BMUG PD-ROM B4/PD-ROM B4.iso/Utilities/TidBITs/TidBITS 101-125/TidBITS#120⁄20-Apr-92.etx

Text File | 1992-05-27 | 26KB | 540 lines

TidBITS#120/20-Apr-92
=====================

 In the slime department, watch out for the new CODE 252 virus. The
   legal news of the week concerns the 36 items thrown out of the
   Apple/Microsoft suit; a number of people pass on more very
   important details about Tune-Up 1.1.1; and Jon Pugh reviews the
   super cool VideoSpigot. To close out the issue, we have articles
   on Apple putting the IIfx out to pasture and the AppleShare
   upgrade offer ending soon. Also, Happy 2nd Birthday to TidBITS!

 Copyright 1990-1992 Adam & Tonya Engst. Non-profit, non-commercial
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Topics:
    MailBITS/20-Apr-92
    Code 252 Virus
    Tune-Up Notes
    Another Round to Microsoft
    VideoSpigot Review
    Wicked Fast IIfx Retired
    AppleShare Upgrade Offer Ends
    Reviews/20-Apr-92

[Archived as /info-mac/digest/tb/tidbits-120.etx; 25K]


MailBITS/20-Apr-92
------------------
  Happy Birthday! This issue marks TidBITS's second anniversary. As
  you can see, we've put out 120 issues, averaging 60 per year or
  slightly more than one per week. We feel that TidBITS is getting
  better all the time, to quote the Beatles, and we couldn't do it
  without you and the massive levels of enthusiasm we receive. Some
  of our TidBITS highlights of the last year include moving to
  Seattle and discovering a large and enthusiastic computer
  community, gaining access to the great people and resources on
  ZiffNet/Mac, and especially the creation of our TIDBITS LISTSERV
  at Rice University thanks to Mark Williamson. Thank you all, and
  here's hoping for continued success for us all. Cheers!


Trash Trick
  Dave Anderson writes with another method of tricking Nisus or
  similar applications into using the trash as a storage place for
  secondary backup files. This should work better for people who
  can't boot under System 6 and don't want to mess with ResEdit,
  although it does require keeping an alias of the trash around.

  "Regarding the review of TrashMan in TidBITS#119, I modified your
  method of saving secondary backup files in the trash.

  Create a new folder on the desktop and rename it "Trash alias". In
  the secondary backup Saving Preferences, select the "Trash alias"
  folder. Switching back to the Finder, throw the "Trash alias"
  folder out and then create an alias of the trash, which should be
  automatically called "Trash alias". Now create and save a file in
  Nisus, and check to make sure the secondary backup is safely
  stored in the trash.

  By the way, I am an unregistered user... and am sending in my
  registration today. I agree that TrashMan is an excellent
  extension to System 7."

  Information from:
    David Anderson -- [e-mail]


Code 252 Virus
--------------
  Sigh. Trouble comes in threes, and this is the third virus in the
  last few months. Once again, the estimable virus team has done its
  work well, and most of the anti-virus tools should be up to date
  by the time you read this. As usual, I recommend that you snag the
  latest version of Disinfectant, 2.8 this time, from your favorite
  purveyor of freeware software.

  The CODE 252 virus does not appear to damage any files and does
  not even spread all that quickly, due in part to the fact that it
  can only spread from one application to another in System 6 Finder
  (and it can spread to the System and Finder as well). If you use
  MultiFinder under System 6, applications are safe, but the System
  file and the MultiFinder file will be infected, and if you use
  System 7, only the System file can be infected. Unfortunately, an
  error in the virus can corrupt your System file or cause crashes
  if it has infected a System 7 System file.

  The virus will trigger if an infected application or system starts
  up between June 6th and December 31st of any year. All it appears
  to do is display a childish message about how it is erasing all
  your disks with a lot of juvenile giggling. It does not actually
  erase any files or folders, although it is possible that it could
  damage some directory structures if you restarted the system
  immediately upon seeing the message. Between January 1st and June
  5th of any year, the virus simply tries to spread itself, although
  not terribly successfully given its limitations.

  There's not much more I can say about this or any other virus,
  except that you should get Disinfectant 2.8 (or another anti-virus
  utility) and check your disks. Sigh.

