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Author
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Topic: Internet Hook-Up in Our Booth
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Aaron Mehocic
Jedi Master Film Handler
Posts: 804
From: New Castle, PA, USA
Registered: Jun 99
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posted 09-12-1999 02:08 PM
OK, I don't have all the information yet, so what do you guys think:Thursday night I recieved, from our film booker of all people, a used Macintosh Centris 610 computer for our 9 screen booth. We have been using computers to compile booth records for over three years. Recently our old Macintosh Performa bit the dust. I now want to get the internet upstairs so we can consult this page at work. The computer itself dates from 1995 and is in pretty good condition. It does not have a built in modum, but I was given a 33.6 bps Fax modum as a constalation prize for taking it off this guy's hands. Can I get on-line with this antiquated machinery? Some tell me no, others yes. I don't want a web page, I don't plan on downloading pictures, I just want the forum at the cinema so myself and other projectionists on staff can have access to it in our work environment. Some advise, please. Thank You.
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Scott Norwood
Film God
Posts: 8146
From: Boston, MA. USA (1774.21 miles northeast of Dallas)
Registered: Jun 99
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posted 09-12-1999 08:09 PM
This is getting a bit off-topic, but I'll post it anyway in hopes that some readers here will find the information useful.
First, I know next to nothing about Macs (the last time I used one, most of them still had B&W monitors...). Regardless, though, most any type of computer (including the Apple II that I still have) can run what is called a "terminal emulation" program. This allows you to dial up to a text-based service such as a library's electronic card catalog.
Anyway, if you have a terminal emulation program (there should be plenty of freeware implementations available for download) that can emulate a DEC vt-100 or some other common terminal, you can get what is known as a "UNIX shell account" with your local ISP. This is a text-only method of Internet access. Shell accounts are usually used by people with old hardware, blind people (who use text-to-speech conversion devices) and those of us who are unusually geeky. A shell account differs from a typical ISP account (known as "SLIP" or "PPP" accounts) in that you dial up the ISP and then use your terminal emulation software to run various programs on your ISP's computer, as if you were sitting in front of it. Anyway, from your shell account, you can run something called "lynx," which is a text-based web browser; it's not as cute as Netscape, but it's much faster and you may well prefer it (I do). With lynx, you can access any web site, including this one, although you won't see the graphics.
Sorry for being so long-winded; hopefully, this will be helpful if your machine isn't powerful enough to run Netscape over a SLIP or PPP connection.
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Mark Lensenmayer
Phenomenal Film Handler
Posts: 1605
From: Upper Arlington, OH
Registered: Sep 1999
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posted 09-13-1999 07:49 AM
Well, I'm mostly a lurker here, as I'm not in the film business, but you hit my area of expertise here.You do have an old Mac there. Looks like it runs at a mighty 25-mHz. You can get on the Internet with this machine with a standard PPP account from any ISP and an older version of Netscape, probably 2.x. I've got a couple of hundred similar machines running this configuration in my school district. You might want to look around for a Macintosh Users Group in your area. They can be very helpful, and can help get you up and running. You might also need to add RAM...the original configuration of this machine was 4-mB of RAM. Mark "The Computer Guy" Lensenmayer
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Ed Johnson
Film Handler
Posts: 24
From: Lancaster, MA/Appleton, WI
Registered: Jul 99
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posted 09-13-1999 10:51 PM
While I am not an expert on Macs, I have some experience with them. The Centris 610 is getting up there in years, but I think you should be able to run netscape. There are only two things that would hinder this:1) Not enough RAM. As was stated before, the Centris has 4mb of RAM soldered on to the mother board standard. It also has to 72 pin slots for expansion. Check About this Macintosh (or whatever it is) at the top of the Apple menu to find out how much RAM you have. 8 mb is good. 16 is great. If you don't have enough physical memory, you can get by with a large amount of Virtual Memory, which uses the hard disk. This is easier and cheaper than install more RAM, but it will cost you in the speed department. Hopefully you have more than 4 megs of RAM so this won't be too much of an issue. 2) Hard drive space may be an issue. Netscape takes up a lot of room on the disk. The standard hard disk on a Centris 610 is 80 mb. If that's all you have, netscape will take up the majority of it. Anyway, it's possible. I've seen netscape run on a Mac II si (which is considerably slower) with few problems. As mentioned before, you may want to find a old version of Netscape. While it won't support Java and all the newest bells and whistles, it will occupy much less space and run at a more tolerable speed. Just my two cents.
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