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Thursday May 30 - News

Acrobat Morphing into Chameleon? Continued Losses at Apple
HTML Markdown 2.0 Ram Doubler Conflicts, Norton & Faxcilitate Reported
MCI Backup Over the WWW Pictorius Free Web Servers For the Mac
First PCTVs Ship Attention PB Owners WWW Site for Control Strips
Shareware Font Manager Competes with Commercial Products Gates Mansion Designed with Macs
Syquest Comments on Stocks Turbulence Levitus Departs Power Computing
Stock Report

Acrobat Morphing into Chameleon?


Adobe Systems acquisition of Ares Software last week could also provide benefits for Acrobat, Adobe's portable document product.

Acrobat employs multiple master technology to replicate the fonts used in portable documents. However, PDF files created with the Acrobat technology tend to be larger due to font substitution technology.

FontChameleon compression technology, could solve this problem by offering more efficient typeface information.

FontChameleon uses two components to describe a typeface, in theory, the master font could be embedded in the Acrobat Reader used to view PDF documents, while the documents themselves would only need the descriptors, though more than one master font would be needed to replicate all possible typefaces.

By making the PDF files smaller a big step be made in Adobe's goal of making the PDF a standard on the World Wide Web. "

Continued Losses at Apple

Apple Computer is expected to post operating losses for the rest of this year, according to the San Francisco Chronicle. The computer maker also said it expects net sales to stay below prior year levels through the first quarter of 1997.

As part of its emergency effort to stem the hemorrhage, Apple has announced plans to lay off 2,800 employees over the next year. The company also plans to outsource more functions, such as manufacturing.


HTML Markdown 2.0

HTML Markdown 2.0, strips out HTML, making spellchecking on web pages a snap.

It also can convert <LI>'s to normal-looking lists, <BR>'s to hard breaks, and <HR>'s to dashed
lines. The program also automatically creates a "spit file" which contains all of the links dropped
onto the HTML Markdown icon --sorted by filename so the site can be easily mapped and expired
links found.

You can download HTML Markdown 2.0 here.

Ram Doubler Conflicts, Norton & Faxcilitate Reported


Readers have reported conflicts with Connectix new version of Ram Doubler 1.6.2 and Symantecs Norton Utilities File Saver, as well as the Fax software Faxcillitate.

No further information was available at press time.

MCI Backup Over the WWW

MCI Telecommunications announced it will offer low-cost, online backup and recovery systems.

MCI's new networkMCI Backup service compresses and encrypts data, which it then stores on MCI servers. Company officials say the cost will depend on the amount of data the customer backs up, but $12.95 a month will allow the user to store 50MB of data.

McAfee, Surefind, and Connected have made similar announcements in the past week,s

Data encryption and passwords are also part of the DataSafe process. Currently in beta testing, the subscription-based service is expected to be available to Windows users in June at $14.95 per month. An Apple Macintosh version is expected to be available in August.

Pictorius Free Web Servers For the Mac


Pictorius announced the Entrada family of development tools including freeware Entrada Net Servers, to be released in June, and Entrada Net Builder, to be released in July. Entrada Net Servers is a robust set of fully threaded, customizable servers for the primary Internet and intranet protocols, as well as popular CGI applications, neatly compiled into a single intuitive, manageable application with a low system footprint. Entrada Net Builder is a development tool that combines the power of a full-featured low-level language with the productivity of a visual GUI builder so developers can rapidly create net-ready applications. With Entrada Net Builder, Webmasters and software developers can build next-generation, powerful, dynamic, interactive applications for the Internet or corporate intranets. Entrada Net Servers and Net Builder provide the most complete, integrated Internet application development package on the Macintosh for under $700.

Entrada Net Servers

Entrada Net Servers is a free, drop-in replacement for the standalone servers currently available in the market for the Macintosh. Entrada Net Servers support Web, FTP, Mail, DNS, Open Transport, Finger, List and News protocols and are designed for easy maintenance both on-site and remotely. Webmasters and System Administrators can, with minimal configuration, seamlessly switch from several resource-intensive server applications to the single Entrada Net Servers application. People new to the Internet or intranets can use the freeware as an entry-point without the additional overhead of WebSTAR or the complexities of Apple-Event add-ons.

