The Champaign-Urbana Computer Users Group

The Status Register - February, 1999


This newsletter will never appear on CUCUG.ORG before the monthly CUCUG meeting it is intended to announce. This is in deference to actual CUCUG members. They get each edition hot off the presses. If you'd like to join our group, you can get the pertinent facts by looking in the "Information About CUCUG" page. If you'd care to look at prior editions of the newsletter, they may be found via the Status Register Newsletter page.

February 1999


To move quickly to an article of your choice, use the search feature of your reader or the hypertext directory above. Enjoy.

February News:

The February Meeting

The next CUCUG meeting will be held on our regular third Thursday of the month: Thursday, February 18th, at 7:00 pm, at the Bresnan Community Center. Directions to the Bresnan are on the back of this newsletter.

The February 18 meeting will be one of our split SIG meetings. The Macintosh SIG will be looking at the Power Point presentation software. The Amiga SIG will get a first hand look at John Lynn's Toaster/Flyer set-up with some lucky SIG member getting to do some editing.

ToC

Welcome New Members

We'd like to welcome our newest members, joining us in the last month: Sascha Ludwig (C64, A500/1200, ClonePC), Kevin Barthelemy (ClonePC), Andreas Saebjornsen (ConePC), Terry L. Fike (A500/600/1000/1200/3000), Macey B. Taylor (C64, A500/2000/3000, Mac 68K, ClonePC), Mark Trites (C64, A500/3000, Mac 68K, Powerbook, PowerMac), Troy Cuniff (C64, A500/1200/3000, PowerMac), Brent Brusett (A4000, ClonePC), Gary Hallmark (A2000), David Kay (A2000/4000, Mac 68K, ClonePC), Chris Ryan (A500/2000,/4000, ClonePC), Michael Duncan (C64, A500/4000, Mac 68K, ClonePC), Bruce A. Landis (Amiga), Gudrun Lively (A1200/2000/4000), and Michael A. O'Malley (C128, A1000/2000, ClonePC).

We'd also like to welcome back returning members Kyle Mroz, Mark Lucas, John Grinnell, Marilyn G. Kruse, Jack E. Jordan, Herb Kirkley, Lucy Seaman, Anderson Yau, Bertha Jean Berger, Dale Rahn, Earnest A. Shoemate, Paul M. Froberg, William A. Klein, Elam S. Stoltzfus, Greg L. Kimnach, Kenneth Wiltshire, James Dean Huls, James Weber, Edgar A. Brocke, Ellard Forrester, Dana A. Farmer, Cedric Deguzman, Scott Watamaniuk, Garry Morenz, Bruce R. Bowman, Nancy J. Hartman, David F. MacDonald, John P. Orwin, Alexander M. Tucker, Paul Kolman, Thomas E. Folger, Brian D. Kamman, W. Paul Carver, Steven D. McGregor.

We welcome any kind of input or feedback from members. Have an article or review you'd like to submit? Send it in. Have a comment? Email any officer you like. Involvement is the driving force of any user group. Welcome to the best.

ToC

Amiga Recognized User Organizations

Jan. 30, 1999 - CUCUG has been one of only three (so far) organizations to qualify as one of Amiga Inc.'s Recognized User Organizations. We are the only organization in North America to be so recognized. The other two organization are AmigaSOC in the UK and DAUG in Germany. Each group's website has been awarded the Amiga Recognized User Organization Seal of Approval, which indicates "that the web site, newsgroup, e-zine, or other information source has been endorsed by Amiga." Congratulations to all, and future, honorees. See http://www.amiga.com/user_groups/user_groups_list.shtml.

ToC

Amiga 99 - NewTek signs up for Amiga 99!

February 3, 1999 - NewTek signs on as an exhibitor at Amiga 99, the Gateway Computer Show.

With headquarters in San Antonio, NewTek is a leading provider of full-featured video editing, animation, and special effects tools. The company's products are used worldwide on projects from home video to feature film, including some of the most widely anticipated recent blockbusters, such as Men in Black, Titanic, Lost in Space, HBO's From the Earth to the Moon, and The Jackal. Website: http://www.newtek.com.

See them, and so many others, in St. Louis, March 12 - 14, at Amiga 99, the largest Amiga show in the U.S. Check our web site at: http://www.amiga-stl.com

Bob Scharp
Amigan-St. Louis
bscharp@icon-stl.net
The Gateway Computer Show - Amiga 99

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Groups Vow To Expand Intel Boycott

By Ted Bridis, Associated Press Writer
02:38 AM ET 01/29/99

WASHINGTON (AP) - Privacy groups refuse to drop their boycott against Intel Corp. over new technology in its new Pentium III computer chips that helps identify consumers as they move across the Internet.

Instead, the groups urged Intel at a meeting Thursday to recall its chips already in production. They also promised to expand their boycott to include any computer makers that sell machines using the Pentium III, which is expected on the market within weeks. Intel will not consider recalling Pentium chips already sent to computer manufacturers, company spokesman Chuck Mulloy said. Officials at Compaq Computer Corp. and Dell Computer Corp., among the nation's largest computer makers, could not be reached immediately to respond.

"The distributors of a privacy toxin are as liable as the manufacturers of a privacy toxin," said Jason Catlett, president of Junkbusters Corp. of Green Brook, N.J., which helped organize the boycott with the Washington-based Electronic Privacy Information Center.

Intel would not comment on the demands "other than to say we've briefed them," Mulloy said. The chips are "in the hands of the (computer makers), and systems are being built."

The effects of any boycott on Intel would be negligible. The company supplies roughly 85 percent of the world's computer processors and had $26.2 billion in sales last year.

The groups disclosed that attorneys general in some states, including New York and Massachusetts, contacted them this week about the privacy issue.

Intel, the world's largest computer chip-maker, unveiled new technology last week in its newest Pentium chip that can transmit its unique serial number internally and to Web sites that requested it to help verify users. The company said the technology will help online merchants eliminate fraud by verifying a consumer's identity.

But facing criticism over privacy issues, Intel promised Monday to offer free software to let consumers permanently disconnect the feature. It also pledged to use the software to turn off the technology by default in future copies of the chips that have not been distributed to the world's computer makers.

The privacy groups told two Intel executives in Washington that the software solution was inadequate because Intel would not require computer makers to turn the technology off by default. They complained the software too easily was fooled into reactivating the technology without warning.

They said they want Intel to change its manufacturing process an immensely expensive proposition to change all future chips to transmit ``0'' as their serial number, effectively rendering the technology useless.

ToC

Windows Refund Center

If you've purchased a PC, yet you don't use the Microsoft software pre-installed by the vendor, you might be entitled to a refund. If you have installed Linux, a BSD, BeOS, OS/2, NetWare, or another OS on a machine which came with Windows, there is a website (http://www.thenoodle.com/refund/) dedicated to help you learn the whys and hows, and to communicate and organize with other consumers who don't like paying the "Microsoft tax" for software they've never used on their machines.

