Copyright: ©1994 CyberNews


Front Page
Welcome to another issue of CyberNews!   We're glad that you've joined us to explore what is new in the world of CyberSpace!

Sections you'll find in this issue:

Business

Communications

Classifieds

Educational Applications & Books

Features, Columns, & Editorials

Graphics

Home

Multimedia and Games

Networking

Utilities

Where to find us...

Contacting Us...

Writing for us....

Copyright 1994, 1994 (c)


CyberNews -

1)  a new exciting frontier in the world of electronic publications

2)  the best thing to come along since the Personal Computer

3)  an invention by the geniuses Patrick Grote and Roger Klein

Where to find us....

Contacting Us...

Writing for us....

Copyright 1994, 1994 (c)


Applications sure to make you more productive!

Approach 3.0

Astound 1.5

Crossties

Ecco Professional

Harvard Graphics

Idea Fisher

InfoCentral

Mondial

One Write Plus

Performance Now

TimeLine for Windows


Communications

These Apps Will Put You in the Fast Lane on the Info-Highway!

NAVCis

Procomm Plus for Windows 2.0


Education

These Apps Will Make You Smarter Than Ever!

Applications

Bodyworks 3.0 CD

America's Civil War CD

Smithsonian Dinosaur Museum CD

Time Riders in American History

Books

Internet How To

Simple Internet Book

The Complete Small Business Guide


Feature Articles
Upgrading your 486

Internet via Email

Graphical Shell Accounts

Chip's World

Ramblings from Patrick


Dazzling...simply dazzling!!

DesignCAD 2D

DoDot

Graphics Tools

MetaMorph


These apps will make your home sweeter than it already is!

Announcements for Windows

Home Medical Advisor Pro

Microsoft Musical Instruments

The Homebrewer's CDROM

Tripmaker


Computers aren't meant for work alone!

Companions of Xanth

Microsoft Arcade

Multimedia ToolBook

Return to Zork

Sam & Max Hit the Road

Wrath of the Gods

Zork Anthology


Networking
LAN Escort

WinInstall


The apps are going to make your life a whole lot easier...

These apps are going to make your life a whole lot easier...

File Manager Plus

QEMM

Screen Cam

UNiNSTALLER for Windows 2.0

WinZip 5.5


SupportU


keldata


Cash Machine


Finder
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writing
So you want to be a writer for CyberNews? Read on . . .

You need to do the following:

Send a message to Patrick Grote asking for a copy of our Writer's

Guidelines. Guess what? They are straight forward! You can contact

Patrick at patrick.grote@supportu.com or on the RIME CyberNews

conference. Upload a copy of CyberNews to your favorite BBS. Ok, this

isn't required, but we'd appreciate it!

What benefits do you enjoy as a software reviewer?

Deluxe accommodations in the finest hotels around the world. (If you pay

the bill . . .) Free airline tickets anytime, anywhere. (Again, if you

pay the bill . . .) Ok, enough. The benefits are vast and wonderful.

They are explained in the Writer's Guidelines, which you can request by

emailing Patrick Grote at patrick.grote@supportu.com.

Oh, if you are on CompuServe, send Patrick the message at INTERNET:

patrick.grote@supportu.com.


Contacting
Contacting us:

We are really easy to contact:

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Internet:	cybernews@supportu.com

RIME:	Route your messages to Patrick Grote on SUPPORTU

BBS:	Support U. (314) 984-8387

Fax:	(314) 984-9981

Voice:	(314) 984-9691

Post Mail:	11221 Manchester Rd., Suite 313,

St. Louis, MO 63122

Departments:

General Publication:	  patrick.grote@supportu.com

Windows Publication:	  roger.klein@supportu.com

General Manager/Back Office:	  missy.grote@supportu.com

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Writer or Columnist:	  their.name@supportu.com

Compliments:	  feedback@supportu.com

Complaints:	  bill.clinton@whitehouse.com

Letters to the Editor:	  feedback@supportu.com

If you can't get us through any of those means, you probably don't need

to talk to us.


Approach
APPROACH 3.0

By Wayne A. MacLeod

Lotus Approach 3.0 is an extremely nice and powerful relational database for MS Windows. System requirements include an IBM PC or compatible with a 386 or greater CPU. At least 4 MB of RAM, though 6 MB is recommended and the more the better. A VGA or higher resolution monitor. Full install takes 19 MB of Hard drive space with a minimum install occupying 6.7 MB with an additional 1.8 MB needed for temporary files during the install. A Mouse or other pointing device and MS Windows 3.1 or higher. Approach is fully compatible with most Network systems.

A database is simply an organized collection of data.  This can be something as simple as your record collection to something as complex as the US Census Bureaus records. A relational database allows you to bring together data from separate databases and use it as if it were all stored in one single database file. A strong point of Approach and a tribute to its "ease of use" goal is that it does not require the user to posses any programming skills as so many other database products require. Lotus states that the average user should be able to put together something useable within 2 hours of "opening the box". I may be a little slower than the average user, but did find that I was working at a comfortable level with the product within 3 to 4 hours. Not that I had mastered the program by any means, but having no real previous database experience, I no longer felt lost and mystified.  I also spent possibly more time with the on-line tutorial, highly recommended, than others might.

Installation went quickly and without incident. Lotus installs look for other Lotus products and attempt to eliminate duplication of files and tight integration between its products. Approach uses the Lotus common Spell Checker used by AmiPro and other Lotus products. You can select to install to a stand alone system, as a network node or as a network file server. Due to its exclusive integration with other Lotus products you can create reports, forms, mailings and more directly with Lotus 1-2-3 ver 4.01 or higher or Lotus notes data directly. You can access Approach's management capabilities from within 1-2-3.

Again, I highly recommend that new and even database proficient users, spend time going through the on-line tutorial after install. There are 50 predesigned templates that allow you to put together various databases with little effort or give you a good starting point for creating your own. Approach features fast thorough context sensitive help. Lotus has gone to great lengths to make Approach easy to learn and easy to use while maintaining all the "power features" one expects to find in a world class database management product.

Beyond the seamless integration with other Lotus products, Approach also offers what it calls "PowerKey Technology". This allows Approach to read and write to a variety of other database formats including dB III and dB IV, Paradox 3.5 and 4.0, Foxpro, MS Access, SQL server and several others. It also allows working with other, non directly supported, applications that utilize an ODBC driver. OLE 2.0 is supported for seamless integration of graphics and data.

Approach uses Lotus well known SmartIcons that allow you to customize tool bars to do about anything you want with their products. Common commands, menu options, loading of macros and even starting of other applications can all be assigned a SmartIcon and added to a particular toolbar. It comes with default icon bars for Browse, Find and Preview. There are three default icon bars and a floating palette of icons for Design.

Prior to trying Approach, my experience with database applications had been limited to the fill in a few blanks address record keepers. I have looked at several shareware database apps, but have found them all equally confusing enough to prevent more than a short and mostly fruitless experience. My experience with Approach during this evaluation period has been quite the opposite and  maybe now I can finally get around to some of those projects I have been putting off since before there even was a "round tuit."

Approach can be purchased as a single application at a MSRP of $495 after 12/31/94 and for a promotional introductory price of $129 until 12/32/94.  Street prices and upgrade prices will of course be lower. Approach is also part of Lotus Smart Suite of applications for Windows.

Lotus Development Corporation

55 Cambridge Parkway

Cambridge, MA 02142

1-800-343-5414

Send your postal name, address, city, state, zip to 3prod@supportu.com for product literature to be sent to you via postal mail.


Astound
Astound for Windows, v. 1.5

Reviewed By Mike Christensen

Astound bills itself as "The next generation desktop presentation solution for multimedia presentations."  That's a pretty fair description of this software. It's a versatile package  that includes animation, video, and sound. The system on which I tested it was not equipped for sound or video, so I'm unable to comment on the effectiveness of these enhancements.

The software requires an IBM-compatible PC with a 386/20MHz processor, Microsoft Windows 3.1, 1.44MB 3.5-inch floppy drive, hard drive, VGA monitor, Windows compatible mouse, at least 4 MB RAM. Optional requirements are sound card, microphone and CD-ROM drive. The manual recommends 8 MB RAM. On a 4-meg system, I ran into some memory problems, especially with redrawing graphics on the screen, and frequently had to save and re-open in order to get the screen to redraw. Using a master slide for complex backgrounds seemed to help some.

I found Astound to be relatively easy to learn and use, at least for simpler presentations. The tutorial is straighforward, stepping the user through the basics in a systematic, easy to follow manner. Beyond the basics, some of the enhancements can be a little confusing if you're just "menu-surfing," but the documentation is well organized and clearly written. Those with the patience to study the manual will be rewarded with some fun special effects.

Animation choices are easy to follow, with drag-and-drop icons for entry and exit points, and slide-bar timelines that allow delays, pauses, and halts. There is a decent, but not overwhelming, choice of special effects for text and graphics presentation. A rotation tool for graphics would be useful, but I could find none.

Astound comes with a good selection of templates for slides and charts, as well as clip art, animated actors, sounds and video. The animated actors included were pretty much limited to standard cartoon characters, as was much of the clip art. A "bonus" CD, however, promised a much better selection.

The charting capabilities of Astound are impressive, with excellent 3-D and animation available. Users can choose the order of appearance of chart items, method of appearance, and depth of perspective. Importing from outside spreadsheets, such as Excel or Lotus, is supported, as is OLE. Existing charts are easily updated and reformatted.

Overall packaging is easy. Slide order can be changed quickly by dragging and dropping icons. Previewing is accomplished with a mouse-click, and can be done slide-by-slide or for the entire presentation. The preview can be stopped at any time with a keystroke ("Escape," what else?). This single-slide preview makes experimenting with special effects a breeze. Just make a change, preview, escape, modify and re-test.

Animation was sometimes choppy, although I suspect this could be improved with enhanced memory. Movement of two or more animated actors or graphics was awkward (again, something which more memory would probably fix).

The drawing tools are pretty rudimentary, but you can import graphics in various formats from other drawing applications. EPS files aren't importable, but bitmaps, TIFF, and GIF files are.

Once a presentation is complete, you can run it directly from Astound, or it can be saved as a self-running EXE file and distributed on disk.

Astound is a versatile multimedia presentation package that's easy to learn and use. Despite its appetite for memory (typical with most graphics applications), Astound's suggested retail price of $399 is, in my opinion, very reasonable for the performance it delivers.

Gold Disk Inc.

3350 Scott Blvd., Building 14

Santa Clara, CA 95054

(408) 982-0200.

Send your postal name, address, city, state, zip to 5prod@supportu.com for product literature to be sent to you via postal mail.


CROSSTIES

Reviewed by Jacci Howard Bear

I don't work for CrossTies Software Corporation and they haven't paid me to "say nice things." Why am I making this statement? Because CrossTies for Windows is such a wonderful program and I am so enthusiastic about its potential that I'm afraid my review might read like a company-sponsored press release. In my opinion, this software is truly amazing. With that said, please read on. If you "do Windows" you need this program.

CrossTies for Windows is not "yet another whiz-bang PIM." It combines the features of an address book with the primary functions of Windows for something unique. The usual Personal Information Manager stores information about people, places, and activities. Program Manager groups your programs for more or less easy access. File Manager lets you move, copy, delete, or view your files. With CrossTies, Program Manager and File Manager are almost obsolete. Now one program  truly does "do it all."

Reading the CrossTies box gives several clues as to the power and scope of this program. Until you apply its features to your own work it is hard to understand just how much the program revolutionizes Windows. Let me give you one example of how I use CrossTies.

As publisher of a small magazine I have many files, people, and to-do items related to each magazine issue. Note the word related, it is one of the key aspects of CrossTies. Prior to CrossTies I managed to keep most of the elements for one issue together by putting all the word processing and layout files and graphics in one directory. Of course I had to create a directory for each issue and change the default data directory of each program each month. And we all know the frustration of deciphering those 8 letter file names. Then I kept information on the people involved with each issue, in my PIM, along with a list of appointments and To Do items--only some of which might relate to the specific issue in production. Then of course, e-mail messages and faxes were stored with their respective programs.

But take a peek into my CrossTies database and see how much more efficiently I can work now. Think about how you would manage your own projects using this program.

For each issue of the magazine I create a PROJECT object. In that object I create LINKS to all the files, programs, people and activities related to that Project. By opening one window I can see at a glance all the files--with meaningful descriptions--along with critical information such as due dates and current status. I can also see a list of people, activities (such as appointments), faxes, and e-mail involved in that particular project. Each item (object) in the list has an icon that tells me at glance if it is an AmiPro document, or a Photo-Paint graphic, or a Person in my database. But CrossTies doesn't stop there. Click on an object in the list and another window pops up with more detailed information about the object. With the built-in CrossTies Viewer I can look at documents, spreadsheets, and  drawings without launching the program. I can also launch the program from that window and the file I want to work on is immediately available--no more searching for cryptic file names in a maze of sub-directories.

This object-oriented organization makes working with files so much more logical than before. For instance, to edit this review I don't open up my word processor then look for the CTIESREV.SAM file (or whatever other odd name I might use). Instead I open up a project called CyberNews and launch an object that I've described as the working review of CrossTies. I don't even have to know or care what program or where the file is located. If, for some reason, you need to locate a file by the traditional directory means--CrossTies stores all files in sub-directories according to the program used to create the file. All my CorelDraw files are in a CorelDraw directory under the main CrossTies directory; all Windows Write files are under the Write directory, and so on. When first installing CrossTies and creating objects, you have the option of letting CrossTies move files you have already created and want to manage under CrossTies.

CrossTies doesn't leave out the "traditional" aspects of a Personal Information Manager. You can store information about people with 30 pre-formatted fields and freeform notes. Daily, weekly, and monthly calendars keep track of your calls, meetings, tasks. Schedule activities with durations and priorities. CrossTies can also alert you of impending activities. Templates, profiles, filters, and macros let you streamline, customize, and automate your work.

CrossTies can replace Program Manager as your shell or you can run it as a regular program from a Program Manager group. The Shelf, analogous to a bookshelf, holds your most frequently used programs and objects--similar to the quick access icons of other Program Manager add-ons or replacements. I've noticed that while other programs totally replace Program Manager, with CrossTies as the shell Program Manager is still accessible to those programs that require it for installation. I've installed several programs that create their own program groups. CrossTies simply transfers that program information to The Shelf.

As powerful as it is, CrossTies is also easy to use and highly configurable. Size and place icons where you want them. Use menus, keyboard shortcuts, drag 'n drop, or macros for almost any task--whichever method you prefer. Like other programs with dozens of options for customization, the choices can be overwhelming at first. Fortunately, it is not necessary to alter or "play with" every feature in order to start using the program. Start work now. Customize later.

I used to hear a lot of hoopla about the "trashcan" on the Macintosh computers. I tried a few add-on programs that promised similar functionality. They were "OK." Well, CrossTies has that drag 'n drop trashcan. It has so many ways to drag 'n drop that each time I try something new with the program, the first thing I do is try to drag 'n drop.

I know what you're probably thinking. Never buy version 1 of a program. Wait for other people to find all the bugs first then get the "fixed" version. We must commend the folks at CrossTies for putting out such a complete and well-behaved program on the first release. Sure, now that I've used it I can find a dozen new items I'd like to see added but not anything that should stop you from grabbing up this version.

At the moment, CrossTies only directly supports a limited number of fax programs, most specifically, FaxWorks from SofNet. For e-mail support you need MAPI or VIM e-mail software. As the CrossTies user base grows I'm certain we'll be seeing support for more and more programs. When the company adds direct support for WinFax and CompuServe e-mail I'll be in total bliss. If this version had that support now this would be such a glowing review that no amount of disclaimers on my part would convince you that I'm not a hired hand for CrossTies Software Corporation. Yes, it's that good.

For now I can get around the fax and e-mail support question by converting selected files to PCX or TXT formats--which CrossTies easily supports. Don't let lack of support for your current fax or e-mail system stop you from checking out this "revolutionary information management product." (Description lifted from a CrossTies press release--but I agree whole-heartedly.) And if you buy it based on my recommendation but don't like it ... it comes with a 60-day money-back guarantee.

Crossties Software Corporation

2445 Midway Road

Suite 200

Carrollton, TX 75006

(214) 407-9996

Send your postal name, address, city, state, zip to 9prod@supportu.com for product literature to be sent to you via postal mail.


Ecco Professional
Arabesque ECCO Professional

Reviewed by Nathan Kay

Every so often, a product comes along that is something different, something extra special. It's rare to find a program that you don't just like to use, but love to use.

Arabesque ECCO Professional is such a piece of software. It's marketed as a 'SuperPIM' (PIM being Personal Information Manager), and after using it for a few weeks, I believe it.

When I first read the packaging and press release about ECCO Professional, I had my doubts. Nothing could be quite as good as they were claiming ECCO Professional was.

As usual, installation was provided no problems. Modern Windows software packages have become very good at installing easily. One word of warning, however. If you're planning to use the networking features of ECCO Professional, you'll want to have your system administrator present. But, as most of us probably are not planning on using the network features, so it's not a major problem.

Once installed, I tried simply running the program, without reading any of the excellent manuals, and skipping the tutorials. It turned out to be a mistake, in my case. While ECCO Professional is easy to use and learn, it does help a lot to take the time to check out it's basic tutorial, which teaches you the best ways to navigate the program, and also gives you enough of an idea about how the program works that you'll be able to get started easily.

Once I'd mastered the basics of ECCO Professional, the first thing I noticed is how amazingly flexible it really is!  With a few clicks of the mouse, and just a little thought, I had ECCO Professional doing things I never thought I'd see any PIM do easily. Tasks like 'nested' to-do's, meaning that when you finish one to-do, you can have another to-do that only can be seen once the first has been finished. This can be very important in implementing projects and such.

Projects are handled mainly though the use of a very flexible and powerful outline interface that allowed me to assign priorities to each outline item, and link parts of the outline into the calendar, or into the to-do list. Another part of the outline system provides user-definable columns that can be used to create checklists, date-completed columns and, well, just about anything that might be needed. Branches of the outline can also be collapsed and expanded so I could view any given part of the outline tree without having to view the entire outline at once. These branches can be linked into to-do's, and time schedules.

There's also a special outline called Hot Issues which I could link parts of my other outlines and to-do's to. The Hot Issues outline provides one single location in the program where I can go to see a quick list of the things that I absolutely have to get done soon. It's little touches like this one all throughout the program that make it really special.

I've mentioned the to-do list in ECCO Professional several times. The to-do list is just that - a list to keep track of the things I need 'to do'. Items in this list can have start dates, or start at whatever time that I input the to-do. They can be made to end at certain times, regardless of if the to-do was finished or not, or remain until I mark them as done. I could set to-do's to repeat in any way I found useful. To-do's are important to me seeing as they allow me to keep tabs on the things that I don't have a set time for, but that need to be done.

I also found the Phonebook very useful. The Phonebook can store much more than just phone numbers. It  can keep logs of what calls you've made, and provided you have a modem with a phone attached, it can even dial the number for you. But the most critical function aside from storing names and their related phone numbers, is it's ability to keep records of critical or interesting information about the people in your phonebook. I found I could store birthdays, anniversaries, information about what they do for a living, the names of their family, and just about any other piece of information I might need to know.

I've been using the default mode of ECCO Professional, which does personal time management. But sometimes, I need more than personal time management, and people in management know that what works for managing your personal time usually doesn't work for managing projects.

ECCO Professional deals with this simple fact by providing several 'templates' ready-made to help users start working quickly and efficiently. The Legal Template  was designed to help an Attorney manage tasks and cases, while the Manager Template was designed as an all purpose time and task management tool. The Project Template was designed to help manage projects of any kind. The Research Template was designed to help you perform research and report writing, and finally, the Sales Template was designed for the sales professional managing multiple accounts and multiple or single products.

Just as wonderful are the network features, which allow a group to share the information in a given data set, creating not only personal management files, but giving the chance for a group to all work with the same planner, giving great access to group planning features. This way, anyone in the group can check to see what meetings have been planned, what things need to be done for the group, and what the long-term plan is, and where they fit in.

The minimum configuration I'd recommend for using ECCO Professional would be  a 386SX-16 with four megabytes of ram, at least ten megabytes of hard disk space, and a VGA monitor. With that system, ECCO Professional is fully useable, but, as always, the more memory and processor power you have, the faster and smoother your programs will run.

Selling for $279, I must admit, it's not cheap. Those looking for a good product, but at a lower cost should look at ECCO Simplicity, a scaled-down version of ECCO Professional. For a recommended price, based on my experience, I'd say that $200 might have been a nicer price, but the $279 price tag is certainly worth it!

I found that once I started pouring my life into it, ECCO Professional virtually lends itself to all sorts of time and productivity management. In short, I found ECCO Professional to be a great pleasure to use!

Arabesque Software Inc.

2340 130th Avenue N.E.

Bellevue, WA  98005-1754

(800) 457-4243

Send your postal name, address, city, state, zip to 13prod@supportu.com for product literature to be sent to you via postal mail.


Harvard Graphics
HARVARD GRAPHICS 3.0 FOR WINDOWS

Reviewed By Wayne A.  MacLeod

Harvard Graphics 3.0 for Windows is an exceptional full featured presentation graphics package.   Requirements are:  IBM compatible 386 PC or better.   Minimum 4MB of RAM, more is better.   At least 9.1 MB of free hard disk space with a full install taking just under 24 MB of hard disk space.   DOS 3.1 or higher and windows 3.1 or higher.   At least a VGA display.   Windows compatible mouse and Windows compatible sound device if you desire multimedia playback capability.

My first impression upon preparing to install HGFW was, "24Megs for a full install!"  The installation process was painless enough though and further scrutiny revealed that a fully functional install can be performed in just over 9MB.  The only caveat is not to have any memory resident virus detection programs loaded during the installation, these can be safely re-enabled following the install.   The "extras", especially the "5 Minute Coach" are well worth the disk space if you have it available.   The amount of space required at first seems excessive till one remembers that as we demand more and more from the products we use, those products will only get larger.

