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[HEA]
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| || | | | / __ \ | | / \_/ \ | ___ \ | |
| || |__ ____ | | / / \ | | /\ /\ \ | | \ \ | |
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Lighting Your Apple II Path | |
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-----------------------------------
>>> WELCOME TO THE LAMP! <<<
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
THE BEST OF THE A2 BULLETIN BOARD ON Syndicomm Online
AND THE BEST OF THE DELPHI A2 AND A2PRO MESSAGE BOARDS
"Teaching the Apple II user how to fish since 1998"
::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
The Lamp! An Onipa'a Software Production Vol. 6, No. 9
::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
Publisher................................Ryan M. Suenaga, M.S.W., L.S.W.
Editor.....................................................Lyle Syverson
Internet Email, Publisher.........................thelamp@sheppyware.net
Internet Email, Editor................................lyle@FoxValley.net
::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
TABLE OF CONTENTS
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
September 15, 2003
HIGH ABOVE THE ROCK RIVER---------------------------------------------[OPN]
Don't Take Your Apple II for Granted
A2 FORUM AT Syndicomm Online (A2Central.com) DISTILLATIONS------------[DAS]
Marinetti 3.0beta------------------------------------------------[MTB]
Mystery of the Easter Egg in SIS---------------------------------[EES]
Colossal Cave, the Adventure Game--------------------------------[CCG]
GShisen Game ID 41137--------------------------------------------[GG4]
Silvern Castle Character Transfer Utility------------------------[SCT]
Silvern Castle v7.6 Soon to be Released--------------------------[SC7]
Installation of No Slot Clock------------------------------------[INS]
IIc+ Modifications-----------------------------------------------[TCM]
Juiced.GS Volume 8, Issue 3 Mailed-------------------------------[JGM]
Juiced.GS Readers Approve----------------------------------------[JRA]
SAM v1.8 Released------------------------------------------------[SMR]
Virtual ][ - OS X Emulator for 8-BIT A2--------------------------[VII]
ILLUMINATING THE LAMP-------------------------------------------------[ITL]
An overview of GEnieLamp A2 and The Lamp!
I am finally able to return to this column
ANNOUNCEMENTS FROM SYNDICOMM------------------------------------------[ANS]
To Sign up for Syndicomm Online----------------------------------[TSU]
"X-MailScanner" in Email Header----------------------------------[EMH]
Syndicomm Becomes Distributer for Ewen Wannop's A2 Products------[SBD]
Spectrum 2.5.3 Released; Available From Syndicomm----------------[SMR]
THE TINKERER'S CORNER-------------------------------------------------[TTC]
Syquest 44/88 Removable Media Drives
You are Invited
LETTERS TO THE EDITOR-------------------------------------------------[LTE]
No Letters to the Editor This Month
An Invitation
KFEST 2003------------------------------------------------------------[KFT]
Syndicomm Releases KansasFest 2003 Keynote DVD-------------------[SRK]
The Trip Home From KFest Can be a Real Adventure-----------------[ARA]
KFEST 2004------------------------------------------------------------[KFF]
KansasFest 2004--------------------------------------------------[KF4]
Watch for More Information at the KFest Home Page----------------[VKF]
EXTRA INNINGS
About The Lamp! ------------------------------------------------ [INN]
[*] [*] [*]
READING THE LAMP! The index system used by The Lamp! is designed to make
""""""""""""""""" your reading easier. To use this system, load this
issue into any word processor or text editor. In the index you will find
something like:
EXTRA INNINGS
About The Lamp! ------------------------------------------------ [INN]
To read this article, simply use your search or find command to locate
[INN]. There is a similar tag at the end of each article: [EOA].
[OPN]-------------------------------
HIGH ABOVE THE ROCK RIVER |
------------------------------------
From The Editor
"""""""""""""""
by Lyle Syverson <lyle@FoxValley.net>
Don't Take Your Apple II for Granted
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The view from High Above The Rock River was eerie at 10 PM on July 5.
The street lights were dark. The skyline of the city was visible only as a
black silhouette against a cloudy, dark gray sky.
Some sixteen hours earlier, at 4:15 AM, a violent thunderstorm had
hit. The meteorologists called the storm a microburst. A layer of cold
air suddenly falling through a layer of hot air near the ground...
producing very strong wind. The storm only lasted fifteen minutes. The
wind had toppled thousands of trees and torn branches from thousands more.
The trees and branches had taken down power lines in hundreds of places.
The power company repair crews, with the help of repair crews borrowed
from other utility companies, worked sixteen hour days for the next five
days in order to restore power to all.
During this time we were reminded how dependent on electricity we have
become. Gasoline could not be pumped. Stores built without windows could
not do business. Refrigerators and freezers were worthless. Restaurants
remained closed. Hundreds of thousands of dollars of food spoiled. And no
email or visits to Syndicomm via the Apple II!
A battery powered radio proved its value to keep up with messages from
the mayor, the police, the power company...
The local ice company did booming business. One of the hardware
stores sold portable power supplies as fast as they received them.
So don't take your Apple II (or your other computers) for granted.
[EOA]
ASCII ART BEGINS
_________ _ _ _
|__ __| | | | | | |
| | | | | | | |
| | | |___ ____ | | _____ __ ___ _ _ _____ | |
| | | ___ \ / __ \ | | /____ \ | v v | | v ___ \ | |
| | | | | | | /__\ \ | | ____| | | /\ /\ | | / \ \ | |
| | | | | | | _____| | | / ___ | | || || | | | | | |_|
| | | | | | | |_____ | |____ | |__| | | || || | | \___/ / _
|_| |_| |_| \______| |______| \____^_| |_||_||_| | |\____/ |_|
| |
| |
|_|
ASCII ART ENDS
[EOA]
[DAS]----------------------------------------------
DISTILLATIONS FROM The A2 FORUM at Syndicomm.com |
(A2Central.com) |
---------------------------------------------------
by Lyle Syverson <lyle@foxvalley.net>
[MTB]
MARINETTI 3.0beta
"""""""""""""""""
I've been happily installing Marinetti 3.0beta on several of the other GS's
I have at home and at school.
