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Date: Mon, 2 Mar 1998 02:10:20 -0000 From: EvangeList <evangelist@apple.com> Subject: Followup - "Snail inside" Win95 Startup Screen and Stickers
Keyword: Advocacy, Guerilla Tactics
This follow-up message is from:
Dennis J. Templeton, <djt2@po.cwru.edu>
The "Snail Inside" stickers described in the recent EvangeList are going like hotcakes. Thad loves the personal notes and despite everyone's generosity his favorite exchange has been a pack of Apple decals and pen from someplace called Cupertino. Thanks all.
I helped him make a set of related images in BMP format that can be placed on your (or your friend's) Windows 95 machine. These images replace the Startup screen with a "Snail Inside" greeting, and also replace the "Wait..." and "It is now safe..." exit screens with Snail shots with tasteful jabs at the chip within. These startup screens with a readme are here.
Thaddeus will continue to send a sheet of 30 stickers to anyone who sends him a self addressed stamped envelope. A dollar contribution to defray costs would be appreciated. Feel free to print your own stickers if that suits you.
Address: (Snail Mail, of course).
Thaddeus Templeton 3046 Woodbury Rd. Shaker Heights, OH 44120
I found this mac only software (as of febuary 22) made by MIT, here is a part of their page:
" StarLogo is a programmable modeling environment for exploring the workings of decentralized systems -- systems that are organized without an organizer, coordinated without a coordinator. With StarLogo, you can model (and gain insights into) many real-life phenomena, such as bird flocks, traffic jams, ant colonies, and market economies. In decentralized systems, orderly patterns can arise without centralized control. Increasingly, researchers are choosing decentralized models for the organizations and technologies that they construct in the world, and for the theories that they construct about the world. But many people continue to resist these ideas, assuming centralized control where none exists -- for example, assuming (incorrectly) that bird flocks have leaders. StarLogo is designed to help students (as well as researchers) develop new ways of thinking about and understanding decentralized systems.
StarLogo is a specialized version of the Logo programming language. With traditional versions of Logo, you can create drawings and animations by giving commands to graphic "turtles" on the computer screen. StarLogo extends this idea by allowing you to control thousands of graphic turtles in parallel. In addition, StarLogo makes the turtles' world computationally active: you can write programs for thousands of "patches" that make up the turtles' environment. Turtles and patches can interact with one another -- for example, you can program the turtles to "sniff" around the world, and change their behaviors based on what they sense in the patches below. StarLogo is particularly well-suited for Artificial Life projects. "
You can download it at <http://www.media.mit.edu/~starlogo/> I found it very usefull for visualizing decentralized sistems.
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Date: Mon, 2 Mar 1998 02:10:22 -0000 From: EvangeList <evangelist@apple.com> Subject: Tidbit - Information Week Article
This tidbit is from:
Svavar Svavarsson, <the-dj@rocketmail.com>
I saw a recent article about the G3 line in Information Week, a magazine for IS professionals. Here, Jeff Angus writes about the Mac's hardware advantages and complements Apple for it's reasonable pricing.
"In terms of performance, these machines are the top of Apple's line, but the machines' price tags don't reflect that."
"The system's main virtues are speed and modularity. On raw processing tasks such as calculations or large database search-and-sort operations, the Power Mac G3 exceeds anything I've seen - on either the Mac or Windows-Intel side."
ABC Software releases FormConvert 2.0, a Mac OS application designed to interpret and format email that is generated from a HTML form and sent via a world wide web (WWW) browser.
HTML forms that use the "mailto" action method to post can arrive as a single text string that is imbedded with various symbols and ascii hex codes making it very difficult to read.
FormConvert will interpret and format these email responses, making them legible.
For webmasters and internet users who do not have Common Gateway Interface (cgi) capabilities on their web servers, this program will allow them greater access to the use of forms on their web pages.
Features: * Very fast; * Supports both "Iso Latin-1" and "BinHex" encoding formats; * Supports multiple field delimiters; * Supports multiple field terminators; * Supports the inclusion or omission of the field titles;
Requirements * Mac OS 7.0 or greater; * PowerPC or 68030 Macintosh or greater; * 2 Mb of free RAM.
FormConvert is shareware and may be used free of charge for a 30 day trial period.
Date: Mon, 2 Mar 1998 02:10:23 -0000 From: EvangeList <evangelist@apple.com> Subject: Tidbit - USA Today 98/02/23 p.13E
Keyword: Advocacy, Macintosh in Action
This tidbit is from:
<MSNBill@aol.com>
In USA Today 98/02/23 p.13E There is a nice mention of a Mac used to speed the digital... "photo of Picabo Street minutes after she whooshed by on the super- G skiing course. Streets photo was taken with a digital camera by Robert Deutsch and transmitted via a Macintosh computer. It appeared on page 1E of USA TODAY the nest morning."