Software Publishing states that their research shows that the number one concern for users of presentation graphics is "a product that helps them create the most professional looking presentation" with user friendliness and speed running close behind.   They have certainly met those concerns in this release.   I have had limited experience with presentation graphics, but found that after completing the interactive tutorial and spending a little time with the manual I was able to put together a presentation I would be comfortable in using in a "real life" situation.   If you have never used this type of software and really do not know what you are doing, this program is the answer.   You can start up the program and click on the Quick Presentations and select from several categories of "pre-prepared presentations" such as New Product Proposal, Quarterly Review and Brainstorming Session.   These are templates for complete presentations that allow you to click and replace the existing text or graphics with your own with your own.   Even if none of the included designs are what you are looking for, they are sure to give you some ideas and assistance in getting out the presentation you desire.   While being an excellent vehicle for those with little presentation experience, the program provides the tools and power for the most demanding user.

Trying to give adequate coverage to all the features that contribute to the ease and power of HGFW is beyond the scope of this review, but some areas must be mentioned.   One such area is the Harvard Graphics Advisor.   The Advisor consists of the Quick Presentations, Quick Advice that gives you "how to" advice on selection and use of styles, types of charts and output device choices.   There is an interactive Design Checker that checks the presentation for you and offers suggestions for improvement.   There are Quick Tips and Design Tips available to assist you throughout the creation of your presentation.   All of these features are available via mouse click during all stages of your work.   There is also an animation player that comes with 15 pre-made animation clips to enhance your presentation.    Harvard F/X, a special effects program that interfaces directly with HGFW and can be installed during the initial HGFW install or separately at a later time.   F/X comes with over 30 effects that can easily be applied to your presentation as well as a full set of drawing and modification tools.   It includes effects for text, objects and bitmap art

HGFW has a conference facility that allows a presentation to be displayed on as many as 64 networked computers.   Control  can even be passed to another user over the LAN.   If you are using a MAPI or VIM compliant mail system it is possible to transmit your work with just a click of an icon.

The program is well documented and has excellent on-line help system as well as the Advisor  and series of Tutorials.   Software Publishing provides a full array of outside support services, from a BBS to 800 and 900 pay support calls, to a CIS forum to a bi-monthly journal called TechJournal.

Again, this is a full featured program that emphasizes ease of use for the new or casual user, but comes with all the power and options that anyone should need to create powerful and professional graphical presentations.

Software Publishing Corp.

3165 Kifer Road

PO Box 54983

Santa, Clara CA.   95056-8000

(800) 234-2500

Send your postal name, address, city, state, zip to 17prod@supportu.com for product literature to be sent to you via postal mail.


IdeaFisher

Review by Judy Litt

IdeaFisher is:

-Inspiration

-The computer equivalent of brainstorming

-What anyone who must come up with new ideas needs

IdeaFisher is not:

-An outliner

-A substitute for your gray matter

-An omnipotent being who will write all your advertisements, speeches, and reports for you

IdeaFisher is a software program that lets you bounce ideas off of it. There are two parts to the program. The QBank and the IdeaBank. You can start a problem solving session by using either part; if you like, you can even combine the two.

I often started with IdeaBank. I do graphic design for a living, and I regularly design advertisements for one of my clients. Very often I have an idea in my head of what I want to do, but it may take several days or weeks before that idea coalesces into an actual ad. Enter IdeaFisher.

My mission: design a Christmas ad for my realtor. I wanted to picture her as a Santa's helper; so I clicked on the icon for the IdeaBank and typed in Santa's helper. This returned several topics: Christmas/New Year's/Hannukah; help/aid/assist; etc. I chose Christmas/New Year's/Hannukah, which returned with several section titles: People/Animals; Things/Places; Verbs; and so on. You get the idea. When you choose a topic, you get a list of words related to that subject. Doubleclicking any word adds it to your idea notepad.

The purpose of the idea notepad is to jot down ideas - not just the ideas that IdeaFisher gives you, but the ideas those ideas trigger. In a few minutes, I decided to make the background for the ad a gift box with a large bow. The headline for the ad read: "Carole Phillips gave all these people a gift they'll enjoy for years. Their home. Want to see your name on this list? Call 878-5600". Without IdeaFisher this ad would have taken several days to design, rather than one.

QBank is an assortment of questions designed to help you accomplish certain tasks and solve certain problems: new product, product improvement, name development, marketing strategy, etc. Once you have chosen the topic you're interested in, you'll be presented with a list of questions. There are questions underneath the main questions; you can display just the main questions or all of the questions.

Answer as many of the questions as you like. Once you're finished answering the questions, you filter them - IdeaFisher will provide you with a list of key concepts from your answers. You can go on to the IdeaBank with the key concepts that interest you.

IdeaFisher is totally customizable. There is a toolbar across the top of the program; you can add, delete, and rearrange any icons that appeal to you. You can also assign hot keys to different functions. You can add questions to QBank and words to IdeaBank.

There are four add-on modules available for IdeaFisher: strategic planning; speech and presentation; business and grant proposals; and consultant's. These modules give you more questions for QBank on the above topics. I was able to look at all the add-on modules except for the consultant's; I'd say they're worth the money if you have need of those topics. All the modules except the speech and presentation, which costs $79, are $99.

I had read about IdeaFisher in several different places before I had the opportunity to review it, I wanted it, bad! Now that I've had the chance to review it, I'm not disappointed. I'd recommend this software to anyone who works with words or pictures, owns a business, runs an organization, etc.

SRP: 	$199

Street Price:	$99

Requirements:	 	386 or higher

Windows 3.0 or higher

5 MB hard disk space

2-4 MB RAM

IdeaFisher Systems, Inc.

222 Martin Street

Suite 110

Irvine, CA 92715

(800) 289-4332

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InfoCentral
WordPerfect InfoCentral v1.0

Reviewed by Michael J. Gibbs

In this day and age, most folk are no more likely leave their office without their daily planner or organizer than they would walk out the door without the "clean underwear" that their mother always warned them to wear. In order to keep better track of the events and people that shape our lives on a daily basis, an increasing number of computer users are turning to Personal Information Managers (PIMs).

WordPerfect's latest entry into this field is InfoCentral. Launched under the new WordPerfect MainStreet banner, InfoCentral should help them get established in the home computing market.

InfoCentral (WPIC) takes advantage of the graphic power of Windows to present the user with a visually familiar model for tracking events, meetings and appointments; the ubiquitous daily planner.

The Calendar provides not only a visual look at your appointments, but also allows you to keep an ongoing "to-do". Changing days on the Calendar is as simple as clicking the mouse at the top corner of the pages. A nice touch is that the monthly calendar shown on the daily screen will indicate dates with Calendar objects that have been scheduled and not removed.

One of  WPIC's features that I appreciate most is how alarms are handled for upcoming Calendar objects (events, appointments, meetings, etc.)  As with most other PIMs, you can set an alarm to go off a varying number of minutes beforehand. WordPerfect was thoughtful enough to include a button in the pop-up alarm screen that allows you to ask the program to remind you again a certain number of minutes later. Calendar objects that have passed their deadline while the InfoCentral program was not running, will cause WPIC to notify the user of the missed events when you next start the program.

The only complaint that I had about this section of the program is that in the revision reviewed here, there was no way to add recurring Calendar objects. This oversight  has been fixed in the version 1.1 update. The version update will also include a more complete manual and better on-line help as well as the ability to import/export data to and from WordPerfect's GroupWise applications.

While the Calendar uses a familiar visual cue to help guide the users, the rest of the program's modus operandi  will be quite foreign to most. All the data contained in the "information bases" (iBases) that you will create are based upon objects.

An object is simply a record of an individual, company, event or whatever else information you need to store in your iBase. Each iBase may be made up of any number of different data types. The Personal iBase included in the package consists of objects like Airlines, Persons, Organizations, Project, Products, Tasks, Schools, Events, etc.

The power of this "object-oriented" approach to data is that you can create connections between various types of objects, and include appropriate data within the connection itself. Say you have a Rolodex card with the all the information you normally would need on Steve Jones from the ZikZak company. With InfoCentral, you would create a Person object on Steve Jones, an organization object for ZikZak and then connect the two objects together with Steve Jones' title within the ZikZak company.

By properly setting up your iBase, you will find a wealth of new information that can be derived from your existing data, just by looking at the information differently.

To find information buried within your iBase, InfoCentral will allow you to search on partial strings. The results of your search are shown in tree format where you can open up the branches to reveal various layers of connections to other objects within the iBase.

Other features include auto-dialing (with a modem if you have one attached to your voice phone line) and telephone call logging. The program will also allow you to establish a connection between objects within the iBase and files created by external programs.

The iBase concept is so versatile that 4 iBases full of content are included with the package covering topics like wines, travel and contacts within the computer world. For most homes, this package could eliminate the need for a standard database program as InfoCentral allows the user to create any type of iBase that the users could need.

When it comes down to whether InfoCentral is for you, you must remember that PIMs are just that, personal (like the underwear that we discussed earlier.)  Everyone has their own preferences. Some like bikini underwear, putting flash and visual appeal before comfort and function while others would rather wear a comfortable old pair of briefs. Boxers, the undergarment equivalent to this product, are popular because of their freedom and versatility. InfoCentral will most likely succeed for the same reasons.

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Mondial
Mondial World Class Accounting

by Gail B.C. Marsella

Despite its very reasonable price, Mondial World-Class Accounting appears designed for a large, complex organization. Its network ready, has an elaborate password system, and provides a very large number of muscular accounting features. The one generating the most interest in the vendor's forum on CIS was the conversion function for international currencies (apparently fairly rare in accounting programs).  Mondial also tracks projects, warehouse inventory, product assembly/disassembly, formulates departmental budgets, allows a choice of cost systems, and can combine several companies into one integrated set of books. It can keep several user generated tables of information  such as sales tax and discounts  readily available, and logs the receipts and purchases of individual users for auditing purposes. It can even time transactions so that no one can tie up an account for more than a specified number of seconds. An optional module can be purchased separately to do payroll.

As I worked with it, however, I began to narrow my view of who might buy it. The only clue to the intended audience appears in the manual's introduction, which mentions "vertical markets." Despite the packages claim that everyone from individual consultants to multinational corporations can use it, the program is really designed for medium to large businesses with highly specialized accounting requirements, skilled bookkeeping personnel, and insufficient resources to hire their own programmers.

The system requirements seem very modest at first glance: IBM or clone, DOS 3.3 or better, and 640 K of RAM. They are not kidding about the RAM. You need more than 580K of conventional memory absolutely free of any other device drivers or TSRs. I had to ditch nearly the entire contents of my autoexec.bat file just to free up enough to load the program. It apparently cannot use extended memory at all, although I did not try a third party memory manager with it. (The manual makes little mention of extended memory except vague instructions to "consult your DOS manual.") Do not even think about running under Windows.

Mondial loads fast, as expected with a DOS program, and the first screen is blank except for a menu bar across the top, and the company name and current date along the bottom.  It's a nice interface - clean and uncluttered. With the mouse, you call up individual screens as you need them to enter transactions, and you can enter new accounts, tables, customers, and other information as needed from many of the screens. The data entry screens are designed to look like regular paper forms, so skilled workers should be able to make the transition from paper to computer fairly readily, once they have figured out which menu choices call particular screens. (This brings up another problem with the manual; its index is completely inadequate - there is not even an entry for billing - so finding the right screen requires considerable trial and error at first.)

Mondial provides import filters for data from Quicken, Pacioli 2000, and ASCII text files, although I cannot imagine Quicken user trying to convert to Mondial; the contrast in friendliness between the two is just too great. Even Mondial's manual tries to be all things to all users, and not surprisingly falls short. It is hopelessly terse for the beginner (there is no tutorial on either the program's operation or on setting up a small business accounting system), but an experienced businessperson would not need the accounting jargon definitions that are provided. Even worse, the directions in the manual for setting initial account balances individually (instead of importing from a file) are practically unintelligible.

An earlier review (August, Computer Shopper) mentioned several rather nasty bugs, and I was indeed bumped back out to the DOS prompt occasionally without warning, so you will want to save frequently. Mondial does have a backup feature, but it only works with disks, not tape. If you back up to tape (and a large organization often will, in order to store the tapes off site) you will need another backup program.

A large variety of standard business forms are available with the program, and paper blank forms can be purchased. Also available are video and audio tutorials on Mondial (I certainly hope they are better than the user's manual.) The technical support is free for the first 6 months (well, okay, only if you consider a toll call to be free), and then costs $60 for the next year.  (Actually their literature says that the retail price of the tech support is $150, but Mondial users get it for $60. Who else would buy it?) There are a variety of other technical support options, including fax back and a 900 number. They maintain a section of the PC Vendors C forum on CIS, but my message was removed by the sysop after only a day or so, and no one ever answered my posted question.

Even without the bugs, I would not switch to Mondial, as a sole proprietor I do not need this much accounting power. To broadly paraphrase Pournelle: if you need what this program does, you need it bad, maybe even in spite of its quirks, but then again maybe you can wait until version 2.0 comes out. I think Mondial will eventually do just about whatever you need to keep your books - however sophisticated those requirements may be - but you are going to need experience in both accounting and DOS computerese to get it up and running reliably.  It's not for beginners.

Mondial World Class Accounting

M-USA Business Systems, Inc.

15806 Midway Road

Dallas, Texas 75244-2195

To order: (800) 280-6872

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One Write
One-Write Plus

Review by Judy Litt

For most small business owners, accounting is a four letter word. I'm no exception. Although I took an accounting course in college, that was in a different galaxy far, far away. The purpose of accounting software is to make accounting easy for the non-accountant, you and me. One-Write Plus almost lives up to that purpose.

Installation was relatively painless, but I ran into trouble the first time I tried to run the program. One-Write Plus is a DOS program, and requires at least 512 K conventional memory free to run. If you're like me, with a fully loaded computer, chances are you won't have that. I had to disable both my scanner and CD-ROM drivers in order to run the program. This means that I need to set up two autoexec.bats: one if I want to run One-Write Plus and one for regular work. This is a major annoyance to me, but others might consider it only a minor inconvenience. One-Write Plus will run under Windows.

A rather strange custom: you must call an 800 number in order to register the program. If you don't, you are limited in the number of times you can use it; approximately twenty-five.

I'm a by-the-book learner: I like to work through manuals and tutorials, but first I generally open up a program and start to play around with it. Playing around didn't get me very far, so I turned to the manual next. The manual is clear enough, but to my mind it doesn't explain basic accounting terms and principles enough. In short, I didn't find the manual to be much help in learning One-Write Plus.

One-Write Plus ships with an audio tutorial. There are four lessons on the tape (although there is room for much more). These lessons will teach someone who doesn't know the first thing about computers or accounting how to be off and running with One-Write Plus. However, these four lessons (which take about half an hour) only skim the surface of the program. Having the tutorials on tape makes it more difficult for you to return to the areas you need more help with.

At the beginning of the tutorial tape, you're promised information on how to get more tutorial tapes for free. You get this information once you've finished the entire tape. It turns out that you can only receive the rest of the tutorial tapes for free if you enroll in one of the Premier support plans; the cheapest costs $139.95. You can, of course, purchase the tutorial tapes for $39.95. I take exception, big time, to a company that makes you pay to learn how to use its program. There is no tutorial in the manual. There are sample files included with the program, but no on-line tutorial; those sample files are for use with the tutorial tapes.

One-Write Plus comes with a lot of useful information all set up for you. There are thirteen general business types already defined for you; each has a different set of accounts already set up for it. You may also define a custom type of organization, and add or delete accounts as needed. There are three different types of invoices already set up: inventory, service, and professional. You do not have the ability to truly customize those invoices.

One-Write Plus works like most accounting programs. There is a general ledger; you can enter sales and bills to pay, and then record those transactions when they actually occur. You can write checks, budget, and memorize transactions. There is a payroll feature. You can generate a number of reports, including financial, payroll, vendor, and customer reports.

One-Write Plus is distributed by NEBS (New England Business Service, Inc.). Not  surprisingly, NEBS also distributes a number of printable forms that can be used with the software (these are already in the program).

I think One-Write Plus is probably a wonderful program for someone who is somewhat familiar with accounting. If all the audio training tapes were provided free of charge, it might be a wonderful program for any business. I do think they're missing the boat by not providing a Windows version. The bottom line? I don't think One-Write Plus is long for my hard drive.

MSRP: 	$69.95

Street Price:	$49.95

Requirements:	 	IBM PC

MS-DOS or PC DOS, version 3.1 or higher

640 K RAM

10 MB hard disk space

NEBS Software, Inc.

20 Industrial Park Drive

Nashua, NH 03062

(603) 880-5100

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Performance Now

Reviewed by Chip Cox

Anyone who has been a supervisor or manager over other employees knows the problems associated with employee performance. One of the best tools for dealing with poor employee performance is a performance review. Most of the managers I know who do performance reviews, considered them a waste of time for good employees and a headache for employees who need counseling. At first I shuddered when I thought about another package to try and make me do my performance reviews. One of my main problems was providing consistent review criteria to my employees. Not providing consistent review criteria to employees with the same job description can probably be more damaging to your company from a legal perspective than not doing performance reviews at all. KnowledgePoint has done an excellent job in making creditable performance reviews less of a burden for managers.

Performance Now starts out by making you create a form for your various job descriptions. When creating this form you can select from many different categories on which to review your employees performance. These categories range from physical appearance to customer service and many things in between. Not all categories will be relevant to every job description. Select only those that are relevant. This same form can now be used to gauge all employees falling into this job description. For example as a technical support manager I have two levels of support personnel reporting to me. The first level is my entry level support staff. They are required to have good product knowledge, communication skills, and customer support skills. The second level support personnel are required to possess problem solving skills, initiative, and supervisory skills in addition to those skills possessed by the entry level support staff. Rating levels between 1 and 5 can be assigned names. This is primarily used to word text in the review the way your organization wants it. Finally you decide what employee information is to be displayed on the form. The information maintained for each employee is extensive and even includes the last review date and a planner for the next review date.

After building the performance review form it is time to start entering employee information. Keep in mind that the information you get out of your system is only as good as the information you put into it. If you don't keep the employee information current as the period between performance evaluations goes by, you will have a lot of catchup work to do when employee evaluations come again. Performance now makes recording this information relatively easy. Not only does it keep up with salary increases and other pertinent employee record information, it also keeps up with an employee event log where notes on employee events both good and bad can be kept. These events are useful in providing backup information to a review.

After your employee information has been input the next task is one of keeping the information current and logging all incidents relating to the employee both good and bad. It's terrible when you have an employee who has a major oops right before a review. All the employee can think about is the oops and often times it's foremost in the managers mind as well. Having the log of good and bad things the employee has done allows the manager to look back and see all of the good things the employee has done in the past recognizing the oops for what it was or possibly recognizing a disturbing trend. All this makes the review process fair to both employee and employer.

Now it's time to do an employees review. For each element selected for review several questions will be asked. These questions are answered on the 1 to 5 scale you selected earlier. As questions are answered appropriate text is entered into a text box on the screen. After the text has been entered it can be edited as needed then pasted into the appropriate section of the performance review. If the answers to the questions result in an extremely good or poor rating in that element, suggestion boxes will be displayed requesting that you input additional information from the employee file to backup the information. If a poor review, suggestions are made indicating that information be provided on how the employee might resolve the problem. After all elements have been entered, Performance Now progresses to the Summary section and Plans for improvement section. The plans for improvement section is very nice in that it provides suggestions for improving each element that was included in the review. The reviewer simply checks the boxes with the suggestions needed.

One nice feature of Performance now especially useful to those of us without a strong background in human resources is the advice button. This button brings up a Windows help file full of advice in how to do effective and constructive employee performance reviews. I only see two negatives in Performance now. First I would like to have the ability to scale the elements in the review forms by percent of job. I would like to assign a multiplier of say 50% for customer support since I feel it's more important that physical appearance which I might assign 5%. I would like to be able to assign a 0% multiplier for my entry level support personnel in the elements dealing with the higher level support personnel. This lets me review them on the same elements as the second level support personnel and show them what they need to do to progress to that next level without lowering their review score due to elements they are not responsible for yet. Secondly is a negative I see in many different "corporate" products today. Performance Now needs to have the ability to exchange employee information with various other employee database products. There is not enough time in any of our work days to do double entry of data. Salary information entered into a payroll program should be accessible either through data import or through a DDE link with Performance Now. Systems which do not allow for data exchange quickly just become "another system I have to maintain". In my case the benefits derived from Performance Now outweigh the double entry drudgery. But I can always dream.

Performance Now is one product in a suite of products from KnowledgePoint. Other products include Descriptions Now and Policies Now. KnowledgePoint has taken a giant step to making the management of human resources easier for everyone.

KnowledgePoint

1129 Industrial Ave

Petaluma CA 94952

(800) 727-1133

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NAVCIS

Reviewed By Chip Cox

NAVCIS by DVORAK Development is one of several off-line navigators for CompuServe. All of these packages provide the same basic functions with a few special features to make them unique. NAVCIS allows you to download message headings, messages to you, marked messages, library catalogs and sign on screens from requested forums. NAVCIS also lets you upload files, download files and submit messages to CompuServe Mail, Internet, or any Forum.

NAVCIS uses drag and drop objects to perform many of it's features. For example to upload a file you drag the upload icon over the forum you want to upload the file to and drop it. NAVCIS then prompts you through the necessary screens for additional information. One particular feature I liked in NAVCIS is it's ability to recognize internet addresses. In normal CompuServe all messages sent to people on the Internet must be preceded with the "INTERNET:" string. NAVCIS understands standard internet @ style addressing and converts it to what CompuServe needs to see. So when sending a message to myself at supportu.com, I can enter "chip.cox@supportu.com" as the address and when the message is sent, CompuServe gets the addressing it needs and my message gets to me. NAVCIS is full of bells and whistles that other similar packages don't have. NAVCIS allows you to download weather maps and display them from inside the package. You can configure NAVCIS to allow you to show multiple pictures at once or only one at a time. I personally like being able to look at today's weather map, tomorrow's weather map and the current radar summary at the same time. Viewing of objects is not limited to weather maps downloaded from CompuServe. Other formats including GIF, JPEG, TIFF, BITMAP, PCX and TGA can be viewed as well. NAVCIS is very graphical. I have seen several programs of different types in the past that were "graphical". This was not always a good thing. NAVCIS did "graphical" right in my opinion. One nice feature I wonder about though is the usage of fonts in messages. NAVCIS lets you change fonts, colors and font sizes in messages. However unless you are using NAVCIS to read the message, you don't get anything but regular text and a little bit of gobbledygooks at the bottom of the message. However if everyone you correspond with is using NAVCIS, fonts will bring a new dimension to your letters.

