Mac Expert 1995 Winter/Mac Expert - Winter 95.iso/Les fichiers/Tidbits/TidBits 101 à 200/TidBITS#141_07-Sep-92.txt

Text File | 1995-06-19 | 27.6 KB | 601 lines | [TEXT/ttxt]

TidBITS#141/07-Sep-92
=====================

 Hot off the phone lines comes Mark Anbinder's report on the MBDF
   authors pleading guilty! We also have the details on how IBM
   managed full-screen, 30 frame per second video on the Ultimedia,
   a report of a net tizzy over utilities removed from Now
   Utilities 4.0, notes from the bargain-hunting Murph Sewall on
   the Abaton Scan 300/Color, and finally, the second installment of
   our Gateways series, focussing this time on CompuServe.

 Copyright 1990-1992 Adam & Tonya Engst. Non-profit, non-commercial
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 -----------------------------------------------------------------

Topics:
    MailBITS/07-Sep-92
    MBDF Authors Plead Guilty
    Now Utilities Hullabaloo
    Abaton Scan 300/Color
    Gateways II/CompuServe
    Reviews/07-Sep-92

[Archived as /info-mac/digest/tb/tidbits-141.etx; 28K]


MailBITS/07-Sep-92
------------------
  In regard to Mark Anbinder's article "Watch Out, QuickTime" in
  TidBITS#139, Robert Wilson offers this clarification.

  I had an opportunity to check out the IBM Multimedia solutions a
  few weeks ago. It was impressive and it looks like IBM is sinking
  a good amount of resources into this technology.

  In the recent TidBITS article you mentioned these machines could
  do full-screen, 30 frames per second video, but failed to mention
  that these machines use a Micro Channel adapter card, ActionMedia
  II, developed by Intel and IBM, which does the real-time
  decompression from the hard disk. This dedicated hardware does
  most of the work, not the 386 SLC chip.

  The ActionMedia II display adapter with an educational discount is
  $1,197. The ActionMedia II capture adapter with an educational
  discount runs an additional $570. So the hardware isn't all that
  cheap, and I'm sure QuickTime works much better with a card that
  can decompress in hardware.

  [And in fact, to judge from some other email we received, SuperMac
  and other companies have such hardware for QuickTime coming soon
  (most notably the $6,000 Digital Film due from SuperMac at the end
  of the year), along with some cool new software as well. -Adam]

  Information from:
    Robert Wilson -- [e-mail]


MBDF Authors Plead Guilty
-------------------------
  by Mark H. Anbinder, Contributing Editor

  Three former Cornell students, who had faced a total of forty
  computer tampering and related charges in connection with the
  creation and release of the MBDF virus affecting Macintosh
  computers this February, struck a plea-bargain agreement here in
  Ithaca yesterday.

  David Blumenthal and Mark Pilgrim, each of whom had faced felony
  first degree computer tampering charges, pleaded guilty to one
  count each of second degree computer tampering, a misdemeanor.
  Randall Swanson pleaded guilty to a reduced charge of disorderly
  conduct. Swanson was not originally implicated in the case when
  the virus was traced to Blumenthal and Pilgrim, but was charged
  this summer.

  None of the three are currently enrolled for the fall semester at
  Cornell University. Although the University is prohibited by
  federal law from revealing the outcome of disciplinary action
  against students, unofficial word has it that some of the students
  have been expelled from the University, and the other(s) suspended
  for at least one year. An August 27th memorandum from William
  Streett, the Dean of Cornell's College of Engineering to
  "Engineering Students and Other Users of Cornell Computing
  Facilities," referred to an unnamed group of students who had been
  charged with violating Cornell's Code of Academic Integrity "as a
  result of improper and unauthorized use of computers and network
  systems." Streett said that the punishments in these cases
  "include expulsion and suspension for a year or more." The memo
  went on to remind students of their responsibility in maintaining
  academic integrity standards in computer use, and suggested that
  students with special talents in computing and network systems
  "put these to constructive use by tutoring other students or
  through volunteer work with one of the local social service
  agencies."

