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Issue # 21
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a weekly journal devoted to the Apple II family of computers
Sunday, March 17, 1996 – issue 21 – II.Smthg.960317
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Contents
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- About…
- Editor’s Greeting
- Webfind of the Week – The Apple II BBS Listing
- The Wire Service – Comet Hyakutake
- The Wire Service – Sky & Telescope magazine
- The Wire Service – Astronomy
- So High I Can’t Get Over It So Wide I Can’t Get Around It
- Updata – the readership
- Updata – Internet Email Subscriptions to II Something
- Wish List – Great Grammar
- Coming…
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About…
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As you know, Apple Computer, Inc. owns all of the Apple II computer copyrights and trademarks, including their names.
II Something is offered as freeware – copyright by Clark Hugh Stiles. Intact distribution of the entire file is acceptable using online services, including BBSes, or via user group DOMs provided there are no commercial sales. Individual articles may be reprinted in user group publications only, provided the following paragraph (except for the opening and closing quotes) is included at the beginning or end of the reprint:
“This article originally appeared in II Something, a weekly journal devoted to the Apple II family of computers, copyright by Clark Hugh Stiles. It has been reprinted by permission. All trademarked names and phrases mentioned belong to their respective owners. Send email to CHStiles@Delphi.Com or C.Stiles3@Genie.Com via the Internet, or newsletters, disks, products for review, gifts, or bribes to Clark Hugh Stiles, Box 46, Comstock Park, MI 49321-0046.”
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Editor’s Greeting
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We’ve reached the third issue of March 1996 and I’m still using my Apple IIGS. In case you’re looking for the Apple II, look in Finitum. I think it’s in the Midwest.
March has been a fiasco for me. The first issue didn’t get validated on Genie due apparently to some problem with the archive. I noticed in the buffer that it said some sort of Genie error had occurred, although the upload went perfectly. It may have been a lucky thing since I’d labeled the issue as 3-4-96 instead of 3-3-96. The corrected copy went out (to Genie, not to Delphi) on 3-9 or 3-10-96. The 3-10-96 issue will go out on 3-17-96, slightly before this, the 3-17-96 issue.
None of them contain the third installment of the Spectrum Host article. It WILL appear. This isn’t like the Desktop BASIC thing where I don’t have the means to finish the project. I just haven’t had the time in the past few weeks. Now that the family illnesses and funerals are over the main drain on my free time will be the arrival of spring. Each year I look forward to it more and more.
The main focus will be to complete the Spectrum Host, then continue to refine it intermittently. I plan to test it online by starting a BBS, and when that happens will invite you to call it but not to spread it around. This will allow a gradual debugging and permit local users to have a BBS again. The downloads will be from the GEM CD-ROM or the Apple C.I.D.E.R.’s Library on a Disc (depending on demand or some sort of alternating schedule). I’m a little surprised that no such host scripts have appeared on Genie or Delphi, since Spectrum is a GS/OS program and has such desirable features as access to foreign FSTs. Obviously the string handling problems of TIC are still present in Spectrum, making it difficult to implement any kind of online message editor for callers.
The only major change that may occur in II Something’s format is its publishing schedule. As more of my time is spent doing fun outdoor stuff, less will be available to produce this. All that means is a reduction in the number of issues rather than the size. Since II Something is freeware, there is no financial problem with it. The change in Genie fees are a pain in the rear end, but I am not about to drop either Delphi or Genie until I know which one is going to dump on me first.
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Webfind of the Week – The Apple II BBS Listing
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ftp://ftp.netcom.com/pub/bu/butch/bbs.list/
Gabe Sanchez maintains a list of Apple II BBSes, which he updates and publishes via this FTP. If this doesn’t hook you into the list (although it should), drop the “/bbs.list/” part and select number 6 on the list of files. The last update (as of my visit on 3-10-96) was 2-29-96, so this is very current. Gabe keeps track of BBS availability via email from the sysops I suppose. If you have a listing to add or alter (in case he’s got your number and you don’t yet know) email to:
butch@netcom.com
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The Wire Service – Comet Hyakutake
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http://www.eso.org/educnpubrelns/comet-hyakutake.html
If you haven’t taken advantage of the night sky to view this comet, you’ll miss out on a great show. It was discovered in February by an amateur astronomer using high powered binoculars, and this webpage has other things of interest to those interested in nature. If there were an ideal world I would have uploaded this on time, but that’s how it goes.
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The Wire Service – Sky & Telescope magazine
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Haven’t tried this one yet. Don’t have any idea what is available. Should be fun though.
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The Wire Service – Astronomy magazine
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See “Sky & Telescope” description above.
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So High I Can’t Get Over It So Wide I Can’t Get Around It
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My official weight (Friday, 3-15-96) was 195 pounds. My goal was 193 pounds. The same scale was used (a counterbalance type you’d see in a doctor’s office). The new goal is 194 pounds. This week I’ll be eating Snickers (TM) for breakfast. I’ve been walking a lot this week (7 miles with Mike on Thursday night, 4 miles with Sue on Wednesday night and Saturday afternoon, planning for more Sunday morning).
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Updata – Internet Email Subscriptions to II Something
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The Genie upload of the 3-3-96 issue was not right but the text version went out to Internet subscribers right on time. The 3-10-96 issue hasn’t gone out as of this writing (3-17-96) but will go out this morning, as two files, one BINSCII containing the archive except for the main text, and another of the main text, and will be uploaded to the services just ahead of this issue. As a recompense for my tardiness, I’ve got an archive that is just desktop inits and their APF source pics that will go up right in the middle.
Last week’s archive contained no APF files after all. Sorry. There is a 117K archive available for download on Genie, and it contains all of the desktop inits I plan to release at this time, along with the APF files. This weed I’ve had a request to continue the BINSCII version and to add a new Internet subscriber which is big news and a significant increase in the total base. What I’ll do is build a small archive containing the additional files and BINSCII it, then attach it to the end of the text version of II Something itself. This should be the least amount of work, give the highest level of service, and satisfy everyone, including Dave.
It’s not too late to be added. I’ll accept Internet subscribers until I let you know otherwise. The only reason I’ll ever have to stop is if I end up kicked off Delphi and Genie.
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Wish List – Great Grammar
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It would be great to have (as a standalone application or NDA) a grammar and style checker that would load and use text, AppleWorks WP, AWGS WP, AWGS DTP, Teach, RTF, and various Mac data files. There may be some sort of 8-bit program out there (like Addison-Wesley used to make as a codependent to AppleWorks Classic), but I’ve never seen one or used one.
To break up the work, a subwish would be to have an NDA similar to OpenAny that would open these filetypes, pass them in a recognizable and usable format to whoever asked for them (could be a word processor, term program, or anything really), and then would receive the results and resave them in their original format. Come to think of it, recognition of practically any type of file and transparent handling of conversions would be a great way to enhance an extension like OpenAny.
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Coming…
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The Spectrum host script series will continue, I hope next week. We’re approaching the six month mark and spring, so there may be some changes here at the palatial II Something offices. I’m looking for contributors willing to write for the experience (i.e., for no pay) and submit via email. II Something will remain freeware until Apple Inc reintroduces the Apple II. Right now it’s not easy to get people to read it without charging for it.
I’ve got some interesting things culled from recent magazines that you may like. I plan to review various pieces of commercial, shareware, and free software that is available. WebFinds, Wish Lists, Wire Services, and who knows what else.
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II Infinitum