The only thing keeping me from giving NAVCIS perfect marks is it's lack of a scripting tool. I would like to be able to save scripts of things to do and have them execute at a predefined time. For example: I want to come up stairs in the morning and have the daily weather reports, mail, forum messages and forum message headings from the forums I participate in, already downloaded and ready for me to peruse. I shouldn't have to come in every time and pick the things I want to do. Considering all the other really nice features in NAVCIS this was a major oversight in my opinion.

NAVCIS version 1.25 costs $69.00. This includes NAVCIS Pro and a 200 page manual. DOS and Windows versions are available. The windows version requires Windows 3.1 in Enhanced mode, 4MB free disk space, 4 MB RAM, 386-20 or faster processor, VGA or better monitor, modem and a mouse.

NAVCIS SE (special edition) is a limited function version of NAVCIS available as freeware in LIB 1 of the DVORAK forum on CompuServe. All information collected in this version will import easily into the commercial version if purchased.

NAVCIS TE (timed edition) is the package I reviewed and is also available in LIB 1 of the DVORAK forum on CompuServe. This package expires after 30 days of use. As with the special edition mentioned above all information collected will import easily into the commercial version if purchased.

DVORAK Development

385 S. Pierce Ave

Louisville CO 80027

(303) 661-0345

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PROCOMM PLUS FOR WINDOWS 2.0

Reviewed by Wayne A. MacLeod

ProComm Plus for Windows version 2.0 is an extremely good, almost "perfect", Windows Communication program  Requirements include;  a 386 or better PC compatible or PS/2 computer, Windows ver 3.1 or higher, minimum of 4 MB of disk space for a minimal install with up to 10 MB for a complete install, at least VGA, Windows compatible pointing device and a modem.

Installation offers two choices, Express or Custom. the Express option installs all features of the program while the Custom allows you to select just a basic install of the program files or to add utility programs and help files, dialing directories, sample scripts, the on-line tutorial and more. A nice feature of the install comes after you enter your registration information. The program offers you the opportunity of completing your registration of the program via an interactive script that dials the DataStorm BBS via a toll free number and completes the registration process for you automatically. You can also register via conventional means and if you do not take advantage of the auto register during install, the script and the opportunity are deleted.

I have been using communication and fax programs for many years now and have tried just about every shareware program out there, including ProComm Plus TD, and a good many of the commercial entries as well. Prior to evaluating PCPW, I have not found a Windows communication program, shareware or commercial that could compare to the DOS counterparts. This program is as good as any I have tried and far superior to most ProComm has come a very long way from its shareware roots to get to PCPW 2.0. As part of install, the program will, if allowed, find your modem and auto configure it for "optimal" usage. You also have the option of selecting a modem from a quite expansive database of modems and configurations.

Once you have completed the basic install ProComm is launched and you are taken through the base program configuration screens. This is followed by the opportunity to view the on-line tutorial, an Aspect script that takes you through many of the functions of the program. Topics include Dialing directory, Meta Keys, setup, Script Files, Faxing and much more. The tutorial is straight forward and recommended. You can keep and run the tutorial anytime you want or you can delete the tutorial files and recover some real estate. The tutorial combined with the extensive on-line help and well written manuals provide an impressive and functional array of program information.

 The program provides 34 of the most popular terminal emulations from ANSI-BBS to Wyse 100. It supports 80 and 132 column modes and creation individual keyboard maps for each.

It offers a full featured and highly customizable dialing directory. The directory allows you to configure each entry as you choose including linking dialing scripts and assignment of an individual Action bar for each entry. The Action bar consists of a row of icons that displays during connection and allows one click operation of selected features such as up and down loading of files, running of scripts, open and close of capture buffers and much much more.

PCPW offers configurable Meta keys, a not uncommon feature of good Win communications programs. Meta Keys are buttons that sit along the bottom of your terminal window and provide a quick and easy way to pass repetitive or long commands. Assign your name to a key and when a BBS asks for your name a single click on that key sends the information for you. You can configure each of the 10 Meta keys in 4 different ways allowing 40 separate Meta Keys. Each Meta Key can be configured to run a script, send assigned text to the terminal with and without echo, run a linked program, perform a menu command or send a terminal command

PCPW utilizes Aspect, a very powerful scripting language that allows the advanced user to do most "anything" with the program and the newbie to create simple scripts to perform repetitive tasks such as logging on to a BBS or On-line service and getting your mail. The program has a  script record feature that allows you to "record" the keystrokes you use to perform a task and then later can be used to do that for you. Basic login scripts are almost a necessity to any user that spends much time on a BBS.

ProComm Plus seeks to do the communication suites combining linked communications and fax programs one better by integrating the fax capabilities into the communication program. Your fax modem is auto configured to work with PCPW at the same time as the data portion is being set up. You can send and receive faxes with  any Class 1, Class 2 or Sendfax modem. Their is a fax scheduler that allows for unattended faxing, broadcast to multiple recipients,  and send faxes directly from other applications via the installed fax driver. Their is an included fax viewer and intelligent logging system. Their is an included editor that allows creation and editing of cover sheets. Supports setting up of a host mode for fax on demand. All in all, complete faxing capability from within the program without all the overhead of a separate yet linked faxing program.

So why isn't it perfect, a few reasons, some that effect only certain users and some more common. My main complaint with the program is that the fax capability does not support CAS modems. My primary modem is a CAS modem and it is not possible to use any of the fax features with this modem. The program offers the ability to convert dialing directories from several popular communications programs to its format. I found the selections to be too few and the one I tried did not work, but imported the fields into the wrong areas within PCPW. The program includes a database of Tymnet and Sprintnet nodes which I found to be hopelessly out of date and inaccurate. there may be more, but nothing comes to mind right now. The program is not perfect, but it is close.

DataStorm Technologies Inc.

2401 Lemone Blvd.

Columbus, MO 65205

(314) 443-3282

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DesignCAD 2D
DesignCAD for Windows 2D

Review By

Jacci Howard Bear

Shortly after installing DesignCAD 2D (DCAD for short) I knew I was in over my head. This is a powerful program for serious CAD users. My usual "fiddling around to see what happens" approach didn't work. Fortunately I didn't throw up my hands in despair and beg to exchange the software for something like a new solitaire game or a screen saver. A few hours with the tutorial manual and DCAD hooked me.

It's a Windows program all the way--cutting down considerably on the learning curve. A little practice with plotting points for lines, arcs, circles, and boxes and suddenly I forgot my earlier intimidation. I even discovered features that I wish my primary vector drawing program included.

DCAD is not for the casual user wanting to draw the occasional widget or sketch out a minor room remodeling. You can use it for that, but it is really a professional quality design and drafting tool that happens to be user-friendly enough for a novice like me. For the beginner wanting to experiment with a Windows CAD program, DCAD is an excellent choice. Its price is a tenth of other comparable CAD programs; the Windows interface along with comprehensive online Help and well-written manuals cut the learning time; and, you don't need state-of-the-art equipment--DCAD runs fine on my 386SX with only 6 megs RAM. Screen redraws and some drawing is a bit slow--unacceptably so for serious business use--but owners of 386DX and higher systems will probably find little to complain about.

Like the best Windows programs, DCAD allows you to set up your workspace and issue commands in whatever fashion suits your work style. I love flexibility. So many programs--for text or graphics--try to force me to work in ways that are uncomfortable, inconvenient, or non-intuitive. DCAD offers the ultimate in flexibility:

- pull-down menus accessible from keyboard or mouse

- keyboard shortcuts for more commands than most Windows programs

- multiple, floating, configurable tool boxes of icons

- a variety of rulers, grids, and cursor options

- 256 layers for drawings and pre-set colors plus custom color palettes

- uses right mouse button and if available, uses middle mouse button

- support for digitizer tablet

While going through the tutorial I discovered that I could work most efficiently and issue almost any command by keeping my left hand on the keyboard and my right hand on the mouse.

In addition to the flexibility in performing tasks, DCAD provides great flexibility in how you can draw elements--depending on your preferences and the needs of your current design. For instance, you can draw an arc eight ways: set a radius and a specified angle; between 2 points with a specified radius; using 3 points; setting points for center, beginning, and end; setting points for beginning, end, and radius; quarter circle; semi-circle; elliptical arc. While drawing the arc (or any other element) you can also plot points in a variety of ways--even mixing methods while drawing one element. Perhaps it was this flexibility that overwhelmed me at first look; but, it is also this flexibility and functionality that gives the program its power.

Have you ever "lost your place" while zoomed in close on a section of a drawing? In DCAD you can have unlimited open windows at any size. Open up side by side windows. Zoom in one window for close-up work. Leave the full drawing visible in the other view window so you can always see "the whole picture."

Some programs have a status bar that displays the name or function of a button when the cursor passes over it--great for identifying obscure or seldom used buttons. DCAD goes a step further and also displays brief instructions for using the tool. This is a great feature to aid in learning the program.

I'm certainly not a power-user but I experimented with other features that CAD pros will enjoy. When setting points for drawing elements, you can first set the points then tell the program what you want it to draw (using those points). If the available commands aren't enough for your needs, write your own with the BasicCAD programming language included with DCAD. The commands I wrote weren't particularly useful but I can certainly see the possibilities.

Although the drawing tools allow you to draw almost any imaginable shape, DCAD save you much time by supplying libraries full of commonly used elements such as architecture (doors, appliances, landscape plants, furniture, windows ...), electrical, piping, and more.

DCAD will import DXF, IGES, HPGL, ASCII, and XY coordinate files. It exports in DXF, IGES, and WordPerfect format. Additionally, it has full Windows clipboard support so that you can copy, cut, and paste to and from a variety of Windows programs. For instance, you could copy a BMP background scene for your drawing into the DCAD file using the clipboard.

Even as a CAD novice, I recognize and appreciate the wealth of features in DCAD. In spite of my early trepidation, DesignCAD for Windows 2D is a keeper.

Cost: $349.00

Requires:

Windows 3.1

80386 or better

American

Small Business Computers, Inc.

One American Way

Pryor, OK 74361

(918) 825-7555

Fax  (918) 825-6359

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DoDot
DODOT 4.0

Reviewed by Jacci Howard Bear

DoDOT 4.0 from Halcyon Software is a integrated graphics utility package for Windows. I work with a lot of graphics in many formats. While DoDOT doesn't do everything I might want, it certainly does do many things that I need.

Five separate modules make up the DoDOT suite. DoSNAP, DoVIEW, DoCONVERT, and DoThumbnail are stand-alone programs that can be run individually or accessed from the main DoDOT program. In addition to accessing the supporting modules, DoDOT provides its own image processing capabilities, tracing and rasterizing tools, and Fax and Scan support.

The basic tools for image processing include rotation, scaling, inverting, conversion to grayscale, color separation, color palette editing, dithering, and gamma correction. If you have a TWAIN compatible scanner, you can scan images directly into DoDOT. With INTEL or CAS compatible FAX hardware you can send a fax from within the program. Perhaps the most impressive part of the core DoDOT package is its ability to handle both bitmap and vector images and its ability to convert between the two formats using the trace and rasterize tools.

For greater conversion capability there is the DoCONVERT module. It allows you to do batch file conversions between different graphics file formats. For instance, you might want to convert a collection of BMP graphics to PCX. With DoCONVERT you quickly and easily create a script file that automates the conversion process. You don't have to open each individual file and go through the conversion steps over and over.

If you've ever longed for an easy way to view images without cranking up your paint or draw program, now you can have it. The DoVIEW module allows you to view images in over 50 different supported graphics file formats including bitmap, fax, and vector formats.

Only recently have I come to appreciate a really good screen capture utility. Previously I relied on the Print Screen button and the Windows Clipboard for all my screen captures. With DoSNAP I have much more flexibility. DoSNAP can be configured to capture an entire screen, a specific open window, any rectangular section of the screen, or any arbitrary portion--using the freehand tool to outline the desired section in any freeform shape. Once captured, you can send the screen capture to the Windows clipboard, your printer, or a file. When doing a series of screen shots, you can specify a common file name prefix and let DoSNAP number the shots for you automatically. For example, a series of screen shots with the prefix DD in the BMP format would be saved as DD0.BMP, DD1.BMP, DD2.BMP. DoSNAP supports TIFF, PCX, BMP, RLE, GIF, and WPG (bitmap) file formats.

While the other modules are good, it is the DoThumbnail portion of DoDOT that gets highest marks from me. An image cataloging program that handles both bitmap and vector formats is essential to my graphics work. DoThumbnail has an impressive array of features. It creates miniature images of your graphics which you put into groups--databases--and store on your hard drive or on floppy disks. Each thumbnail image contains a user supplied description, reference information for the original file, and an application association. The Application command allows you to specify what program you want to have loaded for that image when you select the Run command. Catalogued images can also be dragged and dropped onto a Windows application.

You can quickly find specific images in a database using filename or text string searches. Images can be marked and unmarked for easy execution of other options such as deletion or printing.

DoThumbnail provides 5 ways to print your databases. You may print one image per page--printing the actual image not just the thumbnail. Or, you can print the thumbnail image, specifying the number of rows and columns to print; include the file reference information; include the description of the thumbnail; or, include both the description and file reference.

An important consideration when printing a catalog of images is the quality of the printed thumbnail. Some programs print too small, or too large, or without enough detail. DoThumbnail lets you specify how large the thumbnail will print and whether or not to retain the original proportions. Even on my 24 pin dot matrix printer, both bitmap and vector images are clear and well-defined.

If you have both bitmap and vector format graphics then this one package is ideal. For my own needs, I found the image processing limited; although, for moderate editing it works beautifully. With some images the viewer is woefully slow. However, the screen capture, conversion, and image cataloging features are superb.

Halcyon Software

1590 La Pradera Drive

Campbell, CA 95008

(408) 378-9898

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Graphics Tools
GRAPHICS TOOLS - WINDOWS

Reviewed by Wayne A. MacLeod

Graphics Tools from Delta Point is a powerful and easy to use suite of five integrated utilities designed for the heavy graphics user. Requirements as tested are:  386 or higher IBM PC or compatible, DOS 4.01 or higher, MS Windows 3.1 or higher, 4 MB of free disk space, Win compatible pointing device, 2 MB of RAM (4 MB recommended) and at least an EGA monitor, though a VGA is strongly recommended.

Installation is straight forward and does not presume to make any major modifications to any of your primary configuration files. It makes only a small entry in your WIN.INI file and notifies you of this during the install. The program offers a selective install allowing you to install the basic operational files or a complete install that adds sample images and import/export translation files. The full install takes nearly 11 MB, but the program can be installed in as little as 4 MB.

The five integrated utilities consist of the Media Manager, Image Tools, Image Processor, Convert and Capture. By default, install creates icons for media Manager and Capture, but each individual utility can be assigned an icon if so desired. Each application has a Tool Bar that allows easy access to the other applications.

Media Manager is used to create and manage "collections" of various media. These collections are represented in Media Manager by thumbnail views of the graphic, object or linked application files. Pointers to the original files are also maintained and double clicking on the thumb nail will load the image, object or linked file into the appropriate application. For example, double clicking an image file will load it into the Image Processor module, while double clicking on a linked ProComm Plus Aspect Script will load ProComm Plus and run that script. Creating, deleting and modifying collections is a simple process. The number of files that can be cataloged is limited only to the amount of memory you have available. Clicking on a thumb nail representation allows you to view, index or print the graphics file directly from media manager. Media Manager supports "drag-and-drop" and OLE.

Image Processor allows you to manipulate the graphic images you have in your collection. You can enhance, retouch, crop, color correct, utilize custom color palettes and various special effects to get the image you want. You can create new original imaged utilizing the tools provided. The special effects include inversion, emboss, sharpen, pixelize, sculpt, blur, posterize and more. There is an "optimize" feature that calculates the best values for brightness, contrast and gamma and auto adjusts for best possible picture. All the tools are there for the experienced user to work their magic, but also for the newer user to accomplish simple and not so simple graphic editing functions without much difficulty. The Image Processor provides support for TWAIN compatible scanners and allows scanning directly into the  processor. The manual gives some excellent step by step instructions in usage of the Image processor

Image Tools is the image processors little brother. It is used to perform viewing, tracing and basic editing of any vector or bitmap image. A really neat feature of Image tools is AutoTrace. This tool is used to trace all or part of a bitmap image and convert the image to a vector drawing file. Outline, solid fill and zig zag vector files are supported. You can also rasterize vector images to convert them to bitmap. You can perform basic color control, image rotation and cropping. Image tool is MDI compliant allowing opening of multiple documents  for image editing.

The Convert module is a batch file conversion utility capable of using scripting to convert different file formats  within the same batch. You can convert between DOS, Windows, OS/2, SUN and MAC bitmap, vector and fax graphics formats from hundreds of applications. Conversion can be performed in the background. Includes 20 bitmap formats, 15 vector, nine fax and PCD and JPEG formats. Convert does not handle conversion of bitmap to vector formats, but the tracing feature of Image Tools does allow this conversion.

The screen Capture utility is one of the most powerful and flexible that I have seen. It allows numerous types of captures; Freehand, Area, Window, Icon, List Box, Full Screen and coordinate Area. It allows saving the capture to over 20 graphics formats. Supports 16, 256, 16-bit, 24-bit color and monochrome screens.

DeltaPoint's' Graphics Tools is an excellent package. It may be more than the casual user needs right now, but it also handles the basics very well and the power is there if and when you need it. The program comes with a bonus CD that includes over 700 pieces of clip art, image libraries and DeltaPoint demos programs.

DeltaPoint Inc.

2 Harris Court

Suite B-1

Monterey, CA 93940

(408) 375-4700

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MetaMorph
MetaMorf

Review by Jacci Howard Bear

MetaMorf is a fun and inexpensive ($29.95) introduction to the magic of morphing. It's a DOS program that performs basic morph and warp functions.

For the uninitiated, morphing is a special effect seen in movies and television where two images--such as a person and an animal--transform from one into the other in a smooth transition. Some familiar examples: the villain in Terminator 3 who transforms from a blob of liquid into a person,  and the shaving product commercial on TV where the men's faces change smoothly from one face to another and another.

The DOS version of MetaMorf won't run under Windows and requires a great deal of conventional memory. You can use the images created by the program in most DOS or Windows graphics programs. Morphing is a slow process so be prepared to take a coffee break when executing 20 or 25 frame images.

The main MetaMorf screen is fairly straight-forward. Load starting and ending images into the upper left- and right-hand portions of the screen. The bottom half of the screen controls how the program works. Most choices are self-explanatory or easy to figure out without even reading the book. The whole program is so easy to use that the manual devotes most of its pages to describing the ways to get the best image and ideas on how to use the images you create.

You can create morphed images in two formats--an animation file in FLI format, and individual graphic images of each frame (step) in the morphing process (in GIF, BMP, PCX, or TGA formats). MetaMorf has its' own built-in animation player for the FLI files. Within the main program all images appear in black and white even though the original files and the resulting morphed images may be in color.

MetaMorf comes with a selection of GIF files of people and animals and pre-configured matrices so you can start experimenting immediately. A matrix is a series of lines that correspond to key points (such as eyes, nose, and mouth) on each image that help make the transformation smoother and the results more pleasing. I found the creation of a matrix confusing at first but with practice it becomes simple.

The Warp function is similar to the morphing process. With warping you can change the shape of individual portions of an image--such as enlarging the eyes or making an image of a car appear to wrap around a spherical object.

MetaMorf requires a 286 processor, 2MB of RAM, VGA, 2MB minimum free space (not including the files you create), Mouse, and DOS 3.1. The recommended configuration is a 386/20 and 4MB of RAM.

MetaMorf does one thing--transform images--and the program itself does most of the work. For the best results you should spend some time selecting the best images to morph and creating a good matrix but, beyond that MetaMorf does the hard stuff and you're left to have fun with the resulting images.

Villa Crespo Software

1725 McGovern St.

Highland Park, IL 60035

(708) 433-0500

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Announcements for Windows

Reviewed By Deborah Reed

Announcements for Windows allows you to create unique posters, cards, and postcards as well as envelopes, letterheads, gift certificates and business cards. Before I began using this program, I had a number of expectations to be met before I would be satisfied. First, this program had to be easy to use. Second,  the program had to allow me to be as creative as possible. Lastly, it had to be fun. Well, I was not disappointed. This program is very easy to use. The Windows format allows you to jump right in. I can be creative as I want by designing my own "art" in other programs such as Designer and exporting them to Announcements. I can also use other clipart images besides the 200 that are supplied with the program. With this much flexibility, anyone will enjoy using this program.

 	Inserting and manipulating text, pictures and borders is quick and easy. Each element is inserted in the project within its own frame. Once inserted,  elements can be moved by pointing within the frame and dragging. Elements can also be locked into place so they are not accidentally moved. This is especially convenient when working on large projects. To align elements of your announcement precisely, the program provides a snap to grid feature. This sets up an invisible grid that guides you in lining up elements in your announcement. There are also options allowing you to left, center or right justify elements within a frame. Elements may also easily be centered in relation to the announcement as a whole. Resizing an element is easily done by grabbing one of the frame's handles and dragging inward to reduce size or outward to enlarge. Dimension has also been given consideration in this program. You can stack elements and change their position within the stack with ease.

The appearance of your product can be modified in several ways. Twenty-six fonts, as well as several font styles, are available.  You can also choose the shape in which your text is displayed. For instance, you can display text in the shape of a pennant, eye or ribbon. This flexibility allows you to convey any feeling and do so in a slick and professional manner. This feature also works with pictures allowing you to change their

general shape. The general shape of pictures can also be changed by determining how a picture will fill its frame. You can choose stretch proportional which will maintain the

picture's original proportions or stretch fill which may change the picture's proportions in order to fill the frame. By changing picture's shapes and proportions, you can create some very interesting pictures yourself. Of course, they can also be quite distorted but that's part of playing with the settings for each element. This is one reason the program allows you to save your announcement and recall it at a later time to reposition

and modify elements until you are satisfied. This is essential for complex projects.

