[HEA] _____________________ ___ _ |___ ______________| | | | | | | _ | | | | | || | | | | | | || | | | | | | || | | | ____ _ _ _ _ ______ | | | || | | | / __ \ | | / \_/ \ | ___ \ | | | || |__ ____ | | / / \ | | /\ /\ \ | | \ \ | | | || _ \ | _ \ | | \ \__/ | | | |_|| | | |__/ / | | | || | | || |_|| | | \___/|_| |_| |_| | ____/ |_| | || | | || |__ | |____________________ | | _ |__||_| |_|\____/ |________________________| | | |_| | | Lighting Your Apple II Path | | |_| ----------------------------------- >>> 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 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 [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 to redo your combat choices. After noticing I was "accidentally" pressing 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 [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 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 6. Alltech Electronics 8. Other World Computer 9. Mac-Res-Q 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 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 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]