math Rabbit are changing the way chil- dren develop and enrich their reading, Re a der Rabbit writing and math skills. These pro- grams make learning “The Three R’s” fun! Captivating games, graphics and music bring your child back to the computer again and again. What teachers and parents find most revolutionary about our programs are things your child won't see, and won't hear, Each game incorporates exer- cises that build vital analytical, problem-solving and creative skills. These skills give your child the mental tools for future achievement. READER RABBIT (Ages 5-7)* ‘Winner of the Critic’s Choice Award, Reader Rabbit features Find out for yourself why Reader Rabbit, four animated Writer Rabbit and games which Math Rabbit are build fundamental teachers’ pets reading, spelling and se memory skills. Irs the ~and children’s best selling early reading favorites! program available. ‘WRITER RABBIT (Ages 7-10) With Writer Rabbit, your child will learn to love reading and writing The program teaches children how to write complete sentences and “silly” stories. Dr. Ariella Lehrer calls it “a must for every child who is beginning to write.” MATH RABBIT (Ages 5-7) The most comprehensive early math program available, Math Rabbit is “rich in educational content and fun to play—bound to be a classic that will be enjoyed by parents, teachers and children alike.” Dr. Carol Wilder @ OUR SPECIAL OFFER TO YOU: BUY TWO, GET ONE FREE! Buy any two pro- grams from The Learning Company and get a third program free. Hop to it! This offer expires February 28, 1987. See your local Authorized Dealer or call us for more infor- mation: (800) 852-2255; In CA: (800) 852-2256. SATISFACTION GUARANTEED! Remember, all of our programs carry a no-risk, 30-day guarantee. If you're not completely satisfied with our product, we'll refund your money Ages5-7 The Learning Company ‘NOW AVAILABLE FOR APPLE lIGS. READER RABBIT TALKS! ‘CIRCLE 012 ON READERS SERVICE CARD. 545 Middlefield Road Menlo Park, CA 94025 The Learning Company Explanation of Features: Most of the items in our chart of fea- tures are familiar to those who have used word processors. Programs that have typeover allow you to type directly over existing text, rather than just inserting new text. Some programs let you imbed special non-printable control characters in your document to control printer func- tions. A few of the programs let you i 2 : & Fla|s s/ 2/2 Milliken Word Processor Bank Street Writer ) Gutenberg Jr. e\e MultiScribe e Writer's Choice ele MasterType's Writer e Word Juggler ele Fleet System 3 e\e Manuscript Manager ele use a mouse; most offer on-screen help. With some you can redefine control keys to choose how you can access each function. A few have macros, which let you execute a series of keystrokes just by typing a few keys. Some programs allow separate block operations—you can mark a block of text and then use it later. Others use a software “clipboard” to let you cut and paste blocks of text. With those that allow you to insert place markers, you can easily return to any point you've marked in the document. All the pro- grams let you delete one character at a time; some let you delete a word, to the end of a line, or an entire paragraph. A few are “what you see is what you get” programs—your printed docu- ment will be just like what you see on the screen. Some offer automatic para- graph indents or automatic page refor- matting, or let you use different mar- 3B 2 = s 2 Ble a & s z é f/,/3/2] 2 ? F/2/ [FlaesalPlal el al El E/E els §/ 2 g/f/s/s/e/a/a/P/s/ 2/23 Bice ia cel ue | Seles = & g/l s e(e/ (el 2/e/z/F/2l2/a/F/z2/2 é/é #$/Sfze{/sl/aefa]/s/e Zz] e e e el elele ele e elele ele e\elele e\elele e e ele e\ele e el\el\eieleie ele ) e ele elele e e ele ele e elel\el|e\e|e e ele || COMPUTING, FOR APPLE Il USERS gin sizes within the same document. Special printing features include letting you format your printed documents, preview the final printed page or use print spooling—one document prints while you work on another. Most of the programs let you auto- matically search for a word or string of characters; several will let you replace one word with another throughout the text, and one lets you search both for- ward and backward. A few allow mul- Search forward or backward Molt documents in memory Multi documents on men | Replace t FEBRUARY / MARCH 1987 tiple documents in memory at once, and some