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To: newton_news@netcom.com, Makin@aol.com, PDCPhil@aol.com
From: sholden@cod.nosc.mil (Steve Holden)
Subject: NewtNews_10.24.94_P1of2

NewtNews - 10.24.94 - 0115
==========================
by Steve Holden (sholden@nosc.mil)

This is a summary of the information that I come in contact with
that deals with the Newton and related technologies.

NewtNews is Copyright 1994 Steve Holden. See the Administrivia at
end.

Table of Contents
-----------------
 1. email
 2. comp.sys.newton.programmer
 3. Network World, October 10, 1994
 4. Edupage 10/16/94
 5. Network World, October 17, 1994
 6. MacWeek, 10.17.94
 7. InfoWorld, October 17, 1994
 8. Edupage 10/18/94
 9. Edupage 10/20/94
10. A Review of Palm Computing's Graffiti for the Newton
11. MUST READS!
12. User Groups
13. Product and Service Information
14. Comments from the Editor
15. Administrivia

email
-----
* APS PHONE NUMBER
    In issue 10.10.94-0113, Larry Slack had a review of the
Executive Calise case.  He gave a favorable opinion not only to
the Calise case but also to APS, the company he purchased the
case from. You can reach APS at 800.723.2994 or international
callers can use 1.816.483.1600, extension 1000 for more
information about availability and cost.

* PERSONAL LINK IS NOT BASED ON AOL
    Rob Tsuk of General Magic points out that there was an error
in the InfoWorld article on Personal Link, so thus there was a
propagated error in NewtNews.
    Personal Link was written in C++ and Telescript.  The Magic
Cap version of AOL does not use Telescript.  Personal Link and
AOL are really not related at all, except that they both work on
Sony's Magic Link.
    Sorry for any inconvenience this misinformation caused
anyone.

comp.sys.newton.programmer
--------------------------
* PDA DEVELOPERS MAGAZINE DEBUTS
    Creative Digital Systems is pleased to announce the debut of
PDA Developers, a bimonthly technical journal for companies
creating software for PDA devices. Since November 1993, the
company has been publishing PIE Developers, a magazine for
Newton developers. Because of the increasing variety of personal
handheld computers, they have decided to expand the scope of the
magazine to include all PDA devices such as those based on the
GEOS, Magic Cap, and WinPad environments, and manufactured by
Motorola, Psion, Hewlett Packard, Sharp, Casio and others.
    PDA Developers will have a format similar to PIE Developers.
Each issue will contain news, product previews and reviews,
programming tutorials, application walkthroughs, and in-depth
technical features with extensive code samples. The November
issue includes features on Magic Link, Graffiti, Psion 3a
development, GEOS, wireless data services, the IrDA infrared
protocol specifications, plus Newton articles on ScriptLink, NS
Basic, modifying the OS, and managing multimedia data types.
    "We don't intend to abandon our Newton developer base" says
Steve Mann, PDA Developers publisher and editor. "They're an
enthusiastic and productive developer community, working with
exciting technologies, and they've been very supportive during
our first year. Instead, we will broaden our content to include
additional subjects we think all PDA developers will find
interesting and thought-provoking, as well as platform-specific
features. Our subscribers have indicated that they welcome the
expansion."
    Creative Digital Systems will be working with Psion and
Geoworks to provide sample copies of the November issue to their
developers. In addition, PDA Developers is available at selected
news stands throughout the United States. An annual subscription
costs $60 in North America, $80 overseas. There is also an
optional source code disk.
    Any PDA developer interested in receiving a sample copy of the
magazine should send an email containing their mailing address
and their primary platform of interest to Creative Digital
Systems. In addition, we are actively searching for qualified
developers that are interested in writing about creating PDA
software; all platforms are welcome. Interested authors should
contact Steve Mann at (cds@netcom.com).

Network World, October 10, 1994
-------------------------------
* INTELLIGENT VOICE SYSTEM
    A front page article on a new computer based telephony
application called Wildfire Assistant.  This is more than a
voice mail system because it can understand voice commands,
return phone calls, have "knowledge" of your schedule, and route
phone calls to phones or pagers. You can have access to your
"PDA" by picking up a phone and dialing.
    Andrew Seybold says "There is nothing like it that is
comparable. I've been impressed."  Unfortunately, the prices
range from $47,000 to $97,000 for up to 72 users.  You can reach
Wildfire at 617.674.1500.