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Date: Mon, 2 Mar 1998 02:10:25 -0000 From: EvangeList <evangelist@apple.com> Subject: ?? - Mac Router/Sign Software
This request is from:
<Jkirk3279@aol.com>
Our business is considering adding a Router table. It's a beautiful Precis model, and to the credit of the manufacturer, it's Mac compatible ! But I am told quite tactfully that the Mac software is deficient. The best choice, Enroute, is of course Windows only. And this is a processor intensive application, not something you can satisfactorially run under emulation. The recommended hardware is a Pentium 266 Mhz. I don't think that DOS cards go that high, do they? Without at least that much power, the program drags. And expense is a factor, too. A new PowerMac plus a fairly fast DOS card would be triple the expense --Apple asks $900 for their 166 Mhz card. While I have only a few qualms about buying a slave Pentium to run EnRoute -- emphasis on "Slave" -- I'd prefer to remain Macintosh Pure.
So, the question is a simple one. Does anyone know of any Mac router control software I missed, or that is in development ?
(Can't wait more than a couple of weeks -- ideas like waiting for Rhapsody and a PC compatibility box to run Enroute on either an Intel PC or inside a possible Rhapsody Red Box cannot bear on this decision. Although it soothes the sting a little.)
The irony is that all I need is a program that will control the router. Meaning that I can design the job in MiniCad 7 and export in DXF. You'd think that someone would have a 3D RIP for this. After all, this is the sort of thing you'd think the Mac would rule: I talked with an EnRoute user Saturday, and he went on and on how it took him six hours and Tech Help to figure out how to import a long list of names. About what you'd expect from the Dark Side, Hmmm?
If I could break into this market with the Mac, I would trailblaze for everyone else. It would be a nice bit of Evangelism to have a PowerMac in the front room to design the jobs on, and another quiet bit of satisfaction if the Mac was running the router table directly.
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Date: Mon, 2 Mar 1998 02:10:18 -0000 From: EvangeList <evangelist@apple.com> Subject: PR - KnowledgeMiner 2.2.2 Now Available
This announcement is from:
julian, <julian@sierra.net>
KnowledgeMiner version 2.2.2 is now available. KnowledgeMiner 2.0 is the Revolutionary Modeling and Prediction Tool for Macintosh Computers
This new version fixes a bug which can occur with large data sets. KM can be downloaded free from:
<http://www.scriptsoftware.com>
Version 2.2.2 will also be the last that supports 68k based Macs. Future features, developments and enhancements will be available for PowerPC based Macs only. KnowledgeMiner is computational intensive software already. Now that we are starting to add new even more demanding features it has become obvious that its time to move on and focus exclusively on the faster PowerPC processors.
KnowledgeMiner is a powerful, easy-to-use modeling and prediction tool which was designed to support the knowledge extraction process from data in a highly automated way. It works using two advanced self-organizing modeling technologies: Group Method of Data Handling (GMDH) and Analog Complexing. This is the first time that both of these algorithms have been available on any computer platform.
Built on the cybernetic principles of self-organization, KnowledgeMiner brings high-end modeling capabilities to your desktop without the need for an expert. It can learn completely unknown relationships between the outputs and inputs of a given system in an evolutionary way from a very simple organization to an optimally complex one by itself.
KnowledgeMiner has been used successfully for analysis and prediction in the fields of finance, economics, imaging, ecology, health, biotechnology, chemistry, math and many others. Professionals in many areas can benefit by downloading and trying out the examples then using this tool to mine their own field for new relationships.
In comparison with statistical modeling tools and neural networks KnowledgeMiner stands out as easier, faster and more applicable to a wide range of real-world problems since it creates the model structure or network topology automatically without predefinition. This makes KnowledgeMiner the least expensive and most effective modeling and prediction tool available on any platform.
We have gotten many requests from Windows users asking when we will be porting KnowledgeMiner. We can't say when or whether this will happen but for now the way to use KnowledgeMiner is to buy a KnowledgeMiner workstation, a Mac :). Fortunately, Macintosh users can do their job up to twice as fast as any other PC user in the world with the new G3 Macs available and the gap will widen in the future. This is the power KM needs for its continuing evolution. By focusing on the PPC platform, more features, new algorithms and modules can be developed and shipped faster to all users. Be assured that there are many surprises in the pipeline.
Data mining, knowledge discovery, and decision support are becoming increasingly important for all areas of human activity. As an example look at El Nino. El Nino is now described as a minute temperature change in the ocean off of South America which strongly influences global weather. This year we were all very impressed by the power of El Nino but until recently that data was buried in a mountain of other climatic data. How many other powerful influences on weather, politics, sociology, economy, energy, health, history, etc. are hidden in the vast store of data we already have?
Specific questions like how national economies are interconnected and affected by local crises, how water quality and temperature is influenced by the environment and vice versa, how the population of a country or the world will change, how cancer can be detected and understood better or how credit card fraud can be detected are only a few of the applications that a tool like KnowledgeMiner can be used for.
Many people have wanted to learn more about self-organizing modeling and the basic ideas behind KM's modeling methods. Frank Lemke with Prof. Mueller are getting close to finishing a book called "Numerical Insights into Complex Systems. Self-organizing Data Mining". This book covers several areas of knowledge discovery and introduces a spectrum of parametric and nonparametric modeling methods that are scheduled to be implemented in KnowledgeMiner - all of them for the first time on any computer platform. Two important new algorithms are Objective Cluster Analysis and the other is self-organizing fuzzy-rule induction. The latter is designed as a tool for describing fuzzy processes qualitatively. We will let you know more about them as soon as we can.