Site organizers are aiming at making February 15th "Windows Refund Day" by getting as many people as possible to request their refunds on the same day (to make it a press event).

ToC

WinUAE to Improve Core Performance

From: "dpence" (dpence@kih.net)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.amiga.misc
Date: Sat, 06 Feb 1999 05:20:39 -0800

It has been reported that Brian King, the current maintainer of WinUae (the Amiga emulator for the Windows platform) has stated that within 6 months WinUae will have 040 speed on an average P200. Work is being done to optimize the CPU core. That coupled with AGA, Picasso, and the soon to be released AHI support will produce a pretty good Amiga alternitive at 1/4 of the price.

ToC

BoXer Update (2/01/99)

Zane H. Healy (healyzh@aracnet.net): Is the BoXeR really finally ready?

Mick Tinker (index@cix.compulink.co.uk): It's not complete yet. I am trying to keep out as many last minute changes as possible, but there are still a few minor ones creeping in. The last few changes should finally be in there this week so the long awaited final layout can be done, with a hopefully quick turnaround on some prototypes before they go to production.

As most of you can guess the amount of time and effort that can go into Amiga projects is reducing all the time as market reality makes it non-profitable. This slows down the development on BoXeR and some other projects, but it will still be delivered. Equally I am quiet in here because I am spending more of the available time on design to make sure that it moves forward.

On the plus side the Siamese PCI works :-)

Regards,
Mick Tinker, Access Innovation Ltd, England
http://access.amiga.tm

ToC

Opera Update

MacOS: As most of you will know, we encountered severe difficulties and delays with the MacOS version of Opera. We changed teams (from the USA to Denmark) and all is going well now. For at least another 4-5 months, there will be neither a release date set nor any information pertaining a beta version.

AmigaOS: The initial Amiga team has ended its involvement in the port. We are making good progress negotiating with a German team, and hope to have finality on this very soon, too.

In the meantime, the aMozilla project has begun and some fake screenshots have circulated on the Net. Regardless, we remain committed to the Amiga platform, but please bear with us as we look for a new team.

ToC

Virtual Game Station 1.1 Released Despite Lawsuit

TidBITS#465/01-Feb-99

Connectix Corporation has shipped Virtual Game Station 1.1, an update to the company's Sony PlayStation emulator, introduced at Macworld Expo in San Francisco. Few details were available regarding the changes in version 1.1, although Connectix did say that they've "enhanced compatibility and functionality," plus added additional security technology to prevent use of pirated PlayStation games. Most likely because of a lawsuit brought by Sony, it's been impossible to purchase the $49 Virtual Game Station other than at the show, but Connectix's online store expects availability by 06-Feb-99. Those who managed to purchase Virtual Game Station 1.0 at Macworld Expo can download a free 828K updater. [ACE]

http://www.virtualgamestation.com/
http://db.tidbits.com/getbits.acgi?tbart=05242

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Connectix Wins First Round of Sony Lawsuit

TidBITS#466/08-Feb-99

The San Francisco Federal District Court last week rejected Sony's request for a temporary restraining order on shipments of Connectix's Virtual Game Station, a PlayStation emulator for Apple's G3 Macs. On TidBITS Talk, there's been speculation that Sony is suing Connectix not because the company expects to win, but because it's important to protect intellectual property. If Sony didn't sue in this situation, that fact might hurt Sony in a future lawsuit. Since companies often lose money on console video game hardware, instead reaping profits in sales or licensing of the games, it's unlikely that Sony wants to stop sales of Virtual Game Station, which stands only to increase sales of PlayStation games. Along with other interesting information in that thread, we've posted additional details about Virtual Game Station's hardware requirements. It turns out that hardware combinations other than Apple's G3 Macs may meet Virtual Game Station's requirements. [ACE]

http://www.virtualgamestation.com/
http://db.tidbits.com/getbits.acgi?tlkthrd=569

ToC

Virtual PC 2.1.2 Adds USB Support

TidBITS#466/08-Feb-99

Connectix has released a minor update to Virtual PC that should be welcome for owners of iMacs and the new Power Macintosh G3 machines who run Windows in emulation. The free update enables Virtual PC to identify the Imation USB SuperDisk and VST USB Floppy Drive correctly, plus lets the Hard Drive Expander utility detect if a hard drive disk image is part of a saved state. The updater is a 612K download. [JLC]

http://www.connectix.com/html/vpc_updates.html
http://www.superdisk.com/
http://www.vsttech.com/imac_floppy.html

ToC

Norton Utilities for Macintosh Updated to 4.0.3

TidBITS#466/08-Feb-99

Symantec has released a free 4.0.3 updater for Norton Utilities for Macintosh. Changes in 4.0.3 include only the use of Mac OS 8.5.1 on the bootable CD-ROM for new purchasers and a minor fix for UnErase. Version 4.0.2, for which there was no online update, had more extensive changes and fixes to 4.0.1, including general items like "Disk Doctor 4.0.2 includes enhancements that improve repair capabilities and reduce instances of unrepairable errors," along with specific fixes to less-important modules like DiskLight and WipeInfo. Since the full 4.0.3 update is large at 11.9 MB, Symantec has also posted incremental updates. Although it's good to see Symantec updating Norton Utilities 4.0, that release did significant damage to the disk repair utility's reputation (see "Norton Utilities 4.0 Problem Reports Abound" in TidBITS-451). We can recommend only that you proceed with caution and make sure you have a good backup before using any version of Norton Utilities 4.0. [ACE]

http://www.symantec.com/techsupp/files/num/norton_utilities_version_4x_for_macintosh.html
http://db.tidbits.com/getbits.acgi?tbart=05140

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Free BBEdit 5.0.2 Update Available

TidBITS#465/01-Feb-99

Bare Bones Software has released a BBEdit 5.0.2 update, free to registered owners of BBEdit 5.0 or 5.0.1. The 5.0.2 update rolls BBEdit's FTP client into the main application, and includes a number of fixes to BBEdit and its HTML tools, along with support for nestable include files and the capability to select multiple items in many of BBEdit's browser windows. The update, which Bare Bones recommends for all BBEdit 5 users, is a 1.9 MB download. [GD]

http://web.barebones.com/products/bbedit/rnotes.html
http://web.barebones.com/support/update.html

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Aladdin Ships Faster StuffIt Expander 5.1

TidBITS#466/08-Feb-99

Faced with competition from MindVision's new MindExpander, a preview release of which can expand a number of formats, including MacBinary, BinHex, and StuffIt 4.x, Aladdin Systems has responded by updating StuffIt Expander to version 5.1. New in StuffIt Expander 5.1 are integrated support for Zip, Gzip, and uuencoded files (those formats previously required the commercial StuffIt Engine); significant performance increases over 5.0; the elimination of the need for external files; access to Internet Config settings; support for helper applications for unknown file types; and a smaller file size. If you're a registered user of StuffIt Deluxe 4.x or DropStuff 4.x, make sure to read Aladdin's notes about how to continue to use those older versions with StuffIt Expander 5.1. StuffIt Expander is a 424K download. [ACE]

http://www.mindvision.com/consumer/
http://www.aladdinsys.com/expander/
http://www.aladdinsys.com/expander/4.xnote.html