Edupage 10/16/94
----------------
* PROTECTING PROPERTY ON THE INTERNET
    As the debate over copyright protection of electronic
documents heats up, new encryption programs may preempt the need
to overhaul the current copyright law by providing a technical
fix instead. The Electronic Copyright Management System,
developed by the Corporation for National Research Initiatives,
the Library of Congress, and DOD's Advanced Research Projects
Agency, will be tested at the University of Illinois later this
month. The purchaser of digital data would receive a
cryptographic key to decode the document. A cypher would then
exist in the document, identifying the owner and the buyer. If
the buyer distributes the document on a BBS, for instance,
cybercops will be able to trace the transgression back to the
offending party. Another approach would turn a document
purchased for one-time use into gibberish when transmitted via
e-mail. (Business Week 10/17/94 p.212)

* WHY SOFTWARE'S ALMOST ALWAYS LATE
    Steve Jobs explains why software rollouts are almost always
behind schedule: "There are three factors: features, schedule
and resources. You can control two of the three. To get a
release out on time, you can drop features. If you keep all of
the features, you might get behind schedule. You can hire more
people to stay on schedule and keep the features in, but it
usually goes that the more people you throw at something, the
worse it gets." (Information Week 10/17/94 p.14)

Network World, October 17, 1994
-------------------------------
* NEWS FROM CDPD DEVELOPERS CONFERENCE
    A group of nearly 400 programmers of Cellular Digital Packet
Data (CDPD) met this past week. Some key info generated from
this include: wide spread commitment from carriers to support
CDPD; integration of IP protocols; 50 major cities will have
CDPD by mid-year 1995; and a kilobyte of data (which is about
half page of text) with could cost about 3 cents by early 1996.
    The biggest hurdle is the integration of IP because current
applications don't have to worry about bandwidth constraints of
wireless.  Thus some applications will need some tweaking and
fine-tuning. [p. 14]

* NEW START-UP GIVES DEVELOPERS ACCESS TO CDPD
    If you are interested in doing CDPD development, you might
want to contact Wireless Connect at 408.296.1546. They have
several development packages starting at $1,500 to $4,000. [p.
14]

MacWeek, 10.17.94
-----------------
* PANASONIC NEWTON ON THE HORIZON
    Two Panasonic PDAs are on planned for the near future. The
first will be a Newton and the second will be based on a General
Magic's Magic Cap OS.  Panasonic is still trying to decide on a
slate device or something similar to the MP100/100 design.
Sources say the slate device is the "leading candidate."
    This front page article also has a drawing.  The slate is 9
by 7 inch with a 6 by 4 inch back lit monochrome screen. It also
has a either a one Type III PCMCIA slot, or two Type II or Type
I; microphone; speaker; and a built-in modem. The Newton menus
are on the screen to let users switch between landscape and
portrait views. [Continued on p. 76]

* OTHER FRONT PAGE ARTICLES
    "Apple to open network door: Comm architecture sports new
interface;" "Sites tepid towards next GUI (Copland);" "FaxPro
upgrade boots database, OCR capabilities;" and "Mac developers
empowered by strong PPC software sales."

* PCMCIA MARKET TO GROW
    Dataquest expects the PCMCIA market to grow, not only as a
storage medium, but as a modem and networking interface cards.
The prices on all types of devices is steadily decreasing. You
can purchase the complete report by calling 800.419.3282. [p. 16,
18]

* WIRELESS PCMCIA COMING SOON
    Both Ericsson (201.890.3600) and Motorola (800.233.0877) are
working on wireless PCMCIA modems.  Ericsson's card is a Type
III and will include an antenna, and portable batteries. The
Motorola's is a Type II, uses AA batteries, communicate at 19.2
Kbps, and be able to store messages while not directly being
used. Both will support CDPD and Ardis networks. [p. 18]

InfoWorld, October 17, 1994
---------------------------
* FRONT PAGE ARTICLES
    "Latest Windows 95 beta fast but flawed: OS/2 Warp is a
superior product;" "Apple, IBM, Motorola race to define PowerPC
future: Partners want agreement in place by Comdex;" "Microsoft,
Novell roll out Telephony API applications;" "Microsoft, Borland
to ship single-user databases;" and "First PEEK at Taligent gets
mixed reviews."

