From: (Tony Lindsey) xxltony@cts.com Subject: Mac*Chat#110/24-May-96 Mac*Chat#110/24-May-96 ====================== Welcome to Mac*Chat, the weekly electronic newsletter for everyone interested in using a Macintosh computer professionally, no matter what their situation or profession. See the end of this file for further information, including how to get a free subscription. Any [comments in brackets] are by Tony Lindsey. Highlights Of This Issue ------------------------ I ask for help in tracking-down toxic font suitcases, warn readers to proceed carefully before loading the utilities that readers rave about in the following section, I praise the Apple color laser printer (and heap scorn upon the Epson Pro XL), Randy Chevrier comes through with a hot tip about mac-information, we get more information about System 7.5.3 and System 8, we learn something new about ShrinkWrap, I finally include the information omitted from the last issue concerning infrared transceivers, and we continue to chew up the topic of Web Spiders and how to foil them. Topics: Highlights Of This Issue Editor's Notes What Are The Best Tools For Finding Radioactive Fonts? Loading New Extensions And Control Panels - A Warning Favorite Utilities - Readers Speak Out What's A Really Good, Reasonably-Inexpensive Color Printer? Another Nice Database Of Mac Info System 7.5.3, System 8, And 7.5.3 In Europe ShrinkWrap Update Online Chat - What's The Best Way To Learn More? Tony's Reply - What's The Best Way To Chat Online? Web Spiders, Continued Legalisms Free Subscriptions To This Newsletter Editor's Notes -------------- By Tony Lindsey I'm currently re-working my web-pages. I was shocked and surprised to see myself getting billed up to $40 a month for web-traffic that I suspect is largely due to over-energetic web-spiders (see issues 108 and 109). There's no WAY I'm getting 32,000 visits from human beings in a month. I'm shifting my web-pages over to America Online, since I'm already paying for that service for myself and several family-members. I'm also doing final touch-ups on the rate-card information for advertisers, so if you don't see those ads yet, it's because I'm holding people off until I can get the wording right. What Are The Best Tools For Finding Radioactive Fonts? ------------------------------------------------------ By Tony Lindsey As I wander from client to client, helping them get out of nasty scrapes, I find that many of them own fonts that are elderly and not all that dependable with the newest Macs and System versions. Most of those fonts will work fine, whether when dropped into the System folder's Fonts folder, or accessed through utilities like Suitcase. However, what do we do to find the occasional, random "bad" fonts? I call them "radioactive" fonts, since their toxicity is undetectable except by its results - Crashes, programs quitting, stuff like that. I've tried all sorts of techniques and tools, such as Font Harmony, which came with an earlier version of Suitcase. Nothing I've seen except hours of effort can nail down the one bad font out of hundreds installed. Is there a tool or technique that I'm missing here? I'll even take off-the-wall tips, as long as they work. Loading New Extensions And Control Panels - A Warning ----------------------------------------------------- By Tony Lindsey In issue #108, I asked folks to nominate their favorite utilities. I received hundreds of replies, and people felt quite strongly about their choices. I've limited my re-posts to the replies that explained WHY folks liked those utilities, rather than just listing them. I cannot recommend or discredit any of the utilities in the next section, (except for PopChar, which I really, really like a lot). It's a darned good idea to watch your computer VERY CLOSELY to see if you experience crashes or freeze-ups after loading ONE new utility, particularly on PowerMacs. **DO NOT** cram your System folder with many new, untested extensions and Control Panels unless you have a lot of idle time to de-bug your Mac. If you're running System 7.5 or later, it might be a good idea to get accustomed to Extensions Manager, which comes free with the System (or, see issue #108 and 109 for discussion of Conflict Catcher, which costs extra). If your Mac experiences a bomb or any other horrid happenstance, re-start the computer and then immediately hold down the space bar until you see a window titled "Extensions Manager." At that point, let go of the space bar. You'll see a long, scrollable list of extensions and Control Panels. Each one has a space to the left where there is a check-mark or a space waiting for one. If you click on one item, the checkmark turns on or off. When you close the window by clicking on the upper-left-corner box, the items without check-marks will not be loaded at start-up. Let's say you load some new treat called "MisterBubbles" into your System folder and re-start, and suddenly your mouse refuses to move after you pull down a menu... Re-start with the space bar, turn off Mister-Troublemaker-Bubbles