Using the MacIP link layer, and IPNR as the server, I've had 100% success
(on 4 GS's) getting excellent connections going. I had some DNS problems,
but those turned out to be unrelated to Marinetti and could safely be
blamed on the stupidity of the idiot typing in the settings. B-{)
Spectrum and TelnetNDA worked wonderfully.
These other systems have been pretty basic, and certainly don't have all
the goodies (NDA's, CDA's and such) that my main system has using the
LANceGS, and I'm in no hurry to try installing it there.
Give it a shot!
Kirk
(A2.KIRK, Cat 11, Top 15, Msg 58)
>>>>>
"""""
The 3.0b1 beta sure has been working well for me. Any problems I've had
can be clearly attributed to user or application error.
Eric "Sheppy" Shepherd sheppy@syndicomm.com
Owner, Syndicomm http://www.syndicomm.com
Building communities, bit by bit.
(SYNDICOMM, Cat 11, Top 15, Msg 59)
[EOA]
[EES]
MYSTERY OF THE EASTER EGG IN SIS
""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""
>> New Features in Spectrum Internet Suite 1.2 <<
You forgot to mention the Easter Egg ;-)
Ryan
(A2.RYAN, Cat 11, Top 36, Msg 8)
>>>>>
"""""
Officially, SIS does not have any Easter Eggs. The Easter Egg introduced
in SIS 1.1 was removed in the Open Source version. The supported Netscape
compatible Easter Eggs were updated as needed.
Every version of SIS has a unique quote for the about:foo page--SIS 1.2 has
a relevant KFest reference to celebrate its release at KFest this year. In
the early years of Netscape Navigator, every public beta and release would
have a new quote. Netscape's tradition has long been lost so SIS stepped
in to continue this bit of fun.
Geoff
(GEOFF, Cat 11, Top 36, Msg 9)
[EOA]
[CCG]
COLOSSAL CAVE, THE ADVENTURE GAME
"""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""
The original text-based Adventure game, dubbed Colossal Cave, has an
extensive support, history, discussion, and errata page at this URL:
http://www.rickadams.org/adventure/
Most appealing is the Downloads link, which features versions of Adventure
for Mac, DOS, Amiga, OS/2, and Unix. It can also be played with a web
browser at this URL:
http://sundae.triumf.ca/pub2/cave/node001.html
"You are in a twisty maze of passageways, all alike..." Can you say
"Xyzzy"?
-Ken
Category 14, Topic 1
Message 100 Thu Sep 04, 2003
KGAGNE [Ken] at 16:02 PDT
[OEA]
[GG4]
GShisen GAME ID 41137
"""""""""""""""""""""
I was playing a game of GShisen today and found this board to be lots of
fun. It was Game ID 41137. My time was 4:09, which is really good for me,
so the board seems to be pretty fast.
Let me know what your score was.
Good Luck.
Dain
(A2.DAIN, Cat 14, Top 6, Msg 22)
>>>>>
"""""
Dain:
I played the board you suggested, and you beat me by about 1 minute. I
logged a 5:05.
-- Max
(JUICEDGS, Cat 14, Top 6, Msg 23)
[EOA]
[SCT]
SILVERN CASTLE CHARACTER TRANSFER UTILITY
"""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""
Re: Character Transfer Utility
Anyone need the ability to transfer Silvern Castle character's between
rosters?
I'm finally about to write one. If anyone has any suggestions or would
like to see any other roster utilities (maybe an undelete option), let me
know.
-Jeff Fink
(FINKSTERJ, Cat 14, Top 7, Msg 128)
>>>>>
"""""
That sounds handy. :)
Anybody do any evil character editor utilities yet, for artificially
inflating your characters? I did that a lot as a kid. I wrote a neat
utility that would translate characters between Bard's Tale, Ultima II,
III, and IV, and some other game that doesn't occur to me right now. It
also let you edit their attributes. It was fun. :)
Eric "Sheppy" Shepherd sheppy@syndicomm.com
Owner, Syndicomm http://www.syndicomm.com
Building communities, bit by bit.
(SYNDICOMM, Cat 14, Top 7, Msg 129)
>>>>>
"""""
Of course something similar to that ruined my experience with Wizardy back
in the day. Transfer good:) Raising stats artificially bad.
IMHO of course.
Dain Neater
(A2.DAIN, Cat 14, Top 7, Msg 130)
>>>>>
"""""
I would occasionally boost stats just for the heck of it to see what
happened.
Also with some games, I simply could not get started because I would die so
easily, so I'd boost one or two characters a couple of levels so they would
last long enough to keep my party going.
Eric "Sheppy" Shepherd sheppy@syndicomm.com
Owner, Syndicomm http://www.syndicomm.com
Building communities, bit by bit.
(SYNDICOMM, Cat 14, Top 7, Msg 133)
>>>>>
"""""
Since Silvern's mostly AppleSoft BASIC, the ability to write an editor or
even changing variables on the fly while running Silvern makes changing
attributes easier than most RPGs.
Of course I have no plans on writing such a character utility.
Anybody stumble on the "secret" keypress to get to the AppleSoft prompt
from within Silvern? To be safe, try this in camp only to avoid possible
problems with open files. Warning: Once you're dropped at the AppleSoft
prompt you'll need a way to resume, type GOTO 2000 to return to the camp
main menu. Hint: It's a control keypress, however I bet it's one you
normally never ever use.
BTW, the "secret" keypress is NOT reset, even though that will get you to
BASIC too. Never hit reset (unless in camp), there may be open files that
could be damaged.
(FINKSTERJ, Cat 14, Top 7, Msg 131)
[EOA]
[SC7]
Silvern Castle v7.6 SOON TO BE RELEASED
"""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""
Re: Character Transfer Utility Update
This is now finished!
It has slick file browsing routine (requires 80 columns & mousetext - if
this config doesn't work for anybody let me know and I'll see what I can
do).