  Information from:
    Gene Spafford -- [e-mail]


Tune-Up Notes
-------------
  Robert Hess writes, "Not that it matters, but System 7 Tune-Up is
  not just an extension. The first time you run it, it patches the
  System to fix the "disappearing files bug." Each boot after that,
  it checks the System to see if the patch needs to be re-applied
  (which would be the case if you reinstalled the System from
  scratch, thus losing the original patch); if not, it continues
  with the other RAM-only (INIT) patches. Therefore, even if you run
  WITHOUT the System 7 Tune-Up 1.1.1, you're still protected from
  the "disappearing files bug" if you have run with Tune Up 1.1.1
  installed at least once.

  Disclaimer: this info comes from a highly reliable and highly
  placed individual but, as far as I know, has not been publicly
  discussed or confirmed by Apple."

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


More Tune-Up INIT oddities
  Bo Holst-Christensen confirms Robert's notes above and adds some
  information that might help with some of the random problems that
  the occasional person has reported with Tune-Up 1.1.1. Bo claims
  that there are only four bytes different between 1.1 and 1.1.1
  (although changing the version number added six bytes to the size
  of the vers resource). Of these changes one byte was the fixed
  selection of the right Process Manager globals, one byte was a
  change of a flag in a call and the last two bytes were a change of
  ID number for the INIT that is put in the System file to prevent
  the missing folder problem.

  Tune-Up 1.1 installs an INIT ID 11 ("Tuna Helper") in the System
  file, and 1.1.1 installs an INIT with the same name and size, but
  with ID 13. The result is that your System file has two INITs that
  seemingly do the same thing. No one has confirmed any problem with
  a System file containing these two INITs, but if you have been
  experiencing any problems with Tune-Up 1.1.1, you might consider
  removing the first INIT ID 11. Bo notes that it would have been
  trivial to modify the installer script used by Tune-Up 1.1.1 to
  remove that INIT, so it's odd that Apple did not do just that.

  If you want to remove this INIT ID 11 from your System file, make
  a copy of the System and use ResEdit to delete the offending
  resource. Then drag the old System to the trash, make sure the new
  one is named "System" and resides in the System Folder, and
  reboot. As usual, do this at your own risk - we have no
  confirmation that this will make one whit of difference.

  Information from:
    Bo Holst-Christensen -- [e-mail]


NetWare for Macintosh & Tune-Up
  Henk Verhaar writes in regard to Geoff Bronner's warning (from
  TidBITS#119) about printing with LaserWriter 7.1.1 (included with
  System 7 Tune-Up 1.1 and 1.1.1). Henk notes that although users of
  NetWare for Macintosh 3.01 may indeed suffer the printing problem,
  he has not experienced any problems printing from LaserWriter
  7.1.1 to NetWare for Macintosh 2.x. Curious stuff.

  Information from:
    Henk Verhaar -- [e-mail]


FolderBolt/Disk First Aid Interaction
  Cecil Habermacher of Kent*Marsh sends along this extremely
  important technical note for users of Kent*Marsh's FolderBolt,
  Disk First Aid, and System 7 Tune-Up. If you know people who use
  FolderBolt and System 7, please make sure they know about this
  since it could save them the effort of backing up and reformatting
  their hard disks.

  The following technical notes cover interactions between
  FolderBolt, Disk First Aid, and System 7 Tune-Up 1.1 and 1.1.1.

  As part of the installation instructions for Apple's System 7
  Tune-Up version 1.1 and later, Apple advises users to examine
  their hard disks with version 7.0 or newer of Apple's Disk First
  Aid utility before proceeding. If Disk First Aid discovers
  problems or is unable to verify the disk successfully, Apple
  recommends that users backup and reformat their hard disks before
  proceeding with the installation. Before performing the Disk First
  Aid analysis, however, users of FolderBolt should use the
  FolderBolt Administrator to override their entire hard disk
  without a snapshot.

  As part of its normal operation, FolderBolt slightly modifies the
  catalog structure of the disk the first time any folder is locked
  on that particular disk. Due to these modifications, Disk First
  Aid will not be able to verify the disk. Thus, users of FolderBolt
  may be needlessly reformatting their disks.

  When the user overrides the entire disk without a snapshot,
  FolderBolt will undo all changes it has made to the disk's
  directory structure. Once the disk or disks are overridden, Disk
  First Aid can be used with confidence that any difficulties it
  encounters are not a result of FolderBolt's presence.

  If you have any questions, please refer to the FolderBolt User
  Guide. If the documentation doesn't answer your questions, please
  contact Kent*Marsh Customer Support for further assistance.

