MMOUG June 1995 Newsletter
Volume 3 Number 6

The views expressed in this newsletter are not necessarily the views held by
the MMOUG or it's members. Don't agree with something you've read here?     
Write and tell us about it!  If you have any contributions, please upload them to area
18 of the WoodMeister or send them to me via Internet at USDSSKZS@IBMMAIL.COM.  If
you work for the State of Missouri and have access to DISOSS, you can send them to
POOLMWV at DSSHOST.      

MMOUG May Minutes
Mid MO OS/2 Users Group
May 17, 1995
Jefferson City, Dept. of Social Services.

Attendees: Ben Hoffman, Penny Shepherd, Ken Gray, Dayton Shepherd,
Steve Petzel, Randy Wright, Gary Pool, Harvey Summers, Carole Mosley, 
Jay Robertson, Blake Lewis

Guests:  Charles Steinhaus, Steve Gramblin

The meeting was called to order.  Ben Hoffman said he had talked to
Phillip Wilson this morning.  The Columbia BBS machine is very sick and
needs help.  The best solution seems to be to replace the motherboard.
Phillip ask for authorization to spend up to $700 to buy a replacement
motherboard and memory.  There was some discussion as to the cost of the
solution and what could be donated by club members.  Phillip's request
was approved.  Several members said they would contact Phillip to see
if they could help with the final solution.

The group's  copy of Partition Magic is here.  Blake Lewis volunteered
to use it and present his findings at the next club meeting.

Next month's meeting will be in Columbia will be at the meeting room at
Columbia Photo.

A discussion of the Warp Connect product took place.  An IBM Satellite
broadcast on 5/18/95 will be on Warp Connect.

Ben Hoffman gave a brief report on the Disney Children Art's Festival
where IBM used OS/2 Warp for a session.

The meeting was adjourned.

Harvey Summers did a presentation on how to customize the Workplace
Shell with either INI file compiles or using REXX procedures.

Information Officer Input/Output

Well, things are looking up!  The flood waters are going down, the sun has
made a few appearances, and Warp Connect has finally hit the streets.  The
WoodMeister has been up and running a little more consistently lately, and
I have people offering (OK, I did a :hp1.little:ehp1. arm-twisting) to write
articles for the Newsletter.

This month there is a peek at the freeware IBM Employee Written Software,
WorkPlace Shell for Windows.  What a neat product!  If you know of anyone
who is running Windows instead of OS/2 (or even Win-OS/2), Program
Manager can be replaced with this shell to give the look, feel and some of
the benefits of OS/2's WorkPlace Shell.  Definitely a very neat product.

Harvey Summers has a delightful series of articles cooked up, the first that
will appear next month with the intriguing working title "The Tachyon
Processor".  He thinks he may need to trademark that name!

You may have noticed the talk of IBM purchasing a German company this week.
The word-processor, StarWriter, is supposed to look and feel like Microsoft
Word.

For you corporate types, DeScribe has a :hp2.wonderful:ehp2. corporate license.
Purchase a license for all of their flavors for the entire corporate account for
$10,000.  What a bargain!

We'll also have a review of Partition Magic in the next Newsletter (it didn't
make the cut in time for this one).  By sending the company a copy of the
review, they will send us another copy of Partition Magic to give away!

Yep, things are looking up!

Rebound -- Off the Boards

                           
                            
                          
 
       < The OS/2 Woodmeister >
               Overview of downloadable files 
                      (314) 446-0016
      FIDO Node 1:289/27    1200/2400/9600/14400 D/S
       <>


(Tue May 30 05:32) Last 1 months newest of a total of 3090 files (537 MB)
                   Maximum privilege shown: Disgrace
                   Newest: OWM_NEW.ZIP dd  5-29-95 (avail:  5-29-95)
                   Date flag: new on this system since: * = 1 week, + = 1 month

