Livewire magazine
Sometimes, especially in the thick of February, it
seems like winter will never end. Days are too
short, night comes too quickly and stays too long,
and -- in some places -- it feels like your toes
will never warm up; they will. Even as you ponder
them, the days are getting longer. Best of all,
you've got your Amiga and the *StarShip* to add a
little warmth to the season.
Hot Downloads
The fields may be covered with snow, but there's
been a bumper crop of Library uploads. If you're
in the market for a fast-paced game, don't miss
file #21712 MEGABALLAGA.LHA. It's a shareware
variant of Arkanoid, a classic
knock-out-the-bricks kind of game with dazzling
graphics, sensational sound, and great music. The
great sound part will come as no surprise to MOD
fans since the author of MegaBallAGA is none other
than Ed Mackey, who also gave us the great MOD
player EdPlayer.
MegaballAGA comes with 50 boards, one tune, and
complete Amiga.guide documentation. More music is
available in file #21713 MBMUSIC.LHA. MegaBallAGA
is freely distributable, and tons of fun to play
as is. But if you want more out of life, send Ed
his shareware fee and you'll get "hundreds" of
additional boards, a board editor so you can
create your own, and some ultra-handy cheat keys.
Oh, and MegaBallAGA works on AGA machines, of
course, as well as all older machines. It's
multitasking-friendly, and has one and two-player
options. (With Valentine's Day coming up, that
two-player option might come in handy!)
Speaking of Valentine's Day, if you need to know
how much it's going to take to pay off that
diamond ring (you DID get her a diamond, didn't
you?) or if you want to know how long he's going
to be making payments on that diamond ring (he DID
get you a diamond, didn't he?) you should download
file #21774 ECONOKNOW.LHA. This financial program
will figure the future value of an investment, or
tell you how much you should invest now for a
future figure, or what percentage rate you'll need
to bulk up that nest egg. It's shareware, by
George Kell.
As you slog through the slush puddles of February,
take comfort in this: If you can't change the
weather, you can at least change your menus. File
#21780 MAGICMENU-V1.29.LHA by Martin Korndorfer,
can give your menus the same 3D look as the rest
of Workbench 2 or greater. And it offers lots
more, including pop-up menus, press-once menus (a
short click displays the menu), and complete
keyboard control of menus. Best of all, it runs as
a Commodity, so you can hit a hot-key combination
at any time and reconfigure or even remove it.
MagicMenu requires AmigaDOS 2.04 or higher.
Warm Feelings
When you're looking for heat, check out the
Fighter Duel action in Bulletin Board Category 24,
Topics 1 through 13. With release of Fighter Duel
Pro 2 by JaegerSoft, our resident fighter jocks
have been talking tough (at least online) and the
action has been hotter than ever. If you feel like
you're in need of a rudder, take a look at file
#21692 RUDDERPEDALS.LHA. This short file gives you
the instructions -- complete with an IFF schematic
-- to construct your own rudder pedals for those
flight simulators which recognize them, including
Fighter Duel Pro 2. The total cost should be less
than $30, and you may even have all the parts on
hand already.
Perhaps the warmest feelings you can have, though,
come from the sense of community your modem can
bring. The *StarShip* is filled with friendly
folks who are more than happy to exchange messages
with you on the Bulletin Board or talk with you in
Real-Time Conference. Our HelpDesk is staffed
every night starting at 9 PM Eastern AND at 9 PM
Pacific time, for at least an hour. So forget the
snow, forget the chill. Warm up your Amiga and
beam on in to the *StarShip*. See you on board!
Having fun is one of the best things you can do
with a computer. Apple II systems have always been
great game machines, and we've got plenty of games
in the Apple II RoundTables on GEnie!
Games aren't the only way to have fun. You might
try playing with some of the great music, sound,
and animation files available for downloading in
A2! Check out the list below as you keep in mind
that there's much more if you just look through
our games, music, and animation Libraries.
Real-Time Fun
Beyond that, ever thought of checking out
Real-Time Conferences? This is your opportunity to
chat LIVE with other Apple II owners around the
world! GEnie's basic rates are only $3/hour during
evenings and weekends, which is only five cents a
minute -- way less than half the cost of most long
distance phone calls! And you can "talk" to more
than one person at a time in Real-Time Conference!
Not only are Conferences in A2 one of the best
ways to get answers to technical questions you may
have about your Apple II or the programs you run
on it, you can have lots of fun getting to know
fellow Apple II owners. We hold Conferences in A2
every single night, from 9:00 PM to 1:00 AM
Eastern time, plus all afternoon on Sundays!
Conferencing can be confusing at first, so don't
worry if you have that lost feeling for a few
minutes. You'll catch on quickly, especially if
you have a good terminal program with conference
or split-screen mode. Just go to a Conference room
at a time when we have a conference scheduled in
A2 (between 9:00 PM and 1:00 AM any night) and
we'll help you through the short learning process;
then your fun can really begin!
Last But Not Least
Another way to beat the winter blues and have some
fun: As you play new computer games, get help and
trade tips with other players on the A2 Bulletin
Board. Category 7 is specifically there for Apple
II games and the people who play them. Hey, what
better way to get past a tricky level than to ask
someone who made it, or remember your favorite
games as you discuss them with others who enjoyed
them too?
There aren't many better ways to have fun than
with your Apple II, and in the A2 RoundTable,
we'll do everything we can to help you get as much
fun as possible out of your machine. Stop by
today!
Sysop recommended files to download:
20213 APP.CONFTRM.BXY V3.03
Modem software with conference mode!
21659 STS.CDA.BXY
The Classic SHR 10-sec Timed Save CDA
21658 FCOLUMNS.BXY
Fun Columns: IIgs game from the FTA
21657 AFS.DEMO
Addressed For Success, Demo Disk
+21635 INTERNET2.BXY
AppleWorks Internet Instruction, part 2
+21634 INTERNET1.BXY
AppleWorks Internet Instruction, part 1
21722 MODIFIER.BXY
MOD -> ASIF/SoundSmith converter
+21721 A2NDX9312TX.BXY
Dec '93 A2 Cat/Top Index (text format)
21716 XMASMIDSNTH.BXY
18 SynthLAB Christmas songs!
21711 IREP1.0.BXY
Macro scripting for GS/OS
+21710 C.LAUNCH.BXY
Probably smallest program launcher ever!