"Entrada Net Servers were developed to be a powerful, no-charge, integrated alternative to the piecemeal approach that people have had to take on the Mac platform," said Rick MacDonald, Vice President of Research and Development. "Combined with Entrada Net Builder, Pictorius is providing a powerful solution to meet the need for rapid development of Internet and intranet applications."

The Entrada Net Servers package also comes complete with a powerful suite of database related agents which perform commonly used tasks: query a database against the contents of a form or other parameters, stuff query results into a web page using a standard HTML file as a template,
implement and maintain database driven mailing lists, and more.

Entrada Net Servers for the Macintosh will ship in June. Entrada Net Builder, Developer, Corporate and Entrada Reports will ship in July.

First PCTVs Ship


Gateway 2000's Destination and NetTV's Worldvision 2900 are black computers designed to fit into a home entertainment center. Destination is tethered to a 31-inch Mitsubishi monitor; Worldvision to a 29-, 33-, or 37-inch monitor made by Thomson. The Destination monitor is VGA-only. Worldvision supports resolutions up to 1024 by 768 and, unlike Destination, can be used as a standalone TV display when the computer is turned off, since it accepts an analog or digital signal. Worldvision also lets you capture snapshots from the TV display, a capability not included with Destination.

Worldvision has built-in stereo speakers; Destination has no sound, but lets you connect your own amplifier and speakers. The least expensive Destination--including a 120-MHz Pentium processor, 31-inch monitor, wireless keyboard and Field Mouse, 16MB RAM, 1.2GB hard drive, and 6X CD-ROM drive--is $3,799. (This represents a $1,450 premium over Gateway's comparable Family PC with 15-inch monitor and no TV-to-VGA electronics.) Options include a $700 surround package with amp/radio tuner, four satellite speakers, center speaker, and subwoofer; and a $6-per-month modem- delivered TV program guide that cannot control a VCR. Destination is available only directly which means you can't go to a showroom and compare the picture to a dedicated TV.

Attention PB Owners WWW Site for Control Strips


A new web site has been launced featuring up-to-date information on all the Control Strips out there. Dave's Guide to Every Control Strip Available has 36 control strips you can download.

Shareware Font Manager Competes with Commercial Products


Fonts Manager(tm) 3.0 is functionally similar to the System 7.5.x Extensions Manager, but it is NOT a control panel. It is more like a Desk Accessory. It allows the enabling and disabling of font suitcases and printer fonts in 'Sets'. It supports Balloon help and a Topical Help system. Unlike other utilities, such as Suitcase(tm) and Master Juggler(tm), it works on ALL Macs with System 7.1 or later, including 7.5.3, without modifying the NORMAL startup and operation of your computer. Over 5000 worldwide running all kinds of Macs have switched to Fonts Manager to get 'Up & Running'.

Fonts Manager 3.0
- only 10 Sets per copy (much faster)
- BOTH suitcases and printer fonts are managed
- changed folder layout inside System Folder

The shareware is available for download here, or here.

Gates Mansion Designed with Macs

A reader writes:

Thought you could add this info to your list. I'm a package driver who delivers to the small group of architects that are responsible for designing "Bill Gates" Mega Mansion in the Seattle, WA area. They use Macintosh computers exclusivly. I guess Bill knew better than to have anyone other than a Mac user responsible for designing his house... A "plaque should read, "The Gates Mansion, designed by Apple Computer.""

Syquest Comments on Stocks Turbulence


SyQuest Technology, Inc. announced that it is not aware of any developments concerning the company that would cause the recent activity in the trading price and volume of its common stock. On Friday, May 17, 1996, the stock closed at a price of $6.06 per share, on volume of 599,800 shares traded. On Thursday, May 23, 1996, the stock closed at $17.88 per share, on volume of 14.3 million shares. On Friday, May 24, 1996, the stock closed at $10.88 per share, on volume of 13.5 million shares.

SyQuest continues to pursue debt and equity financing and strategic alliances - including possible joint ventures, strategic investment or a possible aquisition of the company - as well as arrangements with its suppliers.

Levitus Departs Power Computing


Bob LeVitus, Power Computing Corp.'s (Mac clone manufacturer) evangelist has quit to focus on his writing career.

LeVitus, well known among members of Macintosh User Groups, also is a columnist for the Houston Chronicle and MacUser and has written 12 Macintosh books.