In addition to transferring characters between rosters, you can also
undelete characters accidentally deleted at the Adventurer's Guild.
I got some more things in mind. More complete details later when I have
the upcoming v7.6 update finished.
-Jeff
(FINKSTERJ, Cat 14, Top 7, Msg 134]
>>>>>
"""""
Notice of pending release of Silvern Castle v7.6
I'm planning on releasing the v7.6 update by the end of Sept 2003 with the
cool new character transfer & undelete utility.
What's a Silvern update without a bug fix? I found that my MacroSoft
conversion of my original AppleSoft sort routine to determine combat action
order missed a goto. The net effect made it appear you pressed <esc> to
redo your combat choices. After noticing I was "accidentally" pressing
<esc> I finally realize it was the sorter that was at fault. Anyway it's
now fixed.
-Jeff
(FINKSTERJ, Cat 14, Top 7, Msg 135)
[EOA]
[INS]
INSTALLATION OF NO SLOT CLOCK
"""""""""""""""""""""""""""""
I am going to put on my newbie hat here. How exactly does one install one
of these (No Slot Clock)? I had a IIe for years, but never had a clock of
any kind. I'm considering trying to start upgrading my Platinum IIe.
Thanks,
Dain
(A2.DAIN, Cat 17, Top 6, Msg 24)
>>>>>
"""""
It's relatively simple on the IIe, it goes between one of the ROM chips (CD
or EF, I think the latter but could be wrong) and the software will pretty
much go look for it in ProDOS.
Haven't installed one on a IIc or IIc Plus (I have an AE System CLock for
IIc hanging off my IIc Plus, thanks Carl), but it would only be as
difficult as opening one of these "closed" systems.
Ryan M. Suenaga, L.S.W. - Head Geek
Delivered by Spectrum v2.5.2 & SOAR v1.0b8
(A2.RYAN, Cat 17, Top 6, Msg 28)
[EOA]
[TCM]
IIc+ MODIFICATIONS
""""""""""""""""""
I just removed the 16mhz oscillator and installed a socket in my IIc+. I
was able to boot up with a 40mhz oscillator but not with a 42mhz. I'll try
faster SRAM and a faster processor if I have one.
I was wondering if anyone knew of any utilities for clocking 8 bit
machines?
Wayne
(WAYNES, Cat 17, Top 33, Msg 1)
>>>>>
"""""
It's the zip.sys.1.3.bxy archive that is the real Zip Technology 8 bit
control for the Zip stuff. I can get it to run on Bernie with the ZipGSx
accelerator emulation on. It only reports 4 MHz speed, however.
I can try it on an 8 MHz IIe or 4 MHz IIc Plus, but probably not until this
weekend.
Ryan
(A2.RYAN, Cat 17, Top 33, Msg 3)
>>>>>
"""""
Of course, it took me two weekends. . .
The Zip control only tops out at 4 MHz. Even running it on my 8 MHz Zip
Chipped IIe only gives me 4 MHz.
Sorry. . .
Ryan
(A2.RYAN, Cat 17, Top 33, Msg 4)
[EOA]
[JGM]
Juiced.GS Volume 8, Issue 3 Mailed
""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""
Volume 8, Issue 3 of Juiced.GS has been ordered and should be mailed to US
customers tomorrow. International subscribers' copies will go out next
week.
Eric "Sheppy" Shepherd sheppy@syndicomm.com
Owner, Syndicomm http://www.syndicomm.com
Building communities, bit by bit.
(SYNDICOMM, Cat 23, Top 2, Msg 462)
[EOA]
[JRA]
Juiced.GS READERS APPROVE
"""""""""""""""""""""""""
Wow!! The latest issue is great!!
I haven't had time to read it yet, but I looked through it quickly. I like
the milk carton.
Cindy
(CINDYADAMS, Cat 23, Top 2, Msg 464)
>>>>>
"""""
Moscow, Kansas just got it's copy of Juiced.GS
An excellent issue, Ryan!
I'm not sure how to take being referred to as a "Kook", but I suppose it's
safe being insulted. B-{)
Thanks for all your efforts!
Kirk
A2Central RTC Manager
(A2.KIRK, Cat 23, Top 2, Msg 472)
[EOA]
[SMR]
SAM v1.8 RELEASED
"""""""""""""""""
-- SAM Spectrum Automated Mailer --
SAM v1.8 has just been released and is available from the Syndicomm online
store.
To order a copy, go to http://store.syndicomm.com
SAM was recently updated to 1.7. This updated fixed a number of small bugs
that had been reported, and fixed a problem connecting to local IP
addresses such as to a Macintosh on a local network.
SAM 1.8 adds improved authentication for SMTP mail servers. The original
method of authenticating by a 'dummy read' to a linked POP3 server is now
optional, and a second method of full user name and password authentication
to the SMTP server itself can now be selected.
SAM can now send mail through SMTP servers that are not actually in the
domain you have logged into. For instance, you can now log in to your local
ISP, and then send mail through your Syndicomm account using its SMTP mail
server as a relay.
Those who are still using SAM 1.6 or earlier, or have problems using
specific SMTP servers, are now advised to update to SAM 1.8.
SAM only improves in function when I get feedback from users. Please
continue to ask for new features, and to report bugs or problems that you
may have found. Send mail to 'speccie' at 'btopenworld.com'.
Ewen Wannop - Speccie - Sat 6 Sep 2003 - 318 days till KFest '04
Delivered without using a IIgs by Spectrum v2.5.3 & SOAR 1.0b11
Setup: IIgs running at 95Mhz thanks to Bernie ][ the Rescue 3.0
http://www.ewannop.btinternet.co.uk/
(CONDUCTOR, Cat 26, Top 5, Msg 132)
[EOA]
[VII]
Virtual ][ - OS X EMULATOR FOR 8-BIT A2
"""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""
I have yet to do much with Virtual ][, but it's taking a different tact
from most other emulators. The CP/M emulation is an interesting feature
(even though I think that CP/M was banned as cruel and unusual punishment
in most countries).