let you see multiple docu- ments on screen at once. And with some you can undelete — restore a word you've just deleted. Some of the programs appear sim- pler than they really are, because spe- cial features are hidden until you need them. With some you can automati- cally include the date in your docu- ment, or automatically convert text between upper and lower case. Most Spelling checker Mailmerge ASCII tox fle conversion Features hidden until needed Upperlower case conversion Undelete Auto date in document Headers either use regular ASCII text files or Jet you convert your documents to and from ASCII files. In the advanced features depart- ment, some programs have mail-merge and spelling checker functions availa- ble, either as part of the word proces- sor or as a separate add-on program. Several programs allow you to put headers at the top of each page or footers at the bottom, and a few auto- continued on next page rs Pisplay page breaks Forced page breaks Auto page numbering Works with 3.5 disk Foote Footnotes Copy protected matically place footnotes. Some of the programs let you force a page to end, or display for you where each page ends; a few let you automatically include page numbers. Finally, the chart indicates which of the programs work with 3.5-inch disks, and which are copy protected.// Choose A Spelling Checker continued from page 12 Spellworks AppleWorks add-on; 90,000 word dic- tionary; can customize to 2,000 words; requires 128K and one disk drive (two recommended). Advanced Logic, 1283 Reamwood Ave., Sunnyvale, CA 94089. (408) 747-1988. $49.95. CIRCLE 247 ON READER SERVICE CARD Webster’s Spelling Checker 1.4 ProDOS and DOS 3.3 on same disk; ProDOS version supports ASCII text files, AppleWorks, Apple Writer IT (Ver. 2.0), Magic Slate, Masterlype’s Writer, MouseWrite and Word Jug- gler; DOS 3.3 version supports ASCII text files and Apple Writer II, Bank Street Writer, HomeWord, Magic Window II, PIE: Writer and Screen- writer II; 110,000 word dictionary; 1,100 word dictionary you can cus- tomize; requires 80 columns, 128K for ProDOS; 64K for DOS 3.3. Simon and Schuster Software, 200 Old Tap- pan Rd., Old Tappan, NJ 07675. 800- 624-0023. $59.95. CORCLE 248 ON READER SERVICE CARD Bank Street Speller DOS 3.3; supports Bank Street Writer only; 30,000 word dictionary; personal dictionary capability; requires 48K. Broderbund, 17 Paul Drive, San Rafael, CA 94903. (415) 479-1700. $69.95. 20 Word Processing Product Information THE MILLIKEN WORD PROCESSOR Milliken Publishing Company 100 Research Blvd. PO. Box 21579 St. Louis, MO 63131 (314) 991-4220 48K, DOS 3.3, Ile or lle for 80- column display, 1 5.25-inch drive $69.95 CIRCLE 222 ON READER SERVICE CARD FREDWRITER Steele Publishing P.O. Box 5493 Concord, CA 94524 (415) 685-7265 64K, ProDOS, 1 5.25-inch drive $20.00 CIRCLE 223 ON READER SERVICE CARD BANK STREET WRITER Broderbund Software 17 Paul Drive San Rafael, CA 94903 (415) 479-1700 64K Il+, lle 128K Ile, IIc, ProDOS, 1 5.25-inch drive $69.95 each Updates of former versions of BSW are available from Broderbund for $20. They come with a new manual. Older versions purchased within the last 90 days will be updated at no charge if sent in with a sales receipt. TALKING TEXT WRITER Scholastic Software Department JS 730 Broadway New York, NY 10003 (212) 505-3000 128K, ProDOS, 1 5.25-inch drive $249.00 ‘CIRCLE 225 ON READER SERVICE CARD GUTENBERG JR. 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Broadway, Suite 600 Missoula, MT 59802 (406) 543-3141 128K, 1 5.25-inch drive $69.95 CGRCLE 228 ON READER SERVICE CARD WRITER’S CHOICE (Version 1.0) Personal Choice Software Activision, Inc. 2350 Bayshore Parkway Mountain View, CA 94043 800-227-9759 64K (128K for 80-column mode or to use spelling checker), DOS 3.3, 1 5.25-inch drive $49.95 $119.95 (Personal Choice Series} CGIRCLE 229 ON READER SERVICE CARD APPLEWORKS (Version 2.0) Apple Computer, Inc. 20525 Mariani Avenue Cupertino, CA 95014 (408) 996-1010 128K, ProDOS, 1 5.25-inch or 3.5-inch drive $250.00 ‘CIRCLE 230 ON READER SERVICE CARD MASTERTYPE’S WRITER Mindscape, Inc. 3444 Dundee Road Northbrook, IL 60022 800-221-9884 128K, ProDOS, 1 5.25-inch or 3.5-inch drive $29.95 ‘CRCLE 231 ON READER SERVICE CARD WORD JUGGLER Quark, Inc. 2525 West Evans, Suite 220 Denver, CO 80219 (303) 934-2211 64K, 128K recommended, ProDOS, 1 5.25-inch drive CGIRCLE 232 ON READER SERVICE CARD APPLE WRITER II