washingtonapplepijournal1991vol13no2

The Journal of Washington Apple Pi, Ltd. | C) Volume 13, Number 2 | , February 1991 a WAP Artists l 2 eae Ce 1 4 Inexpensive Laser Sd Printers ? 6 — TimeOut TextTools 64 Index to ’89 Journal 7 9) And Much, Much More: My aching back, 17 * Avoiding body bags, 18 * DocuComp 1.5 (review), 20 * Disk Ranger, 23 * MacFlow3.1.5,24 * SPSS 4.0,32 * © ChessMaster 2100 (how to cheat it), 36 (it’s really here this time) * PLI TurboFloppy 1.4 (review), 38 * Dueling SCSI cards, 47 © SideringuptoaRAMEFAST,49 ¢ The begets oftheAppleIlemotherboard,58 * CoPilot to the Services, 62 * Talking Money, 64 * Amusing Large Number Activities for Kids, 66 ¢ FACES for the Mac (Game review), 70 © Macintosh Disk Libraries and all the regular condiments... GCC Laser Printers Edge to Edge Printing 300 dots per inch Patented Toner Recycling LED Printing Engine Ultra-Fine Screens Sharp Blacks Standard SIMMs Memory *$100 Rebate Valid till 31/91 BLP I (4 PPM) snrnens $2090" BLP IIS (8 PPM) enn $2595" Genuine Adobe Postscript 2 Meg Ram Standard Expandable to 4 Meg AppleTalk Interface Included SCSI Hard Drive Port User Friendly Font Panel Separate Toner Cartridge Includes QuickErvelope 200 Page Paper Tray PLP Il (4 PPM) PLP IIS (8 PPM Fully Scalable Fonte QuickDraw™ Printer High-Speed SCSI Interface $1149" $1595" Memory Upgrades Mac Plus to llci eeGuaranteed Lowest Priceee Mac llf« $69 per Meg LaserWriter IIntx ........$69 per Meg MicroLager.... $199 per Meg Mac Portable... Call Free Installation * While You Wait DataProducts LZR12601 Tl MicroLaser PS-17 Tl MicroLaser PS-35.... Panasonic (tlppm’ NewGen 004 GCC PLP I... GCC Write Move... o Price reflects GCC Rebate Hard Drives & More Seagate 30 Meg 23ms Seagate 45 Meg 23ms 170 Meg Quantum Int... 105 Meg Quantum Int... MicroNet 40 Portable Mags Micro Removable Microtech Removable . Syquest Cartridges All Drives are Pre- Formatted Scanners Xerox GS Plus Image Only «$1449 Xerox GS Plus Image & OCR .. $1549 Top Rated in MacWorld Review of Grey Scale Scanners! 256 Shade Xerox Accutext.. Microtek 300Z Color.. Includes Color&lmage Studio CAERE TYPIST .... a $549 OCR & Line Art Hand Scanner Apple ImTO Mac Il or IIx to Ilfx ss $2495 Complete logic board ex des credit for the board you trade in! 401 130 & GBBS2. FX Memory is available at $69 per Megabyte. SE to SE/30 Upgrade: Complete logic board exe floppy drives. Includes new chassis. Includes credit for trade in. 1mhz 030 & 68882. Expands to & Meg Mac Classic Owners Get more for your dollars. Our Classic Kits include High Speed - Low Power Microtech Quantum 1/3 Height Drives, | and offer faster access times and more capacity than the Apple Kit at | the same price. 1Meg & 50 Meg Internal .. 3 Meg & 50 Meg Internal .. 2nd Meg Memory Modul Accelerators SuperMac Speed Card (SE) Dove Marathon O30 (SE/+) Gemini 2Omhz 030 (Plus) Gemini 33mhz O30 (Plus) Gemini 20mhz O30 (SE). Gemini 33mhz OBO (SE). Daystar 25mhz O30 (l,IIx) +. $1, Daystar 50mhz 030 (l,||x) ...§2,395 & Many More SuperMac Video Washington's most aggressive pricing on SuperMac’s ultra high quality line of video display subsystems. Call for complete pricing and options. ColorCard 24 ColorCard 24 w/Accelerator.... 2 PG Platinum Display Spectrum 24 Series Ill. 8-Bit 19" Color... Modems Viva 2400 Baud . Orchid MacFax Practical Peripherals 9600... 6699 V.32, V2, V.A2bio, & MNF level 5 up to 38,400 baud transfer rates, super new modem Software Adobe Photoshop ... on G49 MacCheese 24Bit Color Paint ...679 AfterDark 2.0... $29 SuperMac Accelerated Color Video Systems * MicroNet Hard Drives ¢ Fast Postscript Printers « EtherNet High Resolution Color/Greyscale Scanning * Optical Character Recognition « Service & Repairs 4336 Montgomery Ave. Mon-Fri: 10-6 Bethesda, MD 20814 Master Saturday: 11-4 rd & Visa Overnight Shipping Fax: Phone: (301) 907-0300 (301) 207. 9335 The Document Production Experts We specialize in helping you meet important deadlines and we offer many capabilities, including: ¢ Page Layout ¢ Word Processing and Data Entry ¢ Editing ¢ Presentation Graphics ¢ Cover and Publication Design ¢ Technical Illustrations ¢ Document Preparation ¢ Database Management ¢ Linotype Services and Typesetting ¢ OCR and Graphics Scanning We can produce almost any document conveniently, professionally and on time! Technical Manuals ¢ Books ¢ Proposals Newsletters ¢ Direct Mailers ¢ Advertising Presentations ¢ Charts ¢ Business Forms Vu-Graphs ¢ Illustrations ¢ Brochures Call B.0.S.S. today and let us take care of your deadlines! 301-948-2175 B.0.8,8, BACK OFFICE SUPPORT SERVICES A Division of Nicklas Associates, Inc. 2 ble of Contents Volume 13 Club News Imagewriter Pricing: A Lament by Phil Shapiro/ Guest editorial Office News... 208 by Nancy Pochepko/ What's happening; special deals for WAP members WAP Authors’ Guide WAP Hotline... WAP Calendar Index to advertisers .. Index to 1989 Journal Articles Tutorials—February ... ‘WAP membership form . SIGs and Slices Columbia Apple Slice . 10 GameSIG IIGS SIG General Information WAP Artists in Review by Nancy Seferian/ Computers—over by Andy Baird/ ‘A Princeton MUG reprint on surge suppressors and how they can improve your life and save your...bacon in the process My aching back... by John Blumenstein/ Changing your work environment Avoiding body bags ..... by Leon H. Racsly/ Hints on low-cost desktop publishing Macintosh Articles DocuComp 1.5 ..s+e-0ses by Frank Potter/ Comparing documents (review) Number 2 Disk Ranger... oe by Kevin Nealon/ Review of a disk cataloging and labeling program MacFlow 3.1.5 ....sessssees i by Michael Samuels/ Review ofan inexpensive flowcharting program Inexpensive laser printers by Lou Pastura/ Our Schwartzenegger lookalike ventures into new territory Notes on the Mac. 200030 by Paul Schlosser/ New apple printers, weekly Mac show and new TCS files SPSS 4.0.. 20032 by Brad Tesh/ Statistical manipulation at the high end—a review Bits & Bytes 2000 34 By Lynn Trusal/ Sayonara, WAP ChessMaster 2100 36 by Dan Wages/ Be a tyro but look like an expert PLI TurboFloppy 1.4 ... none 38 by Chas Geer! A ‘Superdrive fora fraction of the price Apple III On the Trail of the Apple III by David Ottalini/ What goes around... Apple II Dueling SCSI cards ... by Paul Tarantino/ Testing the fastest RAM on the block Sidering up to a RAMFAST .. a by Gary Hayman/ Speeding ip hard disk access time Byts and Pyces by Gary Hayman/ Odds and cide o on the Apple II ‘The begets of the Apple Ile motherboard ...58 by Lorin Evans/ The Voyage of the Electronic Beagle 52 7 200 54 Washington Apple Pi Journal February 1991 ‘View from the Cat House + 60— by Kim Brennan/ New system 5.03 for the GS, MIDI Synth and HyperCard GS CoPilot to the Services by Rick Zeman/ A shareware program for telecommunicating to CIS and GEnie Talking Money by Dan and Sarah Slaven / Helping children to learn about money Amusing Large-Number Activities for Kids 66 by Phil Shapiro/ Demystifying really big numbers can be fun TimeOut TextTools by Robert S. Oringel the Apple II 64, washington apo pl This issue of the Washington Apple Pi Journal was created on a Macintosh If, and printed on a Laser Writer IINTX. The program used was PageMaker 4.0, the word processing program was Microsoft Word 4.0; the principal typeface is Adobe Garamond for the articles; and Helvetica and Condensed Helvetica for headlines, emphasis, and where it seemed appropriate or like a good idea at the time, or where we ran out of Games space, which also happens. FACES for the Mac.. Adobe Systems, Inc., has expressed « interest in and support for our proposal to Disk Library roduce a series of articles on and PB Macintosh Disk Library ssssssssssee families. If all goes well, the first of these by Dave Weikert should appear next month. All, we hasten to ‘ add, rarely does go well, but those of us who Apple I/II di a aeely: gore tine re ~ Bene clap for Tinkerbelle will continue to believe. ea “oe So you get to find out, in the March issue, how the next episode in the continuing saga will turn out. Stay tuned, and keep those cards and letter coming. Editorial Staff Deadlines Postal Information ing Editor Writers’ submissions Managi Frank Potter (703) 620-8886 March Graphics Editor April. Nancy Seferian(202) 333-0126 | Editors’ submissions Apple II Editor Rick Zeman (301) 498-8531 Macintosh Editor Lou Pastura (703) 560-1477 yy Editor Eugenia Potter (703) 620-8886 Calendar Editor Andy Shaw (301) 595-2539 Washington Apple Pi is published monthly by Washington Apple Pi, Ltd., 7910 Woodmont Avenue, Suite 910, Bethesda, MD 20814. Application to mail at second class postage rates pending at Bethesda, MD. Annual membership dues for Washington Apple Pi, Ltd. are $32; of this amount $24 is for a subscription to the Washington Apple Pi Journal. Subscriptions are not available without April .seeseMarch 2 membership. POSTMASTER: Send address changes to Washington Apple Pi, 7910 ‘Woodmont Avenue, Suite 910, Bethesda, MD 20814. February 1991 Washington Apple Pi Journal 4 Officers and Board of Directors Eric Rall (301) 596-0004 David Wood (301) 827-8805 Bob Shaffer (301) 384-3724 Ed Myerson (703) 759-5479 David Ottalini (301) 681-6136 Manny DeVera (703) 818-9626 Dave Harvey (703) 578-4621 President Vice President-Apple Vice President-Mac Treasurer Secretary Directors Mary Hockmeyer SoH 897-5495 (301) 972-4263 (301) 220-0717 (301) 725-6281 (703) 860-4810 (301) 229-3458 (301) 963-0063 David Morganstein Leon Raesly Dale Smith Dana Schwartz Tom Vier* Bernard Urban David Weikert *Noon to 6pm Office Staff Office Manager Office Assistant Nancy Pochepko Ambrose Liao Volunteers Head Reading Lib. Walt Francis (202) 966-5742 Dealer Relations Comm. John Alden (202) 686-1656 Harvey Kaye (301) 493-6875 Rich Wasserstrom (202) 479-2516 Legal Counsel Richard Wohitman Membership Dana Schwartz (301) 654-8060 SIGs & Slices Coord. Bob Shaffer (301) 384-3724 Telecom SYSOP Leon Raesly (301) 220-0717 Journal Store Distribution Andy Wallo (703) 430-1553 Publicity Joe Chelena Chuck Sicard Curtis Lauret 774-6721 Director of Education Rob Clark (301) 937-2672 Washington Apple Pi, Ltd. 7910 Woodmont Avenue, Suite 910 Bethesda, MD 20814 Business Office (301) 654-8060 Telecommunications System (301) 986-8085 Office hours: M-Sat. 10-2:30* Tues. 7-9pm *The office will open at 1pm on the day of the general meeting User groups may reprint without prior permission any portion of the contents herein, provided proper author, title, and publication credits are given, except in cases where the author has reserved copyright permission. In these cases, the author should be contacted directly. Please send a copy to the editor. Library Volunteers DOS 3.3 Librarian Macintosh Librarian Pascal Librarian ProDOS-CP/M Libr. llgs Librarian Apple I! Disks Apple III Disks Mac Library Dave Benbennick Hampton DeJarnette Ben Frank Mary Hockmeyer Fred Rodgers Bob Soule open David Weikert Martin Milrod open open John Ruffatto Richard Sanders John Ruffatto David Ottalini Rick Capman John DeMarco Andy Gallant William Jones Tony Salerno Joe Swick (301) 963-0063 (301) 464-5981 (301) 735-4259 (703) 450-4371 (301) 735-4259 (301) 681-6136 David Condit Garry Elliott Gary Grey Ralph Mullendore Charles Sicard Bob Vandegrift SIG Chairs Annapolis Slice President Steve Toth VP. Kay Cave Secretary Ed Coleman Treasurer/Membership Mel Benson Grant Shackleford AppleWorks Gary Hayman Apple IIGS Gary Hayman Apple Ill David Ottalini dim Jutzin AVSIG Nancy Seferian Columbia Slice Presidents Ann MacKay Paul Retz V. Presidents, Mac Ann Knust Pat Cappelaere V. Presidents, Apple Tom Cook Tom Crowley Treasurer Neil Gordon Secretary Steve Gaston Apple Ambassador Tim Childers CADSIG Jeff Sutton Database SIG Eric Gutsche DisabledSIG Jay Thal Desktop Publishing SIG == Tom Piwowar EDSIG Phil Shapiro Excel SIG Larry Feldman Federal SIG Jim Manley Frederick Slice Scott Galbraith GameSIG Paul Moore HyperCard Nancy Wallace Mark Frazier HyperTalk David Mudd Mac Programmers Nancy Byrd Bruce Jacobs New SIG open NeXT SIG Hugh O'Neill PI-SIG Ted Meyer StockSIG Peter Kasper Telecomm. SIG Allan Levy Works open (301) 956-6557 (301) 266-9752 (301) 757-3197 (301) 647-6873 (301) 923-6748 (301) 345-3230 (301) 345-3230 (301) 681-6136 (703) 790-1509 (202) 333-0126 (301) 740-4482 (301) 596-2185 (301) 781-7587 (301) 596-3989 (301) 995-0352 (301) 730-2319 (301) 381-5877 (301) 992-0480 (301) 997-9317 (801) 270-6573 (703) 379-1265 (202) 244-3649 (202) 223-6813 (202) 686-5465 (202) 546-9556 (703) 490-1034 (01) 865-3035 (703) 532-1029 (301) 530-2881 (202) 546-8325 (703) 683-1746 (703) 978-3440 (301) 439-7812 (202) 328-9510 (703) 893-6845 (703) 620-4071 (301) 340-7839 Washington Apple Pi Journal February 1991 Imagewriter Pricing: A Lament Few people would disagree that Apple makes fine computers and peripherals. But some of Apple’s pricing is getting way, way out of line. The ImageWriter II printer is a good example. It’s a fine dot-matrix printer: sturdy, reliable, and relatively fast. Yet most Apple dealers sell the ImageWriter II for over $400, while comparable printers by other compa- nies sell in the $150 to $250 range. The inflated ImageWriter price even outpaces the price of some high- end 24-pin dot-matrix printers. A recent ad in The New York Times offers a NEC 24-pin printer for $199. (See page B5, NYT 12/26/90). How in the world, then, can Apple have the gall to price the ImageWriter II, a 9- pin printer, for more than twice as much as this 24 pin printer? What's most embarrassing is that the price of ink-jet and laser printers is steadily marching down closer and closer to Apple's inflated ImageWriter II price. Hewlett Packard’s new Desk Jet 500, a 300 dots-per-inch printer, sells for under $500. And low-end laser printers, such as the H.P. IIP, are selling for under $1000. It’s time for Apple to cut the price of the ImageWriter II by a bold $100 to $150. At that point, Apple is ikely to find that increased sales volume will more than make up any loss of income from lower profit margins. Te’s not so difficult to read what Apple had in mind with its inflated ImageWriter II pricing. High-level planners in Cupertino were hoping that more affluent Macintosh buyers would buy the ImageWriter II as their first Macintosh printer. Then, within a by Phil Shapiro year they would quickly tired of the slow output of the ImageWriter in graphics mode, and would upgrade their printer to one of Apple’s laser printers. Here's the kicker, though. A flourishing second-hand ImageWriter market was supposed to have devel- oped. Those Mac users were supposed to sell off their ImageWriters to humble Apple II users. Yet no such large-scale second-hand market has developed to date. Mac users have been holding onto their ImageWriters, keeping them as emergency back-ups to their laser printers. Or, they’ve been giving these printers to Junior to take to college with his or her low-end Mac. Consequently ImageWriter printers are relatively difficult to find on the second-hand market. And the price for second-hand ImageWriters stays up near $260 to $300, the price of what it should be selling for new. All this wouldn’t be so lamen- table, were it not for the fact that Apple intentionally departed from the norm in making the ImageWriter a serial, rather than parallel printer. Any Apple II user wanting to use a different printer has to go off and buy a $100 Grappler serial-to-parallel converter, and live without the many programs that require an ImageW/riter printer to print their output. Apple has made it inconvenient for Apple II users to use a compatible- brand printer. Seeing that a printer is a virtually indispensable peripheral, it’s time that Apple offered a price-cut on the ImageWriter II. Such a gesture of goodwill could perhaps assuage some of the mounting hostilities between Apple and the Apple IT user commu- nity. And the price cut could actually be in Apple's best financial self-interest too. (The author is the founder of Balloons Software, a new Apple IT educational software company. He can be reached at (202) 244-2223, or on GEnie at P Shapiro 1) DOCUMENT (OCR) and GRAPHIC SCANNING DISK DUPLICATION DISK & TAPE CONVERSIONS DATABASE MAINTENANCE Data Conversion Services, Ltd. 10875 Main Street Suite 212 Fairfax, Virginia 22030 TEL (703) 352-2210 FAX (703) 352-4375 CALL FOR OUR FREE BROCHURE February 1991 Washington Apple Pi Journal 5 Macintosh Classic Macintosh Ilsi in 20% 51199] wind” 51299] JA winSe, 52599 | win iy $2899 Lihemeck cea Fay ol *Small Footprint | fi SI} System +Expandable g Near eng e — BRD ~~ Nejboatd included Neel era Macintosh LC wun 31999 . New e . H Z 4. Apple® eee “Most Ato Dy , Authorized IN STOCK! ; seal Mouse and a — / Macintosh Ilci Macintosh Ilfx wit 105 $4199 | wn 100% 54399] )y win 100" 56299 | win 2007 6649 Power With Macintosh} Room To Grow IIci | Monitor and Keyboard Extra COMPUTER FGE "ou Twoveth year Monitor and Keyboard Extra SILVER SPRING BELTSVILLE ANNANDALE (01588-6565 —_—(°1937-0300__ (79642-2310 Hewlett Packard DeskWriter «Laser Quality At A Low Cost “With Serial and AppleTalk Connectivity $649 i, Apple Printers ImageWriter Il 389 Personal LaserWriter lIISC $1299 Personal LaserWriter IINT $2499 LaserWriterlINT $2999 LaserWriter IINTXs3999 LaserWriter Prices Always Include A Toner Cartridge! Ew Macintosh Portable with 40" internal HD NEW LOW PRICE! TOLD) aor Ol ANB EDe FDHD SuperDrive *All-In-One-Design SONY, 3.5" Disks DS/DD-Borof10 wisns $8 DS/HD-Box of 10 wiabos $19: DS/HD-Box of 50 Buk Pack $89: Also From Apple leCDSC Drive PP Storage At A Low Cost Works With All Apple Computers. $699 Apple Scanner $1099 (Check Our Weekly Ad In Monday's Post \_ For Our Latest and Lowest Prices! TEAS INSTRUMENTS PostScript Microtek 300ZS RAM GRE Der eer Color/Gray 24-Bit For The 1.5MBRAM Included | — 35 PostScript Fonts Scanner Mac Classic Six Pages-Per-Minute NEC AppleTalk® Included aioe ss betes ef $1 09 a Sets laurcheics > 1799 ove foe 22, || 51589 $ RAM UPGRADES [s5908| For Mac Ilex, Iki, isi, : © |g5Qiies| Pus se se. The Only Winner Of ee Apple Computer's Pap 1990 ote Customer With Cables, Menu, Satisfaction "Plugin and Run” rai : or The . Quantum 2 YearWaranty| SyQuest 1 Yoar Warranty Mid-Atlantic / On The Cutting Edge of 40 mp 3399) oe ne Region Customer Satisfaction 50 mp 5429| 45MB 599 100 MB 649) Conner 1 Yoarwarany Presented to: 200 mB 999] 40mB $349 Computer Age rcamoires =— S.S55555 S55 EFS WG 9433 GEORGIA AVENUE | 10606 US ROUTE 1 |4227 ANNANDALE ROAD ||... Service Center|" Swelvorh SILVER SPRING, MD | BELTSVILLE, MD ANNANDALE, VA SILVER SPRING; MD begets Sn 30588-6565 | °°937-0300| 9642-2310 (301)565-9130 te fle a. Apes TON. li Lea ANY a Mein ov olaered trademarks of Apple App 2D SC, FDHD and SuperDrive are tra sdomarks of. come lnes er, Inc. Classic isa registored trademark, icensed to. Apple Comput ‘Apple Cor THIS AD WAS CORRECT AS OF PUBLISHING DEADLINE, PRICES & SPECIFICATIONS SUBJECT TO CHANGE WITHOUT NOTICE. GALL FOR UPDATES. Office News HAPPY 1991 EVERYONE! T hope that everyone enjoyed a happy holiday season, and we wish you a healthy and prosperous New Year! LOST and FOUND If anyone is missing a jacket, sweater or umbrella, call the office, we've got a pretty good collection here. TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE When you need technical assistance please refer to the hotline pages in the Journal. Open the Journal to the centerfold—for the Apple II and III hotline go back one page, for the Macintosh hotline go forward one page. We'd love to help, but we simply don’t have the man- power or the ability to provide that assistance. Our hotline volunteers are knowledgeable and helpful—give them acall. Additionally, if you would like to offer your assistance to other members of WAP, please let me know and we would be glad to add you to the hotline listing. MEMBERSHIP Winter is a good time for computing, It’s cold and snowy, and what could be more fun than being curled up in front of a crackling fire with your computer (okay, so there are a few hundred things that couldbe more fun, but who’s counting?). If you know some folks who use Macs or Apples IIs or Ills, give the office a call and we'll mail you a few membership applications to give to your friends. The more the merrier! by Nancy Pochepko SIGS Seems some of our Special Interest Groups have gone into hibernation. The Music SIG, the MS Works SIG, the New SIG. Then there are some great ideas for SIGs which simply need leaders, like a Kid’s SIG, a Med SIG. Give it some thought and if you'd be interested in co-chairing a SIG or revitalizing one of the dormant ones, please let us know! COMPUTERS ON TV Check out The Learning Channel (TLC) on Tuesdays at 6:30 p.m. EST or Saturdays at 10:00 p.m. EST beginning December 4, 1990. They are running a program where they review software programs on the air. WORKS to WORKS TRANSPORTER Recently Microsoft made some enhancements to a utility called the Works to Works transporter within the Microsoft Works program. The changes allow users to convert files that were created in AppleWorks 3.0 to Microsoft Works 2.0. In the past, users could only transfer files from, AppleWorks 2.0. Microsoft says this enhancement will make like a lot easier for many Macintosh users, particularly teachers who might have a substantial number of files that were created in Apple- Works 3.0 that they would like to move over to Microsoft Works 2.0. There are two ways in which registered users can get this utility update free of charge: 1. If you are an AppleLink© user, you can access the new Microsoft Bulletin Board. In that Bulletin Board, the conversion utility is located within the Education folder as well as the Reseller folder. Both locations contain a read-me file that indicates downloading instructions. 2. Users can call Microsoft at 1- 800-426-9400 to get this update. The caller should ask for the free updates to Works 2.0D. WASHINGTON APPLE PI MEMBER DEALS AND DISCOUNTS INCIDER MAGAZINE WAP members are eligible for a special subscription rate of $24.97 for a one year subscription for new subscrib- ers (the regular rate is $27.97 for one year, $43.00/two years and $59.00/ three years). To order, please send your check for $24.97 per one year subscription made payable to inCider to the WAP Office at 7910 Woodmont Avenue, Suite 910, Bethesda, MD 20814. Also include mailing information. MACUSER MAGAZINE WAP members are eligible for a special subscription rate of $13.50 (50% off the regular rate of $27.00) To ordery please send your check for $13.50 per subscription made payable to Ziff-Davis to the WAP Office at 7910 Woodmont Avenue, Suite 910, Bethesda, MD 20814. Also include mailing information. QUE CORPORATION BOOKS Que is offering a 35% discount on all of their titles (except instructor kits) to WAP members. To place an order, call 1-800-428-5331 x3476, fax 800-448-3804 or write Que Corpora- tion, 11711 N. College Avenue, Carmel, IN, 46032 (ask for Debbie Hulse, and make sure you tell her you read about it in the WAP Journal). Washington Apple Pi Journal February 1991 You may not always need the very best film output possible for your Postscript files, but if you plan to use your Mac for the most demanding prepress applications, it’s good to know that there is a convenient source for absolutely state-of-the-art imaging for color printing— Baltimore Color Plate. Using Riplink® software, BCP moves your file onto their Scitex® and images it on the highest- end graphic arts equipment available today. The result is film output that meets the most demanding printing requirements: super resolution, tight register, proper trapping, Scitex (not Postscript) screen angles, screen frequencies to 200 lines per inch and output size to 19 by 25 inches. BCP can even proof your films ona Kodak Signature® proofing system, for an extremely close match to actual printing conditions. If you need this level of quality, it’s here now, available now at [301] 391.8855 or [800] TRY.BCP1, Fax [301] 574.4075. BALTIMORE COLOR PLATE At our January 3rd Apple II meeting, Andy Wakshul gave an impressive demo of the Print Shop Companion for the Apple IIGS. This program costs around $30 and requires a GS with 76K... The Print Shop Companion IIGS by Broderbund Software is a set of utilities to enhance the Print Shop IIGS program. The utilities indude the following modules: 1. Quick Page for creating freeform pages of graphics and text. 2. Calendar for printing out yearly, monthly, weekly, and daily calendars. 3. Envelope for creating sensa- tional envelopes using full-panel graphics. 4, Label maker for making mailing or diskette labels. 