SOFTWARE CREATIONS: SHAREWARE REVIEWS SOFTWARE CREATIONS BBS SEPTEMBER 1993 (508) 365-2359 (8, 1, N) Welcome to SHAREWARE REVIEWS, a new, innovative, electronic newsletter that will review the best of the latest uploaded shareware in all areas. Our objective is to help you select the software that will best fulfill your needs from among the many hundreds which are published each month. We are truly in the midst of a creative explosion by many fine shareware authors but the quantity is overwhelming. How can you select the very best from among a bewildering variety of publications? Let SHAREWARE REVIEWS help you by selecting from among the finest new releases and then providing you with brief, yet information packed reviews to help you decide what is worth your downloading dollars and valuable time. We have vast experience to bring to bear upon this endeavor having had over 20 years of professional experience in academia, advanced scientific and humanities research, technical and journal publication, public school education, and entrepreneurial private business. Furthermore, we are consultants in applied statistics and shareware authors ourselves. What is shareware? Shareware is computer software created by small companies, often a single person operation, that is marketed on a "try before you buy" basis. An informed decison by any consumer should be based upon maximum knowledge. As a sales approach, which is remarkable for its generosity to potential customers, shareware authors create and distribute their work in a format which has at least partial or often complete functionality. Distribution is via mail order companies which specialize in selling shareware on disk and Bulletin Board Systems, such as SOFTWARE CREATIONS, whose sysops are committed to the promotion of shareware. By not investing in expensive brochures or the usual sort of advertising, shareware authors are determined to hold down costs and thereby, the retail prices of their products. Successful shareware benefits everyone because the retail price is as low as possible, placing the least stress on a user's wallet. Hopefully, a large selling volume will increase the income for the author/publisher. Shareware authors are unusually generous and trusting. If their product is fully functional in the shareware version, which is often the case, users must feel honor bound to purchase it after the fact. Purchase is termed registration and is by mail order via forms provided within the shareware package. We urge you to register any and all shareware you try out, like and decide to use. If the shareware does not fulfill your needs, pass it on to someone who might be interested, thereby giving the shareware more exposure. Unlike browsing in a book store where there is no possibility of keeping the book without payment (short of theft), all of us could "steal" our favorite shareware if so inclined. If we are not honorable, this generous marketing approach is in danger of disappearing. Furthermore, many authors are highly creative and innovative while exploring areas still untouched by major corporations. Often their products are as full featured and "deep" as any offered in the mainstream, highly advertised marketplace and may, in fact, incorporate an approach that cannot be found anywhere else. SHAREWARE REVIEWS (versions 2 & 3) will be available only through SOFTWARE CREATIONS which is an extraordinary Bulletin Board System. The founder and sysop is Dan Linton who is perhaps the most aggressive promoter of shareware in the country. He is also a very successful software author and publisher in his own right. SOFTWARE CREATIONS is huge and very user friendly, as I'm certain you've already discovered if you downloaded SHAREWARE REVIEWS. Personally, I have never seen a board whose menus and screens are this attractive! As of this date, Dan has over 8GB of files in well organized directories, 85 phone lines and provides many other interesting and valuable services. Everything reviewed in SHAREWARE REVIEWS may be found at SOFTWARE CREATIONS, which you can consider your one stop shareware warehouse. I urge you to subscribe because Dan's system is well worth the $45/year, perhaps the lowest subscription fee for any board of this size in the U.S.: SOFTWARE CREATIONS, 26 Harris St., Clinton MA 01510. Phone lines are BBS (2400) 508 365-2359, BBS (9600) 508 368-7036 and voice 508 368-8654. SHAREWARE REVIEWS is published monthly by SOFTWARE CREATIONS and is provided in three versions. In each, the reviews will be in "plain vanilla" ASCII format so that any DOS based, generic file viewer can be used to view and print them. An electronic newsletter of brief one paragraph reviews, of which you now have a copy, will be distributed around the first of each month (except for August). At SOFTWARE CREATIONS, it is available to all callers, even new users, as freeware. The second version contains in-depth longer reviews of each program with many detailed specifics and important installation hints. The long reviews are usually a full page or more for each of 15 different shareware programs, highlighting the most important aspects of the program. When a program is unusually deep and complex, an issue of SHAREWARE REVIEWS will comprise less than 15 programs. The September issue of SHAREWARE REVIEWS included Astronomy Lab for Windows NT which was counted as three programs of the usual type. SHAREWARE REVIEWS will be distributed by first class USPS on disk and will be available only by subscription at $30 for 12 issues. The third version is available for $96 and you will receive the long informative reviews along with each shareware program reviewed in an archived (usually ZIP) format. That comes to 12 monthly issues with a total of approximately 180 programs at a cost of only $0.53 or less per program. SHAREWARE REVIEWS will publish 11 issues per year (with a combined July/ August issue), therefore, a subscription will encompass 13 months. Unless you live within the SOFTWARE CREATIONS area code, your phone bill to download this many programs would exceed the subscription price. Single back issues of each month's shareware files are available at $12/monthly for a set of disks. These prices includes all costs: disks, shipping and handling. We hope to set an industry standard with SHAREWARE REVIEWS. Glitzy no; valuable intelligent reviews, yes. If you find only one program each year that dramatically increases either your business productivity, education, or enjoyment of life, the subscription cost will be well worth it. Each newsletter will contain 15 reviews in both the short and long versions. You can subscribe on line at SOFTWARE CREATIONS with your credit card. At the Main Menu, type 'DOOR' and the Door Menu will give you access to an on-line subscription script (item 5) with the various options described above. If you wish, you may subscribe by mail using the form provided below. We welcome feedback, comments and suggestions for new shareware to review. You may write to me, Ben Blumenberg, the author of SHAREWARE REVIEWS at REALITY SOFTWARE, PO Box 105, Waldoboro, ME 04572 or leave e-mail at SOFTWARE CREATIONS. My other e-mail addresses are: America On Line benb12; Compuserve 71044,1645; and on the Internet at benb12@aol.com or 71044.1645@compuserve.com (notice comma must be replaced by a period). An interesting article which you might enjoy which looks at the problems in designing a user friendly interface for Windows applications is Moss, D. 1993. "The Good, the Bad and the Ugly". WINDOWS USER Vol. 2, No. 1, pp 136-140. REALITY SOFTWARE is also a creator and publisher of shareware and our products can be found at SOFTWARE CREATIONS. We specialize in historical timelines and the history of religion and mythology. Our studies are scholarly and for serious, thinking adults. They are not high school level programs nor are they filled with New Age nonsense. We will mail a catalog on disk of our software for a $1.50 fee to cover costs and shipping. Please note that requests for this catalog must go directly to REALITY SOFTWARE, PO Box 105, Waldoboro, ME 04572, NOT to SOFTWARE CREATIONS. We hope you enjoy SHAREWARE REVIEWS and find it a valuable tool for selecting the very best of the newest shareware available. Ben and Leslie Blumenberg REALITY SOFTWARE SOFTWARE CREATIONS is a division of Linton Enterprises, Inc. .