* NEW PCMCIA STANDARD
    The Personal Computer Memory Card International Association
(PCMCIA) has released the new PCMCIA 3.0 standards.  This
includes: 32-bit 20-MHz data path, "bus mastering," 3 volt
power, sockets, and multi-functioning cards. [p. 10]

* SONY TO RELEASE LOW COST CD RECORDER
    By the end of 1995, Sony is going to have a recordable
double-speed CD drive that costs $1,500 for desktop users. [p.
10]

* TABLET TO GIVE ACCESS TO DESKTOP PC
    Zenith (708.808.5000) is soon releasing "CruisePad," a $1,400,
3.2 pound tablet with built-in wireless (range 500ft of office
space), to allow a user to connect to their desktop PC running
Windows or DOS.  There is no OS on the pad, just a connectivity
application.  There is also a picture with this article. [p. 41]

* OLD NEWTONS
    This is direct from Stewart Alsop's page 138 Distributed
Thinking article:
    "Speaking of legacy systems, you tell me what this means.
    "After I wrote the column about giving up my Apple Newton for
a Sony Magic Link, six people (not counting InfoWorld employees)
wrote to ask me if they could be the lucky recipient of the
Newton.
    "Four of them are graduate students, one is a professor, and
one is a consultant. All of them, pleaded a lack of personal
funds combined with serous need.
    "The question in my mind: Does this mean there is latent,
unsatisfied demand for Newton and that the machine still has a
future? Our does it mean that Newton tends to appeal to people
who can't afford it, and therefore the machine is really doomed
(particularly because you can now get a MP100 for $399, which is
one-third of what a functional Magic Link goes for)?"
    You can answer Stewart's question by sending mail to
(stewart_alsop@infoworld.com).

Edupage 10/18/94
----------------
* LOW EARTH ORBIT SYSTEMS CLEARED FOR TAKEOFF
    The FCC approved a plan that will allow as many as six
companies to share radio spectrum for providing mobile data and
communications systems worldwide via low Earth orbit satellites.
"This is a very big step in the development of a global
information infrastructure. These satellites have a great
potential to make the entire world economy more productive,"
says FCC Chairman Reed Hundt. (Wall Street Journal 10/17/94 B7)

* CAPITALISM ON THE NET
    "It's amazing where capitalism has boomed in the last couple
of years. First the Eastern Bloc, and now the last bastion of
socialism -- the Internet itself," says the chairman of Delphi
Internet Services Corp. (Information Week 10/24/94 p.8)

* ELECTRONIC CITIZENSHIP TEST
    New students at the University of Delaware will need to pass
the Electronic Community Citizenship Examination before gaining
access to the school's computers. Questions cover topics such as
password security, copyright restrictions on software, and
penalties for deliberate misuse of computer access. (Chronicle
of Higher Education 10/19/94 A36)

Edupage 10/20/94
----------------
* GOV'T COMPUTER SPENDING: TOO MUCH FOR TOO LITTLE
    According to Sen. William Cohen (R-Maine), "Taxpayers have
spent more than $200 billion in the last decade on computer
systems that are antiquated, incompatible, and not doing the
job." Cohen's subcommittee found that the federal government is
wasting money on obsolete technology, and then is not using it
properly. For instance, the Farmers Home Administration has
spent $200 million on a computer system, but continues to sort
loan records on index cards. (Information Week 10/24/94 p.15)

* IBM AND APPLE: MORE RUMORS
    IBM is considering underwriting the costs of a new alliance
with Apple Computer, investing as much as $1 billion in exchange
for gaining the rights to and modifying Apple's Macintosh
operating system. IBM's goal is to shore up sales of its PowerPC
through development of a common hardware platform that could
accommodate both IBM and Apple software. The entire project
could take up to two or three years and require the efforts of
hundreds of engineers. (Wall Street Journal 10/20/94 A3)

