EvangeList Digest Thursday, February 26 1998 Volume 01 : Number 1104
In this issue:
Followup - Help An ISP Become "Mac Friendly" PR - Macompass BoogieBox Tidbit - CoolViews 1.0.1 Review Followup - Apple Net Software ?? - IPSEC and VPNs Tidbit - Easy Way to link Mac sites via Link Exchange Followup - FrontPage 98 on the Mac Followup - Correction -- Old Macs are Still Great PR - DreamBuilders Mac CD-ROM !! - Macintosh Poll -- Save James Cook from the Dark Side
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Date: Wed, 25 Feb 1998 02:11:19 -0000 From: EvangeList <evangelist@apple.com> Subject: Followup - Help An ISP Become "Mac Friendly"
Keyword: Market by market, Internet
This follow-up message is from:
Roger Roelofs, <rroelofs@mich.com>
Thank you for your kind responese to my plea for help in helping a local ISP with the Mac side of their sign-on cd. Here's how the answers came in
For the installer/setup: Lots of votes for Internet Setup Monkey <www.rockstar.com> A suggestion to use Apple's internet installer/setup from MacOS 8 macKnowledge <http://www.foothill.net/~willie/macKnowledge/> A pointer to <http://www.chiltonwebb.com/i/index.html>
On having the CD automatically run software when inserted: For a reference on Autostart, refer to <http://devworld.apple.com/ngs/lpp/adrpub/docs/dev/qa/qtpc/qtpc12.html>. But many people said they would hate a CD that did that. Also, the feature must be enabled in the user's QuickTime control panel.
For software to include: Networking: FreePPP, OT/PPP, OT 1.1.2 (1.3), MacTCP
Clients: Navigator and Internet Explorer (include an old version for people with old macs) Eudora Light Emailer Anarchie 2.0.1 TurboGopher 2.0.3 Fetch3.0.3 NetFinder BetterTelnet NiftyTelnet ircleUSfat MacIRC 0.9.4 (68K) MacIRC 0.9.4 (PPC) InterNews MacSOUP-2.2b6 Nuntius Finger 1.5.0
Now six months old, Macompass - the definitive guide to the Mac OS, is launching the first element of entertainment to their website.
The Macompass BoogieBox is a MIDI jukebox containing over 20 MIDI music tracks of Rock, Techno, Pop, Jazz, Golden Oldies and Movie/TV theme music. High quality, bookmarkable and low bandwidth, BoogieBox will autoplay different tracks in the background while you surf.
BoogieBox supports both MIDI and QuickTime file and are saved in such a way to enable streaming for rapid playback. Plug in support consists of QuickTime, Yamaha MidPlug and Crescendo MIDI.
Being database driven, BoogieBox is not disimilar to the other areas of the Macompass site which include a 3,000 product specification database, Link City database, Events Calender, NewsByte database and listings of Mac OS related Dealers, Trainers and Service companies.
For the definitive online guide to the Mac OS, go to
CoolViews 1.0.1 was recently reviewed at Applelinks's Farr Site. With CoolViews installed, you can get rid of shaded sort columns and row separators in the Finder's windows, resize the columns in Finder list views, set global list view preferences, override the date and time formatting used by the Finder, and even enable "secret" columns. CoolViews was written to enhance MacOS 8, download it now from Applelinks.
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Date: Wed, 25 Feb 1998 02:11:17 -0000 From: EvangeList <evangelist@apple.com> Subject: Followup - Apple Net Software
This follow-up message is from:
The Digital Guy <mailto:evangelist@apple.com>
Well, look at what I just got: - ---- Many thanks for getting members of your list to send me details of great Mac Net software. Our cover CD editor is working his way through the list at the moment and we hope to include much more Mac stuff on our next CD (April issue).
Thanks for the input. Gail Robinson Editor Internet magazine - ----
See what happens when you apply yourselves? You actually HELP people, instead of hounding them (as some journalists would have the world believe). EvangeListas, take a bow! :-)
John J. Halbig (a.k.a the Digital Guy)
e-mail: evangelist@apple.com
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Date: Wed, 25 Feb 1998 14:10:47 -0000 From: EvangeList <evangelist@apple.com> Subject: ?? - IPSEC and VPNs
This request is from:
Craig L. Hall, <clhall@netbox.com>
I am one of very few Mac guys in a predominately Windows 95 organization, and I am being squeezed. The Windows-only technical support team has installed a Virtual Private Network (VPN) which can only be accessed through a firewall product from Raptor. Raptor does not produce a Mac version. Which means, I am locked out of the network. Not a good situation.