 	For those of you with color printers,  some of the graphic images can be printed in color.

 	Additionally, text and background can also be printed in color. You can easily create some very sharp looking announcements using this program.

 	I really enjoyed using this program. It's easy to use and is expandable in the number of available graphics images whether you create them yourself or get them from other sources. You can create some very professional and unique announcements or

cards without being a professional graphic artist. All you need is a little imagination. This program provides all necessary tools.

Parsons Technology

One Parsons Drive

PO Box 100

Hiawatha, Iowa 52233-0100

(800)- 223-6925

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Home Medical Advisor Pro
Dr.  Schueler's Home Medical Advisor Pro CD ver 3.1

Reviewed By Madonna Johnson

Dr.  Schueler's Home Medical Advisor Pro CD ver 3.1 is a very thorough introduction to a wide range of health issues.  Areas of interest include disease, injury, tests, medicines, health & diet, and poison.  This guide to health issues is an interactive resource developed with a wide range of users in mind.  Even the computer novice can navigate their way around the program with little trouble.   A large number of extremely graphic illustrations, photographs, and videos include brief but thorough descriptions.

The program divides several integrated modules.  Areas of specific interest are categorized generally.  A user may choose to directly search in the appropriate category for the area of interest.  With the organization of this program it is possible to use it aid in prognosis of an ailment or just to do research on an area of interest.

The first screen in the program holds a photo of your choice,  either a woman or man.  You may highlight a general area of the body which then brings the active list of ailments or conditions related to that portion of the body.  You can choose to simply list general symptoms or all available symptoms within your chosen search category.  As you scroll through the list of ailments or conditions you can double click on one to receive detailed information or other options.   The paragraphs that follow hold highlighted related words and phrases that you can also click on and enter into another level of more specialized information in your search.

The following string of information gives an example of the research process available to users.  I chose to research information available on eyes.  On the image of the woman on the main screen, I highlighted the head area.  A list of choices became available for research.  The alphabetical lists included the following symptoms that would be generally related to the head; anxiety, confusion and memory loss, dental pain, depression, difficulty speaking or swallowing, dizziness, ear pain, eye pain or irritation, facial pain, fainting or faintness, hair loss and scalp problems, headache, hearing loss, hoarse voice, lumps and swollen glands, mouth or tongue pain, neck pain or stiffness, noises in the ears, rashes and spots, runny nose, sleeping difficulty, sore throat, and vision impairment.

To follow my test, I double-clicked on eye pain or irritation.  A screen with a short description of eye pain or irritation follows.  It reads, "This is frequently caused by inflammation or infection.  Occasionally dust, dirt, or a flake of debris can result in secondary irritation to the eye.  Injury in the form of a direct blow, puncture, or chemical exposure, must always be evaluated by a physician.  Foreign substances retained in the eye can scratch the cornea (the outer clear coating of the eye).  With the exception of eye injuries and glaucoma, diseases which can compromise vision are usually painless.  All of these cases should be evaluated promptly by a physician.  Consult this section for the evaluation of eye pain or irritation.  See vision impairment in the Symptom File for the evaluation of blurry or painless loss of vision."

Following the information above, users have an option to move on to an area called "diagnose symptoms." From here the screen prompts the following thread of questions.  "Have you had an injury to your eye, or an exposure to a harsh chemical? Yes or No? Choosing No brings the query, "Does it feel like there is something in your eye, or have you gotten a spec of dust, dirt or metal into your eye?" Yes or No? Choosing NO brings the next question.  "Is the white of your eye reddened? Yes or No? Choosing Yes brings the following, "Are your eye(s) itchy and watery?" Yes or No? The answer Yes brings the following diagnosis.  "Allergic conjunctivitis is a possibility.  This is more likely if you have red eye(s), itching, clear tears, or a history of allergies.  The conjunctiva is the transparent coating on the outer surface of the eye.  Irritation and inflammation of this structure is known as conjunctivitis.  Common symptoms of allergic conjunctivitis include: a reddened eye(s), itchy eyes, tearing, and in some cases, swelling to the eyelids.  Pain in the eye, or a colored thick discharge should make the patient suspicious of bacterial conjunctivitis.   See allergic conjunctivitis in the Disease File for additional information on the evaluation and treatment of this problem."

This program also offers a large video and image library.  Some of the video images are as long as a minute or more.  Most are clips of surgical procedures or biopsies of internal organs.  The image library shows still photos of many injuries and ailments.  A warning message  precedes many images that have a highly graphic or sensitive nature.

My first thought after reviewing this program was that users could potentially save themselves from complications of a particular ailment by having this information and acting responsibly and then obtaining the proper medical attention.  Many people tend to ignore symptoms and put themselves at risk until the medical situation escalates to a more serious condition.  After a bit more consideration to this idea, it occurred to me that the type of person who would purchase and use this program would probably not ignore medical symptoms anyway.  In my opinion, this program can be very useful for the responsible user who heeds the disclaimers and warnings shown throughout the program.  There are constant reminders that the information offered should not ever replace the official diagnosis of a trained physician.

Pixel Perfect

10460 S.  Tropical Tr.

Merritt Island, FL  32952

(800) 788-2099

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Microsoft Musical Instruments

Review by David Golber

The good words are

     Sometimes charming

     A good quick listen

     Clear sound

The bad words are

     Uneven

     Shallow

     No references to go deeper

This CD ROM from Microsoft has, according to its box, information about more than 200 instruments. I didn't count, but I'm willing to believe them. For each instrument, it typically has a few pictures of the instrument, a short (fifteen seconds) sound sample of the instrument being played, and a quick list of little facts about the instrument. For some instruments, you can play individual notes by clicking them on a scale. There are also sound samples of different ensembles, ranging from various kinds of western orchestras and popular music ensembles, to gamalan, both Javanese and Balinese. And it has nice point-and-click indexes to instruments by families or geographical origin, and various kinds of cross-reference mechanisms. Oh yes, there is a voice that pronounces the name (in English) of the instrument.

The CD ROM cost me about $50 by mail. I tried it out on a Macintosh Quadra 950, quite a powerful system. I had no problems using the ROM, and it ran fast enough that I never felt that I was waiting impatiently. The sound quality (on the Quadra's built in speaker) was quite good.

On the other hand, even though the box claims that the photographs are "high-quality", they are not. For example, in the picture of the Northumbrian small-pipe, the keys are just a hazy blur. It's good that the label of the picture explains that there are seven of them; the viewer certainly could not count them. And no, you can't "Zoom in."

(A particularly annoying inanity on the box is the statement that the sounds are "recorded live by professional musicians using the actual instruments."  Wow!)

Some of the selections were, well, charming. I'm not sure whether I've heard zampogna before. I had heard of it, though. It's a bagpipe, played in southern Italy, by shepherds. Their custom is to come into the cities around Christmas time, and play on the streets. It's a wonderful rich, warm sound. I smile as I think about it.

And I suppose it's nice to have these fifteen-second samples of all sorts of instruments.

But in the end, my real feeling about this ROM is a wry, twisted half smile, with raised eyebrows.

The quality is uneven. As one would expect, the recordings of western classical and popular music of various kinds are excellent. Some of the recordings of music of other cultures is of the same high quality. For example, the sample of Shanai music is from a recording by Bismillah Khan.

 `The recording of Hardanger fiddle music, on the other hand, is definitely the worst sample of playing of this instrument that I have ever paid money for. A nameless snatch of plunking and sawing. By a Ben Mandelson.

he text accompanying the Hardanger fiddle entry is also strange. It says in part "accompanies singing and dancing at traditional village festivals and events". At first glance, these words drift in one ear and out the other. At second glance, one thinks "What a silly and meaningless statement; one could say that about any music."  Finally I realized: It's not even true!  In all the time I have listened to this music, both live in Norway and on recordings, I have never heard singing accompanied by Hardanger fiddle in traditional use. In fact, I'm not sure whether I've heard this combination even in innovative modern pieces.

Some of the 15-second samples do a pretty good job of communicating the real sound and feel of the music. Bits of chamber music, jazz, orchestra. But sometimes the little selections are so far out of context that the listener will surely get no idea of what the music is about. For example, the Turkish zurna selection is played without davul accompaniment; there is no sense of the drive and excitement, the dust, sweat and hot sun, of this music.

But the central criticism of the ROM is the continual feeling, that touches every part, of superficiality. You are supposed to jive on the quick samples, the bright colors, the effortless cruising. You are not supposed to go deeper, to probe, to think deeply, to compare.

As an example, consider the entries on the modern grand piano and the older forte-piano. There is a great deal of interest these days in performances on period instruments. There are those who say that we are missing a great deal in hearing Mozart on the modern piano instead of the forte-piano of Mozart's day. Wouldn't it be nice to be able to hear the same passage played on both instruments?  Perhaps, but it's not on this ROM.

Close comparison of the two entries uncovers the following:

     The grand piano developed from the harpischord [sic] in Europe in

     1709.

and

     The forte-piano was invented by Bartolomeo Cristofori in 1709.

If you wanted to really understand what it was that Cristofori built in 1709, or the relation of the forte-piano and the modern grand piano, well, you won't find it here.

How could these two passages be in the same document?  Because (I think) the writers and editors view each entry as a single isolated piece. The reader is not expected to probe, to relate one entry to another. Perhaps we should be particularly disappointed, since one of the capabilities of the ROM medium is the easy following of relationships. In comparison, read the article on Piano in a good encyclopedia. No, it's not easy to read,

and the story isn't simple. But it really describes the complicated flow of invention and modification that began in 1709.

An important part of a good encyclopedia article that is missing from the ROM is the list of references to follow up. This can be done so easily in a ROM - just click on the button labeled "More info". But there's no such button.

Another important part of an article in a good encyclopedia that is missing in this ROM is the initials at the end. These are the initials of the scholar (full name and affiliation at the end of the last volume) who wrote the article. Again, this could be done with an "Author info" button. But there's no such button.

To me, the absence of an acknowledged author for an article means a lot. First of all, I get the feeling that the articles are written by faceless "researchers". Their job is to read a couple of encyclopedia articles, and write a half a dozen little sentences. But there's a more philosophical aspect: the absence of a name gives the feeling that information is certain, impersonal, and merely "data". A _.n_.a_.m_.e at the end of an encyclopedia article tells the reader that there is a scholar involved, who puts his or her knowledge and opinions on the line. Even more, a name should make the reader realize that there is a human being involved, fallible and opinionated as we all are, and that there might be other scholars who might disagree with something in the article. The kernel of

scholarship is the realization of uncertainty.

n this ROM, not only are there are no names of the writers of the individual articles, even the identities of the recordings and musicians are half hidden. They are not in the individual articles, but are pulled up from the "About ..." item in the Mac menu. They are in order of recording, or of musician's name. So if you want to find out who is

playing the Hardanger fiddle selection, for example, you have to read down the list. It gives a feeling that these lists are here because they fill some legal requirement, like the statement "Microsoft is a registered trademark of Microsoft Corporation", not because correct musical manners require that the musician is acknowledged by name. This may be the way they do things in marketing computer software ... but it is not the way in

music. Can you imagine buying a recording of the Beethoven Violin Concerto, which had in small type on the back cover "Violin played by Itzhak Perlman"?  There could be a "Performers" button with each item. But there's no such button.

The "About ..." information lists a number of writers, photographers and illustrators. There are also two "consultants", Jeremy Montagu and Peter Cooke, a "Composer/Musical Arranger", Robyn Smith, and a "Researcher", Donna Rispoli. So far, I have not found any of these in Who's Who's, lists of university faculty, and so forth.

All in all, should you buy this ROM?  For the price of four music CDs? Well, it gives you a quick listen - but don't throw away your encyclopedia.

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The Homebrewer's CDROM
The Beer Homebrewing Guide

Reviewed by Andrew J. Pardoe

"So you want to brew beer?" Ever heard that question before? Well, here comes another one. This one, however, is for good.

I've put a lot of money into my home-brews in the past couple of years. I've brewed double bocks and root beers, meads and sake. And I've bought a lot of books, magazines, and even a few programs. But nowhere have I found as much information for such a low price.

The Beer Homebrewing Guide features a how-to book with pictures on every page which I found to be basic, although accurate. For the advanced homebrewer, there is a reference guide of supply shops, catalogs, homebrewing books, etc. What sets this disc apart, however, is the capture of messages on an internet homebrewing newsgroup. Most of the messages are quite informative and, as anyone who has tripped through cyberspace knows, detail problems and solutions from actual people in your situation. Every topic I looked for was included in the index, although the nature of internet sessions cannot guarantee to be comprehensive. In any regard, it certainly beats paying for online access time.

The disc also includes over 400 recipes in the following categories: pale ales; lagers; wheat beers; steam, smoked and sourmash; stouts and porters; bocks and Doppelbocks; herbs and spices; fruit; Scotch, Trappist, Belgium and other ales; Meads; Ciders, Other and Historical Interest. If that isn't enough for you, extra recipes literally photocopied out of catalogs, newsletters and the like are included.

Is this disc the best thing to hit homebrewing since canned malt extract? Not in the least. But it is much more useful than any one book I've seen. This isn't the type of disc you'd ever want to lose, regardless of how experienced you become at brewing. The biggest problem I have with this disk is the fact that it is Windows handicapped: I much prefer DOS, but was able to glide through this disk with ease. Everything is cross-reference in hypertext, and the graphics quality was excellent. Make sure to bring a sixer of homebrew to the 'puter when you first boot this up--you won't want to leave the screen long enough to run to the fridge.

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Tripmaker
Tripmaker for Windows

Reviewed by Doug Reed

Rand McNally describes Tripmaker for Windows as the "all-in-one computer software solution for planning a trip by car in the United States, Canada, and Mexico." It contains up-to-date maps of over 640,900 miles of roads and 125,000 cities and towns. The program itself is easy to load and you should be able to use it with minimal reading of the manual. Tripmaker is very user-friendly and makes good use of smarticons.

What makes this program very simple to use, though, is the Trip Guide, which asks you questions about your trip and then can very quickly plan the trip for you. Trip Guide asks you the starting location and destination, and allows you to customize the trip to suit you. You can assign stopovers, the distance travelled per day, and adjust the trip for the quickest, shortest, or most scenic route. Once Trip Guide calculates the trip, you can adjust it even more, by changing the locations where you stop at the end of each day and the numbers of days spent in different locations. You can also ask it to avoid certain areas (if, for instance, you don't want to drive through the downtown area of a major city). After finishing its calculations, Tripmaker then displays a map of your trip and an itinerary. You can zoom the map yourself or click on different sections of the itinerary to have Tripmaker zoom to those locations for you. The level of detail of the maps is impressive; not only are major highways and interstates shown, but also lakes, rivers, and attractions. These maps can be printed out for you to take on the trip with you. 	Unfortunately, the maps printed out by my Epson 12 pin dot matrix printer are barely usable; to get good high quality maps requires a modern color printer or laser printer. The maps included with the Press Guide were pretty and useful; just be aware that to obtain such images requires a high quality printer.

Tripmaker can do more for you than simply draw out your trip. Provided with the daily costs of hotels, entertainment, food, and an estimate of gas prices and mileage, it can provide a good estimate of the total budget required for your trip. If you need suggestions of the attractions along your trip and places to stay, Tripmaker can help you. You can then pick the ones you find interesting and add these to your list of stopovers. It

also includes 5 Attraction Packs that list thousands of exciting attractions: Discovering History; Urban Attractions; Fun for Kids; Airports, Military Bases and Universities; and Scenic Tours. The first four can suggest possible destinations or stopovers, based on either your interests or locale. The Scenic Tours pack, on the other hand, comes with 88 preplanned trips. By telling the program what area of the country you are interested in, it can suggest several pre-made tours of local attractions and scenery. Each trip comes with a short narrative to tell you where you will be going and what you can see. You can very easily add one or more of these preplanned trips to your itinerary, and Tripmaker makes all  the calculations for you. Additional Attraction Packs are available from Rand McNally.

There is only one problem with this program. The scale printed next to the map by the printer was not even close to being accurate. On one of the maps it indicated that the distance between Dallas, Texas and Oklahoma City, Oklahoma to be less than one hundred miles; I know from experience that it is 200 miles between the two cities. The itinerary that was printed out, however, had the correct mileage on it. So stick to the

itinerary and forget the printed maps.

Overall I would say that I really like this program. It is easy o use and capable of doing a great deal of the planning required in preparing for a cross-country trip by car. The scenic tours are also a nice touch. If you like to take trips by car, this program is a must-have.

Rand McNally New Media

8255 North Central Park Avenue

Skokie, IL 60076-2970

(708) 329-8100

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Companions of Xanth

Reviewed by Jerry W. Eichelberger

If you like to dabble in puzzle solving/adventure/role playing games, then this game is a must have!  I was impressed with the amazing sound effects and outstanding graphics. The installation from CD-ROM was a snap and required very little interaction. Within minutes I had the games installed on my hard drive (one of two options) and was beginning my adventure. I played this game on my Dell 80486/66 with a SoundBlaster 16 card and Creative 2x CD-ROM drive. I experienced no problems with the game running, except an occasional failure of the speech processor to completely read what was listed in the dialog box.

You begin you adventure as a boy named Dug. You are sitting in your room staring at your blank computer screen when your buddy, Edsel, gives you a call and challenges you to play a game to see if you like it. The dialog boxes are easy to follow and allow you to select "personalized" phrases to respond to questions ask by the various characters of the game. After accepting the challenge, you will wait for the package to arrive and then load the game on the PC in your room. After selecting a companion (I recommend Nada Naga), you will begin you adventure into the land of Xanth.

The story begins (make sure you watch the introduction screens) ad demon XANTH and demon EARTH make a bet to see if a "Mundane" could solve all the clever puzzles and attain the prize. If demon EARTH wins, then all magic would be stricken from the land of XANTH. Once you have entered the land of Xanth, you will meet a girl named Kim. She is the other Mundane that is also searching for the prize. During the game you will have several opportunities to monitor your adversary's performance and see how far along she is. The game continues into a Village the Crossroads. This is where you will have to solve your first puzzle and help the villagers by dousing the censorship (BE IMAGINATIVE). You will also have to find a way to get past the pail (a catapult should work). After you get past the pail, Fairy Nuff will provide you instructions on the censorship.

Once you succeed in passing this puzzle, many more await you in the Void, Region of Earth, Region of Fire, Region of water, ComPewter (TOUGH!!!), the Region of Air, The Gap, Humfrey's Castle and then the Gourd. Each region has a particular puzzle that must be solved before you can proceed. Be prepared to take your time and take to Nada often. She will help you with your quest and the dialog boxes you speak to her with can give you hints to the solution to various puzzle parts. Remember that she is a native of Xanth and knows the regions. PAY ATTENTION to ALL the little puns in the game, they are you best hint source.

The puzzles in the game are quite clever and paying careful attention to all the puns in the game will determine whether you succeed or fail in your quest. Some of the puzzles are logic or require patience, but others require very specific object to resolve. Don't overlook anything on your journey that you feel insignificant, from a jar of mustard to a simple rock. Most items are necessary to solve a puzzle, or to mix with other items to create potions and solutions.

  	The graphic interface of the game is simple to use and provides you a variety of information. All the items that you obtain in your quest are displayed along with the commands to assist you in you journey. The commands are simple (take, put, give, open, look at, etc) to use and items are easily manipulated and utilized. If you need assistance to make a solution, you can refer to the compendium of Xanth. This book can offer you an understanding of various places, potions, people and the like. If you have a question about the "Love Spring" just open the book and look under "mystical places" and read what could happen to you should you decide to listen to the demoness and drink from the spring.

The land of Xanth is a enchanted land filled with a variety of wondrous creatures that will delight and amuse you, but be careful that you don't irritate the wrong individuals and find yourself starting over. But the way, during this game it is STRONGLY recommended that you have the presence of mind to save often so that you will be able to restore should you get trapped or killed. Remember that certain death could await you around the next corner.

I enjoyed this roleplaying adventure game, and one a scale of 1 to 10 would rate it a solid nine. This game is anything but "Mundane"!

Legend Entertainment Co.

P.O. Box 10810

14200 Park Meadow Dr.

Chantilly, CA 22021

(703) 222-8500

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Microsoft Arcade

Review by Patrick Grote

It's amazing to think that this computer revolution started about 15 years ago. Remember the early 80s? The cutting edge couldn't be found on your computer at home, Commodore 64, IBM PC or Timex Sinclair, but at the arcade.

The arcades contained these illuminated boxes that could propel you through space or put you in the seat of a tank. Everyone thought arcades would bring the final sweeping blow to modern civilization. Heck, a kid would go into the arcade at 1:00pm, come out at 6:00pm and swear only 30 minutes passed. Arcades were a place of refuge were a quarter could buy a good player fifteen minutes of fun, an excellent player an hour of worship from fellow gamers.

If you stop by arcades these days you don't get the same feeling of time loss. Heck, instead of a quarter, most of the games cost fifty cents to a dollar. Sure, they are really cool, nothing beats Mortal Kombat II, but the sense of accomplishment is lost in the new cutting edge of games. That loss coupled with the fact many of today's arcade games barely beat what's available on a PC today, add to the fact arcades aren't what they used to be.

With games today that actually show a person's head being taken off, I found sanctuary in simpler games like Ms. PacMan. Sure, the games weren't as visually stunning, but they had a basic one on one against the computer. You against some silicon.

One of my all time favorite games was Asteroids. A very simple game based on the story that you were stuck in an asteroid belt and had to blast your way out. The graphics were stunning black and white with animation rivaling that of the early Pong games. Today the only Asteroids games you can find are in so called "Coin Operated Museums" where old games go to die.

Of course, leave it to Microsoft to bring back five arcade classics from the grave. MICROSOFT ARCADE includes five classic Atari arcade games in Windows versions. The games include my favorite Asteroids, Missile Command, Centipede, Tempest and Battle Zone.

Asteroids features you in a triangular shaped spaceship clearing an asteroid belt of deadly asteroids while fighting off UFOs. You can warp, jet around and even hyperspace.

Missile Command features you as a laser missile defense operator charged with saving the cities in your territory. To do this, you must launch your anti-missile lasers at incoming nuclear warheads.