Apple Computer, Inc. 20525 Mariani Avenue Cupertino, CA 95014 (408) 996-1010 64K ProDOS, 1 5.25-inch or 3.5-inch drive $149.00 CCHRCLE 233 ON READER SERVICE CARD FLEET SYSTEM 3 Professional Software, Inc. 51 Fremont Street Needham, MA 02194 (617) 444-5224 128K, ProDOS, 1 5.25-inch drive $79.95 ‘CIRCLE 234 ON READER SERVICE CARD PAPER CLIP Batteries Included 30 Mural Street Richmond Hill, Ontario Canada L4B 1B5 (416) 881-9816 128K, ProDOS, 1 5.25-inch drive $79.95 CORCLE 235 ON READER SERVICE CARD MANUSCRIPT MANAGER Pergamon Press, Inc. Maxwell House, Fairview Park Elmsford, NY 10523 (914) 592-7700 128K, ProDOS, 1 5.25-inch drive $175 CIRCLE 236 ON READER SERVICE CARD ‘WORD PERFECT 1.1 Word Perfect Corporation 266 West Center Street Orem, UT 84057 (801) 225-5000 128K, ProDOS, 1 5.25-inch drive $179 (with educational dis- count: 1 copy, $59; over 10 copies, $49 each; over 25 copies, $39 each) CIRCLE 237 ON READER SERVICE CARD 11 COMPUTING, FOR APPLE I] USERS. Now Available for the Apple II Series Perfect Balance APPLE we 2%"? FLEXIBILITY 7 SUPPORT TO ORDER i : your favor. Dac Lays nie Dar afters He are abiltyto Secindopilecioay Degeay CALL TOLL FREE ‘Accounting for the Apple gives handle either service or support agreement and join the potinetetprceniics product-oriented companies __best support program in the 1-800-992-7779 emendate ede rmncet id without sacrificing features industry. 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We were wrong.” ALSO AVAILABLE FOR Minimum hardware Seiuireménts City InfoWorld, 1985" TBM AND ATARI ST pple II+, lle, or Ic, with 64K memory, y one 140K disk drive, 80 column video card, and 132 column printer in compressed mode. ee INTEGRATION Dac-Easy’s seven modules work together perfectly. Enter data once and it’s posted to the other modules automatically. Equally important is that most modules can be used stand-alone. If your needs are for a general ledger only, then you will have the best and still be able to grow into accounts receivable, payable, inventory, billing and purchase order without spending more time or money. With Dac-Easy Accounting, you have the total solution. Dac-Easy Accounting and Payroll are now available for the Atari 520 & Atari 1040 ST. Dac-Easy Accounting, Dac-Easy mine Payroll, Dac-Easy Word II, ep Accounting Dac-Easy Base, Dac-Easy Port, Dac-Easy Mate, Dac-Easy Accounting Tutor, and Dac-Easy Payroll Tutor are available for the IBM PC and compatibles. *IBM version reviewed. Apple is a registered trademark of Apple Computer, Inc. IBM is a registered trademark of International Business Machines Corp. Atari is a registered trademark of Atari Corp. CORCLE 009 ON READERS SERVICE CARD Phone ‘Computer Brand ‘Type of Business No. of Employ 30 Day Money-Back Guarantee Dac Software offers an uncondi- tional guarantee on all Dac-Easy products (less shipping charges). ‘There is a $10 restocking fee if the disk seal is broken. This guaran- tee is available on all products bought directly from Dac Software. #667 BE A WINNER II! Win an Apple IIcs computer, software and other prizes when you enter IJ Computing’s BE A WINNER II CONTEST! First Prize: acomplete Apple IIcs Home Creativity System: Apple Ilcs computer with RGB color monitor, keyboard, mouse, 512K memory and two 3.5-inch disk drives plus all the software you'll need to get the most from your Apple IIcs. (Hardware provided by Apple Computer, Inc.) Plus: ¢ PaintWorks Plus ¢ Writer's Choice elite © Tass Times in Tonetown Activision © The Print Shop Broderbund * Music Construction Set Electronic Arts ¢ VIP Professional ISD Marketing * Super MacroWorks The Beagle Bros. * Point to Point Pinpoint Software ¢ Speller Bee ¢ First Shapes First Byte Software ProGrappler Orange Micro Second Prizes: * ComputerEyes Digitizer Digital Vision ¢ The Softstrip Reader Cauzin Systems * MouseWrite Roger Wagner Publishing © Time-Trax II Creative Peripherals © Paper Clip Batteries Included ° Writer Rabbit The Learning Co. Third Prize: ¢ Grab Bag of software and books Read IJ Computing for Apple IT Users (contest sponsor) for complete coverage of the Apple Ics as well as other Apple II products. Subscribe at the Special Introductory Rate! Simply mail the post- age-paid subscription card and your name will be entered in the Be a Winner II Contest. No purchase necessary. See contest rules on adjacent card. Software and peripherals are provided courtesy of the companies named. FOR APPLE Il USERS | COMPUTING. Box 1922 Marion, OH 43306 BEA WINNER II CONTEST RULES 1. Tobe eligible, all entries must be received by May 25, 1987. 