Filename     Area  Size   Date    Description
    
AIC7870.EXE     7   56K  5-09-95+ The latest Adaptec Drivers for the 2940 SCSI
                                  for OS/2 2.x and WARP. This card is shiping
                                  in the 6886-4CJ models.
BILL_AVI.ZIP   51 1167K  5-27-95* See and hear Bill Gates *proclaim* OS/2 as
                                  the operating system of the 90's. 8sec 15fps
CL15LTD.ZIP    15  849K  5-27-95* Clearlook OS/2 WordProcessor - Fast! Limited
                                  Evaluation Copy.
COSMOS.ZIP      8  662K  5-28-95* Cosmos - an Edutainment OS/2 Game
DOOMOS2.ZIP     8 2154K  5-28-95* DOOM for OS/2 V1.6b   Requires WARP w/ VIDE
                                  extensions (Incl. w/ WARP)
FRLNCH.ZIP     10  380K  5-28-95* FreeLaunch - a New OS/2 Launch program
GOHTTP.ZIP     16   15K  5-27-95* Revised filter for GoServe. Supports a number
                                  of enhancements including common log format
HTMLG105.ZIP   16  132K  5-27-95* HTMLGen (V1.05) A HTML Script Generator For
                                  OS/2. Assists you in creating HOME PAGE
                                  scripts for the World Wide Web.
MMIX1B.ZIP      9   33K  5-08-95+ This is the latest mixer for all you Pro
                                  Audio fans out there. Its the newest and
                                  works great. must have......KG
MMOUG495.ZIP    2  109K  5-07-95+ Mid Missouri OS/2 Users Group April
                                  Newsletter.
MMOUG595.ZIP    2  116K  5-07-95+ Mid Missouri OS/2 Users Group May Newsletter
MR2_223.ZIP     9  280K  5-27-95* MR2 Offline Mail reader version 2.23
ONCMD2.ZIP      6  753K  5-27-95* OnCmd xBase for OS/2 V1.1.5. Demo. Native 32
                                  bit xBase programming language & includes a
                                  database engine that outperforms DOS
OWM_ALL.TXT  LIST  338K  5-29-95* All files on the OS/2 Woodmeister
OWM_ALL.ZIP  LIST  123K  5-29-95* All files on the OS/2 Woodmeister
OWM_NEW.TXT  LIST    4K  5-29-95* New files (last 30 days) on the OWM
OWM_NEW.ZIP  LIST    2K  5-29-95* New files (last 30 days) on the OWM
POP3D12.ZIP    16   44K  5-27-95* POP3 server v.1.1 for OS/2 TCP/IP
SBNCH.ZIP       9  137K  5-27-95* OS/2 Benchmarking program.  Contains Source
                                  for enhancements
TOPFLOOR.ZIP   14  121K  5-28-95* Cool OS/2 bitmap
WIN95PTR.ZIP   14    3K  5-27-95* Win95 style pointers for OS/2 Warp v3.
WPSFW410.ZIP    4  595K  5-15-95+ Workplace Shell for Windows. Works on Win/DOS
                                  and WINOS2
XTRCIM.ZIP     12   67K  5-27-95* Save $$$ w/OS/2 CIM Offline-reader! Includes
                                  Rexx program XtraCIM which adds Offline
                                  reader to OS/2 CIM


  
         List created with DOWNSORT 5.5g by Rob Hamerling
               on Tue May 30 05:32 under OS/2 2.3
  

The Dog House

I've had an interest in phonetic search techniques for years
and Jeff Prosise's recent C program got me to thinking that
this cforum would be an excellent vehicle to present REXX
programs that appear in other venues.  The interest and
educational value could spur support.  So to that end I've
coded his PS.c in REXX.  BTW, I would love to hear comments
about how to make it faster/more efficient.

/* Phonetic Search engine */
arg file name

if file=""  name ="" then do
   say "Syntax: PS filename string"
   return 1
end

if stream(file, "C", "QUERY EXISTS")="" then do
   say "Error: File not found"
   return 2
end
call stream file, "C", "OPEN READ"

namecode=soundex(name)

do while lines(file)
   line=linein(file)
   do i=1 to words(line)
      if namecode=soundex(word(line, i)) then do
         say line
         leave i
      end
   end
end

call stream arg(1), "C", "CLOSE"
return 0

/* Soundex function */
soundex: procedure

name=translate(arg(1))
scode=substr(name,1,1)
tableo='01230120022455012623010202'
tablei='ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZ'

if length(name)=1 then
   return scode'000'

scode=scodetranslate(substr(name, 2), tableo, tablei)

i=2
do length(scode)-2 while length(scode)>2
   if (substr(scode, i, 1)="0")  (substr(scode, i, 1)=substr(scode, i+1, 1))
      then scode=delstr(scode, i, 1)
      else i=i+1
end

return substr(scode, 1, 4, '0')

