SHAREWARE NEWS
December 1998
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This month's Free Sample Shareware is no longer available. See
current month.
Banana Peeler is an AppleScript (compiled as an application) that comments out the banner code in Sherlock files. No more banner ads on your desktop! Just double-click to run. Requires: Mac OS 8.5, AppleScript standard install. Free
Custom Cursors consists of eleven colored 3D cursors which you may drop into your extensions folder (only one at a time, please). When you change cursors, be sure to take the old one out. - free
This patch adds to the new Finder 8.5 several enhancements to it's Command Keys: T - for Trash, B - for Restart, 0 (zero) - for Shut Down, and / - for About this Computer. Also added a new menu item "Quit Finder" under the Special menu for all those who like to quit the Finder to make more RAM available and for PowerBooks, finally, a Sleep Command key: Z - for sleep. $2.
Liquid Light - is a color animation program for the PowerPC Macintosh which fills the mac screen with a fluid, flowing, ever changing mix of colors. Slow to start up, Liquid Light is appropriate for using the mac screen as an "animated abstract painting". Free
MacOS 8.5 Managers is a collection of 2 small AppleScripts that will help you work effectively with Apple's new and exciting OS, 8.5, also known as Allegro.
The first file, Scroll Manager, will help you deal with that stupid command "Smart Scrolling". I give you the option of just using double arrows, but at both ends or a few other alternatives.
The other AppleScript helps you configure the Application Switcher dock to fit your way of working. Please see the separate read me for additional information. These AppleScripts should work on any machine that is capable of running Allegro, and that means all PowerPC-based computers. $5
Moriarty will make the window in Sherlock (version 2.0.1, which comes with OS 8.5) resizable. This can come in handy especially if you've installed a bunch of third party plug-ins, such as the ones available at The Sherlock Internet Search Archives. This patcher will ask for you to locate your original copy of Sherlock (usually located in your Apple Menu Items folder in your System Folder.) It will then proceed to create a new application called "Sherlock+" which has a resizable window. At the same time, it will rename your original Sherlock application to "Sherlock (unpatched)" for safe keeping. It will not delete or move anything. Free
This is a spinoff of my watermelon cursor. Real small,and don't take much RAM! Hope you like it!. Free
Prestissimo1.0 - MacOS 8.5
utility
Prestissimo is a freeware control panel for controlling all of Mac OS 8.5's new features including: * The new tear off application palette * Keyboard shortcut to change applications * Scroll bar appearance. Prestissimo has been comprehensively tested under under the final version of 8.5 which along with instant feedback and easy restoration of defaults make it ideal to tinker with the new features without fear. Although it is packaged as a control panel it will not cause instablities as it patches no traps (in fact you don't need to install it for it to work). Free
Run DFA 1.0.2 is an AppleScript application which launches Disk First Aid 8.2 and scans all of the local, non-ejectable disks (i.e., hard drives) on your system. As such, it's a great addition to your Startup Items folder, and also a handy item to keep around in your Apple Menu. Run DFA creates a list of local, non-ejectable disks and ships the list off to Disk First Aid 8.2 to be verified. That's it. If a disk needs repair, Disk First Aid will be open and ready to perform the operation. Run DFA 1.0.2 requires AppleScript and Disk First Aid 8.2. Free
SiB Database is a small, personal database solution. It is optimized for maximum flexibility and minimum launch time, not for nice looks or large amounts of data. Use it whereever a filofax is not fast enough. Free
SimpleImage is a simple but powerful image- and movie-viewing application that lets you view all the most popular image and movie formats, like JPEG, GIF, animated GIF, TIFF, PICT, PNG, MPEG, AVI and more in a single, sleek application. (Some file types may require QuickTime 3 or a Power Macintosh.) With SimpleImage you can o View images with or without scrollbars or Transform images and movies by rotating and reflecting them or Crop and zoom images or View images and movies full-screen or in a slide show or Create Snapshots -- small files you can double click to reopen groups of windows exactly the way you left them. With QuickTime 3 SimpleImage can also be used as a simple conversion utility, with the ability to save both images and movies in several formats. SimpleImage is Mac OS 8 savvy, correctly adopting the new Mac OS 8 look and making extensive use of contextual menus. Requires QuickTime 2.5 or later. $20
StonerSound produces a weirdly hypnotic stream of rippling musical tones. The algorithm is mostly deterministic, slightly randomized, and about halfway between predictable and surprising. Listen for patterns; they're there. StonerSound uses the QuickTime Musical Architecture for playing sounds. If you don't have QTMA, you'll have to download QuickTime from Apple's web site. I believe QTMA has been in QuickTime since QT1.5, but I've only tested StonerSound under QT2.5 and 3.0. It should run on any Mac with System 7 or later. Free.