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Extensis Rescuing Suitcase

TidBITS#466/08-Feb-99

Extensis Corporation has announced an exclusive agreement with Symantec to take over development, distribution, and marketing of Suitcase, the venerable font management tool for the Mac. (See "Font Outfitters" in TidBITS-334 for a comparison of Suitcase 3.0 and MasterJuggler Pro 2.0.) Symantec originally acquired Suitcase with Fifth Generation Systems in 1993. Under Symantec's management, Suitcase saw one major update to version 3.0 but has otherwise been ignored. With this agreement, Suitcase may become one of the only products to escape Symantec's gravity well. During the second quarter of 1999, Extensis plans to release its first update to Suitcase, which hopefully will resolve widely reported problems using Suitcase 3.0 with Mac OS 8.5. Neither Extensis nor Symantec have disclosed financial details of the agreement. [GD]

http://www.extensis.com/press/990208.html
http://db.tidbits.com/getbits.acgi?tbart=00956

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The Macintosh Section:

Driving the 4.5 Web Browsers

by Adam C. Engst (ace@tidbits.com)

Web browsers are probably among the least upgraded pieces of software, despite being essentially free and frequently updated. The TidBITS Web site still sees about 1,000 hits per week from people using MacWeb, a now-defunct Web browser bundled with early editions of Internet Starter Kit for Macintosh. The fact is, if a specific version of a Web browser works for you, why change? Eventually something encourages a switch, but it's not uncommon for people to jump several versions at a time. I fully understand that inertia, but when both Netscape Communicator and Microsoft Internet Explorer reached version 4.5, I was eager to try them out. I wasn't disappointed; both are decidedly better than previous releases.

http://home.netscape.com/download/
http://www.microsoft.com/mac/ie/

Design Mentalities

Discussions with developers at both Netscape and Microsoft helped me place these releases in the context of the overall history of each program.

Netscape Communicator 4.5 offers relatively few feature enhancements to its Web browser - most of the important changes were to improve performance and enhance the mail and news components of the package, which I'm not looking at here. However, I was told by Netscape that if you don't use the mail and news parts of Netscape Communicator, the program won't load them into memory. In short, although using Communicator solely as a Web browser may waste disk space, it shouldn't use much more memory than the stand-alone Netscape Navigator Web browser, which hasn't been updated to 4.5. Internet Explorer's memory model isn't clear either: even when there's plenty of memory available, Internet Explorer 4.5 can still complain it's running critically low, especially with complex pages and multiple windows.

Netscape said that many fixes and new ideas are being held for the 5.0 version of Netscape Communicator, which will be the first open source release. That release will also reportedly feature a new page rendering engine plus additional standards support. If you have time on your hands, you can check out the pre-release versions.

http://www.mozilla.org/

With Internet Explorer 4.5, Microsoft added a number of new features to enhance the Web browsing experience. What hasn't changed is standards support - Microsoft decided to put off improving standards support for the 5.0 release. With this decision, Microsoft walks a fine line - obviously, improving the Web browsing experience will benefit almost everyone, whereas relatively few Web users care about standards support. However, standards advocates have good reason to be vocal about their concerns, since support for open standards is the basis of the Internet.

Thinking about these two Web browsers, I realized that even the new or recently added features are moving along the same lines, making the two releases quite comparable. Let's look at some of the similar areas, starting with the one everyone asks about: performance and stability.

Performance and Stability

Both Netscape Communicator 4.5 and Internet Explorer 4.5 are somewhat faster than previous releases. As I've discussed in the past, making statistically significant performance comparisons of Web browsers is difficult at best. So, I'll say merely that both browsers feel faster than their previous releases... for about two days. After that, you stop noticing the change from the previous version, and they're both too slow again.

http://db.tidbits.com/getbits.acgi?tbart=04906

I see stability as a similar situation - neither program is as stable or reliable as would be ideal. That said, there appear to be more anecdotal bug reports on the Internet about Internet Explorer 4.5 than about Netscape Communicator 4.5.

http://www.macfixit.com/reports/explorer4.5.shtml

Navigation Enhancements

Netscape Communicator 4.5 now supports the Command-click shortcut Internet Explorer uses to open a link in a new window. Command-clicking a link is far faster and easier than using the pop-up contextual menus long supported by both browsers. Unfortunately, predicting where Communicator will open new windows is difficult (especially on multiple monitor setups), which reduces the utility of the feature.

For people without multiple monitors (or for whom multiple windows aren't realistic) Microsoft added a feature called Page Holder to Internet Explorer. A new Page Holder tab on the left-hand Explorer bar lets you temporarily store a page for the purpose of quickly viewing its links in the main window. Microsoft aimed this feature at people who read headline-oriented sites and want to follow most of the links. I prefer to view such links in new windows, but if you do use Page Holder, note that you can and should expand the width of that pane so the page stored there is readable.

Printing

Microsoft has finally improved Web browser printing capabilities. I occasionally print a Web page of driving directions, a map, or even a TidBITS article I need on paper. Internet Explorer 4.5 provides a Print Preview command, and while viewing the page within the Print Preview dialog box, you can choose to shrink the page to fit, crop wide pages, or print wide pages. You can also print headers and footers (which include the page title, date, URL, and page number), the background (good to avoid in most cases), and images.

Although these printing features are a great start, they need work. First, the Print Preview dialog box is both oddly designed and system-modal, so you can't do anything else on the Macintosh until you dismiss it. It should be either application-modal or even non-modal. Second, Internet Explorer can't print multiple frames on a page, though you can choose which frame to print by clicking in that frame before choosing Print Preview. Finally, the Print Background checkbox could be interpreted as being related to background printing - better wording might be "Print Page Backgrounds." I've also seen a few cosmetic artifacts in the preview that didn't appear in the printout.

Netscape doesn't trumpet this fact, but Communicator 4.5 also includes improved printing capabilities. Hidden in a pop-up menu in the Page Setup dialog box are options that tell Communicator 4.5 to fit the Web page to a piece of paper while printing and to avoid printing the Web page background. These features are extremely welcome, although I'd encourage Netscape to make them more prominent and add a print preview.

Making Relationships

Microsoft beefed up support for Apple technologies by integrating Internet Explorer 4.5 with Sherlock (although support for Navigation Services is still lacking). Unfortunately, the three options aren't useful. One lets you open Sherlock, another summarizes the page to the clipboard, and the third theoretically finds similar sites. This third feature would be great if it worked, but it makes searching more like working with Scooby Doo than Sherlock Holmes.

The reason this integration fails is twofold. First, Microsoft chose to feed Sherlock the first 100 characters from the META DESCRIPTION tag, if present, and if not, to work from the first 100 characters in the page text. In a case like an issue of TidBITS, where we have both META DESCRIPTION and META KEYWORDS tags, Sherlock would probably be better served by using our keywords. Working from the description is a good idea, but truncating it to 100 characters hamstrings the search. Searching based on the first 100 characters of the page text is generally useless in cases where the META tags don't exist, such as our home page, since it hits our non-representative navigation bar text. Second, relying on META tags at all is error-prone, since most Web pages don't include descriptive tags. Even when these tags do appear, their contents are often site-specific, not page-specific, which leads to inaccurate results.