WHAT TANGLED WEBS THEY WEAVE
    Alan Meckler pulled the plug on Mecklermedia's online
commercial venture only two weeks after its official debut.
MecklerWeb will now be used for putting Mecklermedia's three
magazines (CD ROM, Virtual Reality, and Internet World) online
and selling advertising at $5,000 for a 90-day spot. Says
MecklerWeb's former president Chris Locke: "Alan Meckler doesn't
get it. He's taken a window of opportunity and slammed it shut."
Meckler counters: "If I don't get it, why didn't any other
company get it?" -- referring to the dearth of companies opting
to participate in Locke's original plan, which was to have
companies pay $25,000 a year for space on MecklerWeb to provide
product and company information rather than advertising
messages. (Wall Street Journal 10/20/94 B7)

SAGAN SUIT THROWN OUT
    A judge has thrown out Carl Sagan's suit against Apple
Computer for libeling him after a product was code-named BHA
(for Butt-Head Astronomer). (Information Week 10/24/94 p.8)

A Review of Palm Computing's Graffiti for the Newton
----------------------------------------------------
by Scott Leapman (sleapman@vnet.ibm.com)

    There has been a lot of discussion recently about a new tool
from Palm Computing called Graffiti.  It is basically a pop-up
window that can be used as an alternative to the virtual
keyboard for text input.  I have been using Graffiti version
beta 0.051 on my Newton MessagePad 100 for almost two weeks, and
have found it to be worthy alternative to the pop-up keyboard.
I currently have it installed on my 2MB RAM card, and have
experienced no problems at all with it interfering with any
application or function in my Newton.  It seems to peacefully
co-exist with shareware packages as well as all the built-in
applications. One thing to keep in mind, though, is that it's an
application that, when running, grabs some memory for itself.
This can cause enough overhead problems in a MP100 to not allow
other programs to run well at the same time.  I have not found
any more "Out of Memory-Restart?" errors than when not running
Graffiti, but YMMV (your mileage may vary). Word is from Palm
Computing that Graffiti only consumes 100 bytes of overhead when
minimized.

* OVERVIEW OF GRAFFITI
    Graffiti is not handwriting recognition in its purest form.
It IS a method by which gestures or pen strokes are recognized.
Palm Computing claims 100% recognition accuracy, and this is
definitely attainable when following the simple rules.  Every
printable character has been simplified to a single pen stroke.
You simply draw the pen stroke that corresponds to the character
you want, and it's correctly recognized.  Most of the Graffiti
strokes are very similar to the letter that it represents.  Some
are close but different enough to cause a bit of confusion to
the novice Graffiti User.  Basically, the user needs to
accommodate Graffiti more than the other way around; it doesn't
attempt to learn the way you write.

