Mini'app'les Newsletter — January 2000

@ AppleWorks /ClarisWorks SIG Washbum Library; 5244 Lyndale Ave S. Mpls John Hunkins, Jr., 651-457-8949 Telecommunications SIG Epiphany Lutheran Church 1414 East 48th Street S, Mpls Bert Persson, 612-861-9578 Board of Directors mini'app'les members welcome. Byerly's 7171 France Ave. S., Edina Lisa Huston, 612-825-1245 Apple IVGS Main SIG Augsburg Park Library 7100 Nicollet,Richfield Tom Gates,612-789-6981 Microsoft Word SIG 2850 Metro Drive Rm 124, Bloomi Tom Ostertag, D 612-951-5520 E 651-488-9979 Macintosh Main Washburn Library; 5244 Lyndale Ave S. Mpls, Denis Diekhoff, 612-920-2437 Fourth Dimension SIG 8200 Humbolt Ave South 2nd Fir. Conference Rm. Bloomington David Ringsmuth, 612-853-3024 Apple Il Novice SIG New Brighton Family Ctr 400 10th St N.W.,New Brighton Tom Gates, 612-789-6981 Photoshop-Digital Imaging Prism Studios 2505 Kennedy StN.E., Mpls. Gary Eckhardt, 612-944-5446 Macintosh Consuttants SIG Embers 7525 Wayzata Blvd St. Louis Park Bob Demeules, 612-559-1124 Quicken/Investment SIG 2850 Metro Drive, Rm 124 Bloomington Dale Strand, 612-835-5872 Macintosh Novice SIG Merriam Park Library Marshall & Fairview, St Paul Richard Becker, 612-870-0659 Meet Your iMac / Mac SIG Merriam Park Library Marshall & Fairview, St Paul Brian Bantz, 612-956-9814 Macintosh / Programming SIG Washbum Library 5244 Lyndale Avenue S, Mpls Andre Benassi, 612-502-0187 FileMaker Pro SIG Partners, Suite 5 1410 Energy Park Drive, St Paul Steve Wilmes, 651-458- 1513 Vice President Secretary Treasurer Marketing Director Publications Director SIG Director Past President Membership Mac Software Apple I Board of Directors: President Lisa Huston 612-825-1245 macgal84@aol.com Denis Diekhoff 612-920-2437 Mark Watzke 612-945-9039 MWatzke@mm.com Don Walz 651-426-5602 John Pruski 612-938-2818 johnpruski@aol.com Bert Persson 612-861-9578 bpersson@isd.net Bruce Thompson 612-546-1088 bthompson@macconnect.com Erik Knopp Bryan Lienke Owen Aaland miniapples The Minnesota Apple Computer Users’ Group, Inc. P.O. Box 796, Hopkins, MN 55343 Introduction — This is the Newsletter of mini“app‘les, the Minnesota Apple Computer Users’ Group, Inc., a Minnesota non-profit club. The whole newsletter is copyrighted © by mini‘app’les. Articles may be repro- duced in other non-profit User Groups’ publications except where specifically copyrighted by the author. (Permission to reproduce these articles must be given by the author.) Please include the source when reprinting. Questions — Please direct questions to an appropriate board member. Users with technical questions should refer to the Members Helping Members section. Dealers — mini ‘app‘les does not endorse specific dealers. The club promotes distribution of information which may help members identify best buys and ser- vice. The club itself does not participate in bulk pur- chases of media, software, hardware and publications. Members may organize such activities on behalf of other members. Advertisers — For information, see Newsletter Ad Rates box within this issue. Newsletter Contributions — Please send contributions directly to our Post Office, Box 796, Hopkins, MN 55343 or upload them to our BBS at 612-595-9404. Deadline for material for the next newsletter is the 1st of the month. An article will be printed when space permits and, if in the opinion of the Newsletter Editor or Manager, it constitutes material suitable for publication. Editor/Publisher: Tom Ostertag 651-488-9979 Newsletter Layout: John Pruski 612-938-2818 mini‘app ‘les BBS — 612-595-9404, (co-located on Twin City Interlink BBS), 24 hrs. Settings: 8-1-0.Call in with FirstClass® Client software or any text-based terminal program. mini‘app‘les Voice Mail — 651-229-6952 mini‘app‘les WWW site: http://www.miniapples.org mini‘app ‘les e-mail: miniapples_info@tcilink.com The miniapp’les Newsletter is an independent publication not affiliated, sponsored, or sanctioned by Apple Computer, Inc. or any other computer manufacturer. The opinions, statements, positions, and views herein are those of the author(s) or editor and are not intended to represent the opinions, statements, positions, or views of Apple Computer Inc., or any other computer manufacturer. Instead of placing a trademark symbol at every occurrence of a trade-marked name, we state that we are using the names only in an editorial manner, to the benefit of the trademark owner, with no intention of infringement of the trademark. mini’app’les Newsletter 2 January, 2000 =>, AD D R ESS Table of Contents Moving? Going to be away February 2000 Pievi 3 from home and leaving a for- Members Helping Member: 4 warding address with the Post Gane ee ead ova Software Credits and Easter Eggs Verboten. 5 Change of Address when you Motorola Hard at Work on G5 Chip. are informing others. By using a moment of your time and a few cents to drop us a card, you save the club some money and you get your newsletter delivered promptly to your new address. If you don’t inform us, the Post Office puts your newsletter in the trash (they don’t forward third class mail) and charges the club for informing us of your new address. Change of Address should be sent to the club’s mailing address: mini’app’les, Attn: Membership Director, Box 796, Hopkins, MN 55343. FOR RENT: BRILLIANT PRESENTATIONS Mini’app’les Gaming Group (MGG) Wants You.. Review: All the Best Mac Games 2000........ PhotoShop-Digital Imaging SIG... Ongoing Deals for Mini’app'les Railroad Tycoon 2 Gold Edition, QuickTime News iSub for the iMac. Upcoming Events at MacWorld Membership Application... January PhotoShop SIG February PhotoShop SIG Mini’app'les Annual Auction. ....... February 2000 Preview Here is the tentative calendar of our Special Interest Group (SIG) meetings for January 2000. Please pencil these events on your calendar. As always, when doubtful of a SIG date, time, or location, confirm with one of the following: © Our BBS, the Calendar Folder in the Conferences Folder * Our Voice Mail Telephone number: 651-229-6952 ¢ The cognizant SIG Leader Wednesday _—‘ February 2 AppleWorks nee ClarisWorks SIG Thursday February 3 Telecom SIG Monday February 7 Board of Directors meeting Wednesday =‘ February 9 Microsoft Word SIG Thursday February 10 MacintoshMain SIG Monday February 14 Apple II/GS Main SIG Tuesday February 15 Apple II Novice SIG Wednesday —_‘ February 16 PhotoShop / Digital Imaging SIG Thursday February 17 Macintosh Consultants Thursday February 17 Quicken / Investing SIG Monday February 21 Fourth Dimension SIG Wednesday _—‘ February 23 ResEdit / Programming SIG Thursday February 24 FileMaker Pro SIG Monday February 28 Meet Your iMac SIG Monday February 28 Macintosh Novice SIG = = — es mini’app’les Newsletter 3 January, 2000 Members Helping Members Need Help? Have a question the manual doesn’t answer? Members Helping Members is a group of volunteers who have generously agreed to help. They are just a phone (or an e-mail) away. Please call only during the appropri- late times, if you are a member, and own the software in question. | Please call at reasonable hours, and ask if it is a convenient time for them. By the way, many of these volunteers ican also be contacted on our BBS. We appreciate your cooperation. Apple II / IGS Software & Hardware 1, 5,8 1. Les Anderson 651-735-3953 DEW ClarisDraw 2 2. Mike Carlson 218-387-2257 D AppleWorks / ClarisWorks 7, 8,9 3. Eric Jacobson 651-645-6264 D FileMaker Pro 4. Nick Ludwig 612-593-7410 DEW FirstClass 5. Tom Ostertag 651-488-9979 EW HyperCard 11 6. Ardie Predweshny 612-823-6713 DEW MacWitte Pro 7, Owen Strand 612-427-2868 D Microsoft Excel 2,5,6 8. Bruce Thompson 612-546-1088 EW Microsoft Word 5 9. Pam Lienke 651-457-6026 EW MYOB 6 10. Tom Lufkin 651-698-6523 EW ]] PhotoShop 3,14 11. Ben Stallings 612-870-4584 DEW Quicken 6 12. Chuck Hauge 651-292-9029 D || QutckBooks and QuickBooks Pro 6 13. Rodney O. Lain 651-452-5821 EW Mac OS 7 8 14, Gary Eckhardt 612-944-5446 EW Mac OS 8 12 WordPerfect 4 D: Days, generally 9 a.m. to S p.m. Cross-Platform File Transfer 5 E: Evenings, generally 5 p.m. to 9 p.m. Networks 11 W: Weekends, generally 1 p.m. to 9 p.m. New Users 10,11 PowerBooks 11 Classic Macs 11 Power PC 601 Power Macs iMacs 13 at Width i" . Mall inquiries to: PO Box 796, Hopkins, MN, 55343 Full page « . . 7-1/2" Width x 10" Height (save 15%).. $60" Prone inquiries to: John Pruski, 612-938-2818 If you would like to be a Members Helping Member volunteer, please send an e-mail message to John Pruski on | lour BBS, or call him at 612-938-2818, with your name, telephone number, contact hours, and the software or hard- ware areas you are willing to help others. Newsletter Ad Rates 1/12 page ....... 2.25" Width x 2.5" Helght........ $5 Outside back cover . 7-1/2" Width x 7-1/2" Height .. $50 1/6 page.......... 2.5" Width x 5" Height........ $10 Inside back cover .... 7-1/2" Width x 10" Height ... $60 1/3 page. .. . 2.5" Width x 10" Height Vert or 5.5 H. . $20 All ads must be prepaid and submitted on 1/2 page...... 7.5" Width x 5" Height (save 5%)....$30 electronic media. Ads of $20 and under must run for 2/3 page...... 5" Width x 10" Height (save 7%)... . $40 a minimum of three months. mini’app’les Newsletter 4 January, 2000 ey = Software Credits and Easter Eggs Verboten By Apple News Editor John H. Farr @ applelinks.com Submitted by Bryan Lienke Is the spirit being drained from Apple's software engineering teams as industry researcher Richard Doherty claims in this San Jose Mercury arti- cle? He's talking about the latest Steve Jobs decision to strengthen the Apple brand, the banning of credits and "Easter eggs" from future Apple soft- ware releases. Old-timers will remember that the earliest Macs had the names of the design team members etched into the casing. The subsequent listing of credits in the software itself, a practice never followed by companies like Microsoft, was always a source of ptide to the people involved, but this will be no more. Observers speculate that these individualistic touches are being removed both to present a more homogeneous corporate face to the world and to make it harder for other companies to contact and hire away hard-to-find software engineers. Motorola Hard At Work On Merced-Toaster G5 Chip By Applelinks Contributing Editor Charles W. Moore Submitted by Bryan Lienke While most Macintosh users are still anticipating an eventual upgrade to G4 power, Motorola is already hard at work developing its next genera- tion CPU — the PowerPC 7500 or GS, which should be ready for consumer release within the next 24 months. GS is intended to regain the PowerPC's performance superiority over Intel's upcoming 64-bit Merced processor, which is expected to debut sometime in 2000. A 64-bit processor can handle instructions and blocks of data of twice the size that today's 32-bit processors can manage. However, Merced will also incorporate 32-bit code emulation in order to work with legacy applications. However, the 64-bit version of the GS will reportedly be capable of running 32-bit applications in full native mode, eliminating the com- plexity and slowdowns involved with emulation, and allowing legacy appli- cations to take full advantage of the G5's speed, and requiring few if any alterations to application code. Initial versions of the GS will have clock speeds in the 2-GHz neigh- borhood, and be small enough for practical use in desktop computers which should handily toast Merced, which is expected to be expensive, monstrous, (about the size of a ciga- rette-pack), and very hot-running. However, Motorola expects to continue manufacturing the current PowerPC 750 (G3) and 7400 (G4) processors even after it introduces the 7500 (GS) and, yes -- 7600 (G6) chips. The current G4 is expected to eventu- ally achieve clock speeds of at least 1 GHz. Recently, macprovider.com has published two informative articles on G5 development, noting that the GS Mini'app'les Gaming Group (MGG) Wants You! Submitted by David M. Peck Intrepid mini'app'les warrlors are meeting on a regular basis for fun and socializing. Our interest is network- able Mac games and are always on the lookout for others who would like to participate. Finishing a game solo might make you feel like King of the Hill. But there is nothing as challeng- ing or fun as human competition. a perfect time for gaming! :-) The MGG meets about once a month. If your interested in networkable Mac gaming, feel free to drop a note on the mini'app'les BBS or give me a call at (651)423-5711. We'd look