HAIFAX AREA PERSONAL COMPUTER SOCIETY

NEWSLETTER                                FEBRUARY 1996

	Meets 4th Sunday of each month, 7:00 pm

	Note Change of Location
	Veteran's Memorial Hospital, Room 1613A
	Corner of Robie and Jubilee Road, Halifax, N.S.

25 February Meeting

Opening Topic - Computer Election System
			  - Guest speaker from MT&T

Feature Event  - A Review of Income Tax Programs
			   - Audience Input

		IN THIS MONTH'S ISSUE:

Announcements

Communication Using Your PC
Parallel and serial ports

Start Win95 Programs Automatically
A look at the startup folder and shortcuts


Internet Wanderings
Some thoughts on one use for the Internet

The Newsletter
A few notes about what goes into this document

Meeting Schedule 95/96
Meeting dates for the remainder of the year

		GENERAL INFORMATION

This document is mailed to all paid up members and to anyone who
has attended a meeting within the past three months.  Yearly
membership dues are $15.00.  The text of the newsletter is
available on Chebucto Community Net and local bulletin boards.
Society Mailing Address -
		P.O. Box 185 Stn. Main, Dartmouth N.S., B2Y 3Y3

Executive:

	Chairperson - David Potter
	Vice-Chair - Bill Marchant 
	Secretary/Newsletter Editor - Colin Stuart
	Treasurer - Garth Bennett 
	Disk Librarian - Thayne MacLean 

	and also Norman DeForest, Henry Hill, Arthur Layton, Rob
	MacCara, Andy Cornwall, George Richards, and Diane Smith.

			ANNOUNCEMENTS

As was the case last month, there are not very many announcements
this month.  I have included a shortened notice about the change
of meeting location.

Last Planning Meeting

The last planning meeting was held on Monday, 5 February at Camp
Hill (VMH).   The next general meeting will have two topics, the
first being a presentation by MT&T on their computerized election
system and the second will be a review of tax programs.  The
review will be fairly open so those in attendance can express
their views on their experiences with various Income Tax software
programs.

We've Moved!

Commencing in January 1996 the regular monthly meetings of the
Society will be held in Room 1613A of the Veteran's Memorial
Hospital (VMH) at the corner of Robie Street and Jubilee Road, 
Halifax.  The planning meetings will be held in a different room
in the same building.  These facilities are provided at no cost
to the Society.

There is underground parking available at the VMH at a cost of
$1.10 /hour.  For anyone who wishes to use it, the elevator from
the parking area takes you directly to the lobby.  The parking
bill is paid to the concessionaire in the lobby when you go to
return to your car.  There is also parking available on the
nearby streets.  Both Robie Street and Summer Street have parking
meters, and at our meeting time on Sunday evening they are most
likely to be uncontested by others.

Society Address Change
Please note the new mailing address for the Society:

P.O. Box 185, Stn. Main
Dartmouth, N.S.
B2Y 3Y3

Membership Expiry Dates
For those of you who are not already aware, the membership expiry
dates are printed in the upper right corner of your newsletter
mailing label.  If you wish to continue to receive this
newsletter and know what interesting meetings are coming up, you
either have to renew ($15 per year) or come to the meetings and
put your name on the list that is passed around.

DELPHI

The Metro Halifax Delphi Developers Group meets on the first
Tuesday of each month at 7:00pm.  The meetings are held at the
CCL Group Building 2669 Dutch Village Road, Halifax.

Further information may be obtained from Dave Hackett at 835-3894, 
CIS:71650,2646 or from Carey Rolfe at 462 4551 or e-mail
rolfe@ra.isisnet.com.

OS/2 Users Group

The regular meeting of the Greater Halifax OS/2 Special Interest
Group are held on the second Wednesday of each month at the
office of IBM at Purdy's Wharf Tower Two in Halifax.  Further information may be 
obtained from Donovan Long at 422 1975 
or by e-mail at tsst@isisnet.com.

Advertising and Want Ads

We don't charge for small individual want ads.  That is any
Society member or other interested person with some computer
related item that they wish to sell, trade, or give away can
contact the editor to place an ad in the newsletter.  We would
expect that more commercially oriented advertising provide the
Society with some remuneration for carrying the ad.

