From: xxltony@cts.com (Tony Lindsey) Subject: Mac*Chat#095/07-Nov-95 Welcome to Mac*Chat, the weekly electronic newsletter biased toward Mac users who are production-oriented professionals. Other Mac users may find many, many items of interest as well. I'd enjoy hearing your feedback and suggestions. Unfortunately, due to the massive numbers of messages I get every day, I can't guarantee a personal reply. Tony Lindsey, . 3401-A55 Adams Avenue San Diego, CA 92116-2429 Mac*Chat may be copied freely, provided that all copies are left intact and unedited. Financial donations are gratefully accepted, to help defray the costs of putting-out one of the fastest-growing newsletters on earth. For more information, send e-mail to , with "Donations" in the Subject line. Mac*Chat back-issues may be found within any Info-Mac ftp archive at /info-mac/per/chat and read with any Web browser at See the end of this file for legalisms and info on how to get a free subscription. Any [comments in brackets] are by Tony Lindsey. Topics: Highlights Of This Issue Editor's Notes Series Of Internet Demos Tips For Entrepreneurs Who Want To Make Money From Going Online Tips For America Online Users - Creating Multiple Screen Names Humorous Eudora E-Mail Tip Interesting Questions Two Excellent Tips - RAM Doubler & A Great Shareware Site Technical Section Starts... Here Tips For America Online Users - Creating Web Pages, Part Two Apple's Tech Info Sites Making The 9500 Work With Tcp/Ip, Part One - Thumbs-Down On Open Transport Managing High Volume Mailing Lists Legalisms Free Subscriptions To This Newsletter Highlights Of This Issue ------------------------ I ask about the Power Computing PowerMac clones and how easy they are to upgrade, give a tip for folks viewing "spicy" images, talk about giving Internet demos and what I like to teach, tell AOL users how they can save money in a big way while helping others in their home or office, JKelly Clark shares a chuckle with us, I open the door to more questions than usual, Ken Workman gives us a warning about RAM Doubler 1.6 and a tip for finding shareware, several users share their AOL Web Page tips, Randy Chevrier tells us where to find those Apple Technical Support sites, many readers share their tips for making PCI PowerMacs work with TCP/IP, and Paul Dickman shares his tips for handling WAY too much e-mail. Editor's Notes -------------- By Tony Lindsey Many thanks to the folks who have sent in donations from all over the world. Shrimmy and I are deeply grateful. We're up to around forty donations since September, and more continue to come in every week. ----- I have some questions for the folks who are using the Power Computing Mac clones - What's it like to upgrade them? I've been hearing great things from my peers about how they are less-expensive, solidly-compatible computers. My buddy says he saved around $700 compared to the cost of an equivalent Apple-brand PowerMac. That sounds mighty nice, but I also want to be able to tell my clients if my theory is correct - Is it a LOT better to upgrade a highly-modular Power Computing computer than an Apple one? Apple's history of offering upgrades has been a big pain for me and my clients. Most people avoid upgrading their entire motherboard due to the ridiculous cost, and that upgrade may disappear just when they need it. I could tell a lot of horror stories. Being a person on a tight budget, I like to keep my Macs for a long, long time, rather than keep throwing money at new computers every four years or so. I've owned eleven computing devices (PC's, Macs and a Newton), and I'm getting too cheap to keep on buying new computers. My IIci is still with us and doing daily work, though I drool when I see real speed on the new hardware. If I spend money out of my own pocket for something new, I want to squeeze every penny's-worth out of it. How responsive are the tech-support folks at Power Computing? What other considerations should I bring up when I see their demo at the San Diego Mac User Group meeting? ----- I help a lot of clients who are terribly ashamed and embarrassed to admit that they want to find out more about the "spicy stuff" on the Internet. They have heard so much about how raunchy and uninhibited things are out there, and they can't figure-out how to get their fair share. I'm not above showing them where to go, but I also like to give them one more tip: If you have something on your Mac's screen that you suddenly don't want your boss, significant other, or impressionable child to see, hold down the Option key and click on the background patterned-desktop, such as right next to the Trash can. This is the poorly-documented command that hides the front-most application (and its eye-catching images) and switches to the Finder. If you practice it a few times you'll get VERY good at it, I'm sure. Series Of Internet Demos ------------------------ By Tony Lindsey I'm going to be conducting a series of Internet demonstrations for local San Diegans. I mention this because I want to urge people outside of San Diego to consider arranging their OWN Internet Demos. It's a pleasant way to stay in contact with clients, and it can be a way to make money from your endless hours or experience online. There are many, many people out there who haven't much experience with the online world, and they don't mind paying a nominal fee to improve their knowledge. Normally, the month