Centipede is probably the most poplar arcade game of its time. You are in charge of a mushroom patch and charged with exterminating all insect life. Not only do you have to worry about the centipede that snakes quicker and quicker through the mushrooms towards you, but spiders, fleas and scorpions make their presence felt.

Tempest pits you against the unknown. It is your job to ensure that creatures climbing up from the pit don't make it into our universe. Lighting quick reflexes are needed to completed the task.

Battle Zone is a classic tank simulation game. You steer left, right and move forward, backward to home in on targets and attack. Not only are you after tanks and other military vehicles, but UFOs make their presence felt as well.

All the games were originally made between 1979 and 1983 by Atari. During this timeframe Atari not only owned the arcade game market, but also the home game market. These were the glory days for arcade games.

Each game is not only an actual port to Windows with sound card support, but includes a really neat help file section describing how they designed, manufactured and marketed the original arcade games. Some of the neat trivia includes the design team on Missile Command started having nightmares of nuclear war and Battle Zone achieved multicolor by using red cellophane across the top part of the screen. The only changes Microsoft made to each game is the ability to control your playing environment. You can control items like the number of points needed for an extra ship in Asteroids or Spike Protection in Tempest. Microsoft even left in the animated volcanoes in Battle Zone and the UFOs in Missile Command.

If you are looking for fun games to play between tasks on your PC, you need MICROSOFT ARCADE.

Microsoft

One Microsoft Way

Redmond, WA 98052-6399

 (206) 882-8080

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SAM & MAX HIT the ROAD

Reviewed by Chip Cox

Sam & Max is a children's crime fighting computer game. It implements the degree of new technology normally associated with LUCAS Arts. Their method of encoding both digital computer data and digital audio tracks onto the same CD provides a richer quality of sound both musical and spoken than I have ever heard in a game before. This quality was not hampered when running on a 386-33 with a Sound Blaster Pro sound card. The technology is top notch.

On the other hand with new technology comes new problems. In my normal setup my CD-ROM drive is in my fileserver. Not in my desktop unit. This meant that I had to remove it from my fileserver and move it to the desktop. Most other games and software I work and play with work fine from the fileserver. Due to the new technique of mixing audio tracks with computer data my server was unable to mount the CD. Granted my situation is unique. Most people have their CD-ROM drive in their desktop PC. It is however, something to be aware of. When I called Lucas Arts technical support to ask about this problem, they immediately started telling me to make a boot disk because my problem was probably memory and Sam & Max needed lots of memory. This wasn't my problem, but it did lead me to think that memory would be a problem on my system. It turned out not to be a problem at all. Unlike some other games I was able to use my standard boot configuration and run the game in about 540K of RAM. Sam & Max does use a DOS extender to access the required 4 Megs or extended memory. My system had 16 Megs so this was not a problem.

Probably due to the speed of my system the characters mouth movements and the words did not come close to matching. The speech and video mismatch was probably the most entertaining part of the game for me. It looked like something out of a Japanese movie dubbed with English. I really expected more considering the other technological improvements. In my opinion, the content also left something to be desired. Seeing someone shot to death and a cat given a tonsillectomy within the first few minutes just was not my idea of a kids game. Again I would have expected more from Lucas Arts.

In conclusion, even though the game uses some wonderful technology it follows the same path as other games. Make the users system conform to what we want. I had rather see games which tried harder to work regardless of the system configuration. I do realize that this is difficult and Sam & Max is not as bad as other games I have played. It could be better.

LUCAS Arts

P.O. BOX 10307

San Rafael, CA 94912

(800) STAR-WARS

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Wrath of the Gods
Wrath of the Gods From Luminaria

Review by Don Pellegrino

Wrath of the Gods is an adventure game based on Greek myths.  The player is on a journey, during the time of Greek legend, to regain his birthright.  The game features photo-realistic actors and animation.  There is an extensive geography to explore and many of the puzzles let the player relive the adventure s had by famous heroes such as Hercules, Jason, and others.

Interface:

WOTG is very easy to use.  There is a standard icon interface much like the one you would see in any of Sierra's adventure games (King's Quest, Space Quest, etc.).  The characters all speak to the player therefore there are not any monotonous dialog bubbles to read.  The speech is very clear and the plot is easy to follow.

An on-line map is provided to make the landscape more identifiable.  Many adventure games give the player a maze of screens to navigate which can become troublesome and take away from game play.  After using the map you will get the feeling that you are in an alternate reality with an area with which you are familiar.

Luminaria even offers an original concept in the hint area.  When you are discouraged you don't have to quit the game or even pick up a hint book.  On-line cheating is given through the "Oracle."  Back in the time of Greek mythology the people would consult the mythical Oracle for wisdom.  Of course, the Oracle was usually pretty vague.  So, following this history, the game lets the player trade points for clues.  The first few hints don't admit an obvious answer, which can usually let you get back into the game and solve the puzzle yourself.  If you are completely baffled it does still give the complete solution (click on the x and then click on the y), it will cost you though.

Another distinctive enhancement to the adventure game genre is Luminaria's addition of historical background, made available in screen specific areas of the game.  One puzzle has the player faced up against the deadly Hydra.  When "Info" is chosen text is displayed relating the story of how Hercules defeated the Hydra.  With the knowledge of Hercules' experiences the player is able to mirror the actions and slay the Hydra.

Graphics and Sound:

Real actors portray the characters and the mouth movements follow the speech accurately.  The costumes are also professionally produced giving an authentic depiction of the time.  The backgrounds are outstanding.  Most of the art comes from various historical societies.

Sound effects totally immerse you into setting.  Trees rustle in the wind, rivers flow, and lightning strikes with an echoing bang.  The characters not only have great diction but their tone of voice is clear and perceptive.

Game Play:

The story line is short and simple.  The player must regain his throne, rescue his mother, and finally find his father.  It takes a lot of exploring to make progress along these line and the player will come across many other, more elaborate puzzles.  If you can complete them you get bonus points to be spent at the Oracle, if you are stumped, you can just come back later or skip the puzzle completely.  This nonlinear type of progress is a much better design than the kind seen in many of Sierra's or LucasArt's adventures which require the player to take one puzzle at a time.  If you get stumped without a hint book, the game looses its entertainment value.  If it was not for sleeping and eating you would probably never quit playing WOTG.  Another irritating aspect of the traditional adventure style is death.  One death could set the player back hours of progress.  In WOTG, when you die you simply go to Mt. Olympus or Haydes (usually Haydes).  This has no greater consequence than repositioning the player on the map.  Simply walk out the door marked "Exit" and head back to where you left off.

Technical:

For the most part WOTG is error free.  On a Pentium system all of the animation is well timed to the speech and sound effects.  On a slower system mouth movement may become sporadic and animation slow or jerky.  Quick Time for Windows is responsible for these quirks.   Like most other games the program is limited by the speed of your system.

I experienced some incompatibility problems with Quick Time.  I needed to update my Sound Blaster 2.0 Driver to a beta version just to get the speech to work correctly.  Luminaria technical support answered on the first ring and was able to send the driver out within the week.  Another problem with Quick Time is that when you return to the program manager all of the icons will be on a white background regardless of your screen colors.  The only real game related problem I could find has to do with saving.  Beware, do not save while you are in the map screen.  The game will exit back to the program manager.

Synopsis:

Wrath of the Gods is a breakthrough in adventure gaming.  The Graphics and Sound represent Luminaria's clear link with Hollywood.  The interface is easy to use and the player does not have to waste any time reading complex technical manuals.  Game play is revolutionary.  The Oracle, Historical Background, Map, and handling of death all pound the gaming style far beyond any previous adventure.

Suggested Price: $59.95

Requirements (Windows):

- IBM/100% compatible 386 25MHz and up.

- 4MB of RAM (8MB recommended).  Note: 4MB systems require a 6MB  permanent

   swap file.

- Single-Speed CD-ROM drive (Double-Speed recommended).

- VGA,SVGA 256 color display with 640x480 resolution.

- Windows compatible sound card (SoundBlaster, ProAudio Spectrum, etc.).

- DOS 5.0, Windows 3.1. Mouse.

 Wrath of the Gods is also available for Macintosh CD-ROM.

Requirements (Macintosh):

- Macintosh LC III, Performa 450, IIci, PowerBook 160, Centris, Quadra.

- 256 Colors, 640x480 Resolution.

- Minimum 4MB RAM (2,500K of free RAM), Single-Speed CD-ROM  Drive.

- Recommended 8MB RAM, Double-Speed CD-ROM Drive.

- Requires System 7.

Luminaria

152 Brewster Street

San Francisco, California 94110

 Main Phone: (415) 821-0536

        Fax: (415) 821-0167

Tech Support: (415) 821-2055

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Zork Anthology
The Zork Anthology

Reviewed by Nathan Kay

Some of my favorite computer games I've ever played have been in the series of Zork games written by Infocom. To say the least, these are truly classic games. In a way, I learned to thinking constructively by playing Zork.

The Zork games are text-adventures, meaning that instead of the sound and graphics that today's games rely heavily upon, the classic Zork games use only text to convey the surroundings. The user interacts with the game by typing commands in normal English. For instance, say the game told you there was a piece of gold on a table in the room you had just entered. To take the gold, you would simply type 'take gold'.

To give a brief history of Zork, this is roughly what happened. In days gone by, Infocom released Zork One, and it was great. Not content with a one-time success, they went on to create Zork Two, a masterpiece that seemed to represent the best in text-adventure games. To the great wonderment and surprise of their fans, they wrote Zork Three, a game that made the past two Zorks seem pale in comparison. For a time, they wrote other games that took the computer world in those days by storm. Legends such as Planetfall, Hitchhikers' Guide to the Galaxy (The Game), and many others that achieved success and fame in their times.

But Zork remained a compelling mystery. Fans of Infocom wanted more of the strange world of the Great Underground Empire. Beyond Zork was created, and proved that the world of Zork had wonders and dangers yet to be explored, even for the most hardy player. Never one to rest on it's laurels, Infocom released what was to be for a long time, the crowning masterpiece of the Zork series, Zork Zero: The Revenge of Megaboz.

Since these games stopped being released several years ago, copies have been rare and often hard to come by. But the demand for them has stayed strong.

Then Infocom was acquired by Activision, who later released the top-selling multimedia game, Return to Zork.

The Zork Anthology, which will be free with any copy of the highly popular Return to Zork until the end of 1994, and will be available separately at the beginning of 1995, contains the first five classic Zork games and as an extra, the popular Infocom game, Planetfall on a single PC and MAC readable CD-ROM.

Infocom's games have always stood apart from other text adventures for two reasons. First, they have the easiest to use English interface, which has a vast vocabulary to draw upon, that makes it easy to interact with the game. And second, the in-depth plots and well thought-out problems, traps and puzzles that are scattered throughout the games.

In Zork One, users take on the part of a young adventurer, out looking for fortune, fame, and treasure, and in general, something interesting to do. The adventure starts as the user finds oneself outside what appears to be a perfectly ordinary white house. However, the gateway to adventure lies nearby, for those smart enough to find it, and who are brave enough to enter!  Deal with a cunning thief, solve strange and wondrous puzzles, and explore the Great Underground Empire. Filled with puzzles, challenges and amazing places, this game is a perfect way to be entertained while thinking. It's challenging, witty and fun.

With Zork Two, the adventure continues as the user continues into a new, stranger, more dangerous and tricky area of the Great Underground Empire, promising greater fame, greater glory, and more chances to get killed. Wizards, dragons, princesses to save, and the mysteries of the tomb of the Flathead Kings are just a few of the challenges this game provides. As with all the Zork games, the puzzles and challenges it provides are sure to keep one coming back for more.

Zork Three presents the player with the final challenge, and the final section of the Great Underground Empire, with mysteries, challenges and a land where nothing is quite what it seems.

In Beyond Zork, the player takes the role of a different adventurer, who, inexperienced and unwitting, must find the Coconut of Quendor and get it to a place of safety, where it may lay in wait for the Age that is coming.

With Zork Zero, the player is taken back to the time of Dimwit Flathead himself. With humor, challenges of logic, gentle nudges, and a very strange and annoying jester, you must search the Empire for the items and wisdom that will save the Empire from the Curse of the mighty wizard, Megaboz. See the origins of the white house, and make history in the Zork world. Just be careful not to become history!

The Zork games are a well balanced combination of wit, logic, and cunning, both low and high. With an easy to use interface, well written and executed plots, and wonderful richness of language and locations, the Zork Anthology has appeal for both adults and older children. Adults can laugh and have fun as they travel the Great Underground Empire, and older children can begin to learn logic, critical thinking, and problem-solving skills.

With a suggested price of $19.95 for the Zork Anthology, this is a good deal indeed. I would have expected such a bundle of good games to sell for quite a bit more.

The Zork Anthology needs 512k of RAM, a CD-ROM reader, CGA graphics, and a hard disk with 2 megabytes of RAM to run on an IBM. For Mac users, System 6 or 7, a CD-ROM drive, and a hard disk with 2 megabytes free is needed.

Activision

11601 Wilshire Boulevard, Suite 1000

Los Angeles, CA  90025

(310) 473-9200

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FileManager Plus

Reviewed by Michael Christensen

FileManager Plus is a sharp little add-on Windows utility that, like all sharp objects, should be approached with a bit of caution. It enhances Windows File Manager by adding several disk and file management tools as well as several security features.

FileManager Plus installs directly over File Manager and includes its own un-installer, in case you decide you do not want it. It includes a customizable toolbar for most functions, making it easy and quick to use.

Trash-It is an obvious take-off of Macintosh's Trashcan, but it's not quite as dummy-proof as the Mac version. Trash-It, at least in the beginning, requires cautious use.

Options for Trash-It include Hide, Delete, or Compress. With the default setting, Hide, it's easy to use and pretty much bullet-proof. When you trash files, they do not leave the disk. The file attribute is changed to hidden, and they are easily and quickly retrievable until you empty the trash. Emptying trash can be done either manually or automatically at user-determined intervals.

If the option is set to delete, Trash-It can become treacherous. A single inadvertent mouse-click can wipe out entire directories in the space of a startled gasp. While I didn't have the courage to experiment on the C drive root directory, I did set up a test directory that included several fairly large files. One click destroyed it without asking for confirmation, even when the Confirm Delete option was checked. Scary.

You do have the choice of MS-DOS Recoverable deletion, which is some consolation. It also includes choices for DOD Shred and Paranoid Shred, which will wipe files thoroughly and irrecoverably. Proceed carefully.

For safety, you might want to customize the toolbar by removing the Trash-It single-click icon and replacing it with a Delete File icon.

Zip-It uses the popular PKZIP and PKUNZIP for file compression. Zipped files can be encrypted and password-protected. There is also an option for Automated ZIP, which lets you set up a named instruction set for repeated use. The only thing lacking in Zip-It is the capability for making self-extracting (.EXE) files. If you need these executable files, you'll still have to go back to the standard PKZIP.

Data Encryption gives you choices ranging from Nosy Neighbor (barely encrypted) up to Data Encryption Standard III. DES III, according to the manual, is approved for use with Retail and Wholesale banking and financial transactions. This is probably more security than the average user needs, but it's reassuring to have it available.

For those who need absolute data security (or the absolutely paranoid), data encrypted, compressed files can be armed with a password, included into a vault, and the original files wiped from disk using DOD Shred, the Department of Defense specification, to thoroughly wipe the file from your system.

Clean-It, as the name implies, is a useful tool for cleaning up your disks. It will locate file types, such as .TMP or .BAK, as well as finding duplicate files that can be deleted.

Disk-It, the disk management utility, performs a number of tasks, including monitoring available space, labeling disks, running specified programs. It includes an alarm system which can be set to activate when available disk space falls below a specified level. At that point, it can either display a warning box or activate a batch file or other program to delete .BAK, .TMP or other files.

FileManager Plus also can be configured to use .WAV sound files to indicate operations, such as shredders, creaking vault doors or clanking trash cans.

Altogether, I found FileManager Plus to be a useful disk and file management utility, easily worth the $49.95 list price.

WinWear Inc.

14150 N.E. 20th St., Suite 346

Bellevue, WA. 98007

(206) 655-0856

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QEMM
QEMM Version 7.5

Reviewed by William M Frazier

Who needs a memory manager?  Heck, you get MemMaker free with MS-DOS V6, so why would you want to buy one?  Most programs will run without a problem on most PCs. If you work exclusively in the Windows environment, you may never have a problem. I didn't, until I recently started using my computer for gaming, um..., I mean entertainment. Then it happened. "Out Of Memory Error!"  Huh?  Device drivers were sucking up my conventional memory. Even after using MemMaker I only had 542K of free conventional memory,. The solution is simple enough. Make a floppy boot disk with a minimum configuration, or set up multiple boot programs if you are using MS-DOS V6. But I knew there must be a better way. The better way turns out to be QEMM, now in Version 7.5.

Installing QEMM is now easier than ever. It installs from both DOS and Windows. That's right, QEMM now has a Windows install routine. It also has a Windows specific version of Manifest and QSETUP. I installed QEMM from Windows to a somewhat loaded 486DX with 8 Megs of RAM. The install command is the same in DOS or Windows, A:\Install. I chose the express installation, and unless you're an expert in PC memory management, I would suggest you do the same. After feeding two disks to my machine, and watching it reboot itself 3 or 4 times, QEMM reported that it had optimized my start up files, saving me 80K of conventional memory. I went to DOS and ran the Mem command. Sure enough I now had 627K of free conventional memory.

QEMM comes with better than average documentation. An Installation Guide includes all the information most users will need to get QEMM up and running. Another small booklet details the operation of the Manifest program, Quarterdeck's system reporting and diagnostic utility. The QEMM Reference Manual is a 220 page book that is capable of teaching most users just about everything they will ever want to know about memory architecture and management in a DOS environment.

In addition to Windows support, Version 7.5 includes a number of additional enhancements over previous versions of QEMM. Enhanced support for the popular Stacker disk compression program now saves Stacker 4.0 users an addition 8K to 32K of conventional memory. The QuickBoot routine speeds up the three fingered salute. At present, QEMM is the only memory manager that detects and automatically uses the memory addresses of PCMCIA cards. Possibly most important, QEMM has been modified to use a 32-bit flat memory model.

Installation problems are a very real possibility when dealing with the infinite variations of PC, peripheral, and software combinations available in today's market. To respond to this problem, QuarterDeck provides a number of support options. At the bottom level are the manuals and program help files. The distribution disks also contain White Papers and Technotes discussing hardware and software compatibility issues. If you can't find the answer there, your can call Quarterdeck's Q/FAX system. This faxback system is accessed via a toll free 800 number. Quarterdeck also operates a BBS system where you can contact tech support personnel and also download the latest patch files. You can contact Quarterdeck on the Internet, CompuServe, BIX, Fidonet, MCI Mail, and SmartNet. If you are still stuck, Quarterdeck provides 90 days of free (but not toll free) telephone support. After your free telephone support expires, Quarterdeck offers VIP paid support plans.

Although most people buy QEMM for it's memory management capabilities, Quarterdeck also includes Manifest, a system reporting and diagnostic utility. If you have ever installed a new peripheral to your system and then suffered DMA or IRQ conflicts, you know how valuable a program like Manifest can be. Manifest can give you a complete overview of your systems memory usage. It also reports on which system IRQs are in use and those that are free. If you are installing a new CD-ROM or sound card, this information can make the difference between a simple installation and a nightmare.

Well, QEMM is now installed, up, and running. I now have 627K of free conventional memory. So what?  Well, my games now run without booting the machine from a special floppy boot disk. Whenever I get tired of doing 'real' work on the computer, I can switch directly to my favorite game and enhance my motor skills. QEMM is a great product and solves a number of problems, but don't throw away that floppy boot disk. While QEMM works in most cases, some programs can still give it fits. Historically, game software pushes the limits of programming tricks and techniques. Every now and then you will find one that baffles QEMM, making that old floppy boot disk a must have item.

Quarterdeck Office Systems

150 Pico Boulevard

Santa Monica, California 90405

(310)-392-9851

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Screen Cam
Lotus Screen Cam

Reviewed by Tony  Taglieri

When a software package arrives at my doorstep, I can be found ripping it open removing the disks and heading for the computer to see what new marvels have been invented in the past few months. Much to my usual predictability, when Lotus ScreenCam happened across my path I immediately looked at the box, saw that it had something to do with recording Windows actions thus proceeded to do my typical virus scan then install routine. To be honest, I had little idea what to expect with this product. My initial response was that it would be a super charged Windows Recorder type program.

Not being one to let the docs slow me down, I first try to use the program then try to figure out what it is supposed to do. Actually, I find that this is also a good test for user friendliness. I ascertain that if I can figure out how to get something out of it without opening the manual or even quick start leaflet and without swearing more than twice, then surely most computer users will be able to get this thing running with the directions.

I quickly found out that ScreenCam is indeed not an enhanced macro recorder but rather a "VCR" for your PC. The program does basically only two things but does them relatively well... when they work. Two things you ask?  Well, it records your video and/or audio. Big deal, right?  Actually it is really pretty neat!  It reminds me of a product I saw a few years back at a friend's house that enabled the recording of screen actions and voice recordings through a special phone that would act as a video/voicemail system. That particular system did what this does, but required a special operating system, telephone equipment and pen tablet. ScreenCam depicts the epitome of an open system design in that it does what that system did plus MORE with regular industry standard DOS/Windows based systems. The only requirement is that you do need a sound card to record and play back voice.

The recording is straight forward and simple. You simply start the recording by clicking an icon then hitting the record button. A small stop button appears in the lower left-hand corner of the screen and you go about your business, opening applications, processing images or crunching around spreadsheets while talking into your microphone to the audience that will be watching your presentation. When you are through, hitting the stop button will end the recording.

Playback is done by simply pressing the play button. After watching your demo, if you are satisfied with it, you can save it in the .SCM format to be played back by the Player supplied with ScreenCam or as a stand alone .EXE file. That's right -- you can pass a single ..EXE to a colleague, friend or user and they can play it with no special software. A REAL self running demo that also features a fast forward button so you can skip the junk you don't want to be bored by. There is also OLE support so you can incorporate the presentation in a document.

The usefulness  for Demos Training It is very evident as soon as you see the results.