* PARTS IS PARTS, OR WHAT GRAFFITI COMES WITH
    Graffiti comes with four packages for your Newton and a Quick
Reference Card.  The packages are the main Graffiti application,
a separate help file, the Shortcuts application, and a
stand-alone tutorial.  The main Graffiti application is all that
is required, but the other three files can be very helpful.
    A separate laminated Quick Reference Card is included that
shows all the strokes for every character.  While the basic
character set (a-z, 0-9, and basic punctuation) is rather easy
to remember, Graffiti can also recognize and print many special
characters including accented letters.  The front of the QR Card
shows all the basics, while the back of the card details the
less-frequently used characters.
    The main Graffiti app takes up about 87k of storage space,
so MP100 owners will probably need a RAM card.  This also means
that Graffiti won't be available when using any other PCMCIA
card, but that should be acceptable under most circumstances.
    The window that pops up is about the same height as the pop-up
keyboard, and about 2/3 of the screen width wide.  There are
buttons that toggle caps lock and number lock, as well as those
nifty direction arrows that the virtual keyboard also has.  The
information button is always there, but is grayed out unless the
help module is also installed.  A button to minimize the
Graffiti window is always available but you have to open the
"Extra" button for the command to close Graffiti (and free up
some memory).
    There are two forms in which the Graffiti window can be
displayed; the minimal (standard) form, and one called the
Graffiti Scratchpad which is nearly the size of the whole Newton
screen.  The Scratchpad screen can be used as a clipboard to
hold more than a single selected item.  I haven't used it much
yet, but it seems rather helpful- especially if you want to move
several bits of data from one place to another.  When the
Scratchpad version is displayed, the stroke entry area is on the
bottom of the window.  In the "Extra" button is a command that
turn "left mode" on which moves the stroke input area to the top
of the Scratchpad window instead.
    Both forms of the Graffiti window have a clear space about 1
inch on a side which is where all Graffiti strokes are to be
drawn. Graffiti works much like the built-in virtual keyboard;
you tap where you want to begin text insertion (to place the
cursor) and begin writing.  Each stroke (letter) is drawn in the
blank area on the Graffiti pop-up, and is recognized as soon as
you lift the stylus up. It's a bit disconcerting at first to
write all your strokes in the same space (one on top of the
other) but Graffiti keeps up pretty well, clearing the space as
it recognizes each stroke.
    The help file describes a bit of information about Graffiti
itself, as well as the full character/stroke mapping chart that
is also on the QR Card.  I removed this file from my Newton to
free up some memory as I have already memorized all the basics.
New Graffiti users may want to keep this file on their Newton
for a few weeks until they get used to some of the less obvious
mappings like "K" and "T".
    The Shortcuts application allows the user to specify blocks
of text that are represented by a few pen strokes.  For example,
I can assign the text "Call Mom" to "cm" so that when I do the
shortcut gesture on the Graffiti window and write "cm", "Call
Mom" is entered at the text insertion point.  As I previously
mentioned, this module is optional but can be quite a
time-saver.  The Shortcuts editor is very intuitive and works
well too.
    The Graffiti Tutorial is a free-standing application that
helps the novice user learn the stroke mapping that Graffiti
uses to recognize characters.  It is widely available on most
online services such as AOL and from Palm Computing directly.
This application works well for training the user in how to
effectively use Graffiti.  Keep in mind that the tutorial's
practice window is not a fully-functional version of Graffiti in
that not all strokes are recognized in all sections of the
tutorial.  I felt rather confident using Graffiti after going
through the whole tutorial.

* USING GRAFFITI
    I've been forcing myself to use Graffiti rather than Newton's
built-in handwriting recognition (HWR) so that I could evaluate
it.  I was skeptical at first, but Graffiti does work!  I'm
still having a bit of trouble with some of the stroke/letter
mappings such as "T" which is drawn as a backwards, upside-down
"L", but overall it's fast and easy to learn.  Especially good
is the punctuation recognition.  I've always had a hard time
with Newton's ability to read my "?" and ",", but Graffiti gets
it right every time.
    Graffiti attains it's high accuracy by minimizing the
possibilities to small set.  When drawing letters, there are
only 26 possibilities plus a few "shifting" gestures like
caps-lock, num-lock, alt, and punctuation.  For normal letters,
just draw the stroke.  For numbers, draw the num-lock gesture,
then the stroke.  For punctuation, tap the stroke-entry area and
draw the punctuation stroke.  For caps, draw an upward vertical
line.  For caps-lock, do the caps stroke twice.  By using a
small gesture set, accuracy increases.
    Navigation with Graffiti is easy too.  Draw a dash from left
to right and you add a space, from right to left and you get a
backspace.  A slash from top to bottom does a new line like
pressing the "return" arrow on the keyboard.  You can also tap
where you want the insertion point to go just like with the
pop-up keyboard, or use the arrow buttons on the Graffiti
window.
    The Graffiti window is fully draggable as is the minimized
button, so it rarely covers up something vital.  In practice,
I've found Graffiti more useful in the Notepad than in text
entry fields since I can usually get good HWR of my cursive
writing in them.  For example, entering a phone number in the
names application works well for me, so I don't need the virtual
keyboard.  My rule-of-thumb is that Graffiti is very useful in
the Notepad and wherever you find yourself using the virtual
keyboard.  Of course you can use it anywhere you write, too.