Power Computing, according to a company news release, "is the only Mac OS provider to offer
custom configurable systems personalized to the needs of each user." The Texas-based company
was created in 1993.

Stock Report

Netscape $70.75, down $3.125

America Online $54.00, up $2.75

Sun Microsystems $63.875, up $2.25

UUNet Technologies $56.75, down $4.50

Wednesday May 29 - News

Powerful New Performa Ships with AOL "Inside" Explorer 3.0 beta Posted, No Java
Study Ranks the Mac Higher than Windows Visigenic Licenses Code from JavaSoft
EveryWare Ships Butler SQL 2.0 CompuServe's New VP-Focus on Acquisitions
Click here Macromedia Declares it's Leadership in Multimedia Two IPOs Double from Opening Price
Web Review Quits Publishing Fractal Completes Ray Dream Acquisition

Powerful New Performa Ships with AOL "Inside"


Apple Computer announced its new Performa line of Macintosh computers, the most powerful Performa computer made so far.
The $2,599 Performa 6320CD utilizes a 120-MHz 603e PowerPC processor it has16MB of RAM and a 1.2GB hard drive. The Performa multimedia system is the first Apple to ship with a 15-hour free-trial version of America Online.

The Performa 6320CD comes bundled with 16 pre-installed software titles and 15 CD-ROM titles, including, Buried in Time from Sanctuary Woods, Allied General from Strategic Simulations and Descent from MacPlay.

Explorer 3.0 beta Posted, No Java


Microsoft has released Internet Explorer 3.0,b. This version is missing a number of important features, such as Java and Netscape plug-ins. Navigator 2.0 has included these features since last September.

Reportedly the missing features beta 2 of the browser due later this summer. Microsoft offers a separate Internet email and Usenet client called Internet Mail and News.
You can download the Beta software here. BUT IT IS ONLY FOR WINDOWS '95 ARGGGH!

Study Ranks the Mac Higher than Windows

The "Personal Computer Satisfaction" study from Evans Research finds that users that use both Apple Macintosh and Windows 95 PCs rate the Macintosh higher in user productivity, overall satisfaction, ease of use, creativity, and other key areas.

This study of "Dual Users" is significant since it eliminates the bias of studies that compare Mac users against Windows users in arbitrary tests. Since dual users use both systems, they can give an informed and unbiased comparison.

Details of the study:

Dual users were asked to rate both their Mac System 7.5 and Windows 95 systems systems on a 1 to 10 scale, with 10 being excellent. The following are the percentage of dual users rating the respective systems from 8 to 10:

Mac-System 7.5 Windows 95 PC
Overall satisfaction 60% 41%
Overall productivity 59% 42%
Overall ease of use 78% 37%
Graphics and publishing 85% 27%
Multimedia 71% 36%
Ease of learning 78% 29%
Ease of connecting peripherals 74% 39%
Ease of setup and installation 69% 33%
Ease of connecting to a LAN 62% 42%
Ease of trouble-shooting 41% 21%
Running educational software 46% 32%
Which system is more enjoyable to use? 52% 39%
Which system allows you to be more creative? 53% 27%
Which system is more stable 58% 29%


The dual users used the systems in business, home, and education environments. The study was performed by Evans Research Associates, an independent marketing research firm established in 1975 and located in San Francisco, California.

Visigenic Licenses Code from JavaSoft

Visigenic Software, provider of cross-platform database connectivity solutions, has announced an agreement with Suns JavaSoft to license the source code to the JDBC API Test Suites and the JDBC/ODBC bridge. The agreement gives Visigenic the rights to license the test suites and the bridge, in both source and binary form, as part of Visigenic's ODBC and JDBC product lines.

EveryWare Ships Butler SQL 2.0

EveryWare Development Corp. announced the immediate availability of Butler SQL version 2.0, their client/server SQL database for the Apple Macintosh and Power Macintosh. Unlike other client-server databases, which lock you into proprietary APIs and front-ends, Butler SQL is based on open-standards: the Data Access Manager (DAM), ANSI SQL and the Open Database Connectivity (ODBC) standard. This gives users choice and flexibility when selecting front-end applications used to manage and query back-end databases.

Butler SQL has been optimized for ODBC, a database access standard developed by Microsoft. Its intent is to give applications a standard method of accessing data from diverse sources as well as providing a faster method of data retrieval. By supporting ODBC, users realize a 3 to 4 times speed improvement over Butler SQL 1.5 when retrieving large sets of data as well as enabling Windows clients to access Butler SQL.

