Newton utilities:
Newton books:
Newton games:
PowerBook utilities:
Newton 110 Modem Fix
Category: Newton/Applications & Utilities
Author: Smittie
110 Modem Fix provides a much-needed patch for Newton system 1.3
on the MessagePad 110, correcting an error which prevented Japanese
users from using the modem. According to the fix's author, the
problem occurred because of conflicting system calls: one looked
for the string "Japan" while the other sought "Nippon". Oops!
In addition to fixing the bug, Mr. Smith thoughtfully added some
additional Japanese cities to the internal list.
NOTE: This is an "install and forget" package, and will not appear
in the Extras drawer. In addition, it must be installed on the
Internal store: if installed on a card, the modem will fail once
the card is removed. See the documentation for complete details.
Rating: 4 (out of 5)
Keywords: newton messagepad bug nippon japan international communications
telecom
Requires: Newton MessagePad 110, System 1.3, Newton Connection Kit or
similar
Price: Freeware
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Newton Accessor 1.0
Category: Newton/Applications & Utilities
Author: Smittie
It seems everyone's trying to reinvent the wheel, especially when
the existing wheel leaves something to be desired. Such is the
case with the interface to the Newton's Extras drawer, a much
used part of the MessagePad system and a square wheel, indeed.
From Japan comes a more elegant interface with some addititonal
features: Newton Accessor. It adds three buttons to the Status
Bar, the most significant one presenting the Extras drawer in
a format similar to "View by Name" on the Macintosh. (After using
the Mac for a while, I grew tired of the "View by Icon," and have
likewise grown to resent Newton's tyranny in the Extras Drawer
in this regard.) As for the other two buttons: one toggles between
the card and internal store, while the other switches between
user and guest handwriting recognition settings. ("Against Apple's
guidelines," according to the author -- woo woo!)
It may just be rounding off some of the interface's rough edges,
but it's well done and is -- unlike many such tweaks -- a definite
improvement over Apple's choice.
Rating: 4 (out of 5)
Keywords: messagepad extras drawer accessories buttons status bar card
internal store guest user handwriting recognition
Requires: Newton MessagePad, Newton Connection Kit or similar
Price: Freeware
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Newton AssistCalc 3.1
Category: Newton/Applications & Utilities
Author: Hardy Macia
Oh, come on, Apple. You give us a sleek little machine capable
of leaping tall algorithms in a single bound, load it with the
most powerful handwriting recognition software available in consumer
electronics, charge a few hundred bucks for it, and THAT's the
calculator you include in the package?
For those of you who agree with my sentiments above, you'll be
pleased to know that AssistCalc will do many of the things you
wish your free Newton calculator would do: logarithms, complex
algebra, financial calculations, and the like. But with this additional
flexibility comes a price: instead of entering calculations with
faux buttons, you have to write everything in, invoking the Newton's
questionable handwriting recognizer. (I, for one, still can't
get it to read an "X" as anything but a "*".) But that's not the
fault of the prolific Newton programmer Hardy Macia, who has added
to the functionality of the Newton with this program. Cute icon,
too!
Version 3.0 allows you to save over 20 user-configurable formulae.
Version 3.1 saves the current expression between launches.
Rating: 3 (out of 5)
Keywords: newton assistcalc calculator formula geometry trigonometry algebra
math
Requires: Newton MessagePad, Newton Connection Kit
Price: Shareware $10
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Newton Business Japanese 1.05D
Category: Newton/Applications & Utilities
Author: Wendy and Manabu Tokunaga, Pacific Electronic Connection
Stuck in a plane on your way to Tokyo? There's no better time
to brush up on your Japanese, and the Tokunaga's Business Japanese
is a fun and convenient way to check what you've learned. The
method is flashcards: you're shown either the Japanese or English,
and try to guess its complement before hitting the "Answer" button.
It's not really a course in Japanese, only flashcards -- but flashcards
have been shown to be quite effective in reinforcing already-learned
information.
To test the veracity of the translations, I employed the skills
of Scott "Kuma" Love, a ZiffNet/Mac editor who lived in Japan
for three years. According to him: "It's interesting how it keeps
switching between levels of politeness. Still I could stand here
and do this all day. Better kick me out of your office, or I'll
never get anything done today." What more ringing endorsement
could there be?
Although the authors say that this is only a demo, they've included
enough phrases to get you started before paying the shareware
fee. Doing so, however, unlocks many more phrases.
Rating: 3 (out of 5)
Keywords: flashcards education japan nippon travel language international
learning
Requires: Newton MessagePad, Newton Connection Kit or similar
Price: Shareware $10
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Newton Comfort Index Calculator
Category: Newton/Applications & Utilities
Author: Harvey Bojarsky, Middlegate
You know the sun is shining, but why does it feel so cold? "Comfort"
may give you some insight into why your skin has turned blue.
Produced in cooperation with WeatherLabs, a Chicago-based meteorological
house, this funky little app accepts input for three criteria:
temperature, wind speed, and humidity. (Fortunately, input in
done through sliders -- no handwriting recognition needed!) From
this information, Comfort ascertains the perceived temperature,
considering two formulas which affect how weather is felt: the
heat index and the wind chill factor.
The program's charm -- and its size -- is apparent after you hit
the "Compute!" button. Besides the perceived temperature, you
are also presented with a cute full-screen picture of a man in
the environment you specified: freezing in the cold, melting in
the heat, or sipping a tall, cool one. There's also a "hint" button,
with such pithy advice as "It's beautiful outside! Enjoy the fresh
air. Have fun!" or "Be very careful -- in these conditions exposed
skin freezes in a matter of minutes." Cool! Pity there's no animation..
It's a wonderful, fun tool, but I'd take all recommendations with
a little hesitancy, as the effect of both the wind chill factor
and the heat index are not as simple as are portrayed in this
program. Also, conditions outside of a certain range will return
ridiculous values using these formulas: for example, the slider
goes up to 130 degrees, but at that temperature and 50% humidity,
the perceived temperature would be 238 degrees. Does this mean
we'd all boil away? Of course not.
All temperatures are in Fahrenheit. The documentation is clear,
and promises an Easter Egg (hidden surprise) somewhere in the
package. If you can find it, let me know!
Rating: 4 (out of 5)
Keywords: cold hot wind chill temperature heat index human body perception
weather
Requires: Newton MessagePad, Newton Connection Kit or similar
Price: Freeware
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Newton EasyBill 2.0
Category: Newton/Applications & Utilities
Author: Matt Spolin
Newton EasyBill is an intriguing application which lets you track
hourly billing in the most logical place: the "Dates" calendar.
According to the instructions, all one need do is create a meeting
called, say, "MegaCorp 8 hours". Then, open EasyBill, specify
the key word "MegaCorp", your billing rate, and a range of dates
to search. A table then appears, showing days worked for that
client, hours, and the rate charged. That table can then be copied
into the Notes area.
Easier said than done, I found. As with anything involving text
input on the Newton MessagePad, it's difficult to control. However,
an error with the "Create" button which plagued version 1.0 seems
to have been cleared up in version 2.0. All in all, it works quite
well, and the tabular format EasyBill creates is handy, and difficult
to create without it.
Rating: 4 (out of 5)
Keywords: billing invoice easy bill payment charge dates notes rate table
Requires: Newton MessagePad, Newton Connection Kit or similar
Price: Shareware $29.95
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Newton Exchanges 0.1
Category: Newton/Applications & Utilities
Author: William Kearney
Newton Exchanges is a hack similar in function to Mr. Kearney's
"Newton AreaCodes", a stable, useful and appropriate little app
for the Newton MessagePad. This one adds an extra choice to the
"Formula" application in the Extras drawer: an phone exchange
finder for Maryland. For those of you who don't know the anatomy
of U.S. telephone numbers, they're ten digits long: the first
three are the "Area Code", indicating the part of the country;
the second three are the "Exchange", further dividing the region;
and the last four are particular to the user.
The operation is easy as can be, assuming you're pretty good at
getting the PDA to recognize your handwritten numbers: simply
write the three-digit exchange in the space indicated, hit "Find",
and it'll return detailed information on the location of the Exchange.
This package is really just a demo, as it contains only exchanges
within the Maryland area (410 area code). In the documentation
which accompanies this product, he mentions that he's working
on developing lists for other areas, and will do *your* area code,
given enough noodging from users. So come on, eWorldians outside
the Baltimore area.. you know what to do.. *hint hint*
NOTE: This is a beta version and, as such should be installed
only after backing up sensitive data.
Rating: 3 (out of 5)
Keywords: telephone phone region united states bell call maryland exchange
hack number
Requires: Newton MessagePad, Newton Connection Kit or similar
Price: Shareware: $5
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Newton Extras Manager 1.2.2
Category: Newton/Applications & Utilities
Author: Ricardo E. Martinez
'Dja ever notice how all the neat stuff on your MessagePad is
found it the "Extras" drawer? And 'dja ever notice how disorganized
all that cool stuff gets, crammed into that one location? Not
to worry. Ricardo Martinez' Extras Manager does for the Newton
what Greg's Browser did for the Macintosh: overcomes certain weaknesses
in the design of Apple's file management system to allow you access
to more information and a more convenient way to launch your files.
Applications show up in a list, which can be organized according
to name or size, in ascending or descending order. From there
they can be launched, or a wide range of information gathered,
by hitting the appropriate button. It's customizable, and works
with the Notes application to provide shortcuts to get to your
most frequently used applications via a button. The author has
been quite good about warning users of potential problems, so
be sure to read the Read Me file before using!
Version 1.2 provides more detailed "in progress" dialogs (letting
you know what exactly the little beast is thinking about), adds
some new user preferences and circumvents a few small errors.
NOTE: The author's documentation for Version 1.2.2 states that
this is Version 1.2.1: ignore this typo. WARNING: Empty folders
are deleted under certain circumstances. The author states that
he intended this to happen, to keep the folder structure simple.
Read the documentation for more information.
