PD ROM 1/PD ROM Volume I - Macintosh Software from BMUG (1988).iso/Electronic Messages/InfoMac Digests/InfoMac Vol. 6/InfoMac 6.09

Text File | 1988-02-07 | 18.2 KB | 485 lines | [TEXT/ttxt]

INFO-MAC Digest           Monday, 8 Feb 1988        Volume 6 : Issue 9

Today's Topics:
                                Apologies
                 Fix for Hypercard Tool Palette Problem
                             DIALING DEVICE?
                  Problems printing labels in HyperCard
                               hyper-virus
                         Re: Inverted/Ball Mice
                           Miscellaneous Stuff
                         Screen Slaver Program?
                        Mac II Extra Serial Cards
                          Welcome to Macintosh
                 Hardware info about the Mac 128k/Plus ?
             info on publications office activities desired.


----------------------------------------------------------------------

Date: Sun, 7 Feb 88 18:21:23 PST
From: Dwayne Virnau... <[e-mail]>
Subject: Apologies

Well gosh, as soon as  as I start, I'm swamped.  I can see what these guys
weren't kidding about this being work.  Plus I'm learning TOPS 20, which will
look REAL impressive on my resume.  So, with that said, I would like to say t
that I am very sorry for sending Digest #6 to the Twilight Zone only.  Luckily
there were no messages on board, so the damage was negligable.  Those of you
with a desire for logical consistency may edit the digests from here on out to
conform to any numerical base you choosa.  I'll just leave 6 missing and hope
it doesn't happen again.

Jon

------------------------------

Date: Thu, 28 Jan 88  11:29:28 CDT
From: [e-mail]
Subject: Fix for Hypercard Tool Palette Problem

I experienced the Hypercard problem described in Vol 6. Issue 5
and adding a FOND resource to Hypercard as described below
fixed it. I had the same problem in MacPaint as well. In general
any applications that use fonts for palette icons and lack FOND
resources are susceptible to this problem.
The instructions are reposted from Compuserve.
------------------------------------------------------------------
Sb: #FOND of HyperCard!
Fm: Steve Brecher 70001,1011
To: All

HyperCard draws its tool palette symbols and special mouse pointer symbols by
using a private font that is in the HyperCard application.  Unfortunately,
HyperCard lacks a "FOND" resource for its font. The result is that if there any
other font online which has the same font ID number as HyperCard's, then that
other font will be used (possibly after scaling to a 12-point size) to draw
HyperCard's symbols.  The symbols will then look like letters, or just be
unrecognizeable.

This problem is not related directly to Suitcase, but Suitcase users are more
likely to have many fonts online and thus more likely to have a font which
conflicts with HyperCard's font.

The solution is to provide a FOND resource for HyperCard.  This can be done
with ResEdit and Font/DA Mover as described in the reply to this message.

Note: this same problem -- a private application font that lacks a FOND
resource -- is present in some other applications, i.e., SuperPaint and
MacPaint (also, I've been told, FullPaint).  The same procedu2e can be applied
to these other applications.  However, the ID numbers in steps 5 and 13 (in the
reply message) may well be different.  To get the number to be used in step 13,
take the number in step 5 (which is displayed by ResEdit), divide it by 128,
discard the remainder or fractional part, and then multiply by 128.  The names
"HC Font" and "HC Font File" used in the procedure can be any names you like,
as long as the names used in steps 7 and 11 are the same.

To make a FOND resource for HyperCard:

1.  Open ResEdit.
2.  Open the HyperCard application file.
3.  Select (click on) the FONT resource type.
4.  Choose the Open General command from the File menu.
5.  Select (click on): FONT ID=31756
6.  Choose Get Info from the File menu.
7.  Type the name: HC Font
8.  Close the Info window.
9.  Choose New from the File menu; this will cause a new FONT resource to
    appear in the list, and the new FONT will be pre-selected.
10. Choose Get Info from the File menu.
11. Type the name: HC Font
12. Type a Tab to move the cursor to the ID field.
13. Type the number: 31744
14. Close the Info window.
15. Choose Quit from the File menu; when asked whether to save the changes,
    click Yes.
16. Open Font/DA Mover.
17. Click the Close button at the lower left.
18. While holding down the Option key, click the Open... button at the
    lower left.
19. If necessary, navigate through disks/folders to the HyperCard
    application.
20. Select the HyperCard application and click Open.
21. Click the Open... button at the lower right.
22. Click the New button.
23. Type the name: HC Font File
24. Click on "HC Font" in the left list.
25. Click the >> Copy >> button.
26. Click on "HC Font" in the right list.
27. Click the << Copy << button.
28. Click the Quit button.
29. The HC Font File in the HyperCard application folder, which was
    created during the above procedure, can be deleted.

