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The next NeXTs

Last week, NeXT announced a new line-up of computers, all based on the Motorola 68040 chip. The computers range from the $4995 standard NeXTstation (monochrome display, 8 megabytes of RAM, 105 megabyte hard disk, 2.8 megabyte floppy that also reads and writes DOS disks) to the $29,295 Division Server (monochrome display, 64 megabytes of RAM, two 1.4 gigabyte hard disks)

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ROMlib

Two connotations of the above title come to mind. ROM liberation and ROM libraries. Both are apt, because ROMlib is a Unix library that can simulate the Macintosh ROMs, but which might liberate (perhaps not the best choice of words, I suppose) them from Apple

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IBM/Microsoft Rift

It's not exactly the San Andreas Fault, but IBM and Microsoft have been getting along poorly, with the latest spat concerning IBM's new version of OS/2 that runs in 2 megs of RAM

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Free Mail

Since TidBITS is distributed only electronically (at least by us, others may re-distribute in other ways), many of you have probably come to rely on electronic mail

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Editors’ Notes/10-Sep-90

Before anything else, I want to mention that the most recent issue (September) of BYTE magazine is mostly devoted to the discussions of many of the notable figures in the computer and electronics industries

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HyperCard 2.0 Excuses

The Top 10 Reasons HyperCard 2.0 Has Not Yet Shipped Disclaimer: It's all lies. Lies lies lies. These lies are fictitious. Any similarity to actual lies, fibs, or prevarications is purely coincidental. These lies are the property of the HyperCard Development Team

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For The MathWriter In You

The wonderful world of word processing has been becoming even more golden in the recent past. I do a great deal of writing (at least 15K each week for TidBITS alone) so I'm sensitive to new features and new programs that will make the writing process easier and smoother yet

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Network Neatness

Networking with wires has always been something of a hassle, because the first thing to check whenever there are problems is whether or not someone has kicked out a connector

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Clone Bits

Even though MacWEEK failed to show up in our mailbox this week, there were still a number of interesting little bits of information from other sources

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Patent Shock

The US Patent Office just got around to awarding a patent to Gilbert Hyatt that he applied for in late 1970. This would not have been a big deal if he had invented a better mousetrap, but instead he claims to have invented the first microprocessor

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Gold Brick

The first of the video game decks to attain massive popularity was the Atari VCS, but it died down and was replaced several years later by the Nintendo Entertainment System

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Command Keys

Nisus 3.0 has some nice features, one of which allows you to map any menu item to a command key sequence. In previous versions you were limited to just combinations of the command key and another letter, but that has changed in 3.0

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Upgrades Anyone?

Being relatively environmentally conscious and ever so practical, upgrades have become something of a bother for me. I love getting the new version of the program replete with new features, often with a new manual

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Handwriting Technology

A number of articles in recent trade magazines have talked about wonders of new laptops that will recognize ordinary handwriting. Three companies, GRiD Systems, Go Corp., and Active Book Company all have announced or are shipping a computer that performs this feat

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Just Stuff It

Usenet may be one of the greatest information resources of all time, but it does have its problems (the price for an anarchy that really works). The latest massive argument in the Macintosh groups has brought out some interesting issues, however, instead of just the usual personal invective