RAndY's RumOR RaG December 1993 NEWS IN YER FACE Here we go again - another "greener" product. While scanning the monthly specials from a supplier I noticed a new series of mousepads. Get 'em now - Rainforest pads. These mousepads have photographs of rainforests and various plants and animals that live therein. Included with each mousepad is "an educational booklet which helps heighten awareness of rainforest biodiversity and function". --------------- Seagate is seeking to diversify, looking into tape and optical drives, flat-panel displays and hardware, and software interfaces such as wireless and handwriting technologies. To this end, they have added an investment banker as senior vice president of corporate development. --------------- Corel is now shipping Corel Ventura 4.2 for Windows that includes two CD-ROMs with 600 fonts, 10,000 EPS clip-art images, and 100 Kodak PhotoCD photos - for a list price of $249. --------------- IBM is getting ready for a fully functional version of OS/2 code-named Ferengi which is designed to easily install on top of DOS and Windows as an upgrade to Windows 3.1, letting users adopt the system without giving up their existing configuration. By now you know of this as OS/2 for Windows, a brilliant marketing decision (I'm serious). The price will be in the $50 range and will require between 15 and 17 disks. --------------- Hewlett-Packard is whispered to be planning a 16-bit sound card which will sell for about $150. --------------- Apple's in-house BBS has a course called "Life After Layoffs", the only hitch being you have to be unemployed to take it. --------------- I recently came a cross a new product that is simple, innovative, relatively inexpensive, and useful - a strange combination these days. The product is called "DIP to SIMM". It's a little circuit board which holds nine DIPs and plugs into a SIMM socket. A lot of older motherboards used DIPs and it's a shame to throw them away when you upgrade to a new motherboard. Here's a way to keep your memory chips and save some money. You can get the cards for $8.50 or send your chips to the company and they'll solder them for you for $13.50. The reborn SIMM is taller than a regular SIMM module, so you will want to be sure the increased height will not interfere with any cards, the power supply, or whatever. For complete information, contact Autotime at (503)452-8577. --------------- WORDPERFECT PIM In the first quarter of 1994, WordPerfect will be releasing CIA (Central Intelligence Access). This is a Windows-based PIM which makes you enter information only once. You can have as much or as little information on each person, place, thing, or whatever through the Outline View. The Outline View shows how your information is interconnected and lets you access "tabs" to keep things organized. Updated information in one tab is automatically updated in related tabs where necessary. Of course you've got a Calendar View and Address Book View which let you drag-and-drop appointments and schedule tasks. The Address Book can be printed in standard day planner sizes. A feature called Related File Launch lets you access information in the PIM and automatically bring that information into any Windows program. CIA will also be compatible with any pen computer using Windows for Pen Computing. The suggested retail price will be $149. --------------- DOS COLORS REVISITED Every time they update DOS, I feel it necessary to go through the routine for changing the default colors. Here we are on Version 6.2 and they still give us white on black - ugh! Here is the procedure for changing the default colors; some of the addresses will be different, but the principle is the same. Remember, the new color only take effect when you do a CLS. DEBUG \COMMAND.COM -RCX CX BAE5 -S 100 L BAE5 CD 10 22CC:432B 22CC:4337 22CC:435F 22CC:436C 22CC:4370 22CC:4376 -U 4300 - - Enter U a few times - -U 22CC:4366 B406 MOV AH,06 22CC:4368 B707 MOV BH,07 22CC:436A 32DB XOR Bl,BL -Q What you're looking for here is the MOV BH,07 instruction. Remember to hit ENTER twice after the RCX instruction. The address you get after RCX and the listing when you enter the S command determines where you start looking for the MOV instruction. Note that in the example above, the address for the MOV you're after is 4368. Add 1 to that address (whatever you come up with) and then do the following: DEBUG \COMMAND.COM -D 4369 L1 22CC:4369 07 -Q You should see 07 off to the right, otherwise go back and search again. When you've found the correct address, do the following: DEBUG \COMMAND.COM -E 4369 22CC:4369 07. -W Writing 0BAFB bytes -Q After you do the E instruction, debug will return the address with the "07."; now select the colors you want and enter them after the period. The first number is the background, the second is foreground. Don't enter a number larger than 7 for the first number or the screen will blink. Here's the list of colors: Black - 0 Grey - 8 Blue - 1 Bright Blue - 9 Green - 2 Bright Green - A Cyan - 3 Bright Cyan - B Red - 4 Bright Red - C Magenta - 5 Bright Magenta - D Brown - 6 Yellow - E White - 7 Bright White - F You may want to change where you start searching from. The important thing is to look for the MOV BH,07 instruction. --------------- MORE NEWS IN YER FACE You may not have heard it yet - that Microsoft co-founder and Asymmetrix CEO Paul Allen owns 25% of America Online - and now he's buying up TicketMaster. --------------- Intel is preparing to ship their first software product, code- named Miata, in the first half of 1994. Miata is an interactive file-sharing Windows application. It lets two users view the same file over a modem connection and contains tools that let users annotate a document or spreadsheet being discussed. A "chalkboard" mode lets users jot notes that can be seen by both viewers. Eventually beta testers expect to see the product incorporate support for voice and data communications via the same connection. A