Rating: 3 (out of 5)
Keywords: Newton Manager organization packages extras drawer signature
sorting labels information folders list
Requires: Newton MessagePad, Newton Connection Kit or similar
Price: Shareware $10
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Newton FitnessLog 1.72
Category: Newton/Applications & Utilities
Author: Paul Rekieta
Wrap your sweaty fingers around your MessagePad and scrawl your
workout information before you faint! That's the picture that
springs to mind when I think of using FitnessLog for its intended
purpose: to record performance in running, biking, or other athletic
activities. It's a remarkably complete database program: it comes
pre-set to monitor and report best times for each race or session,
with options to define custom workouts. All the relevant information
has its place: date of workout, definition, time, distance, pace,
split (section) times, as well as a space for notes. From this
information, two info-rich reports are generated: a Personal Record,
and a Distance Summary.
I'm pleased to say that the author has diligently fixed the bugs
that plagued previous releases, making this app a lot more stable.
He's also added several features, such as better data entry and
conversion, the ability to define up to six activities, and graphs
of your activity over a 12-month period. Give it a try: if you're
an exercise buff, you may well find this to be the most useful
app you've ever installed.
Version 1.6.2 further fixes bugs and improves the interface. Version
1.7 is a significant upgrade which adds the first step towards
complete heart rate monitoring, offers a new "Month at a Glance"
report and fixes minor bugs. Version 1.72 fixes other minor problems.
Rating: 4 (out of 5)
Keywords: running biking run bike race work out workout database exercise
fitness log
Requires: Newton, Newton Connection Kit or similar
Price: Shareware $25
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Newton MoreInfo Demo 2.01
Category: Newton/Applications & Utilities
Author: SilverWARE
MoreInfo is a system enhancer which extends the usefulness of
the internal Names and Dates programs on your Newton MessagePad
by adding a few extra buttons to the Status Bar. When installed
and activated, it adds two buttons in the aforementioned programs:
a "New" button and a "More" button. The "More" button controls
a pop-up menu which is at the heart of MoreInfo's functionality,
giving you instant access to the "Make Appointment", "Add To Do",
and "Add MoreInfo" functions. And it does all this within 6K of
active memory!
Newton MoreInfo 2.0 adds, according to the press release, over
40 new features, most significant of which is Newton Connection
Kit support; inexplicably, you'll have to buy the full version
to see how this much-heralded new feature works, as is not available
in the demo.
Be sure to read the Read Me documentation for details on conflicts
with NotePak and NewtCase. This demo is limited to use with only
one name from the Names file.
Version 2.01 is an update with unspecified changes.
Rating: Not Rated
Keywords: Status bar more info names dates entry information info
Requires: Newton MessagePad, Newton Connection Kit or similar
Price: Demoware
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Newton MPG 2.0
Category: Newton/Applications & Utilities
Author: Hardy Macia
MPG stands for Miles Per Gallon, and it gives Newton MessagePad
users one more reason to carry their sleek black marvel (Newton)
in their sleek black marvel (Porsche). It acts as a mileage log
book, allowing you to calculate miles per gallon, average gas
price, and other useful automotive statistics as you drive down
life's highways. A wide variety of entry options is confusing
at first, but struggle through them: after you're finished entering,
a tap on the "stats" button will reward you with more statistics
than you can shake an overpriced chrome-plated gas cap at.
Version 2.0 is a significant update, with new import/export features,
alarms, and support for Imperial gallons.
Rating: 5 (out of 5)
Keywords: MPG CALCULATOR AUTOMOBILE LOG GAS NEWTON miles per gallon litres
kilometers auto car mileage travel
Requires: Newton, Newton Connection Kit
Price: Shareware $20
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Newton Pick Extras 1.17
Category: Newton/Applications & Utilities
Author: William Kearney
Build a better mousetrap.. and dozens of other folks will try
to improve upon it. That's the case with Newton Pick Extras, one
of a slew of tools designed to facilitate access of the items
in the overcrowded "Extras" drawer. This one is the most transparent
I've ever seen: it adds no icons, no buttons, no nothing. Instead,
it takes advantage of the fact that the oversized Extras "button"
is just like any other part of the screen, and can therefore be
subdivided.
Pick Extras divides the "Extras" button into two parts. Tap the
bottom half, and you'll see the Extras drawer in its familiar
form. Tap the upper part, however, and you'll get a list of available
apps and books. In use, it wasn't of much help to me: but then
again, I *like* the icon view on my MessagePad, mostly because
I don't have much on it to clutter the Extras screen. Pick Extras
is best used by those who have more than one screen of icons in
their Extras drawer and are tired of scrolling around to see what
they have. It's quite stable, and even remains accessible on the
card when ejected. Try *that* with any other Extras extender!
NOTE: This is a beta version, and will expire 30 days after you
install it on your Newton-based PDA or 26 May 1995, whichever
comes first. The author is continually updating this extension,
and will eventually distribute a release version with no such
restrictions.
Rating: 3 (out of 5)
Keywords: extra drawer pop up popup list access open launch launcher
Requires: Newton, Newton Connection Kit or similar
Price: Shareware $15
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Newton PocketMoney 1.41
Category: Newton/Applications & Utilities
Author: Hardy Macia
"Hey, what's that thing, dude?" "It's a, uh, computer, sort of."
"Cool! It's kinda like a tricorder on Star Trek, huh? Dee-dee,
dee-dee." "Uh, yeah, I guess so." "What can you do with it, besides
check out Diana Troi's vitals? huh-huh-huh-huh." "Well I can,
uh, balance my checkbook."
And so you can, excellently so, with another suite of programs,
PocketMoney, from the prolific mind of Hardy Macia. This one balances
as many accounts as you like, designating deposits and withdrawals
as being in any of 17 predefined categories (budgets) or letting
you add your own. All transactions are recorded on a standardized
form, making record keeping a one-step process. Support for external
Mac programs is superb and fully covered in the outstandingly
detailed documentation (which is itself a NewtonBook).
Other features are password protection, Posting Standards support,
Find support, and Quicken import/export (QIF) support.
The package includes only the main program. The files "Newton
PocketMoney Manual" and "Newton PocketMoney Extras" should be
downloaded and reviewed, if this is the first time you are using
the PocketMoney package.
Version 1.31 works with 24 hour clocks, adds a preference for
using the current date for new entries, has mailing support, and
search works with partial words. Version 1.33 fixes bugs and allows
you to sort amounts numerically. Version 1.37 fixes bugs. And
version 1.41 fixes more bugs.
Rating: 5 (out of 5)
Keywords: newton pocketmoney pocket money checking account finances quicken
balance expenses income checkbook savings
Requires: Newton MessagePad, Newton Connection Kit
Price: Shareware $20
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Newton QuickCall 2.1
Category: Newton/Applications & Utilities
Author: Matt Spolin
If you're like me, you dread every time you have to write something
in longhand on the Newton MessagePad. You scratch it out, wait,
realize the surly little thing interpreted your chicken scratch
as some unnameable obscenity, scribble it out, it interprets the
scribble as your mother's maiden name..
Anyway. QuickCall does away with one such instance, by placing
a phone-icon button in the status bar of your note pad. When hit,
it acts as though you wrote "call", highlighted it, and tapped
"Assist". The result is the phone dialing dialog box. All in all,
it takes less than two seconds, as opposed to the nine seconds
it took me to do it manually (with my assistant in the background,
counting "Mississippi one, Mississippi two..")
It won't deliver world peace, but what the hell. Version 2.0 was
re-written to include a pop-up menu of people to call, and Version
2.1 adds international support (by which you can change the "Call"
word to the word for "Call" in any language -- or any other word,
for that matter) as well as fixing a minor display bug.
Rating: 3 (out of 5)
Keywords: phone telephone quick call telecom communications directory
assist status bar button freeware
Requires: Newton MessagePad, Newton Connection Kit or similar
Price: Freeware
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Newton RUNewt 2.5
Category: Newton/Applications & Utilities
Author: Steve Weyer
RUNewt (also known as Run, Newt, Run) is the freeware run-time
version of Newt, allowing programs created in that environment
to be run on Newtons which don't have that shareware package.
In other words, programs created in Newt can be run beamed or
mailed between Newtons and run through RUNewt.
A bit about Newt: Newt allows you to create simple applications
using NewtonScript and generate turtle graphics programming. The
result of the latter is Logo simulated on your Newton, but with
very strong support for Newton scripting. Be careful how you mess
around with your "soup" -- you have been warned! Newt is also
available in this library.
Version 2.5 is a minor update which fixes a bug, installs applications
more cleanly and changes a checkbox slightly.
Rating: 3 (out of 5)
Keywords: newt programming runtime end user logo turtle run newt run native
Newton application delivery transfer
Requires: Newton MessagePad, Newton Connection Kit, Newt 2.1 or later
Price: Freeware
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Newton ScratchPad 2.0
Category: Newton/Applications & Utilities
Author: Matt Spolin
The Newton MessagePad is great, isn't it? But even with all its
benefits, some Mac users regret that they can't find equivalents
of their favorite shareware programs for the little beast. You
know the ones I mean: Bolo, Tetris, RapMaster..
But wait! An application inspired by Brian K. "Beaker" Ressler's
RapMaster Deluxe is now available! Called ScratchPad, it lets
you.. well, I'll let the author describe his product:
"[ScratchPad] ..simulates the sound made by scratching a needle
on a record, popularized in some forms of modern music, especially
contemporary urban. [He means rap, folks! --Ed.] When records
can no longer be found, we'll have to rely on our Newtons!"
Sounds good to me. ScratchPad carries the official ZiffNet/Mac
"hey guys, check this out!" seal of approval. Version 2.0 adds
more sounds, including additional "scratches," handclaps and cowbells.