    AppleLink: KENT.MARSH or KML.SUPPORT
    America Online: KentMarsh
    CompuServe: 73730,274
    Internet: [e-mail]
    Phone: 713/522-LOCK -- Fax: [phone]
    Customer Support: 713/522-8906 -- BBS: 713/522-8921

  Information from:
    Cecil Habermacher -- Kent*Marsh


Another Round to Microsoft
--------------------------
  Last week Judge Vaughn Walker threw out a number of the issues in
  the long-standing suit between Apple and Microsoft. I don't feel
  that this is as important a decision as at least one article in
  the Wall Street Journal implied. That article used misleading and
  inaccurate phrases like "Windows is obtaining dominance in the
  computer market at the expense of Apple's Macintosh" and "the
  surprise ruling all but dashes Apple's chances." Let's look more
  closely at what really happened.

  This case is at its base a contract dispute, but it is important
  because it may be used as legal precedent in future cases
  involving look and feel. Apple claims that Microsoft infringed on
  Apple's visual interface with all the versions of Windows despite
  a license Apple granted to Microsoft early on for Windows 1.0. So
  at issue are 59 visual interface elements in Windows 3.0 (and
  presumably 3.1, although I haven't had a good look at it yet). Of
  those 59 visual elements, Judge Walker ruled that Apple failed to
  show that 26 had changed from their original use in Windows 1.0,
  at which point they were covered by that original license
  agreement. Of the remaining 33 visual elements, 10 were in dispute
  in Windows 2.03, and the judge ruled that Apple did not have
  exclusive rights to those 10 visual elements either.

  Throwing out those 36 visual elements still leaves 23 items in
  dispute, 23 items which include primarily visual elements used in
  the Windows File Manager and Program Manager (an inane separation
  of functions if I've ever seen one - but that's beside the point).
  Also still in question are the more sweeping uses of proportional
  fonts and color, although I'll be curious to see how Apple claims
  that they have a sole right to proportional fonts and color in
  graphical interfaces. Perhaps most important is the overall
  question of what's called "substantial similarity," which seems to
  mean: "Was Microsoft specifically trying to copy the Mac interface
  for Windows without explicitly licensing from Apple?" Those
  disputes are still to come and may be addressed in May.

  What surprises me primarily is not that this part of the ruling
  went in favor of Microsoft, but that all the analysts have been
  saying that they thought Apple would win the suit. I don't know
  enough about the issue legally to comment on that, although I did
  find it interesting that Microsoft's stock, which had dropped
  precipitously when Windows 3.1 shipped, rose quickly after this
  ruling (although I noticed that it dropped precipitously again
  today - proof that logic plays no part in the stock market). On
  the one hand, I don't think that Apple or anyone else should own
  the rights to basic elements of a graphical interface. On the
  other hand, if Microsoft is at fault for breaking a contract, they
  should pay for it and not get off scot free because the judge
  doesn't want to set legal precedent for owning visual displays.
  Actually, my overall reaction to this suit is complete and utter
  disgust. Both companies are spending millions of dollars (I've
  heard numbers like an estimated $50 million each) to argue about
  which one is a copycat. Gee, wouldn't it be nice if both Apple and
  Microsoft put some of that money where their respective mouths are
  - namely all that talk about the customer being the first
  priority? For starters, Microsoft could stop charging the
  ludicrous $129 for upgrades, or they could even dump a little
  money into 800 numbers for their tech support.

  (Adapted from the Dave Barry Calendar of the Day: If you have any
  questions whatsoever about Windows 3.1, you should call the
  special Windows Assistance Hotline Telephone Number and listen to
  the busy signal until you feel you have a better understanding of
  the situation.)

  Apple could give all the LaserWriter IIf and IIg owners memory
  upgrades like Apple UK did so that those printers could actually
  be useful. Or perhaps Apple could stop cutting corners on the low
  cost Macs. I'm sure there's lots of things we could think of for
  Apple to do with the money it would save from eliminating childish
  lawsuits.

  Information from:
    Pythaeus

  Related articles:
    Wall Street Journal -- 14-Apr-92


VideoSpigot Review
------------------
  by Jon Pugh -- [e-mail]

  I thought QuickTime was obviously cool when it first came out.
  It's hard not get all goggle-eyed when you first see movies
  running on a computer screen without any special hardware. Of
  course, like the joy of owning your first car, it fades with time
  and reality sets in. The questions of use and function comes to
  mind. Just what is QuickTime really good for? The two most obvious
  choices are entertainment and training. The big question then
  becomes how to make movies, since that requires additional
  hardware.