<<<<<>>>>>
J. D. Wells

Humor

MICROSOFT UNVEILS NEW JOE-BOB(tm) SOFTWARE

by Andrew Burke (ABurke@eworld.com)

REDMOND, Wash. -- April 10, 1995 --  Microsoft today announced the
release of Joe-Bob(tm), a new software package that the company hopes
will open up a huge untapped computer market. With the motto "The
software for the rest of y'all(tm)," Joe-Bob reaches out to the same
demographic group that buys 4x4s, supports the gun lobby, and drinks
Miller Lite.

"Computers have been commonly seen as for leftists and intellectuals,"
explains Microsoft spokesperson Willy Maclean, "but we've recently seen
people like Newt Gingrinch embracing new technology -- the time is right
for the rest of America to get wired!"

Instead of a desktop or office metaphor, Joe-Bob(tm) puts the user in a
garage. "Click on the Lynyrd Skynyrd tapes, and get a complete music
library in digital stereo. Click on the pinups, and get hooked up to the
Internet's hottest gifs," the promotional materials explain.

The package does not include a word processor or spreadsheet, but does
have software that keeps track of the football season, lists the best
roadhouses between Florida and Nevada, and can even order spareribs and
beer at the click of a mouse.

"This is righteous software, man," says beta-tester Billy Grugg. "It
thinks like I think." Brad Cunningham agrees: "I take it everywhere," he
says, pointing to a Pentium laptop racked under his 12-gauge in his
pickup truck. Microsoft is offering desktop users a special clip-on beer
holder for their monitors.

"Look at what's popular out there," says Microsoft Chairman Bill Gates.
"Four of the top-10 Usenet newsgroups are about sex, and splatter video 
games like Doom and Mortal Kombat are bestsellers. We're just catering 
to a demand, that's all."

Microsoft is reportedly distributing badges and bumper stickers saying 
things like:

"Joe-Bob: Make Your Disk Hard,"
"Go Microsoft -- Go Intel -- Go America," and 
"QuickTime is for Pinko Hippie Wimps."

OS/2 Tips 'N' Techniques

Subject: Opening an OS/2 Window at the directory of the current folder

Actually it's very simple,
Create an OS/2 Window object (you can copy/modify the current one in the
command prompts folder), Open it's settings notebook, and in the
'Parameter' field, put '/K CD' instead of the '&' that is there by
default (at least on Warp systems).

Now all you got to do, is when you have a folder in sight, and I mean
the folder's Icon, just drag it to the new OS/2 Window icon, and it will
open in the directory of the folder.

This is quite usefull, for those Drives-Folder users who just want to
'open a window in that folder to do a single command'

Enjoy!

Arie Tal

Report from New Orleans

I have to apologize to Bob here.  Apparently, without my original
append, he would not have to be here, meeting customers and getting
sore feet and legs from standing out in the middle of the ehibit
floor. So he says--the story is that because of my original note
he found it less easy weasel out of comming here to New Orleans.
Sorry Bob. I should be worth the sore feet to meet me Bob. ;-)

The Interchange has been good. Lots of new stuff is comming out.
The next version of OS/2--Klingon--will have about 700 Win32 APIS
supported natively by OS/2. This makes Lotus and Novell happy.
One of the sets of APIs being embraced by Klingon is the Windows
registry API set.  This has major implications for how the config.sys
is treated, the system ini files etc.  It also has major implications
for how applicationscan/will store their data.

I have also divined the future of 16 bit drivers. They are going away.
the ADD32 driver model (not yet even complete) is what is going to
be used in the Power PC and on Intel when it gets the microkernal.
This model allows for the use of object oriented techniques for DD
creation and is reputed to take 20% of the code required by a
traditional device driver. At least for NIC drivers.