Rating: 3 (out of 5)
Keywords: fun messagepad joke rap urban contemporary records dj deejay
music scratch
Requires: Newton MessagePad, Newton Connection Kit or similar
Price: "Funware"
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Newton Slurpee 1.4
Category: Newton/Applications & Utilities
Author: Steve Weyer
Without being able to pass data to and from it, the Newton MessagePad
is about as useful as a Whiffle Ball. As do other shareware packages
such as Package Downloader and Pour (both available in this library),
Slurpee lets you bring your li'l Newton into the world of the
big computers by giving it an environment in which tab-delimited
data is transferred conveniently into the soup (and vice-versa).
On the Mac side, you'll need a telecom program such as the popular
shareware ZTerm or the aging Freeterm. Once you do, you can send
paragraphs via the serial port at 9600-8-N-1. As with all telecom
protocols, it takes a little practice to get it right; but once
you do, you'll find Slurpee to be a handy addition to your Newton's
repertoire. From the author of the programming environment Newt.
Version 1.3 includes changes far too numerous to mention here,
including a minor bug fix. In brief, the new version improves
the interface, allows for larger transfers, and includes more
documentation. Read it for further details. NOTE: Beginning with
version 1.3, Slurpee is shareware. Be sure to pay your fee! Version
1.4 makes some small changes to the interface which make it more
user-friendly, such as removing the "Sleep" checkbox when connected
and adding an icon for the Newt development environment (if it's
installed).
Rating: 4 (out of 5)
Keywords: data text transfer soup terminal emulator telecom communications
freeware
Requires: Newton MessagePad, Newton Connection Kit, Mac telecom program
Price: Shareware $10
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Newton T-Cube 1.0
Category: Newton/Applications & Utilities
Author: Apple Computer
Since before the Newton handwriting recognition system came out,
PDA designers have investigated other means of input for their
too-small-for-keyboard-size machines. T-Cube represents one solution
which eschews the whole recognition system -- and may turn out
to be the fastest freeware input system available.
Here's how it works. The user presses an icon on the status bar
and a small, movable palette appears and remains on the screen
until closed. The palette shows a pie with eight segments plus
a center section: within each of these segments, a choice of eight
characters is available. (The center segment features control
characters, such as backspace, delete, space, and so forth.) By
touching the segment and "flicking" to one of the characters,
that character appears at the insertion point.
And, surprisingly, it works fairly well. After very little practice,
one learns where all the characters are, and no longer needs to
refer to the pop-up maps. My chief reservations are that entering
capital letters takes two well-placed strokes (causing an interruption
which diminishes as one becomes more handy with the system), and
that other input systems (such as Palm Computing's commercial
product Graffiti, which uses a simplified alphabet for extremely
accurate recognition) seem more natural. Still, this is a promising
development in one of the touchiest areas of the PDA world.
Rating: 4 (out of 5)
Keywords: handwriting input writing typing type spell recognition
Requires: Newton MessagePad, Newton Connection Kit or similar
Price: Freeware
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Newton TimeLock 2.1
Category: Newton/Applications & Utilities
Author: Hardy Macia
Man, the more I review shareware, the more neat trivia I learn
about the Newton. For example: did you know you can set a password
to prevent others from accessing the data on your MessagePad?
Sure enough, there's a choice (known as a "slip" in Newtonese)
in the "Personal" preferences which allows just that.
Hardy Macia knew all about setting passwords. He also found out
about the annoyance one experiences from shutting down the MessagePad,
realizing he'd forgotten something, turning it back on a second
later, and having to enter that $#*@*&$# password. So he invented
a neat little hack -- TimeLock -- that keeps track of the time
between power-up and power-down, and lets you in without a password,
provided you haven't been away too long.
And how long is too long? Well, swee'pea, that's for you to decide.
The controls are all right there in the "Set Password" slip. Open
it up, and you'll see a new pop-up menu labeled "Password Delay".
Clear, simple, and easy to use, TimeLock is admirable for -- if
nothing else -- being the only program I know which functions
only when the machine is *off*.
New with version 2.0 you can install TimeLock's control into a
status bar button, if you can't be bothered to navigate through
the Preferences.
Version 2.0 includes NewtonBook version of manual, adds version
that installs in status bar, adds option to turn password on and
off, can install on either internal or RAM card. Version 2.1 adds
German versions and fixes bug in PS version.
Rating: 4 (out of 5)
Keywords: newton timelock sleep wake lock password preferences PDA shutdown
prefs
Requires: Newton MessagePad, Newton Connection Kit or similar
Price: Shareware $10
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Newton Tipster Plus 1.0
Category: Newton/Applications & Utilities
Author: Elbert Chen
When at a restaurant with friends, do you spend the meal fretting
over how the bill will be split when the check comes? Do you worry
about tipping too much, or too little? If you have a Newton, you'll
rack your brains no longer over such dilemmas, for Newton Tipster
Plus is your all-in-one dining friend. Four "pages" of calculators
assist you in tipping, splitting the bill, computing tax and --
new with version 1.0 -- recording your weekly restaurant spending.
This program has one feature hard to find in PDA programs: it's
actually easier to drag out your MessagePad and use this program
than to do it in your head! And the authority it offers may settle
ugly disputes. Worth the quick download.
Rating: 3 (out of 5)
Keywords: NEWTON TIPSTER TIPPING RESTAURANTS PDA TAX RATE SPLIT BILL WAITER
WAITRESS WAITRON
Requires: Newton, Connection Kit
Price: Shareware $5
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Newton UpperButtons 1.0
Category: Newton/Applications & Utilities
Author: Ben Gottleib
I won't go into detail here -- as I have in other reviews -- of
how much difficulty I have in getting the Newton to recognize
my handwriting. I'm refraining only because Ben Gottleib's clever
utility UpperButtons has lowered my frustration level considerably!
UpperButtons lets you place teeny tiny buttons, identified by
icons only a few pixels across, in the folder bar at the top of
the Newton screen. These buttons contain predefined text -- such
as your address -- which you expect to have to write repeatedly.
Next time you need to write out that text, simply press a button!
Similar to Jesse Devine's StatusBar Buttons (also available in
this library), UpperButtons is fully configurable using the included
Config package. Make sure you load both packages, and prepare
for speedier text entry on your Newton!
Rating: 4 (out of 5)
Keywords: text entry tap bar folder bar configure StatusBar
Requires: Newton MessagePad, Newton Connection Kit
Price: Shareware $5
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Newton WhereToFind 1.0
Category: Newton/Applications & Utilities
Author: Frederic Rinaldi, HyperSolutions
Remember the "Find" command on Mac's System 6? If you do, you're
fooling yourself: there *was* no built-in Find command before
System 7 (Psych!). As the Mac has matured, the need for one became
painfully obvious, and now (in System 7.5) it's developed into
a robust, energetic young thing based on ZiffNet/Mac's own FindPro
III.
And now the Newton's Find command has come of age, with help from
Frederic Rinaldi's "WhereToFind" extension. Load this package,
and and extra icon appears in the Find dialog. Click on it, and
new options appear to include or exclude Notes, Names, Dates,
Time Zones, Books, and installed apps from the search. A "Search
All" button makes it easy to return to the default -- an important
feature, as subsequent searches will have the same exclusions
as the last one performed. But it's stable, straightforward, easy-to-use,
and -- best of all -- free!
NOTE: There is no Read Me document for this package: all documentation
is under the "About.." button in the app's dialog.
Rating: 3 (out of 5)
Keywords: access search find options books where to find notes names dates
time zones
Requires: Newton, Newton Connection Kit or similar
Price: Freeware
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Newton X-Master 2.0
Category: Newton/Applications & Utilities
Author: Ricardo Guerra, Jr
Newton X-Master does for the Newton MessagePad what Now Menus
did for the Macintosh: it makes accessing the most commonly used
items on your machine more accessible by placing them in a pop-up
menu near the top of the screen. The similarity between this shareware
utility and the commercial Mac program is no coincidence: Ricardo
Guerra, Jr. was the developer of "MultiMaster", the hack which
turned into the commercial program NowMenus, and eventually became
incorporated into Now Utilities 4.0.
He's managed to transfer many of the useful features of MultiMaster
to the Newton, despite the radically different format: for example,
even though hierarchical menus aren't available on the Newton,
he's managed to instate a sort of pseudo-hierarchical menu to
choose between catalogs of installed books/applets and built-in
applications. To list the former, you touch the X-Master "dot":
for the latter, hold down on the dot for two seconds before releasing.
Easy!
Be sure to read the extensive Read Me file included, or you'll
miss out on many of the neat hidden features of X-Master, including
how to switch the configuration of the action dot to appear in
the left-hand corner. Version 2.0 removes limits on the number
of files that can appear in the popup menu.
Rating: 5 (out of 5)
Keywords: popup extras drawer applet now menus menu built in access hack
books
Requires: Newton MessagePad, Newton Connection Kit or similar
Price: Shareware: $5
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Newton - 103rd Congress
Category: Newton/Books
Author: Jeffrey Iverson
This is perhaps one of the best applications of a NewtonBook that
I've seen out of Jeff Iverson's busy foundry: 550 pages of contact
information on members of the United States Congress, 103rd (1994)
session. It's strikingly similar to the 1994 Ziff-Davis Interactive
Shareware Award winner "103rd Congress" by Tom Petaccia, but (naturally)
uses the more limited resources of the Newton MessagePad to arrive
at the same ends.
Congresspeople are divided into two groups (House of Representatives
and Senate), just as Mr. Petaccia's database is divided into two
files. Beyond that, they're listed by state and name, so finding
the congresspeople responsible for *your* district is a piece
of cake. In addition, the Newton's "Find" command adds a lot to
this book: assuming you can get it to recognize your handwriting,
finding all 41 members of the Education and Labor Committee takes
only about five seconds!
This is part of a collection of NewtonBooks adapted for the MessagePad
by Jeffrey Iverson, president of Iverson Software Company. The
collection includes reference materials (such as a guide to tourist
offices throughout the world and professional glossaries), antique
English works (such as Vision of Mirza and Westminster Abbey)
and texts from ancient Greek and Roman sources (such as the Orestia
trilogy by Aeschylus). All are shareware: for a complete list
of his NewtonBooks in this library, search for "Iverson".