+21706 PDESK.302.BXY
ProDesk Plus v3.02 ProDOS 8 Utility
21704 VIEWDL1.0.BXY
Play MS-DOS *.DL animations
21703 BATTLESHIP.BXY
IIgs version of the classic game
21702 KEYNOTIF1.1.BXY
Menu bar caps lock icon and more!
21689 JUMDESK2.11.BXY
Expand your desktop to scroll off screen
+21685 FONT.FIXER.BXY
Convert IIgs fonts for Publish It!
21680 WAIT.WATCH.BXY
Animated watch cursor, v3.33
21784 KEYNOTIFIER.BXY
Menu bar caps lock icon & more!
+21778 A2.DOM.1293.BXY
A2 Disk of the Month, December 1993
+21761 HOLIDAY93.TXT
Listing of holiday files in A2
+21748 HEATSEEKER.BXY
ProDOS 8 file/disk utilities
21746 GS.1040.93.BXY
Compute your 1993 income taxes (AWGS)
+21745 AW.1040.93.BXY
Compute your 1993 income taxes (AW 3.0)
21740 TRASH.IT.BXY
Auto-empties the Finder's trash
21739 AWGS601.BXY
Fix the save folder bug in AppleWorks GS
21728 FILEPSG.201.BXY
File Passage v2.0.1 - IIgs file utilities
21722 MODIFIER.BXY
Convert MOD songs to ASIF/SoundSmith
+21721 A2NDX9312TX.BXY
A2 Category/Topic Index, December 1993
+ - Denotes program compatible with Apple IIe and
IIc. All other files are IIgs-compatible
only.
The Farmer's Almanac says we're in for a long,
cold winter. What a great time for those indoor
projects, right? My plan for beating the February
blahs is to assemble a demo cartridge for my local
dealer. On my 44 Mb Syquest will be some of the
most popular and interesting demos in ST
RoundTable Library 10. Many are shareware or
previews of excellent commercial programs. Maybe
you'd like to take a look at some of these
yourself. To download any file, sign on and go to
the ST Library by typing M475;3. Type 6 to
download and enter the numbers or names of the
files you want separated by a comma. Then check
your path and select your download protocol. Easy
STuff.
Hot Downloads
Every computer owner needs a good text reader to
get at those TXT and DOC files that accompany
nearly every program you'll download. Here are a
couple of dandies! The Revenge Document Displayer
(#30488 RDD3.ZIP) can load up to 200 documents. It
supports the GEM clipboard and has full editor
functions like search, block, and print, in
addition to displaying compressed files! It is
very fast and even works with MultiTOS! Another
shareware viewer comes from Mountain View (#31045
M_VIEW15.LZH). It will automatically convert
First Word and TX2 files to standard ASCII text
and can display files in hex format for
programmers. Mountain View may be installed as an
application, installed to replace the desktop
Show/Print/Cancel feature, or run directly.
Need to get organized? How about a calendar
program? F10 Software has two products that might
interest you. Agenda is a graphic calendar creator
that displays events for an entire month, and
works as a program or desk accessory. Features
include icons (graphics), duration event banners,
search, print, and more. See #30731 AGENDA_M.LZH
(Mono) or #30828 AGENDA_C.LZH (Color). Agenda
Appointment is the companion program (#30996
AGENDAPT.LZH) (Mono) which contains calendar
printing functions that can be used with or
without AGENDA files. Calendar formats include 1
Year, 1 Month, 2 Weeks, 1 Week, and, yup, even 1
Day.
Do you enjoy cooking? How about a couple of
programs to make your hobby more fun and less
work? The Recipe Box (#30962 RECIPE42.LZH) can
hold up to 2.5 million recipes, runs on all Atari
computers in any graphics mode and will multitask
with Geneva or MultiTOS. SpeedoGDOS is supported
too. This program will import routines, give
visual feedback, and has a find feature with a new
grocery list printout format. Speaking of grocery
lists, take a look at The Grocery Lister (#30684
GL4DEMO.ZIP). It's another winner.
Getting Serious
March is the next month on the calendar and that
means taxes. Ugh! Don't you wish you had kept
better records over the past year? Here are a
couple of programs that you might want to
consider. Mega Check by Chris Muller is a keeper.
Version 2.05 (#30644 MC20.LZH) is suitable for
home use or small business use. It will remind you
when it's time to pay bills and print the checks,
balance checkbooks, and track investments. It even
has a multitasking report generator! Now, if you
are really into home accounting, here are two
products you should look into: Home Accounts 2
(#23136 HOMEACC2.LZH) is a prize-winning home
package that's full of useful features, while Mini
Ledger (#28830 MINILDGR.ARC) is older, but just as
powerful.
How about a handy program for tracking your
mailing addresses and printing neat labels?
Mailing Manager ST (#27935 MAILMNGR.LZH) can be
used for personal or business lists. It prints in
custom formats up to four labels across. And
commercially, there's Cardfile 4 from Gribnif
(#25681 CF4DEMO.LZH). It works as a program or
desk accessory and can print envelopes, mailing
and phone number lists, and more.
What's the only RoundTable on GEnie with a head on it?
Zymurgy.
No, I didn't sneeze. Webster's says, "Zy.mur.gy \'zi--(.)m*r-je-\ n : a
branch of applied chemistry that deals with fermentation processes."
That's why the RoundTable that deals with homebrewing, wine-making,
mead-making, cider-making, and even home-made soft drinks is called the
Zymurgy RoundTable.
To get to it, though, you don't have to remember how to spell it. Just
type M1152 or the keyword BEER at any GEnie page prompt.
Home Bulletins
The Zymurgy Bulletin Board is made up of both recipe and discussion
topics. Chief sysop Gail Beatrous says, "We have a wide array of Topics to
choose from, ranging from reviews of books and brewing software, to talk
of pending legislation that will affect homebrewers, to designing a beer
online, or organizing beer swaps."