forward to seeing you! may be introduced as early as 2001, but more likely in 2002. According to MacProvider's sources, sources the GS will also incorporate a new data pipeline, and an entirely new bus structure. as well as being offered in a 32-bit version as well as the aforementioned 64-bit version. Meanwhile, says MacProvider, the G4 will be transitioned from its cur- rent copper- fabrication process to a silicon-on-insulator technology, which could enhance processor speeds by 35% or more while simulta- neously reducing power consumption by up to 60%, lowering heat produc- tion commensurately. As for the other PowerPC devel- oper, IBM, MacProvider says that they hope to take the G3 to at least 750 MHz. To read the macprovider GS chip reports, visit: http://macprovider.com/ 591 N. Hamline Ave. 651/646-4326 ‘Tuesday-Friday Sam - 5:30pm Saturday 9am - Noon ‘Closed Monday & Lunch (1-2pm) Following over 75 years of tradition in the Plus, Winter around here seems to be Midway area — ——— —_ — —_ - —_ ——— mini’app’les Newsletter 5 January, 2000 Review: All the Best MacGames 2000 By: Kirk Hiner Submitted by Bryan Lienke Genre: Freeware/Shareware Collection Format: 2 CDs Developer: Various Publisher: Lazerworks General Requirements: CD-ROM, color monitor Network Feature: No 3Dfx Support: No Retail Price: $20.00 Availability: Out Now My roommate my freshman year of college was Canadian. Actually, he was only my roommate for the last two quarters. After my first roommate moved out to live with a guy who didn't mind him juggling flaming ten- nis balls at four in the morning, I got Steve. He came from the room of my friends Willy and Scott, who agreed to give me a case of Barq's Root beer if Td get the guy out of their room. But Steve isn't the only associa- tion I have with our brothers up north. I own two Men Without Hats CDs, I firmly believe that-next to. Monty Python--The Kids in the Hall are the best comedy troupe of all time, and I saw Alanis Morisette in concert last year. But I'll tell you what; those don't hold a candle to the volume of entertainment I now have courtesy of Canada. I'm in possession of 750 Mac games thanks to All the Best MacGames 2000. Okay, so chances are that not all 750 games were made by Canadians. For all I know, none of them were. But the two CD collection was com- piled by a company called Lazerworks, hailing from Regina, Saskatchewan. Lazerworks is comprised of the family Whelan: three girls, a boy, and mom and dad. And what do you get from such a family? Family oriented games, of course. The premise is simple. Between the two CDs, you get 750 shareware/freeware games. The free- ware titles are yours to keep, of course, but the shareware games still must be registered and paid for. In mini’app’les Newsletter this manner, MacGames 2000 serves more as a convenience than anything else. If you're the type who spends hours searching for and downloading games, then this CD is a welcome blessing. However, that also makes it a curse. Having access to this many shareware games means you'll either be paying a lot more money to share- ware authors, or ripping them off more...depending on whether or not you're evil. At this point, let me make one thing clear; 750 is an awful lot of games. I mean, if you want some masking tape, and instead of going out and buying one roll you come home with 750, that’s a lot of tape. Will you eventually use it all up? It's possible, but chances are that a lot of it will go to waste. Such is the case with MacGames 2000. Sorting through the volume of games to find some that are really enjoyable...it's almost overwhelming. Luckily, Lazerworks makes it a little easier on you. Each CD is split into categories: cards, mind games, puzzles, space & strategy, etc. Some of these are split into subcategories as well. That's pret- ty much a necessity with twenty-one solitaire games, I'd think. Does the world really need that much solitaire? I guess that the first assignment stu- dents have in Programming 101 is to code their own solitaire game. Heck, there's more solitaire games on the net than there are drinking games at a Sig Ep party. Back to the review, Lazerworks was also kind enough to label the games for compatibility. Games that can only be played on a Power Mac are flagged with a warning symbol, as are those that can't run directly off the CD. I found the latter to be excep- tionally helpful, since I much to pre- fer to try out games without the both- er of actually placing them on my hard drive. A word of warning, though; remember that most games dump files in your preferences folder. If you're just trying out a bunch of games, be sure to go in there and clean up all the garbage from games you won't keep. I find it helpful to assign a label to all the icons in the folder. That way, when a new file gets dumped, it's easy to spot because of the different colored icon. Consider that a free Hint from Hiner. Lazerworks was also smart to use two sets of aliases to activate the games. Along with filing them by genre, the games are also filed by title. Quite helpful if you're looking direct- ly for Squirt Derby... and aren't we all looking for a little Squire Derby some- times? So how are the games them- selves? Listen, if you people thinking I'm going to review 750 games for you, then you're absolutely nuts. You know how it is with shareware/free- ware. Some are great, some suck, and all of them are better than anything by Sierra. Hard core gamers probably aren't going to go for this package. If only games such as Tomb Raider III and Age of Empires thrill you, then stay away from All the Best MacGames 2000. But if you're a more casual gamer who likes the occasional diver- sion or who prefers the simplicity of the games of yesteryear, then MacGames 2000 may be just what you need. At only $20, it puts an awful lot of material at your finger- tips...sort of like getting the complete works of William Shakespeare in one volume. Sure, you have to pay more to keep playing some of the games. But if my dad was willing to pay $750 to buy the right to pay $400 to see the Cleveland Browns lose every home game this season, then I'm sure that most people won't mind the pricing scheme on All the Best Mac Games 2000. Me? I'm going to