Rating: Not Rated
Keywords: newtonbook book text politics congress house of representatives
Washington united states address contact
Requires: Newton MessagePad, Newton Connection Kit or similar
Price: Shareware $25
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Newton 1994 NCAA Schedule
Category: Newton/Books
Author: Jeffrey Iverson
Hey, college football fans: wanna know when L.S.U. is playing
Arkansas? Don't call one of those rip-off 900 numbers: download
this NewtonBook and know the score! As with any NewtonBook, the
text is searchable, providing you can get your MessagePad to read
"Arkansas" and not "Processor," as mine did. "Processor" won't
be playing "2.50" at anytime this season, unfortunately.
P.S. The two aforementioned teams will be dukin' it out November
26th, 1994.
This is part of a collection of NewtonBooks adapted for the MessagePad
by Jeffrey Iverson, president of Iverson Software Company. The
collection includes reference materials (such as a guide to tourist
offices throughout the world and professional glossaries), antique
English works (such as Vision of Mirza and Westminster Abbey)
and texts from ancient Greek and Roman sources (such as the Orestia
trilogy by Aeschylus). All are shareware: for a complete list
of his NewtonBooks in this library, search for "Iverson".
Rating: Not Rated
Keywords: newtonbook book text football national college athletic association
ball sports
Requires: Newton MessagePad, Newton Connection Kit or similar
Price: Freeware
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Newton - 95 Theses
Category: Newton/Books
Author: Jeffrey Iverson
For followers of Protestantism -- or ornery Catholics -- this
fundamental text by Martin Luther is an essential addition to
your NewtonBook library. Nailed to the church door Wittenberg
on 31 October 1517, these 95 "theses" (assertions) contradicted
the teachings of the then-omnipotent Catholic Church in Germany
and sparked a three-year controversy which led to his expulsion
from the church. Among his assertions: that the sale of indulgences
was wrong; that penitence should involve the whole life of the
penitent; and most blasphemous, that the Pope did not have final
authority.
Put in NewtonBook form by the prolific Jeffrey Iverson, the document
is easy to maneuver between Luther's dedicatory and introductory
letters, his Protestation, the theses themselves, and the lucid
historical introduction by (I assume) the translator, R.S. Grignon.
Rating: Not Rated
Keywords: religion martin luther ninety five protest protestant christian
catholic grignon
Requires: Newton MessagePad, Newton Connection Kit or similar
Price: Shareware $5
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Newton - Aeneid
Category: Newton/Books
Author: Jeffrey Iverson
This package contains one of the fundamental works of the classic
literature, Virgil's epic poem Aeneid. It's a sweeping work, covering
much of the history of the ancient world in its 969 pages. Can't
get through all 969 pages? I can't say's I blame you -- it can
be pretty heavy stuff. Fortunately, it's broken into its traditional
form of 42 chapters among 12 books. The translation is by John
Dryden, the 17th-century intellectual whose 184-page introduction
notes the development of the form of the epic poem in the Empire,
as well as offering some typically Renaissance opinions on the
nature of beauty.
NOTE: This is a *big* download, and the unstuffed .pkg occupies
better than 1.6 megabytes of space, transferring to about 900K
on your PIM. Make sure that you have enough space on your MessagePad
-- and enough time to babysit the transfer -- before beginning.
This is part of a collection of NewtonBooks adapted for the MessagePad
by Jeffrey Iverson, president of Iverson Software Company. The
collection includes reference materials (such as a guide to tourist
offices throughout the world and professional glossaries), antique
English works (such as Vision of Mirza and Westminster Abbey)
and texts from ancient Greek and Roman sources (such as the Orestia
trilogy by Aeschylus). All are shareware: for a complete list
of his NewtonBooks in this library, search for "Iverson".
Rating: Not Rated
Keywords: roman empire epic poem helen of troy newtonbook John Dryden
Requires: Newton MessagePad, Newton Connection Kit or similar
Price: Shareware: $15
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Newton - Aesop's Fables
Category: Newton/Books
Author: Jeffrey Iverson
Chances are, you know some of the fables attributed to Aesop,
even if you don't know them by name: The Wolf and the Lamb, The
Fox and the Crow, and -- most famous of them all -- Androcles
and The Lion. Aesop, a Greek slave who lived around 650 B.C.E.,
is said to have told these stories, which were translated into
Latin about 250 years later by Demetrius of Phaleron, who popularized
them. Many of the tales form the basis of modern-day works, and
the tradition of "animism" -- imbuing animals with spirits, expressed
through the presence of an animal "personality" -- has continued
through Lewis Carroll, the Uncle Remus books, and just about anything
by Disney.
This edition features 112 pages of tales, well indexed for easy
reference by the name of the story. It's presented together with
an illuminating (and uncredited) introduction. Translation into
modern (British) English by Joseph Jacobs.
This is part of a collection of NewtonBooks adapted for the MessagePad
by Jeffrey Iverson, president of Iverson Software Company. The
collection includes reference materials (such as a guide to tourist
offices throughout the world and professional glossaries), antique
English works (such as Vision of Mirza and Westminster Abbey)
and texts from ancient Greek and Roman sources (such as the Orestia
trilogy by Aeschylus). All are shareware: for a complete list
of his NewtonBooks in this library, search for "Iverson".
Rating: Not Rated
Keywords: joseph jacobs greek stories tales moral myth animals animism
Requires: Newton MessagePad, Newton Connection Kit or similar
Price: Shareware: $5
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Newton Afghanistan HTB Demo
Category: Newton/Books
Author: Jeffrey Iverson
Jeffrey Iverson, best known for his HyperCard-based "HyperTextBooks",
has branched out into providing information for the Newton MessagePad.
This package contains everything you ever wanted to know about
Afghanistan, but were too afraid of sheep to ask. Yes, there's
an entry on sheep, along with dozens of other relevant subjects.
In fact, the list of topics (and links in and out of those topics)
is so long, expect to wait a few seconds when calling up the table
of contents: it's a doozy!
The information seems complete, culled as it was by Funk & Wagnall's
(of encyclopedia fame). I was amazed to see the entry one the
Khyber Pass didn't mention the feature for which it's best known
in the West: as the richest source of hashish in the world. But
as this demo version cuts off the text after a few lines, I can't
say that that important fact is lacking in the full, commercial
version.
Be warned: the uncompressed book occupies quite a bit of memory,
so make sure you have plenty of room before transferring it to
your MessagePad. (And that's only the demo -- one can only wonder
how much space the full version requires!) This demo version is
limited in that only the first few lines of each entry is given:
the structure of the HyperTextBook is intact, however.
Rating: Not Rated
Keywords: demo history geography reference education hypertextbook hyper
text book
Requires: Newton MessagePad, Newton Connection Kit or similar
Price: Demoware
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Newton - Agamemnon
Category: Newton/Books
Author: Jeffrey Iverson
This is the first book in the House of Atreus trilogy, translated
into English by E.D.A. Morshead. The other two books are "The
Libation Bearers" (Cloephoroe) and "The Furies" (Eumenides), both
of which have been made into NewtonBooks by Mr. Iverson and are
available in this library. The work is especially important in
that it is the only surviving classic tragic Greek trilogy extant.
Written by Aeschylus (c. 525-456 B.C.E), the first known dramatist
to extend the Dramatis Personae beyond a single actor and chorus,
to include dialogue in the repetoire.
The presentation is only fair, hampered by the short line-length
of the MessagePad screen. As a result, lines which shouldn't wrap
do, and some sense of the poetry is visually lost. This need not
have happened: much smaller margins would have retained the phrasing
while still clearly indicating speakers. In addition, more useful
chapter headings than "Book I", "Book II" etc. would have been
welcome. Still, it's an important work, and neither of these shortcomings
will seriously interfere with the reader's enjoyment.
Rating: Not Rated
Keywords: greek classic house of atreus aeschylus drama chorus libation
bearers furies cloephoroe eumenides
Requires: Newton MessagePad, Newton Connection Kit or similar
Price: Shareware $5
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Newton Airports
Category: Newton/Books
Author: Jeffrey Iverson
Hmm.. it's Tuesday, my luggage says LGA, my ticket says CVG, and
my heart is in SFO.. but where the hell am I? Newton Airports
may help you out of this existential quandary: it's the MessagePad
realization of the old Mac Desk Accessory "Airports", which translates
those pesky three-letter airport acronyms into real place names.
Airports are listed alphabetically, by acronym, which is of little
help if you're trying to figure out the abbreviation for Cincinnati's
airport (CVG -- it's actually in Covington, Kentucky). The Newton's
overriding "Find" function works, of course -- assuming you can
get it to recognize your chicken scratch as "Cincinnati". Still,
travel information is well-placed on the nomadic Newton, and Newton
Airports is certainly worth the small space it occupies.
Rating: Not Rated
Keywords: newtonbook airport flying tla three letter acronyms locations
aviation
Requires: Newton MessagePad, Newton Connection Kit or similar
Price: Shareware $5
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Newton Alhambra Demo
Category: Newton/Books
Author: Jeffrey Iverson
This is a demo of the book "The Alhambra", a collection of tales,
published in 1851, by the American writer Washington Irving. He's
best known for his classic tales of old New England (such as The
Legend of Sleepy Hollow), but here he turns eastward. I'm not
sure if he turns to Spain or Arabia, as this is only an abbreviated
demo text.
Unfortunately, the author has taken to creating "demo" versions
of his books to encourage users to pay their shareware fees. The
book is limited in that only the first paragraph or two of each
tale is included, abruptly cut off by the words <>. After you pay for the book (and the cost, honestly, isn't that
high), he'll provide you with the full text.