StonerView is a screensaver which imitates SGI's ElectroPaint - an incredibly hypnotic display. StonerView uses QuickDraw 3D for its display system. If you don't have QD3D, you'll have to download the latest version of QuickTime from Apple's web site. StonerView should run on any PowerMac with System 7 or later. Free
Zoomie is a small freeware extension, compatible with System 7 or greater. Its function is to improve the operation of Zoom boxes on Macintosh windows. It's often useful to zoom a window to full size, then zoom back after examining the contents. This can become awkward, since zooming a window MOVES the zoom box, requiring you to re-find it with the mouse to click again. With Zoomie installed, the mouse pointer moves WITH the window and remains inside the zoom box. This is especially nice in the Finder, where List views can expanded to full size (to reveal hidden columns), then zoomed back with a second click. It also works well with web pages. It sounds like a small matter, but it really helps! Free
Once again, your shareware team has put together a marvelous CD-ROM of almost 600 Megabytes of shareware and freeware! We are particularly strong on games this year. Here are some of the contents:
:Apple: 'Apple DocViewer™ v1.1.1:' 'Apple Data Detectors 1.0.2' 'Apple Video Player 1.7.2' 'AppleShare Client 3.8' 'AppleShare Memory Mgr INIT 1.0' 'AppleVision 1.6.1' 'AudioTuneUp 2.0' 'ColorSync 2.5' 'Disk Copy 6.3' 'Disk First Aid 8.2' 'DOS Format Fixer 1.0' 'Drive Setup 1.5' 'G3 Ethernet Driver 2.0.4' 'HyperCard Player 2.4.1' 'MacCheck 1.0.4' 'MRJ 2.1 EarlyAccess 1' 'MRJ SDK 2.0.1' 'QuickTime 3.0.2'
:Applications: 'CyberMozartInstaller301 Folder:' 'Mortgage Simulator 1.0:' 'MW Lite 106:' 'Nisus Writer 4.1.6 Folder:' 'Planet Earth™ 1.0.2:' 'SunClock-1.1.1 Folder:' 'Acrobat Reader 3.0.1' 'Adventure Creator 2.0' 'BBEdit Lite 4.1' 'Debt Wizard Pro 2.4.3' 'Finance 2.1' 'FontBook 3.2' 'Holiday Lights 3.1.2 Installer' 'Nag 1.2' 'Scorpio 1.0.1P Installer' 'ShockBox 1.0.2 Installer' 'Software & Hardware Tracker 3.1' 'StoryProject 3.5' 'Sum¥It 1.0.4' 'Tex-Edit Plus 2.3.4' 'WASTE 1.3'
:Audio: 'Beep Saver 1.1 :' 'Clixsounds - 1' 'Clixsounds - 2' 'Club MID 1.0.9' 'Eartraining 2.6' 'InCDius 1.1' 'MacCDDB 0.8.6' 'NetCD 1.3' 'Radicalerts 'SndSampler 3.6' 'Sound Sculptor II 2.4' 'SoundApp 2.5.1' 'TitleTrack CD Player 1.5' 'Win95 Elvis Sound'
'Fonts: ':Font Gander Pro 1.5/UD Folder:'
'Fun & Games:' '3D Klondike v.1.0a' 'Akeyan Enigma 1.0' 'Astronomica 1.0' 'Bartender's Friend 1.0' 'Beached II 1.0.1' 'Billmo Comedy' 'BOOM 1.1.2' 'Bubbles 1.3' 'Bullet Ex 1.11r2' 'Burning Monkey Solitaire' 'Cave Fox 2001 1.1' 'Codebook 3.0.1' 'd-thing 1.0' 'Digital Wipeout 2.0' 'Domain 1.0' 'Ebola Monkey Bingo 1.0.1' 'EV Overlord Suite' 'Farkle 2.5.1' 'Haiku 0.2' 'idin 2.0' 'iMacGeddon 1.5' 'iNES 0.7.1' 'ISO Animals' Jared 'Kinga 3.0.2' 'KKGames 1.05' 'MacFolklore 2.0.1' 'Mad Cow Roulette 1.0' 'MazeBall 1.0.1' 'McPoet 4.5' 'Mildew 1.0' 'MindThump 1.0' 'Mr. Cat's Quest 2.5' 'Naked Rabbit' 'nanosaur1.0 Folder' 'NetherWorld 1.2.1' 'Nuts And Bolts 0.9.5' 'Ocean Bound v1.1' 'PanZee Two 1.0' 'PixelToy 1.0' 'Realmz 5.1.5' 'Rock Scissors Paper' 'Shallow Grave 1.0' 'Sim Cinema Deluxe 2.1' 'Sim Tape Dispenser' 'simMir 1.0' 'SimStapler 'Smashing Windows II 1.0' 'Snack Attack 1.0' 'Snood 2.1' 'Solitaire Till Dawn 3.3' 'Tarot Reader 1.0b1' 'Tempus Irae 1.11' 'TheZone 1.5' 'Tomato Head' 'TRON-ish 1.2' 'Unicycle 1.3' 'War Machines 1.0' 'Win 95 Tester'