* BOTTOM LINE
    Graffiti works.  It's easy to learn.  It won't replace the
built-in HWR on my Newton for everything, but it will certainly
replace the pop-up keyboard.  I tried writing a long letter in
the Notepad with it and it worked just fine.  Consider it a very
attractive alternate text-entry method.  If you just can't get
your Newton to read your handwriting, then Graffiti will be even
more useful to you.

MUST READS!
-----------
* _Intelligent Newton Magazine_, September/October 1994.
    New shareware reviewed: NewtonMail Extensions Modules, Tibbott's
Bookcase, BooksOff, NewtCase, TimeCalc, BeamMeUp, End n' Back,
OnSet, PEC Business Japanese Lessons, Guitar Tuner, and Isaac.
    Major articles discuss: Newton at 1: Alive and Kicking; Vertical
Applications: A Review of Three; Newton Book Maker: Custom Data
on Demand; Q&A; and Al Roker of NBC's Today Show is a Newton
user!
    Commercial products reviewed: LetterExpress, LetterExpress Link,
Tapworks, Money Magazine Financial Assistant, Connection Kit for
Windows 2.0,  QuickFigure Pro, Scrappy, Chesspad, Subversion,
Auto Adapter & X-Pack, CS Browser, Newton Data Viewer,
Programming for the Newton, FirstClass Retriever, CE Software's
EnRoute, Time Out London Guide, Berlitz Five Language
Interpreter, Message Central, DietLog, TimeToGo/WakeUp!,
Motile/Cogio, and Gold Tee at Bighorn.
    Also, make sure you check out "Just In" on page 17 for the
latest scoops! And "Extras" on page 12-13 for the latest trends!
    Contact IN Magazine at (inmagazine1@eworld.com) or
415.433.2755.

* _PIE Developers_, Volume 2.5, September 1994
    Reviews on: FilePad, Digital Ocean Grouper 100MP, newPage,
NewRTFM, QuickFigure Pro, Gulliver, and ScriptLink.
    Mark Wilson (markn@well.com) has a regular column called
"Wireless Watch." Topics discussed in this column include:
Motorola Envoy, AT&T EO, CDPD Update, FCC auction of the
airwaves, and Lotus Notes/Skytel wireless gateway debut.
    Articles on: Getting Objective: thoroughly object-oriented
NewtonScript; Building the Perfect Beast IV; Newton and the
PowerOffHandler; Patching the System; FCS: Classification and
Retrieval; Newton Dating: modifying the Date Book; Scrolling
Madness; and The Newton Operating System: Secret Internals of the
Newton OS.
    Check out the "PDA News" starting on page 2 for the latest
tidbits.
    Contact Steve Mann at 415.621.4252, 415.621.4922(fax) or email
at (cds@netcom.com).

* _Pen Computing_ , November 1994
    Features: _Pens to the Rescue_ by Richard Veith - "How the
National Cancer institute and Elizabeth General Medical Center in
New Jersey use pen tablets in the cancer war." _Status of
Handwriting Recognition_ by Tim Schimidt - "We are asking five
leading experts about the status and the future of this
beleaguered technology." David Noack looks at a project by
students at Carnegie Mellon to help local police. _Evolution of
Pen Computing_ by Lisa Stampfli - "A look at the rollercoaster
history of an enigmatic technology that promised to change the
world."
    Opinions: Editor C.H. Blickenstorfer looks at the current state
of pen computing. Andrew Seybold gives us the low down on PDA
news that you can use.  Bill Lempesis takes a look at the latest
in Newton trends but has to wonder if IBM or Microsoft will end
up dominating.  Finally, Ronald Wooldridge introduces the idea of
"SwimPad."
    PenNews: John Wilmot looks at "Mobile computing, mobile
software, and wireless communications."
    PenLabs: Digital Ocean Grouper, Pocket Hard Disk, Toshiba T200
Super Tablets, and IBM Thinkpad 730T.
    New Products: HP OmniShare, Sharp PT-9000, AST-2300, Dauphin
DTR-2, and HyperBook 320.
    Big Reviews: (All Newton Products!) TrueNorth's Gulliver, Letter
Express, TimeReporter, and Fingertip for Golf.  Mini Reviews:
Accountable, MessageCentral, Great Meetings, NS BASIC, Gold Tee
at Big Horn, Llama DOS, and ChessPad.
    Mobile: Nigel Ballard gives us even more news and tidbits about
the PDA world.  Marty Mankins give you his views on what the
Newton has to do to grow and prosper.
    Development: Daniel Mezick takes a look at Microsoft Visual
Basic as a primary pen development environment.
    Personalities: Pen Computing interviews Pete Snell of
MobileSoft.
    Book Reviews: _Presenting Magic Cap - A Guide to General Magic's
Revolutionary Communicator Software_, _PDA Playhouse - The
Interactive Book of Personal Digital Assistants_, and _Joy of
Cybersex_.
    Contact Nigel Ballard (Nigel@dataman.demon.co.uk) if you'd like
to get subscription information.