------------------------------

Date: 29 Jan 1988 14:15-EST
Sender: [e-mail]
Subject: DIALING DEVICE?
From: [e-mail]

   Does anyone have a device that allows a MAC II with Hypercard
to dial a touch-tone phone?  I have a 'mini-phone to RJ-11'
adapter that works well with a MAC + but the signal appears to be
too weak when used with the MAC II.  Could it be that the MAC II
has a stereo audio output while the MAC+ has a mono output?  The
MODEM we're using is shared so we can't use it to dial the phone.
Please reply to ROSENKING AT A.ISI.EDU.  THANKS!

------------------------------

Date: Fri, 29 Jan 88 15:09 EDT
From: <[e-mail]> (Leo Geoffrion)
Subject: Problems printing labels in HyperCard

We discovered a curious feature (bug??) in Hypercard that is rather
frustrating.  One of our faculty members is using it to generate mailing
labels.  Our label stock is 1.5 inch high labels on a 12 inch base page
(a good size for our line printers).

When we print them on an Imagewriter, we use the "do not skip page break"
option in page setup menu to accommodate the unusual size of paper.
For most programs, like MacWrite and MDS EDIT, this works fine.

In Hypercard, the following bizarre behavior takes place when printing labels
via the Print Report command.  The printer outputs a full page of labels, stops
to format the next page, then instead of continuing o -- IT EXECUTES A REVERSE
FORM FEED, BACKING THE PAPER UP TO THE TOP OF THE PAGE -- and then prints over
the last set of labels, ruining both.

Now, I know that the problem is specific to HyperCard, because the same
page setup options do not cause a problem with other applications.  I
also recognize that I could output the addresses to a file and then use
another application to print them, but that's a real pain.

Have others encountered this "feature" of hypercard?  Is there an easy fix
for it, or have we arranged something incorrectly.

(We have Appletalk IW driver 2.6 on Hypercard 1.01.  We have not yet
moved up to Multifinder, but a check of the MF disk shows that it uses
the same printer driver anyway.


===================================================================
Leo D. Geoffrion                  BITNET:  [e-mail]
Associate Director for             NYNEX:  [phone] Ext. 2628
Academic Computing
Skidmore College
Saratoga Springs, NY  12866

------------------------------

Date: 7 Feb 88 20:30 EST
From: [e-mail] (Mark Zimmermann)
Subject: hyper-virus

Saw the following when entering the Apple HyperCard forum on CompuServe
earlier today:
============================
Welcome to HYPERCARD FORUM!!
============================


=========
!!ALERT!!
=========

DO NOT USE THE STACK "NEWAPP.STK" WHICH WAS ONLINE HERE FOR ABOUT 24 HOURS. IT
WILL MESS YOUR SYSTEM WITH UNKNOWN RESULTS. DO NOT USE ANY OTHER SYTEM FROM ANY
OTHER DISK THAT WAS RUN WHILE THE NEWAPP.STK'S MODIFIED SYSTEM WAS ONLINE.

The above stack contains code which modifies your System and other Systems it
comes into contact with. It is a "computer virus." If you run NEWAPP.STK it
will modify the System on the disk it is on so that the System's INITs contain
an INIT labeled "DR." Then, if you use another System with the DR-infected
System as your boot System the new System will also contain the
self-propagating "DR" INIT Resource. While it is possible to, apparently, "cut"
this Resource from infected Systems with the Resource Editor THE ONLY SURE
COURSE OF ACTION IS TO TRASH ANY SYSTEM FILE THAT HAS COME IN CONTACT WITH THIS
STACK.

I apologize for this having happened. Obviously, whoever programmed this
qualifies as being less than pond scum (if it was done purposefully). The
uploader has been locked off the network (not just the Forums) and he will be
contacted by CompuServe and/or myself. Please keep in mind, as always, that
although Sysops do check uploads it is impossible for us to do such things as
examine every file with the Resource Editor. As I have always recommended, keep
downloads away from your hard disk until you are sure they are OK.