go have a Barq's Root beer, put on some Men Without Hats, and play me a little Squirt Derby. Hmm...maybe these games aren't all family oriented after all. Oh, take it easy. It was just a joke. January, 2000 * on om, PhotoShop-Digital Imaging SIG Submitted by H.C.Husom Tonight, those attending wel- comed Gary Eckhardt, our new leader. Several visitors attended the meeting to learn more about Photoshop. Gary started out by explaining that inas- much as we had an audience with a variety of experience he was going to work with the “Vegetable Head” This little program consisted of a number of different vegetables which, when combined, made up a face. As he brought up each item to the screen, he explained which tools he was using and what it would accomplish. Occasionally some of the other experienced members would mention several different methods to accomplish the same action. Sometimes there were questions brought up and discussed and answered. At the end of the meeting everyone was quite happy to have attended. The photo was taken by Harold Husom with, what else, his Digital Camera, Olympus D-340-L. Our past president Bruce Thompson is here shown on the left in the picture while Gary Eckhardt is at his computer . Ongoing Deals for Mini'app'les Members Submitted by Tom Gates and Bert Persson The following businesses have agreed to provide ongoing discounts to members of mini'app'les. When you contact these companies, please iden- tify yourself as a member of mini'ap- piles to qualify for these discounts. For questions related to these dis- count offers, please contact Tom Gates - (612) 789-1713 evenings and weekends. Power Protection Products Surge Protection strips, Battery back- ups, line conditioners, etc. Contact Keith Kalenda at Business Security Products (612) 789-1190. 1/3 off APC SurgeArrest line of products 25% off APC BackUPS, SmartUPS and related products. CartridgeCare, Inc. CartridgeCare, Inc. of Roseville is offering Mini'app'les members an additional $5.00 off the cost of laser printer cartridges. They handle sup- plies for, and do repair work on equipment from a number of manu- facturers. For example: Apple, Canon, HP, IBM, Epson, Sharp, Brother, Panasonic, Okidata, Minolta, to name a few. They also provide free next-day delivery and core pickup in the metro area. For additional information about the user group discount and other ser- vices, contact CartridgeCare at (612) 331-7757. Macmillan Publishing/Peachpit Press Once again we are offering a 40 % dis- count on Peach Pit Press and MacMillan family of book companies (Hayden, Adobe Press, Que, Sams, Brady, NRP, and Alpha). Contact per- son for Peach Pit Press is Keary Olson, he can be contacted at SIG meetings or on our BBS (home phone 724- 0031). In order for our members to receive the 40% discount, Peach Pit Press requires that a number of books be orderd at the same time. Therefore please allow at least 4-8 weeks when ordering books from Peach Pit Press. Minnesota sales tax and a $ 0.50 ship- ping charge will be applied to each book ordered. The 40% off MacMillan book offer can be applied on individ- ual purchases plus Minnesota sales tax and a s/h charge. Use the mini‘app'les account number # 10782880 -when ordering. MacMillan Publishing produces fre- quent listings of new titles that have been added to their catalog. Mini'app'les will attempt to have these available on the BBS in addition to the catalogs. mini’app’les Newsletter 7 January, 2000 Railroad Tycoon 2 Gold Edition reviewed by Dave Peck Overview I think I can. I think I can! I think Ican!! Ever check out a game demo without any special expectations only to find yourself pulled in over your head? Last year, I unsuspectedly cranked up the Railroad Tycoon II demo and two days later, was a RT2 junkie, ready to sell my soul to get that next cargo shipment headin down the tracks! Maybe it's a connec- tion to childhood train sets. Maybe a desire to be a tycoon...... nah. Probably just wanna play train with this highly enjoyable real-time, rail- roading strategy game. Railroad Tycoon II Gold Edition includes the original Railroad Tycoon Il, the Second Century expansion Pack, 12 new scenarios for the Gold Edition, and the Official RT2 Strategy Guide in html format. The strategy guide includes strategies for both the original game and new scenarios. A much shorter version of this guide is available for download. Hardware Demands PopTop says a PowerPC 132 mhz (or faster) with 16 MB Ram, 130 MB of hard drive space, and a monitor capable of 800 x 600 resolution. ‘The application's "Get Info" win- dow lists the min Ram as 27 MB with a preferred 44 MB RAM avail- able. The 16 MB RAM requirement [jj relies on a healthy dose of Virtual Memory. The game was not tested at the 16 MB RAM level. Background PopTop Software was founded in 1993 by programmer and game designer Phil Steinmeyer. After purchasing the Railroad Tycoon tights from Microprose in early 1998, PopTop developed a much improved sequel that is powered by PopTop's S3D engine. Railroad Tycoon II has taken the strategy gaming community by storm win- § ning many awards including Computer Games Strategy Plus, "Strategy Game of the Year" award. — Click on airport from The Second Century for full screen version. Gold Edition Game Synopsis For real time strategy buffs and financial wizards, Railroad Tycoon: Gold Edition presents a fun opportu- nity to create and take charge of a railroad company mostly in historical- ly based scenarios from around the world. The Second Century expansion pack and new scenarios included in the Gold Edition builds on this premise and includes futuristic and imaginary scenarios. The goal is to build a railroad empire competing against other industry barons. Not only must you manage every aspect of your company but you must make the right financial decisions to ace the scenarios. Click on the Geocore from The Second Century at right. The Game It's the same game you know and love with some new capabilities and lots more scenarios. For those new to Railroad Tycoon II, see the MGL Review. The reason for the 800x600 minimum resolution is the nice graphics. The terrain is fairly accurate representations of real world loca- tions. This is a micromanaging game and as