User Groups
-----------
* STANFORD NEWTON USER GROUP (SNUG)
    Meets at 7 pm on the second and fourth Tuesday of each month
at the Printer's Inc Bookstore Cafe, 310 California Ave, Palo
Alto. Contact (FlaSheridn@rahul.net) or 415.462.9203 for more
info.

* SAN DIEGO NEWTON USER GROUP (SDNUG)
    Meets at 7 pm every third Thursday.  Location changes. Send
email to Alex Tosheff (alex@c3ot.saic.com) or Steve Holden
(sholden@nosc.mil) for location information.

* POOR NEWTON OWNERS
    Philadelphia Organization of Responsible Newton Owners (POOR
Newton Owners, with apologies to B. Franklin). Meets (mostly) on
the last Wednesday of the month at various locations.
    October Meeting: October 26, 1994, 12:00 noon, Apple Market
Center, 2 Logan Square 19th Floor, (18th and Arch Streets),
Philadelphia, PA
    For information contact: Lawrence A. Husick, Esq.
(Law.Husick@AppleLink.Apple.com) or 610.296.8259.

Product and Service Information
-------------------------------
* SOLAR CHARGING FOR NEWTONS. Mention Newton_News and get 30% off
SRP of a Sun Runner, solar charging unit for all MessagePads.
That makes the price either $139 or $111 for a Sun Runner (two
models available). Add $5 S&H and you'll have an unlimited power
source for your Newton! Call 800.327.6882 or send e-mail to
(KISS4@aol.com).

* QuickFigure Pro is Connected: Beam a spreadsheet to a co-worker.
NewtonMail a price list to a customer. Copy your analysis to the
notepad, and integrate it into a letter. Export your sales order
to Excel or Lotus 1-2-3 on your Mac or Windows machine.
QuickFigure Pro has the right connections. From PelicanWare,
Inc., $49.95 plus S&H. e-mail (donv@teleport.com) for more details,
or 800.655.6398 for ordering.

* WriteWare offers multi-function pen/styluses, and retrofits
for the Newton. The Stealth Stylus II is a dual function
Pen/Stylus while the Super Stealth Stylus is a Pen/Stylus/Pencil
in either plastic or metal case. Email (WriteWare@eWorld.com) for
a full catalog and pricing. Orders may be placed at International
DataWares, Inc. at 800.222.6032.

* The BARRIER, screen protection system engineered specifically for
the Newton Message Pads. Features: long life, glare reduction,
improved writing surface, no adhesives, easy installation. For
more information: Email: (Mellow.S@eworld.com) Call: 800.882.8382;
Fax: 505.662.2752. Package of 4 ($21.95 + $2.50 S&H)

* Special Newton Classic special offer.  Mention "Newton_News"
and I will discount to $245 (includes shipping in US) -
normally $259.  VISA/MC accepted. E-mail: Mike Rybinski
(p00383@psilink.com) or call/fax for details 703.644.4516:
MR Associates Int.

* Special Newton Software Offer. Mention "Newton_News" and we will
give you $5 off any Coherent Visual software product! Available:
Rahmel Utilities for Newton, Common Words, and Spanish FlashCards.
VISA/MC accepted. E-mail: Coherent Visual (cvisual@cerf.net) or
call/fax for FREE catalog 619-944-8973, fax: 619-944-8522.