This is part of a collection of NewtonBooks adapted for the MessagePad
by Jeffrey Iverson, president of Iverson Software Company. The
collection includes reference materials (such as a guide to tourist
offices throughout the world and professional glossaries), antique
English works (such as Vision of Mirza and Westminster Abbey)
and texts from ancient Greek and Roman sources (such as the Orestia
trilogy by Aeschylus). All are shareware: for a complete list
of his NewtonBooks in this library, search for "Iverson".
Rating: Not Rated
Keywords: newtonbook book text washington irving tales east
Requires: Newton-based PDA, Newton Connection Kit or similar
Price: Demoware
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Newton - Architectural Terms
Category: Newton/Books
Author: Jeffrey Iverson
Quick -- what's the difference between Doric, Ionian and Corinthian
orders? What's an baldachin? And when *were* the Bauhaus, Byzantine,
Baroque and Romanesque styles predominant?
Damned if I know -- I was a music student. But armed with this
18-page NewtonBook, I can fake my way with the best of those snotty
architecture students, peppering my conversation with a portico
here, and post and lintel there, a smattering of spires and a
respite of the Renaissance.
All these terms and more are listed, together with sentence-long
definitions. The organization isn't perfect -- the shortness of
the definitions leaves a lot of useful information out, and there's
a terrible lack of cross-referencing. For example, under "Doric
order", the book lists that it's "The first and simplest of the
three Greek orders and the only one which normally has no base."
That may be all well and good, but it left me wondering: what
are the other two?
And so it's assumed that you already have a basic understanding
of the field -- which is reasonable. After all, even experienced
professionals sometimes forget long-unused information, only to
be embarrassed when it's suddenly needed. This NewtonBook may
prevent some of that embarrassment.
This is part of a collection of NewtonBooks adapted for the MessagePad
by Jeffrey Iverson, president of Iverson Software Company. The
collection includes reference materials (such as a guide to tourist
offices throughout the world and professional glossaries), antique
English works (such as Vision of Mirza and Westminster Abbey)
and texts from ancient Greek and Roman sources (such as the Orestia
trilogy by Aeschylus). All are shareware: for a complete list
of his NewtonBooks in this library, search for "Iverson".
Rating: Not Rated
Keywords: newtonbook architecture history glossary definitions dictionary
words building construction art
Requires: Newton MessagePad, Newton Connection Kit or similar
Price: Shareware: $5
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Newton Aristotle-Interpretation
Category: Newton/Books
Author: Jeffrey Iverson
Education HyperCard designer Jeffery Iverson has turned his attention
to promulgating classical philosophy in NewtonBooks, carrying
on the fine tradition he started on the Mac platform with his
"HyperTextbook" series. This book is a Newton realization of Aristotle's
"On Interpretation," which examined the way that Deep Thinkers
of the time considered life, art, and the universe.
One organizational point which makes this book a bit difficult
to navigate: the chapters have no identifying names other than
"Chapter 1," "Chapter 2," etc. Copious use of the "Mark Page"
command should overcome this shortcoming, and allow for an intriguing
and instructive read.
Rating: Not Rated
Keywords: book newtonbook aristotle greek on interpretation
Requires: Newton MessagePad, Newton Connection Kit or similar
Price: Shareware $5
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Newton Aristotle-Sophistics
Category: Newton/Books
Author: Jeffrey Iverson
Education HyperCard designer Jeffery Iverson has turned his attention
to promulgating classical philosophy in NewtonBooks, carrying
on the fine tradition he started on the Mac platform with his
"HyperTextbook" series. This book is a Newton realization of Aristotle's
collection, "On Sophistical Refutations" (translated by W. Pickard-Cambridge),
which examines fallacious propositions: seeming refutations of
arguments which were actually based on fallacies.
One organizational point which makes this book a bit difficult
to navigate: the chapters have no identifying names other than
"Chapter 1," "Chapter 2," etc. Copious use of the "Mark Page"
command should overcome this shortcoming, and allow for an intriguing
and instructive read.
Rating: Not Rated
Keywords: book newtonbook aristotle greek on sophistical refutations pickard-cambridge
Requires: Newton MessagePad, Newton Connection Kit or similar
Price: Shareware $5
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Newton Aristotle-Topics
Category: Newton/Books
Author: Jeffrey Iverson
Education HyperCard designer Jeffery Iverson has turned his attention
to promulgating classical philosophy in NewtonBooks, carrying
on the fine tradition he started on the Mac platform with his
"HyperTextbook" series. This book is a Newton realization of Aristotle's
collection, "Topics" (translated by W. Pickard-Cambridge), which
has the ambitious goal of "..find[ing] a line of inquiry whereby
we shall be able to reason from opinions that are generally accepted
about every problem propounded to us.." (whew!)
One organizational point which makes this book a bit difficult
to navigate: the chapters have no identifying names other than
"Chapter 1," "Chapter 2," etc. The fact that this is a collection
of books, each with several chapters, only makes matters worse.
Copious use of the "Mark Page" command should overcome this shortcoming,
and allow for an intriguing and instructive read.
Rating: Not Rated
Keywords: book newtonbook aristotle greek topics pickard-cambridge
Requires: Newton MessagePad, Newton Connection Kit or similar
Price: Shareware $5
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Newton - Astronomy Terms
Category: Newton/Books
Author: Jeffrey Iverson
First things first: astronomy is the one concerning quasars, supernovas,
and the Milky Way. If you'd like to find out what bus to catch
for the next age of Aquarius, you're in the wrong place, bub.
Now that that's settled..
Jeffrey Iverson's "Astronomy Terms" is a glossary which presents
paragraph-long definitions on 23 terms used in the field, such
as perturbation (the influence of one celestial body on another)
and aberration (the apparent displacement of a star owing to the
orbital motion of the Earth and the bending of light rays of a
star). The length of the descriptions is just about right: whereas
Iverson's NewtonBook"Architectural Terms" (also available in this
library) left me hanging with sentence-long descriptions, the
Astronomy definitions give enough information to give the neophyte
an "in" to this complex, jargon-laden subject. As a result, however,
the list of terms isn't nearly as long, so some important terms
-- like "solar system" -- are conspicuously absent. Still, enough
is present to guide the user to celestial understanding, regardless
of where your moon is rising.
This is part of a collection of NewtonBooks adapted for the MessagePad
by Jeffrey Iverson, president of Iverson Software Company. The
collection includes reference materials (such as a guide to tourist
offices throughout the world and professional glossaries), antique
English works (such as Vision of Mirza and Westminster Abbey)
and texts from ancient Greek and Roman sources (such as the Orestia
trilogy by Aeschylus). All are shareware: for a complete list
of his NewtonBooks in this library, search for "Iverson".
Rating: Not Rated
Keywords: newtonbook stars planets heavens glossary definitions dictionary
words galaxies science
Requires: Newton MessagePad, Newton Connection Kit or similar
Price: Shareware: $5
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Newton Better Business Bureaus
Category: Newton/Books
Author: Jeffrey Iverson
The Better Business Bureau, that strange syndicate masquerading
as a public-interest group, has spread its tentacles far and wide,
as is detailed in this NewtonBook-based listing of local bureaus.
BBBs from all fifty states and Canada are listed with addresses
and phone numbers, 170 in all.
Some readers may be surprised at the strongly anti-BBB bent of
my comments. That's understandable, as their advertising and sincere
beginnings have been successful in convincing Americans that it's
an independent group working in consumers' interests, unaffected
by pressures from the business world. Nothing could be further
from the truth. As authentic public-interest groups have documented,
the BBB exists to serve as an advertising arm for member businesses,
who pay handsomely for the privilege. Non-member businesses are
aggressively solicited, regardless of quality or history.
This is part of a collection of NewtonBooks adapted for the MessagePad
by Jeffrey Iverson, president of Iverson Software Company. The
collection includes reference materials (such as a guide to tourist
offices throughout the world and professional glossaries), antique
English works (such as Vision of Mirza and Westminster Abbey)
and texts from ancient Greek and Roman sources (such as the Orestia
trilogy by Aeschylus). All are shareware: for a complete list
of his NewtonBooks in this library, search for "Iverson".
Rating: Not Rated
Keywords: newtonbook book text commerce industry control organization
membership syndicate united states canada
Requires: Newton MessagePad, Newton Connection Kit or similar
Price: Shareware $5
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Newton - Biology Terms
Category: Newton/Books
Author: Jeffrey Iverson
Ownership of an object, it's said, doesn't make one an expert
on it. Take the body, for instance: I've had one for lo these
many years, but I'll be damned if I can tell my lipids from my
hormones. (Hmm.. maybe that's the source of all my problems..
being fat is making hair grow out of my ears! But I digress.)
This NewtonBook goes a way in making us expert owners of our bodies,
expertly living in a thriving world full of evolution, fermentation,
fertilization, adaptation and regeneration. Yes, I got all of
those words from the glossary -- they sound pretty good, don't
they? And for once, I even know what they mean! For they're all
listed in this book, together with definitions. The length of
the definitions is variable, often appropriately so: for example,
there's just not as much to say about "fauna" (10 words) as there
is about deoxyribonucleic acid (45 words).
This is part of a collection of NewtonBooks adapted for the MessagePad
by Jeffrey Iverson, president of Iverson Software Company. The
collection includes reference materials (such as a guide to tourist
offices throughout the world and professional glossaries), antique
English works (such as Vision of Mirza and Westminster Abbey)
and texts from ancient Greek and Roman sources (such as the Orestia
trilogy by Aeschylus). All are shareware: for a complete list
of his NewtonBooks in this library, search for "Iverson".
Rating: Not Rated
Keywords: newtonbook life glossary definitions dictionary words body chemistry
science
Requires: Newton MessagePad, Newton Connection Kit or similar
Price: Shareware: $5
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Newton Boston TMap 1.1
Category: Newton/Books
Author: Brian K. Ogilvie
Oooh, how I wish I'd had this little application at Macworld Boston
this year. Then I could have avoided blisters on my feet from
walking to the convention center for two days before realizing
that there's a T station called Aquarium which is, strangely enough,
right by the Aquarium. Duh!