But alas nothing is perfect. My Trident Local Bus video card drivers caused a GPF until I tracked down the video driver as the culprit and switched to the generic Microsoft SVGA driver. The videos are not editable after you create them, and the STOP button is in actually recorded in the screen captures - it is displayed, but is not available during playback.

The only other problem is that the screen does not resize to the recorded size. When it records at 800x600 it will only show the upper left part of the screen if played back at 640x480 resolution.

All things considered, this is a rare piece of software that does its job well.

Lotus Development Corporation

Lois, Paul, & Partners

70 Westview Street

Lexington, MA 02173

(617) 862-4514

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Bodyworks CD
Bodyworks 3.0: An Adventure In Anatomy

CD-ROM Multimedia for Windows

Reviewed By Dale Larson

I'm a naturally curious person.  I like to know how things work.  So I jumped at the chance to review this title, thinking that I'd quickly be drawn into learning neat new things about the human body.  I was wrong.   I was slowly drawn into learning neat new things about the human body.

Installing the software was a snap on my OS/2 system, but I discovered that to get sound out of my Sound Blaster for a Windows application, I'd have to upgrade OS/2 or boot under Windows.  Booting under Windows, I found that Bodyworks doesn't use much sound.  It does, however, precisely pronounce all of the labels for different parts of the anatomy.  This is an important feature you can use to help overcome embarrassing mispronunciations before your next doctor visit.  On the other hand, you'll probably have to hold your nose closed to achieve intonation anything like that used on this CD.

After clicking around a few places, I quickly got bored.  There was no exciting introduction, no guided tour, no compelling intro screen (just a skeleton with various labels).   I discovered that you could click on the icons for several different systems (i.e., skeletal, muscular, digestive, nervous, etc.) and major organs (i.e., brain, heart, lungs).  There is also an icon for a health section.  On the left side of the screen was a picture for the topic, and on the right a list of parts.   Clicking a part (either in the picture or in the list) brought up a small description.   Double clicking a part might take you to a new topic or subtopic with a picture of its own.  Some pictures had unexciting interactive 3D views attached to them.  Some had better QuickTime™ movies attached to them.   I didn't feel drawn into the information, and didn't have much motivation to follow the hypertext links in the descriptions or to double click items which would take me to new screens.

It all seemed shallow, and I was ready to put it down and write a boring review of a boring product.  I was going to highly recommend a guided tour mode, hoping that would have given me the extra push I wanted.  I figured that before writing the review, though, I should at least finish reading the short manual.  There, I had a few surprises waiting for me.

Hidden in the very back of the manual, I found out that the program had a Lesson mode and a Quiz mode.   There was no overall guided tour or introduction, but I could take a series of lessons on different topics.  Each of the lessons would take me through several screens in a logical order, but allow me to explore at will before moving on to another screen.  This served as the push I needed.  Now I was quickly exposed to enough material that I wanted to explore further.  I discovered a surprising amount of depth on many subjects.   I witnessed a birth for the first time.   I watched kidneys emptying into a bladder.  I was impressed.

On the down side, some of the movies seem quite dated.  The actors are wearing 70's styles, and the blood donation movie, for example showed a local anesthetic given by injection and blood products handled by workers who've obviously never heard of AIDS.  As well, the "animated cutaways" have a minor visual bug (they display as cut away while the text window fills in, then they become solid for an instant before the animation), and there are a few inconsistencies (for example,  the manual shows that there is a movie for the eye, but the software doesn't have one).  All of these flaws are easily overlooked, but I hope SMC will fix them before 4.0.

If you are interested in anatomy for some reason, or are just naturally curious, I'd recommend Bodyworks to you.  No age range is given for the software.  I think the vocabulary would probably make it unsuitable for pre-teens.  If you have a teenager, though, I'd probably recommend this title for him or her, as long as you check to see that the reproductive sections don't clash with your beliefs.  If you do get it,  just make sure you turn to the back of the after you've gone through the installation so that you can be drawn in quickly.

Software Marketing Corporation

9830 South 51st Street

Building A-131

Phoenix, AZ 85044

(602) 893-3377

Mr.  Larson is a consultant and the author of several technical and general computer articles, as well as a book on computer communications.  He is an expert in TCP/IP and the Internet.  You may write him at: dale@iam.com

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Civil War CD
America's Civil War--A Nation Divided

Reviewed by Bob Garsson

The American Civil Waractually The War Between the Statescontinues to fascinate Americans nearly 130 years after it ended. Software Publishing has managed to put together the story of that war in a manner that will allow users to experience the events through sight and sound.

The CD-ROM has something for everyone, whether you're a devoted student of the war or a novice eager to learn more about the great conflict that so bitterly divided the nation. There's more than one way to view the information, depending on whether you want to see the events chronologically or search for specifics.

A "timeline" across the top of the screen goes from 1861 to 1866. The timeline marker can be set anywhere and a timer can be set for slow, medium or fast to access each event in the order in which it took place. If the time is not used, one has the ability to do a search by event, script, date, event name or by key word. Search criteria can go several levels deep (see illustration) and the user can view such things as weaponry, tactics, political actions and strategies in many ways.

Maps are detailed and contain numerous icons that, when clicked with the mouse, display the associated event. A click with the left mouse button zooms in on the map and the right button zooms out. In some instances the maps appear to be cluttered with an over-supply of icons, although this probably results from the need to associate all the events of a day with their location.

Troop movements can be revisited through more than 100 maps depicting everything from minor skirmishes to epic battles. The CD-ROM contains more than 1,200 still photos illustrating life in the service and outside the military. Some of the pictures are of the earliest images of the war captured on film from the Matthew Brady collection. (See illustration) Numerous video clips bring battlefields alive as one sees and listens to realistic re-enactments. In addition to all this, there are scripts that detail the war and related events and the database can be searched by literally hundreds of attributes covering more than 2,300 separate events.

Users will discover unusual facts, such as the fact that instant coffee and aerial reconnaissance were both invented during the Civil War. What's more, the war's last shot was not even fired in America and if you thought "Wild Bill Hickock" was a figure of the old West, you might be interested in knowing he as a Union scout.

I've been to numerous Civil War sitesfrom the Carolinas to Vicksburg, Miss., and from Gettysburg to Georgia. I found that looking at the contents of this CD-ROM reinforced the accuracy of my memory and even added some additional knowledge that I had not been aware of in my travels over the years.

If I have any fault to find with this product, it's the fact that using it is not intuitive and the manual is skimpier than it ought to be, making it more difficult and time-consuming than necessary to learn how to navigate the five years of strife. Despite this shortcoming, however, America's Civil WarA Nation Divided will provides many hours of education for anyone with an interest in the events between 1861 and 1866.

The CD-ROM requires Windows 3.1 with 4 megabytes of RAM, a 386SX16 or higher microprocessor, a CD-ROM drive with MPC Level 1 or higher, a hard drive with 2 megabytes available, a 256-color VGA display and a mouse. A sound card is recommended. The application uses Microsoft Video for Windows and a runtime version is included.

Software Marketing Corporation

9830 South 51st St. Bldg. A-131

Phoenix, AZ 85044

(602) 893-3377  Fax: (602) 893-2042

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Dinosaur CD
Smithsonian Dinosaur Museum

Reviewed by Gail B.C. Marsella

The Smithsonian Institution is up against some tough competition with Dinosaur Museum. Kids get dinosaur overload everywhere they turn, from Jurassic Park to science class in school to T-shirts, toys, and birthday cakes. They may very well be getting sick of the subject.

Not to worry, this is a beautifully designed and implemented educational program. Available on CD-ROM for both Macintosh and Windows, it features gorgeous graphics (some in 3-D), an intuitive interface, a dinosaur trivia game, several clips from classic dinosaur movies like "The Lost World," and interesting authoritative text. It also, thank God, only takes up about three megs of hard disk space, and installs directly and simply from the CD-ROM.

The opening screen fades to a choice of three doors: the conservatory, the library, and the game room. The library has three books in it, one from each of the major periods - Triassic, Jurassic, and Cretaceous - and the information is organized around individual dinosaur species of those periods. After choosing a species, you go to a museum-like room to learn about that species.

The information in the conservatory overlaps with that in the library to a certain extent, but the focus is on the theories about and ecology of whole groups of dinosaurs and their surrounding environment. This is the place to find extinction theories, myths, movie clips, references, and the physiography of the specific periods. In both the library and the conservatory, the child explores and gathers information by clicking objects on the screen to open new text and graphics areas.

The games (in three increasingly challenging modules) ask questions about dinosaurs, and correct answers are rewarded with a puzzle piece added to a blank puzzle in one corner. (The child chooses yes or no to the question by clicking one of two cartoon dinosaurs; one is nodding, and the other shaking its head.) Answers to all of the game questions can be found somewhere in either the library or conservatory.

Adults are not always qualified to review a kid's program, so I got some assistance from two younger members of the household and a friend of theirs.  The older child (age 11) felt it was too easy and probably designed for littler kids, but she thoroughly explored the movie clips and played the trivia game for quite awhile before professing to lose interest. The younger children (both age 9) played with it for several hours without either frustration or boredom (although they were impatient with the fade-ins between screens, which take about five seconds apiece). Two of the children were delighted to find some discrepancies between the information in the program and the alleged facts in the movie Jurassic Park. The 3-D glasses, usable on certain labeled screens, elicited the most excitement - they are just cardboard, and rather flimsy, but they do the job. The reading level is pretty high, so the most interested audience is probably somewhere between the second and sixth grade.

I did have trouble with the sound - okay, I usually have trouble with the sound, at least for a while - and this time it was not fixable. Dinosaur Museum supports a sound card, but apparently not mine (an Ensoniq Soundscape that emulates SoundBlaster), and the manual was useless. There is no way to choose a particular card or find out where the program is trying to access the sound files. In short, there is no way to troubleshoot it.

The telephone support is not much help either. They cheerfully informed me that my sound card must be the culprit, it probably needed new drivers, and I should contact the manufacturer. I downloaded the latest set of drivers and installed them, but the problem remained. Fortunately, every sound error message asks whether you want to see any more error messages or not; just say no and you can use the program silently without further interruption. Ordinarily that would be a severe criticism, but in this case the program is so reasonably priced and well designed that it's worth a serious look even without the sound.

Note: The original publisher of Dinosaur Museum was Software Marketing Corporation in Arizona. It is now published by SoftKey International, so the phone numbers and address are different from those listed in the user's manual.

Smithsonian Institution Dinosaur Museum

Published by: SoftKey International

Telephone (new): (617) 494-1200

Technical Support (new): (404) 428-0008

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TIME RIDERS IN AMERICAN HISTORY

Reviewed by Timothy W. Cook

This is a game the whole family will enjoy. It can best be described as an adventure in American History. Each player takes on the task of team leader. Your mission is to correct errors in the history being broadcast over the Telenews Communications Satellite. It seems that Dr. Thanatopsis Dread has taken over the news satellite and is changing various facts about history to suit his own needs. The Benefactor is busily looking for parts to build a rocket so that he can regain control of the satellite. In the mean time you must use various tools to discover the errors, correct them and upload the real facts before the broadcasts take place.

Once you accept your mission, you'll pick up a communicator from your locker. Then you meet your team members, Amanda, Josh and KAT ( Knowledge Access Terminal ). Each team member has special qualifications to provide you with needed information and will help you operate some of the equipment available. In addition to the communicator there are six other devices to assist you in your search for the true historic facts. There are various machines to help with geographical locations, probable time of events and KAT can even travel back into time and interview historic personalities for you.

In true "The Learning Center" style this program is so much fun I almost forgot it is educational as well. The structure of the program emphasizes making decisions based on what is important and what is most likely to have an effect on an event. The period covered is from 1492 to 1902. Throughout this period there are various divisions that the player must place in proper perspective based on known facts.  In addition to time discrimination, geography is another key element to determine whether or not the news story is correct. Much of the information is drawn from newspapers, original works, speeches and poems.

Installation went without a hitch. Operation with both a mouse and the keyboard works well. I do highly recommend reading the entire users guide. Besides operating tips there is good information for parents tucked inside the story line.

The program is recommended for ages 10 - Adult, and I concur. Hardware requirements are stated as: 8086 - 8Mhz or higher, color monitor, (VGA recommended), DOS 3.0 or greater and at least 3MB of free disk space. Optionally a mouse and sound card are supported. Suggested Retail Price is $59.95 but this two year old edition has been seen for under $40.00. At that price it's a steal.

The Learning Center

6493 Kaiser Drive

Fremont, Ca. 94555

(800) 852-2255

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Internet How To
INTERNET HOW-TO

Reviewed By: Chip Cox

The Waite Groups INTERNET HOW-TO by Harry Henderson is an internet survival guide for UNIX shell account users. For those of you who do not know what I am talking about when I refer to a shell account, a shell account is an account on any system which after logging in leaves you at the operating system prompt (DOS prompt, UNIX $  etc). Today there are several alternatives to this type of account in the form of X windows systems for UNIX users and Microsoft Windows systems for DOS users. Each of these offers a graphical user interface to the internet.

The INTERNET HOW-TO guide is written in a unique "Q&A" format. All of the topics are listed in the table of contents. Each section consists of five sections, Problem, Technique, Steps, How it works, and Comment. The five sections are pretty much self explanatory and remind me of my Statics and Dynamics courses in Engineering. The first step to resolving a problem is to identify the problem. The next step is to decide upon the technique to use to resolve the problem. Next you detail the steps to resolve the problem as indicated by the technique. A welcome addition to the standard engineering formula for problem solving is the "How it works" section. Here we get a brief easy to understand description of what the steps section actually accomplished. Finally, the comment section describes additional features and limitations of the selected technique.

This format allows in depth coverage of some of  the programs used to resolve problems on the internet. However there are a couple of drawbacks and things to note about this format. First, this is not a book to site down and read in bed. This book is for those impatient souls who get into their shell account and then say "what do I do now?" This book and format will be very helpful for those users. Due to the nature of a shell account, only command line systems are presented here. None of the newer graphical easy to use windows based packages are discussed. Finally for any given problem only one system is discussed for resolving it. Granted the resolution usually involves packages almost certain to be on any system connected to the Internet. However, as an example when discussing Usenet news readers the discussion revolves around the "nn" news reader. This is a full featured package available on most UNIX systems. I, however, use "tin", a menu based Usenet news reading package.

In conclusion, if you are looking for good bedtime reading this probably is not the book for you. If you have gotten a shell account and do not know what to do with it, this is the book for you. It is full of useful information in an easy to access, use and understand format. I wish I had reviewed it last year when I got my shell account and had to learn to stumble around in it. INTERNET HOW-TO is probably available in your local bookstore. If not they can probably order it for you or you can contact the Waite Group at the address below. I am sure they can help. It has a list price of $34.95 US funds or $48.95 in Canada.

The Waite Group

200 Tamal Plaza

Corte Madera, CA 94925

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Simple Internet Book
Simple Internet -- The Book

Reviewed by Nathan Kay

Internet books seem to be the current 'fad' in computer oriented bookstores these days. Sometimes, it seems that just trying to pick a good book to learn about the Internet from is as hard as learning how to 'surf' the Internet itself!  My faith in the printing press has been restored recently by a book titled merely, Simple Internet.

I must admit, Simple Internet was not quite what I was excepting it to be. Simple Internet is written in the style of  'private eye' fiction novels. The book stars the private eye, Archie Finger (named after two Internet programs), who has been hired to track down a missing man.

As the plot opens, Archie's only clues are a mysterious Internet address, and a highly technical book about the Internet. With the help of his loyal friend Veronica (also named after an Internet program) and several other helpful people, Archie must explore the vast world of the Internet, finding hidden clues buried in the many parts of the Internet.

From finding and signing up with an Internet provider to using the most advanced programs on the Internet, I watched with wonder as I looked over Archie's shoulder while he learned. And as I watched him learn, I saw him review things he's learned, giving clear-cut, simple explanations of how to do things. There's almost never an explanation of exactly how the Internet manages to work, in technical detail. Rather, through Archie, I got the low-down of to make the best use of the Internet, regardless of the complex mathematics and strange theories that make it all run.

Archie seems to like drawing neat little diagrams that make it easy to visualize what's going on just enough to be able to make good use of the Internet programs. Several times, this helped me get a grip on what was going on.

Simple Internet isn't joking in it's name. The whole point of the book is that it is simple. I didn't need a degree in computer science, or mathematics to understand and learn how to use the Internet, just a few free hours and a willingness to enjoy the humor, while not taking the fictional plot of the book too seriously. Simple Internet may be fiction, but it's fiction that is used to teach, not to entertain (though, several times, I had to put down the book because I was laughing so hard!).

In the first chapter, Archie and the reader are introduced the mystery of the missing man who leaves only the cryptic 'owner@super.geeks.com' address as a clue, as well as being introduced to the concept of the Internet and what it is. He also gives good ideas about how to find an Internet provider in your area. From there, it's a fun, easy, and insightful journey though the Internet. In spite of myself, I learned more about the Internet reading this book than any technical document I've seen.

While reading, I was worried that once I had finished reading a chapter, I'd have problems remembering where FTP or something else had been discussed, but one glance at the last few pages set that worry to rest, for a very complete and well organized index is included, making finding a discussion of any given program easy to find again.

Expect to laugh, smile, and learn while reading Simple Internet!

Simple Internet sells for $16.95 in the USA, and $23.95 in Canada.

The minimum system for this book is any computer with a terminal emulation program and a modem.

Waite Group Press

200 Tamal Plaza

Corte Madera, CA  94925

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WinZip
WinZip 5.5

Reviewed by Patrick Grote

One of the most frustrating processes any new user to communications with a modem goes through is downloading, receiving, files from a BBS or on-line service to their PC. We have entered an age with protocols like Zmodem and CISB+ where the transfer of the files can happen automatically with no user input necessary. Unfortunately, that is where ease of use stops and massive confusion sets in.

Once the user has the file they downloaded on their local PC what do they do with it? If the file is like 90% of those you'll download for the IBM platform, it will be ZIPPED. What is a ZIPPED file? It's a file that has an extension of .ZIP and has been compressed by the market leading compression program, PKZIP by PKWare.

If the user is lucky enough to figure out/understand that you need to uncompress the file before using it, they will always have a tough time understanding the concept behind PKUNZIP and its friend PKZIP. This is where WinZip steps in.

WinZip is a utility that brings the convenience of the Windows environment to the use of PKZIP/PKZUNIP. The end user, after installing WinZip, doesn't need to know anything about the command associated with PKZIP or PKUNZIP. All they have to do is click on a ZIP file through File Manager or click on the WinZip icon.

When you have clicked on a ZIP file you want to look at, WinZip displays a listing of files inside the ZIP file. This is where WinZip shines. From this main menu you have complete control of the ZIP file. You can simply extract the files or add to the archive. WinZip adds much more ability to your ZIP environment. The following just touches on it's ability:

Install/Uninstall: WinZip includes a built in installation feature. Let's say you download a program from a BBS or on-line service. You think it is what you are looking for, but you just can't be sure. With WinZip you can easily install the program into your Windows environment, run it, check it out, then have WinZip uninstall the program for you! Amazing! This feature works only with programs that have an INSTALL or SETUP program. Before you get all bummed out look at this . . .

CheckOut Facility: WinZip will closely watch a program that doesn't have a formal INSTALL or SETUP routine, so you can install and uninstall these programs as well!

Built-In ZIP Support: WinZip has built-in ZIP and UNZIP support, so for standard functions such as creating an archive, unzipping an archive, etc. you don't even need PKZIP/PKUNZIP on your hard drive! For the more advanced features such as drive spanning, WinZip will allow you to do this if you have PKZIP/PKUNZIP installed.

Virus Checking: If you have one of the popular virus checking software packages installed, WinZip will use this to scan each ZIP file you manipulate.

ARJ and LHA Support: Some compressed files are compressed with ARJ or LHA. WinZip supports these formats when the ARJ and LHA programs are available.

Getting WinZip is as easy as using it! You can download a shareware version to try before you buy. I suggest buying it right off the bat! You can do this by credit card, mail and even on-line with CompuServe.

WinZip is a utility that no computer user should be without. It takes the headaches of dealing with ZIP and other compressed files away from the user!

NicoMako Computing, Inc.

POB 919

Bristol, CT  06011-0919

Orders: (800) 2424-PSL

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The Complete Small Business Guide
The Complete Small Business Legal Guide

Reviewed by Patrick Grote

The wave of the future is small business. As more and more people are cast aside by the traditional corporate model, many people will band together to form more and more small businesses.

The disappointment many people will feel when joining a small business is the lack of resources typically available to a corporate employee. The lack of resources is very evident in legal matters.

Your typical corporation will have a full blown legal staff ready to handle any legal situation or problem that arises. The legal department is always involved in corporate decisions. Everything from contracts with vendors to employee manuals. Even for a market research document, the legal department should be involved.

The Complete Small Business Legal Guide by Robert Friedman is your guide through the maze of legal obstacles you will face in a small business. With over 18 chapters of forms and advice, the book is sized slightly larger than 8.5x11, which makes copying the forms enclosed in the book very easy.

Chapters cover a range of subjects from small business start up tasks to protecting your small business in case of a partner's death. Incredibly, the text is well laid out in two column fashion allowing for easy highlighting and note taking.

Almost every chapter includes a hint/tips section at the end that explains when you need to use certain forms. This is a very good summary for some of the larger chapters.

The book has a few downsides in its entirety. The chapter of dealing with the federal government via the IRS is a little skimpy. Understanding that some forms change on a yearly basis, this is understandable, but you would expect a little more hand holding regarding how to fill out the general forms that will always be available.

Another area that could be improved is in form layout. Sometimes it is hard to distinguish between a form and the book text. Had the forms been perforated or labeled from the bottom or top, the reader wouldn't have had a hard time distinguishing.

The last improvement that could be made is to make the forms available on diskette. With the advent of the personal computer this is a requirement. You can easily make the text forms available in TXT or WordPerfect files and the graphic files can be saved as TIFF files. This way users with IBM compatibles, Macintoshes or PowerPCs can read the forms.

The book does distinguish itself from the rest of the "self-help" business type books by being well documented and thorough. It is very rare to see a book on this subject matter so meticulously documented on each form.

If you are in business for yourself or are part of a small business, you owe it to yourself to purchase a copy of The Small Business Legal Guide today!