Finally, we have been developing a small finance module to support financial trading decisions. It works on KM's models and predictions and transforms them into a predicted trading indicator. When using Analog Complexing models, prediction uncertainty is also translated into uncertainty of indicators' evolution respectively decision. It is fully functional, but does not have any documentation yet. We will have this available soon for testing. Send julian a note if you are interested in testing the finance module.
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Date: Mon, 2 Mar 1998 02:10:28 -0000 From: EvangeList <evangelist@apple.com> Subject: Tidbit - Shareware Stop Site Update and Contest
This tidbit is from:
Shareware Stop, <sharewar@sharewarestop.com>
Shareware Stop <http://www.sharewarestop.com> has expanded to give the Mac users more of what they want. Some of things you can expect from the new site are listed below:
- - Shareware Stop has been given a face-lift for faster loading. - - We are now a offical GraphicConverter mirror. With this, Shareware Stop is announcing a GraphicConverter giveaway. - - A new message board has been added for your shareware problems and questions. - - New advertising spaces (hint, hint) have been made. - - Shareware Stop now offers daily shareware news coverage. - - Enter the first annual MacVote award for the best Mac website.
And much more! Come and see.
David DeParolesa Shareware Stop <http://www.sharewarestop.com>
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Date: Mon, 2 Mar 1998 02:10:26 -0000 From: EvangeList <evangelist@apple.com> Subject: Tidbit - Law Office Software
Keyword: Market by market, Law
This tidbit is from:
Randy B. Singer, <randy@mother.com>
We have just concluded a major update of the Web site:
The Law Office Software List for the Macintosh Computer
<http://www.mother.com/~randy/>
The site provides a comprehensive list of all the available software for law office use on the Macintosh computer, the premier computer for attorneys! Well over 130 products are listed! There have been over 50 changes and additions made to the site since the last update. There exists no more comprehensive resource for Attorneys and other legal professionals who use the Macintosh computer.
The site now includes a new topic heading on networking Macintoshes, including discussion on how to mix Macintoshes and Windows computers on the same network.
The hard copy version of this site recently won the coveted Law
Dartmouth College is pleased to announce the immediate availability of InterMapper 2.0, our Mac-first, Mac-only network mapping and monitoring utility.
InterMapper acts as an early-warning system informing the network manager of troubles in the network. To do this, InterMapper builds a map of the network and then monitors the routers, servers, hubs and hosts on that network. This gives the network manager the ability to see most of the activity (and problems) in the network.
InterMapper displays multiple maps of various sectors of a network, and will monitor the devices on those networks. It notifies the manager about problems via sounds, e-mail, pager, or running an AppleScript.
In addition, InterMapper 2.0 has the following new features:
- - Server monitoring. Rather than simply testing whether the hardware is turned on, InterMapper can test whether servers are actually running. It has built-in probes for a variety of servers, including Web (HTTP), FTP, mail (SMTP, IMAP4, and POP3), news (NNTP), AppleShare IP , and custom, user-defined probes.
- - Built-in Web Server. InterMapper has a web server built into the program, so that the network manager can use a standard web browser to see lists of devices that are down or in alarm, the history of outages, and even graphic images of the maps on the screen.
- - Strip charts. The network manager can build strip charts of traffic statistics and utilization. These charts visually indicate where peaks of traffic occur, and can be logged to a file for later analysis.
- - Enhanced notifications. InterMapper 2.0 now gives the ability to schedule notifications. This could be configured to page a technician after a device has been down for two minutes, and later send an e-mail after a device has been down for 20 minutes.
A full-function, limited time demo version of InterMapper is available from:
<http://intermapper.dartmouth.edu/>
InterMapper 2.0 lists for $795; educational institutions receive a 50% discount. An upgrade from InterMapper 1.0 is available for $299. For more information, please get back to me. Thanks!
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Date: Mon, 2 Mar 1998 02:10:34 -0000 From: EvangeList <evangelist@apple.com> Subject: Tidbit - Nice New Marble Desktop Pics for System 8/8.1
This tidbit is from:
Sari Kadison-Shapiro, <sari@sarigraphics.com>
If you go to <http://www.sarigraphics.com/~sari> you can check out the marble desktop pictures for System 8/8.1. They're offered free of charge. (You *could* write me...I love to get email.)
These are samples of real marble and look great as full screen desktop pictures (although the System 7 ones were nice, they had to be tiled, and these don't) They're fantastically detailed and seriously cool (if I do say so myself)...
Also, after you've downloaded a folder of them, drag the whole folder over the picture that's in the desktop pictures control panel. A different picture will be loaded at random each time you restart.
Sari Kadison-Shapiro Evanston, IL 60201 USA <http://www.sarigraphics.com/~sari>
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End of EvangeList Digest V1 #1108 *********************************