5. Cataloger for printing out reference sheets of all your Print Shop graphics, borders and fonts. In addition, editors are also provided to help with creating new art for the Print Shop GS: 1. Graphic 2. Full Panel 3. Border 5. Font (sic) 6. Pixel Patterns (for the Banner Maker of Print Shop) Andy also pointed out some new features and capabilities that the Print Shop Companion GS gives us. Some of these include the capability of making printouts magnified 10 X 10, standard GS fonts can be edited and saved as Print Shop fonts, and the Full Panel edit capability. He seemed most impressed by Quick Page. Some of the capabilities provided by Quick Page were the capability to import graphics from other sources, the capability to move text and graphics around on the page. This feature of Quick Page could be used to make cards like the Print Shop card maker if more text is desired than what the Print Shop aan give you. At the business meeting following the Print Shop Companion IIGS demo, the Columbia Slice decided to sell copies of “The Apple II Guide” for $5 a copy as a fundraiser. This book is a complete resource for users of Apple II computers. Copies can be obtained from the dub officers at the next meeting. The Apple II topic at the February 1991 meeting of the Columbia Slice will be educational software on the Apple Ile and IIc. & by Steven Payne GameSIG members gathered at the WAP Office on Pearl Harbor Day for our regular monthly meeting, under the fearless leadership of our new co-chairmen, “the two Daves” (Hakim and Romerstein). In what is fast becoming a regular segment on alternate gaming systems, Dave Hakim kicked things off by showing us the Atari Lynx, a hand-held color system that lists for around $180, handles programs of up to 8 MB, and is “comparable to the Sega Genesis”; among the programs currently available for this system, we had a look at “California Games.” Dave Romerstein then provided a demo of Sim Earth (Broderbund, Mac), pointing out the similarities and differences between this new global simulation and its popular predecessor, Sim City. In the “new products” report, we learned that Wizardry II: Knight of Diamonds, as well as Bane of the Cosmic Forge (first installment in a “new fantasy/role-playing adventure series in the spirit of Wizardry”), are now both available for the Macintosh from Sir-Tech (P.O. Box 245, Ogdensburg, NY 13669). Meanwhile, we received a review copy of the Mac version of Faces, the latest in Spectrum HoloByte’s Tetris series (see the review elsewhere in this issue); unfortunately, once again there were no new Apple II games for review. Among the games our brave members are currently exploring, we discussed The Savage Empire, Silent Service II, King’s Quest IV (on the GS), Centauri Alliance, Might and Magic II, Legends of the Lost Realm, Pharoah, Sword of Vermillion and Steve Meretzky’s Spellcasting 101: Sorcerors Get All the Girls (the first graphic adventure from our friend Bob Bates’ new company, Legend). Some of these, you'll notice, are only available in MS-DOS versions....- which raises an interesting question: since it is now possible, with software or hardware add-ons, to run such programs on our favorite machines, is it permissible to publish GameSIG reviews of these products in the WAP Journal? We think it should be, and would like to broaden our scope to keep you informed on what's available out beyond the ever narrowing confines of exclusively Apple and Mac gaming. But we'll see whether this idea flies or not. The meeting closed with our regular “Robot Tanks” tournament, from which Dave Hakim emerged victorious (one of the perks of his new job, we suppose). The next meetings will be held on January 3rd and February 7th at 7:30 PM in the WAP Offices. Finally, a correction for all you Cliff “The Fool’s Errand” Johnson fans: contrary to what I reported last time, his 3 in Three is available from Cinemaware (4165 Thousand Oaks Boulevard, Westlake Village, CA 91362); however, Miles Computing (5115 Douglas Fir Road, Suite 1, Calabasas, CA 91302) is advertising a new Puzzle Gallery 2: Acnecies, which we presume will build upon Johnson's earlier Puzzle Gallery: At the Carnival. (For information about the December IIGS SIG meeting, please turn to page 57) Washington Apple Pi Journal February 1991 If You’re Not Satisfied, We're Not Doing Our Job. When you call MacTemps, you can be assured of qualified, experienced personnel to help you with a wide variety of projects. We carefully screen and test all of our personnel prior to sending them out on assignment. This means you receive only the most skilled office professionals. MacTemps has always prided itself on complete customer satisfaction. That is why we place a follow-up call on the first day of each new assignment. We make sure you are completely satisfied with the people we send you and are ready to replace them if, for any reason you're not happy. Why bother with “typical” temp services, when MacTemps can provide you with proficient, Macintosh-literate, office personnel—today! MacTEMPs 948-9857 12 - fidgtisis onextubit This column will look at the art and artists of Washington Apple Pi and the techniques and tools used to create the art. Artist Info: Don Mace is editor of the Federal Employees News Digest and the Federal Employees’ Almanac, has an art background, including study at the University of Miami and brief employment as an artist/ illustrator at the Smithsonian Institution. Art: Jazafish (right), Skyline (opposite top), and Archaeologist (opposite bottom) Tools: Mac SE, LaserWriter II NT, SuperPaint, Mac Paint, and Mac Draw II. Procedures: “Normally, I don’t start with one idea. I just start drawing and see where it takes me, experi- menting with several versions. I freehanded Jazzfish, creating each one individually and then position- ing them. Using the marquee tool, I took a section of the fish and distorted it in several ways experi- mentally to achieve various results, I repeated the process and inverted part of the drawing to work in a particular area. Then I positioned the entire image and printed it out. Revisions were made after looking at hard copy, in much the same way a writer revises after first drafts. I chose this as a subject because I like drawing and painting fish. Many of my oil paintings and water colors are of this subject. “Skyline was painted a bit differently. I began by drawing freely all over the screen in MacPaint. I I, by Nancy Seferian La byy t foi oes used the brush tool, then selected the mirror tool under Goodies. This tool allows you to create a mirror image in reverse, and will allow you to do it in a six-way pie. In this way you can create a kind of doily. I used different brush sizes to achieve a first draft. Then I took the whole image and cut it up with the marquee tool, moving the pieces around and reassembled them to make buildings. The matrix suggested a cityscape to me. So next I drew rectangles to create windows. I added the sky detail last. This process for Skyline was a cut and paste job, a collage. Jazzfish “Archaeologist was created the very first time I tried any of the paint programs. I was intrigued by the fill tools and the textures, spray, and fill functions. I just started drawing a face, threw in a pipe, and created the hieroglyph using the fill mode for those wall figures in the background and also for the clothing. Then I experimented with his hair, trying to get a realistic look with various brushes and paints. I wanted to create broken lines where hair and pipe smoke partially blocks back- ground.” Washington Apple Pi Journal February 1991 AA Archaeologist February 1991 Washington Apple Pi Journal 13 14 Computers—over easy? ZZZZZAAAAPPP! Jolted out of my early-morning sleep by the deafening buzz of an electrical arc, I knew at once some- thing was badly wrong. I lunged toward the sound, which came from beneath my computer desk, taking in at a glance the ominous blue-white glare from my surge suppressor, and the cloud of black soot staining the wall behind it. I ripped the Mac’s plug from the outlet as the arc died and an evil smell filled the room. After my heart had stopped pounding, I examined the remains of my surge suppressor. Looking at the charred interior of the case, I shud- dered. If it had been made of plastic instead of steel, there probably would have been a fire. The MOVs (Metal Oxide Varistors) had been literally blown apart by the force of the surge; then, like a welder’s rod, had arced across the bare wire leads. T thanked my lucky stars that the MOVs had done their job and saved my Maz, while wondering whether there wasn’t a better way to protect equipment—a way that didn’t involve an explosive failure of the components that did the protecting. I thought about the time, a couple of years back, when my Hayes Smartmodem had died during a thunderstorm, along with a couple of chips on my computer’s motherboard. I had surge protection on the com- puter, but none on the telephone line. ‘When lightning struck nearby, a spike came up the phone ling, fried the modem, then continued up the serial cable to kill the line-driver chips in my computer. After that experience, I added a surge suppressor on my phone line, so I was completely protected. by Andy Baird Or so I thought at the time. Now I know I was wrong, In fact, I now realize that the modem was probably killed by my surge suppressor. The MOVs which were supposed to protect my computer had done their job by shunting an incoming power- line surge onto the ground conduc- tor—the same ground used by the modem as a signal ground reference. The result was a few thousand volts across the modem’s inputs—and a dead modem. Everything you know is wrong T want to make three main points in this article. First, the surge suppres- sor you own, if it’s more than a year old, is probably not protecting your equipment, because its MOVs have degraded to the point of uselessness— and there’s no practical way you can test this. Second, even if it’s brand new, or uses expensive TransZorb devices instead of MOVs, it is designed to dump surge energy onto the ground conductor used as a reference by your modem, network connection or other serial device, thus endangering your peripherals or other networked computers even if it protects your own computer. Third, there is a new device which will protect your equipment over the long term—ten to twenty years—without endangering it. Before I tackle those three points—and try to convince you that the conventional wisdom about surge suppressors is wrong—let me tell you where this information comes from. Lightning strikes in the capitol The National Institute of Stan- dards and Technology, in Washington, DC, has a section devoted to the study of power-line surges. The head of the group, Francois Martzloff, has been studying surges and other transient electrical phenomena for many years, resulting in ANSI/IEEE standards (C632.41-1980, if you're interested) defining commonly-encountered spikes and surges. A recent experiment, in which surges were artificially induced in the power wiring of an industrial building, yielded an unex- pected result: suppressor-protected computers were undamaged, but serial printers connected to them were damaged by surges on the data input Lines—not the power line. Where had these surges come from? Martzloff and his colleagues finally concluded that the data-line spikes which had damaged the printers had been created when the computers’ surge suppressors shunted the excess electrical energy to the common ground conductor. The printers had been killed by the surge suppressors! Interestingly, the NIST team was not the first to arrive at this conclusion. A small New Jersey company, Zero Surge Inc., had been founded not long before by two engineers who set out to build a power conditioning device which would not dump excess energy to ground. We'll talk more about the Zero Surge device later...but now let’s consider my three major points. The mortality of MOVs A look at GE’s “MOV Design Manual” reveals several interesting facts. First, MOVs don’t begin to respond to a voltage spike until 10-40 nanoseconds. That may sound fast, but the typical spike described in the IEEE standard has a rise time of just 5 nanoseconds. That means an MOV can’t react fast enough to stop the most common electrical spikes. ..spikes the TEEE standard says can be expected many times a week in an average building! Second, MOVs wear out. Every little jolt shortens the lifetime of an MOY, until finally it fails