utility known as Jump Start lets Miata users show files to users who do not have the full version of the software. --------------- The new OS/2 for Windows will not work with MS-DOS 6 and Microsoft says it might not work with the next version of Windows whenever it ships. HAHAHAHA!! --------------- ENCARTA UPDATE Microsoft has updated their excellent Encarta product to a 1994 version. Included in the changes is a new interface that is similar enough to the original, yet somewhat better. It's hard to describe, but you'll like it. I can do without the self-serving "Microsoft Home" logo that comes up every time you start the program. Also some of the "facts" espoused throughout tend to be liberal in philosophy. They've added new articles on politics, sports, and a variety of notable individuals. There is new video of the fall of the Berlin Wall, native art forms of the world, and much more. There is an interactive orbit simulation that is pretty cool. Unfortunately the video is still jerky (too slow fps rate). There are new audio clips including Maya Angelou's inaugural poem (if you can make sense of that gibberish let me know) along with 14 new languages and hundreds of new color photos. Microsoft says that it's faster, and that's somewhat true. It's hard to tell if the program is faster or if DOS 6.2's caching of CD drives is doing the job. Anyway, the combination of the two make Encarta 1994 and improved product. Microsoft is charging $79 for the upgrade and that's not bad for a 29-volume multimedia encyclopedia. I still say that this is the best multimedia title you'll find - and it's gotten better. --------------- LIVING WITH DOS It's been about a month since I switched to DOS 6.2 and for the most part I like it. I want to know why Microsoft can't make DISKCOPY use the memory in your computer rather than the hard drive when copying high density disks. Jeez, shareware authors have been doing this for several years now. I like the commas. It's a lot easier to get a feel for the sizes of files and subdirectories with them. I also like the overwrite protection with MOVE, COPY, and XCOPY. Too bad it's taken them 12 years and 6+ versions of DOS to get there. I guess it's better than what we've had but it sometimes seems like they're holding back. How foolish of me to think they'd produce a DOS that people really want. (Hey, we've got DOS 7/Windows 4 coming next year.) Maybe by the time we get to DOS 7 we'll have an easy way of changing default screen colors (HA). --------------- PERSONAL STUFF I've had a number of sysops call lately asking me about using the RaG on their BBS's. Here's my policy - use it as you wish, just don't change my words, please. The RaG is usually uploaded to GEnie on the first weekend of the month. America Online and ModemNews get it about the same time. If you want to be sure to have the latest issue, here are some local BBS numbers which carry it in my area: COMM-1 (206) 532-7952 9600 Hangar 18 (206) 538-0382 14400 Lightning Rod (206) 289-0971 14400 Techline (206) 249-5372 14400 Regarding mail, I usually log onto GEnie each Friday night. I haven't been on America Online since February of 1992 since we don't have a local access node. That may be changing soon and I'll keep you posted. The best way to contact me is either by phone or postal letter, the information for both is located in the disclaimer at the end of each issue. Finally, I've gotten some electronic mail and a couple of phone calls taking me to task for expressing views on political and social issues. These complainers have said that they don't want to hear about political and social issues in a publication dealing with computers. I understand your outrage (I feel your pain?) but I'm not the one producing "green" computers, pro-animal rights software, whining about cutting down trees to make paper, or marketing compact discs extolling the virtues of Robert Mapplelthorpe. A sysop in British Columbia called the other day and said he sometimes puts the RaG next to his section promoting GreenPeace - whew - that's equal time! --------------- PERSONAL STUFF II Just for your information, on November 15 I was almost killed in a car accident. While on my way to a business appointment, I was rear-ended by a truck doing about 50 mph (I was stopped with lights on and blinker flashing). My car was demolished and I was left with three stitches in the back of my head. I'm OK now, but each day is an adventure with a different part of my body aching. It's in the hands of lawyers and insurance companies now. Just thought you'd want to know these things. --------------- NEXT MONTH Well, Excel 5.0 didn't make it in time. I talked to Microsoft and in their characteristically vague manner suggested it would be closer to the end of December before it was released. That means you'll have to wait until the January issue. Not sure what else is around the corner in terms of software. I may lower my standards and look at Word for Windows 6. I hope to have the new PC Magazine Benchmarks Tests on CD in time for the January issue also. ================================= DISCLAIMER RAndY's RumOR RaG is published on a monthly basis by AINSWORTH COMPUTER SERVICES and is available on various local BBS's, GEnie, and America Online as well as in Modem News. In case anyone cares, RAndY's RumOR RaG is produced on a 486- 50 with 8 megs of memory, Diamond Stealth Pro VESA VLB (1 MB), 105 MB Toshiba IDE hard drive, Teac 1.2 MB and 1.44 MB floppies, Pro Audio Spectrum 16 running a Hitachi 3750 CD ROM drive, Sceptre SVGA display, Microsoft mouse, WordPerfect for Windows and transmitted through a US Robotics HST Dual Standard modem. Opinions expressed are those of the author. Comments should be addressed to Ainsworth Computer Services on GEnie, America Online, phone, analog mail, or whatever method makes you feel good. AINSWORTH COMPUTER SERVICES 605 W. Wishkah Aberdeen, WA 98520-6031 (206) 533-6647 GEnie Address: RAG America Online: RumOR RaG