The tech guys tell me that if I can find a Mac IPSEC (secure IP) standards-based tunneling client, that I can get onto the network. If not, I am locked out "because Macs don't fit." The idea is to log onto the Internet through a local ISP provider and then establish a secure tunnel to the VPN.
I am using a PowerBook 1400 at 117 mghz.; VirtualPC requires 133 mghz.
I bought a PPTP product called NTS PPP Dialer from Network Telesystems which offers Windows and Mac versions. But the tech guys won't use it because "PPTP solutions are suspect regarding security due to unecrypted side band control data and there is not ongoing key exchange... and Microsoft has significantly slowed PPTP development and support as it pursues L2PT with Cisco to replace PPTP."
The VPN is based on a Windows NT server.
Can anybody help me?
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Date: Thu, 26 Feb 1998 02:10:40 -0000 From: EvangeList <evangelist@apple.com> Subject: Tidbit - Easy Way to link Mac sites via Link Exchange
Keyword: Market by market, Internet
This tidbit is from:
Adrian, <adrian@aardvark.ucs.ou.edu>
Those of you who are members of the "Link Exchange" banner ad network may know that, yesterday (02/18/98), LE instituted their LE Deluxe program with larger banners with a new "Link Exchange Bar" beneath the banner ad. This bar contains among other things a "Surf Point Community Link" which allows you to "connect your site to LinkExchange members in one of your Surf Point categories."
One of the possible categories just happens to be "Computer & Internet : Operating Systems : Macintosh OS". If you change one of your categories to tho just that, you'll be able to select it as your Community Link which will appear on all the LE banners on your site.
Is this a great and simple way to give visitors a link to a list pro-Mac sites or what?
Find out more about the LE Deluxe program at <http://www.linkexchange.com/deluxe.html>
As a side note - I was able to get my entire site <http://www.otap.com/angry> "upgraded" to LE Deluxe status within an hour of finding out about this program. No small task as my site contains nearly 400 pages with LE Banners, but thanks to 3 search & replaces with BBedit a mountain was made into a molehill. Let's see someone do THAT with Windoze!
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Date: Thu, 26 Feb 1998 02:10:44 -0000 From: EvangeList <evangelist@apple.com> Subject: Followup - FrontPage 98 on the Mac
This follow-up message is from:
Eric Vance Curl, <ecurl@cyfi.com> (by way of EvangeList, <evangelist@apple.com>>
This is in response to a recent posting concerning the possibility of running FrontPage98 on a Mac with Windows emulation. I've been running FrontPage98 through Virtual PC on a PowerBook G3 quite successfully. This is sort of a long posting, but if you've found yourself in the "no FrontPage 98 for Mac" dilemma, you'll appreciate it.
I work for a small company which designs and hosts web sites for financial institutions, and trains them to maintain the sites themselves. FrontPage is the perfect tool for this, because even Bank VPs (who, despite their many other skills, are generally not very good with the creative/artistic side of things) can use it to keep up a pretty nice site. We were using FrontPage before Microsoft even bought it. We therefore started out as one of the primary training companies, and ended up doing training for all kinds of people besides our intended Financial Institution audience. We are the first people we know of who gave training classes for FrontPage 98, and we are thrilled with its new features. The themes, navigation bars, and such are the perfect tool for us (no more calls saying "we have a new checking account and I need you to make me a button that says Ultra Checking"--they just put the page in and there's the button).
That is all just to let you know that I know what I'm talking about with FrontPage. I am the Graphic Designer/Web Developer. I pull together a preliminary site for an institution before they send their people in for training so they can get a look at it while they're learning to maintain it, and then finish up its look and feel (and some content, depending) after they leave. For various reasons, I finally talked my boss into getting me a PowerBook G3 (Windows was beginning to seriously grate on my brain). Now I can run Photoshop and Illustrator on the platform they belong on, I can actually understand my operating system, and I can still run FrontPage 98 using Virtual PC. It works beautifully. FrontPage is a little slow on Virtual PC sometimes, and then only with a few tasks such as opening a new page into the FrontPage editor or sometimes when saving. It still operates at a very acceptable speed, a bit slower in FrontPage than the Pentium 166 I was using before the PowerBook, and about equal in speed if sometimes faster with other programs. I designated my entire hard drive as the K drive in windows, so I can get to anything on my hard drive from Windows or Mac.