of December is a real dead-zone for me, income-wise. I'm planning to take up the slack by offering Internet demos on weekdays and weekends all month, charging $30 per person with a limit of ten people per two-hour session. I've had excellent results from these demos in the past - It brings in new consulting clients, it cements the relationship between me and my valued clients, and it's very fun for all concerned. Everybody gets to learn something new, including me, because the questions in the second half can be real zingers! I like to use these questions to force me into new paths of learning. I recently sent-out an e-mailed announcement to my local clients, and plan to fax the same message to benefit those clients who don't have e-mail yet: ----- "I'm planning to be hosting a few, small gatherings in front of my computer screen, demonstrating the newest developments and trends on the Internet. A lot has changed since the previous Internet tours. so if you are interested, please let me know. I'll be basing my plans on the amount of feedback I get. I'll be encouraging the participants to bring their friends and business associates, along with a list of specific questions they would like to discuss at the end. Please start making an Internet wish-list now!" ------ I got quite a bit of positive feedback, so I will have to do some schedule-juggling to fit everybody in. I'm also planning to update my Web pages to feature the very-best Internet resources I've found since going online. The old information isn't arranged as nicely as I'd like. That way, when I give a one-page handout to the folks attending a Demo, they'll just need one address on the World Wide Web to explore the goodies I've shown them. The Internet Demos are very simple - I gather a small group of people together around my computer screen. These folks usually have either business or personal connections to each other, because I encourage them to bring as many folks they can to share the cost of the tour. A typical group may be six people from a particular corporation or workgroup, plus a couple of pals who want to observe. Or, it may be three students, two entrepreneurs and my nephew. I show them stuff that I consider to be important about being on the Internet. After a while, I open up the discussion to include people's specific questions on their wish-lists, and there are always a lot of 'em. Many folks want to figure-out what the Internet can do for their business, and I do my best to help them, with a minimum of hype. I don't always know every answer, but people don't expect that. They just want honesty and the best I can do. Here's a small list of the lessons I like to share... Tips For Entrepreneurs Who Want To Make Money From Going Online --------------------------------------------------------------- By Tony Lindsey 1) Don't expect any quick results. I haven't seen anybody around me getting big bags of money - yet. However, the pressure that exists online is toward - Financial success - Trustworthy transfer of funds - Equal opportunity for all who have online access and have at least a smattering of Internet experience, whether they work for themselves or for a big corporation. 2) Take the time to become familiar with the procedures, tools and concepts of the online world. When the world rotates to the point where we can all be compensated properly and instantly, you'll be poised to take part. 3) Play as you learn. The things that please you about the online world may be the things that turn out to be the building-blocks of your new career. The new niches are staggering in their number, and you may as well do something you love. 4) Don't attempt to be a fake in your online dealings. Learn everything you can about online courtesy and Netiquette. You will get spanked early and often if you aren't a straight-shooter. The more people you have believing in you, the more success you will have down the line. -> The public's B.S. Detectors are activated at full sensitivity at all times. <- 5) Try something simple and inexpensive and then build upon it as time goes by. If you get a free Web page on your online service, use it. Take the time to improve the page - Ask your friends to critique it. If you want to keep in contact with your clients or family members through e-mail, do so, and experiment with various ideas. Find out what works. Take some risks. You're going to screw-up somehow anyway (we all do), so you may as well do it while your audience is small. The time you spend on experiments won't be wasted. 6) Don't be too surprised if you develop a market/audience/following overseas. The world is a VERY small place right now. If you've been seeing yourself and your business in relation to your local neighborhood, city or state, expect to have your preconceptions destroyed. Your best friends, clients, or business-partners may be several continents away in the near future. Expect it, and rejoice in it. This multinationalism is the best part of the Internet. It opens-up new infinities of job opportunities and understanding among friends. What other lessons do you think should be shared? Tips For America Online Users - Creating Multiple Screen Names -------------------------------------------------------------- By Tony Lindsey A long time ago, I wrote an article about adding screen names to your America Online account. The step-by-step instructions in that article are