:Graphics: 'Aeon Desktop Patterns' 'Alphabet Collection vol.1' 'BladePro 2.09' 'BlueBox 1.0' 'Callisto 1.1' 'ColorBox 'ColorSafe 1.5.2' 'DeskTop Zones' 'DropIcon 1.0' 'EyePoppers 3' 'FeatherGIF 1.9.6' 'Fractal Domains 1.2.3' 'Get-a-Mac 'GraphicBrowser 1.5' 'GraphicConverter 3.4.1US.sea' 'Graphite 1.0.6' 'Hide's iMac & iSystem Icons' 'IconFactory Originals' 'ikPIX/FauxApp Collection' 'India Ink 1.4.6' 'MacAddict Schemes' 'Made With Macintosh' 'Odd Icons' 'Photo Collection vol.2' 'Propaganda 'RenderBoy 2.0.1' 'SimpleImage 1.0' 'smartGIF 1.0.2' 'Strata Vision3d 4.0' 'Tesselation 1.25' 'The Mutatron 1.1' 'Windows 95 Crashes'
:Internet: 'Anarchie Pro 3.0:' 'BetterTelnet Fat' 'Combadge 1.0.1' 'CyberViewer 1.3' 'Claris Emailer:' 'Communicator™ 4.5 Complete:' 'Download Deputy '¶''Lux PPC:' 'Eudora Filter Sounds 1.0:' 'Easy Chat b1.0' 'EudoraLight-3.1.3 'Fetch-O-Matic 2.1:' 'FreePPP 2.6.2' 'IE 4.01 Full Fat Installer' 'InternetConfig 2.0' 'Izmena TCP 0.35' 'MacINIT Strings 2.1' 'MacTCPWatcher 2.0' 'MacWaves 2.1.3' 'MT NewsWatcher 2.4.4' 'NCSA Mosaic 2.0.1 (68K)' 'NCSA Mosaic 2.0.1 (PPC)' 'NetBatch Distribution:' 'Net-Print 8.0.8.sit' 'Net-Print 8.0.9 Updt.sit' 'Netscape Conference Installer' 'Netscape Navigator™ 4.07:' 'NewsTicker.sit' 'NotifyMail 3.1' 'OT Advanced Tuner' 'OTSessionWatcher 1.0.1' 'OT/PPP CSM 1.3:' 'OT/PPPSwitch151:' 'PictureSnooper 1.5.1' 'PPPremier Timer 2.0.1' 'QuickestMirror 1.1 Folder:' 'Shockwave 68K Installer.sea' 'URL Manager Pro' 'Web Devil 3.5' 'WebScanner 1.5:' 'WhatRoute 1.5.0b15(FAT)' 'WhatRoute 1.5b15'
:movies: 'SF-Mkt-st.bef.parade 'SF-Union Square.avi' 'SF-Union Square.TXT' 'SFBEFPAR.TXT
:Multimedia: 'MovieUtilities CMM 1.4' 'MyVidCap/MyVidEditor' 'Sound Shuffler 1.0.5:' 'Studio TakeLogger' 'Vid4Win 2 QT 1.0' 'VideoShop 3.0'
'System Additions:' 'Banana Peeler' 'CalcStrip 1.0.3' 'ChooserUser 1.3.1' 'Contextual Menus Manager 1.0' 'Designer's Studio 1.5' 'Desktopper 1.2' 'Dialog View 2.3.2b2:' 'Dumpster 3.3' 'Extensions Strip 1.8.1' 'Finder 8.5 patch 1.0 'FinderPop175: 'Help To Icon 1.1' 'Jon's Commands 2.0.5' 'Kaleidoscope 2.1 Installer' 'MagicalKeys 1.4.1' 'NudgeMouser 2.0.1' 'PandoCalendar 3.2.2' 'PandoMural 1.0' 'PandoStickers 2.0' 'PowerBar Pro 3.1.2' 'Pretty Scroll 2.0' 'StripLaunch 1.2' 'The Sets Manager 1.0' 'Wapp Pro 1.1.3' 'Window Monkey 1.2.5'
:Utilities: 'Alias Assistant 2.0.7' 'Clean-Install Assistant 1.0' 'ClockSync II 1.3.2' 'Create SMI 1.0' 'data-rescue-202-fat Folder:' 'Desktop Resetter 1.2.1:' 'DiskTracker 1.1.3' 'DropStuff w/EE 4.5' 'Dvorak Lefty 1.0' 'File Buddy™ 4.3.8 Installer' 'Frontier 5.0:' 'GURU 2.7.1' 'guru271 'Icon Tools 1.5 Installer' 'Install DropStuff w/EE™ 4.5' 'KeyQuencer Lite 2.5 Folder:' 'LoadADrive 1.1 'Mac Identifier 2.2' 'MacRun 1.2.1' 'MediaWrapper Light 2.0' 'Navi iRae 1.1.4' 'OTTool 1.0:' 'PowerReplace 6.5' 'Preference Packer 1.1' 'Red Dwarf:' 'Respond 1.0.1' 'ShrinkWrap™ 3.0 Installer' 'Sleeper 3.0.2 Installer' 'Snitch 2.6:' 'StuffIt Expander 4.5' 'Stuffit™ Binhexer 1.0' 'SuperReplace 2.0.1' 'TechTool v1.1.7' 'TomeViewer 1.2d4:' 'VSE File Pirate 2.0 (PPC):' 'WormScanner Folder:' 'Zip & Unzip for Mac 1.00b5 NC:' 'ZipIt 1.3.8:'
