If you are trying to run OnCue with FullWrite Professional, get FWP Diddler, a shareware INIT which lets them co-exist.
Try this in MacPaint 2.0 with a complex bitmapped drawing: Drag a marquee around it. Invert. Cover the inverted image with a 40 or 50% gray box while holding down the Command and Option keys. Drag a marquee around this image. Now use Command/Shift/drag to reduce the image in size, or use a scaling selection from the Goodies menu. The result is a less blocked-up version of your artwork. (Thanks, MacWorld.)
Should you buy mailorder? How good are their prices? Here is a small list of Mac products showing how much MacConnection beats WHOLESALE prices. The wholesale price used is for purchases of ONE copy of a product. Wholesale prices were copied from someone’s 1990 Reseller Catalog:
Product MacConnection
(+= more than wholesale)
(-= less than wholesale)
4th Dimension - 0.05
PageMaker + 34.00
C.A.T. + 13.02
General Acctg 3 Pak + 8.99
FoxBase+ Mac + 15.40
OnCue + 3.43
WINGZ + 29.75
Dreams - 13.50
MS Excel + 21.80
Nisus - 11.90
Swivel 3D + 11.90
MacMoney - 1.45
WriteNow - 13.00
Given the inexpensive or no-cost shipping offered by MacConnection and similar mailorder houses, you are often better than wholesale when dealing with mailorder. Besides that, most mailorder houses are easier to deal with on returns, sometimes offer trial periods, and offer better technical support than your average Apple dealer (no feat there).
Since mailorder houses order large quantities, they are not paying the single copy price, however. They do make a profit, in spite of some minus numbers in the column above.
What is a good indent? From 1/8th to 1/4th inch for columns less than 2.5" wide, and 3/8ths for wider columns. (Thanks, Known Users, SMUG, Arcata, CA.)
Power users often set their Macs up to start up Finder only—not MultiFinder. Then, to make switching to MultiFinder easier, they park the MultiFinder icon on the desktop. To go to MultiFinder, they click on the icon with the Command and Option keys held down.
Also, notice that people who gripe about MultiFinder almost always are running with "only" two megabytes!
Until OnCue, I kept a lot of frequently used applications out on the desktop. They are now buried deep in their appropriate folders. I keep two folders on the desktop, however. One is titled Optimized 2/15/90. This one has an optimizer program inside of it. The title reminds me to optimize again when enough time has passed.
The other folder is titled VirusChecked 2/10/90. This one has the latest version of Disinfectant in it, and reminds me when it is time to check for viruses.
The dates on the folders get changed when I use the applications within.
A long February 1990 MacWorld article by Thom Hogan tells you why you shouldn't have "any problems" with MultiFinder, because Thom hasn't "had a single crash I could attribute to MultiFinder." Well, no wonder, because he then points out DOZENS of caveats, problems, warnings and limitations he observes in using MultiFinder.
No crashes, indeed! No wonder!
On Cue is the poor person's MultiFinder. That and some good DAs will hold the fort for you.
If you want to use the LaserWriter at a service bureau, remember that PageMaker is the dominant page layout program at service bureaus. Few have RSG and even less have Quark Xpress. Frank Cooley, of Minneapolis, who reports this, has a 5-year-old ImageWriter II which sounds like "a screaming mimi," but AppleCare at Apple says "that's normal." Su-u-u-u-ure it is!
If you use LightningScan, you should have received a free scan guide by now. It helps you scan in a straight line. Or didn’t you send in your registration card? No wonder! Suffer!
Orchid’s MacSprint board is being heralded as a “best buy” to speed up a Mac II. To gain more speed than the MacSpring can give you at about $239 mailorder, you would have to shell out $800 to $2000 for an accelerator faster than MacSprint. The test program, MacSpeedo, thinks you are running a IIcx when MacSprint is installed in a stock Mac II. Best price so far on MacSprint is $219 at MacLand, 602-820-5802.
There are lots of MacPaint hints in the February MacWorld. Here are a few samples:
• Use the T key to quickly close or open the Tool palette; use P for the Pattern palette.
• Command/A often reselects the last tool used.
• The Shift key makes the scrolling faster.
• ATM helps in MacPaint, too.
• Scaling MacPaint images is better done in desktop publishing programs, like PageMaker. Scaling in MacPaint just clumps the pixels.
We forget so quickly! A flashing Apple in the menubar means that someone set your alarm, and it has already gone off. Open the AlarmClock and kill it there.