long-obsolete, because AOL keeps screwing around with their interface. I STRONGLY recommend adding more screen names to your AOL account. There are several good reasons: - You can save money by allowing up to five members of your family or business to have their own, separate e-mail address. This is at no extra, basic monthly cost. For any costs beyond that, you should keep little Cindy Lou and Bucky Junior from spending long hours in the Chat Rooms. - You can use up to ten megabytes of AOL's storage space for your Web pages (see below for more info) The following instructions should stay correct for a while: -Pull down the Go To menu and choose "Keyword." - Type in the word "Names" without the quotes and click "OK." - Choose "Create a Screen Name" and follow the instructions. Seems simple, doesn't it? Yet, for some reason (maybe fear of lost profits) the folks at AOL have hidden this little morsel from public view unless you dig around for it intentionally. Humorous Eudora E-Mail Tip -------------------------- By aandc@usa1.com (Kelly Clark) From the Red Cyber-Face Department: Eudora's "nickname" feature is great. But beware of mail mix-ups. Example: My pal Bob and I exchange silly emails, sprinkled with nonsense and outrageous innuendo. A pillar in my church and I exchange email about official parish affairs, upcoming functions and the like. His name happens to be "Robert". I absent-mindedly recently typed the nickname "Bob" into the "To" field of an email intended for my pal Bob. Subject: Long On Sex. Imagine my chagrin when _Robert_ responded in 4 words: Interesting Questions --------------------- By Michael Dodson, Florida Industrial Strength Text Database Manager Wanted I regularly download government regulations, federal and state laws, and other large chunks (1 - 3 or more megabytes) of ASCII text. I need a powerful (Boolean operators, etc.) search and retrieval capability with features comparable to ISYS or ZyIndex on the PC platform. Are there any free-form text database managers for the Mac? The above requirement is the only hitch in what appears to be a smooth transition from kludge-Windows to a real operating system. ----- By "Guthery Tracy" Desperately Seeking Mac Supplies My office purchased an Apple LaserWriterPro 810 printer last year. It is still under warranty. It has been discontinued. Okay, not so surprising, as Apple discontinues their products every other day - and usually just after you bought something. The problem is that they have also discontinued the toner cartridge for this printer...making it rather difficult to use!! I have found a substitute - a Xerox Toner cartridge, but it is 3x as expensive ($325 each, compared to $115 I was originally paying). Does anyone know of a good supplier that might have these? Or that would actually work to find a cheaper cartridge? We use a lot - about one a month and it is quickly adding up. ------- By Brian Hydesmith, Winnipeg I, like many other Mac consultants, have had my fair share of frustration with fax software. Gosh, it seems buggy and 'fussy' (my favourite word for describing poorly designed and executed software). I would like to solicit other comments on this topic, at risk of it being something covered in depth before. I have had poor success with the STF version distributed with modems while the Faxcilitate software has been more pleasing. I use it now (came with my Supra 28.8k) and just field calls from frustrated clients on the STF (basic version). Faxcilitate has a way to go, still not supporting grey-scale, poor word wrap on quick messages and no Duo (Express modem) support etc. Does anyone have a better alternative to STF, proven in the field for stability and fewer client complaints? Also, I am looking for CD-ROM solutions for a client learning anatomy. I think ADAM looks a bit simplistic and Visible Human too pricey at $500. Suggestions appreciated. ------- By Jeffrey Norwood - Macintosh Services I've got a client who writes business projects all day long. His only major program is Word. His older IIsi has a perfect vertical monitor he uses all the time. It won't work on the newer Performa 636. So the Performa just sits in the office, left turned off all day. The local Apple dealer can't make the older vertical B&W monitor work on the new Performa, and I can't find anyone who knows of a vertical monitor which will work on the Performa. What am I missing here? Get an expensive rotating monitor and just leave it in the upright position? Any ideas? ------ By Scott L. Sherrill, Houghton, Michigan I was wondering if any of the readers have used/installed/ or seen CPU Doubler made by Orchard Software? It's a control panel that is supposed to reorder processes so that the front-running application gets more CPU time, so it finishes quicker. Orchard claims 100% speedup, and it can be used with Ram Doubler and Speed Doubler. Sounds pretty good to me. The article I saw it in was the 10/30/95 MacWeek. Two Excellent Tips - RAM Doubler & A Great Shareware Site --------------------------------------------------------- By Ken Workman [In issue #94, I said some nice things about the new, free 1.6 updater for Ram Doubler. I heard from several folks who said they were having problems with it, such as this one:] Caution on RamDoubler 1.6! This past weekend I upgraded from System 7.1 to system 7.5.1 and found to my horror and dismay that I could no longer start up the Mac - it would