-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= |-=>CompuNotes<=-| -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= Notes from The Cutting Edge of Personal Computing January 9, 1997 Volume 63 +=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+= Managing Editor: Patrick Grote -- mailto:pgrote@inlink.com Assistant Editor: Writer Liaison: Doug Reed-- mailto: dr2web@sprynet.com Graphics Editor, Webmaster: Judy Litt mailto:jlitt@aol.com Archives: ftp://ftp.uu.net/published/compunotes/ Website: http://users.aol.com/CompNote/ email: notes@inlink.com fax: (314) 909-1662 voice: (314) 909-1662 +=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+= CONTENTS My Notes: 1=> Products of the Year Contest and St. Louis Snow! 2=> This Week's Winner! Columnists' Corner: 3=> Product of the Year Voting Form! Reviews: 4=> Product: Trophy Bass by Sierra Online -- mailto:dr2web@sprynet.com 5=> Product: World Wide Web Journal -- mailto:dhughes@wwdc.com 6=> Product: The Java Language Specification & The Java Virtual Machine Specification -- mailto:dr2web@sprynet.com Web Site: => None this issue. Interview: => None this issue. +=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+= CompuNotes is: Available weekly via email and on-line. We cover the PC computing world with comprehensive reviews, news, hot web sites, great columns and interviews. We also give away one software package a week to a lucky winner for just reading our fine publication! Never dull, sometimes tardy, we are here to bring you the computing world the way it is! We are always looking for honest, constructive feedback ... we need to hear from you! Please send us your opinions, comments and criticisms. Many of our best features have come from you! Thanks! CompuNotes B440 1315 Woodgate Drive St. Louis, MO 63122 notes@inlink.com +=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+= SYSOPS READ HERE! We want to make CompuNotes available on as many BBS as possible. Sysops who volunteer upload this newsletter to their BBS as a ZIP file will be listed in our sysops directory shipped with each newsletter. We'll also link to your website. If you are interested, fill out the following lines and return them to notes@inlink.com with SYSOPS as the subject. After processing this, we'll send you a weekly UUEncoded version of CompuNotes. BBS NAME: BBS SYSOP: BBS NUMBER: URL: +=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+= To subscribe, send this email to listserv@peach.ease.lsoft.com SUBSCRIBE COMPUNOTES-L FirstName LastName To unsubscribe, send this email to listserv@peach.ease.lsoft.com SIGNOFF COMPUNOTES-L +=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+= Patrick's Notes 1=> Products of the Year! Enclosed in this issue you'll find our best of the year ballot form. Please take a few minutes and vote for those products you would like to see win! We'll post the results in about a week! 2=> Winner! This week's winner is myersaj3@NETCOM.COM! Send them a congrats message mailto:myersaj3@NETCOM.COM! 3=> Product of the Year Voting Form! mailto:dr2web@sprynet.com CompuNotes Software of the Year Awards, 1996 There was a lot of great software that came out in 1996, and we'd like to give you the chance to reward those that were the cream of the crop. I've compiled a list of nominees in 8 categories for you to select from. All of these nominees were software titles that were reviewed by CompuNotes and appeared in CompuNotes issues starting with Issue 26 and Issue 61, all of which were published in 1996. After the list of nominees is a short form which you can cut and paste into an email message to send back to me - simply fill in your selection for each category. The product with the most votes wins it's category; the product with the most overall votes also wins the "Overall Product of the Year" prize. Write-in's are allowed but are limited to software that we reviewed during 1996 - for example, the review of Quake is forthcoming, so Quake will appear among the list of nominees for 1997. Please do not vote more than once! This isn't because it would be "wrong" but simply because I expect to be getting a large volume of replies and multiple messages from the same person won't help matters. Voting ends effective one month from today. Thanks, and thanks for being such great readers! If you'd like to know what issue the product was reviewed in, check out the CompuNotes Archives Database at http://home.sprynet.com/sprynet/dr2web/compnote (a JavaScript enabled browser is required). -Doug Reed, Associate Editor mailto:dr2web@sprynet.com -=>Category: Business Application Microsoft Office 95, Professional Edition WordPro96 AskSam Pro 3.0 DacEasy Accounting ABC Graphics Suite -=>Category: Internet Application HotMetal Pro 2.0 HTML: The Definitive Guide Website Professional Digiphone