to provide any protection. Those little jolts include the several-times-a-week spikes described in the IEEE standard. A recent article in the industry journal Washington Apple Pi Journal February 1991 LAN Times (May 1990) says: “If your surge protectors have been in use for a while (six months is a reasonable time), the MOVs may be incapable of proper performance. Moreover, as the [MOV] ages, its clamping voltage decreases and it may begin a process called thermal runaway, which has resulted in fire.” (Remember, I spent a long ime scrubbing the soot off my walls after my surge suppressors burned up!) Adead MOV—more precisely, one which has deteriorated to the point where it offers no protection— can only be detected with expensive, sophisticated test gear. That ten-cent LED which glows so reassuringly on your present surge suppressor may make a good night light, but it tells little or nothing about whether your MOVs are really doing their job, or have gotten tired and given up. I’ve been shown several commer- cial surge suppressors (a Kensington MasterPiece, among others) which appeared fully functional, but provided no surge protection whatsoever! In short, MOVs provide inad- equate protection; they wear out in the course of normal use, and they fail without warning, possibly posing a fire hazard. What about TransZorbs? T’ve always figured I was extra safe, because my Mac was plugged into an expensive power strip using TransZorbs instead of MOVs. TransZorbs (avalanche diodes) are semiconductor devices which respond faster than MOVs, and don’t degrade with time. However, I’ve recently discovered that they have another problem: when a really big surge hits, they fail “open”, so they can’t divert the surge voltage, just when they're needed most! But that’s minor. The real problem is this: just about all presently available surge suppressors, whether they use MOVs or TransZorbs, are wired to divert, or shunt, energy to ground. As the NIST researchers found, this almost guarantees contami- nation of data lines, resulting in garbled data at best, and fried equip- ment at worst. The same design flaw which cooked my Hayes modem and those printers in Washington is built into almost every surge suppressor made, from the cheapest to the most expensive. The LAN Times sums it up this way: “Networks should only employ surge protectors that do not shunt surges to ground. If [existing] power condi- tioning devices contaminate the reference ground by intro- ducing surges, it may be wise to remove such devices from a network or to replace them with something better.” Some people may think they're protected by the use of UPS (uninterruptible power supply) equipment, which by definition is a 100% battery-fed system. But not only are UPSs quite expensive, their inputs are protected by the same fifteen-cent MOVs the average surge suppressor. (The single exception, Abacus Con- trols, licenses its technology from Zero Surge, the small company I mentioned earlier.) A singular solution So how can you protect your expensive computer equipment? The LAN Times has this to say: “The ideal surge protector would be a circuit that presents a high impedance to the the surge and a low impedance to the {normal] power wave, while protecting the integrity of the ground circuit. It should also contain no degrading components like MOVs.” Such devices exist; they are made by Zero Surge, Inc. If] tell you that the Zero Surge units appear to be the only surge suppressors on the market which work properly, you'll have a right to be skeptical. After all, the power condi- tioning business is full of snake oil salesmen, each claiming that only Ais product is worth buying. Well, I don’t blame you. I was certainly skeptical at first. But after reading articles in LAN Times, PC Week and Power Quality magazines and talking with electrical engineers as well as the president of Zero Surge, I believe the Zero Surge protectors are the only ones which 1) will adequately protect equipment and 2) won’t contaminate data lines by dumping surges onto the ground circuit. The Zero Surge unit differs in four fundamental ways from ordinary surge protectors: 1. It’s a series circuit with zero response time. — Teintercepts all surges, including the common 5 nanosec- ond surges which are too fast for MOVs to divert. 2. It contains no MOVs or other sacrificial or degrading parts, and no components are overstressed by surges of unlimited current up to 6000 volts (the IEEE standard). Its service life is equal to the shelf life of its compo- nents, which is why Zero Surge warrants its products for 10 years, and thereafter offers to upgrade any unit to new condition at any time for 20% of whatever the unit then sells for. 3. Critical for networks and modems (BBS and LAN users take note), Zero Surge does not use ground asa surge sink, but instead stores the surge energy temporarily, then slowly releases it to the neutral line. This preserves the integrity of the ground for its role as voltage reference by all dataline interconnections. 4. Zero Surge takes the sharp leading edges off surges and noise, eliminating their ability to couple into February 1991 Washington Apple Pi Journal rPpxumZ2zm® Aomamaz— computer circuitry. Zero Surge makes 2 sizes of surge interceptors, a 7.5 Amp model (list $149), which is right for those of us who don’t have laser printers, and a 15 Amp model (list $199) for those who do. The 15 Amp unit is offered at a special price of $169 to user group members. (You won’t be surprised to hear that I bought one!) Zero Surge president Wendell Laidley is a straightforward, soft- spoken man who emphasizes his desire to answer any and all questions about his product. His phone number is 201- 766-4220 (fax number: 201-766- 4144). Don’t hesitate to call him. This article is from the June 1990 issue of the Princeton Macintosh Users’ Group Newsletter, and is copyright 1990 by Andy Baird. This subject is not at all free from controversy, and WAP members may wish to communicate their own experi- ences with surges. Certainly we have no connection with Zero Surge, nor should this article be considered as an endorse- ment of the product. rp>umzmo How does it work? Briefly, Zero Surge employs a 100 microHenry current limiting inductor, followed by a voltage limiting bridge. The bridge contains several triggered energy absorbing stages that respond according to the slew rate and energy of the incoming surge, and keep maximum let-through voltage under 250 volts (in UL 1449 tests at 6000 volts and 500 amps, let-through was 223 volts, or 42 volts above AC power line peak, the best ever tested by UL). ‘The unit contains three large electrolytic capacitors. One capacitor is charged to track the sine wave peak at all times; the other two are uncharged except during a surge, when they store the excess energy, which is then released slowly back into the neutral line through current-limiting resistors. The rated life of these capaci- tors, under 24-hour-a-day full load, is 11.5 years. Regarding the claim of “zero response time,” Laidley says, “The first component is an inductor, in series with the line, that responds instantly to the surge current. The ousput rise time of this inductor is far slower than the low nanosecond range response time of the bridge diodes. Zero Surge reduces surge rise time by approximately 40 times, thus reducing the disturbance below the threshold, to a point where no significant coupling can occur.” By the way, all the Zero Surge components are in full view when the box is opened; there are no “hidden parts” and none of the epoxy encapsulation so often found in other units. Tl give the LAN Times the final say: “If it doesn’t have UL or CSA certifica- tion as a transient voltage surge suppression device, don’t buy it. Look for the UL 1449 clamping voltage in the product literature. If the device has UL certification as a temporary power tap, it means that UL has a high opinion of it as an extension cord, not as a surge protector!” OQUIPUT OUTPUT DOUBLED Our OUTPUT Cap a Linotronic 330 to our existing L30 timized for Color S ties! d Publication: © Up to 3386 dpi to better serve your hi-res out 24-Hour Turnaround ¢ Volume Discounts AWARD PUBLICATIONS 5301 Shawnee Rd. e Suite 400 « Alexandria, VA 22312 (703) 354-1600 ¢ FAX (703) 354-1027 ¢ BBS (703) 354-0966 16 Washington Apple Pi Journal February 1991 a back... Is your desktop computer (hopefully an Apple/Macintosh) breaking your back? 12 years ago I had back surgery for a herniated disc, presumably brought about or exacerbated by a long period of basketball playing. I gave up the basketball and have been reason- ably good since then in following a prescription for preventing further back problems: * Controlling weight ¢ Exercising properly ¢ Walking a mile or so to and from mass transit daily * Sleeping correctly ¢ Lifting (moderate loads) with legs rather than my back Unfortunately, I am now home recuperating from my second disc operation. What went wrong? I did not have any dramatic or specific trauma; rather it was a case of the straw that broke the camel’s back. In my case, after a few days of dull pain and discomfort, I was putting on my socks when I was hit with debilitating electrical type pain in my right hip and leg. Am I doomed to an operation every 10 years, or am I doing some- thing that is contributing to my back problems? Having lived with back problems for so long, I am conscious of most of the more obvious causes of low back pain. At the hospital I had an opportunity to read a bit of literature on the subject, and one area kept popping up in which I was failing and failing rather badly: sitting posture at work. Three years or so ago I was introduced to the wonderful world of Macintosh, using a Plus and an SE on by John Blumenstein a part time basis. For the last two years, T have used a Macintosh II to write and edit books. For me, writing books using Macintosh computers represents a very rewarding career experience. Hours just seem to fly by as I compose in front of a 19” monitor. I have suffered from “mouse” wrist and shoulder at the end of particularly long weeks of work at the Mac but not much else, until now that is. Are my many hours at the computer contributing to my back problems? I tried picturing my posture after hours of sitting in front of the computer - it was frightening! I sit in a great old judge’s-type chair, heavily cushioned and made for leaning back to peruse a legal treatise and maybe take a short nap; however, there is absolutely no support for one’s back when using the chair for keyboard work. My desk is a ponderous old wooden relic with no height adjustments for keyboard or monitor. Corporate Overnight IMAGING f Lotus Fr Corel Dr What should I do? First, I’m looking into getting an “ergonomi- cally” designed chair for keyboard work. That should be relatively easy. Second, I need a modern desk built for computer keyboards and monitors that can be adjusted to my height which is on the tall side. (This will be somewhat more difficult given the budget constraints these days.) Third, I need to think about the type of keyboard and mouse I use and perhaps upgrade toa product that is more sensitive to the effects of prolonged use. (These I will probably purchase myself). Fourth, acquire a good alarm clock utility to interrupt me from time to time so that I get up, stretch, walk around, and generally take a break from the keyboard. Will this remedy work? I don’t know and may not for years, which is the point of this article. Desktop computers are just too new (especially for people who are not equipped with the proper desks, chairs, etc.) to draw any conclusions. If you are like me or think you might be prone to back problems (in theory, all humans have been since we started walking upright), then you might consider assessing your work environment and making some changes. The possible alternative, giving up your Macintosh, is just (read my fonts) not acceptable! sions” Inc. Macintosh & PC February 1991 Washington Apple Pi Journal 17 Avoiding body bags Last time we talked about Club Logos, and the things Logos seemed to say about the Club, plus the information the Logo carried, or didn’t carry. A total of 34 people wrote for the sample copies, so I wasn’t inundated! Too many to comment to each here, but I did send comments to them with the sample Logos. Now