The author created this Newton MessagePad version of the Boston
"T" (subway) map for schmucks like me. Specifically, for schmucks
like me who bought the popular Newton "Fodor's Guide" and then
realized it didn't include this essential graphic.
And he did a good job at that, presenting a simple, readable,
and complete graphic of the Boston area's famous transit system.
The map is larger than the MessagePad's screen for easy legibility:
to scroll about, you can use the arrows (unwieldy) or grab the
graphic and drag it (elegant). Of course, there's no way to see
the subway lines' colors on the black-and-white screen, but there
are clear labels differentiating the routes.
This is a basic implementation to solve a common problem: one
addition the author could have included for a more complete solution
would have been labels for commuter rail transfer points, a few
text pages about the T, and so on. Still, it fulfills its purpose
well, whether you're on you're traveling to Arborway, Fenway,
or the Back Bay.
Version 1.1 includes the ability to locate T stops via the "Find"
button and fixes a bug (Chinatown and Prudential were mixed up!)
Rating: Not Rated
Keywords: travel tourist messagepad map public transportation subway line
municipal Massachusetts
Requires: Newton MessagePad, Newton Connection Kit or similar
Price: Freeware
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Newton Criminological Institutes
Category: Newton/Books
Author: Jeffrey Iverson
A virtual "Yellow Pages" of institutions involved in the study
of crime, the World Directory of Criminological Institutes is
here presented as a NewtonBook by the ubiquitous Jeffrey Iverson.
It's a straight text listing, with no clarifying notes other than
names and addresses of the organizations in question.
The information is arranged by country, with no subdivisions (as
might be expected for, for example, the former Soviet Union).
It's a hefty work, weighing in at 189 pages, and obviously highly
specialized. While arguably of limited usefulness to the public
at large, it's a conveniently packaged listing for the few who
might need it.
Rating: Not Rated
Keywords: newtonbook crime punishment study world directory institutions
yellow pages listing
Requires: Newton MessagePad, Newton Connection Kit or similar
Price: Shareware $15
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Newton - Emerson's Address
Category: Newton/Books
Author: Jeffrey Iverson
The great American wit and philosopher, Ralph Waldo Emerson, was
often called upon to speak throughout his life: as the son of
a prominent Boston clergyman with a reputation for clear thought
himself, he was the natural choice for those many occasions in
19th-century New England in which an air of thoughtfulness and
dignity were required. In this attached text, the 35-year-old
Emerson speaks to the senior class of the Divinity College in
Cambridge on July 15, 1838. He touches upon the usual topics --
natural law, the search for a place for the self, the role of
God in the natural world -- before focusing his remarks on two
"defects" of Historical Christianity.
This is part of a collection of NewtonBooks adapted for the MessagePad
by Jeffrey Iverson, president of Iverson Software Company. The
collection includes reference materials (such as a guide to tourist
offices throughout the world and professional glossaries), antique
English works (such as Vision of Mirza and Westminster Abbey)
and texts from ancient Greek and Roman sources (such as the Orestia
trilogy by Aeschylus). All are shareware: for a complete list
of his NewtonBooks in this library, search for "Iverson".
Rating: Not Rated
Keywords: divinity college cambridge ralph waldo speech newtonbook etext
christianity god philosophy
Requires: Newton MessagePad, Newton Connection Kit or similar
Price: Shareware: $5
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Newton - Fine Art Terms
Category: Newton/Books
Author: Jeffrey Iverson
Those on the outside of the art world can easily get the impression
that all it takes to become an artist is raw talent, connections,
and a darkly brooding heart. Sorry, son, it ain't so -- talent
left on its own festers, a darkly brooding heart makes you nothing
but boring, and to make those connections, you need to know what
you're talking about. And so, as any first-year art student knows,
you have to learn the language of the culture.
This NewtonBook is a good way to get started, or to use for reference.
It's a glossary of common terms, each with a sentence-long description.
The bias here is toward technique and away from history: for a
companion NewtonBook which covers architectural history terms
well, download "Newton Architectural Terms" from this library.
Whereas the attached package will define such technical concepts
as scumbling, chiaroscuro, and complementary colors, the other
book will give more information on the various periods in Architecture
and, by extension, in the fine arts.
The organization isn't perfect -- the shortness of the definitions
leaves a lot of useful information out. It's assumed that you
already have a basic understanding of the field -- which is reasonable.
After all, even experienced professionals sometimes forget long-unused
information, only to be embarrassed when it's suddenly needed.
This NewtonBook may prevent some of that embarrassment.
This is part of a collection of NewtonBooks adapted for the MessagePad
by Jeffrey Iverson, president of Iverson Software Company. The
collection includes reference materials (such as a guide to tourist
offices throughout the world and professional glossaries), antique
English works (such as Vision of Mirza and Westminster Abbey)
and texts from ancient Greek and Roman sources (such as the Orestia
trilogy by Aeschylus). All are shareware: for a complete list
of his NewtonBooks in this library, search for "Iverson".
Rating: Not Rated
Keywords: newtonbook glossary definitions dictionary words technique drawing
painting
Requires: Newton MessagePad, Newton Connection Kit or similar
Price: Shareware: $5
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Newton Freedom Trail Guide 1.1
Category: Newton/Books
Author: Brian K. Ogilvie
Lovers of American history -- and visitors to the "Cradle of Liberty,"
Boston -- will appreciate this thorough NewtonBook guide to the
Freedom Trail. The self-guided tour was established in that city
during the country's bicentennial year (1976) as an efficient
way to move the tourist masses from sight to sight, educate them
about the historical places in the city, and generally make the
city more tourism-friendly.
Descriptive texts about each of the locations on the trail are
listed in the order in which you'll encounter them while walking.
While these texts are usually also available at the site (on plaques
or information sheets), the NewtonBook form has one distinct advantage:
you can carry it home with you, providing an excellent souvenir
of the mind.
Be sure to download "Boston TMap" by the same author, also available
from Software Central: it's an excellent, portable adaptation
of the city's transportation map. With these two packages on your
PDA, you're ready to take the town!
Version 1.1 (updated October, 1994) adds more information about
the Paul Revere House as well as further pictures and historical
notes.
Rating: Not Rated
Keywords: newtonbook book text boston american history united states Massachusetts
travel tourism
Requires: Newton MessagePad, Newton Connection Kit or similar
Price: Freeware
Back to top
Newton Kidnapped (NewtonBook)
Category: Newton/Books
Author: Project Gutenberg
The public domain text of Robert Louis Stevenson's Kidnapped presented
as a Newton book. The text originally came via Project Gutenberg.
The Project Gutenberg Association is a non-profit organization
based at the Illinois Benedictine College. It has been entering,
administering, and distributing electronic text versions (etexts)
of classic literature, mathematical constants, graphics and other
works via computer networks for over twenty years. The work of
the organization is largely supported by tax-deductible contributions,
which should be made payable to "Project Gutenberg/IBC" and sent
to:
Project GutenbergIllinois Benedictine College5700 College RoadLisle,
IL 60532-0900
Rating: Not Rated
Keywords: project gutenberg text etext story fiction KIDNAPPED ROBERT
LOUIS STEVENSON NEWTON BOOK NEWT
Requires: Newton, NCK, storage card
Price: Freeware
Back to top
Newton - Libation Bearers
Category: Newton/Books
Author: Jeffrey Iverson
Also known by its original Greek name "Cloephoroe", this is the
second book in the House of Atreus trilogy, translated into English
by E.D.A. Morshead. The other two books are "Agamemnon" and "The
Furies" (Eumenides), both of which have been made into NewtonBooks
by Mr. Iverson and are available in this library. The work is
especially important in that it is the only surviving classic
tragic Greek trilogy extant. Written by Aeschylus (c. 525-456
B.C.E), the first known dramatist to extend the Dramatis Personae
beyond a single actor and chorus, to include dialogue in the repetoire.
The presentation is only fair, hampered by the short line-length
of the MessagePad screen. As a result, lines which shouldn't wrap
do, and some sense of the poetry is visually lost. This need not
have happened: much smaller margins would have retained the phrasing
while still clearly indicating speakers. In addition, more useful
chapter headings than "Part I", "Part II" etc. would have been
welcome. Still, it's an important work, and neither of these shortcomings
will seriously interfere with the reader's enjoyment.
Rating: Not Rated
Keywords: greek classic house of atreus aeschylus drama chorus agamemnon
cloephoroe eumenides
Requires: Newton MessagePad, Newton Connection Kit or similar
Price: Shareware $5
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Newton LiveWired (Book)
Category: Newton/Books
Author: Jim Anders
If you know enough about networking to wire your Mac to your Newton,
you can transfer this NewtonBook to your MessagePad to learn everything
else on the subject. The author is Jim Anders, and in this 116-page
package he imparts his extensive networking knowledge, from AFP
to DAL to FTP and NCS to VAX to IBM to.. well, to a whole bunch
of other three-letter acronyms. But don't fret: you too will understand
them after a quick skim through the well organized index.
It includes some simple graphics for clarification, incidentally,
a nice touch missing in many NewtonBooks. A good introduction
to the printed version, of which this is an abridged version.
Rating: Not Rated
Keywords: newtonbook networking lan wan wiring topologies hayden
Requires: Newton MessagePad, Newton Connection Kit or similar
Price: Freeware
Back to top
Newton - Of Agriculture
Category: Newton/Books
Author: Jeffrey Iverson
Jeff Iverson -- whose tastes in literature run toward the arcane
-- has produced another in a line of essays by England's great
minds of the 17th through 19th centuries. This one is a celebratory
ode to the "oldest of arts," agriculture. Of it, Mr. Cowley says:
"We may talk as we please of [the war-like symbols] lilies, and
lions rampant, and spread eagles, in fields d'or or d'argent;
but, if heraldry were guided by reason, a plough in a field arable
would be the noble and ancient arms."
The package contains the essay's text and an (uncredited) introductory
essay which details the fascinating life of the author (1618-1667).