Netscape chose a different approach. Communicator 4.5 includes the Smart Browsing feature that first appeared in Communicator 4.06. Smart Browsing encompasses two separate features: What's Related and Internet Keywords (see below). What's Related works with the Web catalog on Netscape's NetCenter site to provide a listing of sites that are related to the site you're viewing. It's fairly accurate, returning sites like MacWEEK, Macworld, MWJ, and Apple when asked what is related to TidBITS.

However, What's Related thinks only in terms of _sites_. For instance, I noticed on the Cornell University Web site that Joan Brumberg's excellent book The Body Project had won an award, but when I check What's Related while on the page about the book's award, I get a listing of other universities, which are totally unrelated to the book. If you keep this limitation in mind, What's Related should prove more useful.

http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ISBN=0679735291/tidbitselectro00A/

Completion Freaks

Two new features in Internet Explorer 4.5, AutoFill and AutoComplete, make filling in forms on the Web much easier. AutoFill, which you access by clicking a toolbar button, automatically fills in your contact information (which you enter in the preferences) in Web forms. It accomplishes this by reading the form's HTML and figuring out what information should go where. It's brilliant; I can't tell you how much I enjoy not entering my address and telephone number. Although Microsoft has explicitly told me they do not collect this information, if it bothers you, don't use the feature.

AutoComplete works in any field but requires that you teach it words to complete, which you can do in the preferences or by Control-clicking a completed form and choosing Add to AutoComplete List. My only complaint is that AutoComplete also uses the AutoFill information, which means that if I type a 4 or a 9 in a field, AutoComplete tries to fill in my phone number or ZIP code (which start with those digits). Perhaps Microsoft could require the user to enter two or three characters before AutoComplete kicks in.

Although URL auto-completion was available in earlier versions of Communicator on other platforms, Communicator 4.5 is the first version to sport it on the Macintosh. Like Internet Explorer, Communicator now auto-completes URLs (and Internet keywords, see below) as you type them in the Location field. Unlike Internet Explorer, Communicator's URL auto-completion doesn't consider bookmark titles, which are the pages you're most likely to want to revisit.

Netscape's Internet Keywords feature is a nice touch. Whereas you're used to being able to type "apple" in the Location field and go to www.apple.com, Internet Keywords routes entries in that field through a database at Netscape that attempts to go one better than DNS on looking up the name. So, you can type "Southwest Airlines" and end up at www.iflyswa.com or "Apple iMac" end up at the iMac's Web page. Internet Keywords is only as good as its database, so if there's no direct match, the Internet Keywords site redirects to a NetCenter search.

Bitter Better Bookmarks

One welcome enhancement to Netscape Communicator 4.5 is a bookmarks toolbar that displays user- specified bookmarks within the browser window. Plus, you can choose any folder of bookmarks to display in that toolbar by editing your bookmarks, then choosing Set as Toolbar Folder from the View menu. That command joins two other useful options, Set as New Bookmarks Folder and Set as Bookmark Menu Folder that let you determine where new bookmarks go by default and what folder displays in your Bookmarks menu. I found this handy when switching bookmark sets between browsers.

Internet Explorer has long featured the Favorites toolbar, and although I hadn't previously realized this, it displays the contents of whatever favorites folder is called "Toolbar Favorites". You can thus switch between different folders in the Favorites toolbar by renaming folders.

Microsoft also slightly reworked the Favorites tab on the Explorer bar, demoting channels into Favorites (which is better from an interface point of view than the previous approach, but denigrates the channel technology to the point where no one will discover it). Also new in the Favorites tab are buttons for adding and organizing favorites.

http://db.tidbits.com/getbits.acgi?tbart=05051

Overall, the bookmark features of both browsers are just good enough that I no longer look for external bookmark utilities. Plenty of improvement is possible, though, particularly when working with the history of visited pages. Netscape Communicator desperately needs a persistent history and Microsoft could do some work on letting the user quickly filter the list of history entries.

Sizing Fonts

Netscape Communicator 4.5 now sports commands for changing the font size of a page, which is essential when you come across a site designed for Windows users. Because Windows thinks monitors use a screen resolution of 96 dpi by default, rather than the Mac's 72 dpi, Windows-based Web designers often lower the font size so text doesn't appear too large for Windows users. Mac users are then faced with tiny text that's hard to read.

Although Communicator doesn't have toolbar buttons for the View menu's Increase Font Size and Decrease Font Size commands, there are keyboard shortcuts. In my testing, unfortunately, Communicator wasn't able to change the font size on many pages reliably, although sometimes it seemed to be changing the font in tiny increments, thus requiring numerous invocations. With luck, this feature will improve in 5.0 and include some indication of how you've changed the font size.

Installation and Updates

Although it still requires that numerous files be installed into your System Folder, Internet Explorer adopted the drag-install and self-repair technologies from Office 98. This enables you to avoid running an installation program or worrying that you've thrown out some essential file, with the trade-off being an increased disk footprint. I like these technologies, but I'd prefer that programs didn't need so many files in the first place.

Netscape Communicator has a SmartUpdate feature that purportedly helps download and install new versions of the software automatically. I haven't seen it do anything yet, so I can't say how well it works. For Internet Explorer 4.0, Microsoft used to provide a channel that could notify you of updates to Internet Explorer, but now that channels aren't popular at Microsoft, there's no automated notification or update help available.

Microsoft is proud of their drag-install and self-repair technologies; although they're neat, I'd rather see effort being put into simplifying the update process. Netscape might be doing that with SmartUpdate, but it's too soon to tell. Both programs could learn from Peter Lewis's Anarchie Pro, which uses SIVC (Simple Internet Version Control) to check for updates and prompt the user to download them.

Making a Choice

In the end, I find myself using Internet Explorer 4.5, mostly for the same reasons I did seven months ago - Communicator has too many minor annoyances that bog down my Web browsing. There are those mentioned above, plus Communicator still redraws the entire page if you resize the window, and its history feature is still session-based and window-specific, which I find useless. And finally, the download status at the bottom of the browser window is often drawn over a barbershop pole display, which renders it unreadable.

I have fewer gripes about Internet Explorer, and the problems I do encounter don't occur regularly. For instance, I've seen Internet Explorer 4.5 become confused when switching from a modem to a dedicated connection without quitting the program in between. Similar problems have occurred when I leave Explorer running on a PowerBook that moves between having a connection and being disconnected. Also, although you can rearrange the Favorites Bar, Address Bar, and Button Bar, Internet Explorer at times forgets the position of my Favorites Bar after I've moved it onto the same line as the Address Bar.