about the Body Bags. You've seen them before - your hard work torn to shreds by the Post Office, and the remains stuffed in a baggie, with a little note - received at the x90xx post office, sorry! Yeah, they're sorry, all right. But not as sorry as you are! Body Bags for your Newsletter - not good. How can you avoid them? The only way to be sure to avoid them is to use an envelope. But that costs more, and envelopes waste weight - which could be additional pages in your Newsletter. But you can reduce the probability of damage. First, if 3 sheets or less (especially for 1 or 2 sheets) use a three-fold. Then staple as described below. If more than 3 sheets, you can fairly safely fold in half, then staple. I spent some time at the post office watching them machine cancel these pieces of paper. That stuff flew! I watched what snagged, and how. There are five potential snags. The first two snags are the folded corners on half fold sheets. If the fold is loose, it can snag there, and tear off part of the paper. I always take a pen and place the newsletter on a hard surface and BURNISH that folded edge to get it as © 1991, Leon H. Raesly by Leon H. Raesly tight a fold as possible. It will help. Don’t try to get by with just a single staple in the center. The corners will fold up and several are likely to rip. Place a staple in each corner to make the corners tight. Make sure that your staple fastens on both ends, not just one. And the fifth point I saw them snag is...the staple itself! Most home staplers leave a rounded corner on the back, which can catch with other pieces of mail, or just in the machine. Most commercial staplers will punch the back of the staple flat, if possible, use one of these types. Since my stapler leaves the curled back (even though it is electric) I place the top side of the staple on a small board, (back side up) and use a small hammer to completely flatten the curled back of the staple. A few minutes work, but I believe worth it. Another alternative instead of using a staple is to use a round adhesive circle. Avery makes a whole series of them, and you can even get colored ones. As above, place one in each corner. Continuing columns As I have remarked before, an Editor is always working against two conflicting agendas. One, to get as much information in as possible on each sheet. (Remember the first exercise of completely filling a sheet of paper with typing, and how gray it looked?) The second one is to open up the NewsLetter and make it light and spicy. Ongoing columns offer a particu- lar challenge. You certainly want them written, even if it is the same message, stated differently each month, from the President. I have seen many titles for such columns “The Pres Speaks,” “The President's Corner,” “The Publisher's Pen,” “The Editor's Nag,” etc. Not that there is anything wrong with such titles, it is just that they are always the same. And easy to skip, which is not what your President had in mind when he wrote his article. So here is a way to get spice and interest going for them. First, find a graphic that relates in some way to the ongoing topic. Perhaps a man printing on a old-timey press, or a quill pen. How about a harassed man shouting? Find something you like, and that they (the author) will like. Then combine the name of the column with the graphic. Also include the author's name as a part of the graphic. Creating a composite graphic If you are cut-and-paste (KCP) it is easy to lay graphics on top of each other to create composites. Just use the following techniques: First, select your graphic, and lay it on a clean sheet of paper—no glue yet. Then take another piece of paper, and draw a line on it with your non- reproducing blue pencil (NRBP). now, using the dry-transfer type style sheet you chose, burnish each letter of your title into position. Even if you want it later on 2 or 3 lines, do it all as a single line now, and cut later. Do the same with your author’s name. Now place this beside your chosen graphic, and measure the width and height of the resultant combined piece. Take a separate sheet of paper and draw a box with your NRBP. Use a T- square to be sure to get the corners square. Firmly glue your graphic and title and author’s name positioned within this square (waxing is still better, but since this is to be perma- nent, dry glue stick (Uhu or other) will work fine. After you have centered and balanced these items as you wish them, use a roll of lines (or borders) and place carefully over the NRBP line. Now you should have your completed graphic, ready to be used each month. Carefully cut to the edge of the border with your X-acto knife, and it is ready to mount to your layout sheet. Wax Washington Apple Pi Journal February 1991 BY: Lee Raesly, LCSW Copyright 1991 (or dry glue if you must!) the comers into position at the top of the column on your layout sheet. Ready to go! For DTP it is much simpler. Notice the graphic leading this column this month. I was fortunate to have a graphic that our club’s previous Editor had drawn (I don’t have that talent) of a stylized “Computer” with a (friendly) charicature of me running it. Tt was really a neat 3-part cartoon. ‘The first showed a Neolithic man carving on stone, and was titled, “Pre- Rhode Era.” The second showed a hard-working Editor slaving over a typewriter, with reams of paper flying in the air. This was entitled “The Rhode Era.” The third showed the graphic above, and was titled, “The Ultimate Era”! All I have to do each month is push “PRINT” and voild Out comes the printed copy! None of these lengthy hours of composing and entering the copy, Don’t I wish! Having the basic graphic that I wished to work with, I scanned it to create a DHR (Double Hi Res) graphic. I then loaded it into a Paint program, and cleaned it up. On the way, I moved the image over to the right, to open more space on the left. Here I used San Francisco 18-Point font to enter the Title “Editing Your Club’s Newsletter.” This type is somewhat “crazy” and fit with the concept of an Editor wearing a leather vest and such a crazy hat (yes, I wear one like it all the time [ed.-Reall?}). So the type is also a complimentary part of the graphic. When I loaded it into my DTP program, I told it to “Frame Border.” This gives the nicely framed box you see. Since my Paint program did not have the type I wanted for my name, I then loaded the graphic into my DTP program, and proceeded to create the composite graphic you see. PI3 allows the building of a composite graphic that looks like it is a single graphic. I placed a Text block on top of the graphic, and entered my name in 12-point Shaston. Both the hat in the lower left corner (a stylized rendition of the hat I wear) and the signature of R. Rhode in the right corner are actually additional DHR graphics I laid on top of the first. Of course, I did not “frame” either of the additional graphics, or the text block. You can do the same for your regular feature columns. You can even do the same if you are using KCP methods (as shown above). Just save it and use again next month. But the composite graphic is just the first part. The column name is now part of the graphic, as well as the author's name. That allows you to give a different title to each months column. Choose the most prominent subject that the author wrote about, and make that a catchy title (maybe you can’t equal the ones in Variety in the ’20s, but you can still make it “catchy”). Use a 24-point type to make it stand out. This way you will have a graphic to grab the readers’ eyes, as well as a title (catchy, of course!) to bring your readers to the column. The graphic repetition each month makes it familiar, and the titles (different each month) make it new. Your readers will look for it. Electric clubs Jam interested in learning of Electric Clubs. I located one in Pennsylvania, the “Westmoreland Electric Soaring Society”. The club newsletter is “Watts Current”, and the editor is Richie Simpson. As he says, “We carry our winch aloft with us!” If you are the Editor for ANY type of Electric Club, or know of one, please drop mea note. I will serve as a clearing house for Electric Clubs. I will send a copy of the list I develop from those letters to all who send a letter to me, so that the “Electrics” can start their own support network. Next month I will cover some readers’ response to the series, and answer some questions asked. I want to get to “busy” in a Newsletter, and effective use of your back cover. Here “busy” pays! Also, I want to take a look at some sources for graphics of airplanes, and how you can both get them, as well as use them. Take Care, Now! Lee... Write your comments and questions to: Leon H. Raesly, LCSW 6201 Greenbelt Rd. Suite M-16 College Park, MD 20740 February 1991 Washington Apple Pi Journal 19 if mare revi Advanced Software, Inc. 1095 E. Ducne Ave., Suite 100 Sunnyvale, CA 94086 DocuComp 1.5 Seely $89 Mail order by Frank Potter E DocuComp 2 DocuComp is the kind of program that not everyone will need—but if you do need it, it fits the bill very nicely indeed. {Blthough | am unable to confirm) that it will do DOS as well. ican be used ty anyone who does word processing of any size 1 inky With DocuComp, editing is simple and tracking different versions of a document is painless. Tt function is to compare two different versions of the same docu- DocuComp | ment and to identify the changes that [Blthough | am unable to confirm) that it will do DOS as well. KS have been made. The program doesn’t much care what format the document anyone who does word processing of decuments-ora was created or modified in—it will fesinsect ih DocuCanp ean is wae simple and tracking 9+ different handle MS Word, MacWrite in all of p 5 its permutations, WordPerfect, and its | ia erenne tnete ste i itdte ki ach Lat (Next Chance) creators assert (although Iam unable to Gent! Ko} Pe confirm) that it will do DOS as well. enough that you are unlikely to need Tt can be used by anyone who aide a | haves viay of Ceding the help anyway, so it all balances out in 20 does word processing of any size secuary ofa eee the end. & documents. With DocuComp, editing ‘The program itself can be con is simple and tracking different from a floppy, but is much happier versions of a document is painless. when it resides on a hard disk drive. It Theprocesindfisninplewhes, Til tuvon muy Macinmsh bathe you start it up, you are invited to select re Mca paca (and ue documents for.comparison,lewill Sevl6perhast DOS version: as well) eheroten “ify eee Tt can use color, but does not require eerie 4 eee oi it. On-screen help is available, but Nass cia etre | pales doesn’t go into a lot of detail. On the insertions, etions, rep! acements, other hand, the pro; is simple moved text, and even changes in a e block of text before or after the text is moved. The comparison is seen in two linked windows on the screen, which Document Information scroll wherever the cursor is placed. It k can also be printed as a composite Newer File Older File document, identifying with whatever DocuComp 2 Name DocuComp 1 convention you choose the changes Mac Folder Mac Calvi Disk Calvi that wereamade: Sat, Dee 15, 1990 Date gat, Dee 15, 1990 Every composite document is 3:38 PM Time 3:38 PM salved with a summary report on the eee Freel sooo compared files; you also can produce a Revision List that itemizes every Comparison File change found in the composite saved document. The location of each Replacements 5 Insertions i) change in the List is cross-referenced in Mewes 9 Deletions 2 the composite document. Lawyers will love the program—at least this lawyer does. I have been told that programmers find it useful for debugging source code, but I hasten to Washington Apple Pi Journal February 1991 Wouldnt it be great if new customers were this easy to spot? Now they can be, with Lotus® MarketPlace™ There are two versions of MarketPlace delivered It’s the first desktop on compact disc. MarketPlace: Business* has data on i product to combine over 7 million U.S. businesses and lets you select pros- is] @ quality prospect lists pects using criteria like type of business and sales reve- cd with software that helps nue. MarketPlace: Households** gives you information eee eee you quickly target the on 80 million U.S. households with selection criteria like si ey customers you want. age, estimated