  The plea bargain arrangement specifies that the State will not
  seek jail time or fines when the three are sentenced this October.
  Each will have to pay $2,476 in restitution (for virus-related
  damages to computers and users). Blumenthal and Pilgrim will also
  have to fulfill community service requirements, forfeit their
  personal computer systems, and face probation.


Now Utilities Hullabaloo
------------------------
  Two tiny extensions have sparked a storm on the nets recently. In
  a slightly surprising move, Now Software announced that it would
  remove a few utilities from its popular Now Utilities package when
  it went to version 4.0. The utilities on the chopping block
  include AlarmsClock, a menu-bar clock and alarm program;
  DeskPicture, which displays a PICT in desktop background; and
  ScreenLocker, a simple screensaver with password protection.

  Now intends to merge AlarmsClock's functionality in a future
  version its full-featured calendaring program Now Up-to-Date, a
  move which makes sense in light of Now Up-to-Date's mediocre alarm
  mechanism in comparison with AlarmsClock's less-obtrusive and
  non-modal approach. We look forward to seeing the combination in
  Now Up-to-Date 2.0. Now says that DeskPicture and ScreenLocker,
  though popular, didn't quite fit in with the overall vision of the
  utility package and will reappear in yet another collection of
  utilities, presumably oriented more at cosmetic and screen-
  oriented enhancements. No word on when that will appear or what
  Now might call it.

  This seemingly innocuous move prompted a rash of complaints from
  devotees of primarily AlarmsClock and DeskPicture. The complaints
  stemmed in part from incorrect information supposedly provided by
  someone at Now who didn't know better. When asked, this person
  apparently said that the new Now Utilities 4.0 would not work with
  the older versions. Needless to say, this worried those who liked
  AlarmsClock but did not wish to upgrade to the more expensive Now
  Up-to-Date.

  It turns out, however, that (unless Now has changed even this in
  the meantime) all that will happen is that the installer program
  will default to removing the old versions of the Now Utilities,
  including those modules which have no replacement, like
  AlarmsClock and DeskPicture. Thus, all you have to do is move
  those two out to the desktop, install the new version, and then
  drop AlarmsClock and DeskPicture back into their appropriate
  folders. Alternately, just copy them again from your original Now
  Utilities 3.0 disks.

  As numerous people pointed out, Now has absolutely no reason to
  make the new versions of the Now Utilities specifically
  incompatible with those two extensions, and since they don't rely
  on any core technology, it's quite unlikely that any new conflicts
  will arise. In fact, the first reports from those who have
  received their upgrades indicate that AlarmsClock and DeskPicture
  do indeed work fine with the updated utilities (and we'll have
  more information on the upgrade in the future). Pat McDougall of
  Now Software Technical Support said that it wasn't possible to
  satisfy everyone by including AlarmsClock in both the Now
  Utilities 4.0 and Now Up-to-Date 2.0 because of enhancements
  planned in the combination. McDougall went on to say:

    I would emphasize, however, that the exclusion of
    AlarmsClock from version 4.0 of the Now Utilities in no
    way prevents you from continuing to use version 3.0 on
    your system. The 4.0 collection is completely compatible
    with AlarmsClock, and we will be continuing to post
    updates to AlarmsClock on the online services as
    necessitated by any future system software releases.

  So those of you who appreciate and use AlarmsClock can relax,
  although we doubt that Now will add any new functionality along
  with any necessary tweaks to keep AlarmsClock 3.0 working with
  future versions of the system software.

  Information from:
    Pat McDougall, Now Software -- [e-mail]
    Russ Arcuri -- [e-mail]
    Murph Sewall -- [e-mail]
    Erik A. Johnson -- [e-mail]
    Charles L. DuBois -- [e-mail]


Abaton Scan 300/Color
---------------------
  by Murph Sewall -- [e-mail]

  One of August Macworld's most tempting bargains was the Abaton
  Scan 300/Color (a 24-bit color flatbed scanner) bundled with Adobe
  Photoshop 2.0.1 for only $899. This was practically a bargain at
  twice the price, with two of the best known mail order vendors
  asking $548 for Photoshop 2.0.1, and the scanner listing for
  $1,995. Of the others at Macworld, the next closest show special
  was over $1,100. That $899 temptation was too much for me to
  resist, but should others follow in my bargain-hunting footsteps?