and see if the problem goes away. Here's another tip - you'll see a pull-down selector called "Sets" at the top of the Extensions Manager window. Pull it down and notice that you'll see "All On," All Off," and "System 7.5(whatever)." That last choice is a good one for stripping all non-Apple-provided extensions out of your way before installing software off of a CD-ROM. This is better than holding down the shift-key while re-starting, because that turns off ALL extensions, including the ones that make the CD-ROM drive work. Favorite Utilities - Readers Speak Out -------------------------------------- [I have plenty of "Fave Utilities" material for several more issues... I've been using PopChar and TypeIt4Me without problems for many months. Anything more than that and I get nervous...] By Generic Kalar My favorite comes with every system, never crashes, doesn't have to be downloaded, and is infinitely customizable. Create a folder on the desktop of the boot drive. I keep mine on the center left of the desktop. Put an alias of this folder in the Startup Items system folder. Set the View to By Small Icon. Now you load this baby up with aliases to your favorite programs, folders and documents. Double-click to access them. Drag onto them to do conversions, unstuff, edit text files with alternative editors, etc. Beats the Apple Menu for me! ------ By: Jerry Levinson My favorite utility is Super Fontina from Eastgate Systems. This gem changes your font menu into a several-columns-across-your-screen display. So you can see a hundred font names without scrolling way down your list. It also shows the actual typeface in a window at the top of the font list in your choice of size. The font list is displayed in the font of your choice. It does a few other neat things but the multi-column view is great. Eastgate Systems, PO Box 1307, Cambridge, MA 02238. 617-924-9044. They also do a lot with hypertext and their Web Squirrel for managing lists of internet goodies look cool, too. ------ By Kirk Rogers Dragthing 1.5.1 (now 1.6 is out)!!! Like launcher but an even better way to organize your desktop. With v. 1.5, you can keep several different alias'/icons in different groups in the same dock, can monitor the number of apps running, close the running app, quit all running apps, get info, drag-copy aliases, etc. It's e-mail ware (Cool Stuff Ware, really) and doesn't add any extensions. Only compatible with the scriptable finder (i.e. 7.1+ AppleScript or newer) Low coefficient of crashability. Even keeps a backup preferences file which it will use to restore the original if it gets trashed (which happened to much of my system folder the last time I tried Open Transport on my PB 5300c). TrashBag. A trashcan that behaves like a folder, so you can run programs that are in it, or open documents that are in it. Suggested use: for netscape cache, or to download .hqx files to and expand them there. At startup (or restart) the contents of the trash bag are moved to the real trash. It's a great way to reduce clutter. ----- By: OWL <71333.3152@CompuServe.COM> My favorite is a shareware control panel called Snap-To by Trevden Sherzell. It's simple and useful. It snaps the cursor to the default button in a dialog/alert box, allowing you to quickly click the button without moving the mouse/trackball. It has an option to snap back to its original place. So simple and useful that I wish it would be included as part of System software. If Apple picks up stuff like WindowShade, of marginal utility, it should definitely include Snap-To functionality in the Mac OS 8. ------ By: Ben Cox Two of my favorites are Escapade, which lets you select buttons by typing their first letter in any dialog box that doesn't have a TextEdit field, and, StickyClick, which lets you click once on a menu and it stays down until you click again. I've never experienced a crash with either of them. I nominate Excalibur 2.2.1. It is an excellent spell checker. It is not like all those other ones. Excalibur will open and spell check a document, but best of all, it will spell something you have copied to the clip board. You make your changes and then paste it back in the document. You are working in a text editor and you do a command A, Command C, open Excalibur and check the text in the clipboard, make the changes you need, save the clipboard, click on your original document and do a Command V and poof your changes are made. Where it shines is working with email, Simple Text documents, script editors for HTML pages and the like. I have been using it for 4 or 5 months without any problem on a Centris 650 and 7100 PPC but I am sure it will work on most Macs. It is system 7 friendly. I have mine in my Apple Menu so it is ready any time I need it. Best of all it is freeware!!! Hard to believe, but it is true. ------ By Dale Craddock Ditto what you said about Conflict Catcher, as something of a Control Panel Junkie I couldn't live without it. Furthermore I'm dying to upgrade to Suitcase but their International Office Fax Machine is always busy As to