income and shopping habits. Basy-to-follow icons guide you Which means you'll So as you can see, MarketPlace is information step-by-step be able to develop direct you direct. And this kind of control means mail and prospecting lists right at your Macintosh®— you'll be spending time closing sales, not looking for with unlimited use of every list you create. What's more, MarketPlace helps you generate leads for sales and telemarketing groups, research and analyze your mar- kets and plan sales territories. And it’s so versatile you can use it to print mail- ing labels and contact reports, and even use its data with your favorite software programs. Introducing Lotus MarketPlace MarketPlace: Business available now, MarketPlace: Households available early 1991. © 1990 Lotus Development Corporation. All rights reserved. Lotus isa registered trademark of Lotus Development Corporation, Lotus MarketPlace and MarketPlace are trademarks of Lotus Development Corporation. Macintosh isa registered trademark of Apple Compute, Ine. "Information pravided by Trine, In. **Information provided by Equifax Marketing Decision Systems, Inc. prospects. For more information about MarketPlace or a free demo kit, call 1-800-842-8455, ask for ext. 914. After all, you've always known new customers were out there. Now, you'll know where. Lotus MaretPace ‘se In a field of unfriendly communication interfaces, enter a new face. Modems, wake up. speaking terms. And clumsy Macintosh users take heart. chains of commands are MicroPhone II 3.0 is about to reduced to effortless clicks and brighten your day. keystrokes. You communicate Using Color Icons, Superior more easily than ever before. Text Editing and Custom Whether for mail, telecon- Dialogs, MicroPhone II 3.0 lets ferencing, on-line research or you design your own — a bulletin boards, custom front ends. MicroPhone II 3.0 is Suddenly, hostile helping everyone put remotes are on ona happy face. SOFTWARE VENTURES 2907 Claremont Avenue Suite 220 Berkeley CA 94705 Tel: 415-644-3232 In Canada, call 1-800-268-1220. MicroPhone is a trademark of Software Ventures Corporation. Copyright ©1990 Software Ventures Corporation. Includes Dialoger for MicroPhone II. ‘Available at your local Businessland, Egghead, ComputerCraft, Computer Factory and Software Spectrum. Software Disk Ranger Disk Ranger is a combination disk cataloging and labeling program with secondary file management features. The Disk Ranger package (version 4.6 ) consists of an application, a desk accessory and an INIT. Disk Ranger requires a Mac 512K or better, running system 4.2 or later. The Disk Ranger application works by creating a catalogue of files/folders of any mounted volume (any floppy or hard disks you see on the desktop). Addi- tional disks can be added to the catalogue by simply inserting them into an open drive while Disk Ranger is running. Disk Ranger then quickly adds the directory of that disk to the open catalogue. It only took 45 seconds for Disk Ranger to catalogue the 3,300 files on my hard disk. ‘The catalogue has all the informa- tion about a disk you could want. At the top left of the window is informa- tion about the catalogue itself, indicating the number of volumes the catalogue contains and when the catalogue was last updated. To the right of that are the volume names, date last modified, space available, number of files, number of folders and if the disk is in HFS (hierarchical) or MEFS (flat) format. Volume informa- tion can be sorted in many different ways. Volumes can be deleted from the list or their catalogues updated. Unfortunately, it treats volumes whose desktops are maintained with Desktop Manager, rather than with the Finder, as MFS directories, and so does not include any folder informa- tion about that volume. This severely limits Disk Ranger’s usefulness for those who use Desktop Manager for their large hard disks, or any one using an AppleShare file server. by Kevin Nealon Below the volume information is the listing of the different files/folders. This includes an icon depicting the kind of file, file name, disk and folder the file appears in, modified date, type, creator, the size of the file, or for folders, how many files the folder contains. When a disk is catalogueed, a file filter can be used to keep certain file types from appearing in the catalogue. Disk Ranger does this by providing a check list of file types to filter and allows the user to add specific file types not covered in the extensive list. When a file is selected by clicking on its line, the user can obtain a directory path by pointing at the folder icon at the top of the catalogue window and holding down the mouse button to display the folder hierarchy. The files can be sorted many different ways. Disk Ranger is capable of file and disk management. Disks can be erased, formatted of verified. Disk Ranger can defragment a file or disk (oddly, called scrunching). It does this by reading a file into memory, erasing the old file and then writing the file in memory onto a contiguous area of the disk. Needless to say make sure a file is backed up before doing this. High- lighting a file in the catalogue gives you the option to encode/decode that file, delete it or rename it. There is also a file editing feature that allows manipu- lation of the ASCII or HEX code of a file a la FEdit. A part of Disk Ranger is used to set the controls of the accompanying INIT (startup document). The INIT automatically updates any disk in the catalogue when it is ejected from the drive. This important feature assures that the catalogue will always be up to date and saves the user from having to recatalogue disks. The Desk Accessory called Ranger Reader lets the user call up the Disk Ranger catalogue at any time. The purpose of Ranger Reader is to help find a file by its name, and display a directory path to that file. However, since Ranger Reader is a desk acces- sory, it can’t be used when it would be most useful—when an open file dialogue box is on screen. Nor, once found, is there a way to pass a directory path to the open file dialogue box. On the labeling side, Disk Ranger lets you print the catalogue as a single listing or as disk labels. Disk Ranger is designed to create labels for the ImageWriter though it can be used with other printers and includes specific instructions for the LaserWriter and HP DeskWriter. The volume name can be used as the disk title or the user can specify a tide. Files on the label can be arranged in two or three columns, depending on the number of file names to be listed. A border for the label can be added and a text color specified. Disk Ranger comes with 50 pin-fed labels to get you started. Avery Label #5196 is recom- mended for the LaserWriter and DeskWriter. The Manual for Disk Ranger, while not sterling, is up to the task of instructing the user in how to use this straightforward program. The manual also includes useful information about Macintosh directories. Disk Ranger retails for $59.95, although WAP members can get a special price of $35, including shipping, by mentioning the club name and special price. To order write: Graham Software Co. 8609 Ingalls Circe Arvada, CO 80003 (303) 422-0757 iC M A Cc | N u ie) s H February 1991 Washington Apple Pi Journal 23 if M A Cc | N T (@) s H MacFlow 3.1.5 re review Sometimes, you just don’t need a $5,000 CASE (“Computer-Aided Software Engineering”) tool. All you want is an inexpensive flowcharting package that gives you a quick-and- dirty graphical image of the steps you used to solve the latest crisis at work... MacDraw just doesn’t quite fit the bill - sure, the graphical images are there, but you need something that illustrates the hierarchical decision-making processes you used to solve your problem. The solution? Mainstay’s MacFlow , a package that continues to improve with each release while maintaining its incredibly easy-to-use flowcharting style. What Is MacFlow? MacFlow is basically a drawing tool that automates the process of drawing ANSI-standard flowcharts, organization charts, electronic designs, or a host of other graphical images. The user selects a symbol from the palette (Figure 1), drags it to the screen and releases the mouse. Symbols are connected by pressing the mouse button while dragging from symbol A to symbol B. Need to add a comment about a particular step in the process? Select “Shadow comment” from the “Symbols” menu, double-click on the edge of a particular symbol, and a box pops up with enough room to write a small book of comments. Need even more detail? If you choose “Shadow Zoom’ from the “Symbols” menu, double-clicking on the edge of a particular symbol will open up a “child” window describing the “parent” process in further detail (Figure 2). Want to launch another application? Choose the “Shadow Launch” option. In all three cases, MacFlow highlights the parent process by Michael Samuels to indicate that further information is hidden from the user, but readily available with the click (rather, double- dick) of the mouse: A Short Tutorial As the well-written manual says, the best way to learn MacFlow is to open up anew flowchart and get going. The interface is pure Mac: a symbol palette on the left, the typical Mac menu bar across the top, and a scrollable work area in between. Each new document opens up with a default heading, the name of the file and today’s date. You can easily tailor this by selecting what you would like to appear as the default-the file name, one or more lines of descriptive text, an icon, the date or the page number-and saving it in a “Stationary” file just like in MacDraw. Flowcharts are created by moving the mouse to a particular item in the palette and dragging the item to the work region. You can resize the selected item by moving the “grow” handles. The next time you choose this same symbol, MacFlow remembers the size and shape of your last selection and duplicates it. Figure 1. MacDraw's palette can be expanded with over 300 custom symbols - from dataflow diagramming icons to Mac programming to electronic design and industrial piping. Users can create their own symbols, too. Washington Apple Pi Journal February 1991 & File Edit Link Font Style Pen Symbols Lines Layout Color Tutorial zoom on any of the following symbols. \_\ Drawing symbols Drawing symbols Drawing lines Color Tutorial/Drawing symbols Start herr Drawing symbols With MacFlow is fast and easy |__| Simply click on @ symt palette window to tt drag it to the docume! Let go of the mouse bu symbol is placed wher Try it! A shortcut to symbol drawing To resize the symbol, cli once. You'll get a select Figure 2. MacFlow's big advantage over general graphical tools is that hierarchical decision-making processes can be represented easily. Double clicking on "Drawing Symbols" opens up a lower level diagram that describes the parent symbol in more detail. The parent is shaded to indicate that more information is available to the user - a simple, yet effective way to implement "information-hiding." After selecting a series of symbols, you may wish to move them around the screen. Simply click on the edge of a symbol and drag it. For fine tuning, click on the object and use the keyboard’s arrow keys. The selected object will snap from one invisible grid position to another with each press of the arrow key. Even finer tuning is available by shutting off the “Snap” option or turning off the grid entirely. Relationships are represented by straight lines or series of line segments; however, curved lines are not permit- ted. When lines are drawn with the “Right Angles” option on, all diagonal lines are converted to series of lines at right angles. Labeling is very simple in Mac- Flow. You merely have to select a relationship or symbol to add a label. Free-floating text can be created by typing in a selected object, and choosing the “white” fill option from the “Pen” menu. MacFlow has a number of features to assist the user in the creation of organization charts. The “Set Chart Size” option sets the overall size of your chart. Selecting “Reduce by N,”- where N =2, 4, or 8 lets you see the overall chart structure. The Link menu provides a series of interesting features that let the user control the organization of flowcharts, as well as relationships between flowcharts. For example, the “Extract” command copies selected objects into a