  The May-92 MacUser Color Buying Guide describes flatbed scanners
  as ideal for the "beginning color user." That is, a professional
  expecting to earn significant income from color graphic work will
  likely prefer a more expensive (by about fifty percent) slide
  scanner or even a high-end ($30,000 and up) drum scanner.

  The scanner has a resolution of 300 dots per inch (dpi), but the
  supplied Photoshop Plug can create resolutions as high as 1200 dpi
  using software interpolation. The Scan 300/Color is compatible
  with Abaton's Scan 300GS if you are using optical character
  recognition (OCR) software.

  On the basis of the literature, for the ordinary Macintosh owner,
  a more than $200 price break on the Abaton 300/Color appears to be
  a good value, if not an amazing steal. After all, both the current
  Personal LaserWriter NTR and Hewlett-Packard DeskWriter C print at
  300 dpi and most color monitors are only 72 dpi. Most users should
  find the resolution more than adequate.

  So, what's the catch (isn't there always a catch) and why don't I
  sound enthused? It shouldn't be a surprise that there's a reason
  why one vendor finds it necessary to offer a much more attractive
  price than others. Abaton's support for this product is
  lackadaisical. Not hostile, just indifferent.

  Neither the Color Scan DA (designed to permit scanning within any
  application that supports graphics) nor the Photoshop Plug is
  68040 compatible. Fortunately, the Scanner driver itself and even
  Abaton's Black and White DA are Quadra compatible. In itself, the
  absence of 68040 compatibility will not bother most Macintosh
  owners. Even Quadra owners can use the software by including the
  Abaton Color DA and Photoshop itself in the Alysis Compatibility
  exception list. Using Compatibility, of course, more than halves
  Photoshop's performance, which may have ranked high on your list
  of reasons for purchasing a Quadra in the first place.

  The disappointment came when I contacted Abaton's technical
  support to inquire about plans for updated software. The response
  to both phone calls and letters is simple indifference. It does
  not appear that Abaton has any effort underway to update the ten
  month-old Abaton Photoshop Plug for the newer Macintoshes. Quite
  apart from the fact that Apple is committed to upgrading mid-range
  Macintoshes to the 68040 CPU early next year, is it wise to do
  business in a competitive marketplace with vendors who are not
  committed to their products?

  On balance, I can only conclude that if you are in the market for
  a color scanner and if you can purchase the Abaton scanner for
  substantially less than competitors' products, then you may want
  to buy one. Other things being equal, the Microtek, La Cie, UMAX,
  and Hewlett-Packard scanners all are preferable to the Abaton.
  Furthermore, if Abaton's attitude toward supporting their scanner
  is an indicator, then I would recommend exercising caution with
  respect to other Abaton (and Everex, the parent company) products.

  Related articles:
    MacUser -- Dec-91
    MacUser -- May-92
    Macworld -- Jun-91
    Macworld -- Oct-91


Gateways II/CompuServe
----------------------
  We talked a few issues back (TidBITS#130 and #133) about various
  fascinating things on the Internet as an introduction to a series
  of articles aimed at bringing all of the users of commercial
  services closer together via the Internet. Along the way, we'll
  talk about where TidBITS lives on each of these services and what
  special connections those services have made available, along with
  their limitations and workarounds.

  One of the oldest commercial services, CompuServe, has long
  provided basic Internet access through an email gateway. Some
  people find it a bit harder to use than some of the other
  gateways, since you must prefix the Internet address with the
  string

    >INTERNET:

  and if you don't get that right, your mail won't go through.
  Sending email to someone on CompuServe from the Internet (or
  through another gateway to the Internet and then on to CompuServe)
  is quite easy. Just take the ugly CompuServe address like
  72511,306 (my address), replace the comma with a period, and add
  (minus the quotes) "@compuserve.com". Thus, the Internet form of
  my CompuServe address is:

    [e-mail]


Gateway size limitation
  CompuServe has one of the better gateways to the Internet,
  especially with some recent changes. Until quite recently,
  CompuServe imposed an approximately 50K limit on the size of
  incoming messages, which made it difficult to for CompuServe
  members to participate in certain digest-based mailing lists like
  the ever-popular Info-Mac Digest. Recently, however, CompuServe
  upped that incoming limit to the thoroughly-useful 500K, so most
  everything will fit through.