In eight years of operation this is the only such occurrence. While I, of
course, cannot say it will be the last I still have just as much confidenc as
always in the fact that 99.99999999% of the Mac Community are quite trustworthy
and that there is no real need to "fear" downloads. Thanks,
-- Neil Shapiro (Chief Sysop)

<<here are some msgs related to the above>>

#2482 Trojan Stack!
  S 1 / Forum Business
  3 messages
Read? (Y or N) ! y

#: 2482 S1/Forum Business
    06-Feb-88  21:57:25
Sb: #Trojan Stack!
Fm: Glenn McPherson 70127,1461
To: ALL

WARNING!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I downloaded off of GEnie a stack that is also located in the HyperMags library
here on CIS. When I ran it, it put an INIT resouce into my System file.

I don't know why it did this, but NO STACK SHOULD TOUCH MY SYSTEM FILE!

The init is ID=7 and is named "DR", notice that it is the same _exactly_ as the
resouce "DREW" in the stack. It is copies into the system file when the XCMD
"effects" is executed.

Be warned, I do not know what this INIT does!

The file is called NewApp.Stk and was uploaded on Feb 5, 88.



2 Replies

*** More ***

Read action:

#: 2484 S1/Forum Business
    06-Feb-88  22:42:44
Sb: #2482-Trojan Stack!
Fm: Jeanne DeVoto 76117,2702
To: Glenn McPherson 70127,1461 (X)

I notice that the summary for the upload in question (NEWAPP.STK) does not say
exactly what the stack is supposed to do, does say things that make it
enticing, and does not attribute the uploader.

I advise anyone who curiously downloads this stack to run it only on a floppy
you can afford to lose, with no hard disk on line.

I also advise anyone who has already run this stack to IMMEDIATELY replace you
System folder.  At least, until we know what we're dealing with.

jeanne


*** More ***

Read action:

#: 2515 S1/Forum Business
    07-Feb-88  14:02:52
Sb: #2482-Trojan Stack!
Fm: Neil Shapiro 76703,401
To: Glenn McPherson 70127,1461 (X)


Glen --
Ignore my previous message. You were right. I am putting up a short bulletin
about it now. Thanks for having found it,
-- Neil

#: 2516 S1/Forum Business
    07-Feb-88  14:20:16
Sb: NEWAPP.STK
Fm: Neil Shapiro 76703,401
To: [F] All


If you somehow missed the short bulletin, please read it right away! Glen was
right: The NEWAPP.STK, either intentionally or not, contains code that will
modify System INIT Resources with which it comes in contact. If you have
downloaded this file and used it please trash whatever Systems it came in
contact with. If you have not used it yet, do not! If you have uploaded it to
other BBS or network Systems please immediately advise the sysops there of the
problem. If you have placed it on a club disk please be certain to remove it
from that disk before distribution and -- if it has been run from the "Master"
disk already -- don't just remove it but trash the System.

We have no way, as yet, of determing what, if anything, the INIT would do to
your System or files or when it would do it. There is a good possibility that
it is quite innocuous. But please do not take that chance,
-- Neil Shapiro (Chief Sysop)

<<^z>>

------------------------------

Date: Mon, 1 Feb 88 09:04:04 EST
From: Jeff A. Hallett <steinmetz![e-mail]>
Subject: Re: Inverted/Ball Mice


~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
   Does anyone have any experience with inverted mice ? (just a block with
   the ball facing up)

   What supplier are there ?
   What are common problems ?
   Are there any special advantages or disadvantages to using them ?

   Philip Dye
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Well, first these things are called "track balls".  There are several
suppliers.  For standard mice connectors (Mac Plus), Kensington makes one,
and some other company makes one as well (I think the units is the
QuadTrak, but I'm not sure).  For ADB Macs, Arbaton makes a good one as
well.

Basically, pick up a copy of MacWorld and you'll see a lot of ads.

Jeffrey A. Hallett                     | ARPA: [e-mail]
Software Technology Program               | UUCP: desdemona![e-mail]
GE Corporate Research and Development  | [phone]
+--------------------------------------+--------------------------------------+
|                            Credo Quia Absurdum Est                          |
+-----------------------------------------------------------------------------+

------------------------------

Date: Mon, 1 Feb 88 22:32:57 EST
From: Matt Rhodes <[e-mail]>
Subject: Miscellaneous Stuff


Just went through a set of system upgrades and had some questions/comments
for people on the net.