separate MacFlow file - including all hidden information for those objects (i.e., lower level diagrams and com- ments). Even better, the “Launch” command lets you attach a particular document that runs under another application to any symbol. Thus, a 20- page Microsoft Word description of a particular section of your flowchart can be automatically accessed by double- clicking on a symbol linked to Word. fa February 1991 Washington Apple Pi Journal M A Cc l N u O Ss H fa € che colt EAU eatette TMWOAZ-OFPE 26 ‘Symbol Librarian TOP LEFT RIGHT 080102030405 06 Oe BOTTOM 000102030405 06@x ©00010203040506@x Value: Gen) Value: 4 Figure 3. Symbol Librarian lets the user create his or her own symbols. Graphical images can be pasted into the Librarian from other packages, such as MacDraw or MacPaint. The user defines the number of links that may be attached to each object, characteristics of the text associated with the symbol, and other features. Related symbols may be grouped together into a file that can be imported into a MacFlow diagram or added to the existing set of symbols. Graphics MacFlow graphics use PICT2 format, permitting cutting and pasting to and from word processors, desktop publishing programs, and other graphics packages. MacFlow can import graphics into a special object called a “picture box.” Links can be drawn to and from these objects, but no text can be added to the imported box. According to the documentation. the “Color” menu is present whenever MacFlow runs on a Mac II or properly configured SE. Since this review was conducted on a Plus, these features could not be tested. The Color menu allows the user to change the back- ground color for the palette, as well as various features of each window. Default colors can be set for symbols, lines, and labels. Finally, MacFlow provides a “Modify Color Table” option to set up a table restricted to the colors of a particular corporation or to match your current mood. Symbol Librarian MacFlow is packaged with a set of ANSI standard symbols - not some- thing that would attract the user of a CASE product. However, MacFlow comes with a “Symbol Librarian” that lets the user create graphics in MacDraw or some other package and create an object library of needed symbols (Figure 3). Symbols can be added to the default set or stored in separate files to be imported into MacFlow as needed. Such symbols can really jazz up your presentation., but the capabilities are limited compared to a true CASE flowcharting tool. Additional Tools MacFlow is distributed by Mainstay, known for other flowchart- ing tools, such as MacSchedule and V.LP. (“Visual Interactive Program- ming”). Synergistic Applications, Inc., one of Apple’s first Certified Develop- ers, has created a host of utilities especially designed to work with MacFlow. The MacFlow/M ORE IT Translator \ets you move outlines and flowcharts back and forth between these two applications. wMacFlow reads and displays MacFlow diagrams and lets the developer create clickable charts that can be read by anyone - even if they don’t own MacFlow. Finally, there is the MacFlow Symbol Sampler - a collection of over 300 symbols that let you create entity- relationship diagrams, more complete ANSI flowcharts, dataflow diagrams, logic diagrams, and other charts. The Bad News About the only bad news I could come up with is the price. Mainstay started shipping Version 3.5 in early November with a list price is $295.00. This seems a little high to me fora “quick-and-dirty” flowcharting tool. However, mail-order prices are in the low $120s, making this a good buy for those of us who need to create a lot of flowcharts and don’t have a few thousand to spend on one of the Mac CASE tools. & MacFlow 3.5 (latest release) $295.00 Mainstay 5311-B Derry Avenue Agoura Hills, CA 91301 (818) 991-6540 MacFlow Symbol Sampler $79.00 MacFlow 99.00 MacFlow/MORE translator 59.00 All Three! 179.00 Synergistic Applications, Inc. 127 Newport Drive Oak Ridge, TN 37830 (615) 482-6049 Washington Apple Pi Journal February 1991 Hardware review Inexpensive PostScript Printers Well, maybe less expensive PostScript printers. Thad been toying with the idea of purchasing a PostScript laser printer for almost a year. When the latest round of price drops on the “low end” models occurred right before Christ- mas, the temptation was too much too bear. (It also didn’t hurt that my much better half (Saint Suzanne) had acquired a new Mac IIsi. “Gee, dear, don’t you thinK we need a laser printer?”) But which printer to buy? Both the Texas Instruments PS 35 and the NEC SilentWriter 2, Model 90 were available for under $1,600. The general specs for both were close enough to make the decision difficult: Th 6 Pages Per Minute 35 PostScript Fonts 1.5 Megs of RAM (upgradeable to 4.5) AppleTalk Included NEC 6 Pages Per Minute 35 PostScript Fonts 2 Megs of RAM (upgradeable to 4) AppleTalk Included Hmm, nothing's easy, is it? The TI has a smaller footprint and indludes an integrated output tray for “straight through” jobs. The NEC is larger, and the extra output tray is an extra-cost option. Neither of these differences was important to me. The important issues for me were print quality and speed. I decided to do a comprehensive test of the two printers because: by Lou Pastura 1) It would make a good article for the Journal {ED.—Sure, Lou]; and 2) It would enable me to make a more informed (and therefore, hopefully, better) purchase decision. I went to the Computer Age store in Annandale, whose manager, Rich Berman, is a long-suffering friend and a big supporter of the Pi. In fact he passes out membership forms to anyone who'll stand still long enough to take one. When I told him what I wanted to do, he quickly agreed and offered to stay after closing a few days later so that I could run the tests undisturbed. with no interference on their AppleTalk network. Had he known I was going to make him stay for 2 hours he might not have agreed My next task was to set up some files that would really put these printers through their paces. I imposed on our ever-helpful Graphics Editor, Nancy Seferian, to provide me a long file made up entirely of graphics. She responded with a 5-pager that included some very heavy blacks, a gray-to-black gradation, some extremely fine details and some fill patterns that really demonstrated what these printers could do. Our ever-irascible Managing Editor, Frank Potter, donated a 4-page file of mixed text and graphics. An 11- page Excel spreadsheet and a 7-page Microsoft Word file rounded out the speed and graphics quality test items. To test text quality, I used The Type Book, by Jim Lewis, a freeware utility that prints a full page using any chosen font or group of fonts. The program prints a test page for each font that includes all the standard keyboard characters in 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 12, 14, 18 and 48 points. It also includes 10- point text samples with 10, 12 and 14 points of leading and relevant statistics about the font for a variety of type sizes (6,7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 18, 20, 24 and 36 points). (A brief aside: The Type Book isa terrific program and a must for anyone who uses a large number of fonts. It is Ta so readily. He'll know better next time, lable on most bulletin boards, Tsuspect. Time to Print First Page: Graphics Graphics and text Spreadsheet Text NT 133 114 98 91 NEC 115 89 92 83 TI 101 120 98 87 Time to Print Complete File: Graphics Graphics and text Spreadsheet Text NT 628 218 231 199 NEC 583 176 210 171 TI 873 230 199 203 February 1991 Washington Apple Pi Journal ZnNOASZ-OFPS 27 iC TMWOAZ-OPS including our own TCS and the Twilight Clone, and is ako available from the WAP Disk Library. There is such a thing as an occasional free lunch, Virginia] Back to business. The tests were conducted using a Mac IIci connected to all three printers via an AppleTalk network. There were no other jobs running on the network and no job was started until the previous job was completely finished. The time measurements were made using a stopwatch, and were begun when the “OK” button in the Print dialogue box was pressed and ended when the first page hit the output tray and the last page did the same. The following charts illustrate the results of the print speed tests. The Apple Laser Writer NT was included for comparison purposes. The NEC edged out the competi- tion in 6 of the 8 tests. The TI was fastest twice. The total times to print all files were 19 minutes on the NEC, 21 minutes, 16 seconds on the NT and 25 minutes, 5 secon!ds on the TI. (The TI took an extremely long time to print the all graphics file. It took so long, in fact, that I reran the test to be sure the results were accurate. The result of the second test was the same.) The total times to print the first page of all 4 files (a useful number for those of you who mostly print short files) were 6 minutes, 19 seconds on the NEC, 6 minutes, 46 seconds on the TI and 7 minutes, 16 seconds on the NT. The print quality of the fonts turned out to be a non-issue. In a blind test I was unable to distinguish between the text output of the three printers. However, I urge anyone considering the purchase of one of these printers to make your own comparisons. As Frank [4.h.2., the Editor will be happy to tell you, I’m no font expert and my eye leaves a lot to be desired. [Ea.—He will tell you that Charlie Geer is a first-rate profes- sional photographer and that his eye reflects his abilities.) The differences in the graphics printing, however, were evident even to my tired old eyes. The NEC had obviously darker and more consistent blacks, with the TI a close second and the NT laboring in third. The screens seemed best (by a very small margin) on the NT, with the NEC and the TI closely tied for second. All 3 printers were identical in their ability to show fine details (within the limits of 300 DPI resolution, of course). Again, I urge those considering the purchase of one of these printers to perform their own tests and make their own judgments and decision. ‘The bottom line for me? I chose the NEC. The speed advantage, while small, was significant enough to get my attention. I also liked the darker, more consistent blacks. Happy shopping! You've put so much into creating your images, why not get the most out of them? High resolution 35mm slides, Prints or Vu-graphs From your disk or via modem 24-bit color Work with the local experts. Over 16 million colors We'll work with you. NO ADDITIONAL SOFTWARE NECESSARY! 