Jaques Law Bits 9602 (© Kevin Jaques 1996) ©(c)1996 Kevin Jaques. All rights reserved excepting that this file may be copied for non-commercial purposes, unchanged. No warranties apply. I am just a user volunteering my observations. €Macsbug tips page, contributions welcome: http://www.scruznet.com/~crawford/Computers/macsbug.html €You might try using MrPrefman, as small app by Quinn designed for lab situations where different people use the same machine(s) and will give each a set of preference files and an easy way to switch between them. It might also be useful if you use more than one ISPs. The file is very small. €From: "C.V. Rao" > what's the length limit on a LocalTalk PhoneNet-type network? Here is a chart from Farallon's Guide 22 guage 24 guage 26 guage Max Nodes Daisy Chain n/a n/a 1800 ft 24 backbone 4500 ft 3000 ft 1800 ft 48 passivestar (4) 1125 ft 750 ft 450 ft 12 (each branch) They of course assume that all the connectors and crimps are of good quality, everything is properly terminated and twisted pair cable is being used. C.V.Rao C.V Rao Consultants €>>"Intuit now feels that the >>Macintosh is no longer a viable platform and that they believe that it >>won't be around much longer". In my shock, I said "Do you really >>believe this to be true?". In reply she said "I think we will be >>phasing out our entire Mac line in the near future". €RAM Doubler 1.6.2 Updater** -- Connectix has released RAM Doubler 1.62, which fixes problems that occur under System 7.5.3 with 68K-based PowerBooks, some 68040 systems, and PCI Power Macs running SoftWindows. RAM Doubler 1.6.2 also addresses problems with Iomega Jaz/Zip driver 4.3, Photoshop 3.0.5, and Retrospect 3.0. You can find the updater and more detailed information on Connectix's Web site. Note that the RAM Doubler 1.6.2A updater is a maintenance release of the updater application, not RAM Doubler itself, which remains at verson 1.6.2. [GD] €Last month, Aladdin Systems released version 4.0 of the venerable StuffIt DeluxeŠ **New Features** -- Most of StuffIt's new features come from the True Finder Integration (TFI) control panel, which helps you manage the TFI extensions that do the work. TFI ships with three extensions: Magic Menu, Archive via Rename, and StuffIt Browser. Magic Menu works much like the Magic Menu control panel did in previous versions of StuffIt Deluxe, installing a menu in the Finder's menubar that provides access to compression and expansion capabilities. New to Magic Menu in StuffIt Deluxe 4.0 is integration with Eudora so you can select a file in the Finder and choose Mail or Stuff and Mail from Magic Menu to create a new message in Eudora and attach the file to it. Archive via Rename has been present in previous versions of StuffIt, but now works through TFI. Archive via Rename enables you to create a StuffIt archive or a self-extracting archive of a file by adding .sit or .sea to the end of the file's name. Similarly, you can expand a file by removing the .sit or .sea extension from its name. I use this feature on StuffIt archives people send me in email, since Eudora debinhexes by default but doesn't automatically expand compressed files. Deleting the filename extension is a good way of expanding the file and deleting the original archive. I'd like to see Archive via Rename work with BinHex files as well. The final TFI extension is the most interesting. Called StuffIt Browser, it enables you to work with StuffIt archives directly in the Finder rather than waiting for the StuffIt Deluxe application to open. If you double-click a StuffIt archive while StuffIt Browser is loaded, the archive opens in a Finder-like window marked with a little StuffIt icon in the upper left corner. Dragging one or more files into the window stuffs them, and dragging files out of the window expands them. Make sure to read the Network Users Read Me file that talks about problems with multiple people working on the same archive at the same time. The drawback to the True Finder Integration features of StuffIt Deluxe 4.0 is that they are extensions, so it's more likely that run into a conflict with other extensions or control panels. If you're bothered by extensions modifying your system, stick to DropStuff and StuffIt Expander, which are applications and less likely to conflict with anything. The final new part of StuffIt Deluxe is a droplet application called DropSegment that works much like DropStuff and StuffIt Expander. Dropping a StuffIt archive on DropSegment enables you to make a multi-segment, self-joining, self-extracting archive, which is useful for copying huge archives to floppy disks. In the past, you had to work through the StuffIt Deluxe application to segment archives, which was more of a pain. **Enhanced Features** -- StuffIt SpaceSaver, which provides transparent compression by compressing files during idle time and then expanding them when you open them, now has a "tag icon" feature that places a small tag on icons of compressed files. This feature makes it easier to tell which files have been compressed. Transparent compression utilities, which were extremely popular when they