Anyone give this one a whirl yet?
Ryan
(A2.RYAN, Cat 29, Top 26, Msg 1)
>>>>>
"""""
It seems to be an excellent 8-bit Apple II emulator. We did some testing
of Softdisk Supreme with it.
Eric "Sheppy" Shepherd sheppy@syndicomm.com
Owner, Syndicomm http://www.syndicomm.com
Building communities, bit by bit.
(SYNDICOMM, Cat 29, Top 26, Msg 3)
>>>>>
"""""
I wonder how much work it was to add the CP/M. It seems that's almost a
whole separate emulator. . . well, at least the Z80 CPU.
Ryan
(A2.RYAN, Cat 29, Top 26, Msg 4)
[EOA]
[ITL]------------------------
ILLUMINATING THE LAMP |
-----------------------------
An overview of GEnieLamp A2 and The Lamp!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
By Steven Weyhrich
I am finally able to return to this column, after a
longer-than-expected absence. And yet, despite the two months of silence,
I STILL don't have the promised continuation of my year-by-year review of
the Lamp publications. Since my last edition in the June issue, life has
been rather busy, and has dealt some turns that were not entirely expected.
I am not one to believe in coincidence or happenstance; my faith in
the Lord tells me that although I do not usually learn the REASONS for
events in life, I can trust that those events occur by His guidance. So, in
the space of the three months since I last was able to submit an article, I
have experienced the loss of my mother to cancer; my board recertification
exam in Family Practice (I've learned that I got a passing score); an
enjoyable week at KansasFest 2003 (my second attendance, the first being in
1994); an interesting repair experience with my PowerBook G4; the
subsequent reconstruction of lost data from that repair; and finally
recovery of data from my Palm Tungsten C device. In the midst of it all was
a VERY busy time seeing patients in my practice (which I share with twenty
other physicians, most of whom work at four other locations here in Omaha),
and dealing with the trials and joys of getting my two children back in
school again, in 8th and 9th grades respectively. And did I forget to
mention that I am the webmaster for two dog clubs with which my lovely wife
is involved?
All of this adds up to a busy time, which did not allow me sufficient
time to do the month-by-month review of GEnieLamp A2 for the year 1996.
Rather than leave our esteemed editor with yet another issue
containing no contributed information, I decided to just chat with you
about what happened to me. In the process, I will give some tips on what
you should and should NOT do with your Macintosh should it require
servicing, and a quick tip on the care and feeding of a Palm OS device. And
although not all of you may have a Macintosh or a Palm, the concepts still
apply.
POWERBOOK LIMBO
---------------
I want to first describe what happened to my primary computer, and
what YOU can do to prevent the same from happening to you.
Last September I was finally able to join the rest of my family in the
wireless realm, and purchased a Macintosh PowerBook G4 for myself. One by
one, first my wife, and then each of my two children (as they entered
junior high school) had a laptop computer (the rugged iBook series),
connected to the Internet with an Airport card to our base station. It left
ME with a quite adequate iMac on my desk, down in the basement, where the
printer and other digital hub equipment was hardwired in. But this also
meant that I was becoming more and more left out. The others could sit in
the same room and socialize while they were using their computers; I was
feeling left out. Well, not any longer! My savings for myself finally could
be used to rejoin the crowd.
The PowerBook G4 has been a GREAT little machine, with plenty of
horsepower for the purposes for which I use a computer. And Mac OS X has
been quite fun for me; I am learning that using the Unix command line in
the Terminal is a fun throw-back to my Apple II days, with the addition of
there being almost always something new to do and learn (the Mac OS X Hints
site, http://www.macosxhints.com, is a great place to pick up ways to use
the terminal do things underneath the GUI shell all Macs have used from the
beginning.)
But (there had to be a "but", didn't there?), I found a "little"
problem when I tried to boot up in Mac OS 9 in early August. An error
message popped up stating that there was some problem with the internal
cache. I ran the hardware diagnostic CD that accompanied the computer, and
it also indicated there was an error. (Interestingly, Mac OS X didn't seem
bothered by it, and did not flag any error on bootup). A call to Apple tech
support confirmed that there was a problem, and we started the process of
getting this fixed. "Whew!", I thought to myself. "I'm glad I discovered
this BEFORE the one year warranty on parts and labor expired. Maybe I'd
better invest in that AppleCare extended warranty after all." I had also
thought this might be a good idea when I found how expensive some of the
repair parts for a PowerBook can be, especially the LCD screen.
Now, I've had other small problems pop up on our laptops since we've
owned them, and am very familiar with the process. Apple sends out a box,
which I then use to ship back the computer being fixed. Typically, this
takes only a day or two, and it again appears on my doorstep. Also, though
I've backed up the ENTIRE hard drive for the iBooks, my PowerBook hard
drive is 40 gigabytes in size, and I have only a 30 gigabyte Firewire drive
to use for backup. They have NEVER lost any data from the computers we've
sent back (Apple offers a data-backup service, which I've always declined).
I reasoned that this was simply a logic board swap, and so they won't have
to mess with the hard drive. I backed up my Documents folder, as well as my
Sites folder (where I keep the web sites that I maintain, including my
Apple II History site and the two dog club sites, as well as all of my
History research files, pictures, etc.) I also backed up my
~/Users/steve/Library folder (as it holds all my e-mail and various
preferences for programs I've installed), the directory where I keep
install files I've downloaded that are not on CD, my Music, Pictures, and
Movie folders. This was, I believed, everything that I could not reproduce
easily if indeed something DID happen to the hard drive (which it was not
likely to do, right?) And off goes my PowerBook, to get fixed.
It was three days, and it had not yet shown up from Airborne Express.