In Category 2, On Tap: Beer Appreciation!, you'll find discussions of
beers organized according to types, such as Lagers (Pilsner, Munchner,
Dortmunder, Vienna, Maerzen, Oktoberfest, Bock, Dopplebock, and Light
Beer) and Ales (British Styles, Cream Ale, Porter, Stout, German
Alt/Kolsch, Barleywine, and Imperial Stout). There is also discussion of
Steam Style, Specialty Beers, Trappist Abbey Beers, Weisse/Weizenbier, and
Lambics/PseudoLambics.
Not sure what they are? This is the place to find out. Beatrous emphasizes
that both novices and experts are welcome.
Category 3, Pubs, Brewpubs, & Microbreweries in YOUR Locale, focuses on
trends in the United States and elsewhere. These Topics deal with pubs and
bars, brewpubs, and microbreweries, and breaks them down further by region
in Europe and the United States to facilitate touring.
Want to know what all is actually involved in brewing at home? Turn to
Category 4, Homebrewing, for topics in beer kits, extract brewing, partial
mash brewing, yeast, culturing, cleaning and sanitation, water treatment,
hops, cooling your wort, gravity testing, fermentation techniques, brewing
aids, troubleshooting, bottles and bottling, kegging, aging your homebrew,
lagering, and (just in case you need to know you're not alone) Homebrew
Disasters.
Category 5 is dedicated to recipes for an incredible variety of beers.
Category 6 deals with equipment, Category 7 tells you about books and
software, and Category 8 focuses on suppliers for all of the stuff you'll
need.
Although beer gets most of the attention in the Bulletin Board, other
Categories deal with different kinds of grain and fruit-based beverages.
For instance, Category 10 encompasses Cider, Mead, Soft Drinks, & Other
Fermentables. Category 11 deals with wine-making. Other Categories deal
with some of the social aspects of home brewing.
The Wine Cellar
The Zymurgy RoundTable shares a Library with the Food & Wine RoundTable,
but there's a whole separate area set aside for the Zymurgy RoundTable
files. They have recipes, files on brewing beer, and files discussing
kegging or building a cheap wort chiller. For instance, file #3202
HBD-1194.TXT is an ASCII (text) version of Homebrew Digest dated 8/2/93.
File #3092 SUDS22.EXE is SUDS, the brewers cookbook and log program. SUDS
maintains DBase III compatible recipe and log files which can be browsed
by any util ity capable of viewing DBASE III file formats. It also
includes a pop-up calculator to help with calculations, a pop-up calendar,
a hop-IBU spreadsheet to calculate hop IBUs for beer batches, and printing
of beer labels.
The Virtual Pub
The Zymurgy RoundTable holds Real-Time Conferences every Saturday night at
10 PM Eastern time. Beatrous says, "Sometimes winners of our various
contests are announced there, sometimes we hold trivia contests, and
always we talk about brewing." As with the Library, they share conference
rooms with the Food & Wine RoundTable; room 2 is set aside for the Zymurgy
folks.
Whatever your level of interest, the Zymurgy RoundTable serves up a fine
menu of information on homebrewing and microbreweries. Maybe some new
ideas will bubble up; you might brew up a new hobby. It's worth a taste.
Enter the keyword [shown below in CAPITAL LETTERS (for example, WRITERS)]
at any GEnie Page Prompt to reach the RoundTable hosting these Special
Events. Select Menu Item 2 for the Real-Time Conference area at the
specified time.
Each time you sign on, watch the GEnie Announcements for news about other
exciting Real-Time Conferences (RTCs). Type the number of the Announcement
you would like to know more about, and you will see the details.
Standard GEnie connect charges are WAIVED while you read GEnie
Announcements!
Eastern
Time
PM Sunday Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday Saturday
----------------------------------------------------------------------
8:00 SFRT1 PK
BORLAND Poker
SCORPIA Night
Sierra
Hints
8:30 GEOWORKS ENABLE
9:00 RADIO SHOWBIZ AMIGA MILITARY PCALADDIN AMIGA GENIEUS
Listening Live Chat Help General 9 to 12 Help GEnieJAM!
PF:Current GENEALOGY MAC AMIGA INVEST PETS AMIGA
Events Beginners Help Help Q&As Dogs HelpDesk
SPACE ROMANCE SFRT3 DBMS WRITERS MAC ROMANCE
MAC:Fights Research PCALADDIN ROMANCE AMIGA PCALADDIN Readers
AMIGA:Help AMIGA Aspiring Help
FAMILY HelpDesk Writer MAC
ST:Help MAC MAC PCALADDIN
UNIX PCALADDIN TRAVELRT
PCALADDIN PCALADDIN
9:30 IBMPC A2 GERMANY PET SCORPIA A2 A2
General New Users Travel A2 A2:TBC Telecom Sm Biz
A2 WINDOWS A2:Guest Hypermedia AUTO WINDOWS RADIO
II Speak Help SFRT1 AMIALADDIN STALADDIN MPGRT Listening
SFRT3 MAC Writers SCORPIA WP:WordPrt BTech
FW-Pern Educa- ERT:Parents Ask Sysops WINDOWS SFRT3
WRITERS tional HomeSchool WINDOWS MPGRT Queen's Own
All Types SCUBA LAPTOPS MPGRT Air Warrior
ROMANCE GEOWORKS DTP Ask Sysops ROMANCE
Games SFRT1 WINDOWS WRITERS MAC
AltHist MAC Non-Fiction Hardware
Powerbook MAC PET
Telecomm Birds
SFRT3
Star Wars
10:00 AMIGA DISNEY AMIGA HOME AMIGA CBM AMIGA
Surprise Trivia Music Moose Manor MMedia SFRT1 Party
FORTH AMIGA WRITERS AMIGA GERMANY General LEFTC
SCA Telecomm Poetry AmiGames AVIATION GENEALOGY CBM
FOOD ST: Atari CBM ST: Atari MPGRT ROMANCE FOOD
CooksChat dtp FOOD Open House GemStone TGIF Beer
MOTO SFRT1 HOME GERMANY CANADA AMIGA Taste
CBM Horror MOTO CBM CBM Graphics MOTO
ASTROLOGY GERMANY SCA PRO/AM(iga) UNIX HOME DIY
Beginners CBM ROMANCE GEOWORKS MOTO Landlords
HOSB UNIX Issues SFRT2 ERT SFRT3
HOME NeXT INTERNET On Screen DIY
OpenHouse MOTO SFRT2 GENEALOGY SFRT2