An ad will normally only appear once but let me know if you need
it repeated.  Ads can be given to me at meetings or give me a
call two weeks to ten days before the next general meeting
(newsletter deadline).

		COMMUNICATION USING YOUR PC
			by David Grimshire

OK you've heard the media blitz espousing the fastest processors,
the biggest hard drives and the most memory, but even more
important is the ability to communicate.  Every PC can
communicate because essentially all PCs sold have parallel and
serial ports.  Hang on to your hat as we explore the basics of
communication.

Most PCs  have at least one parallel printer port. This allows
your computer to send information to the printer very quickly,
several bits at once. Originally this was a one way data transfer
from the computer to the printer. Later the printer ports were
modified to allow two way transfer.  This allowed external hard
drives and other devices to connect to your computer using a
fairly fast communication method.

OK let's try something practical. First look at the back of  your
computer for a cable that runs from your printer to your
computer. At the computer end the plug may be labeled LPT1:
because DOS likes to call parallel ports LPT1: to LPT4:. If your
plug says COM1: hang on we'll cover that later. For now you can
replace COM1: for LPT1: in the following example.

	Example:

	To send information from file "autoexec.bat" in your
	computer to printer LPT1: type the
	following at the DOS prompt (C:\>) :
	type c:\autoexec.bat > LPT1:

You have just sent information several bits at once to your
printer. The advantage is that the transfer was relatively fast.
The disadvantage is that a device on the parallel port must be
close to your computer.

So what if you want to send information up to 50 ft away.  What
if you don't want a cable the size of your printer cable? The
solution is serial communication. Here the bits of information
get sent one after another down one wire.  Obviously you need two
wires if you want two-way communication and another wire for
something called a ground.  The actual cable is considerably
smaller than your parallel printer cable where the cable had to
have one wire for each bit sent.

Look at your mouse.  On most systems mice are serial devices. We
aren't concerned about using our mouse 50 ft from the computer
but we really don't want to drag a large wire around so it uses
serial communication.  If you follow your mouse wire to the back
of your computer you will probably find the plug labeled COM1: . 
At this point you may find that your printer is connected to a
serial port and that's fine.  The only drawback is that serial
communication is slower because instead of sending bits down the
wire all at once, we send them one after another.

What use is a serial port anyway? Well if you have another PC
nearby you may want to connect the two of them together using the
serial ports and a null modem (yes you can make a null modem
yourself for a few dollars if you can solder).   I've got a
Zenith EasyPC with no hard drive sitting next to my 386.  I'd
like to share the hard drive, loading files from the 386 to the
EasyPC and saving files to the 386.  The null modem wire is
connected I just have to write some software to do the file
transfers.

A special serial port is a modem. It works like your serial port
but can send signals down the phone lines so you are no longer
limited to 50 ft.  The format of the information bits is changed
so that only one wire is used for two way communication.  At this
point you should realize that software is important for the
transfer of information.  You may have a terminal program to use
your modem, you definitely have a mouse driver for your mouse and
printer drivers are required for your printer.

Well, well, well your computer can talk serial and parallel making
it bilingual.  So you can squirrel this information away never to
be used again or you can apply it.  For example, next time you
buy a printer you now know that a connection to the parallel port
will be faster than using the serial port if the printer is close
to your computer.  If you are thinking of buying that super fast
external modem and it connects to your serial port, can your
serial port perform fast enough for that external modem?

This has been a very basic introduction to the world of
interfacing.  We didn't look at addresses or interrupts or
software for that matter.  There are other interfacing techniques
using Local Area Network (LAN) cards and special busses for
connecting electronic test equipment.  I hope you continue to
explore interfacing and look forward to more articles on the
subject.  I can be contacted at ac183@chebucto.ns.ca

Biblical Bits #23
-- Is there a driver for it? --
they imagined a mischievous device   Psalms 21:11

		START WINDOWS 95 PROGRAMS AUTOMATICALLY
				by Bill Marchant

Windows 95, like Windows 31 has a way of starting an application
on bootup.  If you open the MY COMPUTER folder, and then open the
C:\, WINDOWS, START MENU, PROGRAMS and STARTUP folders in
sequence; you will be able to place an application icon in the
STARTUP folder.  When you next boot up your machine, that
application will execute without further action by you.