For me, then, fewer annoyances, plus Microsoft's addition of AutoFill and AutoComplete, and vastly improved printing capabilities, make Internet Explorer my Macintosh Web browser of choice... for the moment. Netscape released Communicator 4.5 in the middle of October, and Internet Explorer 4.5 shipped at Macworld Expo in January, a short two and a half months later. I wouldn't be surprised to see Internet Explorer's new features appear in Communicator 5.0, along with other major improvements, and Microsoft undoubtedly has big plans for Internet Explorer 5.0, due sometime later this year. As long as Macintosh development on Communicator doesn't lag due to America Online's purchase of Netscape, we should enjoy continued improvements on both sides. Otherwise, there's Opera, which might ship a Macintosh version one of these years.

http://db.tidbits.com/getbits.acgi?tbart=05189
http://www.operasoftware.com/alt_os.html

[Source: TidBITS#465 / 01-Feb-99. TidBITS address is http://www.tidbits.com/tb-issues/default.html .]

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The Amiga Section:

The future's bright, the future's Havemose!!!

by Lion (Lion@fluidcontrol.demon.co.uk)
http://www.fluidcontrol.demon.co.uk/lion
comp.sys.amiga.misc - 1999/01/22

For anybody who hasn't read the [Havemose] interview in AF (Amiga Format, the February issue. Only just out in the UK.) then I'm providing a summary of what I feel are the most important points raised in the article. Please note that I take no responsibility for anything! If I've misread stuff and passed it on to you then tough! ;)

Point Number 1 - Amiga Inc are not deserting the home computer market. When asked about the new Amiga's, Dr. Havemose said that it is likely that there will be an A1200 style-computer.

Point Number 2 - He also expects A4000-style workstations. He also said that "Our technology is also well suited to the next-generation of games machines and set-top-box's". Which leads me to believe that one of the next-generation consoles will be running AmigaOS-5. Whether that be PlaystationII, Nintendo's next machine, or something else remains to be seen.

Point Number 3 - QNX's kernel isn't the only part of QNX to be used by AmigaOS-5. As well as the kernel, device drivers, virtual memory, TCP/IP stack etc. will all be taken from QNX.

"Amiga Inc will concentrate on multimedia, 3D graphics,.mpg, gaming interfaces, digital convergence API's, preferences and user interfaces. Amiga Inc will develop everything that a typical user will come into contact with, while QNX provide much of the underlying operating system technology."

Point Number 4 - The developers machines will be Intel boxes running OS-5 and it's development tools. Windows will *NOT* be required. The whole development will be possible under Amiga OS-5 and no other operating system will be required on the development machine.

Point Number 5 - Classic Amiga software should be easy to port and the developers tools will be aware that many applications will be ports "Most well-written [Classic Amiga] applications should port easily, but to get all the benefits of the new architecture [developers] will want to take advantage of the new API's. We'll offer significantly better development tools than are currently available for the Classic Amiga, which should aid transition"

Point Number 6 - The New Amiga will have some form of backward compatibility with OS 3.5. This is mainly guess-work on my part. Dr. Havemose said "For the development system, we're investigating either a 'Classic Amiga PCI card' or a 'Classic Amiga Emulator'. It is my guess that an emulator will be used, and this will also come as part of the AmigaNG's software package. Although this will possibly be omitted from certain machines running Amiga OS5 (such as the games-console, should it be developed by Sony, Nintendo etc.).

If you haven't already got AF and read the interview, I urge you to. It's the most solid info on the New Amiga yet and shows a lot of promise. It's certainly brought a smile to my face! :)

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QNX & Amiga FAQ

from Alexander Limi (tilbud@iname.com)
comp.sys.amiga.misc - 1998/11/26

[Commo-Hawk Editor's Note: The new AmigaOS will actually be based on a new kernel from QNX called Neutrino. This message helps explain some of the differences between the established QNX OS and Neutrino. ]

I repost this from the comp.os.qnx newsgroup to comp.sys.amiga.misc. It offers a very good explanation of many of the questions appearing here.

Kind of a Mini-FAQ, if you like.

Alexander Limi
http://www.AmigaHQ.com

Originally posted by Igor Kovalenko on comp.os.qnx:

-- quote --

This sounds pretty refreshing. A huge volume of programmers with free time is what QNX community missing all the time ;)

Just don't be fooled guys. Read this twice and remember: QNX IS NOT NEUTRINO. NEUTRINO IS NOT QNX.

The famous floppy demo is based on QNX 4.24 (and I seriously suspect that the 'dragging windows' demo on that presentation also has been made with QNX, what actually has nothing to do with future AmigaOS5). While it looks very nice, you (presumably, so far) can make MUCH better thing with Neutrino. While playing with QNX and writing some code Amiga guys/gals can get good feeling of the philosophy behind QNX and Neutrino, but that's all. You can't do much useful things for AmigaOS5 using QNX4. remember: THAT CODE WILL NOT WORK WITH Neutrino/AmigaOS5.

If you want to write something what (hopefully) will work on AmigaOS5, you have to write for Neutrino 2.0 or later. It is however available only for selected beta sites right now. To those who use Neutrino 1.01 it may be interesting to notice some differences:

> many of the coders will have their code in C form, although I
> understand we are expected to get used to C++, Java and OOtype
> programing for OS5 (presumably that's the QNX standard now?)

The standard is C. The attitude of QSSL to C++ is bad. It is not supported for Neutrino 2.0 yet. Java is a religion and QSSL enforced to be a believer ;). No support for Neutrino 2.0 yet anyways, but it supposed to be supported.

-- quote end --

[Source: The Commo-Hawk Commodore/Amiga Users Group newsletter, "The File" January, 1999. CHCUG's address is P.O. Box 2724, Cedar Rapids, Iowa 52406-2724.]

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Introduction to Real-time

by Mark Vitale (mvitale@dc.net)

Introduction

As most of you know, Amiga Inc. recently forged a partnership with QNX Software Systems to use portions of the QNX real-time operating system (RTOS) as the basis for the kernel of the new AmigaOS version 4 and 5. The purpose of this article is to introduce you to the basics of real-time systems. By the time we are done, you will understand why Amigans can be glad their new operating system will have a real-time "heart"!

Keep it Real

In common usage, the term "real-time" describes a process which can produce its output at the same rate as its "live" input without any pauses or slowdowns. For example, a modern TV weather tracking system can show you not only what happened yesterday or an hour ago, but can display live Doppler radar storm tracks and lightning strikes in real-time, as they happen.

"Real-time" also has a technical meaning in computing, and the meaning is similar to the common usage. Her's a definition from the Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) file for the newsgroup comp.realtime:

"A real-time system is one in which the correctness of the computations not only depends upon logical correctness of the computation but also upon the time at which the result is produced. If the timing constraints of the system are not met, system failure is said to have occurred." ...

Hence, it is essential that the timing constraints of the system are guaranteed to be met. Guaranteeing timing behavior requires that the system be predictable."

