Chaos Corner V02N02 06 March 1992


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Bound copies of Chaos Corner Volume 1 available

It's here!  At LAST!  The first printed, bound copies of volume 1 of 
Chaos Corner have come off the presses and Gary Buhrmaster has received 
his autographed copy (thanks, Mike).  Many thanks go to the people who 
made it all possible, but especially deserving mention are Tom Boggess 
(who designed the covers and finally had to write PostScript to get the 
images to print properly); Pete Baker who suffered through many 
attempts to get the document printed properly; and Bill Turner who 
tirelessly (well, maybe tirelessly) forwarded each of our attempts 
through the miles of cable and alpha-test software.  Thanks to you all!  

Now, all the rest of you have the opportunity to obtain your own 
printed version at a paltry $3 a copy (covers cost of printing, 
barely).  If you are on the Cornell campus, they will be available at 
the Information Desk in CCC starting next week.  Off-campus or on-
campus-but-don't-want-to-have-to-walk readers can contact Billie 
Gabriel (bsg@cornellc.cit.cornell.edu) to arrange for payment 
(departmental charges are OK, not sure about American Express).

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Virus

Happy Birthday to Michelangelo!  Dr. Chaos hopes that you are all 
virus free today.


Mailbag

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Chaos Corner feedback

Dr. Chaos received this note in response to an item in the last 
issue:

     I don't mean to sound ungrateful...I appreciate your work and 
     generosity, but I have a request.  I am very sensitive to 
     references to "Blonde Jokes" and was disturbed by your mention 
     of such a file (whether it exists or not.)

     To me, the mention is a form of approval.  I know people don't 
     intend harm with their humor but I think your reference to the 
     stereotype (blonde with the "e" is only for females and 
     implies dumb blonde) is inappropriate. I ask that you refrain 
     from including such a comment in your electronic publication.

     If you include a readers' comments section, you are welcome to 
     use this.

     Cathie Burke Dager, Stanford Linear Accelerator Center


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Space - Lost city of Ubar

Using the Shuttle imaging radar and other images from space of the 
Arabian Desert, the lost city of Ubar has been re-discovered.  Analysis 
of the images (which showed ancient tracks to the city) led searchers 
to the site of a remote well where they uncovered towers, rooms and 
artifacts that appear to date back more than 4000 years.

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Catalog of Stars

The full "Catalog of Stars within 25 parsecs of the Sun" is available 
via anonymous FTP from ames.arc.nasa.gov in the directory 
pub/SPACE/FAQ.  "stars.doc" describes the format of the data and 
"stars.data" contains the actual coordinate information.

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GeoClock

In the "small world" and "view of the world" department, Dr. Chaos got 
a copy of GeoClock from wuarchive.wustl.edu and as he was installing 
it, the documentation mentioned the Shareware author of the program 
(along with the address to send the shareware fees, of course).  The   
name was familiar as someone that Dr. Chaos hadn't seen in 18 years.  
In less than 12 hours, the electronic mail had a response ... and Yes! 
it really was THE Joe Ahlgren ... 20 years and many miles from the old 
CDC computer system that we worked with at Fort Huachuca (it's in 
southern Arizona, for those of you not familiar with the locations of 
U. S. Army bases). All that aside, Joe has written a great program (he 
even got reviewed in the New York Times) that includes a number of 
world and area maps, and will show local time in various areas along 
with illustrating the parts of the world in sunlight vs. the parts in 
darkness.  If you are interested in taking a look at this great program 
on your PC (Herc, CGA, EGA, VGA and SVGA displays are supported), get 
geoclk44.zip from mirrors/msdos/graphics on wuarchive.wustl.edu -- 
additional maps are available in geocity1.zip, geocity2.zip, 
geocitys.zip -- not all the features are available until you register, 
but Dr. Chaos is a happy registered user (GeoClock runs nicely in a 
background window under OS/2 2.0).

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Space images - orion nebula and others

Another source for space-related gif files is vab02.larc.nasa.gov -- 
look down in the directory tree from gifs/space/ for a number of good 
pictures (please respect this guy's machine and don't do a lot of big 
transfers during work hours (EST)).  Dr. Chaos has a screen background 
on pelican right now of orion.gif -- a picture of the Orion nebula.