__________________________________________________________________________ MAIL IN SUBSCRIPTION FORM for SHAREWARE REVIEWS DATE __________ NAME _____________________________ COMPANY ______________________________ ADDRESS __________________________________________________________________ TOWN OR CITY ______________________________ STATE __________ ZIP ________ Subscriptions to SR Long Reviews only ($30 for 12issues): Number of subscriptions:______ Total $__________ Subscriptions to SR Long Reviews plus Shareware ($96 for 12 issues): Number of subscriptions:______ Total $__________ BACK ISSUES of monthly collections of Shareware and Long Reviews at $12 each: Indicate Month(s) and Year(s) (First issue is February 1993): ________ ________ _________ ________ _________ _________ _________ _________ Total monthly collections:______________ Total $ ___________ Canadian subscribers, please add $5 for postage per subscription: Total $_______ (in US funds) All other foreign subscribers, please add $10 for postage per subscription: Total $_______ (in US funds) Total Payment Enclosed $____________ (All disks will be high density 5 1/4".) Method of Payment (check one): Check (US funds)______ Money Order (US funds)______ Credit Card: Visa______ Master Card______ Credit Card # __________________________________ Exp. Date ________________ Signature on Card ___________________________________________________ Where did you obtain this issue of SHAREWARE REVIEWS? ______________________ If we distribute our mailing list to other vendors, would you prefer your name be deleted? Yes ______ No ______ MAIL TO: SHAREWARE REVIEWS SOFTWARE CREATIONS 26 Harris St. Clinton, MA 01510 Be certain to notify SOFTWARE CREATIONS if you move and your mailing address changes. SOFTWARE CREATIONS: SHAREWARE REVIEWS ALW32S.ZIP 1.32 MEG September 1993 ASTRONOMY LAB FOR WINDOWS NT (WINDOWS 3.1 OR NT) Vol.1, No.8 Latest file 4/1/93 alw1.txt ASTRONOMY LAB FOR WINDOWS is an extraordinary example of shareware! It the first shareware program for Windows NT I have acquired, yet this archive is packaged with Win32's which will allow it to run on a 386 or 486 under Windows 3.1. ASTRONOMY LAB FOR WINDOWS is enormously deep and comprehensive with a wealth of features that should provide a lifetime of enjoyment and learning for any astronomy buff. This archive contains two large ZIP files each of which should be unarchived to a separate working directory. If you are already running Windows NT, it is not necessary to install Win32s. At first startup go to the Location menu and fill in the dialog as all output from ASTRONOMY LAB FOR WINDOWS is referenced to a chosen location. There are 12 Report options which includes several detailed calendars, tables of planetary and lunar information, meteor showers, etc. There are 15 graphs including one for Planetary Orbits and the Galilean satellites of Jupiter. The Movie menu provides 7 animation choices including a Planetarium of the solar system and two different views of the Galilean satellites of Jupiter in orbit and planetary motion along the Ecliptic. Their is no manual with ASTRONOMY LAB FOR WINDOWS but the on-line help is superb, very deep and organized like a well designed textbook. Registration is only $15!! plus $2.50 S/H from Personal MicroCosms, 8547 E. Arapahoe Road, Suite J-147, Greenwood Village, CO 80112. SOFTWARE CREATIONS: SHAREWARE REVIEWS AM92.ZIP 224K SEPTEMBER 1993 ARCMASTER (D0S) Vol.1, No. 7 Latest file 4/13/92 am1.txt ARCMASTER is an awesome DOS powerhouse - both a comprehensive shell and archive file manager as well. Archive management proceeds from a pull down menu! All common archive tools are supported and text files within archives may be edited and then easily saved back to the archive. Virtually every conceivable file manipulation and directory navigation possibility are supported. Be certain to configure ARCMASTER early on and if you do nothing else, specify the directory for archive tools and a lOg directory as well for blindingly fast readings of the directory tree. Cd-ROM drives and virus scanning are also supported. For those of you who are not DOS keyboard jockeys, ARCMASTER has full mouse support. ARCMASTER comes with exceptionally well written docs and registration is $35 from New-Ware, 8050 Camino Kiosco, San Diego CA 92122. SOFTWARE CREATIONS: SHAREWARE REVIEWS AMDCMP1.ZIP 216K SEPTEMBER 1993 AMDCMP2.ZIP 320K Vol.1, No.7 ANIMATED MULTIPLICATION AND DIVISION (D0S) Latest file 2/25/93 amdcmp1.txt ANIMATED MULTIPLICATION AND DIVISION incorporates an innovative approach to getting your child to practice fundamentals in these two areas of arithmetic. Only the successful completion of 10 problems will provide