DIY SCA Star Trek History Quantum Leap
HOME Heraldic TRAVELRT MOTO FOOD
ASTRO MPGRT DIY MAC FAMILY
DIY Games JERRY
CyberStrike DIY GENEALOGY
WEST INTERNET-RT
10:30 MAC MPGRT JAPAN
Help DragGate Animation
11:00 CBM MAC SCORPIA CBM PHOTO MUSIC CBM
AMIGA Help Star Fleet MAC General Night-Owls AMIGA
HelpDesk AMIGA MAC Help MAC MAC HelpDesk
HelpDesk Help AMIGA Help UNIX
AMIGA HelpDesk AMIGA AMIGA
HelpDesk Help HelpDesk
Midnight PF*NPC MOTO
Late Nite News Midnite Madness
First Friday of each month the Atari ST RoundTable hosts Dateline Atari at
10 PM Eastern time. A2's Conference is open from 2 PM until 8 PM every
Sunday, and all night on Friday. American WEST RoundTable hosts Moonlight
Madness at 11 PM and 1AM Eastern time on alternating Saturday nights, and
Ask the Sysops at 10PM Eastern the last Tuesday of each month. Chat Lines
hosts a delightful variety of multi-player games and fascinating theme
chats on weekends, weekday evenings and during the wee hours, plus breakf
ast chats at 6AM Eastern time.
Meet Anthony Curtis of Huntington Press's Bargain City, Comp City, plus
Las Advisor, at 10PM Eastern time Wednesday, February 2, at American WEST
RoundTable's Conference.
Terry Linkletter, ICCP Director of Certification, will discuss Programer
Certification at DataComm RoundTable's Conference on Wednesday, February
9, at 10PM Eastern time.
It's next to impossible these days to run a data
center without some means of communication between
sites, whether it's between buildings, across the
country, or around the world. The Data
Communications and Interconnectivity RoundTable at
GEnie Page 1450 is dedicated to providing
information and advice on all aspects of Local
Area or Wide Area Networking (LANs and WANs).
Network administrators, programmers, users, and
managers can exchange opinions and ideas in the
Bulletin Board. You've got two computers that need
to talk to each other -- how hard can that be? The
old server is wheezing, disks are bulging at the
seams, and marketing wants to add ten more users
by Friday. Is cabling a black art, or can mere
mortals make the right connections? You'll find
answers to commonly-asked questions about data
networks in Category 2. For more detailed
discussions of specific products and technologies,
see Novell Netware (Category 7); Banyan Vines
(Category 8); IBM LAN Server (Category 9);
Microsoft LAN Manager and Windows NT (Category
10); AppleTalk (Category 11); UNIX, TCP/IP, NFS
(Category 12), or DECnet and DEC Pathworks
(Category 13).
Quick Access
You'll find the technical information you need
quickly as the staff of the Data Communications
and Interconnectivity RoundTable is dedicated to
providing the most up-to-date and accurate service
possible. These are just a few of the discussions
you're bound to find helpful: Peer-to-Peer
Operating Systems (Category 20); Servers and
Gateways (Category 22); Cabling/Protocols
(Category 23); Bridges, Routers, and Repeaters
(Category 24); Hubs and Wiring Closets (Category
25); LAN Adapter Cards (Category 26); LAN
Workstations (Category 27); Multi-Media over LANs
or WANs (Category 28); Network Applications
(Category 30); Network Management Software
(Category 31); Network Diagnostic Tools (Category
32); and Wide-Area Networks (WANs) (Category 40).
In the Software Library, you'll find network
utilities, drivers, patches, and other
networking-related programs, as well as
educational texts on setting up a LAN or WAN and
other items of interest. A sampling of what's
available includes:
Locker (file #10 LOCK175.ZIP) is a program that
meters software on a network and controls the
number of concurrent users who have access to DOS
or Windows executables. Locker works on most DOS
systems that support DOS file sharing and locking.
It has been tested with Novell's Netware, Banyan's
Vines, Microsoft's LAN Manager, and with Lantastic
Networks.
NDIS (Network Driver Interface Specification) is a
specification for hardware and software
communication at the transport layer between the
protocol layer and the MAC (Media Access Control)
layer. AI-NDIS (file #14 AINDIS.ZIP) allows
LANtastic's NETBIOS to communicate with an NDIS
MAC driver. This allows the LANtastic network to
run on any adapter with an NDIS driver, including
Ethernet, Token Ring, and Arcnet. This file
contains the complete LANtastic NDIS kit.
AMS (file #24 AMSMNU.ZIP) is a menu system
designed primarily for ease of use, with a number
of Desktop, Network, and Novell utilities built
in. AMS was designed to be compatible with the
Novell Network Menu System. Users of this system
will be able to immediately switch to this
program, using the same menu files, while giving
them access to all available memory when running
applications.
NOTD (file #31 NOTD.ZIP) is a Windows-based
network messaging system for Novell Netware 3.11
and other LANs. NOTD provides conditional display
of any text message at Windows startup. ADMIN is a
user friendly utility that allows NOTD
configuration and message editing in a single
Windows program.
Watch for new additions and remember that
uploading to GEnie's Libraries is free, so be sure
to share your favorites!
Meet the Networkers
Real-Time Conferences are held every Thursday
night at 9:30 PM Eastern time. The Data
Communications and Interconnectivity RoundTable
also offers a Help Desk for anybody who has
questions about their network setup. Join us for
Upgrading to Novel 4.01 on Thursday, February 10
at 9:30 PM Eastern time, and Communications Trivia
night on Thursday, February 17 at 9:30 PM Eastern
time.