Klingon will not be micro-kernal based, but I hope it will support
the ADD32 driver model.  A Microkernal based INTEL OS/2 will be
coming eventually, though.

Because of the above, and other things  LAN networking is going to
change radically.  NDIS is going away.  16 protocol APIs are going
away. The first incarnation of portable OS/2 will support multiple
protocol stacks, but will only present SOCKETS and CPI-C APIs to
the applications.  No Netbios APIs, no IPS/SPX APIs.  Simpler to
write new code, but not to port existing applications. I wonder how
we will configure applications vis-a-vis protocols?  Hybrid protocols
such as RFC Netbios may/will be delayed.

IBM is writing a 32 bit Netware requester for the PowerPC. This will
be ported to the Intel platform. I hope it is full function and
includes management app support.

Matt Hickman         Chevron Information Technologies Co.
voice (713) 754-2389       Internet:  bhic@chevron.com
fax (713) 754-2771

Support PBS, Get Warped!

Here was an Interesting marketing idea!

--> Tune in and you may win an IBM Thinkpad and OS/2 Warp!

At approximately 3:30 pm CDT, June 3, 1995, Chicago's WTTW Channel 11
television station, a PBS affiliate, will air a program which
explains the Internet and the "Information Superhighway."  Channel
11, like other public television stations, depends on viewer support.
The Internet program will be accompanied by pledge breaks, inviting
viewers to call in and pledge their support to Channel 11.

IBM, as part of the company's ongoing support for public television,
has given the station special gifts to say "thank you" to WTTW's
contributors during this Internet program.  The first 50 callers to
pledge a certain dollar amount will each receive a copy of the most
popular 32-bit PC software, IBM's OS/2 Warp.  OS/2 Warp includes quick,
easy, and complete software for accessing the Internet, with three
free hours online.  OS/2 Warp's BonusPak also features a word processor,
calendar, fax program, database, spreadsheet, address book, Multimedia
Viewer, workgroup/videoconferencing capabilities, and much more.
Designed to run the widest variety of software (DOS, Windows, and
OS/2), OS/2 Warp makes PCs easier to use and more powerful.

As a special bonus, all callers during these Internet programming
pledge breaks will be entered into a drawing for a complete IBM
ThinkPad 360C notebook computer system, with 8 MB of RAM, a 340 MB
hard disk, high speed 14.4 data/fax modem, and preloaded OS/2 Warp
software.

IBM is proud to support many educational programs, including public
television.  On this same TV station, for example, IBM sponsors the
"Golden Apple Awards," a program honoring excellence in teaching.
In Chicago alone, IBM has given the public school system a two
million dollar grant to promote better education through the use of
new technology.

WTTW Channel 11 serves the Chicago, Illinois, area (and now many
cable subscribers throughout the Midwest) with the finest educational
programming, producing several programs for local and national
public television audiences.

PKZIP Hack

Copied from CompuServe:
Science Fiction Media forum

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

 FALSE "PKZ" FILE ALERT

 Some joker out there is distributing a file called PKZ300B.EXE
 and PKZ300B.ZIP.  This is NOT a version of PKZIP and will try
 to erase your harddrive if you use it.  The most recent version
 of PKZIP is 2.04G.  Please tell all your friends and favorite
 BBS stops about this hack.

 Thank You.

   - Patrick Weeks, Product Support, PKWARE, Inc.

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

SpeedPascal/2

SpeedSoft USA
19528 Ventura Blvd. #133
Tarzana, CA 91356
(818) 887-3034

COMING IN JUNE!

SpeedPascal/2
The OS/2 Solution

At last! If you've been dying to program for OS/2 Warp, but can't bear to 
spend hours debugging obscure C and overly complex C++ code, SpeedSoft has 
just what you need! SpeedPascal/2 for OS/2!

SpeedPascal/2 is a Borland Pascal 7.0 compatible compiler and an integrated 
development environment (IDE) with a host of features designed to ease the 
task of writing OS/2 Presentation Manager(TM) programs.