my favourite utilities I'd like to nominate two (that I have locked on with CC): TypeIt4Me and Finder Extension Enabler. TypeIt4Me, as you probably know has been around for quite awhile and ever since I installed it, it has been indispensable. TypeIt4Me lets you enter frequently used information with a trigger of your choosing. I can enter my name, address, telephone number, visa card number and most passwords with an average of three keystrokes; whenever I have to use the same name or phrase a lot in the same report I create an abbreviation for it and save a lot of time. Finder Extension Enabler is fairly recent and allows your Mac to do three things: Create an Alias by Control-dragging, Add an Reveal Original (of an Alias) command to the File Menu, and use Command-Delete to move any highlit item(s) to the Trash. Actually I only use the last item, you can disable any of them with ResEdit (yet another GREAT utility) and it's another terrific time saver. Now if I had to choose one it would have to be TypeIt4Me. In addition Finder Extension Enabler doesn't really meet your criteria since, if memory serves me well it only works with System 7.5.1 or higher. (you might want to check on that.) ------ By: BEST UTILITY: Window Shade. I work on a PC all day and have fun on a mac I constantly find my self double clicking on the menu bars of the windows machines to no avail. [This also comes free with System 7.5 and later versions - I love it on smaller screens. I set it for a double-click, and every window rolls up into just a title-bar. This works very well on tool palettes in Photoshop and other professional programs.] Second place for me MALPH. A floating toolbar much like the ms office for windows toolbar. ------ By: Doug Lobdell, Colorado ONE fav utility, eh - that's a hard one. For something that sure makes my Mac more fun to use, I love Godot's World. More than any in one 'User Interface Modification Device' than many other utilities put together. Pop-up switching between all your active processes, windows, and apps, MANY Copland-esque GUI enhancements like choices of many cool buttons, fonts, etc., - I muck with colors and buttons and stuff every week or two to keep my Mac always fresh and new. Two minor negatives - every function is not immediately clear (although trial and error works fine), and GW works better if I rename it to load early in the extensions load process - it seems to not work (but not adversely crash anything else) otherwise. But it's well worth these minor downsides. But when it comes to real utility - accomplishing something, rather than just looking nice - I've got to go with Hover Bar. I used to use PowerBar, which has some really nice features, but I've been trying Hover Bar for about a week now and like it better. I customize little workset bars, then only make them visible when I'm working specific things - like all my 'net and web utilities and programs when I'm HTMLing - then I turn that off and go to my Microsoft bar when I need to do the stuff they pay me for. :) Absolutely no conflicts yet - seems to be rock stable. [Doug also praised WebArranger, which will be covered in the next issue.] ------ By James Mitchell, Melbourne, Australia Default Folder 2.5.7 ($25 shareware from St Clair software) Gets me to my work folders quickly. Helps keep my housemate from saving files in the application's folder. Runners-up Forward Delete (freeware by Fabrizio Oddone) faceless, tiny and works. Makes the Forward Delete key on the extended keyboard (under Help) work. Popchar (freeware by Gunther Blaschek) Has a few conflicts which are well-documented in the online help. [I dearly love PopChar, and so do every single one of my clients, since I load it on their Macs without a single compatibility problem. In case you don't know what it does, imagine the following scenario: You are in a word-processing or desktop-publishing program. As you are typing, you need to type a rarely-used character, such as a yen symbol or a trademark. Just pull down PopChar's menu, point to the character you want and let go. Your unusual character appears right where you left-off typing. If you change your font to Zapf Dingbats, and need a pair of scissors inserted into your text, PopChar shows THAT font exactly as you want, and automatically. Personally, I change the setting on a large-screened Mac so that the menu shows up on the right side of the menubar. Go get PopChar!] Twilight (shareware by Robert Lukassen) An excellent screen-saver with no CPU overhead. ------ By: Noah Bast I have to pick Hoverbar as my favorite utility. I have three bars, one with all my internet related apps, One with commonly used applications, and one with currently running apps and utilities like Stuffit expander and shrinkwrap. The combination of Hoverbar and Popup Folder make using other people's "cleaner" Macs a real chore sometimes... What's A Really Good, Reasonably-Inexpensive Color Printer? ----------------------------------------------------------- By Tony Lindsey Normally, it's not my policy to gang-up on