I looked at the web site where I can track a repair. No computer mentioned
there. I called the AppleCare support line. Yes, they've received the
computer, but they do not have that logic board in stock, and it will be a
couple more days. So, just to keep them on their toes, I called back each
day after that, and was finding it more and more worrisome as the time
lengthened to a full week, then ten days. Now they are saying that they are
not able to get the 800 MHz logic boards at this time, and what they will
do (when they arrive from wherever it is that they are manufactured) is to
bump the speed up to the 867 MHz logic board. Oh, well that is just fine
with me, although a 67 MHz increase will likely not be noticeable.
Finally, though, I got the bombshell. They expect to have the
replacement logic boards in stock within two to three days, but when they
opened up my computer they found a brown substance on the board and several
other parts inside. I was puzzled about this at first, but their conclusion
was that something had been spilled on the computer, and this had leaked
down into the insides. Now, I don't know if they could PROVE that this was
the reason for this cache error message, but the result was this was no
longer an under-warranty repair. Instead, it was estimated to run about one
third of the cost of the computer when I purchased it to replace the main
logic board, the CD-RW drive, the modem, and anything else that had this
brown substance on it. I reluctantly gave them permission to do the repair.
After I thought it over, I did remember spilling a little of a diet
cola onto the keyboard almost a year ago, when it was just new. The
computer shut down at the time it happened, but when it dried off it worked
just fine. I had completely forgotten about the incident, and had taken
precautions to prevent it from happening again. Did the residue from this
spill eventually cause the cache error to occur? I'll never know for
certain, but it DID have the unexpected side effect of voiding some of my
warranty just as surely as if I had tried to repair it myself.
I thought it over further, and later in the day called back and asked
them to go ahead and do the hard drive backup, just in case they decided
that they had to replace the hard drive also. And two days later, I
received a box from Apple containing my repaired PowerBook. I removed it,
and started it up.
Greeting me was the generic just-installed Mac OS X 10.2 screen, with
a user of "Apple", instead of "Steve". I got this funny feeling in my
stomach and looked at the hard drive. Yep, mostly empty and definitely NOT
the way it was sent to them. I called back again (by now had the number
memorized), and was told that by the time they got my call asking for the
data backup to be done, the hard drive had already been replace or wiped or
something. In any case, my stuff was all gone.
Thank God for what I had backed up, right? Well, this was almost
correct. Unfortunately, I had NOT backed up my Applications folder, which
was quite large. This folder contained all of my Bernie ][ The Rescue disk
images, and other emulators and their files. This was a semi-major bummer;
much of those Bernie files were not necessarily irreplaceable, but it may
be time-consuming to recreate things the way I like them.
And, most annoying of all, I found that the macros that I had written
and/or recorded with Microsoft Office X:mac were not kept in the documents
folder, but right there in the Applications folder! Now I THINK I had known
this at some time in the past, but didn't think of it when I created my
backup before shipping off the PowerBook. So, I have an OLD copy of macros,
but will have to recreate most of the rest of them. And some of the newest
ones are gone completely, but thanks to Syndicomm.com, the suggestions on
how to create the macros are still there in the bulletin board (in the Mac
section).
Anyway, two weeks without a computer at all, and then another week or
more to reload, re-register, and recreate the hard drive the way I wanted
it to be did occupy a lot of what little time I had available. Thus, no
article.
POWERBOOK AFTERMATH
-------------------
So, the first lesson I'd like you to take away from this incident is
BACK UP whatever you think is going to be hard or impossible to reproduce.
The second lesson is to go through the software you use regularly, and
make sure that the good stuff that you have customized is actually IN what
you backed up.
The third lesson is to avoid pouring drinks (diet or otherwise) into
your computer. They may cause problems, even on a delayed basis.
PALMISTRY
---------
And just to be complete in today's care and feeding of magical devices
lesson, I learned (re-learned?) something about the Palm devices that I
once knew but had forgotten. This all-but-indispensable device holds all
kinds of useful information for me, including some old stuff back from my
Newton and Handspring Visor Deluxe days.
Well, the other evening, I was looking back over my old notes in the
Memo application, when I came across some of the old shortcut-dot commands.
These are special commands that do things that are not accessible to the
uninitiated, and are potentially harmful if you don't know what you are
doing. You make the shortcut symbol, followed by a period, and then a
number. "4" displays the user name and unique ID; "6" displays the ROM
version; and so on. I must have accidentally entered the "5" shortcut,
which erases the user configuration and hotsync log. In any case, one of my
Palm applications was suddenly asking for the registration code again, and
had nothing listed for a user ID (name). Grrrr.
Of course, I am away from my PowerBook, so I can't just fix it by
re-synchronizing right now. I didn't want to restore from the backup on my
SecureDigital card, since I'd done some work since I last backed up earlier
in the day (actually, I had done work on the article that I had WANTED to
submit this month!). Somehow, however, the synchronization process when I
did do it later did NOT resolve things; it was still not functioning
properly.
Okay, so I'll go ahead and restore from my backup on the card, and
then try to synch. Well, that worked for the dates and to-do list, but the
next day I looked for one of my memos, and found ALL of them gone. Good
grief, I've been doing this Palm stuff for nearly four years now, and have
never had this much problem with it.
So are ALL of my memos gone?? A quick look at the Palm User Data file
on my PowerBook showed all of the memos were still there. Synch again... no
luck. The memos show up on the Palm Desktop program as they should, but
will not appear on the Palm unit itself. I finally discovered that all of
the memos on the desktop computer had been put in the "None" folder, rather
than what it was supposed to be. So, I went through and fixed over 400
memos by putting them each in the correct folder, and THEN they would
synchronize as they were supposed to do.
Fourth lesson: Don't mess with the dot shortcuts on your Palm unless
you specifically KNOW what you are doing. Duh.
BUT WHAT ABOUT THE APPLE II??
-----------------------------
I do have about one third of the 1996 article's data compiled. If life
does not hand me any other unusual experiences, I will be able to get back
to the original reason for this series.