If you don’t want to cheat at Arkanoid, stop reading this item. Pause the game. Type DSIMAGIC. Now when you type the first letter of any “pill” you wish to drop, down it comes. The Black pill (B) must be accessed with the W key, since B puts you into Boss mode in Arkanoid. Get your sound back by typing A. (Thanks, I think, to MadMacNews of Madison, WI MUG.)
Since I never remember these, maybe you won’t either. In SF Open dialog boxes, these shortcuts work: up and down arrows scroll you; Command/down arrow opens a selected folder; Tab=Drive; Return=Open/Save; Enter=Open/Save. (Thanks, MadMacNews, Madison, WI MUG.)
If you use PageMaker, Aldus Magazine, Jan-Feb 1990, has a great article on constructing charts.
You input text into PageMaker. It fails to fill your full column width. Here are two fixes:
First, Select All, then do Command/I and make sure that the right margin marker is all the way to the right hand margin. If it is not, drag it there. In any event, when you say OK, your text should fill the column width.
Doesn’t work? Then Select All, Export… the text, naming it and selecting text only in the dialog box. Leave export tags checked if you are using style sheets. Now, with the text still selected in PageMaker, Place… this text only document. When the Smart ASCII filter shows on screen, check the appropriate boxes to remove extra carriage returns and say OK. (Thanks in part to Aldus Magazine.)
Do you understand MultiFinder? Remember, MultiFinder only lets an application use the amount of memory that you assigned to it in the GetInfo dialog box. You may have plenty of memory in your Mac, but only that which is assigned to the program can be used by it.
Unchecking Preview makes Freehand redraw the screen a lot faster.
Tricky, tricky! To open Streamline files in Freehand without first running the file through Illustrator, just change the file’s type and creator to EPSF and ARTZ. Enter Freehand and use the Open command in the File menu. Type and creator can be changed in DiskTop, the Info… DA and many other utilities.
The very compact Tallgrass TravelPac hard drives are not a good solution for Mac Plus owners. That’s because they have no power supply of their own. They draw power from your Mac, and the MacPlus power supply is famous for not having enough power (lots of power board replacements). The newer platinum-colored Plus may handle it OK, and then again, maybe not. The terrific little MicroNet hard disks share this problem. If you carry a TravelPac or MicroNet around with you, remember that it won’t hook up to a II series Mac. An adapter is available for the II and IIx, but the IIcx has a power limiter to keep you from using it’s power for the drive. I think this is true of the IIci as well.
Apple has released an Eject INIT which “parks” 800k floppy drive heads, avoiding tearing the media when the disk ejects. This tearing is reputed to be the second largest repair problem for Macs. (Three guesses what number one is, and the first two don’t count.) Apple has known for three years that the 800k drive design was faulty. They just got around to this fix. (Thanks, MacWeek.)
If you loved Disk Express II, but got scared off by tales of data loss and recalls, cheer up. Version 2.04 is out and fixes things up. Disk Express II optimizes your disk in background while you work.
When you get output from Streamline which requires Illustrator touch-up (I hate to do that), consider fixing it in MacPaint first instead. Do a Streamline conversion, print it, and identify the problem areas. Now go back to the MacPaint original and carefully “disconnect” pixels which join offending areas. Redo the conversion and print again. A few repeats and you have a file Streamline can do justice to. (Thanks, The Weigand Report.)
To change formatting in several WriteNow paragraphs, place the cursor in the first such paragraph. Scroll to the end of the document and Shift/click to select everything from the cursor to the end.
Now click in the Ruler window. Finally, Shift/click the new change in justification you desire (for example, center aligned). Write Now will change the formatting for every paragraph that matches the formatting of the paragraph in which the cursor was clicked.
To “close up” mail merged addresses in WriteNow 2.0, so that blank lines do not appear, just type a space followed by a comma in the address document wherever there is no information for a field. Here is an example
John Smith, Acme Co, 123 A St., Portland, OR, 973001
Mary Jones, , 456 B St., Oakland, CA, 94105
Now, in your print merge instructions, for any line which may sometimes be blank, start it with an IF. The next line must start with an ENDIF, like this:
«DATA Addresses» Return
«FirstName» «LastName» Return
«IF Company» «Company» Return
«ENDIF» «StreetAddress» Return
«City», «State» «Zip» Return
Return
Dear «FirstName», Return
Return
Be sure you don’t put the Return following Company after the ENDIF statement. It won’t work if you do.
Do you know how to use your own choice of character as a tab leader in WriteNow 2.0? Just type the desired character before you release the Tab key. You can use any font and style. Does Zapf Dingbats ring a bell?