"Now that Butler SQL supports ODBC and TCP/IP, connections can be made from Macintosh, Microsoft'sWindows 95, Windows NT, and Windows 3.1 client applications. For customers, this means they can choose the most suitable front-end for their needs from a large number of 3rd party ODBC client applications. For developers, this means Butler SQL can be used as a cost-effective development environment for ODBC client/server solutions," said Greg Hemstreet, Vice President of Research and Development, EveryWare Development Corp.

EveryWare Development Corp. has finalized an agreement with Sterling Software Inc., one of the ten largest software companies in the world, to bundle a copy of its high-performance SQL reporting tool, CLEAR:Access, with every copy of Butler SQL.

Clear:Access is a visual query and reporting environment that assists end-users with its quick data retrieval and easy to use professional report generation capabilities. With every copy of Butler SQL a single user license of CLEAR:Access is included. CLEAR:Access enables users to create database queries with drag-and-drop simplicity. The product can be used to created integrated solutions by linking reports and query results with other desktop applications as well as automating data access using scripts and report templates.

New Butler SQL Features
  • support for TCP/IP connections
  • support for the Alter Table statements
  • support for Windows and Macintosh clients
  • ODBC AppleScript extensions
  • (OSAX) for accessing Butler SQL from AppleScript and AppleScript-enabled applications; improved query optimizer
  • support for default ODBC
  • DAL stored procedures
  • tracing of ODBC commands from client applications.

CompuServe's New VP-Focus on Acquisitions

CompuServe announced today that Tim Oren, former vice president and general manager of the company's Internet division, has been named vice president of Internet technology for the
commercial online service. Oren has been charged with developing CompuServe's technology
acquisition strategy and speeding up the incorporation of new technologies in CompuServe's upcoming Internet products and services, officials said.

"Tim's new position will be one of the cornerstones of our efforts to identify, acquire and deploy technologies developed by our business partners and third-party vendors," said Bob Massey, president and CEO of the Columbus, Ohio company. At CompuServe's Internet division, Oren oversaw the launch of its Sprynet service and the deployment of the Home Page Wizard and the
CompuServe Viewer. He is a former manager of information technology research at Apple Computer Inc., where he also served as director of network software for the Kaleida Labs multimedia venture between Apple and IBM.

Oren also serves as a member of the board of Terisa Systems Inc., company officials said.
CompuServe also announced this week that it is stopping development on its proprietary software to concentrate on building new Internet content through collaborations with third parties.

Macromedia Declares it's Leadership in Multimedia


Macromedia the leading provider of cross-platform software tools for graphics, multimedia
and Web publishing software, announced that with close to two million downloads since December and a growth rate of more than 30% per month, Macromedia holds the leadership position as the premier provider of interactive media tools and technologies for the Internet. The first
public release of Shockwave for Director(R) 5, updates of Shockwave for Authorware(R) 3.5 and Authorware Afterburner(TM) and Shockwave for FreeHand(TM) 5.5 will all be available on May 31 it's WWW site using a single installer.

Macromedia's Shockwave technology has become the standard for multimedia and graphics on the Internet, with exponential growth in the number of "shocked" sites. Paramount's Mission Impossible, the Discovery Channel Online, Disney's James and the Giant Peach, Virgin, AT&T Wireless Services' IS-41 Training Lesson, Ernst & Young LLP's Taking Your Company Public,
Magellan Geographix, Campbells Soup and K-SWISS are among the thousands of leading Web sites that are using Shockwave technology to "shock" the Internet with interactive multimedia and graphics.

"Since its release in December 1995, Macromedia's Shockwave technology has rapidly become the standard for viewing multimedia and graphics on the Internet and intranets," said Bud Colligan, chairman and CEO of Macromedia.

"New Shockwave for Director 5 delivers powerful interactive multimedia today. With numerous partnerships intended to open the multimedia Web to the widest browser audience, we anticipate that there will be 10-20 million Shockwave-enabled browsers by the end of 1996." "Shockwave gives CNN Interactive an innovative and effective tool to provide the Internet community with constantly updated news, 24 hours a day," said Dennis Backus, Technical Product Manager at CNN Interactive. "Shockwave enables us to increase the web site's level of interactivity, intelligence and user responsiveness."