And, of course the last 3 years of DOMs.
If your iMac does not wake from sleep, you might disable the
Energy Saver and use Sleeper
instead.
This is a real nice way to have access to your Netscape bookmarks at any time, by storing your favorite bookmarks in a spring-up window at the bottom of your monitor. Do the following:
Now to use your new tool, just click on your Bookmark tab, and
click on the bookmark you want. If Netscape isn't currently running,
it will automatically be launched and directed to your favorite web
site.
- David Wheelock at iMacs4U
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This from Earthlink at http://www.earthlink.net/internet/web/bookmarks/:
If you have both major web browsers and you want to use bookmarks from one in the other:
Converting from Netscape Navigator to Microsoft Internet Explorer
Converting from Microsoft Internet Explorer to Netscape Navigator
You can see a marked symmetry here - in both cases import bookmarks from the other's file in your Preferences folder.
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Since version 4.02, Stuffit Expander requires a compatible version of the Stuffit Engine to work. So, if you want to use version 4.5, get Drop Stuff 4.5 or Stuffit Deluxe 4.5. Similarly, do not try to use the newest version of Stuffit Expander, 5.0, until you get version 5.0 of either. The Engine does not come separately.
Memory fragmentation can be one of two things: fragmentation (breakup) of the files on your hard drive, or fragmentation of the free space in your RAM. Neither is a direct problem to what you are doing while it is occurring - but they affect future activity.
When disk files become fragmented, they end up in pieces scattered over the disk in no particular order. This is no great problem for the system, as each fragment is nicely linked to the next. But as the files end up in more and more pieces, and more and more of the files get spread out over the disk, access becomes slower and slower, and errors more likely. Also, some parts of the disk are faster (to access) than others, so performance slows for that reason, too. Basically, you want your system files at the beginning addresses on the disk, and applications and data later on, since these get the least access.
You can see this fragmentation with disk optimization tools like Norton Speed Disk. It builds a colored map of your disk, showing different colors for different categories of files. On a badly fragmented disk, the map is a mad blur of different, muddied colors. Speed Disk can also fix the problem - if you use it to defragment the disk, the map will be converted to nice clean stripes of color. Unseen, all your individual files will be unified as well. It is a fun process to watch. You can, of course, defrag your disk without a utility - just back up everything, reformat your hard drive, then restore. The restore will write one file at a time, so everything gets unified.
RAM fragmentation is a bit different. Very few running applications or their data get fragmented, because memory does not work that way. Instead the FREE space left in RAM for new applications gets fragmented as you start and quit applications. (This does not apply to system programs, which are in a different part of memory).