2. No purchase necessary. To enter without subscribing: (a) Print your name and address on a blank 3"x 5" card. (b) Print “I don’t want to subscribe to IJ Computing for Apple II Users at this time, but please enter me in the BE A WINNERIICONTEST anyway:” (c) Place the 3"x 5" card (without bending or fold- ing) into a stamped envelope and mail to: IT Computing Sor Apple II Users, P.O. 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Winners will be announced at the drawing on June 1, 1987 at Activision’s booth at the Consumer Electronics Show in Chicago. II Computing will also announce the winners in the October/ November 1987 issue of the magazine. All prizes will be delivered within 90 days of the winning announcements. Special Introductory | Rate Over 32% Off Cover Price! YES! Sign me up for 6 issues of IJ Computing at the special introductory subscription rate and enter my name in the BE A WINNER II CONTEST. CO Magazine Only $11.97 L Disk Edition* $59.95 CO Renewal C New Subscription Name Address City State OD Checkenclosed ( Billme (1 visa (Mc Credit Card # Exp. Date Signature Please allow 4-6 weeks for delivery of first auc. Canadian and Mexican residents add 85.00 ther foreign subscriptions add $10.00 per year. Prepayment in U.S. funds required For all foreign and disk orders. Contest ends May 26, 1987. "Disk requires 64K and Applesoft BASIC in ROM. Special Introductory Rate Over 32% Off Cover Price! YES! Sign me up for 6 issues of IJ Computing at the special introductory subscription rate and enter my name in the BE A WINNER II CONTEST. CI Magazine Only $11.97 LC Disk Edition* $59.95 [kourwrine jis CO Renewal CO New Subscription Name Address City State O Checkenclosed (1) Billme O visa (Mc Credit Card # Exp. Date Signature Please allow 4~6 weeks for delivery of first issue. Canadian and Mexican residents add $5.00 per year. Other foreign subscriptions add $10.00 per year. Prepayment in U.S. funds required for al foreign and disk orders. Contest ends May 25, 1987. *Disk requires 64K and Applesoft Special Introductory Rate Over 32% Off Cover Price! . ad YES! Sign me up for 6 issues of IJ Computing at | the special introductory subscription rate and enter my name in the BE A WINNER II CONTEST. CO Magazine Only $11.97 [1] Disk Edition* $59.95 CO Renewal CI New Subscription Name Gity State O Checkenclosed CO Billme [ visA LO MC Credit Card # Exp. Date Signature Please allow 4-6 weeks for delivery of first issue. Canadian and Mexican residents add $5.00 per year. Other foreign subscriptions add $10.00 per year. Prepayment in U.S. funds required for all foreign and disk orders. Contest ends May 25, 1987. *Disk requires 64K and Applesoft c. BASIC in ROM. EBT2NG BUSINESS REPLY MAIL FIRSTCLASS PERMITNO.645 MARION, OH 43306 POSTAGE WILL PAID BY ADDRESSEE FOR APPLE Il USERS COMPUTING. PO. Box 1922 Marion, OH 43306 BUSINESS REPLY MAIL FIRST CLASS PERMIT NO. 645 MARION, OH 43306 POSTAGE WILL PAID BY ADDRESSEE FOR APPLE Il USERS COMPUTING. PO. Box 1922 Marion, OH 43306 BUSINESS REPLY MAIL FIRST CLASS PERMIT NO. 645 MARION, OH 43306 POSTAGE WILL PAID BY ADDRESSEE [fourvtine PO. Box 1922 Marion, OH 43306 NO POSTAGE NECESSARY IF MAILED IN THE UNITED STATES NO POSTAGE NECESSARY IF MAILED IN THE UNITED STATES NO POSTAGE NECESSARY IF MAILED IN THE UNITED STATES BEA WINNER II! First Prize is a complete Apple IIcs Home Creativity System: Apple Ilcs computer with RGB color monitor, keyboard, mouse, 512K memory and two 3.5-inch disk drives plus all the software you'll need to get the most from your Apple Iles. (Hardware provided by Apple Computer, Inc.) Plus: © PaintWorks Plus © Writer's Choice elite © Tass Times in Tonetown Activision ¢ The Print Shop Broderbund © Music Construction Set Electronic Arts © VIP Professional ISD Marketing Super MacroWorks The Beagle Bros. © Pinpoint * Point to Point Pinpoint Software © Speller Bee ¢ KidTalk © MathTalk First Shapes First Byte Software © ProGrappler Orange Micro Second Prizes: ¢ The Softstrip Reader Cauzin Systems © ComputerEyes Digitizer Digital Vision © MouseWrite Roger Wagner Publishing © Writer Rabbit The Learning Co. Third Prize: © Grab Bag of software and books ‘MAX SEABAUGH Message Coder by CHARLES H. BELL Dac Tracy never used e-mail, but that