Deluxe Net Chameleon -=>Category:Utility Norton Navigator for Windows 95 WinProbe95 WinShield95 WinZip 6.2 Norton NT Tools -=>Category: Communications Procomm Plus 3.0 LapLink 7.5 Delrina CommSuite95 PC Anywhere32 -=>Category: Game Warcraft II Mechwarrior II Civilization II Zork:Nemesis MissionForce:Cyberstorm Descent II Steel Panthers -=>Category: Educational Encarta '95 Mathemagics Complete Guide to Gardening Mighty Math Numbers Heroes Discovery: Ocean Planet Healthy Cooking Deluxe -=>Category: Programming Symantec Cafe Visual C++ 4.0 Perl 5 Desktop Reference Visual Basic 4.0 The Java Programming Language by Ken Short and James Gosling -=>Category: Reference Complete User's Survival Guide The Corner Drug Store When You Can't Find Your Unix Systems Administrator Dictionary of PC Hardware and Terms CompuNotes Awards -1996 mailto: Doug Reed, dr2web@sprynet.com Business Application: Internet Application: Utility: Communication: Game: Educational: Programming: Reference: 4=> Product: Trophy Bass 2 Requirements: 486/66, 8MB RAM, Windows 3.1+ Reviewed on: 486/66, 12 MB, Windows 95 MSRP: $49.95 Reviewed by: Doug Reed, mailto:dr2web@sprynet.com Few things in life are certain, but this is one thing that is: you are either born a fisherman or you aren't. Sierra's Trophy Bass 2 is designed to appeal to those with a yen for the rod and reel without the time to hook up the boat and head to the nearest lake (of course, right now the nearest lake to me has about 3 inches of ice on it!). As you may have guessed from the name, it is the sequel to the immensely successful Trophy Bass, part of the Front Page Sports lineup created by Dynamix and sold by Sierra. Trophy Bass 2 comes with lots of enhancements to improve the game, not least of which is ability to play against human opponents over the Internet. Trophy Bass 2, like all Windows-based games is easy to install; the Windows 95 version supports autoplay which will get you up and running completely. When you start the game it plays a short movie designed to get you in the mood; essentially it is a good quality multimedia clip of fisherman heading towards their favorite fishing holes. From the opening screen you can choose to fish quietly by yourself or enter a tournament competing against either real or artificial opponents. When fishing quietly by yourself you can choose the lake and the water conditions, as well as weather and the time of year. All of these factors greatly affect your success in catching a lunker (large mouth bass). All of the lakes from the original game are included, as well as two new lakes for a total of ten. All of the lakes are real, and navigation around the lake is carried out over well-designed, highly- detailed terrain maps. "Free-play" is fun and is a relaxing diversion, great for unwinding from a long and stressful day. Here you can practice your casting and reeling skills, as well as try out the various lures and see how they work. Practice is essential if you want to do well in any competition. In a nice touch, the various commands for casting and reeling are mouse driven, and the player can control the degree to which they can influence the outcome of a cast. The ability to compete in tournaments is the heart of the game, of course. As mentioned, the game comes with the ability to play against human opponents over a modem, LAN, or Internet connection. The Internet connection requires that you be running the Windows 95 version, and plays through the Sierra Internet Gaming System (SIGS). With a fast modem and a good connection, you can be up and fishing at almost any time of day or night. Trophy Bass 2 is actually the first Sierra game to work with the SIGS system, although several others are in the works or nearing release soon. The ability to play over the Net using a free system like SIGS is very appealing. I would expect this style of gameplay to catch fire very quickly. Tournaments can be conducted as single events or as part of a season. During a season the goal is to get as many points as possible in order to be recognized as the best fisherman by your peers. Tournaments are staged at each of the lakes, and the conditions vary significantly between them to provide the maximum challenge. Tournaments are conducted over several days, and with the size and weight of your catch each day determining victory or defeat. Win enough tournaments and you can compete in the Trophy Bass Classic (kind of the bass fisherman's Super Bowl). Fishermen (and women) will find plenty to love about Trophy Bass 2. Virtually every lure you can think of is included, as well a large number of rods and reels to create your perfect setup. The graphics are great although they do take a little getting used to; the main thing that most people will find a little strange is the fact that the