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CD-ROM - PC and MSDOS software archive from Simtel

Bob Bruce has produced a CD-ROM containing the Simtel MSDOS archives.  
If you have a CD-ROM player and don't have convenient access to the 
incredible amount of software on Simtel, this is an inexpensive 
alternative.  The cost is $25 + $5 shipping and handling, send it to 
Bob Bruce, 1547 Palos Verdes, Ste. 260, Walnut Creek, CA 94596.  Cheap 
for 420 MB  of data.  X11R5/GNU source is available for $40.

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CD-ROM - street map of USA

If you like maps, check out the CD that contains detailed street maps 
of the entire USA.  The cost is $99 and the contact is DeLorme Mapping, 
P. O. Box 298, Lower Main Street, Freeport, ME 04032 ... phone: (207)-
865-1234 (and Dr. Chaos reminds me that they do take American Express).  
Requires Windows 3.x and is reported to have a nice user interface.


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PC Info

If you use or are thinking about using the excellent COMMAND.COM 
replacement from J. P. Software called 4DOS, there is now a discussion 
list for you.  Send mail to listserv@indycms.iupui.edu with the line:

     sub 4dos <your name>

in the body of the mail file.  Of course, CMS users on BITNET can issue 
the interactive command:

     tell listserv at indycms sub 4dos <your name>

If you haven't experienced 4dos, with the ability to easily write 
macros, edit previous commands, and a whole host of other features ... 
get it from wuarchive.wustl.edu in the archive/mirrors/msdos/4dos 
directory.  Your will want to version 4.0 and an update file for the  
latest fixes.  

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Software archives in Europe (Germany)

On the other side of the Atlantic from New York, it appears that some 
interesting archive collections are maintained at ftp.uni-koeln.de and, 
of course, we can't forget our friends at rusmv1.rus.uni-stuttgart.de.  
These archive collections take a lot of work to maintain ... Dr. Chaos 
encourages you to send some electronic mail to the people performing 
this work, thanking them for their efforts.


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Fractals

If you like playing with fractals and their generating functions, 
version 17.1 of the Fractint fractal generating program is available.  
It exists in both DOS and Windows versions and source code is provided.  
Look for frain171.zip in the /archive/mirrors/msdos/graphics directory 
of wuarchive.wustl.edu (or in the pub/msdos/graphics directory of 
oak.oakland.edu). The Windows3 version of Fractint may be obtained from 
the archive/mirrors/msdos/windows3 directory.


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Kermit

There is a new version of C-Kermit (5A, edit 179) available for beta-
testing.  New features for C-Kermit include sliding windows for up to 
95% file transfer efficiencies, a script programming language, and 
TCP/IP network support.  Systems supported include most Unix variants, 
VMS, and OS/2.  (The Macintosh version  has not reached Beta yet.)  The 
source file in compressed tar format can be obtained from kermit/bin on 
watsun.cc.columbia.edu and the file name is cku179.tar.Z ... while you 
are there, the MSDOS test version was updated as of March 5 ... it is 
named mstibm.exe and is located in the same directory.


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Phones

Anyone interested in a list (rather long) of the German 0130-prefix 
numbers (sorta like 800-numbers in North America) should send a mail 
file to chaos-request@pelican.cit.cornell.edu.  We also have a list of 
the prefixes for toll-free or local-charge services in a number of 
countries.  Again, write if you would like a copy.


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Humor

We have a file containing the definitions for a number of units that 
you may have come across and THOUGHT you understood ... did you know 
that 10 rations were equal to a decoration? that 1,000,000 phones are 
equal to 1 megaphone is equal to 1,000,000,000,000 microphones?


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Macintosh and Humanities software

If you are, know of, or think you know of academics in the Humanities 
or Social Sciences who use Macintosh computers but who don't have the 
time or inclination to wade through MacWorld, MacUser, etc. ... let 
them know about HMS.  For $15/year or $35/lifetime membership you can 
receive a newsletter offering advice and commentary on the place of 
computers in the historical profession.  If you are interested, send 
dues and a letter outlining your academic interests and Macintosh 
needs/concerns to: The History and Macintosh Society, 734 Elkus Walk 
#201, Goletta, CA 93117-4151, USA.  No extra charge for overseas 
airmail.