doesnt mean you and your friends can't exchange secret messages via computer. Use MESSAGE. CODER and your Apple II to create thousands of different codes only a master cryptographer can crack. FEBRUARY / MARCH 1987 Some people are fascinated by crypto- graphy. They enjoy the intellectual challenge of devising complex logical systems for enciphering messages, and the equal challenge of breaking systems devised by fellow cryptographic enthu- siasts. MESSAGE.CODER is not de- signed for them. But if you would like to encode a message to keep it private for yourself ora friend, MESSAGECODER does it for you quickly and easily. The MES- SAGECODER program generates thousands of different codes, so you can use a different code for each message or for each recipient if you wish. When you have encoded your message, you may decode it immediately to check it for accuracy. You may then print the coded message to your printer, or save the message in a text file on disk. CODING A MESSAGE ‘To use MESSAGE.CODER type in the listing from page 42 and check it with TYPOLI or select it from the Action Disk Menu. ‘To begin encod- ing a message, you must first specify a master code name for that message. The master code uses any combina- tion of keyboard characters—a word, a sentence or a jumble of keys pecked at random. MESSAGE.CODER sums the ASCII values of all the characters included in the master code name. This sum becomes the seed for the Apple's random number genera- tor, which is used in turn to create the master code for your message. Each message must be short (usually less than 200 characters), but you may encode as many messages as you wish without changing the master code. You may print out each message as it is encoded, or you may save a whole se- ries in text files for later use. Be sure to make a note of the master code name. Without it, only an expert cryptographer could decode the mes- sage later. You may save the master code name along with the message in the text file if you choose, but doing so greatly increases the chances of some snoopy outsider cracking your code. It is far more secure to keep the master code name for each message separate from the message itself, perhaps in a notebook dedicated to that purpose. SEND A MESSAGE TO MICHAEL Let's take an example. Suppose you want to encode a message for your friend Mike on his 14th birthday. You might choose “MIKE/14/B” as a master code name. (Be sure to note upper case vs. lower case letters, punc- tuation and spaces in your code names. “MIKE/ 14 /B” would be a different code.) Then MESSAGE.CODER asks whether you want to use the special continued on next page 23 code name option; say “no” for the moment. (We will get to that later.) Now type the message, “HAPPY BIRTHDAY, KID!” After a few moments, your Apple returns your coded message as: HHY=1 K4B7# #=T$ SB37= C?3U Then MESSAGECODER asks if you want to decode the message. Say yes. Soon, you should see “HAPPY BIRTHDAY, KID!” again on your screen. You will be asked whether you want printer output, whether you want to save the coded message to disk, whether you have another message and, if so, whether you want to use the same master code. If your text is long, just split it up and encode it as several messages all using the same code. So how does Mike get the message? Let me count the ways. You can copy it out by hand and send it to him, or read it over the phone (“That's num- ber sign, equals, capital T, period, dol- lar sign. . 2”). You can print it out and send the hard copy. You can hook up your respective modems and upload the text file you remembered to make. Or you can type it into his message box on your local BBS (or on a national BBS, for that matter) if the sysop doesn’t object. To decode the message, Mike will need: — an Apple II series computer — a copy of this program — the name of the master code you used for that message. It is easy to keep your friends from reading each other’s mail. Just use a different master code for each person. Of course, you must pass the master code name separately from the mes- sage itself. This can be inconvenient. The program allows you to avoid doing so. That is the function of the “special code name option” This function allows you to add exactly ten characters—no more, no less—to the end of your message. You can make these characters look like code, but they will really be plain text. Before you and your