little fisherman that represents you stays stationary on the bottom of the screen even as the lure is flying across the surface towards its target. The environs of the lakes are very accurate; if you know where to look for bass you will find them. And just like their real counterparts, a large part of your success is due to a little dose of luck. Once a fish is hooked it is more or less a matter of reeling it in, although you could break the line or not set the hook properly. In addition, however, Sierra has added a little kind of "power-meter" during the fight that shows who is winning the battle, man or fish. That plus some fast-paced music adds some well-needed excitement to the fun and fury of fighting and landing a good-sized bass. You can catch a variety of fish, not only just bass but almost any other sort of fish found in fresh-water lakes in the US. Trout, catfish, and others will also take your lure from time to time. The game does take into effect that all fish are different; a lunker will be a lot harder to land than a good old sandie. In conclusion, Trophy Bass 2 is a great game for avid fishermen. People who don't like to fish are not going to like this game; despite the inclusion of the competitive tournaments, this is a game for people who like to fish. The game does have great graphics and sounds and appeared to run very well throughout, a special bonus is these bug-ridden software days. The added bonus of Internet play means that the game will enjoy a long life on your hard drive. Now, should I go with the purple worm or do I try my luck with a red and white spoon? Sierra On-line P.O. Box 85006 Bellevue, WA 98015-8506 206-644-4343 http://www.sierra.com Ratings: Installation/Ease of Use: Gold User-Friendliness: Gold Quality: Gold User: avid fishermen 5=> Product: World Wide Web Journal, volume 1, Issue 3, "The Web After Five Years" A publication of the World Wide Web Consortium, edited by Rohit Khare Price US $24.95, Can $35.95 Reviewed By: Don Hughes, mailto:dhughes@wwdc.com The World Wide Web Journal is published quarterly by O'Reilly & Associates, and contains reports, interviews, journals and technical papers. This is not a book for the average net surfer, nor is it designed to be. Issue three deliberates such complex matters as: "Inter- creativity by small groups.technical, economical, and ethical challenges of tracking and measuring mass Web usage." Through-out the book references are made to "W3C" or the World Wide Web Consortium. For more information about W3C you can visit their Web site at . The following text is a sample of information from the web site: "The World Wide Web (WWW or W3) is the universe of network-accessible information, an embodiment of human knowledge. It is an initiative started at, now with many participants. It has a body of software, and a set of protocols and conventions. W3 uses hypertext and multimedia techniques to make the web easy for anyone to roam, browse, and contribute to. The World Wide Web began as a networked information project at CERN. Tim Berners-Lee developed a vision of the project. An early paper talks about the Web gives some more background on how the Web was originally conceived." Moreover, an interview with Tim Berners-Lee, the creator of the World Wide Web, and director of W3C is in this issue. During his interview such subjects as "simplicity, standards and intercreativity are discussed, and the cyberporn Time magazine story of July 3, 1995. In 1991, Tim Berners-Lee released his "WWW program" on the Internet, triggering the mass influx of Internet users that abound today-90 percent of the current net users have only been doing so for one year. Additional topics covered in this issue are: Work in Progress people & projects at W3C, and W3C reports: Inserting Objects into HTML, A Lexical Analyzer for HTML and Basic SGML. There is also a section on Technical papers: WILL THE WEB DEMOCRATIZE OR POLARIZE THE POLITICAL PROCESS? WWW SITE MEASURMENT, REAL-TIME GEOGRAPHIC VISULATION OF WORLD WIDE WEB TRAFFIC. The World Wide Web journal contains a wealth of data for those who are involved in providing service to Internet clients. There are also Demographic studies on Internet users, as to age, education and income levels. The importance of publications like the "World Wide Web Journal" is: 1. To provided their members and the Internet community with technical papers and the type of research being conducted world wide, 2. Alerting the Internet community to bottlenecks and problem areas, before things get out of control. The current estimates list Web users somewhere among 18 to 24 million (Nielsen/Commerencenet survey) world wide with the expectation of this doubling, by 2000. The World Wide Web Journal is a 218 page book jam packed with technical data and reports encompassing many varied aspects of the Internet. This Journal is unique in that is tactful user oriented and for its technical content and viewpoint it rates five out of five- but then I tend to enjoy reading technical data. Subscription prices (subject to change without notice) USA...................