President, you spend alot of time deciding the manifest for each train at each stop. No, it's not very realistic in this one regard, but isn't that what strategy games are all about? Read on. mini’app’les Newsletter January, 2000 The game has two parts, manag- ing your company (lay track, build stations, send out cargo, make money) and managing your finances (play the stock market!). The company manager that you pick can have a large impact on how your company performs. In reality the company manager takes no active role in the management of the company. He only brings an "effect," for exam- ple, lower engine costs due to his expertise in that area. Compare and see what each one has to offer. The Strategy Guide- If your like me you'll find the stock market deci- sions the hardest part of this game. Being the financial whiz that 1 am, all my spare money gets socked into RT2 manual devotes a whole 2 paragraphs on how the stock mar- ket works. So if you find yourself turned off by this aspect of the game, read the new Strategy Guide in htm! format that's included with the Gold Edition. It's big and chock full of juicy morsels! Eye opening topics include: how to manipulate the stock market to buy your stock for less, hauling distances and the effect on profits, how to deal with the rise and fall of the economy, and how your Artificial Intelligence (AI) competitors are likely to act. I was impressed with the financial info and tips that are provided. It goes a long way to explain what your trying to achieve with finances. If still uncomfortable, you've gj got a couple of choices. First is to play Sandbox mode. Money and competition are non-factors. Just build and run trains, but what's the point? A second option is to select the basic financial model. The importance of the stock market is minimized. As you get comfortable with the game, try something harder. My complaint- The train window is the primary area used to monitor the status and location of your trains. After acquiring about 15 trains, it becomes too crowded to see them all without scrolling. With bunches of trains, it's an easy thing to miss when two arrive at stations simultaneously. The next thing you know, zephyrs are half way to Timbuktu carrying noth- ing or a totally inappropriate load with zero value. I guarantee you'll miss a train now and then. The single biggest improvement that could be added to the game, in my opinion, would be to have a preference not to allow a train to leave a station with- out your ok. A thought just flashed before me. Why not have digital station man- agers, who meet the train, load it per the general guidelines you've set up for that station, and notify you if they can't meet your guidelines? I'll have to shoot this one to PopTop for Railroad Tycoon 3! New Capabilities became avail- able with the Second Century Edition. So whether you purchase Second Century expansion pack or the Gold Edition, you'll have them. And you can go back and play original Railroad Tycoon II saved campaigns and sce- narios with these new features enabled! Spanning Bridges may be built across open ocean, but they are not cheap at $120,000 per section. Cargo Depoting has been enabled! One of my two complaints about this game has been answered. Via flags in the train's itinerary win- dow, cargo may be dropped at a sta- tion for pick up by another train. This makes purchasing specialized trains for different terrain practical and desirable! But cargo depoting only works if the station does not desire the cargo in question. If desired, the cargo is sold. Get around this by building a station outside of the city's limits. Route Waypoints- In some sce- narios it's helpful to set route way- points to reduce congestion. This is done in the Itinerary window by clicking on a point along the track. Preferences Control Panel can be accessed from the main menu with- out starting a game. Several new Mac Specific Options including auto-scroll, fast keyboard scrolling, and alternate keypad layout for iMacs and Blue and White G3s, G4s. It's all explained in the readme. Multiplayer An interesting approach to multiplayer. There is no such thing as a net-install. For face to face networking and one RT2 CD- ROM available, everyone installs the entire game (about 175 MB) on their hard drives. The game CD must be present to start the game and monitor resolution must be capable of 1152x864 for Railroad Tycoon to run in window. mode (a window on your desktop). Start the game, press F4 to switch RT2 into window mode, eject the CD, and then pass it to the next player. F4 toggles you back into full screen mode. Repeat until all the par- ticipants are up and running. The last participant only needs the 800x600 resolution to run the game. 5 mini’app’les Newsletter 9 January, 2000 Multiplayer games could be days long so plan wisely! Scenarios-This is what you get Railroad Tycoon II (1830-1930) Historical scenarios based on the first 100 years of the railroads. The cam- paign list: The Iron Seed Handle on the Breadbasket Bridging the Nation Silver Booms and the MarketBusts Whistle Stops and Promises Crossing the Great Divide Birth of the Iron Horse Excess on the Orient Express Knitting with Iron Next Stop the 20th Century The Bremmer Pass When Walls Come Down Croissants or Crumpets The Samurai Rides an Iron Horse Which Way to the Coast The People's Train Dilemma Down Under Cape to Cairo and Stand Alone Scenarios: Britain (1870) Central Europe (1880) China (1850) Eastern USA (1880) The Second Century (1930-2030) Operate with WWII raging in the background, build a modern metra passenger system in Munich, run trains between England and France via the chunnel, and face the chal- lenge of connecting Los Angeles and San Francisco via high speed rail. Some scenarios are modified versions of campaign maps. And some are ficti- tious lands with highly unorthodox geography. In The Second Century, scenario are based more on operational goals under harsh war-time and disaster recovery conditions. As per the time frame, new industries and locomo- tives are introduced. The Campaign: North to Alaska Battle for Britain Mother Russia Edelwelss Express Drawstrings for the Iron Curtain Ich Bin Ein Berliner The Super Trains Seattle Metra minl’app’les