This is part of a collection of NewtonBooks adapted for the MessagePad
by Jeffrey Iverson, president of Iverson Software Company. The
collection includes reference materials (such as a guide to tourist
offices throughout the world and professional glossaries), antique
English works (such as Vision of Mirza and Westminster Abbey)
and texts from ancient Greek and Roman sources (such as the Orestia
trilogy by Aeschylus). All are shareware: for a complete list
of his NewtonBooks in this library, search for "Iverson".
Rating: Not Rated
Keywords: newtonbook book text abraham cowley essay farm growth plants
flora
Requires: Newton MessagePad, Newton Connection Kit or similar
Price: Shareware $5
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Newton Software Guide 94.05
Category: Newton/Books
Author: LaserType
For anyone with a Newton and an adventuresome mind, LaserType's
free Newton Software Guide is a boon. Instead of having to track
down all the freeware, shareware, demos and NewtonBooks available
in the online world, just browse through this catalog, which is
to be updated monthly.
A "kiosk" menu leads you to the nine main sections of the library:
Enhancements, Games, Communications, Miscellaneous, Computations,
Demos, Productivity, NewtonBooks, and Programming. Each listing
in those categories is accompanied by a one-line critical review
-- a ZiffNet in miniature! An informative Preface and Introduction
gives you some insight into how NewtonBooks are produced, and
the clean icons and graphics give the package a polished feel.
Recommended.
Rating: Not Rated
Keywords: Newton software guide catalog shareware freeware PDA Demos listing
Requires: Newton MessagePad, Newton Connection Kit
Price: Freeware
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Newton - The Furies
Category: Newton/Books
Author: Jeffrey Iverson
Also known by its original Greek name "Eumenides", this is the
third book in the House of Atreus trilogy, translated into English
by E.D.A. Morshead. The other two books are "Agamemnon" and "The
Libation Bearers" (Cloephoroe), both of which have been made into
NewtonBooks by Mr. Iverson and are available in this library.
The work is especially important in that it is the only surviving
classic tragic Greek trilogy extant. Written by Aeschylus (c.
525-456 B.C.E), the first known dramatist to extend the Dramatis
Personae beyond a single actor and chorus, to include dialogue
in the repetoire.
The presentation is only fair, hampered by the short line-length
of the MessagePad screen. As a result, lines which shouldn't wrap
do, and some sense of the poetry is visually lost. This need not
have happened: much smaller margins would have retained the phrasing
while still clearly indicating speakers. In addition, more useful
chapter headings than "Part I", "Part II" etc. would have been
welcome. Still, it's an important work, and neither of these shortcomings
will seriously interfere with the reader's enjoyment.
Rating: Not Rated
Keywords: greek classic house of atreus aeschylus drama chorus libation
bearers agamemnon cloephoroe eumenides
Requires: Newton MessagePad, Newton Connection Kit or similar
Price: Shareware $5
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Newton Tourist Info
Category: Newton/Books
Author: Jeffrey Iverson
Want to know the address of the tourist board of Liechtenstein?
This is the package for you! It contains a listing of tourism
boards throughout the world, presented as a NewtonBook by the
ubiquitous Jeffrey Iverson. It's a straight text directory, with
no clarifying notes other than names and addresses of the organizations
in question.
The information is arranged by country, with no subdivisions (as
might be expected for, for example, the former Soviet Union).
It's a hefty work, weighing in at 263 pages, and a good deal more
useful to the general population than the similarly packaged "World
Directory of Criminological Institutes", also in this library.
By the way: under the aforementioned Liechtenstein, the directory
tellingly says "see Swiss Tourist Office." So much for autonomy!
Rating: Not Rated
Keywords: newtonbook tourism travel study world directory institutions
yellow pages listing
Requires: Newton MessagePad, Newton Connection Kit or similar
Price: Shareware $5
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Newton Vision of Mirza
Category: Newton/Books
Author: Jeffrey Iverson
In the time of England's Queen Anne, Joseph Addison (1672-1719)
lived as what we'd now call a "Renaissance Man:" accomplished
in both letters and law, he became Secretary of State while at
the same time producing writings for the periodicals "Tatler"
and "Spectator". One of these, Vision of Mirza, came out of his
work for the latter in 1711.
In this work, he "translates" the first of what is ostensibly
a series of Egyptian manuscripts, through which pretense he is
able to put across ideas on morals and nobility. This package
also includes a short introduction further clarifying Addison's
life.
Rating: Not Rated
Keywords: joseph addison baroque literature british england english egypt
cairo
Requires: Newton MessagePad, Newton Connection Kit or similar
Price: Shareware $5
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Newton War of the Worlds (NewtonBook)
Category: Newton/Books
Author: Project Gutenberg
A NewtonBook version of H.G. Wells's War of the Worlds, regarded
as one of the earlies examples of "Science Fiction." This story
proved too fantastic for radio audiences in the 50's, as panic
ensued when an adaptation of it was broadcast (starring that other
Wells, Orson). The text originally came via Project Gutenberg.
The Project Gutenberg Association is a non-profit organization
based at the Illinois Benedictine College. It has been entering,
administering, and distributing electronic text versions (etexts)
of classic literature, mathematical constants, graphics and other
works via computer networks for over twenty years. The work of
the organization is largely supported by tax-deductible contributions,
which should be made payable to "Project Gutenberg/IBC" and sent
to:
Project GutenbergIllinois Benedictine College5700 College RoadLisle,
IL 60532-0900
Rating: Not Rated
Keywords: project gutenberg text etext story fiction WAR WORLDS H.G. WELLS
NEWTON BOOK NEWT
Requires: Newton, NCK, storage card
Price: Freeware
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Newton Westminster Abbey
Category: Newton/Books
Author: Jeffrey Iverson
In the time of England's Queen Anne, Joseph Addison (1672-1719)
lived as what we'd now call a "Renaissance Man:" accomplished
in both letters and law, he became Secretary of State while at
the same time producing writings for the periodicals "Tatler"
and "Spectator". One of these, Vision of Mirza, came out of his
work for the former in 1711.
In this short work, he evokes a gloomy atmosphere in describing
a walk through the graveyard of London's famous Westminster Abbey,
where (as he says) he is reminded of the heroes of epic poems,
"..celebrated for nothing but being knocked on the head." The
package also includes a short introduction further clarifying
Addison's life.
Rating: Not Rated
Keywords: joseph addison baroque literature british england english
Requires: Newton MessagePad, Newton Connection Kit or similar
Price: Shareware $5
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Newton WriteWare Catalog
Category: Newton/Books
Author: David B. Alford WriteWare
The stylus which comes with Apple's Newton MessagePad epitomizes
the conflict MessagePad owners feel about their favorite tool/toy:
it doesn't work perfectly, but damn, does it look good! For those
who want a stylus that looks even better than good, there's the
WriteWare product line.
This Newton package is a brief description and catalog for the
company, which specializes in fitting stylus-tipped ink refills
to classic writing implements, such as those made by Shaeffer,
Parker, Cross and Quill. The eCatalog is well done, with convincing
graphics and a well organized text on the complete WriteWare line.
Rating: Not Rated
Keywords: newton writeware catalog list writing stylus not a pen writing
tools presentation software
Requires: Newton MessagePad, Newton Connection Kit
Price: Freeware
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Newton ChessPad Demo
Category: Newton/Games
Author: Clear Lake Research
While we can expect good shareware Newton chess-playing programs
to be available any day now, serious students of the game can
entertain themselves with this demo of Newton ChessPad, a well
integrated application which replays famous games and offers problems
for the user to solve. The centerpiece is definitely the historical
games, which are replayed move-by-move, with a running commentary.
The presentation is quite attractive, especially for the game
playback. But there are a few significant lacks. For one, it's
possible to play another human (using the MessagePad as an simple
chessboard), but no options to play against the computer. This
may be because the program obviously lacks any real chess-playing
rules: if you make an impossible move in any of the sections,
it allows the move without complaints.
Still, given the love chess aficionados have for the game -- and
the money they're willing to put into clocks, books, fancy sets,
etc., I expect that the full commercial version of ChessPad will
have a dedicated following. The demo version is limited in that
it only offers two historical games (Polgar-Angelova 1988 and
Spielmann-Honlinger 1929) and five problems to solve. (The commercial
version includes 28 games and over 100 problems.) In addition,
games are limited by the number of moves available, and saving
is disabled.
Rating: Not Rated
Keywords: chess game fun strategy board king pawn problem move
Requires: Newton MessagePad, Newton Connection Kit or similar
Price: Demoware
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Newton Daleks 1.0
Category: Newton/Games
Author: Michael Engber
Newton Daleks is the portable version of an old computer game
first popularized on mainframes at a time when the wacky British
science fiction show, Doctor Who, was popular. As with Daleks
on other platforms, the idea is to get the Daleks to run into
each other without running into them yourself: they're intensely
stupid, so that's not so hard. In the meantime, however, they're
trying to get their deadly grip on you, and one touch will end
the game.
You have two evasive weapons: the "Sonic Screwdriver" (which destroys
all daleks in close proximity) and the "Teleport" button, which
transports you to a random location on the screen. The game play's
not the best -- annoyingly, each move requires a discrete tap
-- but it's a fairly good adaptation of a popular game.
Rating: 3 (out of 5)
Keywords: game fun doctor who freeware sonic screwdriver teleport automatons
Requires: Newton MessagePad, Newton connection kit
Price: Freeware
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Newton Dungeon 0.9b
Category: Newton/Games
Author: Uwe Hauck
Welcome to Newton Dungeon, a fascinating adventure game for your
PDA reminiscent of Dungeons and Dragons. As with the Mac game,
"Scarab of Ra", the idea is to roam a dungeon, picking up goodies,
and fighting to stay alive. In Ra the ultimate goal was to find
three treasures and escape: Newton Dungeon has sophomorically
replaced these treasures with a common "object" in such games,
a princess. Nu.. give immature boys a computer, and this is what
you'll get..