friend start exchanging messages, you must agree on a method for using 24 this disguised plain text to point to the master code name. One such method might be a variant on that old spy’s device, the book code. Suppose you and ‘Mike both possess copies of the standard paperback edition of The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy. You agree that this book will be the source of your master codes. Before you begin coding, you open the book to a random page (say page 128). This page begins with the words “smuggling Antarean parakeet glands.” You decide to use these words as the name of your master code. (For sim- plicity’s sake, I'll use capital letters only.) When asked for the code name, you type: “SMUGGLING ANTAREAN ou can use a differ- ent code for each mes- sage or for each recipient if you wish. PARAKEET GLANDS” When asked whether you are using the special option, type Y. Then type your mes- sage. After it has been coded, you will be prompted to enter two sets of five characters each. These will look like part of the code, but will really be plain text. In this case, you might type: Ci2F8 XF4R When Mike receives the message, he will examine the last ten characters (ignoring spaces, which are arbitrary.) The numbers 1,2 and 8 in the first set of five tell him that the code name is to be found on page 128. The letters C and F—both from the first half of the alphabet—mean that the code name begins at the top of the page. Looking at the second set of five, Mike ignores the letters, which are put there only to confuse outsiders. He takes the number 4 to mean that the first four words of the page form the master code name. Tf the letters in the second-to-last group had been, say, Q and S, then the code name would be the last four words on the page. Starting at the end and reading backward, these would be “now was it were?” That would then have been the code name. Of course, you may come up with an entirely different formula for using the special code name option to pass information about the code name as part of the message. If you are encod- ing a long message in several segments, you should only use the special option once, either in the first segment or the last, as you and the recipient agree beforehand. If you are really paranoid and want to throw even more dust in the face of possible crackers of your code, you could change codes from seg- ment to segment and encode in each segment the code pointer to the master code name you intend to use for the next. (By the way: the program includes your ten characters of plain text as part of the coded message, and treats them as such thereafter. So when the mes- sage is decoded, the last ten characters will come out as garbage. Mike will know to ignore them. Potential crackers won't.) Happy obfuscation to you all.// Charles Bell is an instructor at the Computer Workshop, specifically designed for children and young adults. He lives in Southern California. II Computing’s Teacher/Parent Tips offer lesson plans to enhance and ex- tend our type-in programs. See the pull-out section in the middle of this is- sue for lesson plans for MESSAGE CODER. IF YOU WOULD LIK TO SEE MORE ARTICLES LIKE THIS, CIRCLE 243 ON OUR READER SERVICE CARD | COMPUTING, FOR APPLE Il USERS Dvoraks Keyboard by MICHAEL W. MURRAY Program by FRANK HAYES The Dvorak keyboard lets you type faster by putting the most frequently- used letters in the most accessible positions. Apple IIc and IIGS owners already have the Dvorak keyboard built into their machines; now other Apple IIs and compatibles can switch from the standard keyboard to Dvorak with D.KEY, part of this issue's Software Library and Action Disk. According to Virginia Russell, when Dr. August Dvorak designed the Dvorak keyboard, high technology was exactly what he had in mind. Or at least, high technology, 1930s style. “The QWERTY keyboard was designed by Christopher Latham Sholes;’ she says. “Back in 1872, he developed a keyboard that was so efficient that if the typist typed fast, the keys would jam. He then went back to the drawing board, so to speak, and redesigned the keyboard to put the keys in the position we've got today.” Ms. Russell is president of the Dvorak International Federation. Over the last few years, she’s watched more people leave behind that 100-year-old design for something better. On those 19th-century typewriters, she explains, the keys