Hooking the Mac with Virtual PC into our network went something like this.
- - Install Virtual PC - - Plug the ethernet cord into the Mac - - Type in the network info on the Mac side - - Launch Virtual PC and type in the Windows network info - - Test it by launching the web browser in windows and opening up the Apple website, while launching the browser on the Mac OS and opening the Microsoft website, just to be ironic. - - install FrontPage 98 and start editing webs
The Virtual PC installer installed all the components needed by Virtual PC and Windows 95. It figured out what to do with the ethernet card, internal modem, and all that other stuff on it's own. It was honestly easier that installing windows on a Pentium (this is especially satisfying since a co-worker just got a Pentium laptop and spent a couple of days wrestling with tech support, re-installing Windows 95 a few times, and discovering that he had to disable the Modem drivers to use the Ethernet PC card that came with the computer--he was drooling on the ethernet/modem connector built in to the PowerBook, especially when I showed him the adapter cord that came with it allowing me to use Ethernet & the modem at the same time). Anyway, I've been editing webs, creating custom FrontPage themes, and all that other windows type stuff quite happily, and doing all the graphics work, web surfing, writing, and anything else on the Mac side.
The only issues I encountered with this setup are:
- --I need two IP numbers, one for the Mac OS and one for Windows, since they are functioning as two different computers as far as the network is concerned. If you don't use static IP numbers on your network you don't need to worry about it, but if you have a limited number of IP's and a lot of Macs running Virtual PC, you may need to get more IP's.
- --You will want to get a two button mouse. It's much easier in Windows to be able to assign a key combo to the right button and use that in Windows (it's nice for OS8 contextual menus, too). I heartily recommend the Kensingon Turbo Mouse trackball or another Kensington mouse.
- --As I said, FrontPage 98 seems to move a bit slower in Virtual PC. Mind you, not terribly slow, but occasionally noticeable in the FrontPage Editor. Upgrading to a nice big cache will probably overcome this completely. Also, Virtual PC 2.0 is about to come out and it is supposed to be greatly enhanced for speed on G3's
- --I expect my speed decrease to diminish greatly upon the 2.0 upgrade (if you buy version 1 now, you get a free upgrade for $10 shipping).
- -- Windows 95 Long file names don't seem to be transferring between the two sides, even though I upgraded to OS8.1 which is supposed to support long file names. I haven't specifically checked if I need to change something in PC exchange, or if MacLink is somehow interfering, but I would have liked that to be automatic. [Actually, you'll need to ujpgrade to Mac OS 8.1 for full Windows 95 name support. - Digital Guy]
And that's it. Those are barely even issues, compared with the crap I had to deal with when I used a wintel machine. I am very, very happy with the setup and it works seamlessly. The only thing I haven't tried yet is playing a network game of Warcraft against myself between the Mac and Windows machines.
By the way, I am extremely happy with my PowerBook G3. I've got the VST Internal Zip drive (I can't imagine installing an internal removable media drive in two minutes on a Wintel machine, much less hot swapping it out), it's maxed out at 160 RAM (running two operating systems, three browsers, web editors, Photoshop, Illustrator, Quark, and a couple of utilities at the same times takes a bit of RAM), and it's FAST!! After working on a 68030 for the last few years, this is quite a satisfying experience. It's powerful, simple, and the reviewers who call the 3400 plastics clunky and ugly should take a look at the Micron my boss uses.
Yaay Connectix! Yaay Apple! And even Microsoft almost gets a Yaaay for the very useful and slick FrontPage 98--the full fledged yaay will only come when they get off their butts and make it for the Mac.
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Date: Thu, 26 Feb 1998 02:10:47 -0000 From: EvangeList <evangelist@apple.com> Subject: Followup - Correction -- Old Macs are Still Great
Keyword: Advocacy, Why Macs Are Better
This follow-up message is from:
Mike Pilgrim <mikep@wattstopper.com>
The responses to my followup posting were great although many Listas were quick to point out that the 32 bit System enabler from Apple has proven to be less than stable (Thanks to Roger Cohen, et al!). While I am actually using the latest version of MODE 32, in my haste to follow up to the numerous replies before leaving for a Caribbean business trip, I did not research my reply sufficiently. Mea culpa, sorry. A quick note to Mark Hayden of Connectix who was one of the respondents confirmed the latest version. Below are Mark's comments reprinted with his permission. Thanks Mark :-).
