Today's Topics: Computer Aesthetics (Re: 386 vs the TT) Portfolio PORTFOLIO is *not* vaporware... Problem with LaTeX and letter.sty Sozobon GEM bindings Spectre GCR and Teac Drives TT's, flames, etc what to do with changed vectors on changing resolution ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: 23 Oct 89 07:32:25 GMT From: agate!web-4a!laba-1aj@ucbvax.Berkeley.EDU (John Kawakami) Subject: Computer Aesthetics (Re: 386 vs the TT) In article <8910210938.AA01163@ucbvax.Berkeley.EDU> 01659@AECLCR.BITNET (Greg Csullog) writes: > >A survey has shown that in business, the average number of applications >used by PC users is 1, the average by Mac users is 4. Why? Learning one >PC appl does not tell you anything about the next. Learning one Mac appl >or one GEM appl totally prepares you for the next ones. Sorry PC users, >speed of processing is not the only determinant of productivity! I think it's finally sinking in to the big micro computer software developers that there is much to be said for standards and regular interfaces. Programs should be written to act alike. Unfortunately, this did not happened in the MS-DOS world since there were no written standards for user interfaces. This is where Apple had an edge. It's not that the programs were intrinsically easy to use; it's just that for the most part, the programs all seemed to be born of the same mother and acted similarly. Unix users see this too. Even though unix is supposed to be a user hostile environment, there are some de-facto standards regarding command line args and key bindings that make using the programs fairly easy to remember. More, on a divergent topic: The only nice looking interface environment for micros is the Mac's. All others are ugly poseurs. The thing that gets my goat is that for very little money (?$10000) Atari, Commodore, and Microsoft could all have had beautiful graphics and nice fonts for their windowing environments. Now you (John/Jane Q. Tightcode) might be saying "the graphics aren't as important as the speed." Well, I have some news for you: you are wrong. The graphics are the user's view of the machine. They determine how valuable the machine is to the user. I don't doubt that the Mac's good looks make user think that the $2K she/he just threw down for a Plus was actually worth it. (We can laugh at how much Mac buyers are overcharged, but the buyers are satisfied. If there are luxury cars, why not luxury computers.) & John Kawakami & laba-1aj@web.berkeley.edu & Live each day as if it were your first ------------------------------ Date: 23 Oct 89 08:44:21 GMT From: mcsun!unido!laura!trillian.irb!klute@uunet.uu.net (Rainer Klute) Subject: Portfolio In article <2161@hudson.acc.virginia.edu> gl8f@astsun.astro.Virginia.EDU (Greg Lindahl) writes: >1) The Porfolio. Shipping in the US. And in Europe. I saw it some weeks ago in a computer shop here in Dortmund (West-Germany) for DM 798,-. Dipl.-Inform. Rainer Klute klute@trillian.irb.informatik.uni-dortmund.de Univ. Dortmund, IRB klute@unido.uucp, klute@unido.bitnet Postfach 500500 |)|/ ...uunet!mcvax!unido!klute D-4600 Dortmund 50 |\|\ Tel.: +49 231 755-4663 ------------------------------ Date: 17 Oct 89 08:50:19 GMT From: sgi!shinobu!odin!odin.corp.sgi.com!portuesi@ucbvax.Berkeley.EDU (Michael Portuesi) Subject: PORTFOLIO is *not* vaporware... >>>>> On 14 Oct 89 06:53:51 GMT, Bob_BobR_Retelle@cup.portal.com said: bob> So... what exactly IS the Portfolio...? bob> bob> As I see it, the Portfolio is an accessory for an IBM PC system... much bob> like a fancy monitor stand, or a gizmo that holds papers for you to type bob> into your text editor... it WILL help you do things like taking notes bob> on an airplane, or entering "travelling salesman" figures "on the spot"... bob> but... that seems to me to be an awfully limited usefulness.. bob> bob> If you DON'T have an IBM PC style system, a Portfolio is an expensive toy... I disagree. I was very, very interested in purchasing a Portfolio until I saw the cost of the accessories needed to make it a useful machine. I don't own a PC; I own an Amiga 1000. The Portfolio can serve as an "on-the-go" text editor for editing correspondence and even reading netnews (one of my intended uses). It can transfer files to non-IBM machines via the serial port. Unfortunately, the cost of a Portfolio with one 128K memory card and the serial port extension is $680. A Toshiba T1000 with a full-size screen, 512K memory and one 720K floppy drive is $600 street price. The Portfolio is smaller, but the T1000 is still acceptably small and much more functional. --M -- __ \/ Michael Portuesi Silicon Graphics Computer Systems, Inc. portuesi@SGI.COM ------------------------------ Date: 23 Oct 89 06:46:40 GMT From: eru!luth!sunic!tut!tukki!suhonen@BLOOM-BEACON.MIT.EDU (Timo Suhonen) Subject: Problem with LaTeX and letter.sty In article <8910191921.AA18486@cs.wm.edu> csrobe@CS.WM.EDU (Chip Roberson) writes: ... >any vertical space between the \closing and the \signature for >a person's handwritten signature. [ text deleted ] >Document Style 'letter'. Released 21 July 1985 ~~~~~~~~~~~~ You are in need of new version of letter.sty -file. I get the same problem last summer with old letter.sty -file and new version LaTeX. Timo Suhonen -- Timo Suhonen suhonen@tukki.jyu.fi Disclaimer: The text above is from my left brain cell. The right one is for SeX and Drugs and Rock'n Roll. Al K. Hall has eaten the others... ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 23 Oct 89 11:51:00 From: Rat Subject: Sozobon GEM bindings (From "The Masked Rat Fink" "Computing and Informatics Yr4") Many thanks to all those replying about Sozobon GEM bindings, I'll look through yyour Email's and get back to you if I have problems. Rat. ===================++========================================================== Simon P. Chappell || JANET S61304@UK.AC.PLYMOUTH.PRIME-A 51, Amherst Road, || BITNET S61304@PRIME-A.PLYMOUTH.AC.UK Penny-Come-Quick, || INTERNET S61304%UK.AC.PLYMOUTH.PRIME-A@NSFNET-RELAY.AC.UK Plymouth, |+========================================================== Devon, || DISCLAIMER : Anything said by me is the truth as far as I England. || know and I cannot be held responsible for any offence PL3 4HJ. || this causes, though I do apologise for any inaccuracies Tel: (0752) 223365 || in anything written above. ===================++========================================================== ------------------------------ Date: 22 Oct 89 15:46:06 GMT From: gem.mps.ohio-state.edu!uakari.primate.wisc.edu!nic.MR.NET!hal!ncoast!synth@tut. cis.ohio-state.edu (Steve Juhasz) Subject: Spectre GCR and Teac Drives Does anyone know if the Spectre GCR will work with modified-to-run-on-the-ST Teac disk drives? I have my doubts, because I could not get the Discovery Cartridge, which appears to modify the drive speed in a similar manner as the GCR, to work with my Teac drive. If it doesn't work, is there a way to fix things so it does? -Steve ----------------------------------------------------------------- Steve Juhasz synth@ncoast.org ncoast!synth@hal.cwru.edu uunet!hal.cwru.edu!ncoast!synth ----------------------------------------------------------------- ------------------------------ Date: 23 Oct 89 06:00:16 GMT From: haven!uvaarpa!hudson!astsun9.astro.Virginia.EDU!gl8f@purdue.edu (Greg Lindahl) Subject: TT's, flames, etc In article cmm1@CUNIXA.CC.COLUMBIA.EDU (Christopher M Mauritz) writes: > I forgot who said that the TT was "available," but I could not help but > snicker. So much for flames to /dev/null. Listen, do you remember when earlier this year, and Atari spokesman said, "Ok, we're going to do a better job this time." Since then, they have announced: 1) The Porfolio. Shipping in the US. 2) The Stacy. Shipping in Europe. 3) The PC4. Shipping in europe? Samples in the US? 4) The ATW. Shipping in europe? Samples in the US? 5) The TT. 6) The STE. 7) The Lynx. Sounds like they have been doing a better job than in the past. Tell you what, why don't we postpone this discussion for 4 months. If, at that point, Atari hasn't delivered the TT or STE or Lynx, then flame them for it once. Then shut up. We'll all be much happier. ------ Greg Lindahl gl8f@virginia.edu I'm not the NRA. ------------------------------ Date: 20 Oct 89 16:58:50 GMT From: eru!luth!sunic!mcsun!unido!pcsbst!me@bloom-beacon.mit.edu (Michael Elbel) Subject: what to do with changed vectors on changing resolution I have the following problem: An accessory I wrote changes the mouse input vector for a mouse speeder. It saves the old vector, takes the mouse movement, mangles the data and passes them on. So far so good, you even can uninstall it. But if I change resolutions in color mode (e.g. low rez -> medium rez), the acc gets loaded again and has no way to detect, that it had already been started (at least not if I don't check for the system dependent value of the old vec). So the machine hangs when it tries to install itself again with the already changed vector - it points to a piece of code that got removed on changing the rez. (or am I wrong in that ?) If I remove the acc before switching the resolutions, everything is ok, but there should be a way to do it more elegant. So my question is: What do other accessories, that change system vectors in that case ? -- Christian Siebert - me@dude.PCS.COM for the World, me@dude.PCS.DE for Europe ------------------------------ End of INFO-ATARI16 Digest V89 Issue #549 ***************************************** =========================================================================