fell back into place by gravity alone; a typist’s top speed was 20 words per minute. By 1920, however, the technology had improved, and some typewriters could keep up with even the fastest touch- typists. It was Frank Gilbreth, effici- ency expert and author of Cheaper by the Dozen, who suggested the idea of a more efficient typing keyboard. One of his students at Brown University, William Dealey, took up the challenge. Dealey’s brother-in-law, August Dvorak, was in the Navy at the time. “When he came back; says Virginia Russell, “Dealey suggested that they get FEBRUARY / MARCH 1987 a grant to study the frequency of usage of letters in the English language, then try to rearrange the keyboard.” And so they did: drawing on Dr. Gilbreth’s time-and-motion studies, Dvorak and Dealey designed a new keyboard and patented it in 1936. On the Dvorak Simplified Key- 2% 29% 120% 2.0% 18% beam OsT% on «) With the QWERTY keyboard, fingers are off the home row 68% of the time, and the left hand works 14% more than the right. b) With Dvorak, the right hand works harder than the left, and the work each finger does is appropriate to its skill and strength. board, all the vowels and the most frequently-used consonants in the Eng- lish language are located on the home row. The vowels are within immedi- ate touch of the left hand, the con- sonants quickly accessible to the right. The lesser consonants and punctuation keys are on the adjacent rows. On both these upper and lower rows, the index and middle fingers touch the con- sonants in order of frequency of use. Punctuation is located on the keys touched by the ring and little fingers, with the numbers and special signs on the top row. Thus, a Dvorak typist can type 70 percent of the most commonly used words in the English language with- out leaving the home row—twice as many as with QWERTY. Dvorak also requires the typist’s fingers to move only a fraction of the distance of QWERTY —which adds up to fewer errors, less fatigue, greater production and hap- pier typists. But the Depression delayed wide- spread manufacture of Dvorak type- writers, as did the shortages of World War II. Even after the war, anyone buying a typewriter had to choose between QWERTY and Dvorak—and because most companies already owned QWERTY typewriters, they tended to buy more QWERTY machines. But the microcomputer changed all that. For example, you can convert your Apple IIc to Dvorak almost instantly—just use the switch next to the Reset button labeled Keyboard. On the new IIGs, you can select the Dvorak keyboard from the Control Panel. There's no pushbutton solution for the Ile or most Apple-compati- bles—but that’s where the program continued on next page oe D.KEY from this month's Software Library comes in. Just type in the pro- gram from the listing on page 50 and check it with TYPO, or select it from the Action Disk menu. You can use D.KEY to practice typing with a Dvorak keyboard; when you're through, press ESC to return to QWERTY and BASIC. You can also use a Dvorak keyboard with any other Applesoft BASIC pro- gram. Just load D.KEY, then type GOSUB 1000. You'll have a Dvorak keyboard you can use with any BASIC program that checks the keyboard with INPUT and GET commands—and you can return to QWERTY at any time just by typing CONTROL- RESET. n 19th-century typewriters the keys fell back into place by gravity alone; a typist’s top speed was 20 words per minute. According to Virginia Russell, the Dvorak keyboard is doing big business in government and corporate offices. “And a lot of secretarial schools use it now,’ she says. “I even know of two or three companies that demand that their employees are Dvorak typists” A new typist can usually get up to 40 words a minute after only 18 hours of instruc- tion. Because old habits die hard, experienced QWERTY typists may take twice as long to get up to speed. But considering the ever-increasing popularity of Dvorak—and how easy it is to use on an Apple II —it may just be worth learning after all.