first came out three years ago or so, have waned in popularity as the cost of large hard disks dropped. If you can afford the larger hard disk, it's still a better solution than using a transparent compression utility. The StuffIt Deluxe application hasn't changed much outwardly, but Aladdin claims speed increases of up to 20 percent in stuffing files and up to 50 percent when expanding many compression formats. In addition, Aladdin has improved the scripting significantly and added a Scripts menu with a built-in recorder for OSA scripts. Also included with the StuffIt Deluxe package is Aladdin's StuffIt Expander for Windows, which is great for people who have to use PCs but work primarily with Macs and Macintosh files. StuffIt Expander for Windows can expand files in the following formats: StuffIt (.sit), ZIP (.zip), uuencoded (.uue), BinHex (.hqx), MacBinary (.bin), ARC (.arc), Arj (.arj), and gzip (.gz). It can also expand self-extracting archives created by StuffIt, ZIP, and Arj. **StuffIt Details** -- StuffIt Deluxe 4.0 retails for $129.95, and registered users can upgrade directly through Aladdin for $29.95 through 01-Jul-96. The shareware DropStuff 4.0 and the freeware StuffIt Expander 4.0.1 are also available at the Aladdin sites below and at Info-Mac mirrors. **InstallerMaker 3.0** -- At WWDC, Aladdin also released version 3.0 of InstallerMaker, which makes it easy to create customized installers and relies on StuffIt compression technology. InstallerMaker 3.0 adds scripting support, better compression, an uninstall capability, resource compression, resource installation, unlimited custom destinations for files, support for moving, copying, or renaming any file, and finally support for up to 128 packages rather than the previous limit of 16. A demo is available at the URL below. €The "Personal Computer Satisfaction" study from Evans Research finds that users that use both Macintosh and Windows 95 PCs rate the Macintosh higher in user productivity, overall satisfaction, ease of use, creativity, and other key areas. This study of "Dual Users" is significant since it eliminates the bias of studies that compare Mac users against Windows users in arbitrary tests. Since dual users use both systems, they can give an informed and unbiased comparison. Details of the study: Dual users were asked to rate both their Mac System 7.5 and Windows 95 systems systems on a 1 to 10 scale, with 10 being excellent. The following are the percentage of dual users rating the respective systems from 8 to 10: Mac-System 7.5 Windows 95 PC Overall satisfaction 60% 41% Overall productivity 59% 42% Overall ease of use 78% 37% Graphics and publishing 85% 27% Multimedia 71% 36% Ease of learning 78% 29% Ease of connecting peripherals 74% 39% Ease of setup and installation 69% 33% Ease of connecting to a LAN 62% 42% Ease of trouble-shooting 41% 21% Running educational software 46% 32% When users were asked to pick the best system, they chose the systems in the following percentages: "Which system is more enjoyable to use?" Macintosh 52% Windows 95 PC 39% No preference 9% "Which system allows you to be more creative?" Macintosh 53% Windows 95 PC 27% No preference 20% "Which system is more stable?" Macintosh 58% Windows 95 PC 29% No preference 13% The dual users used the systems in business, home, and education environments. The study was performed by Evans Research Associates, an independent marketing research firm established in 1975 and located in San Francisco, California. €Applescript to rename a selected file: tell app "finder" set x to (the selection) as list if length of x is not 1 then error "only select one item at a time" set name of x to "new name" end tell €Applescript timeout prevention: Whereever you use the 'tell' statement with functions/commands that may take more than 60 seconds to complete, you need to enclose the commands or the tell statement inside a timeout statement. with timeout 180 seconds tell finderlib stuff end end timeout €>How do you script the hide fuction of specific applications in the App >Menu? 1. use the finder. tell app "finder" set visible of process "name of application" to false set visible of every process whose creator type is "FMP3" to false end ** note: there *must* be another visible process before you send this command. If not, the Finder will return an error. 2. use the Application Menu osax hide front application €>Is there an applescript that would tell the mac (system 7.5 -> >7.5.3) to rebuild the desktop on reboot. I have 19 macs in a >lab, to have to sit and hold the option command keys down, is >a very time consuming job. if you only have one hard disk on each of the Macs, it's relatively simple. You'll need Jon's Commands though. deleteFile ((path to startup disk as string) & "Desktop") -- if you have Easy Open installed... deleteFile ((path to startup disk as string) & "Desktop DB") deleteFile ((path to startup disk as string) & "Desktop DF") tell app "finder" to restart Gregory Charles Rivers G&B Computers Limited, Hong Kong P.O. Box 700, Tai Po, Hong Kong email Ph: (852) 26658199 * Fax: (852) 26614679 AppleScript scripter