-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= |-=>CompuNotes<=-| -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= Notes from The Cutting Edge of Personal Computing April 13, 1997 Issue 74 +=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+= Managing Editor: Patrick Grote -- mailto:pgrote@inlink.com Assistant Editor: Writer Liaison: Doug Reed-- mailto:dr2web@sprynet.com Graphics Editor, Webmaster: Judy Litt mailto:jlitt@aol.com Archives: ftp://ftp.uu.net/published/compunotes/ LOOK *** NEW WEBSITE!!!!! Website: email: mailto:notes@inlink.com fax: (314) 909-1662 voice: (314) 909-1662 +=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+= CONTENTS My Notes: 1=> Link to Us! 2=> This Week's Winner! Columns: 3=> Iomega Responds! 4=> "Push Providers Pulling Your Leg!", by Jeff Fishbein, mailto:jlfish@riverweb.com 5=> The Royal Flush, Plebiscite by Internet, by Jeff Bushman, mailto:jbush@goodnet.com Reviews: 6=> Product: Pagis Pro 97 Reviewed By: Judy Litt, mailto:jlitt@qualitty.com 7=> Product: Tomb Raider Reviewed By: Jerry Eichelberger, mailto:ike@mslawyer.com 8=> Product: Novell's GroupWise 5 User's Handbook. By S.B. Rogers and R.H. McTague, San Jose, Novell Press, 1996. 260 pages Reviewed By: Richard Malinski, mailto:richard@acs.ryerson.ca +=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+= CompuNotes is: Available weekly via email and on-line. We cover the PC computing world with comprehensive reviews, news, hot web sites, great columns and interviews. We also give away one software package a week to a lucky winner for just reading our fine publication! Never dull, sometimes tardy, we are here to bring you the computing world the way it is! Please tell every online friend you know about us! CompuNotes B440 1315 Woodgate Drive St. Louis, MO 63122 notes@inlink.com +=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+= To subscribe, send an email to listserv@peach.ease.lsoft.com SUBSCRIBE COMPUNOTES-L FirstName LastName To unsubscribe, send an email to listserv@peach.ease.lsoft.com SIGNOFF COMPUNOTES-L +=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+= Patrick's Notes 1=> Link to Us! Well, we have a new website up and running! Please come visit us! We have a complete archive of all CompuNotes sites up and about 30% of the reviews we have done! Our page: http://www.geocities.com/~compunotes We would also like to offer a link on our LINKS page to you! All it takes is you putting a link of us on your page! We'll then add you to the list of CompuNotes supporters who have their own page! We even have a neat graphic for your to use if you would like! Send the details of your page to Patrick Grote. mailto:pgrote@inlink.com. 2=> Winner! This week's winner is mailto:wturner@insync.net! Send them a congrats message mailto:wturner@insync.net! 3=> Iomega Responds! A few issues back, we printed letter from a frustrated user trying to get the rebate he was promised by Iomega. Guess, what? Iomega read CompuNotes and helped that reader out! They can help you too: Date forwarded: Mon, 7 Apr 1997 12:29:19 +0000 Date sent: Mon, 07 Apr 1997 09:19:01 -0600 From: JOYCE MIYA To: pgrote@inlink.com Subject: Re: Iomega Rebate -Reply Thank you very much for forwarding the customer info on the rebate. If you receive any other concerns regarding Iomega Rebates you can give either forward it to ert@iomega.com or you can give the address to the one writing to you. We really do want to help every\one who is deserving of a rebate to receive it. Thanks Joyce miya@iomega.com 4=> "Push Providers Pulling Your Leg!", by mailto:jlfish@riverweb.com Have you signed up for BackWeb, Intermind, Castanet, or another "push"- type content provider? When you got done with the process, were you calling it something more along the lines of a vacuum? There's no doubt that the Internet must offer the same level of delivery -- turn it on, it's there -- of cable television, radio or print media before it will be as popular as a source of news. We still seem to be a long way off. While all of these technologies -- along with mail-based "push" providers such as Mercury Mail or the vendors participating in Netscape's In Box Direct -- offer some level of satisfaction, the reality is that I can read three Sunday papers and watch The News Hour on PBS in the time it takes me to read 10 stories on the 'net -- mostly because I have to wait for the information to arrive. I enjoy reading the headlines from various In Box Direct papers, but again, I can't spend the day waiting for stories (actually, the gratuitous graphics) to download, so I rarely click to the web site. Pointcast is a bit faster -- after all, the stories are on my disk -- but again, the speed factor plays a role. I can make coffee in the time it takes Pointcast to change sections and display a new story. I drink too much coffee already. Because of the time factor, the browser-based news pages, such as Excite Live or My Yahoo, are just as bad as anything else. I could use an offline browser assistant to download everything for me, but I've had very bad luck with them. And besides, I don't have unlimited disk space. So I had high hopes when I tried BackWeb, only to be disappointed by the lack of content. Most sites offer nothing but animated headlines -- even slower than what I had before. Intermind was another "give us your credit card number, cancel in 30 days or we bill you" provider, and I don't do business that way. If you're offering me a free service, even for a limited time, you don't need my credit card information. The word