3 free slides with first order of 10 or more slides We support both PICT & PostScript including ATM! Capital yj Presentations CaaS S| —— VISA Phone: 301/588-9540 = Modem: 301/588-0668 10 Post Office Rd., Silver Spring, Md. 20910 28 Washington Apple Pi Journal February 1991 fa The Word Express, Inc. ---the last word in economic, rapid and high quality Typesetting and Photo Imagesetting (703) 742-9195 >< STOP WASTING time and $$ sq et the MOST from your Macintosh = ———. ais hl ‘the need fot tsing YPLAINING SAE enealogy * calls for help * disk drives * computer phobia(s) MACINTOSH ° applications ¢ down-time * telecommunications * waiting for others A fact filled, all-in-one f° peripherals * incorrect purchases reference book that is easy to read. } * computer accessories ¢ and much more... Expand Your Mac Knowledge in HOURS, not WEEKS! Available at WAP Office or MacSource or Only $21.95 Order direct from MR, WAP members get 20% discount - Add $3.00 s/h MULTISOFT RESOURCES MD res. add 5% tax P.O. Box 235 _Washington Grove, MD_20880_(301)-977-6972 ISBN 0-9624552-0-2 February 1991 Washington Apple Pi Journal 29 What's new. Notes on the Mac New Printers From Apple Apple is preparing two new low- cost QuickDraw printers that are expected to be announced by mid- 1991. The first, a 360 dot per inch (DPI) inkjet printer, will sell for less than $600. This printer uses a Canon print engine, weighs 4 pounds, offers an 8 inch print width, and will handle several print sizes including letter, legal, envelopes and transparencies. The second, a 300 DPI personal Laser- Writer that will sell for between $1,300 and $1,500. The personal Laser Writer will replace the current $1,999 Laser Writer SC at the low end of Apple’s Laser Writer line, and will use the same Canon print engine. It will come with 1 MB RAM, SCSI interface, a 250—sheet paper tray and a tray for envelopes and other non— standard sheet sizes. Both of these new printers will come with a TrueType INIT, and 13 TrueType fonts (the Times, Helvetica, Courier and Symbol families). The TrueType fonts have several advantages over bit-mapped fonts, in that they take less memory, can be printed in any size and are capable of special effects such as scaling, rotating and adding shadows. TrueType fonts for the current Laser Writer line will not be available until Apple releases System 7.0. The new TrueType INIT is said to be compatible with Adobe Type Man- ager—i.e., these new printers will be able to print Type 1 PostScript fonts. TCS News The TCS news this month is that Pi member Henry Halff has written “TCS Offline,” a HyperCard stack that allows users to save, read, reply to or enter new messages using the by Paul Schlosser HyperCard text editor. The stack requires that you have either MicroPhone II (v3.0) or White Knight (v11.nn). TCS Offline will create the necessary scripts in your telecomm program. The user can simply click on the appropriate button in the stack to get new messages, read these messages, and reply if desired. The stack also groups messages by subject, making it easy to follow a message thread (a specific subject). Henry has also developed an offline reader for use with The Twilight Clone, another popular bulletin board service (BBS) in the Washington metro area. Using Henry’s new stack will make it very easy to learn your way around a new BBS, until you are familiar with the specific commands necessary to read and post messages. A New Weekly Macintosh Radio Show Coming Anew weekly syndicated talk radio show will focus on the Macin- tosh, and is scheduled to debut in March 1991. The host, Don Rittner (CEO of the Macintosh User Group News Service), said that the great diversity of uses that exist in the Macintosh world will be the focal point of the show. “The Macintosh is used by everyone from artists to zoologists. We will not only focus on technical matters but will deal with the interesting issues that revolve around computing.” The show’s format will include one half hour of discussion with guests, during which listeners may call in questions. The remaining half hour will include features, contests and news. New Mac Portable Available Soon There have been several rumors that Apple will announce a new, slimmed-down version of the Mac Portable at the MacWorld Expo, in San Francisco on Jan 10, 1991. The new Portable will weigh 10 pounds (compared to 14 for the first model), and cost $1,500 less than the original it replaces. [Ed.—it didn’t make it, reportedly because of problems in obtaining necessary parts.| These rumors also mention a “notebook” Mac that may be released in August ‘91, and a hand-held model for 1992. New Products Announced CE Software (QuicKeys and DiskTop) is working on a new product, Tiles, to simplify the launch- ing of sets of files. Users will be able to connect sets of documents to a single icon, and open all of them by clicking on just that one icon. Tiles will also work from within the Mac’s standard Open File dialog. The program requires MultiFinder, wo MB RAM and a hard disk. Available mid-91, retail price to be $99. Spark International has an- nounced the introduction of the Spark Cordless Trackball and the Spark Cordless Mouse. Both products transmit to the computer via infra-red technology; the receiver is plugged into the Mac's ADB port (keyboard or CPU). The trackball or mouse may be located as far as 15 feet from the computer. Both are available in Mac, PC, Amiga and Atari ST versions. The trackball sells for $185, the mouse $175. New products are being an- nounced for the Classic. Computer Care, Inc. has announced the Mac Stretch line of products to expand the capability of the Classic. The “Stretch” provides memory expansion capabili- ties, has 1 MB of RAM, and can be expanded up to 4 MB, and has a socket for other expansion modules. Mac Stretch Video allows users to connect any standard monochrome, single page large format monitor to the Classic, in addition to the built-in Washington Apple Pi Journal February 1991 monitor. Mac Stretch RAM Disk will allow users to add a RAM disk, in 1, 2, 4, 8, 10 or 16 meg formats. Mac Stretch Ethernet enables the Classic to be hooked up to Ethernet networks. Mirror Technology has announced a new internal video board for the Classic that allows the use of the PixelView single or dual page mono- chrome monitor. The internal video board is connected directly to the 68000 processor on the Classic motherboard. Do You Use Prodigy? Prodigy, the joint venture of IBM and Sears, has agreed to refund four months of connect fees to Texas subscribers who want to cancel the service. The Texas attorney general’s office determined that Prodigy had been guilty of misleading customers about costs and services. The main thrust of Prodigy’s advertising had initially been a flat rate subscription charge, which changed when they began charging users that sent more than 30 e-mail messages a month. New Disinfectant Released Disinfectant version 2.4 was released in early December. This new version can detect the new B strain of the ZUC virus recently discovered. Version 2.4 will also check to see of the Disinfectant Prefs file is damaged when launched. If a damages Prefs file is found, Disinfectant will create a new file using the default values. A bug was fixed that sometimes prevented a Disinfectant error report from being saved properly. Also new is the ability to double-click on a disk name in the “Some Disks” dialog to begin scanning selected disks. More 6.0.7 Problems Inline software has a new version of “Darwin's Dilemma” for users that have upgraded to System 6.0.7. Version 1.0 of DD will crash under 6.0.7 if the sound is turned on. If you're using 6.0.7, get version 1.01 of DD; until then you can continue playing by turning off the sound option. New Files on the TCS The following files were uploaded to the Macintosh File Transfer areas on the TCS during the last thirty days. This listing represents only a small portion of the files available for downloading. Call the Pi Office at 301-654-8060 for information on igning on to the TCS, File area 13 - Mac Fonts 043 JUDAS.SIT Type 1 Laserfont. ATM compatible 042 AUTHOR SIT Heavy copperplate Laser | script 041 ARCH MED. ‘SIT Like Adobe's Tekton 040 BATCH.BINARY.CP Batch Binary— Binhex batches 039 TYPE.BOOK.CPT The Type Book, version 1.27 File area 14 - Mac Games ioe LEPRECHA.CPT Loderunner-like lemo. 101 IRAQATTA.CPT Iraq Attack, the game: 16 colors. ‘00 WACKYWHEEL. .CPT Wacky Wheel of Fortune Game. 099 DROPPER.CPT Tetris-like game. Color only. 098 PARARENA, CPT Futuristic basket- ball/skateboard. Fun! 097 BUGS.CPT Evolution simulator 096 MICROBE.CPT Interesting microbe simulator 095 ELIZA.CPT Ps) chiatrist program File area 15 - Mac Graph Hee eet CPT Scan vy Soviet MiG-21 fight 08s YRIDPIX10.CPT Kid Pix - Kids paint program. 082 NFL.LOGO.CPT National Football League logo File area 16 - Mac HyperCard 103 HCBUGLIS.SEA Extensive list of rCard bugs HCHBUPDATE.WORD HC 2.0 Handbook update File area 17 - Mac Technotes 023 TECH.| NG IES: TXT Tech Tidbits, 11/ 021 MAC.HINTS.CPT Collection of 5 years of Mac hints File area 18 - Mac Utilities 244 TCS.OFFLINE.1.0 Read, write, reply to TCS msgs offline. 243 SOUNDMOV.CPT ic18s for SoundMover 242 GALAXIC1.CPT ic18s for Galax 241 FOXBASEI.CPT ic18s for FoxBase 240 FORMIT16. Sir Forms creator for Forms, certificate: 239 CITYBANK.: SIT SimCity utility 238 GIF.CONV.CPT GiFConverter, v2.2d3, see browse 237 FLASH.IT.CPT Screen capture CDEV, version 2.0.3 236 THC402.CPT Think C updater. Update v4.0 -> 4.0.2 |.LL.BE.BACK Sound from the Terminator 234 HACKERTE.CPT Funny test of your computer knowledge 232 CINTRO.SIT Good examples of THINK C programs EAs FILELIST. CPT This application lists file: 230 INSIDE.MAC On-line programming reference 229 CPTUSGU.MSWD. Compactor documentation in MS Word form 228 MUG.SHOT.SIT Display system information 227 BOOTMAN.SIT Write operating system boot blocks 226 VITAL.SIGNS.CPT DA to display system information 225 COMMANDER.CPT Assign/change command key settings 224 DARKSIDE.CPT Very nice screen saver w/modules 223 rec cmemuny SIT System speed benchmark am, 222 TEEN AL CPT Freeware communi- cations program 221 SO! IN MASTER.CPT Version 1.6.4 of SoundMaster 220 DISINFECT24.CPT Disinfectant 2.4 catches Zuc B virus. 219 CRITTERS.CPT Eyeballs and Big Foot INITS. FUN! 218 CHECKLIST.CPT Gets info on PageMaker 4 files 217 WINDOWSHADE.CPT WindowShade 1.1 shrinks windows up! 15/90, from 022 Baste IPT. INFO How to redirect PostScript output Scannini Slide Output Graphics EPSF! Hi-Res (4K) PICT, TIFF Design Production 1100 6th Street, SW - #215 Washington, DC 20024 (202) 479-1005 ify February 1991 Washington Apple Pi Journal M A Cc I N T oO S) H 31 if SPSS 4.0 Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS) for the Mac descends from a long and venerable line of SPSS products for computers, in the past exclusively for mainframes. Finally, for those of us wedded to the Mac and also in need of doing some compli- cated statistical analysis, almost nothing does as much as SPSS for the Mac (for other reviews of SPSS, see MacWorld October 1990, “The Stats of the Mac,” and Reviews, “SPSS for the Macintosh 4.0”). There is a price to pay for this kind of power: * you must use a Mac II or an accelerated Mac with a math co-processor installed (it works using a Total Systems accelerator on a Mact, probably others), * you need about 1.5 Megs of disk space to store the execut- able program (count on about 9 Megs of space for all the goodies and a couple of small data files), * you need to know what you're doing, statistically speaking * SPSS for the Mac version 4 is expensive, compared to the PC version. Of course, you wouldn’t want to run any statistical analysis program without a co-processor, disk space is hardly an issue any more and we all know our statistics anyway, right? If you've already spent the $800 or so on this program, let’s hope so. For those of use who have had some experience with SPSS on a mainframe, SPSS for the Mac is a case of deja vu, Using SPSS on the Mac is just like using it on a mainframe, except the turnaround time is much faster. Installation of SPSS involves using an installer utility and a package of about 8 diskettes (depending on by Brad Tesh how many modules you've purchased). When you start SPSS, you are shown two windows: an input window and an output window (both with the familiar “Untitled” flag at the top). The input window is for writing commands; the output window catches the results of those commands and tells you if SPSS didn’t understand your commands. Entering commands—One very nice feature of SPSS for the Macis the Command Generator window, a help- like window that gives explanations and examples of how commands are formatted. You can paste from the Command Generator window to your active input window to achieve flawless typing of the SPSS commands. If your cursor is on a valid SPSS command in your input window and you call up the Command Generator window, you immediately jump to that part of the Command Generator hierarchy. If your cursor is not in or near a com- mand, you are put at the first screen of the Command Generator window, with the general headings of ‘orienta- tion,’ ‘information & settings,’ ‘data definition,” ‘file interfaces,’ ‘modify data or files,’ ‘analyze data,’ ‘time series analysis,’ and ‘FINISH.’ Once you put the commands into the input window, you can edit them, just like in any Macintosh application. Executing commands—To execute an SPSS command, you must highlight the commands you want to execute (the most common selection is Select all...) which was a source of initial confusion. While executing SPSS commands, SPSS gives you a running commentary (in a small dialog box) of which command it is currently processing, plus a small line that runs through your input window showing is SPSS exactly where you are in your com- mand file. SPSS does an admirable job of telling you exactly where errors occur, but the command syntax is hardly forgiving (for instance, if you leave out a period at the end of a command, it will tell you that it has ignored this command because it didn’t understand it). This does work to your advantage when