Path: ccw.ch!elna.ethz.ch!news-zh.switch.ch!news.belnet.be!news-penn.gip.net!news-peer.gip.net!news.gsl.net!gip.net!news-peer.sprintlink.net!news.sprintlink.net!cs.utexas.edu!not-for-mail From: mschaef@cs.utexas.edu (Michael Alan Schaeffer) Newsgroups: comp.os.ms-windows.advocacy,comp.sys.mac.advocacy,alt.folklore.computers Subject: Canon Cat (was: Re: GUI History) Date: 5 May 1998 21:37:59 -0500 Organization: CS Dept, University of Texas at Austin Lines: 17 Message-ID: <6ioie7$gas$1@bark.cs.utexas.edu> References: <6inabp$3of$7@ns3.vrx.net> NNTP-Posting-Host: bark.cs.utexas.edu X-Trace: news.cs.utexas.edu 894422281 19280 mschaef 128.83.158.27 X-Complaints-To: usenet@cs.utexas.edu In article , Lawson English wrote: >The Canon Cat, by the way, ALSO comes with a port for a pointing device (or >so Raskin claims) but Canon didn't have one and they didn't have a dot >matrix printer at the time, so they never marketed those features. Does anybody know where I can find a Canon Cat to buy (used, obviously)? I've always wanted one and I still think the concept is cool. The thing that burns me up is that when they were being discontinued, I gave up a chance to buy one from $100 from a local store. -- -Mike http://www.cs.utexas.edu/users/mschaef ###### Path: ccw.ch!elna.ethz.ch!news-zh.switch.ch!news-ge.switch.ch!nntprelay.mathworks.com!feeder.qis.net!www.nntp.primenet.com!globalcenter0!news.primenet.com!news.primenet.com!not-for-mail From: "Lawson English" Newsgroups: comp.os.ms-windows.advocacy,comp.sys.mac.advocacy,alt.folklore.computers Subject: Re: Canon Cat (was: Re: GUI History) Date: 6 May 1998 11:52:00 -0700 Organization: Primenet Services for the Internet Lines: 28 Message-ID: References: <02F0AE5C7F850E55.B3E23105C82F6138.72B09B3B26B28E90@library-pro xy.airnews.net> X-Posted-By: @206.165.43.51 (english) X-Mailer: Cyberdog/2.0 X-News-Servers: news.primenet.com X-Newsgroups-TO: nntp://news.primenet.com/comp.os.ms-windows.advocacy, nntp://news.primenet.com/comp.sys.mac.advocacy, nntp://news.primenet.com/alt.folklore.computers MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=US-ASCII Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Larry Groebe said: >I suppose you could hook up a mouse to a serial port on the CAT, but >clearly the machine never wanted one. > >I found a Canon CAT with printer two or three years ago at the local >electronics flea market. They wanted $50 - I snapped it up in seconds. >Haven't seen one before or since. According to Raskin, who designed the CAT, it WAS designed to have a mouse/whatever hooked up. This is what he told me on the phone. What his e-mail or office number? They are listed at the end of his article about "Holes in History" [his version of the Macintosh history] found in ACM Interactions a few years ago. He's on AOL, last I saw, so you can get in touch with him just by checking their member listing, I'll bet. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Want Apple to license Cyberdog for third-party development? Go to: ---------------------------------------------------------------------- ###### Path: ccw.ch!elna.ethz.ch!news-zh.switch.ch!ubnnews.unisource.ch!News.Amsterdam.UnisourceCS!newshunter.cosy.sbg.ac.at!cosy.sbg.ac.at!Cabal.CESspool!bofh.vszbr.cz!howland.erols.net!feed2.news.erols.com!erols!nntp.giganews.com!nntp.primenet.com!news.airnews.net!cabal10.airnews.net!cabal1.airnews.net!news-f.iadfw.net!lgroebe From: lgroebe@airmail.net (Larry Groebe) Newsgroups: comp.os.ms-windows.advocacy,comp.sys.mac.advocacy,alt.folklore.computers Subject: Re: Canon Cat (was: Re: GUI History) Date: Wed, 06 May 1998 12:24:11 -0500 Organization: Insider Creative Lines: 27 Message-ID: <02F0AE5C7F850E55.B3E23105C82F6138.72B09B3B26B28E90@library-proxy.airnews.net> X-Orig-Message-ID: References: <6inabp$3of$7@ns3.vrx.net> <6ioie7$gas$1@bark.cs.utexas.edu> NNTP-Proxy-Relay: library.airnews.net NNTP-Posting-Time: Wed May 6 12:24:10 1998 NNTP-Posting-Host: host233.insidermkt.com X-Newsreader: MT-NewsWatcher 2.4.4 In article <6ioie7$gas$1@bark.cs.utexas.edu>, mschaef@cs.utexas.edu (Michael Alan Schaeffer) wrote: >In article , >Lawson English wrote: >>The Canon Cat, by the way, ALSO comes with a port for a pointing device (or >>so Raskin claims) but Canon didn't have one and they didn't have a dot >>matrix printer at the time, so they never marketed those features. > > Does anybody know where I can find a Canon Cat to buy (used, >obviously)? I've always wanted one and I still think the concept is >cool. The thing that burns me up is that when they were being >discontinued, I gave up a chance to buy one from $100 from a local >store. I suppose you could hook up a mouse to a serial port on the CAT, but clearly the machine never wanted one. I found a Canon CAT with printer two or three years ago at the local electronics flea market. They wanted $50 - I snapped it up in seconds. Haven't seen one before or since. "Historically Brewed" magazine ran a nice article on the machine about that time. --Larry ###### Path: ccw.ch!elna.ethz.ch!news-zh.switch.ch!news.belnet.be!news-penn.gip.net!news-peer.gip.net!news.gsl.net!gip.net!news-peer.sprintlink.net!news.sprintlink.net!cs.utexas.edu!not-for-mail From: mschaef@cs.utexas.edu (Michael Alan Schaeffer) Newsgroups: comp.os.ms-windows.advocacy,comp.sys.mac.advocacy,alt.folklore.computers Subject: Re: Canon Cat (was: Re: GUI History) Date: 6 May 1998 13:31:53 -0500 Organization: CS Dept, University of Texas at Austin Lines: 31 Message-ID: <6iqaap$kil$1@bark.cs.utexas.edu> References: <6inabp$3of$7@ns3.vrx.net> <6ioie7$gas$1@bark.cs.utexas.edu> <02F0AE5C7F850E55.B3E23105C82F6138.72B09B3B26B28E90@library-proxy.airnews.net> NNTP-Posting-Host: bark.cs.utexas.edu X-Trace: news.cs.utexas.edu 894479515 21411 mschaef 128.83.158.27 X-Complaints-To: usenet@cs.utexas.edu In article <02F0AE5C7F850E55.B3E23105C82F6138.72B09B3B26B28E90@library-proxy.airnews.net>, Larry Groebe wrote: >In article <6ioie7$gas$1@bark.cs.utexas.edu>, mschaef@cs.utexas.edu >(Michael Alan Schaeffer) wrote: > >>In article , >>Lawson English wrote: >>>The Canon Cat, by the way, ALSO comes with a port for a pointing device (or >>>so Raskin claims) but Canon didn't have one and they didn't have a dot >>>matrix printer at the time, so they never marketed those features. >> >> Does anybody know where I can find a Canon Cat to buy (used, >>obviously)? I've always wanted one and I still think the concept is >>cool. The thing that burns me up is that when they were being >>discontinued, I gave up a chance to buy one from $100 from a local >>store. > > >I suppose you could hook up a mouse to a serial port on the CAT, but >clearly the machine never wanted one. > >I found a Canon CAT with printer two or three years ago at the local >electronics flea market. They wanted $50 - I snapped it up in seconds. >Haven't seen one before or since. You wouldn't want to sell it, would you. :-) -- -Mike http://www.cs.utexas.edu/users/mschaef ###### Path: ccw.ch!elna.ethz.ch!news-zh.switch.ch!news-ge.switch.ch!blackbush.xlink.net!uni-erlangen.de!cs.tu-berlin.de!news.informatik.uni-kiel.de!uho From: uho@informatik.uni-kiel.de (Ulrich Hoffmann) Newsgroups: comp.os.ms-windows.advocacy,comp.sys.mac.advocacy,alt.folklore.computers Subject: Re: Canon Cat (was: Re: GUI History) Date: 8 May 1998 07:07:24 GMT Organization: Dept. of Computer Science, University of Kiel, FRG Lines: 32 Message-ID: <6iuavc$2lf$1@amun.informatik.uni-kiel.de> References: <6inabp$3of$7@ns3.vrx.net> <6ioie7$gas$1@bark.cs.utexas.edu> <02F0AE5C7F850E55.B3E23105C82F6138.72B09B3B26B28E90@library-proxy.airnews.net> NNTP-Posting-Host: flash.informatik.uni-kiel.de In <02F0AE5C7F850E55.B3E23105C82F6138.72B09B3B26B28E90@library-proxy.airnews.net> lgroebe@airmail.net (Larry Groebe) writes: > I suppose you could hook up a mouse to a serial port on the CAT, but > clearly the machine never wanted one. > I found a Canon CAT with printer two or three years ago at the local > electronics flea market. They wanted $50 - I snapped it up in seconds. > Haven't seen one before or since. > "Historically Brewed" magazine ran a nice article on the machine about > that time. Larry, it would be nice if you could explain in detail how the leap keys work. At that time I was fascinated by the idea to navigate through text without cursor keys, but from the article in Byte and DDJ I never completely understood the leap key functionality. If only I could work with them for 15 minutes :-) With all that extra keys on 'modern' keyboards (W95) it should be possible to extend todays programmable editors to support them as leap keys. Can anyone cite from the Canon Cat manual, please. Or make it available on the web? Regards, Ulrich -- Ulrich Hoffmann, Uni Kiel http://www.informatik.uni-kiel.de/~uho/ Institut f. Informatik, uho@informatik.uni-kiel.de Preusserstr 1-9, D-24105 Kiel, Germany Tel: +49 431 560426 Fax: 566143 ###### Path: ccw.ch!elna.ethz.ch!news-zh.switch.ch!news-ge.switch.ch!nntprelay.mathworks.com!cam-news-hub1.bbnplanet.com!cpk-news-hub1.bbnplanet.com!news.bbnplanet.com!cs.utexas.edu!not-for-mail From: mschaef@cs.utexas.edu (Michael Alan Schaeffer) Newsgroups: comp.os.ms-windows.advocacy,comp.sys.mac.advocacy,alt.folklore.computers Subject: Re: Canon Cat (was: Re: GUI History) Date: 8 May 1998 07:33:07 -0500 Organization: CS Dept, University of Texas at Austin Lines: 28 Message-ID: <6iuu23$1c0$1@bark.cs.utexas.edu> References: <6inabp$3of$7@ns3.vrx.net> <6ioie7$gas$1@bark.cs.utexas.edu> <02F0AE5C7F850E55.B3E23105C82F6138.72B09B3B26B28E90@library-proxy.airnews.net> <6iuavc$2lf$1@amun.informatik.uni-kiel.de> NNTP-Posting-Host: bark.cs.utexas.edu X-Trace: news.cs.utexas.edu 894630789 17463 mschaef 128.83.158.27 X-Complaints-To: usenet@cs.utexas.edu In article <6iuavc$2lf$1@amun.informatik.uni-kiel.de>, Ulrich Hoffmann wrote: >Larry, > it would be nice if you could explain in detail how the leap keys work. > >With all that extra keys on 'modern' keyboards (W95) it should be possible >to extend todays programmable editors to support them as leap keys. Never having used a Cat, this is speculation, but I've always suspected tat a leap key would work something like the search function in GNU Emacs. For those that don't have the benefit of using Emacs, when you start up search, it lets you type your search string in a small window at the bottom of the screen. As you type in new letters, the editor window will highlight the next occurrence of the string you've typed in to search for, refining what it's highlighting, as you type. To search for the second, third, etc. occurrence of a string, you just issue the search command repeatedly as you're typing in the search string. What I'm more curious about is how the Forth development environment on the Cat works. Are there additional Forth words to access Cat specific features? Can Forth code be used to extend the editing environment, Like Emacs Lisp? -- -Mike http://www.cs.utexas.edu/users/mschaef ###### Path: ccw.ch!elna.ethz.ch!news-zh.switch.ch!news.belnet.be!newsgate.cistron.nl!het.net!Cabal.CESspool!bofh.vszbr.cz!howland.erols.net!feed2.news.erols.com!erols!news.mindspring.net!firehose.mindspring.net!news.airnews.net!cabal10.airnews.net!cabal1.airnews.net!news-f.iadfw.net!lgroebe From: lgroebe@airmail.net (Larry Groebe) Newsgroups: comp.os.ms-windows.advocacy,comp.sys.mac.advocacy,alt.folklore.computers