is, the next generation of browsers will be even more oriented toward "push" delivery. I hope they find they key to making it work. Until then, I know I can count on the speed, immediacy and ease of use of the newspaper, radio and television. -- Jeff Fishbein is a freelance writer and Internet consultant. He owns an Internet commerce site, http://www.riverweb.com 5=> The Royal Flush, Plebiscite by Internet, by Jeff Bushman, mailto:jbush@goodnet.com I was recently involved in a couple of conversations regarding the internet and democracy and found myself in an unusual position (I'm referring of course to a rhetorical position -- the fact that I was standing on my head on a kitchen table during the discussion wasn't particularly unusual). But more on that in a moment, first some administrivia. In my last piece in this esteemed publication (never mind, *piece* of what; that word usage is utilized by us big-time writers), I had the occasion to mention "CP/M." A fair volume of e-mail hit the bandwidth in response to my comment that initially those letters stood for nothing (a great deal like some of our national office holders; the rest will stand for anything), but later were said to stand for something specific. Some readers wrote in to say I was wrong, i.e., it stood for something from the start, and then they proceeded to tell me what it stood for. Only, some of them told me different things. Most said it stood for Control Program for Microprocessors. Someone said the initials represented Control Program for Microcomputers. Someone else said... You get the idea. Some people even told me that I was right. One gentleman whose message I kept in my e-mail box only to have it (along with several dozen others) erased by my sterling ISP (and I'm sorry I don't recall his name) provided some very interesting reading on the subject of CP/M's history. In any event, thank you all. I'm not sure I was right, but I certainly appreciate all the responses. OK, except for the note that, in one sentence, maligned my intelligence and questioned my mother's species. Back to biz. You may recall that a long time ago, I was telling you that I found myself in an unusual position and that I avoided the obvious gag referring to when I was dating. The discussion in which I was involved dealt with the prospect of having citizens cast votes on issues by use of the internet. The reason that my statements were unusual is that I usually argue for greater democracy. I was arguing, however, against the proposal. The advocates for internet plebiscites said that having people vote on issues that are now decided by Congress would have the advantage of being more truly representative of majority views. They also suggested that political power would be more widely distributed and that the power of the wealthy and lobbyists and campaign contributors would be diminished. Some of the people in the group suggested that such voting might be restricted to "important" issues. Except for the argument that the power of the wealthy in politics might be diminished, most of the arguments that the proponents of this idea made are, in my view, exactly right. And that's the primary reason that this is a very bad idea. First, let's examine the idea that the power of the wealthy would be diminished, when it comes to politics. Balderdash. Many states have a process called the "initiative." This is a truly great idea that has become something of a nightmare. It's had some good results, but it's also had some very bad ones. The initiative is a mechanism whereby a ballot proposition can be put on the ballot after the proposition motivates a minimum number of voters to sign a petition. Once the proposition makes its way to the ballot, the money begins to flow. Proponents and opponents campaign for and against the proposition, spending millions of dollars on advertising to persuade the majority of voters to vote their way. As between the wealthy and the poor, it's obvious who usually wins those battles. Not always, it's true, but usually. The argument that only those issues that are important would be determined by internet-based voting begs the question of who decides what's important. The person who decides that will largely decide the results. It's like an old Tammany Hall politician once said. "You can let anyone you want do the votin'. Just let me do the nominatin'." But the arguments where the proponents of this type of voting are right are more frightening. Most Americans dislike and/or distrust the Congress as an institution. Some will dislike the composition of an existing Congress. Democrats dislike the present composition comprised of a majority that's Republican and Republicans have disliked Congress' makeup when the majority is Democratic. What these voters and those who favor voting with modems blinking are missing is the question of expertise. I'm not saying that on every issue Congress is better able to make decisions than the American voter. But they are so enabled on the vast majority of legislation that is presented. The reason is the same as the basis on which you take your car with a broken muffler to a muffler shop rather than a more broadly-based auto repair facility. They deal with mufflers every day. I consider myself reasonably well-informed, but there's a great deal I don't know. And, at the risk of seeming snobbish or immodest, I am daily surrounded by people who know even less than I do about current events. While I'm sure it's not true of you, many Americans can't answer any or most of the following