Two IPOs Double from Opening Price

Two IPOs, Open Market Inc., which markets World Wide Web server, client and applications software for business, saw its 4 million shares, issued at $18 a share, close at $39.83. Volume was 5.3 million forthe first day of trading, and Security First Network Bank shares closed at $41, up from the $20

Web Review Quits Publishing

The Web Review has stopped publishing and appealed to readers for financial support to continue operations. The main audience for the web-only publication consisted of Web professionals--site builders, administrators and programmers. The publishers are hoping that a users will pay a subscription fee similar to the models used in shareware publishing and public radio.

Fractal Completes Ray Dream Acquisition

Fractal Design Corp. has completed its acquisition of Ray Dream, Inc., maker of 3D illustration and animation technology. The acquisition was approved by shareholders of Fractal Design and Ray Dream last Friday. The company will immediately begin operating under the new name and is expected to move operations to a new facility in Scotts Valley, California.


Tuesday May 28 - News

golive Another WYSIWYG HTML Editor Emailer to Grow into "OfficeMail"
Amer Plug-in Updated Adobe to Update ATM
NBC's DataFile "Snubs" Mac Users First Comes Windows then Comes Macs?
AOL Features Excite Internet Search Engine Roizen Elected to SPA

May 28, 1996


golive Another WYSIWYG HTML Editor

golive is a yet another web authoring tool for the Apple Macintosh. It's designed for easy and fast web publishing without HTML programming. The interface is typical Mac, with a toolbar that shows your web pages in WYSIWYG mode exactly like they would look like in a browser.

golive offers frames, multimedia integration, relative font size and text coloring, clickable maps, drag & drop. Additionally, a gallery feature is available for frquentlty used files.

Abeta version of the software is available, you are requested to fill out a registration first, or you can bybass the registration process and download the beta software here.

Emailer to Grow into "OfficeMail"

Claris Corp. will reportedly beofferings a low-end e-mail server designed for the small offices and home offices. The new product will reportedly be called OfficeMail. OfficeMail will be a LAN-based e-mail system that runs on AppleTalk as well as TCP/IP networks.

Reportedly due next month , OfficeMail will support aproximately 20 to 30 .OfficeMail will reportedly include Claris Emailer, but it is not be needed for sending and receiving mail.

Like Emailer, sources stated that Office-Mail is will be easy to set up and use. OfficeMail will feature a tabbed interface, and offer an interface that will allow scheduling for connecting to the Internet similar to those found in Emailer.

OfficeMail will reportedly have a street price under $300

Amer Plug-in Updated


Adobe Amber 3.0b1 is available here.

Adobe to Update ATM

Adobes new ATM Deluxe 4.0 will allows users to drag and drop a fonts into sets, turn sets or individual fonts on and off, turn on a font automatically and deactivate it when it is no longer needed or when the computer is restarted., let users view and print font samplesand analyze fonts or suitcases and report about damaged fonts.

The ATM Deluxe 4.0 CD-ROM, will also include 30 free fonts and the latest versions of the Adobe PostScript printer driver and Acrobat Reader software.

NBC's DataFile "Snubs" Mac Users?

Last Saturday after seeing a report on "Hurricane Memory Enhancing Software - it's from Helix Software, Inc"., "it's available for Windows machines only, and costs about $50.", one of "The online MacinStuff Times" staff wrote to NBC Televisions "DataFile" asking a simple question, "Why don't you ever report on Mac Stuff!, you are missing 20,000,000 potential users!"

The following is an excerpt from the email response that was received.

"20 million??? Puhleeeze.

Unfortunately, Mac is down to about 7% market share. That I happen to own a
PowerMac doesn't make that any different (and I love it, btw).

The company has done a terrible job of marketing what I believe to be a great
product...but, the world is full of similar examples: Betamax, by Sony, was a
better format than VHS. But try to find a Betamax machine now...

We do try to make sure that most of our segments are cross-platform capable.
This one didn't happen to be.

Regards-

Dave Browde"

Mr. Browdie has contacted "The online MacinStuff Times", in rebuttal to the story above. Here are his comments:

He states that "I might have omitted the "Puhleeeze". Otherwise, though it may have been more blunt than this particular viewer might have liked, the facts are the facts." he also writes: "If you had checked, you'd have found that Apple related products have received somewhat more attention from our segments (and there have been more than 90 of them so far) than would be expected, given the market share Apple maintains."