In other words, a real-time system is designed to deliver a predictable, guaranteed minimum response time (usually sub-second or even millisecond) to multiple concurrent time-critical tasks. Granted, all modern operating systems (including AmigaOS) can multitask applications (NOT in real-time!) while handling certain critical operating system tasks such as clock updates, screen refreshes, and keyboard interrupts in real-time. But a true real-time system goes beyond mere multitasking; it extends fast and predictable support to applications so that their time-critical tasks can also complete on time.

How do they do that?

Real-time systems consist of three ingredients: 1) application written using concurrent programming techniques, 2) a real-time operating system, and 3) hardware that is fast enough. Let's consider these three pieces in reverse order.

Size Doesn't Matter

First of all, the hardware must be fast enough to meet any specified application time requirements. I say fast enough because many real-time systems are not general purpose computers at all, but very small control systems embedded in commercial equipment or cost-sensitive consumer products. They often run on ancient or cheap hardware, such as a 2 Mhz 6802 or a 100 Mhz ARM.

Although they may be laughably slow when compared to a modern desktop computer, they're more than adequate to run a 2K real-time microkernel and a 2K control program. So, the only thing that matters in real-time systems is not the horsepower but the application response time. This leads us to the next component, the real-time operating system.

A Kernel of Truth

A real-time operating system is designed to allow programmers to write applications with guaranteed response times and provably predictable behavior for time critical control systems. To accomplish this difficult goal, most real-time operating systems have the following features in common: time-slicing, pre-emptive multitasking, prioritized task scheduling, low worst-case dispatch latency and low interrupt service latency.

Time-slicing means that the operating system controls the length of time ("slice", usually measured in milliseconds) each task is permitted to run before it is interrupted. Pre-emptive means that the current running task can be pre-empted (stopped and put back in the queue) so that another task can run. Depending on the design of the operating system, it may pre-empt the running task when its time slice expires or when a timer or I/O interrupt awakens another task with a higher priority. This latter case is where prioritized task scheduling becomes important.

Latency is a fancy word for an unavoidable delay in response. For instance, disk drive response time is limited by two mechanical latencies: the average time to move the head to the desired track (seek time), and the average time for the data to spin under the head (spin or rotational latency).

In real-time operating systems, there are two critical software latencies: the maximum or worst-case time between a hardware interrupt and the dispatch of its interrupt service routine (interrupt latency), and the maximum or worst-case time it takes to switch from a pre-empted task to a new task (dispatch latency). In some operating systems, these latencies cab be lumped together as maximum "context-switch" time.

Of course, a software delay depends on both the software instruction path length and the speed of the hardware. Therefore, real-time operating system vendors will usually specify the hardware when quoting numbers for interrupt latency, dispatch latency, or context-switching.

Summary and Conclusions

Every day, programs written to run on real-time operating systems are safely and reliably controlling multiple concurrent time-critical tasks: in nuclear power plants, chemical and food factories, fly-by-wire aircraft, and automobile engines, just to name a few examples.

As you can see, a real-time kernel at the heart of the new AmigaOS will give developers the power and control they need to write software to real-time multimedia production, active web content, embedded systems, and other high performance time critical applications.

Next month we'll use the example of an automobile computer to take a closer look at the third component of a real-time system - the application program - including some real-time programming techniques. If you have any questions or comments, why not send me an email at mvitale@dc.net.

[Source: National Capital Amiga Users Group newsletter "Amiga Intuition", February, 1999. NCAUG's address is P.O. Box 12360, Arlington, VA 22209. ]

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The CUCUG Section:

January General Meeting

reported by Kevin Hopkins

The January 21, 1999 General meeting began with the traditional introduction of officers. President Lewis noted the two changes in the officer line up by stating that Kevin Hopkins had offered to become Amiga SIG Chairman, upon John Lynn's retirement from that post, and Richard Hall was now the elected CUCUG Treasurer, upon the retirement of Mark Landman. President Lewis reported that the club is good financial shape. He concluded his remarks by introducing our newest member.

The floor was then opened up for a Question and Answer Session.

Jerry Feltner asked if there was a Y2K problem on the Amiga. He was assured that in general there wasn't, but for the definitive answer on the subject, he was directed to an article written by Olaf Barthel, on the Amiga.com web site, that addresses the subject in detail. The address for this information is http://www.amiga.com/developers/092098-y2k.shtml .

Continuing on the same topic, Richard Rollins stated that the Macintosh doesn't have this problem either, except for some ports of PC programs. Further, He expressed his concern on how the Y2K problem will express itself in imbedded processor market, which he deals with in his work. He noted that as a stop-gap measure the monthly calendar could be make to appear correct by resetting the year to 1972.

Kevin Hisel slyly mentioned the Y1999 problem, which is the precursor to the Y2K problem, as it signifies the end of time.

President Lewis then asked Kevin Hisel to report on the last month's Amiga news. Kevin said, "Nothing's happening. The people who are selling Amiga things are disappointed with sales."

"The QNX announcement was the last real news."

"The Gateway Amiga Show in St, Louis will be coming up in March. We have a booth available."

Kevin noted that the Amiga Web Directory recently had been given Amiga Universe's Amiga Website of 1998 Award.

Kevin closed by asking members who hadn't renewed their membership to do so here at the meeting.

President Lewis turned to Richard Rollins for the monthly Macintosh news update. Richard reported that Apple had announced a $152 million profit for the last quarter.

The Macworld Expo had been held at the beginning of January and the new G3 Mac computers had been unveiled. Five new colors for the iMac also made their debut, while the older Bondi blue color was retired. The new blue G3s ship with IDE hard drives, the Rage 128 graphics card (which should make them hot gaming machines), and all of them come in mini tower cases.

There was a discussion of MPEG3. Jim Lewis said the recording industry through RIAA has been fighting MP3 tooth and nail. The consensus is, however, that the cat is out of the bag. The real threat is that artists can bypass the recording companies by using the internet to go directly to the public with their music in MP3 format.

Richard said that he had brought in MacAmp Lite and latest two worm programs for those coming to the Mac SIG.

Richard reported that the latest version of MacinTax will not work with MacOS 8.5. It's appears to be an extension problem. He also said Filemaker Pro has a problem with 8.5 and must be upgraded to 8.5.1 to work properly.

As a bit of local news, Richard mentioned that United CDROM is moving from the north side of town to south Neil Street and currently has a sale going on.

Richard concluded by saying he has been impressed by the iMacs he has encountered in his consulting business. He said he has been consistently connecting at 52K with the iMac, while he has never gone above 48K with any other machine.

The meeting then recessed before reconvening in the special interest groups.

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The Amiga SIG: True Type Fonts

reported by Kevin Hopkins

With the retirement of John Lynn as Amiga SIG Chairman at the end of last year, Kevin Hopkins offered to step in and take on those duties. The first thing Kevin did was lay out how he hoped the SIG would function for the next year. Reverting back to the way the old Champaign Amiga group used to conduct their meetings before they were incorporated into CUCUG, Kevin proposed a far more informal style of meeting than has been CUCUG's method of doing things. Breaking up the auditorium style - speaker to audience - scenario, Kevin had everyone gather around a single table, reinstituting the kind of friendly roundtable discusssion that characterized our SIG's predecessor. For future meetings, everyone is encouraged to bring in anything they are interested in, discovered over the preceding month, or would like to talk about. No one person will have to be the focus of attention or carry the weight of a formal presentation. The SIG meetings will be an informal sharing session.