questions: a) What is the name of the current U.N. Secretary-General? b) Who was his predecessor? c) What's the amount of the national debt? d) What's the amount of the budget deficit? e) What does the Federal Reserve Board do? f) Who's the President of Zaire? g) Approximately what percentage of the national budget goes to foreign aid? h) Approximately what percentage of the national budget, before the recent welfare-reform legislation, went to welfare? The questions may seem like an exercise to prepare for a hot game of Trivial Pursuit, but they're more than that. Whether a person has knowledge of at least most of those matters is reflective of how well- informed they are about most matters relating to legislation that comes before the Congress. Do we really want a large group of unknowledgeable individuals voting on whether to send troops to Bosnia or whether to expand NATO, to name just a couple of examples? We may disagree with the conclusions that Congress reaches on these matters and the fact that they have access to more information doesn't mean they'll always make the right decisions. But at least they do have that access. And, we get back to the question of wealth and the effect of money spent on campaigns. Like the discussion of the initiative process details, the wealthy interests would campaign in favor of their own interests and against the legislation that may be broadly beneficial to the country and its people. The assertion that internet voting would be more representative of the majority of American voters is doubtless correct. Again, that's what makes it scary. First, as is reasonably well-known, this is a republic. We have so- called representative government where we don't vote directly on issues. That's why we have a Senate and House of Representatives. But the fact that internet voting would change that is not the problem. The reason that our government was established to operate in the manner in which it does was largely to protect against the whims of the majority. If we had a country in which the majority always determined policy, we might still have racial segregation. Free speech and a free press would be figments of the imagination. Our government with its three-branch arrangement is designed to protect against the excesses of majority rule. While it may be true that the power of lobbyists and campaign donors might be limited by what amounts to a computer town meeting, that's not an unmixed blessing either. While anyone with any sense knows we need reform of lobbying and campaign finance any member of Congress who's honest would tell you that lobbyists and contributors often bring to a Representative's or Senator's attention, considerations which should be part of their knowledge-base when voting. That information would not be available to those who voted on their computer. In brief, internet-based plebiscites have as much to do with better government as does friendship with an opportunity to sleep in the Lincoln bedroom. 6=> Product: Pagis Pro 97 Reviewed By: Judy Litt, mailto:jlitt@qualitty.com Reviewed on: Pentium Pro 200, 64 MB RAM, Windows 95, HP Scanjet IIcx Requires: Microsoft Windows 95 or Windows NT version 4.0, 486 or higher, 16 MB RAM, 20 MB hard drive space MSRP: $39.95 I didn't know what Pagis Pro was when it became available to review. But I did know it was from Xerox, so I jumped on the Web & found out what it was - scanning & OCR software. I don't do OCR much, but when I do, I need a good program. I've come to the conclusion that there aren't any really good OCR programs. Pagis Pro doesn't really fit into the "really good" category for my needs, but it may for yours. Installation Installation was easy, although I did get the baffling error message "unable to read from scanner", even though a scanner test was performed without a hitch. After reading the manual (shudder!), I found out that this was normal for TWAIN scanners. There's also an option for ISIS scanners, & I have to admit that I've never heard of that particular type of scanner. If you have a flatbed scanner, chances are it's TWAIN. Pagis Pro will scan your system to compile a database of all your files. This is used later in searches. My only quibble with this is that you have no idea how long this operation will take - a status bar of some sort would have been nice. You do have the option to cancel the operation (after the initial installation, you'll have to reboot in order to index your system). You can arrange updates to be done automatically upon boot, run it whenever you feel like it from the Pagis Pro toolbar, or right click on files & choose to update just that particular file. Pagis Pro automatically adds both a send to bar & the Pagis Pro toolbar to your desktop after installation. I personally found the send to bar an annoying eater of desktop space, but if you do a lot of scanning it may come in handy. It's easy to get rid of both & only run them when you need them. One Step Operations Pagis Pro does make many of its functions easy & painless. From the Pagis Pro toolbar, you can scan, copy, fax, edit, search, and update documents. If you're scanning, you can use the different document types to optimize your scans - magazine article, letter, photograph, business card, custom. If you leave the type on any document - the default - Pagis Pro will scan, clean up, & prepare the document for OCR. You have control over what sort of automatic corrections Pagis Pro makes - lighten, darken, autocrop, autostraighten, etc. Pagis Pro saves documents in its own