The staff of the Data Communications and
Interconnectivity RoundTable bring with them
expertise from various areas. Jeffry Dwight,
Senior Assistant Sysop, is an independent computer
consultant in Dallas. Jeffry worked for Perot
Systems before striking out on his own. Steven
Ratzlaff, Assistant Sysop, is a senior-level
network systems engineer. Glenna Frost, Chief
Sysop, is an independent computer contractor
working out of Houston. She is also the Chief
Sysop for the Mini/Mainframe RoundTable and the
new Pro gramming & Programming Languages
RoundTable. Other staff members include Joe
Holliday, Librarian and Help Desk organizer, and
Shawn Sulma, Senior Help Desk assistant. Drop by
and meet the staff at our Open House Conference on
Thursday, February 3 at 9:30 PM Eastern time.
Check the announcements often for more exciting
Conferences to come!
The January issue of WordPerfect for Windows
Magazine presented an overview of online services,
and guess who came out on top! Here, by gracious
permission of Allen Biehl, Editor of WordPerfect
for Windows Magazine, is what they had to say
about GEnie and the WordPerfect (WP) RoundTable:
"The service is well-organized, offering dozens
of forums called RoundTables. We quickly found a
WP RoundTable and were pleasantly surprised by
the large amount of information and files
available. We sampled news releases, technical
support, various drivers, graphics and ongoing
conversations. Besides the WP forum, we found
the diversity of RoundTables exciting. Among the
various subjects and activities are photography,
military, genealogy, science fiction and the
White House. Some interesting interactive games
are also available.
"GEnie has huge amounts of WP data, but its
services go beyond that. With its great rates, a
friendly interface (especially with the help of
Windows-based Aladdin [LiveWire Ed. Note: It
isn't Aladdin but GEnie's Window-based GUI will
be available soon.]) and gigabytes of
professional, educational and entertainment
areas, GEnie also receives our Product
Performance Award. We eagerly anticipate the
full Windows interface... and are confident that
it will follow the quality tradition already
established."
GEnie salutes WordPerfect Corporation for their
superlative reputation in the personal computing
industry, and congratulates WordPerfect RoundTable
sysops Dave Thomas (WP.DAVE) and Ted McKosky
(WP.TED), who are not affiliated with that
company, for their outstanding job online. They
obviously had a lot to do with GEnie garnering
this Product Performance Award from WordPerfect
for Windows Magazine.
If you use WordPerfect products or have questions
about them, the WordPerfect RoundTable stands
ready, willing, and exceedingly well-equipped to
help you. Simpy type the keyword WP or M521 to
reach it from any GEnie prompt, or join their
weekly Real-Time Conference on Thursdays at 9:30
PM Eastern time. You'll be glad you did!
Good News From PC Aladdin
As lots of smart GEnie members can attest, using
PC Aladdin is a great way to enhance the time (and
money) you spend online. Until recently, however,
PC Aladdin worked its magic only on systems with
modems at standard IRQ settings.
That's no longer the case! All IBM-compatible
owners can now take advantage of PC Aladdin's
time-saving automation features. If your modem
requires IRQ 5 (or any other non-standard setting)
download the simple-to-use shareware utility
ALAIRQ10.EXE from the PC Aladdin Software Library.
Support (if you need it) is provided by the author
in Category 12, Topic 28 on the Bulletin Board on
GEnie Page 110. Type the keyword PCALADDIN or M110
to move there from any GEnie prompt.
Seeya online!
___
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|/ |/ /| /|| |
_| |_||_||_||_|
_| _| _|/
(/ (/ (/
Peggy Herrington
Editor, GEnie LiveWire
GEnie LiveWire Staff
ÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ
Editor-In-Chief ................. Peggy Herrington
Associate Editor ....................... Donn King
Assistant Editor ......................... Jay Kee
Multimedia Art Director ............ Bruce Robison
Multimedia Music Director .......... Howard Wooten
IBM Multimedia Editor .................. Tom Moran
Macintosh Multimedia Editor ......... Jim Flanagan
Amiga Multimedia Editors ......... Deb Christensen
ASCII Text Issue Editor ...............John Peters
Contributing Editor .............. Holly Jahangiri
Publisher ................ Robert "Chip" Chiappone
Assistant to the Publisher........... Laura Staley
Valentine's Day. The time for loved ones to share
a special moment, to exchange romantic gifts, to
cherish their life together.
This February, Federation, GEnie's multi-player
adult space fantasy game, will be showing the
other side of relationships -- the rows, the
irritations, the truth about the opposite sex. All
those annoying little habits that drive you wild,
make you vow to KILL each other!
Battle of the Sexes
We asked two of our top players - one male, one
female - to collaborate on a planet depicting the
battle of the sexes. We do hope they can put aside
their differences long enough to build the planet.
In Federation, players who reach the rank of
Explorer (approximately halfway up the ranks) can
design their own planets and have them linked into
the game; the players of Federation can visit the
player-planets and explore them.
Some players design planets that tell a story, or
recreate places from history. For example, one
recent player-planet was called Athens, and
depicted life in ancient Greece. Parts of the
planet let you descend into the mythological
underworld, meeting such creatures as the
Minotaur, the three-headed dog that guards the
gates to Hades, and the fearsome Gorgon.
Often, the players design planets with intricate
puzzles for other players to solve. Visitors have
to piece together clues found in the descriptions
of the various locations, and use objects they
find on the planet to open up new areas to
explore. Solving a puzzle often leads to large
rewards, as well as the satisfaction of having
cracked it.
The player-planets in Federation mean that the
game landscape is constantly changing. There are
usually over 20 worlds linked into the game at one
time, providing a vast ever-changing galaxy for
the players to explore.
As well as player-planets, we put in promotional
planets for special occasions -- like the Battle
of the Sexes planet we'll have for Valentine's
Day. We asked experienced players who have proven
they can design entertaining planets to design
something special for us. Recently, two of them
designed the planet Humbug for the Christmas
holidays, taking a sly swipe at Christmas legends
and icons. The planet Liberty, which we
commissioned for Thanksgiving, showed what a
family holiday celebration can be like whe n
things go wrong. And for Halloween, we put in the
most gruesome planet you can imagine!
