Cyrillic converters for Mac platform plus a personal statement

[Benjamin Sher]

Dear Colleagues:

I am taking the liberty of forwarding my letter to Richard Gilmore
to the list.

NOTE:

Look, folks, I am not a computer expert nor have I ever claimed to
be. But, as someone who has learned a lot about the Net (the hard
way), I try to help those who either ask for it or might benefit by a
little advice. It has been my policy from the beginning to recommend,
when asked or on my own initiative, FREEWARE programs, and only, if
all else fails, to recommend an inexpensive shareware or commercial
product, which is the situation in this case.

There are tons of superlative FREEWARE programs on the Internet,
superlative not in a relative sense, that is, "considering that they
are free" but sueprlative, period, comparable often to the very best
commercial programs, especially when needed only for personal use.
My Pegasus email program on which I am writing this letter is one
such example.

I try to assure these novices, who, whether students or
distinguished professors, often use their $3,000 computers like
typewriters, that these freeware or (when absolutely necessary) very
inexpensive shareware products are recognized for their quality,
that they are not some junk floating around in the Internet. That's
why I say something such as that I "found this product at the
prestitious ZDNet site, which is, by the way, where I first found
Cyrillic Central and many other fabulous freeware programs. Of
course, there are many other quality sites, and I'll be glad to
provide a LONG list of the many great freeware and inexpensive
shareware web SITES on the Net (My own bookmarks currently list over
40 such web sites, each containing hundreds if not thousands of free
software programs for every possible need).

I think the problem is partly a generational one: those who see the
computer as a nuisance at best and as a terrifying obstacle at worst
and those who understand it as part of the evolving cultural
landscape and try to master it, as best they can, before it masters
them.

I am mindful of the limits and space constraints which we must abide
by on Seelangs. I feel however, that my integrity has been
questioned. I have no choice but to respond.

Finally, my enthusiasm often gets the better of me. Yet, I have been
of some use to a few of you, and I hope to continue to be of use.

If I have on occasion been deservedly rebuked for my
"overenthusiastic" self-centeredness (and I have owned up to
it more than once), do I not have the right to expect a certain
measure of tolerance when I exercise my "overenthusiasm" for a good
cause, in this case, sparing someone untold agony by a little bit of
Internet navigational or software advice.

 Yours,

Benjamin


-------
Forwarded Message Follows -------From:          Self <Single-user
mode> To:            richard <taymar at globalserve.net>
Subject:       Mac Cyrillic to PC Cyrillic to Mac Cyrillic
Reply-to:      sher07 at bellsouth.net
Date:          Thu, 9 Apr 1998 15:34:18 -600

Dear Richard:

I called Fingertip Software, the software manufacturers of Cyrillic
Central, and they informed me sadly that they do not have a Mac
platform version available nor do they plan on producing on. After
all, you are talking about a 4% market share in the U.S., which is
fast being overtaken by, of all people, the Linux Operating System.

I asked for a recommendation for a Mac company. They suggested World
Language Resources. They have a huge supply of products for Russian
and hundreds of other languages (as does the Russian Software Digest
site. You'll find both on my bookmarks page under Software if you
ever need something that is not available free on the Internet).

At any rate, they used to have a product called Mac/PC Converter that
sold for $45 and ran on Mac, Windows and Dos. I asked them to
investigate, to make sure it really did what it said it did. When I
called them back, they told me that the product has been
discontinued. I then asked them to suggest other places. Nobody seems
to have a Mac Converter. I checked the Russian Software Digest site,
which I have just spoken of. Nothing. There are expensive solutions,
but I certainly would NOT recommend them unless you are a
professional publisher and insist on using your Mac. There is a
software program called SoftWindows made by InsigniaSolution (the
man from World Language Resources said) that allows you to run many
Windows programs on your Mac. It costs about $125 and makes sense
only if you plan to use for many other programs on your Mac.

There are some free programs listed on the Funet site (See Software
in my bookmarks). I have grave doubts about them because they are
very old and complicated and seem to require a lot of programming
knowledge (which I most certainly do NOT have).

Finally, as for the Brama site (a Ukrainian site, by the way) just
mentioned by Max Piziur, I just went there and found a file under
Software, Mac, called MacTranslit 1.3.1. I imagine it's free, no
strings attached. I could not reach the address directly for some
reason, so I first went to http://www.brama.com, then found the
Software section, etc.

You can try this program. I have no idea what it does because I do
not have a Mac. Try it. pehaps that will solve your problem.

I can assure you that Cyrillic Central will convert to and from Mac
standard and Mac Russian and into any of the 16 codes I mentioned.
So, if nothing else helps, there is always the solution of going to a
friend (or going to Kinko's or to your university computer center,
downloading Cyrillic Central, installing and using it.

I hope I have been of some help. I wish I could help you further, but
Bill Gates and Microsoft have nearly squeezed the life out of Mac,
and developers have stopped developing for the Mac or have
discontinued already existing programs. This is a fact of life over
which none of us has much control.

Yours,

Benjamin