// Michael W. Murray, a student at University of California at Berkeley, is an intern at Antic Publishing 1 YOU'D LIKE MORE ARTICLES LIKE THIS ONE, CIRCLE 239 ON OUR READER SERVICE CARD. BAaABHBEBEBH 8 SBUBHBHBBBEHe88682 PACE DVORAK KEYBOARD 26 I COMPUTING, FOR APPLE II USERS __ COMPUTER READABLE PRINT NOW! TRANSFER DATA — PROGRAM TO PROGRAM WITH SOFTSTRIP° . Now you can move data between programs quickly and easily using SOFTSTRIP data strips. Using the Softstrip System, you can move data between computers and such programs as WordStar and MacWrite, dBASE and AppleWorks, Lotus 1-2-3 and Excel and ReadySetGo and many others. We've created a series of several dozen Application Notes on Softstrip data strips. These lead you through simple steps to make the file transfer as easy as possible, adding even more versatility to your personal computer when you purchase the SOFTSTRIP SYSTEM. The advanced system you've been hearing so much about. All you need to move data between programs is STRIPPER™ software at $19.95 and the Softstrip System Reader at $199.95. For acomplete list of Application Notes, contact your dealer or call Cauzin. Elroy Bond, Vice President and Director of Data Processing at Golden State Mutual Life Insurance had a problem with data transmission. The difficulty was his telecommunications equipment. No matter how reliable and easy-to-use his PC based system was, if the phone lines were down or his PC operator was ill, he would end up sending disks through the mail from their branch offices in Winston-Salem, N.C. and Compton, Westwood, and Los Angeles, CA. Besides the hassle of copying a disk and using a disk mailer, there was always the possibility of having to resend the disk because of damaged data. Now the branch offices each have their own copy of the STRIPPER™ printing program. When their modem based system fails to operate, they just send a document in data strip format. Bond is planning on installing SOFTSTRIP Readers at every location, so that when he updates their software, all he has to do is print out a data strip document on his Epson printer, photocopy it and mail it in an envelope for 22 cents. Users’ Groups: Call for Special User Group Discounts. I ACT NOW! Don't delay. See your local Softstrip dealer or call us at This data strip contains 1-800-533-7323. In Connecticut: 203-573-0150. IBM2MAC, a utility that runs on the IBM and For Europe and Asia Contact: converts an IBM file to CAUZIN Softstrip International, Ltd. Nese eh gett 835 South Main Street 53 Bedford Square Waterbury, CT 06706 London, WC1 B3DP England (203) 573-0150 01-631-3775 Telex: 263874SOFTST G ‘CIRCLE 007 ON READERS SERVICE CARD © 1986 Apple Computer Inc. Apple, the Apple logo, Applélalk. and Apple Ils are trademarks of Apple Compuder, Inc. Screens: Paintworks Plus™ by Activision and Visualizer by PBI Software, Inc. Angelfish C Euxiphipops navarchus) Fefanacsieses: File Edit Goodies Style Animation ou Contro | lke] eff Nai ao mee} oS wa) \ou wont believe Everyimage you see here was generated by the new Apple IIcs™ Personal Computer. Itcan create graphics in 4,096 colors. With near-photographic quality intwo new modes-640 x 200 or 320 x 200 pixels. The powerbehind this display is a 16-bit 65C816 microprocessor and a standard 256K of RAM, expandable to an awesome8 megabytes with the appropriate card. Even with such spectacular talents, the Apple Ics hasn't forgotten its heritage. In fact,weve combined the hearts and minds of the Applelle and the AppleIIc ona single Ils chip. So it can run nearly all 10,000 existing Apple I programs— but up to three times faster than they've ever run before. Like the Ile, the Apple IIcsis eminently expandable with seven expansion slots for peripherals and a new memory expansion slot. Like the Ic, it has built-in peripheral ports for disk drives, printers, modems, the Appléfalk® Personal Network and Apple DeskTop Bus devices such as a detachable keyboard and mouse. But you haven't heard anything yet. Be- cause this Apple® is the only personal com- puter with a 32-oscillator sound chip capa- ble of synthesizing up to 15 separate voices. That means itcan reproduce everything from the glory of a symphony orchestra to the subtleties of human speech. Fora closer look,visit your authorized Apple dealer. You'll find it an eye-opening experience. And thats just the half of it. The new Apple Ics. The pve to be your best.” your ears, either CIRCLE 019 ON READERS SERVICE CARD 30 | COMPUTING, FOR APPLE II USERS <- B: S ah Be Say MERCEDES McDONALD What To Do When Your Disk Dies by ROBERT GROSSBLATT V Vit can you do when your Apple IT gives you the dreaded “I/O Error” message? Bob Grossblatt gives some advice and looks at how to use disk utilities to restore demolished disks when you can least afford them. Everybody agrees that c