At last, you can use the productive programmer's language of choice on the 
world's most productive operating system and not sacrifice a thing:

NO runtime royalites!
NO huge support .DLLs!
NO lengthy compile times for small programs!
NO sluggish interpreted code!
NO limits!

Here's what awaits you in the world of SpeedPascal/2!

An OS/2 IDE that Really Is Integrated!

The SpeedPascal/2 environment is a suite of tools centered around a Multiple 
Document Interface editor, with all the amenities that you expect from an 
IDE-- and more!

From the IDE, you can access the power of the SpeedPascal/2 tools:

A PM-based MDI editor
An integrated debugger
A 32-bit OS/2 compiler
An OS/2 Assembler
A Resource Editor and Compiler
An Inline Assembler
Context sensitive help

Tired of floundering around with disconnected compilers and standalone 
debuggers? How about an editor/compiler/debugger that takes you right to 
your syntax errors, and lets you walk through your code to find those 
hard-to-get bugs?

Bye, Bye Make Files

With all the .LIB, .DEF, .C, .H, .RC and .MAK files you have to create 
with every OS/2 project, does it sometimes seem like you've exhausted the 
alphabet giving your project files extensions? With SpeedPascal/2 You can 
manage your projects entirely from the IDE. 

Don't care about linkers or compiler options? No problem. Think the compiler 
should handle what files should be made and when so you don't have to build 
make files? It's taken care of. You're free to concentrate on getting the 
most out of your development time.

Got Your Own Editor?

We're pretty proud of our IDE here at SpeedSoft but, hey, SpeedSoft is 
all about choices! If you prefer to use your own editor, that's fine with 
us. You still have access to the tools you need:

A command line compiler
A command line assembler
A standalone resource editor
A command line resource compiler

Hate APIs?

Just because you have access to the API doesn't necessarily mean that 
you want access to the API.  If you're object-oriented, you'll want to 
check out the Object PM Library (OPML). 

Turn that 100 line "Hello, World!" program into something a bit more 
manageable with the power of objects. And we're committed to porting that 
library to other platforms!

Trust No One!

The last thing you need is some company telling you "
Trust us, we know what's best for you." All the source to SpeedPascal/2's 
standard interface libraries is available for you to scrutinize.

RTFM!

SpeedPascal comes complete with electronic versions of:

The User's Manual
The Programmer's Manual
The SpeedPascal/2 Language Reference
The OPML Reference Manual

You said you wanted hard copy manuals to be an optional extra purchase, 
and we salute your ecologically and economically sound decision by offering 
you manuals electronically in the three formats you're most likely to need:

On-Line Help Format
ASCII Text (for universal access)
PostScript Format (for printing your own)

You can print the sections you want, search for whatever you want, even make 
notes in the files, if you want. (Hard copies are available at a nominal 
fee.)

SpeedPascal/2 additionally comes with sample code demonstrating the features 
of the compiler and OS/2.

Metal Heads Welcome

Like to program the fastest, meanest code around? You can do pure 
assembly with SpeedPascal/2, or integrate assembly into your Pascal 
programs with SpeedPascal/2's inline assembler.

The Future

SpeedPascal/2 for OS/2 is just the beginning for SpeedSoft. We're committed 
to being a cross-platform solution, and to providing you with the best tools 
around for any platform. We're currently at work with major vendors of 
Pascal products to see that your favorite libraries get ported to 
SpeedPascal/2. 

Top-Tier Tools, Wal-Mart Prices

SpeedPascal/2 comes to you on a jam-packed CD-ROM disc for the low, low 
suggested price of $179.  The CD includes floppy disk images for the 
portable computer crowd, as well as the current crop of 
freeware/shareware/demo programs written using SpeedPascal/2.

The four SpeedPascal/2 manuals are available for an additional fee of $35.

Limited Time Offer

From now until July 31st, 1995, SpeedSoft is offering the SpeedPascal/2 
compiler for the even lower suggested price of $129! (Sorry, we can't 
discount the manual hardcopies.)

SHIPPING IN JUNE!

SpeedSoft USA
19528 Ventura Blvd. #133
Tarzana, CA 91356
(818) 887-3034

Why I am a Teamer

I see the press putting down OS/2 users lately. Calling anyone that
disagrees with thier windows-centic views to be a fanatic or zealot.
for me the word enthusiast would be a more accurate description.