Federation planets provide an ideal opportunity to
learn about other areas on GEnie. The *StarShip*
Amiga designed a special planet last year that
really is a star ship! Perhaps the most innovative
one is the Religion & Philosophy RoundTable's
implementation of their ideas of the afterlife,
complete with personalised Heavens for players of
all religious persuasions.
In Federation, the possibilities for exploration
and fun really are boundless, with new
player-planets being added all the time, along
with our regular special event planets.
Federation is on GEnie Page 220 (keyword FED). For
details about the Valentine's Day planet, send GE
Mail to Fi Craig at FEDII.2 or read the Weekly
News Bulletin on our main menu.
Long-Awaited New Idiot's Guide
The Idiot's Guide to Federation is the manual to
GEnie's adult space fantasy multi-player game.
Since Federation first arrived on GEnie, players
have been heaping adulation on the authors of the
Idiot's Guide for having produced a work that not
only gives the information needed to play the
game, but entertains as well.
And now, the best just got better! The new edition
of the Idiot's Guide is available. It's greatly
expanded, with new chapters to cover new sections
in the game, and a wealth of information, facts,
hints and tips to help you play Federation.
This magnificent tome, lovingly hand-produced by
our print-shop robots, tells you everything you
need to know to enjoy Fed to the hilt. It's got
maps, pictures, cartoons, and even a new joke!
The new edition of the Idiot's Guide to Federation
can be yours for a mere $15.95. Order it today by
typing ORDER from any GEnie menu prompt. Better
still, buy two! Or even three!!
What's New in the Software Club?
A lot of people don't realize that you can
actually download commercial games from GEnie for
a fraction of the cost of purchasing them in the
stores. This is made possible by the Software
Club, an innovative membership service.
Here's how it works: You join the Software Club,
paying $10 for a year's membership. Once you're a
member, you are given access to the game Libraries
and can download as many titles as you want
throughout the next twelve months, for just the
cost of the connect time while you are
downloading.
Each month, new games are added to the Software
Club Libraries, and you are sent GE Mail telling
you about the new selection. Older titles are
removed from the Library as their licenses run
out, giving an ever-changing selection of games
for you to enjoy.
The Software Club offers titles for IBM PC and
compatibles, Commodore Amiga, and Atari ST.
Throughout your year's membership you have the
chance to download a wide variety of games ranging
from arcade action to adventure and simulation,
and all you pay is the download charge.
As if that's not enough, the Software Club also
holds regular competitions, giving you a chance to
win a boxed game. In February, the prize in our
competition is Turning Points for IBM-compatibles,
simulations of three battles pivotal in world
history -- the Spanish Armada, Gettysberg, and
Waterloo. Turning Points has superb 3D graphics,
and a natural language interface. You don't have
to be a member of the Software Club to enter the
competition!
If you'd like to join the Software Club, go to
Page 1115 (keyword: SOFTCLUB) and select the menu
option to Join the Software Club. If you have any
questions or would like more information, send GE
Mail to Fi Craig at the FEDII.2 address.
RSCARDS Chess Tournament
William Harris defeated Detlef Hopp by a score of
3-0 to claim his fourth title as Champion of the
RSCARDS December 1993 Chess Tournament. Third
place was shared by Bill Pitre and John Terradot;
fourth place belonged to Matthew Jones and Allison
Hopp. Our congratulations to all!
Single-elimination, 100%-return RSCARDS Chess
Tournaments are held every month. For official
rules and information, type CS, CHESS, or M881
from any GEnie page prompt, and select the CS
Tournament Information menu option.
RSCARDS graphic front ends are now available for
IBM-compatibles, Apple Macintosh and IIgs,
Commodore Amiga and C-128, and Atari ST computers.
To join the fun of RSCARDS multi-player games
(Blackjack, Backgammon, Checkers, Poker, Reversi,
and Chess), type RSCARDS from any GEnie page
prompt.
Convenient NEW commands in this issue include using the SPACE BAR to move
to the NEXT PAGE of an article, and pressing RETURN or ENTER to move to the
next article. If you have sound, this issue opens with music playing (an
original composition called WindMusic by LiveWire's Music Director
Howard Wooten). You may also turn the music on/off.
The IBM compatible version of GEnie LIVEWIRE features both key and mouse
selection. To choose an article from the Table of Contents, click on the
icon to the left of the article or press the associated alpha/numeric key.
To exit LIVEWIRE, press the X key or click on the Exit switch.
The default is for Music On. If you wish to view LIVEWIRE with no music
or sound you may press the "U" key or click on Music Off. You may, later,
press the "M" key or click on Music On to turn the sound back on. Music
On will also re-start the opening theme music.
Memory Requirements: A minimum of 475K available conventional DOS memory
is required to view GEnie LIVEWIRE. To be able to view the animation
effects in this issue, your system may need at least 1 megabyte of
expanded or extended memory available. If you don't, you will still be
able to view everything but most of the animation effects.
ÚÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ¿
³ Starting GEnie LIVEWIRE ³
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There are four options to start GEnie LIVEWIRE.
1. For systems with NO sound card, type LW1 at the prompt and
press enter.
2. For those with a standard Sound Blaster-compatible model 1.5/2.0
type LW2 at the prompt and press enter.
3. For those with Sound Blaster Pro 2.0, SB16 or SB Pro 2 MCV, type
LW3 at the prompt and press enter.
4. LiveWire is MS Windows compatible. Tips for installing it are
available in the Easy Step-by-Step Instructions file for this
issue (LW294HLP.TXT in the LiveWire Library on GEnie Page 20).
The batch files will load the applicable sound drivers where appropriate
and start this issue of LIVEWIRE. Upon exiting LIVEWIRE, sound drivers
(if loaded) will be removed.
For those without a sound card, we have included music files that will
play through your PC speaker. These PC speaker files will not play if you
have installed the Sound Blaster drivers.
ÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍ
Sound Card Information: The sound driver installation assumes you have set
the sound drive/path information. This is normally done in your
autoexec.bat file with a command that looks like this:
SET SOUND=[drive:\path]
You may also issue this command from the DOS command line. This tells
the batch file where the appropriate drivers are located.
ÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍ
The IBM-compatible version of GEnie LIVEWIRE was created with SuperShow
IV, multimedia authoring software from PC West. If you would like more
information on SuperShow IV you may contact PC West at 602-992-0310 or by
writing to them at P.O. Box 31418, Phoenix, AZ 85046.
ÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍ
If you are using MS Windows to view LIVEWIRE, the sound may be very slow
depending on your configuration. You have two choices in this event.
Leave windows and run from a DOS prompt or remove the sound driver's.
ÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍ
End of Help
If hanging on the technical support hotline isn't
your idea of a good time, try the IBM Product
Support RoundTable. It provides a single,
convenient location for GEnie members seeking
assistance from vendors of IBM-compatible
products. You'll find quick responses from Gateway
2000, Boca Research, Kaseworks, and GVC, with more
joining the hardware and software support team as
we move into 1994. You'll also find drivers,
utilities, demos, and information in the IBM
Product Support RoundTable's Software Librar ies.
Shopping for new "toys"? Gateway 2000's complete
price list is available in file #398 PRODUCTS.EXE.
IBM PC RoundTable
For OS/2-like power in a DOS program, Telemate
4.12 (#34219 TM412-1.ZIP, #34220 TM412-2.ZIP,
#34222 TM412-3.ZIP, #34223 TM412-4.ZIP) is a
powerful, multi-threading communications program
featuring ANSI/Avatar/VT52/VT102 terminal
emulation, text viewer and editor, scrollback,
clipboard, and unique functions that are easily
accessed with built-in mouse support.
Of course you'll always find answers and solutions
in the IBM PC RoundTable at Page 615. Visit the
Real-Time Conference on Sundays at 9:30 PM Eastern
time, or post your questions in the Bulletin
Board. Check out the Software Libraries for the
latest IBM and IBM-compatible shareware programs,
including drivers for popular sound and video
cards, handy utilities, personal productivity
files to save you time, and lots more.
One great way to beat the winter blahs is to
settle on the couch with a bowl of hot popcorn
(or healthy carrot sticks, if you insist on
keeping those New Year's resolutions) and pop a
favorite movie in the VCR. If you're into reruns,
why not rent something you haven't seen? But
first, drop by the IBM PC RoundTable and grab
this hot title from the Software Library! Instead
of spending all your time at the store trying to
judge a film by its jacket, let ImagiSOFT, Inc.'s
Movies to Go! version 1.4 (files 32892
MOVIEA14.ZIP, #32893 MOVIEB14.ZIP, and #32894
MOVIEC14.ZIP) serve as your graphical electronic
video movie guide! Search 1,000 titles by
category, actors, directors, MPAA rating, key
words, year, and more. Movies to Go! tells you
about the characters, setting, music, box office
gross, objectionable content, film trivia -- in
short, everything you need to decide.
You can't exactly curl up with this book, but if
you're a history buff you'll enjoy reading The
Lost Churchill Library 1.0 (file #33991
LCL101.ZIP). It contains American writer Winston
Churchill's Revolutionary War novel "Serapis:
Caught by the Tide," modernized and adapted for
readers, students, and teachers of American
history, and illustrated with 150 color .PCX
files. Or try your hand at writing poetry, with a
little help from Poetry Star (#32108 POETSTAR.ZIP)
and your PC. Of the hodge-podge assortment of
computerized poetry generators available, Poetry
Star may be the only one that attempts to
demonstrate and aid in the creation of formal
poetry -- including sonnets and pantoums -- as
well as free verse. Written in the INRAC language,
Poetry Star is interactive and entertaining, and
it may even bring out the poet in you!
You'll always find fun at your fingertips in the
IBM PC Software Library with its extensive
collection of games to play on (and with) your
computer. $PINBALL.ZIP (#34257) brings
arcade-style pinball to life on your PC with
256-color scrolling graphics, digital music, and
sound. By Epic MegaGames, creators of the
commercial pinball game, Silverball, it features
all the shots, sounds, action, and excitement of
the real thing!
OS/2 RoundTable
Come find out why OS/2 fans are full of praise for
the OS/2 RoundTable at Page 1400. You'll get help
from IBM employees and knowledgeable OS/2 owners
(just try to stump them!) in the Bulletin Board.
The Software Libraries are full of useful
utilities, helpful and informative text on a
variety of OS/2 topics, and one of the largest
collections of OS/2 shareware online today! With
many excellent CA-Realizer programs being
developed, the runtime DLLs required for them
(file #1793 RLZRUN20.ZIP) are a MUST have in any
OS/2 owner's toolbox. VXRUN101.ZIP (#1344)
contains the 1.01 runtime DLL that's required for
all VX-Rexx programs.
All work and no play -- well, you know what they
say. When you need a break from the serious side
of computing, try these great OS/2 games:
ASTRA.ZIP (#1702) for solitaire fans; backgammon
(BG14.ZIP #1712); Dungeon Chess (DCHESS.ZIP
#1540), an interesting version of a classic
favorite; Mahjongg (MAH21E.ZIP #1294); or
GREED.ZIP (#1027), an "addictive" new PM game.
Take a trip down memory lane with the original
Adventure game (#149 ADVENTF.ZOO), or meet an
entirely new challenge in Roids (#1963
ROIDS10.ZIP). Search for more fun in the Software
Libraries using the keyword GAME.
