Multimac 1260 User Manual download pdf (Page 46)

orator

ball

often

did

not

strike

the

ribbon

properly

and

only

provided

one

point

size

for

text.

The

Macintosh

has

changed

all

that

and

we

now

compose

text

on

the

screen

and

print it

out

on

the

LaserWriter.

Wtl

can

use

various

fonts

and

point

sizes

where,

before,

we

were

restricted

in

this

regard.

At

a

recent international

meeting,

a scientist

from

Australia

commented

that

we

had

the

best

posters

at

the

meeting.

Date Notebook Preparation

Word

processing

can

also

be

used

to

format

scientific

experimental

protocols

for

later

inclosure

in

data

notebooks.

Often

only

minor

changes

are

made

in

protocols

and

an

experiment

is

re-run.

Therefore,

the

protocol

may

be

loaded

into

the

computer

and

minor

changes

made

without

the

need

to

re-do

it

from

scratch.

Data Analysis by Spreadsbeet

The

Macintosh

application

used

almost

as

often

as

word

processing

is

the

spreadsheet.

Custom

templates

are

set

up

to

analyze

research

data

and

provide

means,

standard

deviations,

and

standard

errors.

Data

that

can

be

analyzed

this

way

include

scintillation counter

results,

cell

counts,

viral

plaque

assays,

enzymatic

assays,

ELISA's

etc.

Various

custom

templates

can

be

prepared

and

stored

for

repeated

use.

In

reality,

this

is

the

real

time

saver

in

using

the

Macintosh

in

the

laboratory.

Again,

once

the

template

is

prepared

and

saved,

it

does

not

have

to

be

redone

each

time.

Grapbjn2'

of

Scientific Data

If

data

are

entered

into

the

spread

heet

in

the

proper

format,

f',

Switcher

may

be

used

in

conjunction

with

the

"cut

and

paste"

technique

to

quickly

switch

to

Chart

for

instant

graphing

of

the

data

without

re-entering

the

numbers.

The

resulting

graphs

may

then

be

"copied

and

pasted"

into

MacWrite

for

enclosure

in

data

notebooks.

The

use

of

graph

paper

is

now

a

thing

of

the

past

unless

we

have

a

need

for

certain

kinds

of

log

plots

which

cannot

be

done

with

Chart.

Also,

I

have

used

both

MacDraw

and

MacDraft

to

make

needed

changes

in

graphs

prepared

with

Chart.

We

use

these

programs

to

add

standard

error

bars

to

the

graphs

and

to

turn

the

Y-axis

label

sideways.

We

are

also

starting

to

use

Excel&

which

combines

the

graphics

and

spreadsheet

into

one

easy-to-use

program.

Scale Drawjngs

or

Room Layouts

More

recently

I

have

had

the

need

to

use

both

MacDraw

and

MacDraft

to

do

scale

drawings

for

room

layouts.

In

one

case,

we

were

setting

up

a

Division

computer

room,

and

in

the

other

we

needed

to

determine

the

best

layout

for

the

Institutes's

Graphic

Arts

Department.

Both

programs

fit

the

bill

nicely

but MacDraft

has

more

options

-

like

rotational

capability

and

automatic

dimension

lines

(see

W

AP

January,

1986

Journal).

@

MACINTOSH

IN

THE NEWS & OTHER

ODDS AND ENDS

by

Lynn

R.

Trusal (Frederick Apple

Core)

In

the

January

issue

of

"High

Technology"

Magazine

(pp.31-35),

Cary

Lu

has

written

an

article,

entitled

"The

State

of

the

Micro".

Cary

is

a

well-known,

microcomputer

free-

lance

writer

and

also

microcomputer

editor of

"High

Technology."

He

is

also

the

author

of

one

of

the

best-selling

books

on

the

Macintosh

but

he

also

writes

about

a

wide

variety

of

microcomputers.

In

his

article

Cary

discusses

the

current state of

the

microcomputer

market

and

capabilities of a

wide

range

of

machines,

including

the

Mac.

He

says,

"The

overwhelming

advantages

of graphics-based

software

are

evident

from

the

Apple

Macintosh.

In

virtually

every

category,

Macintosh

software

outperforms

IBM

PC

software.

Mac

programs

have

always

been

easier

to

learn

and

use,

and

now

they

are

getting

more

powerful

as

well.

For

example,

Excel

is

the

best

spreadsheet

now

available

for

any

computer,

far

superior

to

Lotus

1-2-3

or

any

other

MS-DOS

spreadsheet--in

power

and

ease

of

use

alike.

And

Macintosh

programs

can

exchange

data

(both

words

and

pictures)

much

more

readily

than

MS-DOS

programs."

He

points

out

two

major

areas

that

the

Macintosh

needs

improvement:

amount

of

memory

and

a better

interface

for

hard

disks.

I

add

double-sided

drives

to

this

list

It

is

interesting

that

all

three

of

these

concerns

are

evidently

being

addressed

in

the

new

Macintosh

designs.

One

additional

bit of

information

of

which

I

was

unaware

dealt

with

the

amount

of

memory

that

the

Macintosh

can

address.

If

you

have

followed

the

memory

upgrade

market,

you

know

that

4

MB

is

the

largest

memory

offered

by

third-

party

developers.

It

is

also

known

that

the

Motorola

68000

micorprocessor

can

address

16

MB

and,

therefore,

the

obvious

question

is

why

only

4

MB

of

memory

are

discussed

as

the

maximum

addressable

amount

of

RAM.

According

to

Cary,

this

is

due

to

a

design

decision

that

saved

the

addition

of

two

wires

on

the

circuit

board.

Remember

that

it

was

not

too

long

ago

that

128K

seemed

like

enough

memory

for

the

Macintosh.

ADC J200 Bayd Modem Update

I

have

received

many

calls

concerning

my

articles

on

the

ADC

1200

baud

modem

in

the

December

and

January

issues

of

the

W

AP

Newsletter.

Most

people

have

asked

if I

have

received

the

modem

and

like

it.

On

both

counts,

I

have

to

say

yes!

The

only

negative

factor

seems

to

be

the

speaker of

the

modem.

It

does

not

totally

cut

out

once

the

connection

is

made

and

a

static

sound

is

heard.

This

is

in

spite

of

sending

it

a

software

command

to

cutout

once

the

connection

is

made.

I

turned

the

speaker

volume

control

down

until

dialing

tones

are

just

audible

and

it

is

not

a

problem.

This

appears

to

be

the

only

problem,

and

I

think

a

minor

one.

I

am

told

that

If

you

call

the

phone

number

listed

in

the

modem

manual

you

get

Prometheus

on

the

other

end.

contd.

February

1986

Washington

Apple

Pi

44

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