access to the animated play room where four objects, including a dinosaur, may be redesigned and animated. Students may choose which, if any, integer to emphasize in the problems and also decide upon one of six formats for the screen presentation. The playroom is great fun - I certainly enjoyed it - and it should represent genuine incentive to get back to work! Registration for ANIMATED MATH AND MULTIPLICATION is only $10 from Tom Guthery IV, Flix Productions, 601 Ranch Road, DelValle, TX 78617. SOFTWARE CREATIONS: SHAREWARE REVIEWS BOOTS200.ZIP 38K SEPTEMBER 1993 BOOTS (DOS) Vol.1, No.7 Latest file 3/31/93 boots1.txt BOOTS is a well designed, user friendly, multiple configuration manager that can handle up to 100 sets of system files (autoexec.bat, configu.sys). It may be configured to Select (system files) During or After Boot as installation writes new config.sys file with the single statement device=boots.sys. If using Select After Boot be certain to write a flush cache command during Setup. It is also Windows compatible, although rebooting from within Windows is not recommended. The editor is just right for the task as it shows both system files in two windows side by side. Previously written configurations may be displayed for modification or you may start from scratch. Registration for BOOTS is $22.95 from Norton Utilities, 81-87 Tournament Way, Indio CA 92201. SOFTWARE CREATIONS: SHAREWARE REVIEWS $CASTL.ZIP 424K September 1993 CASTLEL OF THE WINDS (WINDOWS) Vol.1, No.7 Latest file 9/27/92 castl1.txt CASTLE OF THE WINDS is a fantasy role playing game based upon Norse mythology. As an 18 year old inexperienced warrior, you journey forth to avenge the murder of your loving godparents and find the true legacy left behind by your father who died after battle. Character creation contains great depth, enough to satisfy the most experienced addict of role playing games. Spells, weapons and armour abound to be acquired: the local blacksmith and store-keeper will gladly outfit you for a price. The same may be said for the magical curatives available in the Temple of Odin. Monsters are ever-present and quick, yet the pace of CASTLE OF THE WINDS is largely in your hands. Good luck, may the Norns be with you! Registration for this first episode is only $25 plus $2 S/H from Epic Megagames, 10406 Holbrook Drive, Potomac MD 20854 and brings the second episode as well which is not available as shareware. SOFTWARE CREATIONS: SHAREWARE REVIEWS CIRCUM10.ZIP 200K SEPTEMBER 1993 CIRCUMSPACE (DOS) Vol.1, No.7 Latest file 5/14/93 circum1.txt CIRCUMSPACE is a marvelous, interactive simulation of the local stellar neighborhood. Moving at slow to fast warp speeds, you can travel throughout this region of the galaxy and view the stars as they actually would appear at whatever locality you to choose stop. Travel is possible in every direction or orientation and instant return to Earth orbit is achieved by pressing the Home key. A large database of stars may be accessed for Find or Goto travel. Basic information about the current location and star selected by the mouse cursor is displayed. There are several basic commands controlled by the mouse and a vast array of keyboard commands as well. CIRCUMSPACE comes with a good manual. Registration is only $15 from KlassM Software, PO Box 1067, Ann Arbor, MI 48106. It is an excellent product from the author of SkyGlobe, a superb planetarium program (Shareware Reviews Feb '93), and both may be registered at the same time for only $25. SOFTWARE CREATIONS: SHAREWARE REVIEWS CLIPS.ZIP 28K September 1993 CLIPS (Windows) Vol.1, No.7 Latest file 3/31/93 clips1.txt CLIPS is a marvelous substitute for the generic Windows Clipboard that suffers from a serious limitation: it retains only the last item cut or copied. CLIPS retains everything copied to the Clipboard during a single Windows session and displays each item in a Clips Text window. Items are moved by a mouse click to the Clips Title window from where they may be edited, saved, and cut or copied for additional paste operations in applications of your choice. CLIPS is freeware from Paul Bonner who leaves no address in any form, USPS or electronic. SOFTWARE CREATIONS: SHAREWARE REVIEWS CMAT15.ZIP 83K September 1993 CHALKBOARD MATH (WINDOWS) Vol.1, No.7 Latest file 3/1/93 cmat1.txt CHALKBOARD MATH is an engaging and very