Over the last several months I have given some thought as to why
I spend some of my time promoting OS/2. OS/2 is not my program,
why not let IBM spend their money as best they can.

Well, I thought I might share some of my reasons for being a Teamer
to help others understand that emotion is not the driving force.

1. In a capitalist market there are many factors that affect the
   successfullness of a product. Only a few can be controlled or forecast
   by the capialist. Press coverage and actions of ISV's can not always
   be dictated in a democracy. IBM has control of product quality,
   service and marketing. No amount of money will buy IBM the market
   leading position. Spending lots of money can help to maintain a leading
   position with the aid of large numbers of dependent ISV's and the
   resulting large advertising potential this represents to the press.
   We as users by requesting press coverage of alternatives can temper the
   markets tendency to be monopolized.

2. Most people want to know that there are other people that are using
   a product. They want validation of their good decision making. If a
   friend of yours is having success with a product you will have a
   much higher tendency to choose that same product even if there are
   significantly better product available. By each of us Teamers being
   visible, many more people will at least consider OS/2. Just as friends
   of users who own Macs more thoroughly consider the Mac versus Windows
   decision.

3. I have purchased several computers over that last couple of years.
   On one occasion I needed to buy a system to replace an unrepairable
   system. As is usual with computers the software was transferable to the
   new system. However even though I had paid for DOS/WIN already
   I was forced to pay for it again. Since then I have purchased several
   computers to run alternative operating systems. Again as a consumer
   I was forced to subsidize the competitor of the product I had taken
   my time to select. If I wanted to purchase a name brand computer
   my choices were to subsidize the competitor or pay a significantly
   higher price to get the same hardware without the undesired software.
   If the market is made up of many competitors, many of which are OEMs
   then the subsidies are spread around such that none have a significant
   advantage over the other. If consumers have several truly varied
   products to select from subsidized purchase of an undesired component
   will not significantly assist any one competitor. In the last couple
   of years the policies of name brand computer makers has resulted in a
   major subsidy to a single supplier. The operating system market is
   definately large enough to support several major competitors, yet for
   the most part a single company now has almost complete control. This
   subsidy is a big factor in creating the current market enviroment.
   I beleive it costs much more today for a car company to design, build
   and market a new car and there are several major competitors both
   domestic and foreign. Would you like to go back to the days were you
   could buy a car in any color you wanted as long as it was Black. The
   bottom line is the operating system and applications market is large
   enough to support the R&D of multiple products. No one company
   has all the right ideas. The operating system choice has significant
   longterm ramifications for the functionality, serviceability and
   usability of a system. I  am demanding  a choice NOW. Otherwise it
   can take many many years for a capitalist democratic economy to
   correct this type of distortion in a market.

Glenn Hudson
Enthusiast

Yet Another Virus

Hmmm, with 3 new viruses created every day, I don't get excited
about a "new" virus.  BUT, this HAS gotten on to the Internet,
and it apparently doesn't resemble any of the "common" new
viruses routinely generated by one of the available
"instant-build-yourself-a-virus" kits available. (F-PROT and
McAfee can spot THOSE in a micro-second)

While _I_ am not concerned, (i.e. the anti-virus NNR group is
NOT actively discussing this virus) I feel I would be negligent
by NOT passing this information on to you.

While this virus has caused angst for one person, it does not
seem to be a "stealth" virus.  Simply adding the string

        4E47694B

to your F-PROT "User Definable Search String"
should give you piece of mind.

>From Richard De A'Morelli, Editor, PC-Telephony

URGENT!!!   VIRUS ALERT!!!

Please read carefully -- this is not a prank.  A new virus
has appeared on the Internet.  It infected all eight of my
networked PC's, and I have spent the past 72 hours trying
to figure this thing out and get rid of it.  (no sleep,
really tired, excuse the typos).  I have managed to disinfect
my network, and this letter explains what I have learned about
this virus and how it works.

During the past week, I downloaded 10-12 from three very popular
Internet sites and one busy BBS (6 or 7 of those files came from
a Simtel mirror).  I can say that the virus originated from one
of those files.  It is therefore an imminent threat to the Net
community.