With that in mind, Kevin brought in some information he had come across about implementing True Type fonts on the Amiga. He brought in a copy of the ttf.library v0.7.5 truetype font engine written by Richard Griffith (ragriffi@sprynet.com). The ttflib.lha can be found on Aminet in the util/libs directory or at Richard's site (http://home.sprynet.com/sprynet/ragriffi/). Kevin also brought in an example of a True Type font - the Arial font - which is one of the free True Type fonts available on the Microsoft web site at http://www.microsoft.com/typography/. However, the fonts on the Microsoft site have a archiver problem for Amigas, but someone was kind enought to repack them all in an .lha file which is available on Aminet as text/font/WebFonts.lha. As the documentation explains: the "ttf.library is a truetype compatible font engine for Amiga OS. It functions in a manner compatible with the outline font engine standard established by Commodore with the bullet.library engine for compugraphic format fonts. Any Amiga applications which can use normal system fonts can now use truetype format fonts."

The SIG spent the rest of the meeting playing with the ttf.library package and discussing a wide range of other topics.

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The Macintosh SIG:

Quentin Barnes shows PaperPort and TextBridge

by Quentin Barnes (qbarnes@urbana.css.mot.com)

In last month's meeting at the Macintosh SIG, I presented the PaperPort VX scanner, and the software PaperPort Deluxe 5.0.2, TextBridge Pro 8.0, and WordPerfect 3.5e.

The Visioneer PaperPort VX is a 400 DPI 256 grey scale sheetfeed scanner that connects as a SCSI device. Sheetfeed scanners have two advantages over conventional flatbed scanners. They have a very small desk footprint and are motorized. They take up so little space that they conveniently fit between a keyboard and monitor. Being motorized, it can draw in the pages as you scan them, saving a lot of time when scanning documents. The drawback of this design is that anything scanned cannot be thicker than a sheet about the weight of construction paper. It cannot be used to scan bound material.

Visioneer made two other PaperPort scanners for the Mac. The original PaperPort and the PaperPort Strobe. The original PaperPort connects to the ADB bus and is only black and white (1-bit), not grey scale. The Strobe is a 24-bit color scanner. Only the Visioneer Strobe is still being made. More information can be found about these scanners on the Visioneer web site at www.visioneer.com.

I picked up my PaperPort VX as a refurbished model off a Web auction site for about $37. When you can find them, they typically sell for around $40-$50 refurb or on the Visioneer web site for $55. The PaperPort Strobe can be found new for around $190 or refurbished for around $100. The last place I saw refurbished PaperPorts was from the Club Mac catalog.

The PaperPort scanners come with a bundled software package called PaperPort. This is a fairly nice package that can be used with any scanner. It is easy to manage and organize scanned images and documents. The scanned files can be easily sent to other packages such as graphic, OCR (optical character recognition), FAX, and Web authoring programs via drag-and-drop to the "Link Bar".

However, the PaperPort software has some bugs. If you get a version prior to 5.0, don't use it seriously. Upgrade to PaperPort Deluxe version 5.0 for around $45 street price. Even after installing, don't use it until obtaining the patch to version 5.0.2 from Visioneer's web site. PaperPort Deluxe will work with MacOS 8.5 but only after applying another patch, but this patch downgrades the version back to 5.0. You have to restore some parts of the patch. See www.macfixit.com for details.

Once you've applied all the patches, version 5.0.2 is very stable. The only bug I've hit is when attempting to delete images by dragging them from the PaperPort Desktop to the trash. After that, the program is confused as to what images are on the Desktop. To work around the problem, just don't do it. Delete files via the menu option instead.

It was very disappointing to me that I basically had to spend $40 to have usable software, but once I did, I do find the 5.0 version very helpful and useful. Actually, I end up using it more with my Agfa flatbed scanner than my PaperPort VX.

One of my favorite features of PaperPort is it provides a "software" printer. Via the chooser, you can select the paperport writer device. When printing from another program, instead of going to a printer, possibly wasting paper, the output is sent to the PaperPort Desktop. You can now manipulate the image, or file it away, rather than wasting paper. This feature can be used to preview printer output for those programs that don't provide a preview feature.

Additional software bundled with the PaperPort scanners is a light version of Xerox's TextBridge package. It does a very good job of OCR. I was so impressed with the software, I bought the full version, TextBridge Pro 8.0, for $40. This software is excellent at OCR and allows a document, including graphic images and tables, to be recreated as a word processing document. This is a considerable bargin compared to OmniPage Pro at $470 which cannot handle tables and can only ignore images.

Be careful when buying TextBridge Pro. Xerox's old version is 3.0 and sells for $250. Even though this previous version sells for considerably more, it is an outdated product. Xerox decided that offering its product at that price, priced themselves out of the home scanner market. When version 8.0 was introduced, they cut the retail price to $50.

TextBridge can write out formats compatible with many word processing packages, including Microsoft Word and WordPerfect. I used WordPerfect 3.5e to show how TextBridge Pro can recreate a scanned document. I have been nothing but impressed with TextBridge Pro, not only for its accuracy when scanning any printed text, but being able to so closely reproduce a scanned document.

For more information on TextBridge software, see Xerox's web site at www.textbridge.com.

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Richard Rollins investigates Worms and Viruses

provided by Richard Rollins ()

Also at the January Mac SIG meeting Richard Rollins looked into worms and viruses currently hampering the Macintosh. Richard provided a copy of his notes for his presentation and as they are very informative, they are reproduced here.

What various strains may damage:

Autostart worm "A": Files ending in "data", "cod" or "csa" that are more than 100k and files ending in "dat" that are larger than 2MB will be corrupted. Since FWB toolkit keeps updated device driver information in a file ending with "dat," it is particularly vulnerable to the worm.

Autostart worm "B": Any JPEG, TIFF or EPSF (Illustrator & Photoshop EPS files included) larger than 10k may be overwritten with garbage characters. You may see lines through your image when opened in Photoshop. Your Power Macintosh may crash when you try to print a damaged picture file from QuarkXPress.

Autostart worm "C": Autostart C does no damage to files. It actually may have helped reduce infections of Autostart A and Autostart B by replacing them with itself. After June 8, 1998 it ceases to spread.

Autostart worm "D": Autostart D also does no damage. After December 24, 1998 it ceases to spread.

Autostart worm "E": Similar damage and behavior as the "A" variant, but it counts both the data fork and the resource fork toward the 100K. More info on this virus coming.

Autostart worm "F": Similar behavior to the A and E variants.

