Index of all Wisdom issues.
by Dean T. Scott
Welcome back all ye carolers of the Holidays! I hope you all enjoyed yourselves and had aspirin on hand. I had a great Christmas but was sick for my New Years Party. I'll wait while you dry your eyes.
OK, continuing... We're all looking forward to lots of work in the new year... well the movie night anyway; and the executives are planning various other releases for your programming frustration. Movie nights (STAR WARS TRIOLOGY), a pool tournament and volleyball should be a good start.
If you have not had a chance to meet our new professor I suggest you take the time. Her name is Dr. Mounia Lalmas and she is anxious to meet the students. It's nice to see that the new prof can talk to people on their level and take the time to answer questions even before she is offering a course. I think that she is a positive addition to our faculty staff.
On behalf of the students and executive staff, WELCOME! Dr. Lalmas will be teaching the Software Development courses next September for those interested, and these courses along with a few other requirements will make up a new Honours degree in Computer Science. Well, why are you still reading this, get going!!! Have a great year and keep the marks HIGH.
V.P. Social Functions Dean T. Scott
by Ralph Markham
The Internet has a variety of useful resources. There are thousands of files available to you, if you know how to access them. The first thing to look at is transferring files. FTP (File Transfer Protocol) and FSP are used to transfer files. FSP is not a widely supported protocol, a good number of the archives that support FSP are a little more shady than those that support FTP. The there is no public FSP server on the SGI or the SUN, servers can be found at tp.robots.ox.ac.uk in "/pub/ ox.src/" using FTP. FTP is supported on both the SGI and SUN and can be used to access a huge number of public archives from which almost all information on your local bbs has originated. There are a number of basic commands you need to know the are as follows:
The following is a quick ftp session that I did as an example.
(41)% ftp ftp.sunet.se Connected to ftp.sunet.se. 220 ftp.sunet.se FTP server (Version wu-2.1c(2) Wed Nov 10 11:14:59 MET 1993) ready. Name (ftp.sunet.se:mohamed): anonymous 331 Guest login ok, send your complete e-mail address as password. Password: 230- 230- Swedish University Network SUNET 230- Archive ftp.sunet.se 230- 230-Welcome, you are user number 41 out of a possible total of 150. 230- 230-This system may be used 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. The local 230-time is Mon Jan 31 21:53:17 1994. 230-All transfers are logged with your host name and whatever you entered 230-for the password. 230- 230-If you have any problems or comments about this archive, please send 230-them via e-mail to archive@ftp.sunet.se. 230- 230-Please read the file README.access.methods 230- it was last modified on Tue Nov 23 11:40:41 1993 230 Guest login ok, access restrictions apply. Remote system type is UNIX. Using binary mode to transfer files. ftp> cd pub/graphics 250 CWD command successful. ftp> ls 200 PORT command successful. 150 Opening ASCII mode data connection for /bin/ls. total 3 drwxrwxr-x 2 1001 1000 512 Jan 29 13:42 FLC drwxrwxr-x 2 1001 1100 512 Oct 23 05:18 jpeg drwxrwxr-x 11 1001 1100 1024 Dec 11 05:36 mpeg 226 Transfer complete. ftp> cd jpeg 250-Files within this subtree are automatically mirrored 250- 250-Please read the file README 250- it was last modified on Thu Feb 25 01:00:00 1993 - 340 days ago total 661 -r--r--r-- 1 1001 1100 54 Jan 3 1992 .message -r--r--r-- 1 1001 1100 2212 Feb 25 1993 README -r--r--r-- 1 1001 1100 1373 Feb 24 1993 README.Z -r--r--r-- 1 1001 1100 32788 Sep 9 1992 jfif.ps.Z -r--r--r-- 1 1001 1100 6783 Sep 9 1992 jfif.txt.Z -r--r--r-- 1 1001 1100 3506 Feb 25 1993 jpeg.documents.Z -r--r--r-- 1 1001 1100 459539 Dec 10 1992 jpegsrc.v4.tar.Z -r--r--r-- 1 1001 1100 2067 Feb 25 1993 pm.errata.Z -r--r--r-- 1 1001 1100 134843 Dec 18 1991 wallace.ps.Z 226 Transfer complete. ftp> ascii 200 Type set to A. ftp> get README local: README remote: README 200 PORT command successful. 150 Opening ASCII mode data connection for README (2212 bytes). 226 Transfer complete. 2260 bytes received in 2.96 seconds (0.75 Kbytes/s) ftp> binary 200 Type set to I. ftp> get jpeg.documents.Z local: jpeg.documents.Z remote: jpeg.documents.Z 200 PORT command successful. 150 Opening BINARY mode data connection for jpeg.documents.Z (3506 bytes). 226 Transfer complete. 3506 bytes received in 1.67 seconds (2.05 Kbytes/s) ftp> bye 221 Goodbye. (42)%
Some of the problems you might run into.