of the following apps: Scriptable Finder, Informed Manager, FileMaker Pro, Eudora, FaceSpan, Script Debugger, Anarchie, FAXstf, StuffIt Deluxe, Retrospect, Excel €How to set Logical End of File after 'write' text is always written to the beginning of a file when the file is first opened. eg: set f to (open for access file "path" with write permission) write "some text" to f starting at (get eof of f) + 1 close access f €Opening password protected files with AppleScript: open alias "path" with password "my password" €An Applescript alternative where application name might change: Use application type. tell app "Finder" set x to (application id "Fooo") as alias end set x to application x -- to get a proper application reference tell application "YourCopyOfAppFooo" tell x -- real AppleScript code here end end This is by far the best solution I've seen yet, although it is dependant on the scriptable Finder. €how to subscribe to the Info-Mac Digest? TIA. The pointer to this (and lots of other Mac-oriented mail lists) has been availble on for a while... €Something less vague than usual on openDoc: From: "David McCusker" To: Subscribers to Subject: Java and OpenDoc (lame thread/MS bashing) My thesis in this post is that Java and OpenDoc are largely complementary, and that they are therefore not direct competitors (and so no amount of Java hype implies a lack of OpenDoc relevance). Specifics follow below, but my remarks are at a high level that does not address runtime details. I might be responding to some of Luc's sentences out of context, but these sentences did not seem closely coupled with the surrounding rhetoric. Luc Dubois (ldubois@syndetics.be) writes: : > [ Richard B. "Brad" Hutchings (hsd@earthlink.net) writes: ] : > [ responding to criticisms of MS 90+ % market dominance goals ] : > Or, just maybe, as fast as Microsoft has risen to the top, they might : > fall to the bottom as their OS becomes irrelevant, and OpenDoc parts : > replace their "feature-rich" (read "bloated") applications. : : I don't understand the above reasoning. OpenDoc is a Macintosh-only : technology, right? Java is the hottest thing in town, right? OpenDoc might be furthest along now on the Mac, but IBM is implementing OpenDoc on Windows, OS/2, and AIX. The Windows port is arguably the furthest behind, but as others have pointed out, IBM is announcing an advance version for Windows this month. OpenDoc is a cross-platform technology becoming more cross-platform all the time. Java is also a cross-platform technology, but it does not compete with OpenDoc. Together they have the potential to complete the object-oriented equation: objects = state + behavior, where OpenDoc provides the state and Java provides the behavior. OpenDoc emphasises a doc-centric model and supports documents whose content is platform neutral, vendor neutral, and editor (executable) neutral. The content of a part in a document is intended work independently of platforms, vendors, or editors in order to give users maximum freedom in purchasing software, composing documents, moving documents between locations, and using tools that manipulate document content. Java emphasises a code-centric model and supports executables that are platform and vendor neutral. Java code is intended to work independently of vendor or execution platform in order to give users maximum freedom in downloading code to be executed in different contexts. However, Java is weak on the cross-platform document storage side, and this makes OpenDoc a natural complement. For example, Sun is now defining object serialization standards that allow objects to be serialized to and from byte streams. But this does not specify where the streams live nor how they relate to each other. Whereas OpenDoc documents have a natural structure for organizing streams and establishing stream relationships. €An unusually well documented Netscape complaint: From: pacug To: Subscribers to Subject: Memory Leaks I am experiencing serious memory leakage with Internet Apps on my new PowerMac 7200/75. I have 40MB RAM and do not run Virtual Memory or RAMDoubler. Memory Manager is on. System 7.5.3 Revision 2, OT. I'm hooked to the net via ethernet and a T-1. I can start up have 33MB of free RAM run Photoshop, which I have partitioned to 30MB, quit that and still have about 33MB free RAM. When I run Netscape (15MB partition) or Claris Emailer (2.5 MB partition) and then quit I usually end up with about 20MB free ram, usually anywhere from 13-15MB of RAM dissapear somewhere. The one suggestion I got from Ogrady's PowerPage (http://ogrady.org/) was to try MacOSPurge, but this program only recovers 400-500K of RAM. It is at the point that if I ever want to do anything after running Netscape I have to restart. €An unusually cogent reply to Netscape Complaint: From: Will Mayall To: Subscribers to Subject: Re: Memory Leaks This is very likely related to a default setting in Open Transport. = You might want to try turning off the "Load only when needed" OT = option. Open Transport has an entirely different memory management = architecture as compared to classic networking in preparation