Steven Weyhrich
a2history@syndicomm.com
http://apple2history.org
[EOA]
[ANS]-------------------------------
ANNOUNCEMENTS FROM SYNDICOMM |
------------------------------------
by Lyle Syverson <lyle@foxvalley.net>
[TSU]
TO SIGN UP FOR SYNDICOMM ONLINE
"""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""
Please visit our web site at http://www.syndicomm.com for information or to
sign up!
(Logon message)
[EOA]
[EMH]
"X-MailScanner" IN EMAIL HEADER
"""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""
Quick announcement:
At some point during the current ongoing rash of Windows virii, someone
apparently decided to circulate a rumor that "X-MailScanner" appearing in
email headers is a good sign that a message contains a virus. While this
is apparently not true, some virus software is now apparently rejecting
email including that signature. To deal with this, we have changed our
spam filters to use "X-Syndicomm-MailScanner" when tagging spam instead.
If you have filters in your email program that look for this in the
headers, you may wish to update them.
Eric "Sheppy" Shepherd sheppy@syndicomm.com
Owner, Syndicomm http://www.syndicomm.com
Building communities, bit by bit.
(SYNDICOMM, HelpDesk BB, Cat 4, Top 7, Msg 1)
[EOA]
[SBD]
SYNDICOMM BECOMES DISTRIBUTOR FOR EWEN WANNOP'S APPLE II PRODUCTS
"""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""
August 17, 2003--Today Syndicomm(tm) announced that it has become a
distributor for Ewen Wannop's popular Spectrum telecommunications software,
as well as for his Spectrum Automated Mailer email software, the TABBS
Library Archive CD-ROM, and the Bernie ][ The Rescue Starter Kit CD-ROM.
These products are available now through Syndicomm's online store, at
http://store.syndicomm.com.
ABOUT SYNDICOMM
Syndicomm provides Syndicomm Online, a new online service for the best of
us, which is available both via telnet and a World Wide Web interface. In
addition, Syndicomm publishes and distributes software for classic
computers. Syndicomm is located in Maryville, Tennessee. Visit Syndicomm at
http://www.syndicomm.com.
PRESS CONTACT
Eric Shepherd - sheppy@syndicomm.com
(CSA2)
[EOA]
[SMR]
SPECTRUM 2.5.3 RELEASED; AVAILABLE FROM SYNDICOMM
"""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""
August 17, 2003--Written by British author Ewen Wannop, Spectrum is an
easy-to-use yet powerful and comprehensive IIGS desktop telecommunications
program that permits users to dial up a local BBS, an employer's remote
computer or to access the far reaches of cyberspace via a local Internet
Service Provider.
Spectrum is an expandable program that has grown far beyond its initial
scope. Through the use of Spectrum's External Commands and powerful
Scripting language, Spectrum add-on programs have been created that allow
users to automate online sessions to Syndicomm Online with SOAR (Spectrum
Offline Automated Reader), surf the world wide web with SIS (Spectrum
Internet Suite), or send and receive e-mail via SMTP and POP3 mail servers
with SAM (Spectrum Automated Mailer).
Spectrum is the only program for the Apple IIGS that has been updated to
provide support for Internet access via TCP/IP, thereby freeing Spectrum
v2.5.3 users from having to use an increasingly more difficult-to-find unix
shell account!
Spectrum v2.5.3 requires System 6.0.1. Highly recommended are a hard disk
drive and 4 megabytes of RAM.
Some of Spectrum 2.5.3's advanced features include:
* Improved script execution speed.
* Optimize scripts by compiling them.
* Spectrum 2.5.3 and the XCMDs are Y2K compliant.
* Optional Serial or TCP/IP environment.
* Fully Integrated support for Marinetti 2.0.
* Integrated multi-socket Telnet function.
* Up to 32 simultaneous open TCP/IP connections.
* View HTML files directly from within Spectrum.
* Enhanced !Help! NDA includes Find function.
* Internal support for Babelfish Import and Export.
* Spectrum 2.5.3 supports the Hierarchic Control Panel.
* Updated Spectrum Port driver.
* 57600 baud connections using Bernie ][ the Rescue.
* More than 50 new or updated script commands.
* More than 30 new replacement items.
* Many enhanced and updated XCMDs:
+ The BinHQX XCMD now includes:
+ BinSCII encoding and decoding.
+ BinHex 4.0 encoding and decoding.
+ MIME Base 64 multipart encoding and decoding.
+ UUencode encoding and decoding.
* Enhanced WorkBench XCMD replaces the ResEdit XCMD:
+ Access and edit resource forks.
+ Make MessageCenter and IPC calls.
+ Make Toolbox & GS/OS calls.
+ Peek and Poke.
* The Spectrum manuals are now supplied in Teach format.
* CD version has the manuals in Acrobat PDF format.
* CD version includes a complimentary copy of SAM.
The cost of Spectrum v2.5.3 is $30, and first time buyers can purchase the
complete Spectrum package by credit card, on either 3.5" disk or CD-ROM,
from Syndicomm, located at:
http://store.syndicomm.com
If you own Spectrum 2.2 through 2.5.2, you can upgrade to version 2.5.3 for
$5 through the online store. If you own a previous version of Spectrum,
the upgrade price is $20; please contact Syndicomm at orders@syndicomm.com.
Questions about Spectrum? Contact the author at:
- speccie at btopneworld dot com -
PRESS CONTACT
Eric Shepherd - sheppy@syndicomm.com
(CSA2)
[EOA]
[TTC]-------------------------------
THE TINKERER'S CORNER |
------------------------------------
By Lyle Syverson <lyle@foxvalley.net>
Syquest 44/88 Removable Media Drives
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
About the Syquest 44/88 Drives
''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''
1. Media is 5 1/4", 44MB or 88MB capacity
2. First drives were read/write 44MB only.
3. Then came the read/write 88MB only.
4. Then came the read/write 44 and 88MB.
5. Drives are SCSI.
6. Available on used market only.
Possible Uses for These Drives
''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''
1. Backing up data.
2. Exchanging data between computers.
3. Could be used in place of a hard drive.
4. More than one version of a boot disk for a given computer... a "lean and
mean" boot disk for use with Marinetti, for example.