A more advanced problem is:  How do I get the computer to execute
two or more programs at once after it has booted?  For example,
some people use a program called TRUMPET after which they then
have to start NETSCAPE.  These two programs can be activated at
the same time by creating a batch file (Good old DOS), creating a
shortcut for it on the desktop, and executing from the desktop
any time the programs are needed.

The following example will start PAINTBRUSH, CALCULATOR and
NOTEPAD.

First, you make a batch file.  For anyone who doesn't already
know, a batch file is a text file containing specific
instructions for your computer, and is saved with a name that has
the extension .BAT.

Use the start button to go to the MS-DOS prompt.  The DOS prompt
will normally be showing the WINDOWS folder as the default. 
Leave it there because you will be saving the batch file in the
WINDOWS folder.

In the DOS window type "EDIT DOIT.BAT"  { do not include the ""s}

This will give you the DOS editor and the file name DOIT.BAT at
the top of the window.  You could call the file any name you like
as long as it has a .BAT extension.  You could also use NOTEPAD
or some other editor as long as it produces pure ASCII text
files.  I chose DOS EDIT for no particular reason except that I
trust it.

Type the following three lines: {don't include the ""s}:

"start c:\windows\pbrush.exe"
"start c:\windows\calc.exe"
"start C:\windows\notepad.exe"

I have included the path WINDOWS in these lines, because the
three programs all exist in the WINDOWS folder.  If you are
executing programs that are in other folders, you should include
the appropriate path for their folders.

When you have typed these lines,  Select FILE | SAVE from the
menu.

Then select FILE | EXIT.
You can leave the DOS window by entering EXIT.

Now use MY COMPUTER to find the DOIT file in the C:\Windows
folder.

When you have it, create a shortcut, and drag the shortcut to
your desktop.

You create a shortcut on an application icon by clicking it with
the RIGHT mouse button and selecting Create Shortcut from the
pop-up menu.

A shortcut icon will appear in the folder.  You may have to look
for it by scrolling around.  When you have found it drag it to
the desktop.  You accomplish the drag by placing the cursor on
it, holding down the LEFT mouse button and moving the cursor to
the desktop.  When you reach the desktop, release the button.

The shortcut caption will say "Shortcut to DOIT.BAT"

All you have to do now to launch the three programs is to double
click on the shortcut icon.  The batch file DOIT.BAT will be
executed, and each line in the DOIT.BAT will launch its
application.

NOTE:
If the programs you want to execute are not in the windows
folder, then you will have to use a line like the following:

"start D:\Foldername\filename.exe"

where D is whatever drive you are using, Foldername is the name
of the folder.  If it is several folders deep you have to connect
them together like this  Folder1\Folder2\Folder3  etc., and
filename.exe is the actual name of the program you wish to
execute.

Biblical Bits #24
-- Here it is.  But does it work? --
nor regarding the crying of the driver  Job 39:7

			INTERNET WANDERINGS
				by Colin Stuart

So what to write about this month?  No one has written an article
about the Internet for this issue so I guess I can write about
that.  Now I am not a real big Internet junkie but I do spend a
fair amount of time online.  I work full time as a computer tech
type of person and much of my web browsing is related to that. 
There are many sites that I haven't even thought about visiting. 
Maybe some day when I get a bit of spare time.

Many of the sites I have visited belong to the major hardware and
software companies.  I think that this capability is great.  I
don't have to call the company on the phone and listen to some
recorded voice telling me to "enter your selection now on your
touch tone telephone".  The Internet is much quicker.  There is
no being on hold for 10 to 20 minutes.  I can save a bookmark on
the locations that I know I will be going back to.  Also I can
quickly switch from one site to another.

Why do I access these companies' sites?  One reason is to get the
latest drivers or patches.  Another is to look up settings or
specifications on various pieces of hardware.  I have checked out
Conner, Seagate, and Quantum in the past couple of weeks.  Other
sites I have been to recently include Adpatec, 3Com, Sony, Compaq
and Hewlett Packard.

They all have pages where information is available on their
latest products.  Some even have lovely pictures.  The drive
manufacturers have sections where you can find out the jumper
settings for master/slave, heads, cylinders, sectors and what
naught.  Most have sections where they list frequently asked
questions.  You can safely browse through these without having to
phone long distance, be on hold for 20 minutes just to ask some
basic questions.