Q. you downloaded the file and it doesn't work
A. download it again but make sure you enter "binary" first, to specify binary transfer mode.
Q. you only get half a file or the transfer cuts out before its finished.
A. This is probably due to your disk space quota and all you should need to remedy this is to make a directory in the /tmp directory and download the files there.
Getting your programs off the system can be done in one of two ways at home using kermit (i.e. kermit -i -s bin.file.name, kermit -s text.file.name) or at the computer center using the 486's.
On another note you may have found that certain news groups which are not available on the system like alt.fan.?????. Although these news groups are not on the system it does not mean that you can not get them. Try looking in the following ftp sites under the path /pub/usenet/news.group.name: pit-manager.edu or ftp.sunet.se. If you have an fsp server you can also find them at 131.215.131.148 21.
Another way to transfer files is to use e-mail, this can be used for both binary and text. Special preparation of binary files is needed, each binary file must be encoded using uuencode (e.g. uuencode file.name). Similarly the receiver must decode the file using uudecode (e.g. uudecode file.name).
For those of you who are interested in the internet and would like to know more I strongly recommend "The Whole Internet User's Guide & Catalog" by Ed Krol which I believe is still available in the University book store.
by: Ursula Bagnell
For all you people that were in 60- 100 and heard Dr. Frost refer to that `pentium chip' and had no clue about what he was referring to. This article is for you!
There is a new source of computing power which has been discovered. It can amazingly execute two instructions at once. This incredible chip can produce processing speeds of over 100 MIPS (millions of instructions per second). It is called the Pentium. by Intel. This article will briefly explain how its technology is making PCs run faster today.
In General there are three ways in which to make microprocessors run faster:
These features, help the Pentium processor crunch more than 100 MIPS at a clock speed of 60 MHz. Pentium processor based PCs are now as fast as workstations. Yes that means that it can perform 2 times better than the Intel 486 DX2 66 MHz processor. Also, the redesigned floating-point unit on the Pentium processor offers up to 5 times the performance of the Intel 486DX2-66 CPU for math-intensive applications.
This pentium processor allows programmers to broaden their horizons in the software industry, such as 3-D design, multimedia, handwriting and voice recognition, virtual reality and more.
You've seen it on the TV news, in the paper and possibly the radio morning show, violence in software is creating waves of debate. Mortal Combat, Doom and Death Trap along with many other titles of popular games are among the headlines. These games are available for games systems such as SEGA, Super Nintendo, and also some for the home PC. Many groups are upset at the gruesome acts of savagery portrayed in the games.
Mortal Combat is just as the name suggests, the combatants use various fighting techniques to fell their opponent and every character has special moves. This in itself is not too bad. The blood that is shown when a player is hit adds effective energy to the game; but is it too much. The real problem occurs in the DEATH MOVES. When a player is almost beaten and can barely stand their aggressor is told to FINISH HIM. At this point the heart may be ripped out, the head with the spine still attached can be held as a trophy, or the player may be burnt to a crisp and their bones crumble. These are just the more gory kills.
SEGA uses a special code on the games for parents to monitor what their children buy. It is much like the movie ratings. We all know how affective those are! Super Nintendo went as far as not programming in the blood and some of the end moves. On a positive side, SEGA has to have a code entered into the game to turn on blood and DEATH MOVES, but I received the code from a twelve year old when I was at work. When asked where he had obtained it he replied, "It's in all the game magazines at the bookstore." I checked and the magazines are accessible to all ages and not only book stores but at every convenience store you can possibly name.
Doom is a game that has actually come far in its graphics enhancements if only in game play. The use of darkness and flashes of light when a gun is fired enhance game play dramatically and also instill fear in the player. I know. I have it. Out from under the covers now so I'll continue. You are basically on a moon base fighting aliens. You have a variety of weapons which cause the aliens to crumble in a pool of blood. Parts of their body explode and if you are lucky enough to own a sound card you can hear the screams of pain. One thing to remember that these are graphical aliens who are being killed and not people as in Mortal Combat. Even in Mortal Combat the characters are almost supernatural so the player is disassociated from the violence. The person is still not part of the game.