But anyway. Many such computer-based adventure games are lackluster,
command-line things which don't take advantage of the interface
opportunities the graphic user interface offers: not so with Newton
Dungeon, which is chock-full of appropriate, original sounds and
graphics to evoke the Gothic atmosphere of a medieval battle.
I would give this package a rating of 5 except for two significant,
anti-Newtonesque interface bugs: the game's proprietary "contrast"
button doesn't work, and it's impossible to quit during the heat
of battle. (I was interrupted during testing, and could do nothing
but wait for Glorfin the Gatekeeper to do me and my three companions
in. Ten minutes of chirping and whining later..) Still, this *is*
an early release of a beta version, and I expect the enterprising
author will fix these minor difficulties eventually: in the meantime,
he's created a delightful indulgence for lovers of adventure games.
The author's ambitious plans include developing a version for
network play (perhaps over eWorld!) Send in your registration
fee and help him realize this dream! NOTE: This app requires over
900K on your MessagePad: make sure you have enough room for it
before downloading.
Rating: 4 (out of 5)
Keywords: Game fun adventure role playing graphics fight battle medieval
Requires: Newton MessagePad, Newton Connection Kit or similar
Price: Shareware $25
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Newton Forest PegBoard 1.0
Category: Newton/Games
Author: Forest Software, Inc.
In the world of shareware for the Newton MessagePad, two types
of file stand out as especially appropriate for the medium: NewtonBooks
(in which thousands of pages of text can be carried in a small
space) and solitaire games with a computer-driven component. Forest
PegBoard falls squarely in this latter category, reviving an old
traveler's favorite and adding some computer-relevant aspects,
such as a scoring mechanism, clock, high score table, and random
setup option (explained below).
If you've never played pegboard before (or if you know it by one
of its other myriad names), here's a description: you start out
with 41 pegs laid out in a 42-peg cross-shaped board, with the
center hole empty. (Alternately, you can choose to leave a random
hole open, should you learn the moves necessary to solve the puzzle
in its standard formation.) The idea is to jump one peg over another
(removing the jumped peg) to clear as many pegs from the board
as possible within the two-minute time limit. Scoring is based
on how many pegs you leave on the board and how much time is remaining.
My record (after about 10 games) is six pegs and 616 points --
try to beat it!
Besides the content of the game being appropriate, this program
also well suited to the Newton in that it doesn't require that
*#$^*#! handwriting recognition, except when it's time to inscribe
your high scores: and even then, Forest Software has thought to
turn on the "guest" recognition settings to protect the user settings.
All in all, this is an appropriate, clever and well implemented
game.
Rating: 5 (out of 5)
Keywords: game fun strategy peg board holes jump checkers clear solitaire
Requires: Newton MessagePad, Newton Connection Kit or similar
Price: Freeware
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Newton Life 1.2
Category: Newton/Games
Author: Steve Weyer
With Newton Life, master Newton programmer Steve Weyer has turned
his attention to porting a classic computing problem to the Newt
environment, and has come up with a terrific example of applied
programming -- as well as a fun demonstration. For those of you
unfamiliar with it, Life is a mathematical simulation, originally
described by John Conway in 1970, of how cells -- and societies
-- could be born, grow and die. A cell's fate is determined by
the proximity of other cells in a simple set of rules described
in the app's Info button.
The game can be played on a checkerboard, but it's perfectly suited
for computers and, as such, it has become a classic benchmark
to demonstrate and measure a computing system's power. Mr. Weyer
has continued the tradition by programming it into the environment
he developed, Newt. The package contains both the Newt source
code and the compiled version.
But even if you're not a programmer, there's plenty here to entertain.
The author has detailed a few interesting patterns to try as "seeds"
in his documentation, and has programmed two of these seed modules
into a popup menu in the app itself. All in all, Life is a fascinating
intellectual exercise.
Version 1.2 fixes a button highlighting glitch.
Rating: 3 (out of 5)
Keywords: newt runewt game fun cell cellular biology classic propagate
dots math mathematical sim simulation john conway
Requires: Newton-based PDA, Newton Connection Kit or similar
Price: Freeware
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Newton Solo Deluxe 1.62
Category: Newton/Games
Author: Renaud Boisjoly
I'll say this straight out: Renaud Boisjoly's Solo Deluxe is the
best-implemented set of solitaire card games I've ever seen. It's
clean, it's fast, and -- unlike most Newton applications -- it
comes with an online help file as complete as anything you'll
find on the Mac.
Three games are available: the famous Klondike (build upon seven
stacks of cards, with the ultimate goal of grouping all cards
by suit); Canfield (similar to the popular Klondike, but with
different procedures), and Pyramid (find pairs of cards whose
values total 13). The options available are legion, appropriate
and -- in some cases -- totally original. One example of a choice
I'd never seen in any other card game is the option to play a
game with the same deal as the previous game, giving you the chance
to correct your mistakes. Also, you're given an indication of
your "luck factor", based on how many games you've won (and lost),
balanced against how often you've "cheated".
The Newton MessagePad has a few good games but, unfortunately,
many of them are rather one-toned. Solo Deluxe is different: with
a wide range of ways to play, it'll keep your attention for a
long, long time. NOTE: This archive contains three stacks: all
three should be installed on your MessagePad for proper functioning.
All told, they take up about 128K.
Version 1.5 kills some bugs and brings the version numbering system
in line with the author's earlier program, "Newton Solo". (Before,
the successor to Newton Solo 1.41 was Newton Solo Deluxe 1.5..
go figure.) Version 1.6 fixes a few crucial bugs, adds sound and
display options and -- last and most certainly least -- corrected
a spelling mistake in the Help file. Version 1.62 fixes a number
of minor bugs.
Rating: 5 (out of 5)
Keywords: newton solo deluxe game fun strategy solitaire klondike cards
Canfield Pyramid freeware
Requires: Newton MessagePad, Newton Connection Kit or similar
Price: Freeware
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CPUSpeedDisplay 1.0.2a
Category: PowerBook Utilities
Author: Jeremy Kezer
CPUSpeedDisplay is one of a suite of hardware management applications
for notebook Macs by Mr. Kezer, each of which does a simple job
thoroughly and efficiently. The purpose of this one is to display
the speed of your machine's processor and display it, together
with its model number, in a window.
Why would you need to know your processor's speed? Well, PowerBooks
have an option to conserve battery power at the expense of processor
speed (controls for which are found in the options of the "PowerBook"
Control Panel): CPUSpeedDisplay gives you a quick way of remembering
how you've set your machine. It's tiny: at 10K (uncompressed),
most of this archive is documentation on the other programs in
the suite. That's all there is to it: no bells or whistles go
along with this utility, originally developed as part of Mr. Kezer's
"MyBattery" application.
Rating: 3 (out of 5)
Keywords: cpuspeeddisplay POWERBOOK DUO CPU SPEED display PROCESSOR battery
FREEWARE
Requires: PowerBook or Duo
Price: Freeware
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Keyboard PLUS 1.1.2
Category: PowerBook Utilities
Author: Berrie Kremers
Hum dee dum, here I am at my PowerBook, entering figures into
the company spreadsheet.. I reach for the keypad.. and end up
caressing my neighbor's knee. D'ohh! Keyboard PLUS puts an end
to these embarrassing moments, as well as those caused by the
PowerBook's lack of Page Up/Page Down, cursor directional and
FKEYs. By adding a "Plus Lock" switch -- much like the "Caps Lock"
key -- you can remap keys on the abbreviated keyboard to act like
those on an extended keyboard.
The control panel is easy to configure, and comes with some key
sequences already programmed. Simply select the extended-keyboard
action you'd like to emulate from a scrolling list, click "Set
Key..," and press the key combination desired. It also works with
QuicKeys, amazingly, as long as Keyboard PLUS loads first. A tip:
extensive remapping of your keyboard can be confusing, no matter
what utility you're using. Moderation is a good idea.
So PowerBook users: end the embarrassment of the tiny keyboard!
Get Keyboard PLUS, and you'll only caress the knees you mean to
caress.
Rating: 4 (out of 5)
Keywords: FUNCTION KEYS FKEY EXTENDED keyboard PowerBook duo
Requires: PowerBook
Price: Shareware $15
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KeyClicks 1.0.4
Category: PowerBook Utilities
Author: Alessandro Levi Montalcini
Perceptual psychologists have learned that actions are more confident
if they're associated with some sort of feedback: for example,
a "click" sound when a key is pressed while typing. KeyClicks
offers that audio feedback to PowerBook users, who have to contend
with the shallow and near-silent keyfall of their diminutive machines.
Through a control panel, you can set various options: whether
a sound will occur on command-key sequences, if keys which are
held down will have the sound repeat as the key is auto-repeated,
and a few other variables.
You have the choice of hearing different sounds with each action
-- one sound for command-key sequences, one for shifted keys,
one for the "return" key, and so forth -- or hearing only one
sound. This decision affects the amount of system memory KeyClicks
will use, but in either case it's very small: only 12K for the
full suite of sounds and an amazing 2K for the single sound. (The
sounds are stored in such a way that the hard drive is allowed
to spin down, saving precious PowerBook battery power.) The sounds
get to be pretty annoying after a while -- the delete-key "whoops"
is especially distracting -- so a hot-key sequence will, thankfully,
turn the sounds off.
By the way: this is "Postcardware," and you're obliged to send
a postcard to the author's companion if you use it. Her address:
Valentina Pavia, Via Mancini 19, 10131 Torino, Italy. Ain't love
grand?
Version 1.0.3 fixes a bug and cleans up the code. Version 1.0.4
updates the online documentation.
Rating: 3 (out of 5)
Keywords: keyclicks KEYBOARD POWERBOOK duo TACTILE FEEDBACK AUDIO SOUND
TAP TYPING
Requires: Mac Plus or better
Price: Postcardware
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This page was last updated on Monday, February 09, 2004 at 3:06pm CST.
All contents copyright 2005 by Tom Geller.
Writings by 