Just trying Multifinder for the first time.  Looks great, makes me
think I'm on my SUN.  I've seen some funny behavior however and
wondering whether it's me.

    My enviroment is a MAC+ with a Jasmine 20MB on the SCSI and an
external floppy on the serial.  Running Finder 6.0 and System 4.2.

    I've started up a few times and it seems the MAC is missing about
half the memory. The "About the Finder" message is:

    Total Memory: 1,024K     Largest unused block: 133K

        Finder:            160K
        System:            296K

    At this point I can't even open the control panel to check the status
of RAM cache, etc.  Is this Multifinder or am I loosing an address bit?!

    SUBJECT 2:  I find it extremely interesting/disturbing that I can't
use Multifinder and Hypercard on my MAC+ at the same time (System + Finder +
HyperHog >> 1MB).  Oh well, did I really expect my machine not to become
obsolete within six months.

    SUBJECT 3: I really like the clock init that puts the menu clock up.
However it is placed so as to write over the Multifinder selection icons.
Is the author listening or has someone figure out the proper place to poke
with ResEdit to change the location of the clock display.  Ideally, I'd like
to move the clock to the left about one character and also drop the seconds
display (who cares that they're 1:28:42 late).  If someones already put the
time into doing this I'd love to hear from you.

Just some thoughts.

Reply: [e-mail]

------------------------------

Date: Tue 2 Feb 88 10:29:18-PST
From: A. E. Siegman <[e-mail]>
Subject: Screen Slaver Program?

I'd still (one year later) like a "Screen Slaver" program that would use
AppleTalk to make a slave Macintosh display on its screen exactly what was
being displayed on the master/mistress Mac screen.  Convert all those
unconverted 128K Macs into remote slave monitors for conference rooms,
classrooms, building hallways, etc.  Why hasn't someone written this...?

------------------------------

Date: Tue, 2 Feb 88 10:29:58 EST
From: [e-mail]
Subject: Mac II Extra Serial Cards

Is anyone aware of vendors of Mac II boards which have extra
serial ports?  I thought I saw one at the show (MacExpo) but
misplaced my information.
Thanks, Pete G.

------------------------------

Date: Tue, 2 Feb 88 16:21 CST
From: <[e-mail]>
Subject: Welcome to Macintosh

Does anyone know how to change that?
I know it's in one of the resources, but it's not a string.
I want to change it to Willkommen zu Macintosh, which is a different length.

Help!

------------------------------

Date: Wed, 3 Feb 88 17:07:57 EST
From: michel jacquemin <[e-mail]>
Subject: Hardware info about the Mac 128k/Plus ?

Where is it possible to get detailed info about the hardware of the Mac 128k
and/or the Mac Plus (like the specs of the input and output pins of the main
PC board: disk, keyb, mouse, video, SCSI,... and the bus/memory/decoding
structure).  The reason I'm asking that is that I have an old 128k board
that I would like to use as a "intelligent" interface board between my Plus
and random devices (A/D, D/A, video, printer buffer,...)
Any pointers to information are welcome.

Michel Jacquemin
--------------------------------------------------------
| ARPANET: [e-mail] (or yale.arpa)        |
| UUCP:    ...{harvard,decvax,cmcl2}!yale!jacquemin    |
| BITNET:  [e-mail]                     |

------------------------------

Date: Fri, 5 Feb 88 09:40 EDT
From: <[e-mail]> (Leo Geoffrion)
Subject: info on publications office activities desired.

Our College Public Affairs office is getting started with Mac's
for the preparation of press releases, College Newsletters, and
similar documents.

We've started off with the basic tools (Microsoft Word, Pagemaker,
SuperPaint, ...) but are looking for leads on what folks at similar
places are doing.

For example, We've been looking at Adobe Illustrator, but the
     pulications people are leery of its complexity.

     The publications staff have some reluctance to move from
     large pasteboards to the small screens of the typical Mac.

We'd like to hear comments about other College Publications offices
that have tried to use Mac's as their principal tools.

Please send your replies directly to me. If there's enough interest and
responses, we'll post a follow-up summary.

Thanks.


===================================================================
Leo D. Geoffrion                  BITNET:  [e-mail]
Associate Director for             NYNEX:  [phone] Ext. 2628
Academic Computing
Skidmore College
Saratoga Springs, NY  12866

------------------------------

End of INFO-MAC Digest
**********************