SHAREWARE NEWS
November 1998
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This month's Free Sample Shareware is no longer available.
(In case you notice that many items have the same icon - 
- this is
the standard icon for CM Plug-ins! We have a bunch of them this
time!)
It's a scheme for Kaleidoscope, that is supposed to look like steel pipes on blue velvet. Free
The game is all about blobs. Blobs are colored balls and in the game you place these blobs on the playing field. Now, the real aim of the game is to destroy blobs, not to get as many as possible. To destroy blobs you "simply" put them next to each other to form groups and then try to make all the blobs in the group go blank. That is connect them in a manner that uses up all the connections of each blob. For, when a group is formed where all blobs are blank the whole group disappears. Nifty, huh? When a group disappears a text appears that shows how much score you got and how many blobs there where in the group. When all the blobs in the group has disappeared the meter to the right labeled "Blobs" ticks up as many steps as there were blobs in the group. When the meter is full, well, you'll just have to play the game. $10
A Contextual Menus module to delete files now rather than have to drag to the trash. Free.
The DiskImageCMPlugin is a System Software 8.1 Contextual menu addition that will mount disk images from a contextual menu. It will optionally verify the checksum of the image. It does not require the Disk Copy application to be present. Free.
DollyDotsTubu 1.1 for
Kaleidoscope
DollyDotsTubu is a color scheme for Kaleidoscope 1.5 and up, but it has been optimized for Kaleidoscope 1.8.2! It's a variation on DollyDots for Kaleidoscope, inspired by details on products. $6
A scheme that is modern, easy to see and use, and features over sized arrows, light widgets on dark backgrounds and mild scroll bar highlights when pressed. Free
The Fantastic Plastic scheme was inspired by a Mattel™ toy called Vac-U-Form™, which allowed you to mold sheets of hot plastic around object, thus creating a plastic duplicate. Free
Context-click the desktop item you're interested in and choose "Find Home Folder". Then, if the selected item was not created on the desktop, but dragged there from another folder, that folder will be opened. Free
FinderPop extends the Mac OS 8 Finder's contextual menus. Features include: user-selectable contextual menu font/size/icon size, automagic CM popup by clicking and holding without having to press the control key, folder and StuffIt™ archive navigation, and a number of optional submenus &emdash; including Processes, contents of selected folder, Finder windows, FinderPop, and Desktop. Additionally, it enhances navigation via the Standard File dialogs. $8.
Flattened has no inside Bevels, Borders or 3D effects, thus creating a really flat but handsome looking windows. Free
These plug-ins let you view and convert pictures in many useful ways. You can convert pictures of any kind to PICT files or QuickTime image files using ImageConverter, or view any kind of picture using QuickViewer. $15
The Mac-FTP-list lists over 200 mac anonymous ftp sites (some with notes), over 110 Mac web pages, and contains some instructions on how to use anonymous ftp and find files as well a format chart showing which programs decompress and decode which files. Also there is a section on how to use certain files. Text and HTML versions. Free
Put Away CMM allows you to move files to a folder of your choice, automatically and with just one click! Once a destination has been chosen, your selected files are moved there instantly, and Put Away CMM will remember the destination for next time you select files of the same type. $5
Size CMM is a Contextual Menu Manager plug-in for MacOS 8. It lets you determine the sizes of an individual file, or a whole selection of files. It displays both data and resource fork sizes, plus total sizes. Also, Size CMM lets you "zap" (empty) any one fork, or both forks. $3
These are MacOS 8 Contextual Menu Manager plug-ins. When you control-click on Finder files and folders, these plug-ins add new commands to the contextual popup menu that appears. The plug-ins do things like move and copy files, launch applications, convert text files, set types and creators, etc. $10
Beware a new virus, contained in a file called "graphics-accelerator.hqx". When placed in the System Folder of unsuspecting users, it apparently infects every started application. Anytime you run such an application, it creates a "Graphics Accelerator" extension in the extensions folder. You can remove it, but running an infected program just puts it back, and running with the extension infects all applications. See Macintouch at http://www.macintouch.com/graphacc.html to learn more.
You can prevent infection by creating a dummy extension (say, an empty folder) named "Graphics Accelerator". When you create the name, put control-A in front of the G - this is a non-printing character which forces it to load before anything else. If you are already infected, remove the extension, put in a dummy, and later you can clean the virus off infected apps.
