TECHNICAL UPDATE David Herren Middlebury College Welcome to the second Tech Update • Desktop Video & Graphics, column! In this installment we'll be expos­ • Lab Management, and ... ing you to a number of announcements made since the last column went to press. OK, so there will be a Miscellaneous as While the last edition focused almost exclu­ well. Forgive me. sively on the Kodak PhotoCD technology, in this edition we'll take a look at several FOREIGN CHARACTER SETS AND technologies from recordable compact discs WORD PROCESSING to multi-script word processing. WorldScript Before we tum to the llnews11 however, I want to once again make an appeal to read­ Many of you will have heard rumors, at ers. My own area of expertise is not so broad least, of a new feature of Apple Computer's as to cover all aspects of language and tech­ System 7.1 operating system for Macintosh nology-my focus is firmly rooted in com­ computers called "WorldScript." At the time puting-and thus I will rely heavily upon of this writing, WorldScript is not a com­ your contributions. If you read about an mercially available extension to the interesting technology relevant to language Macintosh operating system so any instruction, or see a presentation of a new comments here should be considered pre­ technology that you think might be interest­ liminary. ing to our readers, please forward that infor­ mation to me (see my Internet address at the Word processing in non-Roman charac­ end of the column). ter sets such as Japanese, Arabic, or Chinese requires special consideration. For some If you will allow me to stretch the defini­ time, the mixing of such character sets in the tion of 11 focus," I would like to focus on four same document with English or other Ro­ different areas of language and technology man-based scripts has been problematic, in a single column. Recent developments often requiring that the computer be run and announcements I feel worthy of under the Macintosh operating system of mention can be roughly divided into the areas of: • Foreign Character Sets & Word Pro­ I David Herren is User Services Specialist cessing, in Academic Computing at Middlebury Col­ • Courseware Development lege, Middlebury, Vermont. Vol. 26, No. 2, Spring 1993 37 Technical Update the target language (e.g. Arabic or Chinese). Nisus has supported a limited version of This is clearly undesirable for introductory WorldScript for some time now and the or intermediate level students struggling Arabic School here at Middlebury has se­ with the language, forcing them, as it does, lected it as their standard. To change from to master a highly technical vocabulary of English to Arabic (and thus from left-to­ computer terms in the target language just right to right-to-left word processing), one to write their single paragraph writing as­ merely selects an Arabic or English font signment. WorldScript will allow the user from the font menu. Nisus handles chang­ to run the computer under the English oper­ ing the keyboard map and the flag menu. I ating system, yet still produce documents haven't yet seen the version 3.4 just released using mixed scripts and thus allowing the by Nisus Software, but I can only assume student to focus on his/her use of the lan­ that the functionality remains this simple. guage and not the software author's Nisus can be configured such that menus, technobabble. dictionaries and tools will appear in the selected language, or remain in a single The way WorldScript will likely work is language. this: once the extensions are installed along with the appropriate language module, a The Limited Flag Edition of Nisus, which new menu will appear to the right end of the retails for $395 per copy (academic 10 packs menubar. Often the menu will take the form are available at significant discounts), uses of the flag of the country most closely asso­ any Roman based scripts (including Finn­ ciated with the language, such that the U.S. ish) or Japanese under Kanji Talk. The Com­ English module uses the U.S. flag. Since the plete Flag Edition, which retails for $495, standard keyboard map varies from coun­ works in all Roman-based scripts plus Ara­ try to country, selecting a different module bic, Chinese, Czech, Farsi, Hebrew, Hun­ from the flag menu will change the key­ garian, Korean, Polish, Cyrillic, Japanese board map to that of the target language. and Thai. This edition will ship to work in Multiple typefaces will still be available in any Roman script plus one non-Roman lan­ any of the various languages, and World­ guage. Additional non-Roman scripts will Script will allow a particular typeface or be available for $45 per script. One free font to be associated with each language as foreign language dictionary is also part of a default. the basic package. Apple released the Japanese module in Nisus runs only on the Macintosh and the U.S. in April of 1993, though software requires System 6.07 or later. Some features developers already have the extensions and of Nisus are only available under System 7.1 language modules for Cyrillic (I wonder using WorldScript(my bestinformationsays which flag they'll use?), Arabic, Hebrew, that to mix more than onenon-Romanscript Thai, Traditional Chinese, simplified Chi­ in a single document will require the latter). nese, Japanese, Korean, Polish, Hungarian and Czech. Contact your Apple representa­ Nisus Software tive for a list of dealers. 