freeze. After must diagnosis with turning Extensions on and off I found that SCSI Manager 4.3 and RamDoubler 1.6 didn't like each other! Either one alone and I could start up with no problem. I called Connectix and they indicated possible problems with RD1.6, particularly with Power Macs. They suggested that I downgrade to RamDoubler 1.5.2, not too easy to do, since most sites only have the updater to 1.6. and have deleted the updater from 1.5 to 1.5.2. I loaded my original RamDoubler 1.5 *and* SCSI Manager 4.3 and started up without incident. I finally did locate the 1.5->1.5.2 updater, performed the update and all is still well. You might want to caution your readers to at least save their RamDoubler 1.5.2 or the updater to 1.5.2. The updater gives you the option to modify or original diskette and save the original RD. However, it appears that by "original" they mean 1.5 not 1.5.2. Bottom line: Update to 1.6 but save your version 1.5.2, just in case... ------- Related subject: The best source for freeware and shareware - hands down - is accessed via That's the only way I could find the elusive RD1.5->RD1.5.2. One needs to search on "ram doubler" (without the quotes and with the space between the two words) in the "freeware and shareware" section. The sites that have the updater are not very reliable and I've been unable to find the updater via Anarchie, so I'd suggest "c/net" as the least painful way to get this freeware and, if seems, any other free/share-ware. In my experience, if you can't find it at this site you probably can't obtain it anywhere. Technical Section Starts... Here -------------------------------- Tips For America Online Users - Creating Web Pages, Part Two ------------------------------------------------------------ [In issue #94, I gave a very-scanty series of steps for copying my existing Web page, modifying it, and then uploading it onto your own Web site. If you had done all of that, you would have also gotten some study-materials from my Web pages that explained the technical stuff in more detail. I find that I'm unwilling to go into too much further detail here in the newsletter - AOL should be announcing a "fill-in-the-blanks" system for creating Web pages someday soon (it already exists for Windows users on AOL). My previously-explained system is only for folks who have the nature of a sneaky weasel (like me) and like to arm-wrestle new challenges to the ground. However, I'm willing to share some new tips as they arrive:] ------ By John Conrader [From issue #94:] ====== If your screen name is "chuckie23" then sign onto AOL, then go to Internet Connection/FTP/Go To FTP/Other Site, then type in "ftp://users.aol.com/chuckie23/" ====== After Other Site, you should be able to type "users.aol.com" and then press the connect button. I have done it this way and it works. No big deal, just another way of doing it. ------ By Andrew G. McCann A key point is that you get 2 MB *per* screen name -- since any single account can have up to five names (and assuming you don't share your account), that gives you, in theory, 10 MBs to play with! What I've done is put my home and related pages and gifs under one screen name and put bigger files to be downloaded under separate screen names. [see above for instructions.] ------ By Thomas Callahan, Rhode Island School of Design I am using America Online to publish my Web Page, but I cannot check it with AOL's browser. It crashes too much on my 6100/80 for it to be useful (or even sensible) to use as a browser. Plus, it apparently does not support transparent gifs, or background images, so my own page looks totally wrong. Is there any way to have Netscape take over the AOL web connection? [If I were you, I'd move the files UP one level, outside of the "incoming" directory, to , and leave the "index.html" off the address, since that's assumed as the default name.] Then, use on your business card, flyers and e-mail messages.] ------- By Kelly Clark A question and a comment. The question: Why would anyone want to pay AOL its $3 an hour tab when a Home Page without AOL can be accomplished? The comment: check out Michael Slavin's tips for AOLers @ http://users.aol.com/mbswebster/aolhome.html Apple's Tech Info Sites ----------------------- By Randy Chevrier, Tulsa, Oklahoma [Randy and I have been corresponding quite a bit lately, and he tracked this down for Mac*Chat's readers:] The Apple Tech Info Library, Apple's official technical support database, is on a variety of online services and Internet sites, including: Worldwide Web: http://www.info.apple.com/til.html/ eWorld: the shortcut (type command-G) is: til America Online: Use the AOL web browser to go to http://til.info.apple.com AppleLink: Path is: Support -> Tech Info Library CompuServe: GO APLTIL Note that there ARE at least two WWW URLs to start out looking for these. [Thanks, Randy!] Making The 9500 Work With Tcp/Ip, Part One - Thumbs-Down On Open Transport -------------------------------------------------------------------------- [ In issue #94, I asked how I could make my client's PowerMac 9500 work properly with either MacTCP or Open Transport, which came free with the computer and was supposed to be so superior to "the old ways." All my client wanted to do was to check his e-mail and cruise the Web, and nothing I tried seemed to work. As time went by, I discovered that this was a VERY common problem. Many people were kind