Here is how the virus works...

At about 5pm, a dumb-looking sprite (ASCII graphic) of a phallus
appears at the bottom of the screen, scrolling slowly from the
left.  (about 6 columns wide, maybe 8 rows high)  It stops at
the center of the screen, beeps over and over, and then "shoots"
an "!" up the screen in slow motion, beeping loudly all the
while (damned annoying); this repeats three times, and then
the graphic scrolls to the right and disappears off the screen.
Immediately below the drawing appears the words "Big Caibua!"
whatever the hell that means.

This happens more and more often as you are working.  Then,
mysteriously, it stops -- until the next evening.  By setting
my system clock to 9pm, I was able to stop the stupid graphic
from appearing (however, the virus was continuing to replicate
in the background).

Here is what I have learned about this virus, which I've named
BUTTHEAD in honor of the juvenile jackass that wrote it...

It is evidently NEW.  During the past 72 hours, I tried at
least a dozen different anti-virus programs, including McAfee's
latest, IBM, ThunderByte, etc -- ALL FAILED TO DETECT THIS
VIRUS.  In addition, the BBS canning programs do not detect
this virus.  I upload a zip'ed file containing this virus to
the IBM Anti-Virus BBS this morning (with their knowledge and
consent of course), and their BBS scanned it and accepted it
as being fine.  Until a disinfectant for this becomes from
McAfee and others, DO NOT ASSUME THAT FILES ARE SAFE SIMPLY
BECAUSE YOUR LOCAL BBS IS RUNNING AN ANTI-VIRUS SCAN PROGRAM!

BUTTHEAD affects *ONLY* .COM files.  It does not seem to
affect the hard disk boot sector and it does not reside in
memory.  It is extremely dangerous, however, because simply
running one infect .COM file will cause ALL OTHER COM files
in that directory to become infected.  Running any of those
files will then infect all .COM files in the next directory,
and on and on.  nearly 200 files all across my network were
infected within minutes.

Also important -- the stupid animation only runs at 5pm and
stops after a few hours -- but the virus keeps right on
working and infecting other .COM files regardless of the time.

How to spot an infected .COM file...

   (1)  It will be 2,280 or 2,285 bytes LARGER than the clean
        file started out.

   (2)  The FIRST CHARACTER in the file will be an ASCII 231.

   (3)  The 2K-plus packet that contains the virus is tacked on
        at the end of your infected .COM file.  All infected
        files will contain the same unique "signature" or
        character sequence within those last bytes -- "NGiK"
        If you use a file searcher program, you will find
        this same signature can also be found in a .ZIP file
        that contains an infected .COM file.  I scanned close
        to 20,000 files on eight machines and that character
        sequence turned up in 178 .COM files -- all infected.
        It did NOT appear in the any other file.

        (Note that case-sensitive does matter -- "ngik" will
        appear in some .WAV files is not a virus; "NGiK" is
        the character grouping to watch out for.

What to do if this virus infects your machine...

        I have contacted IBM and McAfee about BUTTHEAD and I
        am sure that they will have disinfectants for this
        virus shortly.  Until then,

        DO NOT RUN ANY .COM FILES AT ALL.  This thing spreads
        quickly, and you will infect all other .COM files
        wherever you go.  I was able to run .EXE files, how-
        ever, with no problem, and without infecting any
        other files.

        BE CAREFUL downloading files from Internet and other
        BBS sources.  As I mentioned, the BBS scanning programs
        are NOT catching this virus at the present time.

        If you do find this annoying virus on your system...

        I was able to completely purge BUTTHEAD off my network
        using a text searching utility to find the infected
        files and then replacing them  with clean files --
        I will put this utility and some instructions in my
        FTP directory if anyone needs it -- after I get some
        sleep -- 72 hours non-stop of this is enough.

        Richard De A'Morelli

The Workplace Shell for Windows.

By Dweezil and Wally (Denzil B. and Dave S.)

It is common knowledge that the Windows interface leave a great deal to be 
desired.  Witness Microsoft's complete redesign of the user interface in 
Windows95(96?).  The interface in Windows95 allows the user to use nested 
folders to organize their work.