* Mention "Newton_News" when ordering Clear Lake Research's
ChessPad and receive a 25% discount off the SRP of $69.95.
ChessPad is a combination of a digital chess book and a portable
chess set. It contains 28 annotated games from the greatest
players of all time and 100 chess problems. Demos on AOL, eWorld,
and CompuServe. Phone: 713.663.7513; email: (DavidL62@AOL.COM).

* BBS in a Box, by the Arizona Mac Users Group, is a Macintosh CD
which also contains Newton files - over 270 files (11 megs
compressed). There is also an ISO version which can be mounted on
a PC. Newton_News readers can get the CD for $45 plus shipping.
E-mail (ashley@amug.org) or call 602.553.0066.

* The WEDGE, a desk stand for your PDA and pen. Features: holds your
PDA at a convenient working  angle, keeps your pen handy, sleek
lines,  made of durable clear Lucite, inexpensive.  For more
information: Email: (Mellow.S@eworld.com) Call: 800.882.8382; Fax:
505.662.2752. [$15.95 + $4 S&H]

* PDA Panache has fine styli available for both the Original MP
and MP110.  Our Telescoping110 pen is available in either 24K
gold or sterling silver for $29.95.  Original MP styli are
available in aluminum for $9.95 or gold (polished or brushed) for
$19.95. We can be reached for Visa/MasterCard orders at:
800.270.7196, FAX:516-467-6329 or email (PDAPanache@eworld.com)

* Time To Go by Extra Lead: 10 Timepieces and LOUD, continuous
DataBook alarms. Includes: Travel Alarm, Meeting Cost Tracker,
Full-Screen clock, Hourglass, Parking Meter,  Stopwatch and more.
Mention "Newton_News" for $10 discount to $39+S&H. 800.642.4321,
(extralead@aol.com) for orders or further details.

Comments from the Editor
------------------------
* WWW SITE IS UP FOR BETA TESTING
    NewtNews finally has its WWW site up for beta testing.
NewtNews readers can connect at by using the following URL -
(http://www.ridgecrest.ca.us/NewtNews/NN_top.html). Please send
me feed back at (sholden@nosc.mil) ASAP.  I'd like to get things
ironed out this up coming week, and then distribute the URL more
freely.

* INTERESTING CD-ROM FACT
    From InfoWorld, October 17, 1994 on page 10: "90% of all home
computer systems come with CD-ROM, while 15% of all business
systems come with CD-ROM."

Administrivia
-------------
    If you'd like to contribute some information that you have --
anonymously or not -- write to: sholden@nosc.mil (Steve Holden)
You can also send any comments, corrections, reviews, or
suggestions to the address above.
    Non-profit, non-commercial publications may reprint articles
if full credit is given. Others please contact me. I don't
guarantee accuracy of articles. Publication, product, and company
names may be registered trademarks of their companies. TidBITS is
copyright 1990-1994 Adam & Tonya Engst (ace@tidbits.com).
    To read the text version, use Easy View or any other setext
browser to read this as an outline. All versions of NewtNews: the
text, the Newton book and HTML version are now being published by
Steve Holden (sholden@nosc.mil).
    You can anonymously FTP the latest and past issues of NewtNews
in both text and Macintosh Newton book format from ftp.netcom.com
in the /pub/btorres/Newton_News directory.
    This is the official home of NewtNews. There is also a very
useful document in this directory called NewtNews_Info. Please
read it. It will tell you about the email listserver and other
important information.  The FTP site is administered by Bob
Torres (btorres@netcom.com).

Disclaimer:  I am doing this on my own time, and on my own computer
***********  not the government's or my employer's.


##################################################################
## Steven D. Holden, Macintosh System/Applications Engineer,    ##
## SAIC -> NRaD -> Project ICER, sholden@nosc.mil, 619.553.6750 ##
##     I also publish NewtNews. Send me mail for more info.     ##
##     Disclaimer: Opinions expressed are my own and do not     ##
##  necessarily reflect those of my employer or the government  ##
##################################################################




