SHAREWARE NEWS
June 1999
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This month's Free Sample Shareware has not been selected.
Chocoletters is a puzzle game. You have to find how the computer mixed up 36 letters and figures in a 6 by 6 grid. To succeed you may ask for paths leading from one letter to another. With several paths you can deduce the positions of the letters. The score depends on the number of paths and the time spent to finish. Chocoletters should run on all of the 68020 Macintoshes and later. $10
Club MID is an application for the Macintosh which allows you to play standard MIDI files. One window holds one standard MIDI file, and displays it's current tempo, System Exclusive status, Control Change status and Voice Name, Panpot, Pitch Bend, Level for each MIDI channel. List window can have up to 32640 MIDI files to be played back sequentially, or random order. System7 + QuickTime or System7.1 or later, Apple MIDI Manager or OMS (Open Music System) -- If you use external MIDI tone generator, and MIDI tone generator or QuickTime Musical Instruments. $10
DP Autochanger is a shareware product that changes your desktop picture automatically. You set the time between changes. The new picture is chosen at random from a folder you choose. DP Autochanger keeps track of which pictures have been shown so that all the pictures in your folder are shown, unlike many randomizers. Compatible with Mac OS 8.5, as well as 8 and 8.1. $5
With IconSwapper you can:
IconSwapper handles all the Macintosh Icon formats including the new 32 bit and icns families. And what's best, it does it transparently, so that you end up with the custom Icons in the right format for Your Macintosh. Requires MacOS 8.0 or higher. $10
With MagicalKeys, you can "magically" open up to four often-used Finder items: volumes, folders, applications, documents, control panels, desk accessories, etc., by quickly pressing down 2 or 3 times the modifier key (Command, Option, Shift, Control) they are associated with. Assigning a modifier key to the active Finder allows you to switch to it, and if the Finder is not currently running, it is automatically restarted.
You can bring up MagicalKeys' control panel at any time, by having the Caps-Lock key down while double-tapping or triple-tapping any modifier key. Requires Mac OS System 7.0 or later. Free.
Malph doesn't have a lot of explanation to it. It doesn't need to. It is a launcher. It has lots of options. It will run on anything, just about. $12.
Open With Package lets you open documents with applications other than their creator.
You no longer have to drag those documents through multiple folders. You don't have to launch the application and then navigate through the open dialog. Just control-click on a document and choose from the applications on your disks that can open it in the pop up list. You can save yourself whole seconds of searching each time you want to open an Adobe PhotoShop™ file in GraphicConverter for example (hey, this adds up). Only applications that can open all the documents in the selection appear in the popup menu, so it doesn't take long to find the application that you want. Requires a power Macintosh running OS 8.0 or later. $10.
Simple List is an application that is designed to keep notes, information and general to do memos all in one simple place. The information is in a Hierarchy structure for easy management. PowerPC and MacOS 8.0, Free.
Snood is a puzzle game which emphasizes thought rather than reflexes. Your goal is to remove the Snoods from the playfield by launching other Snoods up at them. You can do this in two ways: (1) Transporting Snoods --Matching up three or more Snoods of the same type allows them to transport away, and (2) Dropping Snoods -- if after a Snood transport some Snoods are no longer connected to the top of the playfield, they will drop to safety. Snood has no time limits, allows you to play at your own pace, is non-violent and non-confrontational, and has a variety of difficulty levels, including one for children. System 7.0 or higher. $10.
SoBig is a Control Strip Module that shows the available RAM and startup disk space. Free
As with all new MacOSs (or any other OS) be prepared for problems with old software. In particular, MacOS 8.6 may require you to increase memory in some applications, and even extensions!
Tip O' the Month
Remember Easter Eggs? The simplest one everybody (with MacOS 8.5) has:
1. Click on Desktop
2. hold command+option+control
3. go to the Apple pull-down menu
4. You will see "About the Mac OS 8.5 Team...:
5. highlight this line and let go of the mouse
The equivalent for MacOS 8.0/8.1:
2. hold option+control
3. go to the Apple pull-down menu
4. You will see "About the Finder"
5. select, and WAIT (about 15 seconds).
Under 8.5 if you hold down the opt-cmd keys you can turn off the memory check upon startup. But let up before all the icons pop up or you will rebuild the desktop. By the way, under 8.0 and later, rebuilding the desktop saves the get-info comments first.