for = Copland's protected memory model. In particular, Open Transport = supports the dynamic loading and unloading of networking services. The "About this Macintosh=8A" dialog reports on both the total free = memory and the largest block of contiguous free memory. In practice, = the latter figure is a better indicator of whether an additional = application can be launched. If a user frequently opens (launches) = and closes (quits) multiple applications that use networking = services, and if the user has set Open Transport TCP/IP preferences = to load networking services only when needed, this can, over time, = result in a situation where Open Transport loads into memory = "between" other running applications. This "memory fragmentation", in = turn, can result in a smaller value reported by "About this = Macintosh=8A" for free contiguous memory. In extreme cases, this = could unnecessarily limit the number of concurrent applications that = a user could run. If this situation arises, use the Advanced Mode of the TCP/IP Control = Panel to access the Options dialog, and remove the "X" in the "Load = only when needed". After restarting the system, Open Transport TCP/IP = will load when called on by an application for the first time, but = will then remain loaded. This will help avoid the "memory = fragmentation" that can occur for these users. €The disappointing reply to the cogent Netscape suggestion: From: pacug To: Subscribers to Subject: Re: Memory Leaks It always has been turned off. I read that tip early on in my research €Another memory observation (re Interslip Dialer): From: issac@es.co.nz (Issac Leung) To: Subscribers to Subject: Memory Leak, OT linked? I am using 7500/100/16, no VM, no ramdoubler, with speed doubler, Geoport (software running 2.3.3) and OS 7.5.3 r2. I use Mac OS Purge too. Everytime I launch my InterSLIP dialer, I could instantly see about more than 1000K of Ram drawn to System Software from 'About This Macintosh'. (i don't know if this related to my software-based modem) And then I launch Netscape and Eudora. Ok, the real problem is that after I have quit the dialer and ALL of the software, memory using by my System Software is about 7800K. (BTW, I startup at about 5400K) €LocalTalk warning: every LocalTalk device "advertises" itself as being "on" the network frequently, thereby contributing to some network overhead that would not be present if the device were not attached. €Warning re Installer that installs obsolete system files: MS Mail 3.0 workstation is *very* old and installs an old version of AppleTalk into the System file. If you must use this version, don't run the installer; just drag the MS Mail desk accessory and chooser extension into the system folder. The last version from Microsoft was 3.1d. Quarterdeck/StarNine purchased this product from Microsoft and just released Quarterdeck Mail 3.6. €WebCamToo v1.2.2 has been released. WCT allows you to embed live video in your web pages. Video can either be stills or server-pushed animations. New feature also allows acceptance of messages in a FORM to be spoken by WCT using Apple's Speech Manager technology. IT'S *FREE* - no charges at all! PowerMacintosh only I'm afraid. Get the latest versions and info from: €AT&T will take Mac orders for their WorldNet software now. They still say they'll be ready for Macs by mid-June and will ship the software when it becomes available. 1-800-967-5363. €PC EXPO, NEW YORK, New York--June 17, 1996--Apple Computer, Inc. introduced today Version 2.1 of the Apple Remote Access (ARA) family of products, including ARA Client 2.1, ARA Personal Server 2.1 and the ARA Multiport Server 2.1.1 PCI Version. The Company also announced a three-phase product roadmap for its remote access product line that will open its AppleTalk networking products to embrace industry standards and Internet protocols. €FedEx Ship for Macintosh 2.0 will be written in CodeWarrior, and it will be native on PowerMacintosh! This is a victory for those of us inside and outside FedEx who have been pushing for this since 1994. The project lead for this auspicious project is Chuck Sinnett, , and he invites feature requests, bug reports and comments from the Evangelistas. €Apple Tester for PowerPC Performas** - As part of its repair extension program for 5200, 5300, 6200, and 6300-series Macintosh Performa and LC models (see TidBITS-331_), Apple has released a utility that identifies machines with known logic board issues. Previously, logic board problems in these machines were only characterized by frequent system freezes, which can be caused by any number of things not covered by Apple. This utility should let owners of affected machines accurately identify known problems and, if necessary, contact an Apple dealer for free repairs. Please note the information this utility provides is only relevant to specific Macs; check Apple's summary for details. [GD] €LaserWriter 8.3.4 Unleashed** -- Last week, Apple released LaserWriter 8.3.4, a version that has been anxiously awaited by many PCI Power Mac users who have been plagued with crashing problems when trying to print, particularly