Does this sound familiar?  It should.  This is quite similar to what the MacOS 
and OS/2 have been doing for YEARS.

This is great for those people with a machine capable of running Windows95.  
Unfortunately, even thought Microsoft has stated the intention to be able to 
run Windows95 in 4MB RAM, most magazines state that 8MB is the minimum 
workable configuration and recommend more.  Another problem is that Windows95 
isn't here yet.  We are still waiting.

If you are one of the fortunate(unfortunate?) beta testers of Windows95, you 
likely are already tasting the benefits of a object-oriented user interface.  
Mere mortals however, are not so lucky.  So what can be done?  Well, enter 
the Workplace Shell for Windows.

This simple little shell for Windows 3.1, Windows for Workgroups 3.11, and 
the various flavors of WinOS2, gives these old operating environments the 
power of OS/2's Workplace Shell.  Such perks as nested folders, pop-up 
menus, object property settings, and 100% compatibility with existing 
Windows applications. :-)

Take the following examples to illustrate how the WPS for Windows makes 
your life easier:

You wish to change the wallpaper on you desktop.  Under mundane Windows, 
you'd have to venture into the intricacies of the control panel and then into 
desktop settings and then into wallpaper settings.  Under the WPS for Windows, 
this procedure is dramatically abbreviated.  Simply right-click on the desktop 
and choose settings from the pop-up menu (the desktop is an object after all).  
Then select the BACKGROUND tab.  Then choose the desired bitmap.

You wish to place a program on the desktop for easy access.  Under mundane 
Windows, you'd have to purchase a $300 shell replacement program as the 
standard Windows interface does not allow this.  Under the WPS for Windows, 
merely open the folder containing the desired program, and drag it to the 
desktop.  One can even create what are called shadows, which point to the 
program.  This feature in Win95 is known as the shortcut.

In short, the WPS for Windows gives a Windows user about 80% of the 
functionality of the Win95 interface and yet how much does the WPS for 
Windows cost?

$50?
$40?
$10?
$5?
$1.95? <===== it's a joke... get it?

How about this people: it's FREE (read $0).  That's right FREE, not 
SHAREWARE, but FREEWARE.

A copy can be obtained from the OS/2 Shareware BBS, Hobbes, the WoodMeister,
and other large OS/2 depositories.  Get one and experience the power of IBM's 
Workplace Shell for Windows.

*Note:  The WPS for Windows does not include the mult-tasking 
capabilities of OS/2 Warp nor is it SOM enabled.  (Too bad Bill, we can't 
give you everything...)

Next MMOUG Meeting

Next month's MMOUG meeting will be held in on Wednesday, June 21, 1995,
4 pm at:

Columbia Photo and Video
10th Street
Columbia, MO

MMOUG Registration Form

Name:_____________________________________  Nickname:_____________________
         Last Name,                First                         Initial

Company Name:_____________________________

Address:___________________________________  Work Phone:___________________

         ___________________________________  Home Phone:__________________

City:_________________________  State:_______  Zip Code:_____________________

Questionnaire

Your Operating System:

   ___ DOS  ___ OS/2 ___ WINDOWS ___ UNIX ___ OTHER __________________

Your Interest in Computers Include (Check all that apply):

   ___ Education  ___ Business   ___ Entertainment ___ OTHER  ________________

_______________________________________________________________________________
Annual membership fee for the Mid Missouri OS/2 Users Group is $30.00 US.  
Purchase Orders are accepted.  Please make your check payable to MMOUG and mail to:
MMOUG, P.O. Box 30654, Columbia, MO.  65205-0645
Thank you for your support.
_______________________________________________________________________________

The Mid-Missouri OS/2 Users Group is a non-profit corporation who's dedicated purpose is to aid and
facilitate the education and communication between individual computer users, different computer 
groups, and the general public.

The Woodmeister BBS is the official Bulletin Board of the MMOUG.  A copy of the Bylaws is
available for downloading from the Woodmeister BBS (314-446-0016).

For assistance with OS/2, call our Voice Mail at 314-636-0805.