proprietary format call xif. This is a compressed format: for instance, a text only letter sized page was 48 kb in xif format; the same page scanned into Corel OCR-Trace & saved as a bmp was about 1.7 MB! You don't have a choice to save in anything other than the xif format during the original scan, but you can convert it to a wide variety of formats (jpg, pcx, tif, & bmp) in the Pagis Pro editor. You can send the document to your word processor right from the scanning module & it will automatically be OCRed using Textbridge Pro. You can also right click on the file and send to your word processor with the same results. You can even drag & drop the file onto your word processor & have it automatically OCRed. You're supposed to be able to do the same with any HTML editor, but I was unable to get this to work. If you drag and drop a file onto a program that hasn't been "registered" with drag and drop, the drag and drop registration wizard is supposed to open up. If it doesn't, you can open it manually and add the program. I tried this with my HTML editor, but it still refused to perform. The search feature is fast & pretty accurate. It allows you to match any word, match all words, or match exact phrase. You can further refine your search by specifying an author, dates modified between, etc. The results you get will show you the last date modified, & will be ranked by the number of times those word/words appear (which is also shown). OCR (or can you read?) I found the OCR module - the main reason I was interested in this program - only worked on well on very simple files. Throw in columns, tables, or funky fonts, and the program got very confused. I also have Corel OCR-Trace 7, which was much better equipped to handle complicated layouts - or recognize strange fonts. Corel's Trace also automatically spellchecks when you OCR & gives you the opportunity to correct misspelled words before you convert to a word processor format. On the other hand, if you need to store many scanned documents & they don't have complicated layouts, you can't beat the compression you get with the xif format. Conclusion Pagis Pro is great for companies that have to scan, OCR, and store many simply laid out documents. It's easy to use and integrates well with the Windows 95 interface. However, if your OCR needs are a bit more demanding - you need to be able to OCR something with three columns & save in Word format without a lot of user intervention - Pagis Pro may not be the program for you. Xerox 9 Centennial Dr. Peabody, MA 01960 508-977-2000 www.pagis.com Ratings: Installation/Ease of Use: Gold User Friendliness: Gold Quality: Silver User: Companies that need to scan, OCR, & store many documents 7=> Product: Tomb Raider Reviewed By: Jerry Eichelberger, mailto:ike@mslawyer.com Review on: Pentium 133, 16MB,SVGA, Windows 95, 8X CDROM Requires: P60, 8MB, SVGA, Sound Card, 2X CDROM MSRP: $50 If the U.S. Navy Seals were to allow women into service, Lara Croft would probably be the first in line. I have played a few of the Indiana Jones type games, but this put them all to shame. Lara Croft is the hardbody fox that is the star of this game. She is a very shapely lady born of British aristocrat Lord Henshingly Croft. After completing finishing school Lara begins a life of adventure. This game has some of the most astounding graphics and scenes that I have ever had the pleasure of experiencing. The 3-D environment is very well done, and the outstanding sound effects work in perfect harmony to give you an awe inspired feeling. Walk up to a ledge and look down and you will probably start feeling a little queasy if you have ANY fear of heights. Although this game has a noticeable problem with clipping (i.e. where Lara appears to be phased into solid objects she is standing beside), it not so bad as to distract from the game play. You have the ability to control Lara in many ways. She can walk, run, jump, back flip, squat, do sideways flips, and hang on a ledge and shimmy left or right. You will find yourself so immersed in the lush graphics, that your heart will pound and you will sweat. Jump across a trench that is a couple hundred feet deep and hang onto a crevice and the shimmy over to a narrow ledge, only to be attacked by a blood- craving bat. The puzzles in this game are moderate to difficult to solve, but there are always hints to watch for. The music will change or Lara will "tense" up to indicate a clue or secret. All along you journey you will find a few health and weapon power ups, but not as many as you will hope for. I especially enjoyed the swimming scenes where you may have to dive into an underground tunnel, and wonder if you are going to have enough air to make it, or better yet if that huge crocodile that is nibbling at your feet is going to be able to get all those teeth into your butt. If you are looking for a shoot em up adventure game, you might want to look elsewhere. There are only a few "enemies" on each level, but they have a way of sneaking up on you. You never know when you might turn a corner just to have a huge lion jump on you and pommel you to death. Even better, you just walked around the corner and a Raptor decides to eat you for dinner, but you take out your trusty pistol and waste him after about 20 rounds. Then as you are resting for a second and getting your thoughts together .... CRAP where did this 50' high T-REX come from. Can you say DEAD!!! Well, maybe not if you are quick thinking enough and a good shot with a pistol. Whew ... O.K. I got through all the animal attacks, cliff hanging and swimming, and now I have an UNKILLABLE human that is shooting at me. Now What!!! Oh well, the adventure continues. I recommend this game to anyone that like adventure and problem solving. You will be totally consumed by the graphics and the music. I hope to see another game with Ms. Lara Croft in the near future. Eidos Interactive 303 Sacramento Street San Francisco, CA 94111 (415) 616-2022 www: Ratings: Installation/Ease of Use: Silver User-Friendliness: Gold Quality: Silver 8=> Product: Novell's GroupWise 5 User's Handbook. By S.B. Rogers and R.H. McTague, San Jose, Novell Press, 1996. 