If you wish to express your opinion , you may do so by contacting NBC's Datafile here.

First Comes Windows then Comes Macs?

Apple Macintosh users on the West coast will have to wait longer than Windows counterparts to take use Pacific Bell Internet accesin California. According to a report in the San Francisco Chronicle, even though Apple CEO Gilbert Amelio is on the board of Pac Bell parent Pacific Telesis, the service will not be available for the Mac till the middle of June.

he service official rollout of the service is scheduled right after the Memorial Day weekend on Tuesday, May 28. It is based on a customized version of Netscape Navigator.

The Chronicle story blames Netscape for delays in the Macintosh version. Netscape PR manager Jennifer O'Mahony says the situation is not as dramatic as it would first appear, noting that the time difference versions is only a few weeks. O'Mahony denies that Netscape has placed a lower priority on the Macintosh, observing that beta versions of Navigator 3.0 for the Mac, Windows, and Unix will be posted at about the same time.

The service will be available win two alternatives: $9.95 per month for up to 10 hours and $1 per hour thereafter, with a maximum monthly charge of $19.95; and $14.95 per month for up to 20 hours and 50 cents per hour thereafter, also with a $19.95 maximum.

AOL Features Excite Internet Search Engine


America Online will be utilizing a co-branded version of Excite, a new WWW search,search engine along with its own Webcrawler.

AOL members can reach other familiar search services by utilizing their URLs.

According to AOL, Excite is a "solid match with AOL and Excite." "We think Excite's searching capabilities are excellent, but it offers added value with its editorial reviews and its ranking of Web sites," continued McGraw.

Roizen Elected to SPA

Heidi Roizen, VP of Developer Relations at Apple Computer, Inc., has been elected to the Software Publishers Association (SPA) board of directors. In this year's election, eleven influential industry leaders were considered for six spots on the board, two of which were won by leading women software executives. Roizen's appointment brings the total number of women on the board to four or nearly one-third.

"SPA has become the premier representative body of the software industry," said Roizen. "After over a decade as CEO of my own software company, and now as VP of Developer Relations at Apple, I recognize the importance of our industry's ability to collaborate, coordinate, and speak with a single voice on issues of importance to the future. I'm excited about helping the SPA achieve its goals."

Prior to joining Apple Computer in February 1996, Roizen was co- founder and CEO of T/Maker Company, one of the first developers of software for the Apple Macintosh computer. A noted leader in the software industry, Roizen was a member of the board of directors of the Software Publishers Association from 1987 to 1994, and served as its president from 1988 to 1990. She currently serves as a governor on the board of the Pacific Stock Exchange. She was recently named one of the top 100 women in computing by McGraw Hill. Roizen holds an M.B.A. degree from Stanford
University.

Saturday May 25 - News

Web Crossing Update to 1.2 Pictorious Announces Funding Agreement
Ram Doubler 1.6.2 Updated Already House Vote Postponed
Technical Support Outsourcing AT&T Largest ISP
Pixar Releases Disney StoryBook Nok Nok Who's There?

May 25, 1996

Web Crossing Update to 1.2


Web Crossing, which provides on-line discussion groups for the World Wide Web, has been very well received since we started shipping in December of last year.

We are now shipping version 1.2 of Web Crossing. It feels like a quantum leap forward in terms of ease-of-use, performance, and customizability.

Version 1.2 now includes:
  • access lists for private conversations,
  • moderated forums,
  • multiple hosts to share conference management, and
  • a keyword search command.

Web Crossing is available for Windows NT, Macintosh, and a wide variety of Unix flavors.

To see sites using Web Crossing, visit:

Salon
The Chicago Tribune
KidSource

Pictorious Announces Funding Agreement


Pictorius Incorporated has announced an agreement with McLean, Watson's MEDIASOFT Fund of Toronto, Canada in which MEDIASOFT will provide significant equity financing and ongoing strategic advice to Pictorius.

The funding will be used primarily to market its family of leading-edge application software development tools. Pictorius has a strong following of loyal users throughout North America,Europe and Asia. This financing will substantially enhance the company's ability to market its current and future products and broaden its user base. Existing users will greatly benefit from a significant commitment to customer support and ongoing product enhancements.