Subject: Re: Canon Cat (was: Re: GUI History) Date: Tue, 12 May 1998 21:15:16 -0500 Organization: Insider Creative Lines: 81 Message-ID: X-Orig-Message-ID: References: <6inabp$3of$7@ns3.vrx.net> <6ioie7$gas$1@bark.cs.utexas.edu> <02F0AE5C7F850E55.B3E23105C82F6138.72B09B3B26B28E90@library-proxy.airnews.net> <6iuavc$2lf$1@amun.informatik.uni-kiel.de> Abuse-Reports-To: abuse at airmail.net to report improper postings NNTP-Proxy-Relay: librarytest.airnews.net NNTP-Posting-Time: Tue May 12 21:15:31 1998 NNTP-Posting-Host: host233.insidermkt.com X-Newsreader: MT-NewsWatcher 2.4.4 In article <6iuavc$2lf$1@amun.informatik.uni-kiel.de>, uho@informatik.uni-kiel.de (Ulrich Hoffmann) wrote: >In <02F0AE5C7F850E55.B3E23105C82F6138.72B09B3B26B28E90@library-proxy.airnews.net> lgroebe@airmail.net (Larry Groebe) writes: > >> I suppose you could hook up a mouse to a serial port on the CAT, but >> clearly the machine never wanted one. > >> I found a Canon CAT with printer two or three years ago at the local >> electronics flea market. They wanted $50 - I snapped it up in seconds. >> Haven't seen one before or since. > >Larry, > it would be nice if you could explain in detail how the leap keys work. > >At that time I was fascinated by the idea to navigate through text without >cursor keys, but from the article in Byte and DDJ I never completely >understood the leap key functionality. If only I could work with them >for 15 minutes :-) > >With all that extra keys on 'modern' keyboards (W95) it should be possible >to extend todays programmable editors to support them as leap keys. > I never got the manual with the Cat, regrettably. However, the Cat include a fair amount of online help, so I'll borrow from that. To begin to understand Cat operation, note that there are several critical keys. One is the "Use Front" key which acts a shift for special functions printed on the front of selected keyboard keys. There are special keys for spell checking, calculating, going online, disk access, and so on. There is a "Page" key which starts new pages, and if "Use Front" is pressed first, creates a whole new document. (multiple named documents can be kept in memory at once.) Then there are the two LEAP keys in the dead center front of the keyboard, just in front of the spacebar. One leaps backwards, the other leaps forward. The LEAP keys do indeed work a bit like EMACS. Pressed by themselves, they function as ordinary left and right cursor keys. But Hold one down and start typing, and you progressively leap backward or forward to the text you are typing. Press LEAP<< and the PAGE key and you jump back to the start of the previous page. Press USE FRONT and LEAP keys and you repeat your last leap. In this way you can jump back by words, paragraphs, pages, or anything else. To Highlight text, you Leap from one end of the text to another, then press both leap keys at once. ---- Regrettably, without documentation I can't figure out how to invoke the FORTH or ASSEMBLER aspects of the Cat. (There are no keys with "Use Front" markings for "Forth".) There are a couple of other special "front" keys that give clues and are interesting of themselves. One is the "Learn" which lets you record a keystroke sequence and assign it to the front of a number key. The other is "Calc" which replaces whatever is highlighted with a calulated result. More than that, it retains the forumla beneath like a spreadsheet would. You can give calculation results names as well and refer to them in other calulations. And if you set up a document with plenty of tabs, you can refer to other amounts as one tab over and a few lines up, essentially mimicing a spreadsheet. ---- Since few people know about the Cat (it sold apparently about 20,000 units in the six months