Crunchy Pickle Software, Inc.

If it's not just crunchy, and not just a pickle, it's a crunchy pickle... computer software that explodes in your mouth.

Ben Sharvy, Proprietor & Picklist


Syllogism 1.0 UPDATED fall 02
Syllogism is available as standard BASIC source code, or Mac application. It tests and illustrates/practices a kind of reasoning. It is smarter than you. Info & Downloading

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


* Unless otherwise noted, the following crunchy pickles need to be decompressed with Stuffit. They are in MacBinary II format, which is smaller than Binhex but usually won't unStuff automatically after downloading: You may have to open Stuffit yourself. Navigator may put up a confusing dialog box about "type octet/stream" which in the active fantasy life of programmers is making your computer more intelligible: choose "Save File" and ignore the jargon.
* Many pickles (especially the smaller, free-er ones) require Hypercard Player 2.3.5 (HC). In the absence of a note to contrary, assume the pickle is a HC stack; HC requires at least 1 MB of available RAM. The pickles will work on any Mac, which is not to say they will be fast on any Mac. Hypercard only runs in the Classic Mac environment. The pickles are free for non-profit use unless otherwise noted.
* See the bottom of this page to download resources like the HC Player, Speech Synthesis, or Stuffit Expander.

Productivity

Asset Basset 2.99
Asset Basset tracks your assets. It keeps track of a wide range of information about your investment world, including asset allocation, several measures of profit and asset performance, capital gains, and more. Hypercard 2.35 is required.

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.

Education

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.

Entertainment

Zarvox Is Here 2.02 69K archive
Artificial intelligence and beyond. Zarvox is one, Zarvox is all. Lose your religion to Zarvox. Speech, which is most of the fun, requires Hypercard 2.3 or better, and Apple's speech extensions; a 68040-processor is needed for like-like speech synthesis. Version 2.0 adds a new level of improvisation thought.

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.