instructive program for practicing basic arithmetic skills. Gentle, supportive reinforcement and amusing, yet tasteful, low-keyed mouse and 'happy face' animations help make the student experience entertaining without losing educational focus. Oversize buttons minimize difficulties with mouse manipulations. CHALKBOARD MATH may be played at any one of 8 difficulty levels, either student controlled or with Auto-Advance difficulty level enabled. Scoring mode and honor roll may be disabled if a noncompetitive atmosphere is desired. The very well designed CHALKBOARD MATH illustrates the best that can be done with computer education software. Registration is $16 from Pegasus Development, 11900 Grant Place, Des Peres, MO 63131. SOFTEWARE CREATIONS: SHAREWARE REVIEWS IMPROC42.ZIP 368K SEPTEMBER 1993 IMPROCESS (DOS) Vol.1, No.7 Latest file 3/15/93 improc1.txt IMPROCESS is a comprehensive image editor and paint program that includes several unusual and spectacular capabilities, although it only supports GIF, PCX, TGA and PRF file formats. It includes many of the expected image editing functions and can create virtual screens from very large images in 320 x 200 resolution within which you may both view and edit. The special effects and fractal tools put IMPROCESS in a class by itself. Clipboard images may be Sprayed or Rained and there are twelve paintbrush tools along with an ability to add text to an image. You may turn a selected area into a stamping tool (Copy Paintbrush) and there is a Fat Bit editor as well as the opportunity to cycle the palette. My favorite functions which easily produce spectacular effects are those which render a Terrain or Plasma fractal from a defined area. IMPROCESS comes with a superb and detailed manual; read it! Registration is only $30 from John Wagner, 6161 El Cajon Blvd., Suite B-246, San Diego CA 92115. SOFTWARE CREATIONS: SHAREWARE REVIEWS MODEMD51.ZIP 127K September 1993 MODEM DOCTOR (DOS) Vol.1, No.7 Latest file 5/17/93 modem1.txt MODEM DOCTOR demonstrates what a totally comprehensive approach to a diagnostic utility can produce in the hands of a very skilled programmer/technician. Virtually every aspect of modem function is amenable to MODEM DOCTOR. While the technical depth of both the modem operation and the diagnostic procedures could be impenetrable, the interface and documents are so well written that anyone interested will understand much and learn a great deal that is new and valuable as well. Read the manual mdr5fst.txt and follow the tutorial. Then deliberately given MODEM DOCTOR a problem such as testing the comm port to which you have attached your mouse. Registration brings additional diagnostics and the ability to test high speed modems at their maximum baud rate. Registration for this diamond of a diagnostic utility is only $19.95 from Hank Volpe, The Modem Doctor, PO Box 43214, Baltimore MD 21236. SOFTWARE CREATIONS: SHAREWARE REVIEWS MWTRV_D.ZIP 234K SEPTEMBER 1993 MEN OF THE WORLD TRIVIA SHELL (DOS) Vol.1, No.7 Latest file 1/27/93 mw1.txt Did you known that: English Prime Minister John Major is the son of a circus acrobat and left home at 16 to support his family...Adragon Eastwood De Mello obtained a B.A. in Mathematics from the University of California before his twelfth birthday...King Taufa'ahau of Tonga is the world heaviest monarch at 462 lbs...Sir Richard Burton, famous English explorer, fought with Kit Carson and spoke 20 languages...or that the famous astronomer Tycho Brahe had a gold nose, having lost his original in duel? This is fascinating information and with a good dose of interesting history of the kind they never taught us in high school. In the last analysis, the magnetism of any TRIVIA SHELL rests upon the depth and fascination of the information available and there is an abundance of that in MEN OF THE WORLD. This terrific game will stretch your imagination and test your intellectual skills. TRIVIA SHELLs are fascinating, engaging, interactive games which will challenge your knowledge about your favorite subject. TRIVIA SHELLs have three levels of play: Beginner (true-false), Intermediate (default, multiple choice) and Advanced (fill-in-the-blank). You can you choose the level of play and also toggle such features as Humor (you will get teased!), Sound, Randomize Questions, Allow Hints, Display Answer, Repeat Wrong Answer and Timed Play (default is 30 seconds). The Browse menu allows you to choose groups of questions to examine by keyword and review their answers. Each game of TRIVIA SHELL may be individualized from the Setup Game menu. From one to four players may play a game of TRIVIA SHELL and you can specify the number of questions to be answered in each round: other options involve bonuses and penalties. TRIVIA SHELLs are published in four versions. 