it was for sale in 1987), it stands to reason that fewer know that Jef Raskin also designed a version as card for the Apple II. Look around and you be able to buy yourself a SWYFTCARD. I wouldn't mind one myself... --Larry ###### Path: ccw.ch!elna.ethz.ch!news-zh.switch.ch!news-ge.switch.ch!feed1.news.luth.se!luth.se!feed2.news.erols.com!erols!newsfeed.internetmci.com!199.0.154.208!ais.net!news.mcs.net!ddsw1!news.mcs.net!jorn From: jorn@mcs.com (Jorn Barger) Newsgroups: alt.folklore.computers Subject: Re: Canon Cat (was: Re: GUI History) Date: Wed, 13 May 1998 08:02:31 -0500 Organization: The Responsible Party (conservative left) Lines: 13 Message-ID: <1d8yid0.76emkobnkphcN@jorn.pr.mcs.net> References: <4dl30p$kba@news.sdsmt.edu> <4dmbca$2c5@male.EBay.Sun.COM> <-1901960409200001@206.26.113.22> <4doj82$qlm@meaddata.lexis-nexis.com> <4dp5p6$1pd@spectator.cris.com> <3100cac3.4983674@newshost.uwo.ca> <1d8giaj.wv8pg51v3bxq7N@pppsl475.chicagonet.net> <53831.229$Dc.1570901@typhoon.mbnet.mb.ca> <354e48b8.0@aedes.isd.net> <6imn70$nkm$4@ns3.vrx.net> <6inabp$3of$7@ns3.vrx.net> <6ioie7$gas$1@bark.cs.utexas.edu> <02F0AE5C7F850E55.B3E23105C82F6138.72B09B3B26B28E90@library-proxy.airnews.net> <6iuavc$2lf$1@amun.informatik.uni-kiel.de> NNTP-Posting-Host: jorn.pr.mcs.net X-Face: #0%K`N$`(&&tLbyv~^Ip59&CqKAo;?NXix@bv2a,uQX;y*zAek26=&iDOJou, 2\2pLI"TKqjx.[BfZf#2 wrote: > The LEAP keys do indeed work a bit like EMACS. Pressed by themselves, they > function as ordinary left and right cursor keys. But Hold one down and > start typing, and you progressively leap backward or forward to the text > you are typing. So you use your thumb for LEAP, and fingers to type? How strange... -- I EDIT THE NET: "In human stupidity, when it is not malicious, there is something very touching, even beautiful... There always is." --Leo Tolstoy ###### Path: ccw.ch!elna.ethz.ch!news-zh.switch.ch!news.belnet.be!newspump.monmouth.com!newspeer.monmouth.com!news-nyc.telia.net!howland.erols.net!feed2.news.erols.com!erols!news.mindspring.net!firehose.mindspring.net!news.airnews.net!cabal10.airnews.net!cabal1.airnews.net!news-f.iadfw.net!lgroebe From: lgroebe@airmail.net (Larry Groebe) Newsgroups: alt.folklore.computers Subject: Re: Canon Cat (was: Re: GUI History) Date: Wed, 13 May 1998 12:54:46 -0500 Organization: Insider Creative Lines: 23 Message-ID: <0E6DEB73BBEF4DDB.EF0D1A48FA50988F.FBB9A596EB5E84A3@library-proxy.airnews.net> X-Orig-Message-ID: References: <1d8yid0.76emkobnkphcN@jorn.pr.mcs.net> X-A-Notice: References line has been trimmed due to 512 byte limitation Abuse-Reports-To: abuse at airmail.net to report improper postings NNTP-Proxy-Relay: librarytest.airnews.net NNTP-Posting-Time: Wed May 13 12:54:45 1998 NNTP-Posting-Host: host233.insidermkt.com X-Newsreader: MT-NewsWatcher 2.4.4 In article <1d8yid0.76emkobnkphcN@jorn.pr.mcs.net>, jorn@mcs.com (Jorn Barger) wrote: >Larry Groebe wrote: >> The LEAP keys do indeed work a bit like EMACS. Pressed by themselves, they >> function as ordinary left and right cursor keys. But Hold one down and >> start typing, and you progressively leap backward or forward to the text >> you are typing. > >So you use your thumb for LEAP, and fingers to type? How strange... Actually, it doesn't work too badly. They keyboard is pretty small, so the reach is comfortable. And in my tests I never found myself hitting LEAP instead othe space bar. Of course, I actually mean "It doesn't work too badly given the total lack of cursor keys which my fingers have spent a decade or more getting used to and are now upset at not having." In truth, LEAPing instead of using cursor keys in their various permutations is really strange. I suppose one could get used to it eventually. But it would play hell with desktop publishing programs. (grin) --Larry