Death Trap is a CD ROM game and employs real life actors and actresses to play roles in the game. The theme is zombi-like men attack women at a slumber party. Of course the girls are in lingerie and appear to be helpless. The main problem with this game is that the violence is so realistic and similar to today's social problems. Many experts agree that brutality against women on TV promotes the onslaught in real life. Games which also consist of such actions are no different in the fact that they have a negative impact on younger viewers, if not all viewers. It differs in the sense that the person playing the game has full control over the outcome, hence the life of another person. On TV we are just the spectators. That is bad enough. TV is highly censored and most sensitive issues or shows are on after eight PM. Parents watch the shows and see the warnings before viewing. Thus they can regulate what the child watches. Also, many parents do not realize what the games their children play actually consist of.
Retail, unfortunately does not have strong enough regulations on who can buy what games, and they can be purchased anywhere. Children can rent the games from video stores and games stores. They are too accessible to young, impressionable people. Everyone is at odds for a solution to the problem. Some say to ban the games entirely, while others say to allow the parents to regulate their own children. No matter what the outcome, someone will be upset. I think that the games should be rented to persons of the appropriate age group. Utilizing the codes similar to that used by movie theaters and rental outlets. As long as the proprietor followed the rules then the problem could be minimized. Unfortunately I don't see the problem disappearing totally, but that would be a start. One thing is for sure though, Pac Man was too tame!
by Ron McKenzie
1993: The year of the CD-ROM. The year opened with the standard MPC-1 compatible drives costing over $300 Cnd, and the newer MPC-2, or double- spin, drives costing as much as $1000. As we look ahead into 1994 we see a new batch of quad-spin drives coming out. First out of the gate was Pioneer, with it's DRM604X 6 disc quadraspin. NEC will be soon to follow with it's MultiSpin 4X Pro. Both of these drives will set you back over $1000, with the NEC drive doing less damage. These drives will be falling throughout the year, and driving down the price of the lesser drives. Already the prices on the double-spin drives are dipping as low as $300 Cnd.
Now these falling prices will make drives more accessible, but this is nothing new. Bigger, faster, better, newer stuff driving down the prices of yesterday's technology. Rocketing performance and free-falling prices are standard fare in the computer industry. My concern is on the software end. Most significant, in my book, was CorellDraw! 4 coming out on CD-ROM. Oh, sure I know that OS/2 and a slew of other large programs came out on CD-ROM, but I feel that CorellDraw tells the story best. Although it came out on both CD and disc the versions were not the same. The CD contained hundreds of extra fonts and thousands of extra clip-art pictures. Now the reason I feel that this is important is that there is no good way to pirate this. Even if you totally ignore the manuals, the warranty, the support, your time, the ethical concerns, and consider only the cost of storing the information, you'll find it costs more than it's worth to pirate it. Floppy, floptical, hard drive, MO, WORM, will all cost you more than it w
I'm not sure of the exact stats on the percent of pirated CDs, but I'm sure it's near 0, compared to about 50% for most other software. This is a very important result. Designers of CD-ROM software are receiving their just rewards. As more and more people buy CD-ROM drives, more and more designers will put their new software on CD-ROM, and will take advantage of the properties of this medium.
And the dirty, hidden, unspoken, secret question that lingers in the dark recesses of many pirates. "What about us?". Well, It's good for you too! (For those of you who are not sure if you are a pirate or not, if you have any software that is not public domain, and you have not paid for it, you are a pirate.) The benefits of the CD-ROM uprising are many, and far-reaching. First off, you don't have to break the law to feel you are getting the most out of your computer (Competition is usually more important than objective performance.). There is no risk of getting caught, and facing penalties. All of your software will have manuals (Sure, you'll still jump right in without reading them, but they save valuable hours when you get in a fix, and help you fully utilize the product. Besides the manuals for games are cool to read.). I've seen people who have hard drives full of pirated software, but still can barely use their machine. They have no manuals, so they scarcely know what their software does, much less how
So why is piracy so prevalent? Well, there are a number of users willing to spend the extra time it takes to learn a software package without the manual. For those who do not it is the illusion of getting something for nothing, an under- estimation of the value of their time, the idea that everyone is doing it so it's OK, lack of knowledge, and trust. The last two are closely linked. Most people when they first get their machine know next to nothing about it. So, they get a hold of someone who does to come over and `fix-up' their machine for them. This usually consists of helping them understand their bundled software, configuring their memory, and filling their hard drive. When you don't know what you are doing you trust those who do. When an experienced user pirates software for you, you assume he/she's doing you a favour. The end-result certainly does not look that way. So there goes the average family with their 2.7 kids, 2 car garage, and a desktop machine full of potential, and no way to use it.