a product, but I feel very strongly about this - Do NOT consider the Epson Stylus Pro XL color inkjet printer as a printer for any reason. A client of mine received one as a gift, and it had to be the most atrociously non-Mac-oriented printer I've ever seen. I've wasted hours of non-billable time trying to make the software behave properly. The PostScript software that claims to work with it is a joke, taking up 11 megs of RAM, and forcing my very non-technical client to jump through hoops, adding about a dozen steps to the normal printing process. Not only that - The software crashes her computer. When she'd call Epson for support, she'd be on hold for three hours. I told her to send it back in a box. My clients that own the $600 Apple Color Laser Printer 12/600 are 100% satisfied with it - The quality is as good as that $100,000 Canon Color Copier was a few years back, and it's dependable and simple. It's as big as a house, but it's my favorite printer. I want one like crazy. Is there something as good (and free of aggravation) as the Apple color laser printer, but for less? Another Nice Database Of Mac Info --------------------------------- By: Randy Chevrier, Broken Arrow, OK [In issue #109, I praised the Apple Spec utility from Apple - I think it makes an essential reference tool for a consultant or technician...] I've found the Macintosh Catalog Database to be a better formatted source of information for my use. You might check it out to see what you think. They also have a "data only" version (202K) and a "run-time" version (977K) accessible from the same page. System 7.5.3, System 8, And 7.5.3 In Europe ------------------------------------------- By Elaine Nowak If you have questions or problems with system 7.5.3 please visit this neat site!!! It's a must see! ------- By: Dave Fitch, University of Edinburgh, Scotland If you want to find out about System 8, go to By the way, Apple Europe has [to my complete shock] sent out free copies of 7.5.3 (yes, NOT the 7.5.2 Update but 7.5.3) all by itself and of its own volition. Talk about stunned :-) My understanding is that if you've registered your machine with Apple, you'll get a CD-ROM, since we're "early adopters" - Market speak for gullible :-). This includes 90 days tech support, and if you're completely useless :-) you get a coupon to get an Apple Authorised Service Provider to install the update for you. This software runs ONLY on the 7200/7500/8500/9500. This was sent out by Apple Computer, Inc., Enterprise Division, Europe, whoever that is. For assistance people can contact System 7.5.3 Update Program Apple Assistance Centre P.O. Box763 Slough, Berkshire England, SL1 1YQ. I can't guarantee (obviously!) that this address is fine for the rest of Europe. Apparently (according to MacWay) Spanish versions of the upgrade are also being distributed on an upcoming Spanish MacWorld CD-ROM. The Apple Europe site hasn't been updated in 10 weeks, so people may be better off checking their local apple sites. However the site does have the upgrade and is pretty fast: Gives you a list of all the localised versions. ShrinkWrap Update ----------------- [In issue #108, Joseph Schaller wrote about ShrinkWrap, saying "These disk images 'mount' in memory, as if I had numerous floppy drives." I consider ShrinkWrap to be an essential tool for a consultant.] By: Paul Durrant With ShrinkWrap 1.4.2 and the new 2.0.1, mounting images in memory is an option. You can mount images straight off the disk. ------ By Steve Baumgarten I believe this ShrinkWrap option has been available for some time now, and I always leave it checked in the preferences dialog box. Photonics Infrared Transceivers ------------------------------- By Tony Lindsey [Due to a last-minute mistake, I omitted the following article from issue #109] In issue 108, Joseph mentioned a little box that plugs into your Mac's Appletalk network, allowing totally transparent and effortless networking without wires. This is VERY nice for folks who want to carry a Newton or Mac Powerbook around and stay connected to the network. Here's what Joseph said: "For general connections between my Duo and my network or other computers, I have used the Photonics "Cooperative" Localtalk infrared transceivers for about a year and a half. These are battery- or AC- or Powerbook-powered square flats about 2" that connect directly to the serial port... Think of them as a phonenet connector with no wires. That's how the computer sees them. No software drivers, no extensions." ----- I did some more research on behalf of my readers, since I have seen these little doohickeys in action and liked them. They bounce the infrared signal off of the walls and ceiling to stay in contact with other transceivers in the room. Being a brat, I can't help but imagine how easy it would be to swap notes with a buddy across the room during tests in college. This is a diffused infrared network, unlike Apple's direct line-of-sight 1-meter "docking" setup built into the 5300 series. It will handle up to 250 devices, and is a networking