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Fix for MacTCP available from Apple

If you are trying to run MacTCP with System 7.0 on a MacPlus, you have 
to get a utility called "MacTCP+ Tool" or you will experience a large 
number of dropped packets.  The utility can be obtained from the 
/ftp/dts/mac/netcom directory on ftp.apple.com.  You only need this if 
you are trying to run System 7.0 with MacTCP 1.1 on a Macintosh Plus.


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GCC

The long awaited version 2.0 of the GNU (GNU is Not Unix) C compiler is 
finally available.  It reportedly generates better code for SPARC 
workstations than Sun's C compiler; it is the fastest known compiler 
for the Motorola 88000; and with version 2.0, AIX on IBM RS/6000 and 
RT/PC is supported.  Support for both C++ and Objective C are included.  
Because of the heavy ftp load, the normal place to get GNU software 
(prep.ai.mit.edu) has been overloaded, so it  may be better to get a 
copy from ftp.uu.net (in packages/gnu) or decwrl.dec.com (in pub/GNU).  
(In Europe, try ftp.funet.fi or sunic.sunet.se.)  We have patches for 
making GCC 2.0 run under AIX 3.1; let us know if you need them.


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Windows archive closed during prime time (and FAQ)

The Windows archive site at cica.cica.indiana.edu was starting to get 
too much traffic, so they have closed it down for anonymous FTP access 
during the workday (Eastern Time 8-1700).  They still remain the best 
archive site for Windows-related software on the network.  The most 
recent version of the Frequently-Asked-Questions file for Windows is 
dated Feb. 26.  Send mail to chaos-request@pelican.cit.cornell.edu if 
you don't have access to a copy.

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Disk Copy utility for Windows (no swapping)

A utility called Disk Copy (get dc111.zip from puffin.cit.cornell.edu) 
allows one to copy and format disks in the background under Windows.  
It also uses the memory management features of Windows to allow disk 
copies to be  made in a single swap.  It is, of  course, available from 
cica.cica.indiana.edu but we can't check on the directory the file is 
in since the ftp service is unavailable right now.  (It's only a 
microVAX.)

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Word for Windows - additional macros

As we write this, we just realized that we have not had a problem with 
"smart quotes" in Word for Windows.  The reason is that we haven't 
installed them in version 2.0.  On disk #3 of W4W, there is a file 
called newmacro.do$ that needs to be copies to the harddisk along with 
decomp.exe from disk #1.  Run the command "decomp newmacro.do$" -- this 
creates "newmacro.doc" which you then open to install or demo the 
macros.  I guess Dr. Chaos should have read the README file, eh?


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PC able to read Mac disks

Has anyone used the utility (in the Simtel mirror sites under 
msdos/dskutl/mac-dos.zip that claims to allow one to read/write 
Macintosh 1.44MB floppy diskettes on a PC?  Dr. Chaos wants to know if 
this REALLY works.

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Convert acsii files to PostScript

In the msdos/postscript directory of the Simtel mirror sites look for 
pps213.zip if you are interested in a menu-driven (or command line 
driven) program that converts ASCII to PostScript.  Options include 
font, font size, portrait/landscape, margin setting, and more.


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Security/AIX

All of you with RS/6000s running AIX 3.1 or 3.2 should take heed of a 
recent advisory to disable "rexd" .... otherwise the world has write-
access to your machine.  Dr. Chaos thinks the best way to do this is to 
use SMIT since it will handle the necessary chores of doing the 
subsystem refresh.  He is aware, however, that some of you don't like 
SMIT and the ODM, prefering to "roll your own" system (Dr. Chaos could 
never figure out where the different variants kept their different 
versions of all those parameter files, so he is happy to left SMIT keep 
track of things for him).  At any rate, George Boyce of CIT Network 
Resources recommends that if you are the type to edit "inetd.conf" by 
hand, you also need to run the inetimp command to load the 
configuration file into the ODM where inetd will read it (you will need 
to do the "refresh -s inetd" command from root).  Dr. chaos has asked 
me to plead with you  ... don't get confused between "rexd" (the one  
that is causing the problems) and "rexecd" (other potential problems 
but not addressed by this advisory).  If you stop "rexecd", you may 
find that a lot of stuff that used to work has stopped working.

That's all for now.  Remember! Dr. Chaos
For your own copies write to chaos-request@pelican.cit.cornell.edu