Basic behaviors:

On infected media, there is an invisible application that is launched by Quicktime's autoplay feature (if enabled). The invisible application will check the System Folder's Extensions folder, and create an invisible extension if not already present. The application will also write autoplay information to the boot blocks, ensuring that if the media is taken elsewhere, it will continue to spread. Some strains will then restart the Macintosh. Now the invisible extension loads at startup, and every 3, 6 or 30 minutes it will poll all mounted volumes, servers & removable media, installing the invisible application and writing to the boot blocks whenever possible.

Invisible Application:

The A, E & F strains all place an invisible application named DB in the root directory of every possible volume. The name DB was probably chosen for its similarity with the legitimate system files named Desktop DB and Desktop PrintersDB, which are both invisible and reside in the root directory.

The B strain will place an invisible application named BD in the root directory of every possible volume.

The C & D strains both place an invisible application named DELDB in the root directory of every possible volume. They may also delete other strains that are found. Strains C & D stop spreading after June 8, 1998 and December 24, 1998, respectively.

AutoPlay Information written to the boot blocks:

Each variant lists its invisible application in the boot blocks (under clipboard name) of every possible volume, so that Quicktime autoplay will launch & spread its variant if taken to another Power Macintosh with Quicktime autoplay enabled. On server volumes, the worm is unsuccessful at remotely writing to boot blocks.

Invisible Extension:

The A, E & F strains all place an invisible extension (actually a faceless background application) named "Desktop Print Spooler" in the System Folder's Extensions folder. The name was probably chosen for its similarity with the legitimate system file named "Desktop Printer Spooler," which is an essential component of the MacOS Desktop Printing features.

The B strain behaves the same way, but creates "Desktop Printr Spooler" in the extensions folder.

The C & D strains behave the same way, but create "DELDesktopPrint Spooler."

Every Possible volume:

"Every Possible volume" includes shared folders & servers you may have mounted, diskettes & zip cartidges & all hard drives. Some variants have been known to copy their invisible extension into a variety of folders named "extensions."

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January Board Meeting

reported by Kevin Hopkins

The January meeting of the CUCUG Board took place on Tuesday, January 26, 1999, at 7PM, at Kevin Hisel's house. (For anyone wishing to attend - which is encouraged, by the way - the address and phone number are both in the book). Present at the meeting were Jim Lewis, John Lynn, Jim Huls, Richard Hall, Richard Rollins, Mark Landman, Emil Cobb, Kevin Hopkins, and Kevin Hisel.

Jim Lewis: Jim began the meeting by thanking Kevin Hopkins for taking over the Amiga SIG.

There was an addressing of the issues involved in a dispute between the AWD and a particular user group's website. There was a review of the history surrounding the "other web directory," whose banner is displayed on the website in question, for those on the Board not familiar with that history.

John Lynn: John said he would be bringing in his Toaster/Flyer system for the February Amiga SIG meeting. John said he would be pulling someone out of the audience and have them editing in 10 minutes. Kevin Hopkins gave a short review of what the Amiga SIG ha done at the last meeting. John said he was sorry he missed the meeting, but he had been called away on business.

Jim Huls: Jim said he had nothing to say.

Richard Hall: Rich said he had nothing either.

Richard Rollins: Richard thanked Quentin Barnes for his PaperPort demonstration at the last Mac SIG meeting. Rich Hall commented that Text Bridge looked like a very interesting program. Richard Rollins said he had discussed worms and viruses. He said he would tentatively be doing Power Point next month.

President Lewis asked if we need to upgrade the club's Macintosh hardware yet. Richard said that it wasn't necessary.

There was a discussion of Intel's public relations problem due to its recent announcement of embedded identification numbers in its PIII processors. The fires of individual liberty grew quite heated over this perceived creeping assault on personal privacy.

Richard discussed the presentation of our last bill to Advancenet. Jim said it would be dealt with.

Richard closed by saying "The Mac is doing well. The game makers are coming back."

Mark Landman: Mark reported that he and Rich Hall would be transferring the Treasurer's material this weekend.

Richard Rollins asked about our CD plan. Mark said it was one of the final things he wanted to address before the transfer.

Mark reported that he had paid the room rent for the upcoming year at the Bresnan.

He stated that the internet domain name had been taken care of for the year. Jim recommended that we look into handling this for a multi-year tenure.

President Lewis then thanked Mark for his years of service as our Treasurer.

Emil Cobb: Emil said we had 23 members at the last meeting.

Kevin Hopkins: Returning to the website dispute, Kevin proposed a compromise solution, but it was not supported.

Kevin delivered an updated copy of the database to Kevin Hisel, for his and the President's use.

Kevin reported that the Bloomington-Normal Computer Users Group had sent us notification that they have dissolved their group effective January 1, 1999.

Kevin delivered the most current mail receipts to Mark Landman for deposit.

Kevin stated that we need a review mechanism for our Kagi receipts.

Kevin concluded his segment by reporting that CUCUG finished the year with 761 members.

Kevin Hisel: Kevin brought up the topic of the local raffle. He said with the current state of the Amiga market, it is bound to impact our efforts. Regarding the raffle, "You can't change reality. It's time to put it to rest." We will direct our efforts to web support.

There was a review of our membership information with a view of how to serve our members' interests.

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The Back Page:

The CUCUG is a not-for-profit corporation, originally organized in 1983 to support and advance the knowledge of area Commodore computer users. We've grown since then.

Meetings are held the third Thursday of each month at 7:00 p.m. at the Bresnan Meeting Center in the Champaign Park District Headquarters (398-2550). The Center is located at 706 Kenwood, 1/2 block south of the corner of Kenwood and John Street, in west Champaign. Kenwood is the fourth north-south street off of John as you are going west, after crossing Mattis. The Center is in the northwest corner of Centennial Park, northwest of Centennial High School.

Membership dues for individuals are $20 annually; prorated to $10 at mid year.

Our monthly newsletter, the Status Register, is delivered by the postal service or email at the member's choice. All recent editions are available on our WWW site. To initiate a user group exchange, just send us your newsletter or contact our editor via email. As a matter of CUCUG policy, an exchange partner will be dropped after three months of no contact.

This newsletter was prepared with PageStream 2.22 on an Amiga 3000 25/100 and output to an HP Laserjet IIP plus. Pagestream was donated to CUCUG by Soft-Logik Publishing Corporation.

For further information, please attend the next meeting as our guest, or contact one of our officers (all at area code 217):

  President:            Jim Lewis           359-1342           NOSPAMlewis_j_e@yahoo.com
  Vice-President:       Emil Cobb           398-0149            e-cobb@uiuc.edu
  Secretary/Editor:     Kevin Hopkins       356-5026               kh2@uiuc.edu
  Treasurer:            Richard Hall        344-8687            rjhall1@uiuc.edu
  Corporate Agent:      Jim Lewis           359-1342           NOSPAMlewis_j_e@yahoo.com
  Advisor & Mac SIG:    Richard Rollins     469-2616
  Webmaster:            Kevin Hisel         406-948-1999           khisel @ cucug.org

Surf our web site:

CUCUG Home Page

Amiga Web Directory

Macintosh Web Directory

CUCUG
912 Stratford Dr.
Champaign, IL
61821

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