[Yes, he most recent (and final) version of MODE 32 is 7.5 for the Mac II, IIx, IIcx & SE/30. It's available free on our web site at: <http://www.connectix.com> (Just click 'OTHERS' on the selection bar at the top of the web page). It's also available on our AOL forum (Keyword = Connectix).
Also, yes, you can tell em 'I sent ya!' ;-)
I've included my entire MODE32 'scrap' below in case there's any information there that you want to use.]
"IMPORTANT NOTE: Mac OS 7.6 (and higher) is NOT compatible with the Mac II, IIx, IIcx, or SE/30. Since Mac OS 7.6 does not run on these systems, Connectix MODE32 cannot install nor function. MODE32 version 7.5 continues to function on all versions of System 7 prior to Mac OS 7.6.
MODE32 was licensed by Apple, but for a while, Apple came out with their own solution, called the '32-bit enabler'. It has nothing to do with Connectix.
When System 7.5 appeared, Connectix updated MODE32 to version 7.5. Any earlier version would corrupt the system with System 7.5, and a reinstall of System Software would have to be done. It was also the end of the line for Apple's 32-bit enabler (a warning should be issued not to try use it on Mac OS 7.5 or later)."
That's it folks. I hope this clears up any potential confusion. Many thanks to all who took the time to respond. Cheers.
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Date: Thu, 26 Feb 1998 02:10:49 -0000 From: EvangeList <evangelist@apple.com> Subject: PR - DreamBuilders Mac CD-ROM
Keyword: Market by market, Multimedia
This announcement is from:
<timebox@magi.com>
Building Dreams, as scientists and engineers...
One hundred and fifty years of Canadian achievements in Science and Engineering have been vividly captured in a new multimedia CD-ROM by the privately owned, Ottawa-based CD-ROM publisher Timebox inc.
Almost three years in the making and sponsored by the Canadian Council of Professional Engineers and the National Research Council of Canada, the CD "DreamBuilders" is THE virtual Canadian Science and Engineering Hall of Fame. "DreamBuilders" documents fascinating stories about the lives of Canadian pioneers in a variety of fields. Much of the information, in both text and audio-visual form has never been published before.
"DreamBuilders" contains over 1170 pictures, photographs, animations, movies and sound clips covering a century and a half of Canadian scientific and engineering feats. Names like Fleming, Banting, Bell, Heffernan, Polanyi, Marie-Victorin, Logan and Bombardier are but a few of the Hall of Fame members who that have been thoroughly researched and presented here in an entertaining way.
Timebox inc. specializes in the educational market, and has received high praise for the quality visual and textual content which has characterized its products. "DreamBuilders" is its fifth release. Previous titles include:The Adventure Book of Columbus, Columbus Day by Day, and Spacetime, Voices of Dissent and "Canada's Capital: The story of Ottawa ". Timebox inc. interactive products, including this most recent release, let students and young people learn by truly working with the material. Teacher's editions and accompanying school lab packs enhance the package by providing tips and techniques for teaching aids and additional research projects.
The Macintosh version of the disk is now available directly from the company at a cost of $89.95. For more information on this and other Timebox inc. products please call Colette Dionne at 613-256-7338 or e-mail <timebox@magi.com>
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Date: Thu, 26 Feb 1998 02:10:52 -0000 From: EvangeList <evangelist@apple.com> Subject: !! - Macintosh Poll -- Save James Cook from the Dark Side
This action item is from:
levendis, <levendis@mail.geocities.com>
At Net Detours, James Cook wants to know if he should buy another Mac or go with a Windows machine. He has a poll set up at <http://home.stlnet.com/~jcook/macpoll.html> where you can cast your vote. Is there any good reason to let him slip to The Dark Side? If you were drowning, wouldn't you want to be thrown a rope? ;-)
The article where he describes his purchasing delemma can be found at:
<http://www.netdetours.com/misc/mac.html>
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End of EvangeList Digest V1 #1104 *********************************