$75.00 Canada & Mexico............$81.00 Europe, Africa, Central & South America....$105.00 Asia, Australia & New Zealand.......$110.00 The World Wide Web Journal O'Reilly & Associates, Inc. 103 Morris Street, Suite A. Sebastopol, Ca 95472 800-998-9938 USA/Canada 707-829-0515 Overseas 707-829-0104 Fax. 6=>Product: The Java Language Specification & The Java Virtual Machine Specification Reviewed by: Doug Reed, mailto:dr2web@sprynet.com MSRP $36.53 each The Java Language Specification and The Java Virtual Machine Specification are the latest books published by Addison-Wesley in their definitive Java Series developed in collaboration with Sun Microsystems and the creators of the Java programming language. These two books are designed to be the ultimate technical reference to the inner workings of Java. I'll review each in detail and then sum them both up together. The Java Language Specification is written by James Gosling, creator of Java, as well as Bill Joy (creator of the Berkeley version of UNIX) and Guy Steele, who is responsible for the specification of Java at Sun Microsystems. The book offers detailed coverage of the latest version of Java's syntax and semantics, including proper grammar and lexical structure in Java, program structure, classes and interfaces, exceptions, threads, and so on. The Java Language Specification is a reference, not a tutorial or primer, and as such I would recommend it only for expert programmers looking for a resource of information about proper construction of Java applets and applications. The reading is at times a bit dense and difficult to understand, while at other times it comes through with perfect clarity. For example, a large portion of chapter 6 is spent explaining naming conventions and proper naming of methods, variables, and classes. This section is actually very coherent and explains a lot about proper naming in Java. This book does not make for great reading on the couch after dinner, but it does make a good reference for programming in Java. If you really need a complete and comprehensive guide to the syntax and semantics of programming in Java, than this book is for you. For most Java programmers, however, I think there are other references which would be of more benefit (including some of those published earlier in the Java Series like The Java API, volumes 1 & 2). The Java Virtual Machine Specification is a technical reference that covers the "Virtual Machine" that allows Java to achieve its cross- platform portability and security capabilities. The book is written by Tim Lindholm and Frank Yellin, the men responsible for designing and implementing the Java Virtual Machine. Since the first book explained the grammar and structure of Java programming; this book undertakes to explain what a virtual machine is and how it works, including an overview of the Java Virtual Machine contained in the latest release of Java by Sun. Also included is a detailed listing of the commands and methods available in the Virtual Machine Instruction Set, allowing expert programmers to manipulate the Java Virtual Machine . Again, unless you're an expert programmer, much of what's written in this book is going to require considerable effort to understand even partially. Certainly this was true in my case! Slogging through it requires considerable fortitude. As with The Java Language Specification, this book is primarily a reference tool for Java programmers looking to increase their knowledge of the workings "under the hood" of Java. While to a certain extent this book does provide some interesting information, one has to wonder just how many Java programmers are really going to want to open the hood and start tinkering with the parts. In summary, these two books are for expert programmers looking to understand the details of how Java works and what can be done to manipulate it or to essentially create your own version of the Java Virtual Machine. Both books thoroughly and completely cover their respective subject matters, however, I would recommend that beginners and novices check out Addison-Wesley's earlier books in the Java Series, like The Java Programming Language by Ken Arnold & James Gosling. In addition, The Java API Volumes 1 & 2 make an excellent reference on the packages and interfaces contained in the Java libraries. Addison-Wesley Publishing Company One Jacob Way Reading, MA 01867 800-822-6339 Installation/Ease of Use: Silver User-Friendliness: Silver Quality: Silver User: Expert Java Programmers --END OF ISSUE