Newsletter ‘Waste Not, Want Not The New Daylight Express Munich Metra The Chunnel Energy for a New Beginning Elbow Room Hell and High Water Island of Hope Remember America Antarctica Rising with bunches of Stand Alone Scenarios: Australia Austria Britain Central Europe China Eastern Europe Eastern USA England English Channel France Germany Hail Sevastia Heartland Heartland, USA Korea Mediterranean Basin North America Pacific Northwest Scandinavia Seattle Metro South America Southern USA The Edelweiss Express The Mediterranean The New Daylight Express United States Western USA Africa after the Flood (2001) Amaplanca (1930) America after the Flood (2029) Antarctica (2042) Gold Edition -12 scenarios include construction of the Pennsylvania Railroad through the Appalachian mountains, connecting New York to Los Angeles with a mag- netic levitated transcontinental rail- road, and running rail over the chal- lenging terrain from Edinburg, Scotland to London. All * designate fictional scenarios. Japan on the move - 1960 Italy - All Roads Lead to Rome - 1947 Kua'Apuanii - 1980 * Northeast North America - 1955 NYC to LA - 1999 Pennsylvania - 1890 Parniath Bridge - 1943 * Viva Mexico - 1865 10 Wooden Limbs & Iron Muscles - 1880 Brazil - 1995 Euphoria - 1967 * Flying Scottsman - 1918 The Interface Unchanged from the original. Nice layout with game selections around the edge of the screen. The game's preference control panel can be accessed from the main menu before starting a game. Most Mac key- board shortcut s like "Cmd-S" for save does not work. Cmd-Q does works for quitting. Bug Report None I know of. Conclusion If you loved Railroad Tycoon II, this is will prolong the experience, Good Points: *Good game play, could be addicting *Nice graphics and atmosphere *Realistic terrain *Challenging finances if you desire *Variety of difficulty settings *Many new scenarios Bad Points: *Could have more Mac keyboard shortcuts *Maximum micromanaging *Easy to loose track when operating over 15 trains *Could be addicting Reprinted with permission of the Macintosh Gamer's Ledge. Copyright © 1999 The Macintosh Gamer's Ledge. All rights reserved. January, 2000 QuickTime News Volume 1 Issue 6 1. New to QuickTime TV: studioNEXT 2. New to QuickTime TV: ft.com 3. And the Battery's Down 4, Life with the Bunkers 5. You'll Find Everything You Ever Wanted to Know 6. Technically Speaking ... 7. QuickTime QuickTakes 1. New to QuickTime TV: studioNEXT With perhaps some of the most eclec- tic programming available on QuickTime TV, studioNEXT features a wide range of streaming media, everything from music video-- Clubbin' and Rage TV, for example--short films, to interactive video, to animation (both Japanese anime and good old-fash- joned social satire), and to extreme sports. You'll also find an extensive archive of previously featured material and, on the companion. homeNEXT site, a wide assortment of video material provided by amateur videographers. http://www.apple.com/quicktime/sho wease/entertainment/studionext/ 2. New to QuickTime TV: ft.com People all over the world depend on Financial Times for business and financial information and analysis. And now, with ft.com joining the growing list of QuickTime TV channels, millions of customers can catch up on the leading business stories of the day via a streaming webcast from the Financial Times’ newsroom. Tune in to ft.com to find out about emerging markets, key economic numbers, the strength of the yen, and other business and financial news from around the globe: http://www.apple.com/quicktime/sho wease/news/ftcom/ 3. And the Battery's Down It's called the Hidden New York, and it forms part of PBS' exploration of the American Experience. A °3-D virtual jaunt" through some of the "most intriguing" but often overlooked places in mini’app’les Newsletter New York's five boroughs, Hidden New York makes extensive use of QuickTime VR to show you Coney Island, City Hall, and the oldest store in Chinatown, the 32 Mott Street General Store: http://www. pbs.org/wnet/newyork/hi dden/ 4. Life with the Bunkers No, not Archie, Gloria, et. al. These "Bunkers" are the six lucky souls who will represent the post-omega human race--should, that is, the world as we know it roar toa fiery end come 01/01/2000. MTV, the concemed philanthropic organization adopting this new nuclear family, is putting them up in secure digs—not in Queens but, close, in a bunker "deep under Times Square." And right up until the end, you'll have the opportunity to monitor the Bunkers' progress. Thanks to QuickTime TV, which will stream out their familial escapades 24/7: . http://www.mtv.com/sendme.tin?pag e=/mtv/events/bunker/intro.html&su b=xtra 5. Everything You Ever Wanted to Know About "A Night at the Opera," the classic comedy by the Marx Brothers, can be found at the Night at the Opera Treasury, a site currently featured on our QuickTime Showcase page (www.apple.com/quicktime/show- case). Visit the site, and you'll find bios of the cast and crew, a recap of the film's plot, reviews, movie posters, and QuickTime clips from some of the more hilarious scenes in the movie, including Groucho and Chico's famous discussion of the Sanity Claus: http://www.oxford.net/~gmarx/ 6. Technically Speaking... "Exactly what files get installed on a Macintosh," some of you have asked, “when you choose the Minimum, Full, or Custom installa- tions of QuickTime 4? And where does the QuickTime installer place the files?" To help answer those questions, 11 we've prepared a handy chart, which we keep--and update as necessary—in our Technical Information Library: http://til.info.apple.com/techinfo.nsf/ artnum/n31014 7. QuickTime QuickTakes If you missed the 1999 Billboard Music Awards when It first appeared, you can watch the entire webcast at your leisure in QuickTime 4: http://www.fox.com/billboard/behind /main.htm! Toy Story 2. The Green Mile. Any Given Sunday. The Talented Mr. Ripley. Which movies are you going to catch in the next two weeks? See what they're all about by visiting our Movie Trailers page: http://www.apple.com/trallers/ Speaking of movies: You can see trail- ers and short movies from the forty-third London Film Festival when you visit: http://www.apple.com/quicktime/sho wease/live/lff/ Watch and listen to If I Left the Zoo, the newest project from Jars of Clay, available exclusively in QuickTime 4: http://www ifileftthezoo.com/quick- time/zoo_multimedia-htm This is the last QuickTime News of 1999. After a brief hiatus, we'll return to your inbox early in the year 2000. Happy New Year to one and all. QuickTime News is a periodic news communication from Apple Computer. To subscribe to QuickTime News, go to: http://www.apple.com/quick- time/download/ To change the e-mail address at which you receive QuickTime News: http://applenews.lists.apple.com/chan geaddr/ Copyright 1999 Apple Computer, Inc. All rights reserved. Apple permits reproduc- tion of the contents of QuickTime News Purposes. ‘Apple and Macintosh areregistered trade- marks and QuickTime Is a trademark of Apple Computer, Inc. January, 2000 iSub for the iMac soon in stores Submitted by Bert Persson Soon the ISub, about a $100 sub- woofer designed for the iMacs is now scheduled to ship. Additional audio equipment for Mac users will also be available from Harman Multimedia, a subsidiary of Harman International Industries Inc. The iSub has a frequen- cy response of 46 to 200 Hz using a 20-watt amplifier with a 6-inch woofer. The iSub is plugged into the USB port of an iMac. This allows the iSub to be twice as loud as the current iMacs, which will make watching DVD movies and playing games more enjoyable. There is one thing that the potential buyer should be aware of and that is that it ls only compatible with {Macs running system OS 9. For more information check the Harman. Kardon web site at: httpy/www.harmankardon.com. Upcoming events at MacWorld in San Francisco ‘Submitted by John Pruski Days and Hours of the show MACWORLD Expo WARM-UP Tuesday, January 4: 9:00 a.m. - 11:30 am. PRE-CONFERENCE WORKSHOPS Tuesday , January 4: 12:00 p.m. - 7:00 p.m. KEYNOTE ADDRESS Wednesday, January 5: 9:00 a.m. - 10:15 a.m. TOWN MEETING Thursday, January 6: 9:00 a.m. - 10:15 am. GENERAL SESSION Friday, January 7: 9:00a.m. - 10:00 am. EXHIBITS DAYS Wednesday, January S: 10:00 a.m. - 6:00 p.m. Thursday, January 6: 10:00 a.m. - 6:00 p.m. Friday, January 7: 10:00 a.m. - 6:00 p.m. Saturday, January 8: 10:00 a.m. - 4:00 p.m. Macworld/Pro CONFERENCE Wednesday, January 5: 11:00 a.m. - 5:15 p.m. Thursday, January 6: 10:45 a.m. - 5:00 p.m. Friday, January 7: 11:00 a.m. - 5:00 p.m. p.m. Tuesday, January 4, 9:00 a.m. - 11:30 a.m. MACWORLD Expo Warm-Up Rally with lots of great surprises. David Pogue will have some new parody songs, Bob *Dr. Macintosh" Levitus will offer his insights on what to expect at this years Expo, and several more special guests will inform, enter- tain and intrigue you in preparation for the first MACWORLD Expo of the millennium. All conference attendees are invited to get "Warmed Up" . Wednesday, January 5, 9:00 a.m. - 10:15 a.m. The MACWORLD Expo keynote has a long-standing tradition of delivering high-powered industry executives that set the pace for the future of the platform. Always entertaining, always enlightening, MACWORLD Expo/San Francisco 2000 will be no different! Steve Jobs, interim CEO for Apple Computer will deliver the first keynote of the 21st century for MAC- WORLD Expo. Open to all conference and workshop attendees, Jobs' sixth consecutive Keynote for MAC- Coastal Access will jam with 4 Macs, synthesizers and electronic instru- ments - what a way to end the day! Thursday, January 6, 9:00 a.m. - 10:15 a.m. The MACWORLD Expo Town Meeting is open to all conference attendees. Apple executives and com- puter industry analysts will provide their perspectives on the state of the Mac industry. Hosted by conference chairperson Paul Kent, this is your opportunity to get an inside look at the state of the Mac industry. January 7, 9:00 a.m. - 10:00 a.m. Put the Pundits on the Hot Seat! Watch the fireworks as your favorite Macworld editors and authors attempt to answer probing questions about the controversial issues of the day, questions that will be as big a surprise to them as they will be to you! At the close of the session, time will be allot- ted for the audience to pose a few of their own questions to our panelists. This special session is open to all reg- istered conference and/or workshop attendees. Moderator: Andy Gore, Editor in Chief - Macworld Magazine WORLD Expo is a must-attend event! MACWORLD Expo/New York 1999 Keynote Address, pre- sented by Steve Jobs. Read the Apple Computer summary. MACWORLD Expo/San Francisco 1999 Keynote Address. January 5, 5:00 p.m. - 6:30 p.m. MH Gene Macintosh™ Consulting Individual & Group Training Computer Problem Assistance Mike Carlson All MACWORLD Expo confer- (218) 387-2257 (Grand Marais, MN) MACWORLD EXPO USERS CON- ence and workshop attendees are FERENCE invited to take a load off, sit boreal. Thursday, January 6: 11:00 a.m. - 4:45 back, relax and enjoy the mhenvo@! at p.m. smooth jazz sounds from Jeff FileMaker® Friday, January 7: 11:00 a.m. - 4:45 Kashiwa and Coastal Access - an Solutions Alliance p.m. all Macintosh Band! On Member Saturday, January 8 - 11:00 a.m. - 3:15 Wednesday, Kashiwa and mini’app’les Newsletter 12 January, 2000 ~ H H H i i H H H i G miniapples New & Renewing Members- Specify your level of support: () Regular - $25: Handy Form Sean QO Sustaining $40 Name: UForeign $40 Company (if mailed to): OQ) Educational’ $50 Address: OO Corporate "$100: * must be a full-time student City, State, Zip: at an accredited institution Phone (Home): (Work): Make Checks Occupation: OO Check if this is a Payable to Member ID# (if applicable): address change. “mini‘app'les* Which personal computer(s) do you use? he Be aby ES th Please list the five software ickages you use most often: (2) Power Macintosh model(s) = ial ( Macintosh model(s) es aes (_) Apple Il model(s) Other What peripherals or What are your areas of O Check if you want your IG helajoin!, attachments do you use? special interest? name withheld from het QO) Printer () Business Applications commercial and other (2 Laser Printer ( Household Applications non-club mailing lists my Modem Educational Applications 1] Check if you are Itthis is anew [ae Q PP interested in volunteer membership or a ( Scanner (1 Desktop Publishing Giporinitise renewal, please (C Digital Camera QO) Programming mi kit eC R minicom [] Drawing Tablet D Networking QO ere Hee pate eee () Voice Mail Ol Games pac ea See ahve questionniare D mo oO si g Other their name. QO cp-Rom OQ) Other sh. & Disk Size | eDOM # Title or Description | Qty.