I used to get some of this information from CompuServe but the
Internet is much more extensive.  Pictures and diagrams are nice
to get.  Of course you need a browser that is graphical to get
much of this info.  I am now using Netscape 2.0.  I like this
version because it lets me get my mail through it without having
to launch another application.  It also does a very nice job of
printing the screens you are looking at.  This is another good
feature of accessing reference material via the Internet.  You
can print or save any of the data that you wish.  No need for a
pen and paper to feverishly scribble down info over the phone.

Many sites have a technical or information database that you can
search through.  This can be quite valuable when you are trying
to find out why one of your programs or a piece of hardware does
not appear to be functioning correctly.  Novell has a good one
for looking up problems with Perfect Office and associated
programs like WordPerfect.  I hope that this gets carried over to
Corel once they fully take over the WordPerfect program.

I have spent a lot of time downloading updated drivers and
patches.  How long each download takes depends on a number of
things.  One is the speed of the link.  This will be governed by
the slowest link in the chain between you and the site that you
are downloading from.  For many people this is the speed of their
dialup line to their Internet provider.  The amount of traffic on
the chain is another factor.  You can help limit this by
downloading during off hours.

How do I find the companies' sites?  You can do a search on the
company name.  One place find links to other locations is
Microsoft's site.  They have a company listing on their site
which includes phone numbers and Internet addresses (url's) of
many companies.  Sometimes I just do something very scientific
and guess.  I enter something like www.toshiba.com and see what
I get.  This works pretty well for big companies but sometimes I
can go someplace I didn't expect.

So I think I will end off here.  I didn't list any url's for the
companies that I mentioned as I think that they are all straight
forward such as -  www.conner.com or www.novell.com.

I will try and think up something interesting for the next
newsletter.  I may have something about using UPS's
(Uninterruptible Power Supplies) at work and at home.

			ABOUT THE NEWSLETTER

Newsletter Articles

We are almost always in need of good articles.  If anyone has
something that they feel would make a good article, an
interesting story to tell, or even a good meeting topic, please
don't hesitate to pass it on.

You can submit articles in almost any format, ASCII text, AMI
Pro, MS Word, Windows Write, WordStar and of course WordPerfect. 
What is the best way to get an article to me?  Various ways are
available.  You can bring it to a meeting or give me a call and
upload it to me.  If you are on the Chebucto FreeNet, Internet,
or any type of e-mail system that has a gateway to the Internet,
you can send something to me via the Internet to where I work -
stuartce@ednet.ns.ca.
or
hlfxtrad.educ.stuartce@gov.ns.ca  

It does work, but if you are sending a file attachment to your
message to me at the gov.ns.ca address, it should be UUencoded
and not a mime attachment.  The ednet email works fine with
regular mime encoding and I think it is a bit quicker than the
gov.ns.ca address.

Newsletter Production Notes

For those who may be interested, the newsletter is formatted with
WordPerfect for Windows 6.1 running on either a Pentium 75 or
120.  Both have 16 megs of RAM.

Much of the clipart used is from Novell (formerly WordPerfect)
Presentations 3.0 which comes as part of the Perfect Office
Suite.  The only problem is that there isn't a printed list of
the images so you have to  root' around a bit.

The original was printed at 600 dots per inch resolution on a HP
Laserjet 4 Plus.  The main body of the newsletter is set in 10
point Palatino with the article headings being 14 point bold. 
The title on the first page is ITC Zapf Chancery Medium Italic
19.2 and 16 points.

There were about 65 copies produced this month of which around 50
were mailed out.  Any extra copies from the previous few month's
issues that I have will be brought to the next meeting for those
who are new to the group or may not be in regular attendance.

I do have a complete set of all the previous newsletters and if
someone wanted to look through these, let me know and I can bring
them to the next meeting.

MEETING SCHEDULE - 1996

The dates for this year's meetings  are listed below. 

25 February
24 March
28 April
26 May
23 June

The planning meetings are normally held on the second Monday (8
days) after the general meeting.  They are also located at the
Veteran's Hospital.  Anyone is welcome to assist in the planning
of future meetings or events.

Any changes to the scheduled dates will be announced where
possible at the regular monthly meetings and/or in this
newsletter.