107 S. Cedros Ave. Solana Beach, CA 92075 Nisus Support for WorldScript (800) 922-2993 Developers of the Nisus and WordPerfect word processing applications have an­ nounced their support for WorldScript. 38 IALL Journal of Language Learning Technologies Technical Update Japanese/English Translation Software disks}, AIFF (Audio Interchange File For­ mat), or Digidesign Sound Designer II for­ In another word processing related mats. Both audio formats are compatible announcement, the Language Engineering withconsumeraudioCDequipment. (Ama­ Corporation has announced a new product teur musicians will go wild over this, but for the Macintosh called Ambassador. Am­ just imagine the possibilities for language bassador is a special focus word processor teaching.) Pinnacle claims the discs pro­ designed for producing form letters in En­ duced can be played on any standard CD­ glish or Japanese. Letters written using stan­ ROM drive as well. Discs are multisession dard phrases or words in English can be so one can add data at a later date to one of easily translated to Japanese or the reverse the discs. using simple menu selections. Ambassa­ dor, which is dictionary based, comes with The RCD-202 drive can be used for read­ 200 standard letters and 450 templates, and ing commercial CD-ROM discs and thus retails for $295. Speakers of Japanese or doubles as a normal CD-ROM drive. Blank English can add new Japanese or English discs will be $39. Discs produced using the phrases to the dictionary and to their docu­ RCD-202 can be sent to commercial pub­ ments if they are proficient in the target lishing houses for duplication. Pinnacle will language. Ambassador ships with English provide software for either the Macintosh and Japanese manuals and the company or PC to do the recording. claims to be working on French and Spanish versions as well. Pinnacle Micro 19 Technology Language Engineering Corporation Irvine, CA 92718 385 Concord Ave. (800) 553-7070 Belmont, MA 02178 (617) 489-4000 Supercard to Hypercard Converter COURSEWARE DEVELOPMENT Heizer Software has announced a $200 software product to translate Aldus' Super­ Recordable CD-ROM Drive Card projects back into HyperCard stacks. SuperCard is a HyperCard work-alike that The most interesting development in the adds several features and has been quite Courseware arena returns us to a discus­ popular with courseware developers. Un­ sion of things CD. Pinnacle Micro has re­ fortunately, the Aldus Corporation has an­ leased a new recordable CD-ROM drive, nounced that they intend to sell off Super­ model RCD-202. The device will retail for Card and thus faculty developers may be $3,995 Oust a few years ago such a device left with no support. The application, would have been $40,000!). This device is Homeward, can't fully translate all Super­ the size of standard external half height Card features but it will produce a list of hard drive. The drive can be connected to those features it was unable to translate. either a Macintosh or a PC using the SCSI port. Heizer Software 1941 Oak Park Blvd., #30 It will take just one hour to record 580 PO Box 232019 megabytes of data in either the ISO 9660 (a Pleasant Hill, CA 94523 common IBM compatible format), Apple's (800)888-7667 HFS (the standard format for all Macintosh Vol. 26, No.2, Spring 1993 39 Technical Update HyperCard goes Home to Apple DESKTOP VIDEO & GRAPHICS HyperCard was originally an Apple Inexpensive 35mm Color Slide. Scanner 11 Computer software product released in ( Coolscan") August of 1987 that shipped with every Macintosh computer. However, in Septem­ Nikon has announced an inexpensive ber of 1990, Apple announced that it would 35mm color slide scanner about the size of sell HyperCard to Claris, its wholly owned an external floppy drive for$2,415.00. Many software subsidiary. Many users found that such devices cost upwards of $6,000. The Claris' support of HyperCard was lacking device requires a SCSI interface (a very com­ and that continued development lan­ mon method of connecting hard drives to a guished. As Apple began development of computer and supported by all Macintosh AppleScript, a scripting system which, once and many PC computers).