"We have two immediate objectives" says Dr. Phil Cox, President and CEO of Pictorius. "The first is to launch our latest net-enabled client/server developer tools for the Macintosh, and the second is to launch our products into the Windows '95 and NT market. The technical work on these productsis almost complete and this funding will provide us with the necessary resources to effectively execute our marketing strategy. Once Prograph CPX is available for the Windows market, we believe it will establish Prograph technology as the new standard in programming productivity."

Ram Doubler 1.6.2 Updated to 1.6.2a


Fro the Connectix page:
Important: RAM Doubler 1.6.2A Updater is a minor maintenance release of the updater, not RAM Doubler itself. Updater 1.6.2A solves a problem where Updater 1.6.2 would result in a Type 11 error when updating the RAM Doubler 1.6.1 disk with RAM Doubler not currently installed. There is no difference between the versions of RAM Doubler installed, and if you installed 1.6.2 successfully, you don't need 1.6.2A. Updating the currently running RAM Doubler works fine in all cases.


1) Place the RAM Doubler 1.6.2 Updater on your hard drive.

2) Double-click to launch the Updater.

3) To update the installed RAM Doubler extension, select "Update". The Updater will update the extension to version 1.6.2 and prompt you to quit when completed. If you received RAM Doubler through the limited-time Microsoft Office 4.2 special promotion, this is all you should do.

4) If you wish to update the RAM Doubler master diskette, it's not necessary to do so. Select "Update Master Disk". Unlock your master diskette and insert it into the floppy drive. The Updater will update the Installer to version 1.6.2 and prompt you to quit when completed. The previous version of the RAM Doubler Installer will be saved in a folder named "old" on the master diskette.

Download the updater here.

House Vote Postponed

The House copyright subcommittee has again canceled a scheduled vote on legislation that would protect the works of creative artists from piracy via online services and the Internet. The bill has apparently stalled over a dispute between Hollywood, which feels that service providers should be liable for copyright violations, and online service providers, who do not have the resources to police all publishing on their systems.

Technical Support Outsourcing

Recent growth in PC sales and increasingly complex technology have left companies searching for new methods of dealing with large volumes of support calls. Novice users in particular demand live technical support and are resisting other help alternatives, including fax services, online assistance, and automated phone diagnostics. Many companies have answered the challenge by outsourcing large percentages of their technical support to competitive vendors to help absorb the overhead costs.

AT&T Largest ISP


AT&T has received about 600,000 requests for WorldNet access software since February 27 and has fulfilled about half the orders with a 50 percent sign-up rate. At 150,000 users, WorldNet is the second largest Internet access provider trailing Netcom which has 400,000 subscribers. To meet demand, AT&T has added additional modems, service agents and registration processors.

Pixar Releases Disney StoryBook


Pixar has announced that its first CD-ROM, Disney's Animated StoryBook, Toy Story, has sold more than 100,000 copies in the first three weeks of its distribution. The CD-ROM, available for Macintosh and PC, is the first to feature full-screen motion picture quality animation. It is being marketed through mass merchants and software outlets.

Nok Nok Who's There?


The AG Group began shipping the Power PC "native" Nok Nok A/S 2.0, AppleShare File Server Management software, giving AppleShare administrators additional flexibility in managing
enterprise-wide servers from a single location and greater control over user access privileges.

Nok Nok A/S extends AppleShare administration capabilities with features that improve the security, performance and management of AppleShare file servers. Nok Nok A/S provides administrators with detailed information on file sharing usage and the capability to manage who connects, when, and for how long.
  • Nok Nok A/S:
  • instantly notifies administrators of all file sharing connections.
  • maintains a detailed log of all file sharing activity.
  • automatically disconnects users connected or idle for an inappropriate period of time.
  • logs reasons for disconnecting and automatically notifies user of reason.
  • identifies all logins including anonymous "guests" by user or machine name.
  • Nok Nok A/S 2.0 Enhancements
The client-server implementation of Nok Nok A/S 2.0 provides remote administration capabilities and allows for centralized control of all AppleShare servers from any machine on the network:

User logons/logoffs, server startups/shutdowns, and client connection events are maintained in a log which can be viewed from the client application or exported in tab-delimited format to any text editor. Users can analyze server statistics and determine maximum server usage by user or zone, peak usage times, optimum server configurations, etc.
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