  Do keep in mind that not all systems along a path will necessarily
  allow 500K files to go through, so even though CompuServe will
  allow such a large file, another system in the line may refuse to
  send it along. You shouldn't run into that with most true Internet
  machines, but UUCP-only sites often impose message-size limits. Of
  course, a 500K file may cost up to $10 given the various fees you
  will have to pay. More on fees in a bit. First let's talk about
  some of the problems you might encounter with transferring files
  via the gateway.


BinHex problems
  CompuServe's Internet gateway does have its fair share of
  problems. It is text-only, so you will have to Binhex (with the
  BinHex 4.0 format, found in StuffIt Lite, Compact Pro, Downline,
  and numerous other programs) any binary files that will pass
  through the gateway. You may at some time run into a serious
  problem where certain lines in a BinHex file are different
  lengths, which is a great evil and will prevent you from defunking
  that file. Apparently CompuServe's HMI (Host-Micro Interface) uses
  the @ sign for its own nefarious purposes, which prompts
  CompuServe Information Manager (though version 2.0.1 seems to be
  OK) and Navigator to double the @ sign in sending mail and to
  strip an extra one from incoming mail. You will not see this
  problem if you avoid the HMI programs for uploading and
  downloading mail, but, as Joe Sewell says, "depending on who sends
  and who receives, the phase of the moon, and other predictable
  factors, you might get zero, one, or two @'s for each @ in the
  original message." Be careful out there, and when in doubt, drop
  back to a terminal program.


TidBITS on CompuServe
  Now that you know a bit about the gateway and things to watch out
  for, how can you get TidBITS through it? Those of you interested
  in subscribing to our Internet mailing list for TidBITS via
  CompuServe can do so easily. Just send email to:

    >INTERNET:[e-mail]

  with this line in the body of the mailfile:

    SUBSCRIBE TIDBITS your full name

  But... Since email comes in as uncompressed text, you will find it
  cheaper to download each issue of TidBITS from CompuServe directly
  each week. I currently make TidBITS available in three places, the
  ZiffNet/Mac DownTech library #7 (GO ZMC:DOWNTECH), the Macintosh
  Community Clubhouse library #8 (GO CIS:MACCLUB), and the Desktop
  Publishing Forum library #16 (GO DTPFORUM). I upload the straight
  text version to the Desktop Publishing Forum's library, so if you
  cannot defunk a StuffIt 1.5.1 file for some reason, you will want
  to get TidBITS from there or via the mailing list.


CompuServe's charges
  As long as we're talking about money, what will all this cost you?
  CompuServe charges for you to receive mail, so participating in
  Internet mailing lists can add up. CompuServe has two fee plans.
  The recently-introduced Standard Service costs a flat $7.95 per
  month and allows free access to a certain subset of CompuServe
  services (others, including the computing forums, are billed at
  normal connect time rates listed below). Internet email costs
  extra however, so the first 7,500 characters will cost $0.15 and
  each additional 2,500 characters of Internet email will run you
  $0.05. However, just to confuse the issue, you get a $9.00 credit
  each month, and CompuServe only charges you when your email
  charges exceed that $9.00.

  The connect time fee structure (which makes more sense if you
  spend all your time in the non-free areas that would use this fee
  structure even under the Standard Services plan) costs $2.00 per
  month plus $22.80 per hour for 9600 bps and $12.80 per hour for
  2400 bps, but Internet email doesn't cost anything extra. Despite
  no additional charges for email, the connect charges can add up,
  especially since CompuServe appears to limit its 9,600 bps
  connections to 960 characters per second throughput, whereas
  internal modem compression protocols like v.42bis could
  theoretically increase throughput to 3,000 characters per second
  on uncompressed text such as email.

  One note of interest - if you do not read an Internet message sent
  to you within 30 days or delete it without reading it, CompuServe
  doesn't charge you for it. That can be handy if you can identify
  junk mail by the subject. Of course, if you automate your mail
  with MicroPhone II's LORAN, CompuServe Information Manager, or
  Navigator, you won't have a chance to delete mail unread easily.