You have 2 cures for this: reboot (of course!), or close all those programs and start them again. If you know you will use certain applications continuously, start them first. This creates a stable block of used memory which wont contribute to fragmentation. To see how badly memory is fragmented, just go to the finder, click on About this Computer, add all the memory used by listed applications and add the Largest Unused Block. If this total is the same as your installed RAM or your Virtual Memory (as set in the Memory Control Panel), then you have no fragmentation. If there is missing memory, then you have an isolated block which is smaller than your Largest Unused Block. If you are lucky, some new application you start can use those smaller blocks, but you can't count on it. Whenever you get the warning that a launched application has insufficient memory, you should check out all your applications and see which you no longer need running and occupying RAM. If there are several, or if they are all small, it may be time to save all your work, close everything, and open again. Or reboot. Or buy more RAM.
My choices, only, out of hundreds of items every month. Drop me a
note for YOUR favorite. Links below are either info about or actual
downloads, and include commercial products, as well as shareware.
These do NOT include demos or beta releases. You might check out
Version Tracker for
more.
® means update to recently released DOM item. Wish we could catch
them all....
APPLE
AppleShare IP 6.1--Macintosh Server Software Suite Optimized For Mac OS 8.5
Drive Setup 1.6.1 - disk utility to update driver, format, intialize...for OS 7.6 & up
G3 CD Update 1.0 - for G3s with internal Zip drives and OS 8.1 or 8.5
Modem Updater 1.2.1 - for iMac & PowerBook G3 Series
PB G3 Series Modem 1.0.1 - helps save battery power in PowerBook G3 Series
QuickTime VR Authoring Studio 1.0.1 - bug fixes & scripting improvements
System Profiler 2.1.2 - ASP profiles detailed info & configurations of your Mac
Bare Bones BBEdit 5.0 - text and HTML editor with new suites of HTML tools & more
Netscape Communicator / Navigator 4.5 - now final only for PowerMacs, 40bit & 128bit versions
Casady & Greene Conflict Catcher 8.03 - improved OS 8.5 Clean-Install merge & Sherlock manager support
Green Mountain DOCMaker 4.8.4 - creates stand-alone documents
File Buddy 4.3.8 - excellent utility to find info or edit attributes on files, folders or Desktop
FinderPop 1.7.5 - improves & extends Mac OS 8.x contextual menus, 8.5 savvy & other fixes ®
Blue World Lasso 3.0r1 - fix for improved security, appropriate behavior & enhanced capabilities
LinuxPPC 4.1a - Unix OS for Power Macs
Mariner Write Lite 1.0.6 - full featured word processor for $20
Netscape Navigator 4.08 - offers 68k & stand-alone Navigator versions
Symantec Norton Utilities 4.0.1 - resolves 23005 errors & FWB HDT 2.5.x driver
Microsoft Office 98 OS 8.5 fix - fixes for use with OS 8.5
Adobe Photoshop 5.0.2 - many bug fixes including type tool now uses correct kerning
PopChar Pro 1.1.2 - installs menu showing all characters in a font for easy insertion in docs
Adobe Premiere 5.1 - registered users prior to Oct 1 will get it by mail others must download it
Dantz Retrospect 4.1A - fixes for AppleShare lockout option, also new Client Updater
Nifty Neato Snitch 2.6 - allows editing of file attributes from the Get Info window
Aladdin StuffIt Deluxe 5.0 - now shipping, OS 8.5 savvy, better compression, MacBin III...
Aladdin Stuffit Expander 5.0 - expands StuffIt, Compact Pro, BinHex, MacBinary & ShrinkWrap files
TechTool Pro 2.11r2 - new control panel fixes shutdown bug with OS 8.5, also new DNA 017
Tex-Edit Plus 2.4 - scriptable styled text editor with many excellent features
textSOAP 1.3.1 - intelligent text filters to clean up text & email retrieved from the net
Netopia Timbuktu Pro 4.7.1 - remote control and file exchange system
WormGuard 1.0.2 - actively protects against the AutoStart 9805 worm A-F variants ®
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other sources credited where known. Trademark credits, where omitted, remain with their owners - updated 13 November 98 |
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Banana Peeler
Custom Cursors
Finder 8.5 Patch
Liquid Light submission
MacOS 8.5 Managers
Pizza Cursor
SiB Database 1.0
SimpleImage 1.5.2
StonerSound 1.1
StonerView
Zoomie.