A Novel Project
'''''''''''''''
Sometimes the Tinkerer gets carried away and creates something to meet a
challenge... even if not very practical. :)
1. Prepare a Syquest media disk with one ProDOS partition and one HFS
partition.
2. Install System 6.0.1 (or ProDOS 8) on the ProDOS partition plus A2
applications.
3. Install Mac system software, including for the IIe card on the HFS
partition.
This disk can be carried back and forth between the Apple II and the Mac...
boot either computer... and you can work with the same Apple II files and
applications with either computer. :)
Redundancy
''''''''''
Since these drives and media are getting old, you might want to own two or
more drives so that if one breaks down you can still read the data on your
media. It would be wise to work out a rotation plan so that you have two
copies of all your backup data in case one of the media units should fail.
What you will need
''''''''''''''''''
1. One or more of the drives.
2. One or more units of media.
3. SCSI card for the Apple II.
4. Suitable SCSI cable.
Rules of the SCSI Chain
'''''''''''''''''''''''
See The Tinkerer's Corner in the August 2002 issue of _The Lamp!_
(TLMP0208) for information on the SCSI chain.
Where to Get What You Need
''''''''''''''''''''''''''
1. Thrift stores.
2. Garage sales.
3. Usenet... comp.sys.apple2.marketplace
4. The Mac forum on Syndicomm
5. LEM-Swap list <http://lowendmac.com/lists/swap.html>
6. Alltech Electronics <http://www.allelec.com/indexa2.html">
8. Other World Computer <http://www.macsales.com/">
9. Mac-Res-Q <http:/www.macresq.com> or call 1-888-447-3728
[EOA]
YOU ARE INVITED
"""""""""""""""
You are invited to submit your favorite Tinkerer's Project for the Apple II
computers.
Send your write up or idea to Lyle Syverson, Editor <lyle@FoxValley.net>
The Editor reserves the right to edit any material submitted.
The Editor reserves the right to reject any material he considers
unsuitable for publication in _The Lamp!_.
[EOA]
[LTE]-------------------------------
LETTERS TO THE EDITOR |
------------------------------------
NO LETTERS TO THE EDITOR THIS MONTH
"""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""
The mail box for Letters to the Editor remained empty this month.
[EOA]
AN INVITATION
~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Express your opinions about the comings and goings in the world of the
Apple II computers.
Send your comments to Lyle Syverson, Editor <lyle@FoxValley.net>
The Editor reserves the right to edit any material submitted.
The Editor reserves the right to reject any material he considers
unsuitable for publication in _The Lamp!_.
[EOA]
[KFT]------------------------------
KFest 2003 |
-----------------------------------
[SRK]
SYNDICOMM RELEASES KANSASFEST 2003 KEYNOTE DVD
""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""
September 4, 2003--Syndicomm has released the KansasFest 2003 Keynote DVD,
a two-hour video DVD of the keynote address given by Steve Wozniak at
KansasFest 2003. Replete with fascinating and often hilarious tales of
Woz's childhood, his college years, and the early days at Apple, this DVD
provides great insight into the inventor of the Apple II and the co-founder
of Apple Computer, Inc.
The DVD comes in a standard DVD case, and the disc has 30 chapters so you
can quickly and easily zip to your favorite anecdote or story. The DVD
sells for just $10 plus shipping and handling, and is available through
Syndicomm's online store at http://store.syndicomm.com.
ABOUT SYNDICOMM
Syndicomm provides Syndicomm Online, a new online service for the best of
us, which is available both via telnet and a World Wide Web interface. In
addition, Syndicomm publishes and distributes software for classic
computers, and publishes Juiced.GS, the last print magazine for Apple II
computer users. Syndicomm is located in Maryville, Tennessee. Visit
Syndicomm at http://www.syndicomm.com.
PRESS CONTACT
Eric Shepherd - sheppy@syndicomm.com
(KFest Mailing List)
[EOA]
[ARA]
THE TRIP HOME FROM KFest CAN BE A REAL ADVENTURE
""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""
Sunday morning: Tony and others told Toni and I that there was a WalMart
not far from Avila traveling east on the interstate.
We failed to find it.
The second suggestion was Cabela's, a new sports and holiday mall on the
way to the airport. Greg - was that your idea?
Sunday noon: This time we made it and found some gifts for my kids and for
Toni's family... (and cheap HotDogs). We had quite some fun because it was
a nicely designed shop. And it was crowded. That's very different than in
Germany. Although there is a strong demand from industry, church and
government still succeed in keeping Sundays quieter than the other days by
not allowing shops to open (except gas stations, restaurants, cinemas and
some others). This sunday, America changed my mind. I am one of those
people who criticize the law that limits the opening time in Germany.
I will be fighting to keep Sunday quiet in the future.
The second thing I learned at Cabela's was, that it's not good to be a fish
in the US. You will see why, when you see the picture.
We went to the airport to check in our luggage (and get our "A"-group
boarding ticket from Southwest). There was plenty of time so we did not
return the car right away. We finally found a WalMart and worked our way
through our wish list.
We returned the car after that and went through the security check where
they turned Toni almost upside down. This starts a small "side" story:
I was told, that Americans are "politically correct" and that this could
be interpreted as "a touch can have the same consequences as rape" (or
is that only prejudice?). So how does a security officer look through
Toni's clothes while being politically correct? He had to explain every
move like "I am now having to touch the side of your trousers with the
back of my left hand", which I had to translate to Toni because he
couldn't imagine what the officer was worried about. (The officer was
just waiting for an "OK"). This situation seemed to me to be somehow
absurd. The place where I would have imagined such a dialog taking place
would be in a closed, medical examination room, where drug couriers who
swallowed the forbidden stuff, having been caught, are being examined
very "closely". But what I saw was right beside the X-ray machine in the
midst of LOTS of people at the airport... and except for his shoes, Toni
didn't have to take off any of his clothes. I explained to the officer
that we were from Germany and that it is not usual over there to be put
in jail for a wrong word or touch.