product, rather than strictly a docking station like Farallon's infrared hardware device for Apple's recent Powerbooks. It can be used two ways - you can pack a room with as many devices in one room as you can handle (up to 250), with invisible light beams bouncing all around you. Or, it can be used as a bridge to connect the network to share with roving computers. It allows you to add and subtract network nodes at any time and is very flexible. You can connect one of these to an EtherPrint box, which acts as a bridge for connecting your Appletalk network to an Ethernet network. One guy in Switzerland has used this setup to use his Powerbook as a portable UNIX terminal. Their Newton Solution device has a suggested retail of US$179.95, with more-cost-effective kits costing $259 for Mac & Newton peer-to-peer connections. All units include a power-base, allowing these transceivers to plug into the wall power (for laser printers and stuff). I would call the company and let them tell you where they're sold in your area. DCC Photonics Corp. 1515 Centre Pointe Drive Milpitas, CA 95035 Phone: <800-997-2326/408-955-7930> Web Spiders, Continued ---------------------- [See issues 108 and 109 for the previous discussions] By Marvin Carlberg Note that the /robots.txt file is also readable by non-robots (i.e. humans), and you have just advertised to the world the names of all the private folders on your server. The web robots generally conform to the rules by not traversing these folders, but some snoopy web surfers don't necessarily follow the same code of ethics, and the first place they'll browse on your site are all the places you have told them not to look. You should always make sure to install some form of access protection on all folders you don't want curious eyes looking at. Many servers have directory indexing turned on by default. An easy way to prevent someone from browsing through all the files in a hidden directory is to put an "index.html" file in each of these directories, and in it just say something like, "I'm sorry, directory indexing is not allowed at this site" with an HREF back to the main homepage of the site. ------ By Charles Williams, University of Exeter UK We tell people "If you don't want to risk it published in a tabloid newspaper then don't send it by email and don't store it on a machine with internet connections..." Legalisms and Information ------------------------- Copyright 1989-1996 Tony Lindsey. The contents of Mac*Chat may not be republished, either in whole or in part, without the express permission of the editor. Small excerpts of Mac*Chat may be reproduced for personal use, or by nonprofit groups (such as Mac User Groups) if full credit is given, including this notice, how to subscribe, and how to make donations. Please contact the editor for any publication requests. This newsletter is intended purely as entertainment and free information. No profit has been made in return for publication of 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. 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. Send all such messages to: Tony Lindsey 3401-A55 Adams Avenue San Diego, CA 92116-2429 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. Mac*Chat back-issues may be found within any Info-Mac ftp archive at /info-mac/per/chat - For example: and read with any Web browser at Current issues may be found on the comp.sys.mac.digests newsgroup. GETTING A FREE SUBSCRIPTION, STEP ONE: -------------------------------------- This will cause Mac*Chat to be e-mailed to you automatically, every week (unless I'm on vacation or just too darned busy): FIRST, turn off your e-mail program's "automatic signature" feature, if it has one. Extra e-mail addresses in the end of your message can create a "Subscription From Hell," with unpredictable, hard-to-fix problems. ----- THEN, send an e-mail message to the following address: listserv@vm.temple.edu The Subject line on this message 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. GETTING A FREE SUBSCRIPTION, STEP TWO: -------------------------------------- In order to protect people from being unwillingly subscribed to Mac*Chat, a message will arrive in your e-mail, asking for a one-word response to verify that you DO want to subscribe. Here's the response you should send: OK Notice that it's all-capitals, and nothing but those two characters. If you follow these instructions, you will receive a nice long message explaining acceptance of your subscription, how to end it (if desired) and general mailing-list info. KEEP THAT MESSAGE! It'll tell you how to un-subscribe when that day comes. WHAT DO YOU DO IF YOU HAVE SUBSCRIPTION PROBLEMS? ------------------------------------------------- Please contact Shrimmy, who handles such things for me. His e-mail address is shrim@thunder.ocis.temple.edu ============== ____ ================================================== Tony Lindsey \ _/__ Free, weekly e-mailed Mac-oriented newsletter Mac*Chat Editor \X / ================= \/ =================================================