  Still, you may find CompuServe a useful and economical choice for
  limited Internet email access, although I should mention quickly
  that the most economical choice for receiving lots of Internet
  email is a deal through MCIMail because receiving email is free
  after a $35 per year fee. We'll cover that in a bit more depth in
  a future Gateways article.


ZiffNet/Mac
  I mentioned the ZiffNet/Mac DownTech library rather blithely
  above, but ZiffNet/Mac requires some explanation. Although it
  exists on CompuServe's computers, ZiffNet/Mac is a separate,
  private service that carries a $2.50 per month membership fee. If
  you already use CompuServe, that $2.50 comes on top of your
  $2.00/month normal or $7.95/month Standard Services CompuServe
  membership fee. The same connect charges ($12.80/hour at 2,400
  bps, $22.80/hour at 9,600 bps) apply to ZiffNet/Mac as to
  CompuServe, except for a few special free areas. You can join from
  CompuServe by typing GO ZMAC at any prompt. Alternately, give them
  a call at the number listed below.

  Although certainly smaller than the MAUG (where the Mac people
  hang out) forums on CompuServe proper, the ZiffNet/Mac forums do
  well in terms of lively and interesting discussions, and since
  many of the prominent journalists for Ziff-Davis publications
  (including MacUser and MacWEEK) hang out there, discussion often
  centers on columns and articles in those magazines. All in all,
  ZiffNet/Mac is thoroughly enjoyable place for hobnobbing with
  industry wizards and one I often find less overwhelming than the
  MAUG forums.

    ZiffNet/Mac -- 800/666-0330


Internet Access Services
  As much as an email gateway will provide a good deal of access to
  the Internet, it won't give you certain useful features, like
  Usenet news. To address this problem, a company called Bear
  Software set up Internet Access Services. For a fee based on the
  amount of data you want, they will snag postings to Usenet
  newsgroups (and even filter them for you for a bit more money),
  send you by email any file available via anonymous FTP, and even
  collect and archive all mailing list messages for a day, uploading
  a compressed file of the day's messages to you via CompuServe
  mail, thus saving time because you can download a single
  compressed file.

  For these services, Bear Software charges $0.50 per 10,000 bytes
  of compressed text, or $0.60 per 10,000 bytes if you want them to
  filter the news. It appears from some rough calculations that Bear
  Software's services cost about the same as getting information
  such as Usenet news from CompuServe directly (if it were available
  there, which it's not) due to the compression of the text files.

  Being Unix PC-based, Bear Software generally uses PKZIP to
  compress everything, but they can also send files in the standard
  Unix "tar.z" format, and either way, various defunking utilities
  exist. For more information, contact Bear Software.

    Bear Software -- [e-mail] -- [e-mail]


Telnet to CompuServe
  Now for the really funky stuff. It appears that those of you on
  the Internet can connect to CompuServe via a telnet connection
  provided by Merit in Michigan. Simply telnet to
  <hermes.merit.edu>, and enter "compuserve" (without the quotes) at
  the "Which Host?" prompt. Entering "help" at that prompt will
  return information on other hosts that are available, such as
  Dialog and Dow Jones, along with lots of other useful help
  information. Entering "um-dns" even gives you a domain name server
  if you need to look up a machine's Internet number or other
  information. Keep in mind that this connection to CompuServe,
  while neat, does not come free. SprintNet (formerly Telenet) bills
  CompuServe for those calls, which are set up as collect calls via
  SprintNet from Ann Arbor, Michigan, where Merit's machines live.
  CompuServe then passes the charges on to you with a surcharge of
  $1.70 per hour for non-prime time usage (which isn't too bad) and
  $11.70/hour for prime-time usage and for calls from Hawaii,
  Alaska, Canada, or Mexico. For those of you in other countries the
  surcharge increases to a ghastly $49.70 per hour.

  This sounds pretty bad, and not all that useful, but the non-
  continental United States charges should never apply because that
  phone call originates from Ann Arbor, Michigan, not from the
  country you telnet from initially. So CompuServe users in other
  countries especially may find this an economical access method.


Merit Dial-Out
  Jeff Needleman, in addition to providing much of the information
  above, also mentioned a cheaper way of connecting to CompuServe or
  any other modem-based service or BBS via the Internet.