Enterprise Dearborn

520 North Dearborn Street

Chicago, IL 60610-4354

(800) 982-2850

Author: Robert Friedman

ISBN: 0-79310-548-X

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Multimedia ToolBook
Multimedia ToolBook 3.0

review by

Roger W. Klein

Multimedia ToolBook 3.0 is a complete Multimedia authoring system for Microsoft Windows. The package includes everything you need to create striking applications for home or business. With the tools provided in Multimedia ToolBook 3.0 you have the ability to develop interactive courseware for education and training, information kiosks, CD-ROM titles and much more. The product is more powerful and at the same time easier to use than earlier versions.

Using Multimedia ToolBook 3.0 to create custom Windows applications you can organize information intuitively using Multimedia ToolBook's book metaphor. You can also create some extremely rich user interfaces by utilizing the full range of controls provided, including graphic buttons, 3D-style objects, dialog boxes, tool bars, drag-and-drop, and object linking and embedding (OLE). You can even link related information using hypertext and hypermedia capabilities.

Simple, yet sophisticated multimedia is standard with Multimedia ToolBook 3.0.  Organizing media clips using the Clip Manager is an easy way to improve efficiency and make sure your clips are always at your finger tips. Controlling media is easy with the simple, built-in commands and objects. Add transition effects and volume control. Animating objects can even be accomplished without scripting! These and many more features make this "the" application for manipulating multimedia objects.

Powerful text handling is also an important feature with any development application and of course Multimedia ToolBook 3.0 has it. You can format your text with word processor-like control of font, style, color, on-line graphics, superscript, subscript, and more. Enable full-text and keyword searching for instant access to every word in your application. Utilize text tools such as spelling checker, embedded TrueType fonts, and rich-text format (RTF) information exchange.

The author-friendly visual environment of Multimedia ToolBook 3.0 makes it easy to build applications without scripting using a powerful feature called Auto-Script. Productivity is maximized using authoring tools such as right-click menus and the Properties Browser. Developing sophisticated applications is made easy by using   OpenScript a robust and easy-to-use object oriented programming language. Edit graphics, wave audio files, and menu bars seamlessly with integrated editing tools. Build database front-ends with integrated dBase III and Paradox engines.

Comprehensive learning aids help to learn Multimedia Tool Book using a interactive on-line tutorial and over 20 sample applications. You can even get answers as you work from the extensive on-line Help system.

If you want to use Multimedia ToolBook 3.0 for Professional distribution you can do so with the royalty-free runtime files, media packager, and professional installation utility. There is even the ability to take advantage of advanced CD-ROM optimization for best performance when CD authoring.

With all these wonderful features Asymetrix was generous enough to include their Digital Video Producer! This application provides the user with built-in video capture, intuitive timeline, animated titles, bitmaps, and video overlays. Special effects can even be added to video such as transitions and video filters.

If you want to get into the world of multimedia application development, Multimedia ToolBook 3.0 is a full function, feature rich application that can provide the tools needed for just about any task. The features found in Multimedia ToolBook 3.0 are those usually only available to a multimedia professional.

System	- Microsoft Windows 3.1 or later

Requirements:	- 80386 or higher processor

- 15 to 30MB of free disk space, depending on

   the options you choose during setup

- 6MB of random-access memory (RAM); 8MB or more is

   recommended

- VGA, Super VGA or other Windows Compatible card

- Windows-compatible mouse or other pointing device

- CD-ROM drive

- Sound card (optional)

Asymetrix

110 - 110th Avenue NE

Suite 700

Bellevue, WA  98004-5840

(800) 454-7126

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TimeLine for Windows
TimeLine for Windows 6.0

review by

Roger W. Klein

"Project Management Gets Real" is the claim made by Symantec regarding the new Timeline for Windows 6.0. In my opinion their claim is well founded. Timeline provides a powerful, flexible model that accurately mirrors the real world and the way groups work. It requires less training than competing products, thanks to a unique Point and Plan interface and customizable front and back ends. The open architecture of Timeline connects with your business and accurately reflects today's realities.

Powerful Multiproject Planning is one of the features of Timeline that combines sophisticated features with an environment that makes all its power and information instantly accessible. Convenient graphic tools make it easy to build and revise schedules and to assign and coordinate resources, dependencies, and due dates across multiple projects. Multiple views allow you to see many aspects of a complex model simultaneously.

With Timeline for Windows 6.0 you can build a real-world model that allows for the variables and fine points of your business. This provides you the ability to ramp  up to meet deadlines, or accounting for costs that change over time. You can allocate resources more accurately and efficiently, plan more realistic schedules, and create more accurate budgets.

The included Guide Line software lets you generate project schedules just by answering a series of questions and the Guide Maker add-on lets you create custom "guides" for any business situation. Timeline also includes a powerful report engine with over 30 prebuilt, mail-enabled, exportable reports with WYSIWYG (what you see is what you get) preview. And the Report Maker add-on lets you graphically create custom reports that access Timeline and other databases.

Timeline has been re-engineered to serve as the foundation for a new generation of project management software based on a client/server strategy. Its open architecture links seamlessly with your other business software. Client applications created with an ODBC-compliant tool or language, like Visual Basic, can access Timeline data directly. Similarly, users can view or update data with familiar programs like Excel or 1-2-3. You can incorporate more information, eliminate redundant data entry, and integrate project planning.

Timeline features a multitude of features that make planning your projects quickly and accurately a breeze. Some of the Multi-Project capabilities supported are the OverView window, the multiple project outline structure, multiple project resource leveling, cross-project links and project-specific or shared resources.

Enterprise-wide Open Connectivity is also supported in Timeline for Windows 6.0. Including: full ODBC/SQL support, OLE client/server links, Microsoft Project read or write, network file locking protection and read or write password capabilities.

Building a sophisticated project model with Timeline for Windows 6.0 is aided by the effort-based scheduling, required and interchangeable resources, macro capabilities, shift scheduling, custom calculated columns, parameterized resource contouring, varying resource availability and costs, individual resource calendars and scrollable histograms and cost graphs.

Timeline for Windows 6.0 makes comprehensive reporting a snap by providing more than 30 built-in mail-enabled reports, including Status, Assignment, Notes, and Cost and Effort.  The Autoscale printing makes your output look as good as it actually is and you can even see what it will look like before you print it with the WYSIWYG print preview. A monthly calendar report can be printed as well as Gantt, PERT, time-scaled PERT, and cross tab graphical reports.

If you need to manage projects and do it in the most efficient way, you need Timeline for Windows 6.0. Timeline not only helps you manage your projects but provides you with the high quality output you need to present your project to your management or work associates. Timeline is the most feature packed project management tool available today. Symantec is so sure that you will like Timeline for Windows 6.0 that they even offer a full 6O-DAY MONEY-BACK GUARANTEE if you are dissatisfied with the product.

System requirements:	- IBM PC using 80386 or higher microprocessor 100% compatible

- 4 MB RAM/8 MB recommended

- VGA display adapter or higher resolution

- Hard disk drive, floppy drive

- DOS 3.3 or later

- Windows 3.1 or later in enhanced mode

- Windows compatible mouse

- Supports networks compatible with Windows 3.1 or later

Symantec

10201 Torre Avenue

Cupertino, CA  95014

(408) 253-9600

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Return to ZORK

review by

Roger W. Klein

"According to the myth, the Great Underground Empire of Zork was destroyed and all evil magic was dispersed. But now, the IT&L Corporation claims to have discovered the mythical dark recesses beneath the Valley of the Sparrows. Since their discovery, nightmares have become common. People have vanished. Buildings have disappeared. And you, the unwitting traveler, must save the underground empire from the forces of evil."

So the adventure begins - picking up where the highly acclaimed text based Zork adventures left off. For all of you adventure fans out there, Return to Zork is a far cry from those early adventures! Granted, the original Zork's were some of the best adventures available, but Return to Zork is a full featured multimedia adventure.

As in the original adventures you'll need to call on your imagination to solve this mystery. The big difference is that the atmosphere has now been enhanced with all the sights and sounds of a top-notch multimedia interface. Return to Zork is mouse driven and features a cast of Hollywood stars, over one hour of spoken dialogue, over 180 original compositions, and one challenging puzzle after another!

Return to Zork is a mesmerizing interactive adventure of danger, intrigue and cunning. Through a revolutionary interface you'll quickly and easily master complex interactions. Choose your conversational tone, from threatening to friendly, to obtain different responses from the characters that you'll meet along the way. You can even take snapshots and tape conservation's to call upon when needed to solve a puzzle.

Return to Zork will appeal to novice and experienced adventurers alike. Once you start trying to solve this mystery you'll be hooked (as in all of the Zork adventures). The only way out is to call on every bit of resourcefulness you've got and conquer the forces of evil!

System	- 80386 Compatible running at 25Mhz or greater

Requirements:	- VGA

- Sound Card

- 4MB RAM

- DOS 5.0 or higher

- 600K free RAM

INFOCOM

An Activision Company

P.O. Box 67001

Los Angeles, CA   90067

(310) 473-9200

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UNiNSTALLER for Windows 2.0

review by

Roger W. Klein

Finally, an application that does windows! Or to be more exact - cleans Windows! Everyone knows the story, you install a new Windows app and it ends up all over the place. Changing whatever it wants, hanging out wherever. You couldn't get rid of it - even if you tried.

Well at least until now. UNiNSTALLER for Windows 2.0 is the best thing to come along since "Rent-a-Maid"! If you've installed a Windows app and have decided that you don't want it anymore, you can now get rid of it, all of it. UNiNSTALLER will retrace all changes that the application's installation made to your Windows configuration and give you the ability to undo them. It even restores your "ini" (Window's initialization files) files to their previous state.

In addition to uninstalling apps UNiNSTALLER for Windows 2.0 has many other useful functions. The Undo Option is a safe and simple backup and restore feature just in case you accidentally uninstall something that you needed. The System Clean-Up completely clears your system of unwanted fonts, video drivers and other files Windows doesn't use. The Orphan Finder tracks down and removes the remnants of applications that were manually uninstalled the old way (before UNiNSTALLER came along!). The Duplicate File Finder finds and deletes duplicate files throughout your system.

If you're a Windows user, you need UNiNSTALLER for Windows 2.0. It's the best way to keep your Windows sparkling clean and running at peak performance. It's also a lot cheaper than having a maid come in once a week, if you can find one that does windows that is!

System	- Microsoft Windows 3.1 or later

Requirements:	- 3MB free disk space

- Minimum 2MB of RAM (4MB recommended)

MicroHelp, Inc.

4359 Shallowford Industrial Parkway

Marietta, GA  30066

(404) 516-0899

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LAN Escort
LAN Escort 3.00

Reviewed By Chip Cox

LAN Escort is a Windows based program that provides applications for managing  users, and applications.   LAN Escorts strongest point is probably its ability to maintain user's windows desktops and ini files either located on the network or on their local hard drive.   LAN Escort also comes with a couple of programs that can be used to simplify network printing and network program installation and execution by end users.

I had some initial problems during installation with an error message telling me I had an invalid serial number.   This was resolved by LANOVATIONs tech support department sending me a new set of disks.   Their technical support department was very helpful, competent and pleasant to deal with.   I received the same friendly support when I called back with an error caused by a rude windows INI file from another vendor.

I installed the program in about 5 minutes the next morning, after I received the new disks, on a Netware 3.12 Fileserver.   The installation only took about 3 megabytes of disk space.   I was eager to get started so I dove right in.   I began by opening each menu item.   The items seemed to be laid out in a logical order.   I created a new user, assigned it to groups and assigned trustee rights.   Users should note that LAN Escort does produce a user login script for your new users.   This will prevent the default login script from being executed.   I then went in and installed an application.   I told LAN Escort to make it available to my new user.   I went to another system and logged in as the new user.   I added the applist program from the escort directory.   This application gives you a list of all the programs currently available to the user.   Installation to your new desktop is as easy as dragging the Icon from the LAN Escort Programs window and dropping it in the window where you want it.   Trying to run the application I realized I needed to add the user to another group.   To do this I went back to the admin program and dragged the test user to the appropriate group and dropped him there.   I then logged back in on my test workstation as the test user and everything worked fine.   This is not to say that all installations will be this easy but this was far easier than old method requiring me to jump back and forth between DOS and windows at each user's workstation.   The only thing I didn't see in LAN Escort that would have been nice is the ability to associate a group with and application.   It would be nice to assign a program to a user or group and have all of the groups needed for that program automatically added to the users.   Maybe we will see that in LAN Escort 4.0.

The thing I think I was most impressed with about LAN Escort was its completeness.   For a network administrator here is a set of tools that not only makes installing applications easy, but it also gives you a set of windows utilities for managing your network that work!

LANOVATION

1313 5th St SE

Minneapolis MN  55414

(612) 379-3805

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WinINSTALL

Reviewed by Chip Cox

There are a couple of universal truths regarding the support of Microsoft Windows. No two users after using windows for one day will ever have identical INI files. Your hair if you have any left will go gray. While I don't believe that WinINSTALL can do anything to prevent hereditary hair loss or graying, it does have the potential to help. WinINSTALL is a windows software installation program designed to make a network administrators' life easier when installing applications to multiple workstations using Windows. I installed WinINSTALL on a Novell 3.12 fileserver. My administrators workstation was a 33 MHz 386 with 16 Meg of memory and my client workstation was a 25 MHz 386SX with 8 Meg of memory. Both workstations were running Windows 3.1. WinINSTALL took approximately 3 megabytes of disk space to install. Additional disk space will be required to hold configuration files for each application set up. Additional disk space may also be required to hold executable and data files to be copied to client workstations during application installation.

WinINSTALL lets the network administrator build a profile or DAT file which describes where files will be placed, modifications to various system files, and system requirements for installation on other workstations. These workstations can then select from a list of available applications that should be installed. From personal experience it is not fun upgrading even forty or fifty copies of a windows application around a company. With WinINSTALL you can specify all changes to INI, DAT and system files that need to be made during the installation process. You can also let WinINSTALL monitor the installation procedure and determine what changes need to be made based on the comparison between a before and after snapshot of your system. The DAT file made via this "discover" process can then be customized by editing the DAT file as if it were created using the manual method. On Demand Software put a lot of work into the details of this software. Even little things like highlighting the options that are applicable on the manual setup screens are a nice timesaving touch. I am not referring to enabling and disabling the options. All options are enabled but the ones that have been used and have information in them are shown in a different color. Some of the many manually configured options include setting installation and removal passwords, disk space checks, and system requirements (memory, CPU, video resolution, DOS version, Windows version).

I installed WinINSTALL without any problems from diskette to my Novell 3.12 fileserver. The documentation shipped with WinINSTALL is available both in hard copy and electronic form on the diskette. The documentation is well written and easy to understand. I took one look at the manual configuration screen and vowed never to come back to it unless I had to. I then tried the discovery option. This option took me through step by step in creating a before installation snap shot of relevant parts of my system. It then allowed me to install the application. I could leave WinINSTALL and windows, make changes to other things and these would be captured as well. Finally it worked through an after installation snapshot of my system. These two snapshots were then used to determine what hand changed due to the installation. I was then prompted for locations where to store the files and system change information for later use in installing on other systems. This should probably be an area accessible to all users. After about 10 minutes, I was done. I had created a DAT file for use in installing the application. I then decided to tempt fate and went back into the manual entry screen. I started to look at some of the options and found that the on-screen help messages coupled with the information now available from my applications was enough to help me understand what was going on (I later read the documentation and confirmed most of my ideas). I added messages to be displayed during the install and set the reset option to restart windows after I was done. With the application I was installing this was not necessary since there were not any changes to the win or system INI files but it was nice to see you could configure WinINSTALL to do it if you wanted to. Finally I went to another PC started windows and tried the installation I had just configured. It worked smoothly and cleanly. The applications worked correctly after installation.

In conclusion I have to say that I like WinINSTALL. It can correctly interpret and modify INI files and other system files. I believe that it would pay for itself by the timesaving it can produce the next time you have a new product to install or upgrade. WinINSTALL won't stop hereditary graying or hair loss but may help postpone it.

WinINSTALL

On Demand Software

1100 5th Ave S Suite 208

Naples FL 33940

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Upgrading your 486
How To Upgrade Your 486 CPU

By Don Pellegrino (don.pellegrino@dewdrop.com)

If you need more speed for math, complex processing, or just need better  performance overall, you should consider upgrading your Central Processing Unit (CPU). Because of the significance and complexity of your CPU, you must consider many factors when upgrading. Brand name, speed, compatibility, and price must all be taken into account. Because of the variety of motherboards and processors out there, this article has been specifically written in the interest of the 80486 user.

PRICE IS ALWAYS THERE

When upgrading, no less than double the power is recommended. A 25 MHz to 33 MHz upgrade would not be worth the cost and trouble, especially considering the rate at which technology is evolving. You should look past you current needs and more at your budget. Get the best that you can afford now and it will be cheaper and more effective in the long run. If the applications you are running now are working at a comfortable rate there is no reason to upgrade. Remember, "Don't fix it if it ain't broken."  If you wait until things slow down you will be able to take a bigger jump at a lower price. If you find yourself getting a bite to eat between program execution a CPU upgrade is the most effective upgrade you can perform.

GENERIC CHIPS?

Intel, Cyrix, and AMD (Advanced Micro Devices) are the three major producers of processors. Intel was one of the first developers of the CPU. They had a monopoly on production until they were challenged on the copyright of a number (80486). Since then, Cyrix and AMD have been producing processors based on the 8086 command set. Intel however, is the only producer of the Pentium processor.

Intel has greater customer loyalty and their processors are considered to be of slightly higher quality. You have probably heard the "Intel Inside" slogan. Intel is trying to gain business through advertisement and customer support. If you were to get a faulty CPU from Intel you would probably have an easier time getting it replaced.

Cyrix and AMD are just as reliable as Intel and totally compatible. They simply don't do as much advertising. Cyrix and AMD processors are usually twenty to thirty dollars cheaper. I recommend a Cyrix or AMD CPU. You may need to buy a CPU fan (about eight dollars) to get the few extra clock ticks the Intel equivalent provides, but, you will still save money with a Cyrix or AMD.

THE NEED FOR . . .

The speed that you upgrade to is relative to your current speed. If you are slowing at 50 MHz an upgrade to 66 MHz is not going to make that much of a difference. You need to be looking at DX4100 and Pentium technology. If 25 MHz is your bottleneck then 66 MHz would be appropriate. 33 MHz to 100 MHz would be useful as well.

When you upgrade the CPU, don't forget about the crystal. Most motherboards come with a removable thumbnail sized box that determines the speed at which your video and IO will operate. A 66 MHz CPU with a 25 MHz crystal is going to run at 50 MHz. Crystals will be discussed further in the compatibility section.

Your 80486 motherboard will probably operate at one of the following speeds: 25, 33, or 50 MHz. Processors come in SX, DX, DX2, and DX4 variations of those speeds. An SX extension means that the CPU comes without a built-in coprocessor. A DX extension means that the CPU comes with a built in math coprocessor. A DX2 is a DX that internally runs at twice the speed. A DX4 internally runs four times faster than a DX but the motherboard and IO still run at DX speed. A DX4100 will calculate at 100 MHz but video and BUS access will still operate 25 Mhz.

CAN THEY TALK?

Most 486 and all Pentium motherboards come equipped with a ZIF (Zero Insertion Force) socket. The ZIF allows you to remove the current CPU, whereas the earlier systems came with the CPU soldered into the motherboard. You must have a ZIF socket to upgrade your CPU.

Your new CPU may or may not be compatible with your current motherboard. Compatibility is usually determined by the crystal installed. Every motherboard uses a crystal, either soldered in, like most Tandy computers, or removable, as in most systems.

If your crystal is soldered in, you can only upgrade to a processor that is compatible with that crystal. A motherboard with a 50 MHz crystal cannot be upgraded without changing the crystal. A new crystal of any speed will cost around ten dollars and is probably available from the same dealer who sold the CPU.

WHERE TO TURN

This article was written to advise on upgrading a 486 CPU. It was written in an easy to understand manner that will give you all of the information you should need to decide on an upgrade. No less than an encyclopedia sized document could present enough information to cover the entire spectrum of technology surrounding the microprocessor. If you would like more information on microprocessors, you should give Intel's Fax Back service a try. The number is 18005253019. Intel Customer Support could also be very useful (18005383373). Don't stop there however, book stores, libraries, and on-line resources also abound with information on this topic.


Internet via Email
Accessing The Internet By E-Mail

A Special "Doctor Bob" Report

Copyright (c) 1994, "Doctor Bob" Rankin

All rights reserved. Permission is granted to repost this document in complete and unaltered form only.

 HOW TO ACCESS INTERNET SERVICES BY E-MAIL

 	If your only access to the Internet is via e-mail, you don't have to miss out on all the fun! Maybe you've heard of FTP, Gopher, Archie, Veronica, and WAIS, but thought they were out of your reach because your online service does not provide those tools. Not so! And even if you do have full Internet access, using E-mail servers can save you time and money.

This special report will show you how to retrieve files from FTP sites, explore the Internet via Gopher, search for information with Archie or Veronica and query hundreds of WAIS databases using E-MAIL AS YOUR ONLY TOOL.

If you can send a note to an Internet address, you're in the game! This is great news for users of popular online services such as CompuServe, Prodigy and America Online where there is partial or no direct Internet access.

I encourage you to read this entire report first and then go back and try out the techniques that are covered. This way, you will gain a broader perspective of the information resources that are available, an introduction to the tools you can work with, and the best methods for finding the information you want.

A SHORT ASIDE... "WHAT IS THE INTERNET?"

Many introductory texts on the Internet go into excruciating detail on the history, composition and protocol of the Internet. If you were looking for that you won't find it here, because this is a "how to" lesson, not a history book.

When you buy a new car, they don't make you read "The Life and Times of Henry Ford" before you can turn the top down & squeal off the lot. And when you get a new computer, nobody forces you to read a text on logic design before you fire up Leisure Suit Larry or WordPerfect.

So if you're the type that wants to short-circuit the preliminaries and just dig in, you've come to the right place. I'm not going to bore you with the gory details. Instead, I'll just offer up my Reader's Digest condensed definition of the Internet, and encourage you to read more about the Internet in one of the many fine Internet books & guides listed in the Appendix. Some of them are even free, and accessible directly from the Internet!