You can Paste eps images into WriteNow 2.0 using SmartArt and other PostScript-capable DAs. (WriteNow tips thanks to T/Maker News.)
A lot of us cut our English grammar teeth on Strunk & White’s “The Elements of Style.” You’ll be happy to learn that Microlytics is releasing it as a DA soon. It is built to let you get style information while accessing its grammar checker.
If you have an “out of warranty” problem from 91 to 365 days after purchase, write to John Sculley. This has worked for several disgruntled 90-day warranty victims. Even if it doesn’t work, it will make you feel better.
If you lust for an FDHD floppy drive, remember that your 800k drive can read and write files on preformatted ProDOS disks if you use Apple File Exchange. Maybe you don’t need an FDHD.
Some Apple scanners are reported to have faulty circuitry. One way you can tell is that your hard disk goes poo-poo. Your Apple dealer should have an Apple repair order on this subject.
This is a bit strange, but it seems to work. With Adobe’s ATM installed, ImageWriter users can get excellent output in small sizes (lower than 14 point) by installing only the 12 point size of each font. It seems that ATM makes better small sizes than installed versions of those sizes.
For example, for a good looking 10 point, don’t install the 10 point size. Let ATM make it for you. If your printer is a 300 dpi machine, this work-around is not necessary.
Also, note that a faster hard disk will speed up ATM screen redraws. (Thanks, Washington Apple PI.)
Washington ApplePi’s choice as most used DAs: DiskTop, SmartScrap and NotePad II. Also high on the list are Talking Moose, Scientific Calculator, Easy Envelopes, Word Finder, Calculator+, Curator, Hyper DA, Locate, Clipper, QuickDex, MockWrite, Virus Detective and WriteFontSize.
If you aren’t using some of these, you might want to try them and see what all the excitement is about.
INITs and cdevs that WAP members like include Suitcase II, SuperClock, QuicKeys, Boomerang, Pyro!, Moire, Facade, FindIT, Gatekeeper, Talking Moose, Shortcut, OnCue, INITcdev, Aask and INITPicker.
For FKEYs, WAP guys and gals use Switch-A-Roo, Ripper, MountEm, FitToMac and Dudek’s Defrost.
WAP likes these products, too: DiskFit, SUM Utilities, HD Partition, and the MacConnection mailorder house.
DeskWriter is getting good notices except for its water soluble ink, which is a problem. It runs when any drop of water touches the paper, even months after printing.
Buy Quantum hard disks from third party sources, not Apple, and you save half your money and you octuple your warranty (is octuple a word?). Why not? And if I am already too late with that suggestion and you have a failed Apple/Quantum drive, the person at Apple to bitch to is Darlene Saunders, Mail Stop 37S, Apple Computer, Inc., 20525 Mariani Ave., Cupertino, CA 95014.
Serial numbers that get their attention include 00335507 to 01023016. Include a copy of your repair order and tell her what happened. Do it before June 1990.
Advice to potential Mac owners: Buy your new Mac with one megabyte of RAM and no Apple hard disk. Buy your RAM from The Chip Merchant at $63 a meg and get your hard disk from your choice of 3rd party vendors. Choose one with a low price, good warranty, and one which is likely to be in business until the warranty expires.
If you have two floppy drives in your Mac II, be aware that if you shove disks into both drives simultaneously, you will almost always lock up your Mac. Take turns. Be nice. No great harm is done, but you have to reboot.
How close to the edge of the paper can you print from Word 4.0 on a LaserWriter? Don’t believe Apple and don’t believe Microsoft. Harris Silverstone of Washington Apple Pi did some tests. He found the following (measurements in points, which are 1/72 of an inch):
Normal Print Area Largest Print Area Option
Top 31 15
Bottom 31 15
Left 31 18
Right 31 18
The most accurate view in PageMaker and MacDraw II is 200%. Check everything there before printing.
As a PageMaker user, I enjoy sticking my finger in ReadySetGo’s eye once in a while. Try this is RSG: Select Geneva 24 or larger. Type a few word in bold in a text box. Funny things happen since RSG doesn’t like fonts without width tables, of which Geneva is one.
Here’s another finger in the eye. Develop a little nostalgia by noting the size of an RSG 4.0 document and then converting it to RSG 4.5, Be sure you have lots of disk space available.
Do you have to read and write MS/DOS 720k disks? Kennect’s Rapport for $199 lets you do that. It’s cheaper than a SuperDrive ($500).
Anti-Virus Kit will not be upgraded to combat any more viruses. Since it is still being sold, caveat emptor.