Are your documents all blurry, even with font smoothing under 8.5? An Apple TIL document points out:
Try turning font smoothing off or set it to a larger font size. Font smoothing really works best for fonts 18 point and larger. Testing has shown that smaller fonts can look worse with font smoothing turned on.
SIMPLY MAC
This is so obvious I hate to mention it.
THERE IS NO LAW THAT SAYS YOU CANNOT WRITE ON YOUR KEYBOARD.
So, rather than learning all those fancy key combinations by heart, WRITE THEM ON THE APPROPRIATE KEYS! True, things written on the tops of the keys tend to smear on your fingers, and wear off, so, don't write on the tops of the keys. You can always write on the FRONT of the keys! Or on the flat surface next to the keys. This is especially good for extended keyboards with numbered function keys (F1 thru F12 or more). You can use colors, too - black for normal function, red for control-modified function, blue for command-, green for shift-, .... you get the idea!
And soon you will know the functions and you can erase the marks, or replace them with new tricks you learn.
If you cannot bear to actually MARK the cheap plastic on your keyboard, try sticky labels or the sticky parts of post-it notes (which can be easily removed, leaving no gum on the plastic).
Another good place for notes (though not about keys) is around the edge of the monitor. In this case, it is probably easier to write on a post-it and stick it to the edge. But color over the lines, here - the idea is to have the information you need at your computer AT your computer without having to dig out a notebook or shuffling papers. Stick it, Hang it, Fold it, Whatever.
I assume you can still form characters and numbers with a pencil - sometimes computer nerds forget how.... :-)
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
AppleScript Extras 1.1 - extras that are included on the 8.6 CD
AppleShare Client 3.8.3 - client for connecting to AppleShare file servers, for OS 7.6 or better
AppleShare IP First Aid Tool 6.2 - repair & backup tool for AppleShare data files
Disk Copy 6.3.3 - mount or create disk images & makes exact copies of disks
G3 Firmware Update 1.1 - for blue G3, install fix so not needed if 1.02 worked
Mac OS 8.6 - update for OS 8.5 users, or order the bootable OS 8.6 CD - 35M!
MRJ 2.1.2 - Mac OS Runtime for Java , for PowerMacs & OS 7.6.1 or better
OpenGL 1.0 - 3D libraries for for apps that use OpenGL
Open Transport Extras 2.0.3 - extras that are included on the 8.6 CD
Remote Access Client 3.1.3 - for remote dial-in server connections, for OS 8.6
Speech Recognition 1.5.4 - (PlainTalk) voice control for your Mac, for OS 8.5/8.6
USB Mass Storage Support 1.3 - drivers for USB drives and OS 8.6
Casady & Greene Conflict Catcher 8.0.5 - fixes for use with OS 8.6 & more
CopyPaste 4.3.2 - replaces the clipboard offering multiple clipboards & other useful features
Extensions Strip 1.9.3 - enhanced replacement for Apple's Control Strip to run CSMs
File Buddy 5.1 - excellent utility to find info or edit attributes on files, folders or desktop
Finder 8.6 Patch 1.2 - adds key commands for trash, restart, sleep and other features
GraphicConverter 3.6.2 - view, edit, convert every graphic format
FWB Hard Disk ToolKit Personal Edition 3.0 - formatting software for most types of media
Nanosaur 1.1.5 - visually stunning 3D game targeted for the average user to have a little fun - 13.3M!
Adobe PageMaker Plus 6.5 - page layout software, Plus version designed for business users
SETI@home 1.0 - client for the collaborative effort in the Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence
Spellswell Plus 2.1.5 - Spellchecks your outgoing email and news messages
TypeIt4Me 4.8 - text macro shortcut tool much like Microsoft Word's AutoCorrect feature
Virex Virus Update May - virus definition file for Virex 5.9 & later
Y2K Software Audit 1.28 - inventories your software files based on year 2000 readiness
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other sources credited where known. Trademark credits, where omitted, remain with their owners - updated 14 February 1999 |
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Chocoletters 1.2
Club MID
DP Autochanger 1.3
IconSwapper 1.1.0
MagicalKeys 1.5.2
Malph 3.0
Open With Package 2.0
Simple List 2.0.1
Snood vsn 2.1
SoBig 1.4.1
