Re: Minor news

[____Textpert Alert____ <ianf@xxxxxxxxx>]

On 99-05-16 02:54 +1000 sez Andrew Pam:

>>   a  c o n c i s e  What-ZigZag-Does or
>>   What-ZigZag-Could-Be-Used-For (applications) doc?

> That's Ted's department.  He's working on it.

  I was afraid of that. Ted's a visionary, but he can obfuscate
  [potentially] simple things like no other.


> [...] If you want to discuss Zigzag in more detail,
> you might want to join the Zigzag mailing lists:
> http://www.xanadu.com.au/mail/

  It follows "logick" --Aristotlean, if not Korzybski's as well--
  that in order to discuss something I should at least be aware
  of what is to be discussed. I have not been made aware of what
  is to be discussed. All I asked for was a SHORT description of
  the ZigZag functionsality and potential applications, a kind of
  user scenario (if memory serves me, ZigZag was once "ZicZac"?).
  Since I won't be able to run the demo [below], I'd rather not
  partake in any discussions among the ZigZagilluminatti[tm].


> There is also a partially completed web interface.

  So what prevents you from making the demo accessible via the WWW?


> While your
> description accurately describes what the present Zigzag demo
> does so far, the real intent is to show a new architecture for
> handling data storage and interconnection. Zigzag allows simple
> representation and manipulation of complex structures and
> relationships in ways that conventional heirarchial or table-
> based systems (such as word processors, outlines, databases,
> spreadsheets, email clients, web browsers and operating system
> filesystems) cannot. In a sense, you could view it as Ted's emacs.

  This is dandy, but should be put up front and in less vacuous
  language than the bland "representation and manipulation of
  complex structures and relationships", which could [and probably
  does] mean that
                  text and/or pictures and/or other cell
                  (elements) can be linked in more than 
                  n wasy/ falvours or dimensions, and
                  acted upon/ enhanced/transformed etc,
                  as units.


  If there are any explicitly *NEW* functions that aren't present
  in current 3-D spreadsheets, then they ought to be named. If
  you can't name them, how on Earth do you expect people to make
  use of them? End-user time for exploration of Perl/Curses/WWW-
  interfaced apps should be viewed as a precious resource....


> Oh, I forgot to mention that Ted has provided a tutorial and set
> of examples in Zigzag format.  It's included in the bootable demo
> disk, and also in the development tar file (as "demodisk.zz",
> type "./zigzag demodisk.zz").

  As the disk probably doesn't run on a Mac (which _does_ have
  Perl with Curses) and the house of Random has no place for
  anything done in the house of Redmond, I'll install it as soon
  as I can buy a Linux laptop....  which should happen already
  in the next Millenium.


__Ian