Windows RoundTable
Windows RoundTable members can count on top-notch
technical help at GEnie Page 1335. The Windows
Help Desk is open from 9:00 PM to 11:00 PM Eastern
time on Mondays and Fridays, and from 10:00 PM to
midnight on Tuesdays and Thursdays in the
Real-Time Conference area. Or drop by on Thursday
nights at 9:30 PM to talk with other Windows
owners and software developers. Even if you don't
use Windows (yet), you're welcome to join the
discussion! If you do use Windows and enjoy
Real-Time Conferencing, try Skirzy 1. 1 (files
#1467 SKIRZ11A.ZIP and #1468 SKIRZ11B.ZIP; or,
#1465 SKLITE11.ZIP) to take advantage of all
Conference features with multiple resizeable
windows, full logging, menued commands, quick
access keys, sounds, and more! Several
entertaining add-ons are available including
Skirzy Adventure (#1857 SKADVH11.ZIP, #1856
SKADVC11.ZIP, and #1853 SKADVHLP.ZIP) an
interactive, multi-player role-playing game for
Real-Time Conference that includes sound effects
(#1854 SKADVSND. ZIP)!
Word games like the ever-popular Hangman (#1842
HJMM1.ZIP) provide a thought-provoking challenge.
If you think that's too easy, try the Hebrew
version (#1843 HJHC.ZIP)! If you enjoy puzzling
over crosswords but find that someone's always
beating you to the Sunday paper, download
CWDLX20.ZIP (#1874). Still not challenged enough?
Try solving a three-dimensional crossword puzzle
with 3DXWD124.ZIP (#1875)! SCAT10.ZIP (#1870) is a
fun and easy-to-learn card game, but watch out --
it could be habit-forming!
Joining GEnie is Easy!
1. Set your communication software to half duplex (local echo)
at 300/1200/2400 baud.
2. Dial toll-free 1-800-638-8369 (in Canada dial 1-800-387-8330).
Upon CONNECTion, enter HHH.
3. At the U#= prompt type SIGNUP and press RETURN.
4. Have a major credit card account number ready. In the U.S.
you may also use your checking account.
GE Mail: LIVEWIRE Internet: LIVEWIRE@GENIE.GEIS.COM
GEnie Client Services 1-800-638-9636
GEnie LiveWire is published for subscribers to GEnie online services by GE
Information Services, 401 N. Washington St., Rockville, MD 20850. Contents
are Copyright (C) 1993 General Electric Company. GEnie LiveWire is freely
distributable as long as each issue is kept intact. Inquiries should be
sent to GEnie LiveWire, P.O. Box 6413, Rockville, MD 20850, or GE Mail
Address LIVEWIRE.
(C) 1994 General Electric Company
Freely distributable when kept intact.
Whether you travel for business or pleasure, or
simply bring work home from the office, a laptop,
notebook or other portable computer may be part of
your plans. Perhaps you're considering a laptop
because of space considerations or as a second (or
third) computer.
Hosted by sysops Dave Thomas and Ted McKosky,
GEnie's Laptops RoundTable is an information
clearinghouse for notebook, palmtop, laptop, and
portable PC-compatible computers. It's the place
to find software for the latest palmtop computers,
CP/M laptops like the Geneva and Starlet, the
Model 100/Kyocera family of laptops, and other
specialized types like the Cambridge Z88 and Tandy
600. The Laptops RoundTable can be found on GEnie
Page 655 by typing LAPTOP at any page prompt.
Folks and Facts
"Laptop RoundTable members help each other and
gain insights in exchanges on the Bulletin Board,"
says Dave Thomas. "Lots of folks have been steered
in the right direction by members who have
experience with a variety of vendors and
products."
Dave adds, "Our main strength has been the product
information that's available for so many different
laptop/palmtop related products, plus the software
we have for generic computers, such as the HP 95LX
and 100LX." Library 10 is full of product
information on hundreds of computers and
peripherals from dozens of manufacturers,
including specifications for all Toshiba
laptop/notebooks, and detailed product
descriptions of modems, LAN connectors, external
disk drives, and a host of other products.
RoundTable member Bob Tullis agrees. "Researching
product specifications in the Library was a huge
help when I decided to upgrade to a new color
laptop," he says, "Having so much quality
information available in one place was a great
help."
FAQs and Files
Further broadening the base of information
available in the Laptops RoundTable, sysop Ted
McKosky uploads Internet digests on a weekly
basis, giving easy access to the views, opinions
and experiences related by Internet members on
different laptop, palmtop, pen interface and
handheld computer products. Up-to-date listings of
these and other new files are available by
selecting option 5, RoundTable News, from the menu
on page 655.
Special files of continuing interest from the
Laptop Library include:
TOSHIBA.$$$, from Toshiba America Information
Systems, lists the prices of current computers and
their peripherals; PRICES.OLD similarly lists the
stock numbers and prices for peripherals of
Toshiba laptops/notebooks that are no longer in
production. COMPAQ.$$$, from Compaq Computer
Corporation, lists the prices of that company's
current offerings. File numbers of these files
will change as they are updated, but the filenames
are always the same.
File #4884 CHESS.COM is a tiny chess program for
Starlet computers. It's only 8192 bytes in
size and runs in only 32K!
Toshiba owners will appreciate file #4800
FNPOPUP.ZIP, a little program to run any program
under Windows 3.0 or 3.1 with the FN+POPUP key.
Business Start Manager 1.0 is a powerful Personal
Information Manager (PIM) that's perfect for
using on a laptop. Full-featured, with a
calendar/daily planner with notes, telephone
database and dialer, to-do list with reminders
and more, it's in file #4754 BUSPIM.ZIP.
Beating the Blues
The Laptops RoundTable hosts two weekly Real-Time
Conferences. Tuesdays feature Laptop Basics
starting at 9:30 PM Eastern time. On Sunday
evenings at 6:00 PM Eastern, there's Basic BASIC,
a Conference devoted to BASIC programming. Drop in
and meet your Laptop sysops and fellow RoundTable
members.
Whether you're in the market for new portable
computing technology, looking for the latest
drivers for a still-reliable machine, or searching
for specialized programs for a discontinued but
favored older model, GEnie's Laptops RoundTable is
the place to be. If you're not a laptopper now,
who knows? By next year, maybe you'll be beating
the winter blues on a hotel terrace overlooking a
tropical beach, sipping a cool one as you send GE
Mail to friends via modem from your laptop. Hey,
it could happen!
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