1) The shareware version of each game contains 150 questions and has some functions disabled. 2) The Classic contains 300 questions and sells for $11.95. 3) The Deluxe contains 600 questions and sells for $16.95. 4) The Gold, which is not yet available for all published TRIVIA SHELLs, has a 1,000 question database and retails for $22.95. TRIVIA SHELLS are published by Software Creations, 26 Harris St., Clinton, MA 01510. SOFTWARE CREATIONS: SHAREWARE REVIEWS SIMST21A.ZIP 293K September 1993 SIMST21B.ZIP 117K Vol.1, No.7 SIMSTAT (DOS) Latest file 4/8/93 simst1.txt SIMSTAT is a powerful statistics package for those familiar with statistics and in need of some well written analytical power. All the usual procedures are here along with exceptional depth in nonparametric and bootstrap procedures. Graphs are highly customizable, both in terms of aesthetic design and analytical bias and they may be saved in PCX or HPGL format. Up to four configurable editors support files in ASCII, Lotus, dBase or SPSS/PC+ format. Hot keys allow for a disk log, printer toggle and screen pause. Read the on-line Help and run one of the sample data sets through several procedures to get comfortable with SIMSTAT. Registration brings a probability calculator and printed manual and is $55 from Normand Peladeau, Provalis Research, 5000 Adam Street, Montreal QC, Canada H1V 1W5. SOFTWARE CREATIONS: SHAREWARE REVIEWS WOMTRV_D.ZIP 225K SEPTEMBER 1993 WOMEN OF THE WORLD TRIVIA SHELL (DOS) Vol.1, No.7 Latest file 2/3/93 wom1.txt Did you known that: Mary Suralt, the first woman hanged in the U.S., had a son who was a Confederate spy and was accused in Lincoln's assassination... Victoria Woodhull, born into a family who ran sideshows, established a brokerage firm on Wall Street, formed her own political party and ran for president...Julia Agrippina poisoned her uncle and husband in order to make her son Nero emperor of Rome...Phyllis Wheatley, the first black woman to publish poetry, was commended by the famous naval admiral John Paul Jones... and Maya Yin Lin, the 21 year old Yale senior who designed the Vietnam Veterans War Memorial, received a course grade of B- for her design? Well what do professors know anyway? WOMEN OF THE WORLD is packed with fascinating information, with a good dose of interesting history of the kind they never taught us in high school. In the last analysis, the magnetism of any TRIVIA SHELL rests upon the depth and fascination of the information available and there is an abundance of that in WOMEN OF THE WORLD. This terrific game will stretch your imagination, and test your intellectual skills. TRIVIA SHELLs are fascinating, engaging, interactive games which will challenge your knowledge about your favorite subject. TRIVIA SHELLs have three levels of play: Beginner (true-false), Intermediate (default, multiple choice) and Advanced (fill-in-the-blank). You can you choose the level of play, and also toggle such features as Humor (you will get teased!), Sound, Randomize Questions, Allow Hints, Display Answer, Repeat Wrong Answer and Timed Play (default is 30 seconds). The Browse menu allows you to choose groups of questions to examine by keyword and review their answers. Each game of TRIVIA SHELL may be individualized from the Setup Game menu. From one to four players may play a game of TRIVIA SHELL and you can specify the number of questions to be answered in each round: other options involve bonuses and penalties. TRIVIA SHELLs are published in four versions. 1) The shareware version of each game contains 150 questions and has some functions disabled. 2) The Classic contains 300 questions and sells for $11.95. 3) The Deluxe contains 600 questions and sells for $16.95. 4) The Gold, which is not yet available for all published TRIVIA SHELLs, has a 1,000 question database and retails for $22.95. TRIVIA SHELLS are published by Software Creations, 26 Harris St., Clinton, MA 01510.