Ben Sharvy, Proprietor & Picklist
Hi-Lo Poker
Plays a variety of draw poker that is more interesting for two players
than most poker games. NOT video poker: this is the real potato, the
authentic tortilla, the honest enchilada. I am saying it's the genuine
pronoun. Man against Machine, for the heart & soul of the free world. Downloads:
Mac OS X | Classic Mac, requires Hypercard Player (free) | Windows
Infodex
3.8 800K
archive
Infodex is a knowledge-base, rolodex, database type of thing
with spiffy search features, import/exporting of text, keywording and
various other elements of total over-kill. It can also export to HTML 4.0
(Web pages) and link to Web sites, Quicktime movies, and more. I made it
for myself because I couldn't find a freeware version close to what I
wanted, and recently made it presentable to the general public. Use it for
notes, addresses, presentation, you name it. Any set of small text files
is more efficiently stored in an Infodex stack than in separate files on
disk. This archive includes some demo files (Muriel Rukeyser reading her
poem "Despisals" and misc. images). The actual stack is slightly over
100K. Requires HC 2.41 and 2 MB available RAM.
Publisher's Aide 1.1 18K
archive, updated AUG 02
Keeps track of manuscript submissions to publishers: searching, notes,
etc.
Tanakh - Old Testament 1.1 MB archive
A searchable collection (Infodex stack) of the "Jewish Bible". This is the Jewish Publication Society's
1917 translation. It is more readable and accurate than the King James version. The Tanakh is identical with
the Protestant Old Testament, except for the ordering of the books. There is an identical Web version, which shows what
an exported Infodex stack can look like.
Superflash (Flashcards) 142K archive
These stacks employ a flashcard system which I (a bit lamely) named
"Superflash." Any of them can be used for self-testing, or to create new
flashcard stacks of one's own. Superflash can switch between multiple-choice and user-supplied answers.
Speech synthesis requires HC 2.3, and Text-to-Speech
extensions for English (standard) and Mexican Spanish (both are free from
Apple, and probably came with your Mac); a 68040-processor is
recommended. This Superflash archive
includes: 1) 400
vocabulary words common on the SAT and/or
the GRE, including roots and suffixes, with examples. 2) 360
Spanish-English words and
phrases. 3) Rules of women's lacrosse. 4) Buffy the Vampire Slayer trivia.
Edible Landscaping
Edible
Articles 151K
archive
A stack collecting many articles posted to Internet newsgroups
(mostly
rec.gardens.edible and sci.agriculture.fruit) on edible
perennials. Contains advice & experiences re edible landscaping and
agriculture. Requires HC 2.4 and 2 MB RAM.
Edible Landscaping 4.7, updated summer 02
Application
+ Pictures (doesn't require Hypercard; requires 3 MB RAM and 640x480
monitor), 7MB
archive
The edible landscaping Web pages (down
the hall and to the left) are exported from this database. It includes
every plant that will grow in at least 3 USDA zones and is
worth growing primarily for culinary purposes. That means: fruits, nuts,
herbs, and even a few
perennial vegetables. Uncommon edibles such as the jujube and chayote are
included,
as well as favorites like strawberries and walnuts.The database comes with
a powerful
search engine, so that you can (for example) select only those plants that
will grow in your zone, stand soggy soil, are not subject to fireblight,
do not require pruning and have notable flowers. The archive
of pictures includes many that are not part of the
Web site (incentive to buy, you know). Shareware fee: $15.
**I bend over backward to be
flexible (when money is at stake): the photo archive is
available separately, in any format (e.g., for Wintel-oids). I also have a
very large archive (around 15 MB, I think) of images from which the
featured group was culled...available in any format.
Outside Satyricon ...stack and/or application.
An "alternative" interactive fiction experience.
Outside Satyricon aims to use the elements of interactive media in a way
that is individual and interesting, i.e., artistic. It blends the sentence parsing of classic
text adventures (e.g., Zork, Curses) with a graphical user-interface.
Version 1.5 will use speech synthesis if available (which requires
Hypercard 2.3) and employs musical leitmotifs to mixed applause.
More info and downloading..
HyperParse 0.8 6K
archive
A Hypertalk script that parses commands typically given in
interactive fiction adventures. Intended for Hypertalk scripters
interested in making adventures; not useful without Hypercard proper (the
Player won't do).
Diplomacy
Log 1.81 43K archive UPDATED JUL 98
Keeps track of Diplomacy
games; useful for playing Diplomacy via email (it's one of the best games
for that). Powerful note-keeping features, unit counting, more. Version
1.8 was infected with the Antibody virus.
Animals 1.1 45K archive
The first "public-ware" stack I ever made! You think of
something, the
Mac guesses what it is. Animals is a standard computer game, discussed in
many introductory programming books. My version's contribution is that it
lets you draw pictures of the things, and stores the pictures for use in
subsequent games. It also lets you define game categories (animals, or
relatives, or states...), making it a useful educational tool.
Most of these resources probably came with your Mac. If they aren't on the harddrive, check your installer disk(s).
* Download the Hypercard Player
from Apple's
download site (the article erroneously claims it only works up to MacOS 8.1). If you have HC
2.3 you should download the update to 2.4.1.
* Speech synthesis under Classic MacOS is downloadable
from the Apple speech directory. It
is
called "Text-to-Speech" and will work with any Mac, although a
68040-processor is recommended. (There is also speech
recognition: launch Netscape by saying "Open Netscape" to your Mac).
"PlainTalk"
refers to the bundle of all of Apple's speech technologies.
* Download Stuffit Expander.