  Along came SuperMac with a digitizer board for the home and low-
  end market. For less than $500 you can get the Video Spigot in
  either a PDS version for the LC or a NuBus version for the Mac II
  family. This board is not intended as a board for doing full
  screen captures or real time video captures, but it does a great
  job of capturing video and making it into QuickTime movies in the
  common sizes that run on all the Macs. That means that you can
  make movies on your Macintosh.

  In addition, the VideoSpigot comes with Adobe Premier (for a
  limited time only). Adobe Premier alone costs as much as the price
  of the VideoSpigot (somewhere between $350 and $550 depending on
  the source), so the two together make an irresistible deal if you
  plan to have anything to do with QuickTime. Premier is the first
  full featured QuickTime editor to reach the market, and it has the
  ability to use some of Photoshop's modules, which makes it an
  incredibly powerful package. It also has 24 built-in transition
  effects, such as wipes and fades which make for very professional
  looking movies. You can even annotate your home movies if you are
  so inclined.

  I purchased the NuBus version of the VideoSpigot for home use in
  my Quadra 900. The board itself is simple to install with only a
  simple RCA jack on the back which can be connected to your VCR's
  dubbing output through standard cables. If you are going to do
  audio input you will need a sound digitizer, such as the
  MacRecorder or the audio input that comes with most new Macs. The
  VideoSpigot comes with an application called ScreenPlay, which
  must be used to control the board and capture the video. As of
  this time, SuperMac is testing their "vdig" QuickTime extension,
  which will allow any standard QuickTime-compatible application to
  record video off the VideoSpigot, but that isn't available yet, so
  we are stuck with ScreenPlay.

  ScreenPlay is a simple program with only a couple of buttons. The
  Live button allows you to watch whatever comes into the
  VideoSpigot. Next to that is a Record Button, labeled simply with
  a red circle. Clicking it causes the program to record video to
  disk. Clicking it with the option key down causes it to record to
  memory, which will allow greater speed, but for a limited time.
  Next is the stop button which is labeled simply with a blue
  square. Finally there is a cropping tool, which allows you to
  limit the area recorded or displayed. The only other item on the
  screen is the grow box which allows you to expand the window to
  one of three allowed sizes - small, medium, and large - where
  large is one quarter of Apple's 13" RGB monitor.

  ScreenPlay has a couple of options which you can set. You can
  adjust the color and hue with a couple of dubiously-labeled
  sliders. I found them very unclear in function and virtually
  useless, although I did wiggle them until my picture was
  sufficiently clear and about the right color. Later I realized
  that this is about the same thing I used to do with the color and
  tint dials on my TV before there was Automatic Fine Tuning. The
  preferences you can set allow you to set the disk for ScreenPlay
  to record to, turn the audio recording on or off, and modify the
  number of frames recorded per second.

  I have obtained quite decent results with the VideoSpigot. The
  movies come out quite large from ScreenPlay, but in Premier I
  significantly dropped their sizes by trimming off the ends and
  changing the sound quality from 22 KHz to 11 KHz. I can easily
  record at 15 frames per second on my Quadra, except at the large
  size I can only record 11 fps (frames per second). Your mileage
  may vary.

  My only complaint is that there appears to be a small black band
  on the side of my video. It appears on both the live picture and
  the recordings. I have not attempted to contact SuperMac about
  this, which shows it's not a very serious problem. I did get some
  great service from SuperMac though. When I bought my board it
  didn't work properly. I contacted SuperMac and went through a
  couple of gyrations of software double-checking before they drove
  someone out to my office with a replacement. Now it all works
  fine.

  The VideoSpigot and ScreenPlay can also make stills from the video
  source. You simply drag the picture and a still peels off of the
  screen. You can control the size as a preference. You either drag
  one the same size as the screen, the large screen size, or a full
  screen still. In order to capture full screen stills, you need a
  still video source. I haven't played with this feature much since
  you cannot get very good stills from a video source. Video signals
  are a much lower quality than a full screen computer image.
  Nevertheless, the ability to record a full screen image appeals to
  many people, and ScreenPlay provides it. I would personally use a
  digital still source for my attempts, except that my digital VCR
  is in another room and not connected to my Mac. Maybe someday.

  All in all, the VideoSpigot is the ideal home digitizer. It
  cheaply provides sufficient quality to enable you to completely
  fill all of your disk space with pointless QuickTime clips. If you
  are inclined, you can also use Premier to assemble your clips into
  an actual QuickTime movie. Go for it. You could be the next Steven
  Spielberg, assuming you can get Harrison Ford to star in your
  video.