The advantages reach far beyond forcing us to be honest. The fact that designers will be paid for each and every copy that is sold means designers will make more money. The more money that is going to designers, the competition on the part of designers to receive a bigger slice of the pie. This results in lower prices and higher quality software on CD-ROM. This, of course has a circular effect of more people buying CD-ROM drives to tap into this neat stuff.
Let me not forget the direct advantages of the media form itself. 640 MB of space goes a long way, and provides opportunity for many forms of multi-media to be realized. Also, because they are read-only you need not worry about them becoming infected with viruses. For those whom are looking to buy a CD-ROM drive, I wouldn't suggest getting anything slower than a doublespin (300K/s). The strength of CD-ROM lies in the bulk of video it can store. On a standard CD-ROM the refresh rate is just too slow. For those who thought this article was going to be a review of Pirates! Gold, talk to Bryan Brown, he picked it up a while back
The C.S.S. is having yet another one. This time it's at Last Harry's Sports Bar (corner of Ouellette and Tecumseh). Sign up at the office or talk directly to Dario Sfalcin. The tournament is on the 16th of Feb.
by: Alain Siodlowski
If you have had the chance to try the World Wide Web with Mosaic (xmosaic, WinMosaic etc.) , then you can appreciate the usefullness of HyperText and global infomation access (like the WWW, gopher, WAIS, etc.). The University of Windsor not only has access to the WWW, but also has documents on it. The WWW is basically a giant Hyper-linked document. But individual "pages" can be located on different systems around the world. The WWW also supports multi- media. Thus it not only contains text, but also images, animation and sound.
Starting this year, the Wisdom (and other info from, the C.S.S.) will be available on Mosaic. The transfer will be made soon (when I have the time to do it). But the Wisdom will still be published on paper, at least until xmosaic is easily accessible on the SGI. Mosaic is, at the moment, available on the SUN system and on the Computer Centre's Novell network (Windows). Documents are stored on turner.lamf.uwindsor.ca in the School of Computer Science.
As for the Wisdom itself, well... I'm still trying to get more articles from the general membership (i.e. YOU!) on various subjects (tips, review of new technologies, how to hook up a VAX in your house(remember it's 3 phase), etc.). There is the usual $5.00 for any articles published. You don't have to be a world class author, just interested. Submit any articles (or questions, suggestions) to: wisdom@cs.uwindsor.ca
by Alain Siodlowski
The ski trip to Blue Mountain, Collinwood, was a chance for many to try out new experiences. A few people hit the slopes (literally, they fell), others came in close contact with nature (i.e. hit a tree) or met new people (ran in to them) and some felt the cool soothing (almost religious) effects of the bathroom floor (after a long gruelling night of partying). But no one got hurt and no one got sued. The skiing conditions were excellent and the slopes not too crowded. In all about 70 people went on the trip, and came back in one piece.
The trip started on Friday the 21st of Jan. at around 11:30am for most of us. The bus arrived at Blue Mountain on time. Others who took there cars also arrived, more or less, at the same time. But for one group of four people, who took Highway 24, it took a little longer due to poor (sometimes non-existent) visibility. See the photo on the next page, taken after they got off the highway.
Friday night was cold and very windy. Going up the ski lift (against the wind) was just a joy. Going down felt like having rockets strapped to your back. Some people started partying as soon as they arrived at Blue Mountain, others waited until the slopes closed at 10:00 pm before starting.
Saturday, when everyone got up (around noon or so), the sun was shinning and slopes full of people. The weather was perfect for skiing. This was also the day when most of us took full advantage of the fully equipped kitchens we had in our condos. Spaghetti, pork chops, pies etc. where prepared. Some of us also had a chance to see downtown Collinwood while replenishing our supplies. We also got to see some of the facilities of the resort, such as the pool, sauna, indoor tennis courts, restaurants and the night clubs.
Sunday we had to be out of the condos by 11:00 am and we were on our way back to Windsor. The trip was fun and for those of you who missed it, reserve your spot early for our next ski trip next year.
by: Glen Awad
"No! you can't use the computers here."
This is what you can expect if you want to work on a word perfect document in the Odette computer lab. It does not matter if you are a computer science student, or if the Odette lab is empty, and the computer center is full. All that matters is that you are a business student! But, most Computer Science students take business courses. Why can't we use an empty computer lab when the other lab is overflowing? "The business department paid for the lab" said Mr. Walter Manney. False! You paid for the lab with your ever increasing tuition fees. When will we all work together on issues like these. This is a place for learning and growing!
Our office is now located on the 2nd floor of the CAW student centre in the club and society room. The phone number is 253-4232 ext. 3507
wisdom@cs.uwindsor.ca