Here is something to clean off the virus: Graphics Innoculator 1.2
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The folx at Macintouch have had several reports of crashes, freezes and data integrity problems with Norton Utilities for the Mac 4.0. At a minimum, it's essential to back up your files before running the utility. Patrick Golden writes:
"Those who have run the CD, like me, have had thousands of error messages reported the first run through. Those unlucky souls who just installed the software and then run it have experienced freezes, crashes, and apparent data loss according to the postings on the Symantec support newsgroups. [...] Many of these problems seem to have at their root a conflict between NUM 4.0 and Norton Anti-Virus 5.0. I can understand conflicts between two different third-party vendors, but it seems incredible that a product within the same company would cause such problems."
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Remember Umax, who demoed their spiffy new scanners last month? No? Well, that is because there WAS no demo &emdash; the demo person got a virus or something but she was not the only one at Umax: some brand new scanners are going to customers with installation CD-ROMs infected with the Autostart worm. According to MacIntouch, Tech support at Umax denies it, of course, but they are dead wrong in claiming that a CD-ROM can't be infected. Umax management admitted to the screw-up and has new CD-ROMs. Be sure to virus-check your CD-ROMs before using them. Similar report for Corel Draw. Use the Worm Guard on August's DOM.
Keep on top of your clock battery status. When the clock starts getting flaky, it may be time to replace the battery. DON'T DELAY! If you have a Power Mac 6100 or similar Performa, or Quadra or Centra 660AV or 840AV, a dead battery will also blank your screen!
You can find InformInit on the Mac Pruning Page, at http://www.AmbrosiaSW.com/DEF/
From MacAddict: I have Quicktime 3.0 and is there a way to remove the reminder to buy Quicktime pro?
A: Here's the solution you seek, courtesy of REsExcellence, a wonderful site for REsEdit users <http://www.resexcellence.com>. Open the Date and Time control panel and advance Current Date forward to the year 2000. close the control panel and immediately launch MoviePlayer. When the alert box appears asking if you want to update to QT Pro, click "later", then quit MoviePlayer. Reopen the Date and Time control panel and return Current Date to the correct setting. Now you can forget about the Movie Player reminders for a few years, at which time you'll be ready to upgrade to QuickTime 2000.
You might also try this for other shareware whose reminders get annoying.
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 First Aid 1.0a4 - repair & backup utility for AppleShare 5.0 & 6.0 data files
FileMaker Pro 4.0v2 - contains all the updates and fixes in version 4.1, but without ODBC -
FileMaker Pro 4.1 - now shipping, new built-in intuitive ODBC SQL Query Dialog
AutoShare 3.0, a freeware mailing list manager
Netscape Communicator / Navigator 4.0.7 - with 40bit & 128bit security encryptions
Casady & Greene Conflict Catcher 8.0.2 - support for OS 8.5 Clean-Install System Merging & more
Eudora Pro 4.0.2 - popular email client
FinderPop 1.7.2 - (many readers are reporting problems with 1.7 like freezes & type 10 errors)
Adobe FrameMaker 5.5.6 - upgrade is $25 for 5.5.x users - several new features & enhancements
Frontier 5.1.4 - automated content management system for building and managing websites
GraphicConverter 3.4.1 - view, edit & convert just about every graphic format available
Adobe Illustrator 8.0 - now shipping the industry-standard illustration software
Kaleidoscope 2.1 - fixes for OS 8.5, Anarchie, MacSOUP, HP printer drivers & more®
Blue World Lasso 3.0 - now shipping the FileMaker & ODBC database Web publishing tool
Nisus Writer 4.1.6 - an older version of their powerful word processor now available for free
Adobe PageMill 3.0 - now shipping, integrates page authoring, site management, graphics editing
Quark Express 4.04 - Update addresses numerous bugs
Insignia SoftWindows 95 5.0.4 - support for Win 98, Voodoo 2, OS 8.5, bug fixes & more
Aladdin StuffIt Deluxe 5.0 - taking pre-orders to ship Oct 31, 8.5 savvy, better compression...
SuperCard 3.5 - now shipping, high end authoring system for multimedia and internet content
MicroMat TechTool Pro 2.1.1 - now with disk optimization, Auto-Repair, simple interface & more
WormScanner 2.2.1 - scans & removes AutoStart 9805 worm 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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BGXX 1.0
Blobs 2.0.0
Easy View 1.0.1
Fantastic Plastic! 1.0.3
FinderPop 1.7.2
Flattened 1.0.5
The Mac FTP list 4.4.2