    Among the hosts available at hermes are dial-out modems
    here in Ann Arbor Michigan. Ann Arbor itself has local
    call access to CompuServe's own network, as well as
    local access numbers for Tymnet and SprintNet. With a
    telephone credit card or a University of Michigan
    telecommunications account (which is available to
    non-U-M people), you can dial-out anywhere in the world
    through the Ann Arbor modems. So you can reach any
    computer anywhere accessible by a modem just by
    telnetting through the Internet and linking up this
    way. For local Ann Arbor access, there is a sign-up fee
    of $50, which includes $10 for set-up and $6.80 for
    overhead; the balance is credited to your dial-out
    account. Each local dial-out call is charged at $0.25
    regardless of length. CompuServe makes no extra charge
    for use of its own network, and that's just a local
    call via Ann Arbor dial-out. The dial-out modems are
    unfortunately limited to 2,400 bps, but since
    CompuServe itself is limited to 9,600 bps [and for
    actions other than up/downloading, which you may not be
    able to do through this connection anyway, you will
    never see anywhere near 9,600 bps anyway -Adam] this is
    not a severe drawback.

  You can get more information on how to sign up for this dial-out
  service by sending email to:

    [e-mail]

  with this line as the first line of the message:

    send auth.service

  You may have trouble downloading binary files from the CompuServe
  libraries through either of these connections due to the number of
  different steps and machines involved. If your machine can
  generate a true hardware break (not a software-generated break),
  then it's more possible, but frankly, I'm not putting any money on
  it. You'll have to ask the folks at Merit <[e-mail]> for the
  specific details. It gets confusing fast, so we're just trying to
  point you in the right direction. Basic text access should work
  fine though. We hope you find all of this information interesting,
  if not immediately useful, and file it away for some time when
  your situation warrants. I'm just amazed that all these various
  connections exist, and I long for the day that we can stop
  worrying about them and get on with the business of communicating
  with each other.

    Merit Network -- 313/764-9430 -- [e-mail]

  Information from:
    Jeffrey L. Needleman -- [e-mail]
    Mark Nutter -- [e-mail]
    Al Heynneman -- [e-mail]
    Joe Sewell -- [e-mail]
    Robert Hess -- [e-mail]


Reviews/07-Sep-92
-----------------

* MacUser -- Oct-92
    PowerBook 145 -- pg. 47
    BeagleWorks 1.0.1 -- pg. 52
    AutoCAD Release 11 for Macintosh -- pg. 54
    Fontographer 3.5 -- pg. 56
    MicroPhone II 4.0 -- pg. 57
    GeoQuery 3.02 -- pg. 58
    LetraStudio 2.0 and TypeStyler 2.0 -- pg. 70
    Polaroid CS-500 Digital Photo Scanner -- pg. 74
    Prograph -- pg. 76
    SuperLaserSpool -- pg. 83
    Mission: Thunderbolt -- pg. 83
    Timeslips III -- pg. 83
    Nolo's Living Trust -- pg. 85
    Composer's Mosaic -- pg. 85
    Project Management Package -- pg. 92
      AEC Information Manager
      Fair Witness
      FastTrack Resource
      KeyPlan
      MacProject II
      Micro Planner Manager
      Microsoft Project
    Print Spoolers -- pg. BG16
      AppleShare Print Server
      PServe
      Print Central
    10BASE-T Hubs -- pg. BG24
      (too many to list)
    Video-Digitizing Cards -- pg. 158
      Computer Friends MovieProducer
      E-Machines QuickView Studio QT
      FAST Electronics Screen Machine
      FAST Electronics Screen Machine Junior
      Mass Microsystems QuickImage 24
      RasterOps MediaTime
      RasterOps VideoTime
      RasterOps 24XLTV
      RasterOps 24STV
      RasterOps 24MxTV
      SuperMac VideoSpigot
      SuperMac VideoSpigot Pro
    Personal LaserWriter NTR -- pg. 188
    IBM LaserPrinter 6A -- pg. 188
    UMAX UC1200S -- pg. 192
    CalComp ColorMaster Plus -- pg. 195


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