End of "side story".
As some of you also experienced we became victims of the bad weather over
.... (put some major cities here) which delayed our machine. The first
delay was the missing plane (45 minutes). I talked to a young lady at the
Southwest counter who really had panic in her eyes watching the queue of
nervous people getting longer and longer. I told her that I could see
problems with our connecting flight to Europe (we had a tight time table)
but she said she couldn't do much about it, we should ask a taxi driver in
Chicago to drive a bit faster to get to the plane. That's a typical
Southwest Airlines answer, isn't it?
NIGHT IN CHICAGO
Sunday evening:
After the plane finally arrived, the same woman had to make an
announcement: The crew for the flight was delayed even more, and they will
try to find another crew, which will take another hour. I returned to the
counter where the lady was even closer to collapse... but her colleague was
VERY helpful. He rebooked our flight to Europe to the next day and gave us
hotel and food vouchers. That was something that I would have expected when
flying an expensive airline, not an economy flight. These people were VERY
helpful. Fly Southwest! (At least I will sometimes)
So we spent an unexpected night in Chicago. I had to return to my office on
Tuesday, which at that point had become impossible. I wanted to send an
eMail to my company and the hotel manager offered the use of a WIndows PC
with internet access which they provide for company meetings etc. free of
charge. The dial-up internet connection didn't work and I was told that
this is due to the weather. (I think it was more likely due to the
combination of Dell, AOL and Microsoft XP). Could someone please tell the
Avila people that I enjoyed their rooms very much, not really because of
the bed, but because of the easy and FAST AND WORKING internet access.
In our hotel I decided to use a public phone to call my mother and ask her
to send the mail. In German we call this a "Medienbruch" which means "break
in media".
While making the phone call I learned that one can no longer use coins (I
had lots of quarters) to make international calls. The second thing I
learned was that they do not accept VISA cards issued by non-US banks. It
was hard to find that out because the voice-computer interrupted typing of
my CC number with an inappropriate message like "you typed too fast" or
something like that.
Finally I managed to get my messages through and Toni suggested having a
beer somewhere outside (around midnight). The temperature was very pleasant
and the thunderstorms were gone so we took a walk and returned safe. That
was a night in Chicago, a town that didn't meet my expectations at all in a
positive way!
Monday:
The next morning we woke up late so we had to hurry to leave the room in
time.
Our airline, SAS, was great and we got our tickets very fast and without
any problems. The external 143 K 5,25" disk drive made the security people
unpack and repack my suitcase but this was the only problem we had. Last
year a friend told me that United Airlines messed up everyone's timing with
their disorganized and exaggerated security. The Chicago airport was still
not "user friendly" because it took too long to get to the gates.
We were flying home, changed planes again in Sweden and returned to
Frankfurt. We took a Taxi to get to Toni's car which he had parked in a
small town close to the airport. Remember what I wrote about Chicago: No
problems, no soliciting, no unfriendly people, even no graffiti on the
walls or the trains.
What happened to our parked car near Frankfurt? Two of our tires were
damaged! Of course we had one spare tire, but that was only half of the
solution. Beside being very tired (Toni can't sleep on airplanes) we became
very angry because we lost some more time. Maybe this corrects your picture
of a peaceful and crime free Germany... like the recent trip corrected my
picture of Chicago.
Another thing I learned at KFest beside the computer stuff was that every
one of you I met at KFest was not what we call a "typical American" over
here: Knowing all US presidents but knowing nothing about foreign
countries. Jim especially impressed me by knowing much more about European
history then I ever knew. Although I got the impression that some of you
don't like the political talks with him, I felt very comfortable (while not
sharing his opinion in all subjects or being equally interested in
historical issues because I always preferred being creative with computers
or music). But now you see why I am so close to Jim: I write even longer
than he talks ;-)
Thank you all for making this trip such a positive experience and excuse my
errors!
Pictures and videoclips are almost finished and I will let you know where
to find them.
I promise that no mail in the next 12 months will be as long as any of the
last 4.
Feel free to contact me if I can be of help planning a trip to Europe.
Marcus
M.Staender, from Unna, Germany
eMail-Address
M.Staender @ t-online.de
(KFest Mailing List)
[EOA]
[KFF]------------------------------
KFest 2004 |
-----------------------------------
[KF4]
KansasFest 2004
"""""""""""""""
KansasFest 2004 is planned for July 20-25, 2004 at Avila University in
Kansas City, Missouri.
(Heading: Cat 5, Top 22)
[EOA]
[VKF]
WATCH FOR MORE INFORMATION AT THE KFest HOME PAGE
"""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""
KFest Home Page
http://www.kfest.org/
[EOA]
[INN]------------------------------
EXTRA INNINGS |
-----------------------------------
About The Lamp! The Lamp! is published on the fifteenth of every month on
""""""""""""""" the WEB at: http://lamp.a2central.com/
This publication produced entirely with real or emulated Apple II computers
using Appleworks 5.1 and Hermes. Apple II Forever!
* The Lamp! is (c) copyright 2003 by Ryan M. Suenaga, M.S.W. All
rights reserved.
* To reach The Lamp! on Internet email send mail to
thelamp@sheppyware.net
* All issues of The Lamp! are available at The Lamp! Home Page,
http://lamp.a2central.com/
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
Opinions expressed herein are those of the individual authors, and do not
necessarily represent the opinions of A2Central.com, Delphi Online
Services, Syndicomm, Ryan M. Suenaga, or Lyle Syverson. Forum messages are
reprinted verbatim and are included in this publication with permission
from the individual authors. A2Central.com, Delphi Online Services,
Syndicomm, Ryan M. Suenaga, and Lyle Syverson do not guarantee the accuracy
or suitability of any information included herein. We reserve the right to
edit all letters and copy.
Material published in this edition may not be reprinted without the
expressed written consent of the publisher. Registered computer user
groups, not for profit publications , and other interested parties may
write the publisher to apply for permission to reprint any or all material.
<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<
[EOF]