260 pages Reviewed By: Richard Malinski, mailto:richard@acs.ryerson.ca MSRP: $24.99 US The goal of the authors is to make you productive with GroupWise as quickly as possible. As a result they say that they deal with the most important features and focus only on the Windows 95 client. This book does however cover more than just the highlights! For those of you not familiar with this software product a look at the web site will provide an in depth view. For example, GroupWise 5 is a client/server, cross-platform e-mail product which offers full document management capabilities. It is touted as the premier collaboration product for intranets! It has what is called a Universal Mail Box which gives users single-point access to incoming and outgoing messages, documents, shared folders, personal calendaring, group scheduling, tasks, voice mail, faxes and other message types. It is a powerful tool that integrates much of the office communication needs; simplifies much of the technical hassles of producing, attaching and sending messages or documents; and facilitates scheduling meetings and calendaring activities. To get a feel for this software and learn how to use it, this handbook is well worth the money. The handbook is divided ten chapters and five appendices. It can be read sequentially as a learning tool or browsed for particular tidbits of information. The chapters progress through the features of GroupWise from fundamentals of messaging, preparing an address book, managing messages, personal and group calendaring and on to advanced features, document handling, remote connection and customization. The appendices cover some of the general and technical issues such as getting started, online help, internet features and an overview of the 16-bit client. Chapter 1 is a general introduction to GroupWise 5. It provides a good example of the layout of the others chapters. It covers the toolbar buttons and each of the folder icons; mailbox, sent items, calendar, task list, work in progress, cabinet and trash. Throughout the chapter there are three graphics used to highlight features or provide insights. There is one for notes which refer readers to other related chapters in the text. There is one for important features of the function being described. The third is for tips on details of specific functions. These are combined with screen views so that you can see what the screen would look like when you are in the particular folders. The text is concise but thorough. With each element, toolbar button or folder icon, there is enough text for you to understand and use it. Working with your computer it takes only a few minutes to walk through the elements. For those who have used version 4, there is some of difference in layout and functionality but the changes are readily apparent and intuitive. The handbook itself is a manageable 8.25 by 5.5 inches but that means that the screen diagrams are small, icons within these even smaller and type that is about 6 or 8 point. For some of us who wear glasses, the small print may be a problem. Throughout the handbook there are many features which help you to organize your work. The cabinet icon can be used much the same way as you use directories in Windows3.1 or folders in Windows95 or Macintosh. With GroupWise you can have both private (only you can see them) and public (others may see them) folders in your cabinet. Another useful feature is message threading which graphically lets you see the relationship between messages and their replies. With this you can step back through a series of messages to recapture the major points or the development of an argument. A really fine feature is the ability to retract messages that stay within the GroupWise system and as long as the receiver has not opened the message. This is for all of us who often think of an additional comment after just having sent it off! An excellent feature is the document management system that lets you set up libraries of documents. You can import documents and set up your libraries so that you and/or others can search, access and read the documents. Last but no least you can connect remotely to GroupWise 5. While this is possible in version 4 it is still a valuable function for all those who travel and need to contact the office to stay in touch. In the appendices there are many helpful details. The discussions cover starting your GroupWise 5 up, various types of help functions, internet connections and running GroupWise as a 16-bit system under Windows3.1. Again, this handbook is an excellent guide for GroupWise 5 and it is published with Novell's authorization and collaboration. Ratings: Quality Gold (thoroughness and organization) User friendliness Silver (some type too small) Installation Gold + (Hey! Its a book so no problem!) Company: Novell Press 2180 Fortune Drive San Jose, CA 95131 Telephone: 1-800-434-3422 Home page: (for demo of GroupWise 5) --END OF ISSUE