enough to write and share their wisdom and experiences. Thanks, folks! There are two schools of thought on the topic - The folks who remove Open Transport completely, and switch back to the older MacTCP 2.06 system. I'm including those tips in this week's issue. Alternatively, I'd like to re-post all of the great tips everybody has sent in for upgrading Open Transport (OT) to version 1.08 in next week's issue, but I'm lacking a key bit of information... Where would somebody get the update CD from Apple for the PowerMac 9500's? The System 7.5.2 v2.0 CD will install Open Transport 1.0.6 and System Enabler 1.1, which is already installed on non-9500 PCI PowerMacs. The CD is supposedly available from the fullfillment center, but I don't have the contact info for inside or outside the USA. Once I have the contact info, I'll post everybody's tips for working WITH Open Transport (upgraded to 1.08), instead of working around it:] ---- By Michael A. McGuire, University of Tennessee Knoxville How to hack Open Transport & make slip & ppp work This assumes you are running System 7.5.2 on a 7200, 7500, 8500, or 9500 Macintosh and trying to get SLIP and/or PPP to work. 1. Open the Extensions folder in the System Folder and remove 2 files: Open Tpt Internet Library OpenTptInternetLib Save these files somewhere on your hard disk. 2. Open the Control Panels folder in the System Folder and remove 1 file: TCP/IP Save this file somewhere on your hard disk. 3. Place MacTCP 2.0.6 in the Control Panels folder. 4. Restart your Mac. SLIP and/or PPP should work now. ------ By Kyle Johnson There are instructions for this in Ric Ford's MacInTouch News Archive dated 8/21/95. The URL is: --------- By patrickh@omni.voicenet.com (Patrick Henebry) I'm not at all surprised you're having difficulties with Open Transport; even Apple admits there are problems with SLIP and PPP connections. I did some scrounging and found the following Web page. This page has instructions on how to disable parts of Open Transport and replace it with the combination of MacTCP and MacPPP. The above URL is part of a good set of Power Mac related Web pages located at: Managing High Volume Mailing Lists ---------------------------------- By stpd@tyche.newcastle.edu.au (Paul Dickman, Stockholm Sweden) In Mac*Chat#094 you recommended subscribing to the macway mailing list in digest format [meaning that the many messages are glued together and sent to me as one LONG file]. If you have a decent mail program, there are far better ways to manage high volume mailing lists. The highest volume list I subscribe to is SAS-L, with approximately 20 messages per day. I automatically filter these into a separate mailbox, where I then sort them by subject so that all items in a 'thread' can be read together. Receiving the messages individually makes it much easier to sort out what I want to read from what I don't and makes it easier to read those messages I choose. When the messages arrive in digest format I find I have to scan through a lot of stuff I'm not interested in to find the few messages that interest me and it's almost impossible to follow a 'thread'. The other advantage of individual messages is that the sender and subject information are maintained for the purpose of replying. When replying to a message in a digest, the default is to send the mail back to the list with the subject: macway digest (for example). In short, if you have a decent mail program, I would highly recommend against receiving mailing lists in digest format. I use PC Eudora (the commercial version) to manage my mail but most decent mail programs have filtering capabilities. Unfortunately Eudora Light (I think it's freeware but it may be shareware) doesn't have this capability. Legalisms --------- Copyright 1989-1995 Tony Lindsey. Whole issues of Mac*Chat may be copied freely, provided that all copies are left intact and unedited. Small excerpts of Mac*Chat may be reproduced for personal use or by nonprofit groups (such as Mac User Groups) or for other non-commercial publications if full credit is given. Please contact the editor for any other publication requests. This newsletter is intended purely as entertainment and free information. No profit has been made from any of these opinions. Time passes, so accuracy may diminish. Publication, product, and company names may be registered trademarks of their companies. This file is formatted as setext, which can be read on any text reader. Tips from readers are gratefully accepted. Please write them in a user-friendly way, and if you are mentioning an Internet site, please include a paragraph explaining why others should visit it. Free Subscriptions To This Newsletter ------------------------------------- You may subscribe to Mac*Chat by sending e-mail to: The Subject line is ignored, so it can say anything. In the body of the message include the following line: SUBSCRIBE MACCHAT Your full name As an example: SUBSCRIBE MACCHAT Juliana Tarlton You will receive a nice long message explaining acceptance of your subscription, how to end it (if desired) and general listserv info. You will then automatically receive Mac*Chat in your e-mail box, for free, every week. ============== ____ ================================================== Tony Lindsey \ _/__ Free, weekly e-mailed Mac-oriented newsletter Mac*Chat Editor \X / ================= \/ =================================================