    SuperMac -- 408/245-2202


Wicked Fast IIfx Retired
------------------------
  by Mark H. Anbinder -- TidBITS Contributing Editor

  Of all the changes to Apple's product lineup that took place on
  15-Apr-92, the quietest was the departure of the Macintosh IIfx.
  The high-end Macintosh II offering has never quite fit into the
  product line, thanks to some engineering oddities and, of course,
  the eventual appearance of the Quadra series.

  The IIfx remained on Apple's rolls this long probably because of
  its six NuBus slots as much as anything else. The initial '040
  compatibility problems probably helped, but many users had
  commented that the Quadra 900's five slots weren't up to the
  heaviest tasks, making the IIfx, the last six-slot Mac, an
  important member of the Mac team.

  When it was first introduced, the Mac IIfx was hailed as the
  "wicked fast" Macintosh by its fans within Apple. Its 40 MHz 68030
  processor was more than twice as fast as the 16 MHz version found
  in previously "top-of-the-line" IIx and IIcx machines, and Apple's
  engineers boosted performance even further through the use of
  ASIC, or application-specific integrated circuit, technology. This
  ASIC technology provided coprocessors to handle mundane system
  tasks such as disk and SCSI activity and serial port
  communications, freeing the '030 to concentrate on computing.

  Unfortunately, the IIfx created some compatibility problems with
  software that, contrary to Apple's recommendations, accessed
  hardware (such as serial ports or the disk controller) directly. A
  "IIfx Serial Switch" Control Panel alleviated the difficulties for
  applications and utilities that wanted to talk directly to the
  serial ports instead of working with the drivers, but other
  incompatibilities had to be ironed out by the application
  developers. Certainly this wasn't the fault of the IIfx, but the
  incompatibilities did leave a sour taste in many mouths, as did
  the special dual-ported memory and black SCSI terminator that
  _only_ the IIfx required. It also didn't help that the IIfx's
  much-touted Direct Memory Access (DMA) abilities were never
  supported by the system software, making them useless except in
  theory.

  The retirement of the IIfx leaves Apple with just two machines
  left in the five-year-old Macintosh II family: the IIci and IIsi,
  clocking in at 25 and 20 MHz, respectively. The Quadra 700 and
  900, and the expected 950, fill the shoes of the ex-"wicked fast"
  IIfx.

  Customers who still have the IIfx on order as of 15 April will
  have their orders filled, but Apple doesn't plan on taking further
  orders.


AppleShare Upgrade Offer Ends
-----------------------------
  by Mark H. Anbinder -- TidBITS Contributing Editor

  Apple has announced that its AppleShare 3.0 upgrade offer will be
  ending at the end of April. The offer, introduced last fall with
  the new version of the file server software, allows owners of
  previous versions to upgrade free or at a reduced price.

  The company plans to honor upgrade requests until 30-Apr-92, even
  though the offer was originally scheduled to end on 01-Apr-92.
  Upgrade coupons are available from dealers, or send the required
  information to:

    AppleShare Server 3.0 Upgrade
    Apple Computer, Inc.
    P.O. Box 59337
    Minneapolis, MN 55459-0037

  Customers who purchased AppleShare File Server 2.0 between 15-Oct-
  91 and 31-Dec-91 are entitled to a free upgrade. They should send
  their original, dated sales invoice, and their original Server
  Installer diskette, to the above address.

  Those who purchased the File Server software before 15-Oct-91 may
  upgrade by sending $299 for each upgrade, their original Server
  Installer diskette(s), and $7 for shipping and handling for each
  upgrade.

  Anyone who purchased _both_ File Server and Printer Server
  software before 15-Oct-91 may upgrade by sending $199 for each
  upgrade, their original File Server _and_ Printer Server Installer
  diskettes, and $7 for shipping and handling for each upgrade.


Reviews/20-Apr-92
-----------------

* MacWEEK
    Network SuperVisor 2.0 -- pg. 37
    ZOOM 2.55 -- pg. 37
    Applied Engineering QuadraLink -- pg. 40
    Silicon Valley Bus Co. MP-91 -- pg. 40
    GreatWorks 2.0 -- pg. 42

* BYTE
    Dayna NetMounter -- pg. 53
    StudioMaster Pro -- pg. 260

References:
    MacWEEK -- 13-Apr-92, Vol. 6, #15
    BYTE -- May-92


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