when using print spoolers or third-party printers, such as GCC's XL 808. Although it remains to be seen whether this driver solves all such problems, early reports that I've seen have been encouraging. Although Apple recommends that anyone running a PCI Power Mac or running System 7.5.3 use the new version of the driver, it also says that people using older Macintoshes or system versions shouldn't upgrade. If you download and expand LaserWriter 8.3.4 , you'll end up with a disk image, which you can use with the help of a utility such as DiskCopy or ShrinkWrap. The download consumes about 450K of disk space. [TJE] €Put RAM on Your Shopping List** -- If you'd wanted to purchase a 32 MB DIMM four months ago, around Valentine's Day, you probably would have paid around $900. Last week that same DIMM would have cost you around $320, maybe lower if you shopped carefully. Memory prices have plummeted across the board. These prices should still be low when this issue of TidBITS goes out, but the word on the street suggests they won't go much lower or stay low for all that much longer. If you wish, check out DealBITS for RAM deals and links to several hardware vendors. [TJE] € Internet draft of the HTML 3.2 specification: €HTML Color utilities: HTML ColorMeister 1.3.5. Web Color 2.0, a $5 program by Patrick Bores HTML ColorPicker 2.0.3 costs $5 Janice Arakaki's $5 HTML ColorSelect 1.3 HTML ColourTool costs $10 €RAM Fragmentation Netscape is known to gradually fragment and increase its demands on its RAM partition until finally it crashes. Probably other Applications do too. Fixes: MacUsers RAM Handler at: OptiMem Ram Charger ftp://ftp.pgh.net/pub/jumpdev> €Apple CEO Gil Amelio last week announced a host of structural changes effective 01-Jun-96. Broadly speaking, the changes set up the majority of Apple's product, marketing, and sales functions into a series of distinct profit-and-loss centers reporting to Macro Landi (former head of Apple Europe, Middle East, and Africa). New supervisors, drawn from within Apple, will run each unit. Concurrently, Jim Buckley, president of Apple Americas, resigned to pursue other interests. €Power Computing Power 120 Problems If you purchased a Power 120 before 15-Jan-96 and are experiencing frequent crashes and monitor problems, contact Power Computing technical support at 800/769-5833. Please note the symptoms should appear within a month or so of use, so if you've been using a Power 120 without experiencing these problems, you don't have to worry. The trouble stemmed from a bad batch of epoxy glue used to attach heat sinks to the processors on some Power 120s. (Heat sinks are metal fins attached to processors to conduct and dissipate heat.) The bad epoxy eventually dried out, reducing the effectiveness of the heat sink, which caused the processors to overheat. €Apple's "Don't call it a Recall" Recalls If you encounter the following problems, contact your Apple dealer, or (if you live in the United States) try calling Apple at 800/767-2775 to schedule repairs. Apple will repair for free any machines exhibiting the problems Apple has identified, and the program will be in place for seven years. However, if a crashing problem has some other root cause, Apple dealers won't necessarily identify and correct the problem for free, so do your own troubleshooting before taking your machine in. **PowerBook 5300 and 190 Series** * Rumors that the program is for burning PB 5300s are false. There's no safety issue with these PowerBooks. * Cracked and separated plastic casings at the base of the PowerBook screen. * Problems connecting the PowerBook's AC adapter, and longer boot times with 5300s when starting up using the AC adapter. * Freezes in 5300s when using expansion bay devices in conjunction with PC Cards (power consumption issue, fixed with new motherboard) * Problems with the PowerBook 5300s dropping off LocalTalk networks (fixed with new motherboard) * The repair will include greater shielding for the disk drive. *It appears Apple will append "/B" to serial numbers of updated units **Performas and LCs** -- Apple's Repair Extension Program for the 5200, 5300, 6200, and 6300 series machines is designed to correct two problems. * Sudden and intermittent changes in monitor hue and color in 5200 and 5300-series machines. (This problem is caused by a bad cable.) * System freezes (caused by Motherboard (ROM, cache & clock chips), not software. Diagnosis is paid by user, but problems with Open Transport 1.1 is a good clue.) €Apple Developer Services offers new HW Overview We have provided a Hardware Reference Overview that indicates which Developer Note Bundle covers which computer models. Developer Notes provide developers with detailed hardware and software information unique to each Macintosh model as well as other Apple products. €Sorry, that¹s all the time I have. This Jaques Law Bits was delivered by: Kevin Jaques, B.A. LL.B. of the Jaques Law Office #101 - 2515 Victoria Avenue Fax: 525­4173 Regina, Saskatchewan Home: 586­2234 email: jaques.law@dlcwest.com Tel: 359­3041 visit our web page at http://www.dlcwest.com/~jaques.law/