| Price @| Total “SS. Please allow u 6 weeks for de! fay _Disk Prices Total Merchandise Members NonMembers Add $1/Disk for Shipping ($4.00 Max) 5.25" eDOM 0 or system Disk: < $1.00 .. $2.00) 3.5"eDOM: *- - $5.00 “> $10.00°~ GRAND TOTAL neers 7.0.1 (9 Diss): , ied ne Make Checks Payable to “mini'app'les" 3.5" System Disks(All Other Systems): $2.00/Disk N.A. ; be . (Price includes 6.5% MN Sales Tax) (NonMembers cannot buy System Disks Teele Attention: uMembership Director oSoftware Director Mini’app’les P.O. Box 796 Hopkins, MN 55343-0796 2nd fold PIO} 3S}. soyaig erenyos 0 Jopeig diyssiequeyy 0 sOU} O} SILA JOOI|P ESBC|q sej,dde,juw seeq January Photoshop/Digital Imaging SIG Submitted by Gary Eckhardt The Photoshop/Digital Imaging SIG will meet at Prism Studios, 2505 Kennedy St, N.E. in Minneapolis, on January 19, 1999 at 6:30 pm. Prism Studios is a photographic service bureau and caters to all needs of the professional and amateut photograph- er. In the digital world, Prism offers Photo CD and Pro Photo CD service, digital file to print and film , dye sub- February Photoshop/Digital Imaging SIG Submitted by Gary Eckhardt The Photoshop/Digital Imaging SIG will meet at First Tech, 2640 Hennepin Avenue in Minneapolis, on February 16, 1999 at 6:30 pm. John Hyde will be demonstrating the soft- Mini’app’les Annual Submitted by Bert Persson Last months Miniapples annual auction turned out to be an exciting event with a large number of mem- bers as well as non-members attend- ing. From various contributors we had obtained both hardware and software which were put on display for anxious buyers. Prior to the auction people were given a chance to examine the merchandise and submitting bids for Members Helping M As there are some missing areas to be filled, including: FileMaker Pro First Class MacWrite Pro Power Macs PageMaker If you would like to be a Members Helping Member volun- teer, please send an e-mail message to John Pruski on our BBS, or call him at 612-938-2818, with your name, telephone number, contact hours, and the software or hardware areas you are willing to help others. mini’app’les Newsletter limation prints, etc. Photoshop is one of a number of applications that is supported for the Macintosh and PC computers. We will tour the newly remod- eled facilities of Prism and then have a Q&A session about digital imaging requirements. If you have questions about the meeting please call Gary Eckhardt at 612-944-5446. To get to Prism Studios, take 35 ware package iMovie that comes with the new iMac computers. The combi- nation of the iMac hardware and the TMovie software allows for home edit- ing of videos for a very cost effective price. This is an opportunity to see the video editing package that has the silent auction. Also members con- tributed to the club by donating some of their own computer equipment. The auction started at 7P.M. sharp with items moving swiftly into the hands of eager buyers Soon there were piles of “stuff” surrounding the win- ning bidders and they were begging for more as the auction progressed. It didn’t take long to auction off some two-hundred items in the time allowed which was 8:15 P.M. The Internet Services Premium Twin Cilies intemet Service Jor business and personal use. All digiel all the time, ISDN or 56k are no extra charge! USFamily.Net W to the Stinson Blvd exit. If you are coming from St. Paul, Kennedy Street is 3 blocks south from 35W and Stinson. If you are coming from Minneapolis. Kennedy Street is about 2 blocks south from the off ramp exit on Stinson. Take a left turn (east) on Kennedy and to about 1/3 block. Prism is on the north side of the street. Bring your digital imaging ques- tions. See you there! rocked the personal computer field. If you have questions about the meeting please call Gary Eckhardt at 612-944- 5446. Bring your questions about video editing. See you there! Auction was a Success ! remaining time before closing was spent gathering all the items together and making contributions to our club. In this connection we would like to thank all the buyers and contributors ; Apple Computer Inc, Adobe Systems Inc, AS.A.P., Fred Frankena and Que com- puter for helping to make our auction a success. Thanks also goes out to the help- ful staff at Washburn Public Library in Minneapolis. embers a Special Request 4st month free! WWW, e-mail, etc. Sagan Sénple satup. Friendly support. Over 2 year of excetient otal service, (651) 697-0523 January, 2000 Benefits of your mini’app’les membership include: | Aone year subscription to our monthly Newsletter A free account on the mini’app’les BBS (45 minutes/day) . Communicate with other mini’app’les members plus get up to date informationon =} mini’app’les events and meetings. Get assistance from other members. Download freeware and shareware. Eligibility for frequent drawings of free equipment, software, and books. Just a few of the many items given away free In the last year included: Connectix QuickCam, Microsoft Encarta, Books from Peachpit Press and MacMillan, RamDoubler, SpeedDoubler, Lind PowerBook battery Conditioners and Rechargers, Microsoft Art Gallery, and Apple System 8.5 software. Discounts on book orders 40% off Peachpit Press, 30% off MacMillan family of book companies (Hayden, Adobe Press, Que, Sams, Brady, NRP, and Alpha) Periodic special User Group discount offers on equipment and software. In the past year, Apple, Hayes, Brederbund, and APC Power Protection (Business Security Products), among others, have offered minl’app’les members significant discounts. Plus, you’re supporting all of mini’app’les’ special interest group (SIG) meetings that you can attend each month. It’s easy to recoup your cost of membership with the above benefits. Ul «0 - Non-Profit Org. miniapp'les “SAID newsletter ot Paul, MN Box 796 Permit 2537 Hopkins, MN 55343 ADDRESS SERVICE REQUESTED Qmintepptes membership card EXPIRES: Life ID# 160 DAN B BUCHLER 2601 WOODS TRL BURNSVILLE MN 55337 ee | el mini’app’les Newsletter . January, 2000