Internet (noun)  - A sprawling collection of computer networks that spans the globe, connecting government, military, educational & commercial institutions, as well as private citizens to a wide range of computer services, resources, and information. A set of network conventions and common tools are employed to give the appearance of a single large network, even though the computers that are linked together use many different hardware and software platforms.

FTP BY E-MAIL

FTP stands for "file transfer protocol", and is a means of accessing files that are stored on remote computer systems. Files are stored in a hierarchical "tree" of directories, each of which pertains to a different subject. Using FTP by e-mail can be nice even for those with full Internet access, because some FTP servers are heavily loaded and interactive response can be very sluggish. So it makes sense not to waste time and connect charges in these cases.

To access FTP by e-mail, you first need a list of FTP "sites" which are the addresses of the remote computer systems that allow you to retrieve files anonymously (with having a userid and password on that system). To get this list, send an e-mail note to:

              mail-server@rtfm.mit.edu

without a subject and include these lines in the body of the note.

        send usenet/news.answers/ftp-list/sitelist/part1

        send usenet/news.answers/ftp-list/sitelist/part2

        send usenet/news.answers/ftp-list/sitelist/part3

        send usenet/news.answers/ftp-list/sitelist/part4

        send usenet/news.answers/ftp-list/sitelist/part5

        send usenet/news.answers/ftp-list/sitelist/part6

        send usenet/news.answers/ftp-list/sitelist/part7

        send usenet/news.answers/ftp-list/sitelist/part8

You will then receive (by e-mail) 8 files which comprise the "FTP Site List". Print them out or store them in a place where you can reference the list handily. Another file you might want to retrieve is "FTP Frequently Asked Questions", so add this line to your note as well. This file contains lots more info on using FTP services.

           send usenet/news.answers/ftp-list/faq

   If you find an interesting FTP site in the list, send e-mail to one of these addresses (in order of preference):

              bitftp@pucc.princeton.edu

              ftpmail@sunsite.unc.edu

              ftpmail@decwrl.dec.com

   And in the body of the note, include these lines:

               open <name of site>

               dir

               quit

This will return to you a list of the files stored in the root directory at that site. In your next mail message you can navigate to other directories by inserting (for example)

                   cd pub

before the dir command. ("pub" is a common directory name, and usually a good place to start.) Once you determine the name of a file you want to retrieve, use

                get <name of file>

in your note instead of the dir command. If the file you want to retrieve is plain text, this will suffice. If it's a binary file (a program, etc.) you'll need to insert the binary command in your note before the get command.

So to summarize, here's the e-mail message you would send to the address "bitftp@pucc.princeton.edu" in order to retrieve the text of The Declaration of Independence from a remote FTP site:

                open ftp.eff.org

                cd pub/CAF/civics

                get dec_of_ind

                quit

   Some other interesting FTP sites you may want to "visit" are listed below:

ocf.berkeley.edu	try: pub/Library for documents, bible, lyrics, etc.

rtfm.mit.edu	try: pub/usenet/news.answers for USENET FAQs & archives

oak.oakland.edu	try: pub/msdos for a huge DOS software library

ftp.sura.net	try: pub/nic for Internet how-to documents

quartz.rutgers.edu 	try: pub/humor for lots of humor files

You should note that FTP mail servers tend to be quite busy so your reply may not arrive for several minutes, hours, or days, depending on when and where you send your request. Also, some large files may be split into smaller pieces and returned to you as multiple messages.

If the file that is returned to you ends up looking something like what you see below, (the word "begin" with a number and the filename on one line, followed by a bunch of 61-character lines) it has been uuencoded by the sender. You'll need to scrounge up a version of the uudecode program for your operating system (UNIX, DOS, OS/2, VM, etc.) in order to unscramble the file. Most likely you'll find a copy in your service provider's download library.

     begin 001 sample.zip

     M4$L#!`H`!#`&`/6H?18<$-Z$F#P```#?```,````5$5,25@S,34N5%A480I[

     M!P8;!KL,2P,)!PL)"PD'%#<(!#4&!P8%-#<6%PL*!#@*"P4&%00&%P4*"`4&

     M%08*)08(!Q#*!PH("P<+!"4$)00*!@0%%`4)-`<&%PD:*_S\_/O[^PP++`LL

Another point to consider... If your online service charges you to store e-mail files that are sent to you and you plan to receive some large files via FTP, it would be wise to handle your "inbasket" expeditiously to avoid storage costs!

ARCHIE BY E-MAIL

Let's say you know the name of a file, but you have no idea at which what FTP site it might be lurking. Or maybe you're curious to know if a file matching a certain naming criteria is available via FTP. Archie is the tool you can use to find out!

Archie servers can be thought of as a database of all the anonymous FTP sites in the world, allowing you to find the site and/or name of a file to be retrieved. And using Archie by e-mail can be convenient because some Archie searches take a while to complete, leaving you to tap your toes in the meantime.

To use Archie by e-mail, simply send an e-mail message to one of the following addresses:

              archie@archie.unl.edu

              archie@archie.rutgers.edu

              archie@archie.internic.net

              archie@archie.sura.net

To obtain detailed help for using Archie by mail, put the word

                   help

in the subject of the note and just send it off. You'll receive e-mail explaining how to use archie services.

If you're the "just do it" type, then leave the subject blank and enter

                 find foo.bar

where "foo.bar" is the name of the file to search for, in the body (not the subject) of the note.

his will search for files that match your criteria exactly. If you want to find files that contain your search criteria anywhere in their name, insert the line set search sub   before the "find" command. Some other useful archie commands you might want to use are:

 	set maxhits 20      	limit amount of output , default 100 files

set match_domain usa   	(restrict output to FTP sites in USA)

set output_format terse 	(return output in condensed form)

When you get the results from your Archie query, it will contain the names of various sites at which the desired file is located. Use one of these site names and the exact filename listed for your next FTP file retrieval request.

Gopher By E-Mail

Gopher is an excellent tool for exploring the Internet and is the best way to find a resource if you know what you want, but not where to find it. A gopher system is menu-based, and provides a user-friendly "front-end" to Internet resources, searches and information retrieval.

Without a tool like Gopher, you'd have to wander aimlessly through the Internet jungles and swamps to find the treasures you seek. Gopher "knows where things are" and guides you to the good stuff.

Gopher takes the rough edges off of the Internet by automating remote logins, hiding the sometimes-cryptic command sequences, and offers powerful search capabilities in as well. And of course you can use Gopher by e-mail!

Although not every item on every menu will be accessible by "gopher mail", you'll still find plenty of interesting things using this technique. Down to brass tacks... let's send e-mail to one of these addresses: gopher@earn.net  or  gophermail@calvin.edu

Leave the subject blank, enter help in the body of the note, and let it rip. You'll soon receive by e-mail the text of the main menu at the gopher site you selected. To proceed to one of the selections on the menu just e-mail the whole text of the note (from the menu downwards) back to the gopher server, placing an "x" next to the items(s) you want to explore. You'll then receive the next level of the gopher menu by e-mail. Some menu choices lead to other menus, some lead to text files, and some lead to search facilities.

To perform a search, select that menu item with an "x" and supply your search words in the Subject: of your next reply. Note that your search criteria can be a single word or a boolean expression such as:

          document and (historical or government)

The each of the results (the "hits") of your search will be displayed as an entry on yet another gopher menu!

Just remember, you must return the entire gopher menu and all the routing info that follows it each time you reply to the gopher-mail server, marking your selection(s) with an "x", and specifying search words (if appropriate) in the Subject of the e-mail message.

VERONICA BY E-MAIL

Speaking of searches, this is a good time to mention Veronica. Just like Archie provides a searchable index of FTP sites, Veronica provides this function for "gopherspace". Veronica will ask you what you want to look for (your search words) and then display another menu listing all the gopher menu items that match your search. In typical gopher fashion, you can then select one of these items and "go-pher it"!

To try Veronica by e-mail, retrieve the main menu from gopher@earn.net using the method just described. Then try the choice labelled "Other Gopher and Information Servers". This menu will have an entry for Veronica.

You'll have to select one (or more) Veronica servers to handle your query,  specifying the search words in the Subject of your reply. Here's another example of where using e-mail servers can save time and money. Often the Veronica servers are very busy and tell you to "try again later". So select 2 or 3 servers, and chances are one of them will be able to handle your request the first time around.

WAIS Searches By E-Mail

WAIS stands for Wide Area Information Service, and is a means of  searching a set of over 500 indexed databases. The range of topics is too broad to mention, and besides, you'll soon learn how to get the topic list for yourself!

To try WAIS by e-mail, retrieve the main menu from gopher@earn.net using the method just described. Then try the choice labelled "Other Gopher and Information Servers". This menu will have an entry for "WAIS Based Information".

There are several paths to follow from here. You might choose one of:

List of all WAIS databases

WAIS databases sorted by letter

WAIS databases sorted by Subject

A good path for beginners would be the last entry, followed up by "Subject Tree". After 1 or 2 more levels you'll select the database you want to search, specifying the search words as before in the Subject of your reply.

Note: The path to some resources, files or databases can be a bit tedious, requiring several e-mail messages to the gopher-mail server. But here's the good news... If you've done it once, you can re-use any of the e-mail messages previously sent in, changing it to suit your current needs. (This applies to all gopher-mail services.)

USENET BY E-MAIL

Usenet is a collection of over 5000 discussion groups on every topic imaginable. In order to get a proper start and avoid embarrasing yourself needlessly, you must read the Usenet new users intro document, which can be obtained  by sending an e-mail note to mail-server@rtfm.mit.edu without a subject and including this line in the body of the note:

         send usenet/news.answers/news-newusers-intro

Once you've handled the preliminaries, you'll need to know to read and contribute to Usenet newsgroups by e-mail. To read a newsgroup, you will use the gophermail service discussed earlier in this guide.

Send the following file by e-mail to gophermail@Calvin.EDU (or another GopherMail Server) to obtain a list of recent postings to a particular newsgroup. (You must replace "<groupname>" below with the name of the Usenet  newsgroup  you  wish  to  access.  eg:  alt.answers, biz.comp.services, news.newusers.questions, etc.)

   ---start here---

     x 1. <groupname>/

You may edit the following two numbers to set the maximum sizes after which GopherMail should send output as multiple email messages:

Split=27K bytes/message <- For text, bin, HQX messages (0 = No split)

Menu=100 items/message <- For menus and query responses (0 = No split)

   #

   Name=<groupname>

   Numb=1

   Type=1

   Port=4320

   Path=news group <groupname>

   Host=saturn.wwc.edu

   ---end here---

he gophermail server will mail you a typical gopher menu on which you may select the individual postings you wish to read. If you decide to make a post of your own, mail the text you wish to post to:

           newsgroup.name.usenet@decwrl.dec.com

or example, to post to news.newusers.questions, you would send your message to news.newusers.questions.usenet@decwrl.dec.com. Be sure to include an appropriate Subject: line, and to include your real name and e-mail address at the close of your note.

A FEW NET-GOODIES

ere are some other interesting things you can do by e-mail. Some of them are accessible only by e-mail!

FINGER BY E-MAIL

"Finger" is a utility that returns information about another user. Usually it's just boring stuff like last logon, etc., but sometimes people put fun or useful information in their finger replies. To try out finger, send e-mail with

  Subject: FINGER jtchern@headcrash.berkeley.edu.

  To: infobot@infomania.com

You'll receive some current sports standings! (The general form is

FINGER user@site.)

WEBSTER BY E-MAIL

Don't have your dictionary handy? Send e-mail to infobot@infomania.com again, but this time make the subject WEBSTER TEST and you'll get a definition of the word "test" in reply.

ALMANAC, WEATHER & THE SWEDISH CHEF

Infomania offers a bunch of other services by e-mail! Almanac (daily updates), Weather, CD Music Catalog, etc. Send e-mail to infobot@infomania.com with subject HELP for full details.

CONGRESS email

Find out if your congressman has an electronic address! Just send mail to the address congress@hr.house.gov and you'll get a listing of congressional e-mail addresses.

MAILING LISTS

There are literally thousands of discussion groups that stay in touch using e-mail based  systems known as  "mailing lists". People interested in a topic "subscribe" to a "list" and then send & receive postings by e-mail. For a good introduction to this topic, send mail to listserv@vm1.nodak.edu with GET NEW-LIST WOUTERS as the first line.

USENET Searches

A new service at Stanford University makes it possible to search USENET newsgroups for postings that contain keywords of interest to you. You can even "subscribe" and receive a daily list of newsgroups posting  that  match  your  search  criteria.  Send  mail  to netnews@db.stanford.edu with no subject and help in the body of note for full details.

MOVIE Info

To learn how to get tons of info on movies, actors, directors, etc. send mail to movie@ibmpcug.co.uk with no subject and help in the body of note for full details.

STOCK MARKET

end  e-mail   with  subject  Stock   Market  Quotes  to martin.wong@eng.sun.com and you'll receive a stock market report. (updated daily)

SUGGESTED READING

There are lots of good books and guides to help you get started on the Internet, and here are some that I recommend. The first three are free via anonymous FTP, and the others can be found in most bookstores that carry computer-related books.

   "Zen and the Art of the Internet", by Brendan Kehoe

       Via ftp site: ftp.cs.widener.edu; directory: pub/zen

   "There's Gold in them thar Networks", by Jerry Martin

       Via ftp site: nic.ddn.mil; directory: rfc; filename: rfc1402.txt

   "Hitchhiker's Guide to the Internet", by Ed Krol

       Via ftp site: nic.ddn.mil; directory: rfc; filename: rfc1118.txt

   "The Whole Internet User's Guide and Catalog", by Ed Krol

      ISBN: 1-56592-063-5

       Price $24.95

   "The Big Dummy's Guide to the Internet", by Adam Gaffin

       Publisher: MIT Press

       ISBN: 0-262-57105-6

       Price: $14.95

   "The Internet for Dummies", by John Levine & Carol Baroudi

       Publisher: IDG Books

       ISBN: 1-56884-024-1

       Price: $19.95

CONTACTING THE AUTHOR

"Doctor Bob", also known as Bob Rankin, welcomes your feedback on this guide & can be reached at the following addresses. Send corrections, ideas, suggestions and comments by e-mail. I'll try to include any new e-mail services in future editions of this guide.

Delphi:	BobRankin@Delphi.com

AmericaOnline: 	BobRankin@AOL.com

US Mail:	Doctor Bob / PO Box 39 / Tillson, NY / 12486

"100 COOL THINGS TO DO ON THE INTERNET!"

Doctor Bob's Internet Tour Guide

Over 100 places you *must* visit in cyberspace

There's a goldmine of information, software and services out there just waiting to be discovered! It can be yours, but it ain't easy... That's why you MUST have this informative report which gives you the lowdown on:

* Online databases     	* Electronic Library Catalogs

* Shopping in Cyberspace  	* Job Postings

* Vast software libraries  	* ALL FREE!

You'll learn the basics of TELNETing, FTPing and GOPHERing to the information you want, with specific instructions and the "secret keys" you need to unlock all the doors on the way!

This information could save you money, hours of valuable time, or lead you to a new career. And best of all, THIS 12-PAGE REPORT COSTS ONLY $5.00 !!!

To get your printed copy of "100 COOL THINGS TO DO ON THE INTERNET!"   send just $5 (cash, check or money order) plus a self-addressed, stamped envelope to:

   --> DOCTOR BOB

   --> PO BOX 39, DEPT NL3

   --> TILLSON, NY 12486 (USA)


Graphical Shell Accounts
The World Wide Web from a Unix shell account

By Odd de Presno <opresno@extern.uio.no)

Until recently, if you wanted to use Mosaic for the World Wide Web, you needed a direct SLIP or PPP connection to the Internet. In many countries, such a connection costs a leg and an arm.

Now, you can also use Mosaic if you connect to the Internet through a Unix shell account. The administrators may not even notice that you do.

Having a shell account means that you can dial up and "remote control" a computer on Internet, called a "host," by entering commands on a Unix command line. Typical commands include ftp, telnet, and mail.

You must have write access to your own directory on the Unix host use the methods explained here.

Using a shell account, your personal computer is not actually directly 	connected to the Internet at all. Access to the network is through what is known as a "shell" (like Korn, Bourne, and C).

The opposite is true for those connecting with SLIP (Serial Line Internet Protocol). This method connects a personal computer to the larger Internet etwork over thin phone lines (instead of thick network cables). To do so, your computer must be able to "speak the language" of the Internet, i.e. it must have TCP/IP software installed.

LIP doesn't do anything by itself. It just establishes a connection. You must run applications on top of this connection, just like you need to run desktop applications on a local area network.

hese TCP/IP applications are called "clients," because they use and provide access to network services (provided by "servers"). Mosaic (for he World Wide Web) and Eudora (for mail) are examples of client programs running under the Windows operating system on personal computers.

Some clever people have come up with "pseudo-SLIP," i.e. software that makes it unecessary to have a direct connection to the Internet.

These two offerings are available at very low prices, are fairly easy to install and use. The nature of this software is such that there is probably no need to ask your system's administrator's permission to install.

Oslonett A/S (Norway) distributes the Remsock pseudo-SLIP system for MS-DOS computers running MS Windows. Send mail to shareware@oslonett.no with "info remsock" on the subject line. An email robot will return information and anonymous ftp retrieval instructions. Shareware. Registration US$15 (1994).

When I wrote this, Remsock came as a 179 KB compressed distribution file

from:

  ftp://oslonett.no/Shareware/Windows/Comm/remsock.zip

Today, Remsock works with the following types of host computers: SunOS4, Solaris 2.3, and Ultrix 4.2. If your Unix host is not on this list, then Remsock is not for you.

Cyberspace Development, Inc. (USA) sells The Internet Adapter (TIA). Price for a single-user "adapter" is US$25.00. Email to tia-info@marketplace.com for information, or connect via telnet, FTP, or gopher to marketplace.com, or by WWW to http://marketplace.com/.

There are versions of TIA for the following types of host computers:

 Sun Sparc Solaris 2.x, and SunOS 4.1.x,

 386/486 BSDI 1.x, SCO, and Linux,

 DEC Alpha  OSF/1 2.0

 DEC     ULTRIX 4.3

 IBM RS/6000 AIX 3.2

 SGI     IRIX 4.0

 HP 9000   HPUX 9.0

Retrieving and installing Remsock was easy. I installed it on a Toshiba 4400DX (80486) notebook computer. The modem is internal 14,400 bps withLAP-M, V42.BIS, and a 57.600 bps interface speed.

For a long time, I had unsuccessfully tried to install full SLIP on the Toshiba (it works well on my generic 486DX desktop). Trumpet Winsock connected fine to the host, but none of the client applications worked. A friend indicated that Winsock and SLIP at high speeds possibly were the cause of the problem. I don't know. My patience run out.

In contrast, Oslonett's Remsock runs fine. I installed part of the software on the local Unix shell account, had Remsock log in, opened Mosaic, and World Wide Web pages appeared on my screen.

I have tested Remsock extensively with Mosaic, and sporadically with Eudora for email. Oslonett tells me that ntp will not work, and possibly also some other applications (like ping). Personally, I have been unable to make it work with the Netscape WWW browser.

The Mosaic/WWW connection works like a charm.

Access provider suddenly offered dial-up SLIP on their Unix shell account. When I asked for information, they secretely referred to "pseudo-SLIP." A quick search in the net-happenings WAIS database gave a pointer to The Internet Adapter!

Net-happenings is InterNIC Information Service's announcement-only service bringing news about tools, conferences, calls for papers, news items, new mailing lists, electronic newsletters like EDUPAGE, and more.

 	The full net-happenings archives can be searched (WAIS) and retrieved on gopher is.internic.net . Select Search the InfoGuide (and elsewhere). You can also reach it on the WWW using these URLs:  |

http://www.internic.net/htbin/search-net-happenings

http://www-iub.indiana.edu/cgi-bin/nethaps/

General information about TIA is available from an automatic mail robot at

 tia-info@marketplace.com

It did not take me long to decide on submitting my credit card data. The following day, I retrieved the software by anonymous ftp, and had TIA installed on my disks.

On my PC, the system was set up to use the same Trumpet WINSOCK.DLL that is used for full SLIP connection (Remsock uses a special WINSOCK.DLL file). After fumbling with Trumpet's LOGIN.CMD script, I was ready to go.

Trumpet logged into the shell account, SLIP was enabled. I opened Mosaic, and it worked perfectly.

Here is my Trumpet LOGIN.CMD file:

 #Comment lines start with # in the left margin

 output atz\13

 input 10 OK\n

 #Modem initialization command. MegaHerz modem. Note the use of "\\"

 #in modem commands requiring one preceding "\"! Change these settings

 #to suit your modem.

 output at&C1&d2 \\V2\\N5W1S9=12 \\K3\\Q2 &S1\13

 input 10 OK\n

 #Dial phone number to host

 output atdt,370-35036\13

 input 50 CONNECT

 wait 30 dcd

 output \13

 #Wait for Login:

 input 30 ogin:

 output presno\13

 #Wait for Password prompt

 input 30 sword:

 output secretword\13

 #Wait for @ (in the shell prompt "@Gaia%")

 input 50 \64

 #Now it is time to enable slip

Both are fine products, but I prefer TIA. It is reliable, flexible, and works well with Netscape and most other client software. A free test drive is available by ftp from marketplace.com (14 days).

If Mosaic and Eudora are all you want, then Remsock is also an option. The lack of ability to handle Netscape is a serious drawback, though.In the crystal ball

While writing this, a program called SlipKnot was announced. It is a soon-to-be released World Wide Web browser for Windows that is supposed to work on any Unix dial-up shell account without requiring SLIP, PPP, "pseudo-SLIP," or TCP/IP.

Unlike TIA, SlipKnot deposits no binary executable programs on the host. As soon as it is installed on your PC, you're ready to play.

This is one possible future direction of WWW browsers, email software, and other client applications. Chances are that TCP/IP will be handled by the applications, rather than by separate "adapters."


Chip's World

By Chip Cox

Internet : chip@classic.com

Looking for a new job can be fun. Yes, I have gotten too many rejection letters but they haven't driven me completely looney. The trick is to remember who is on the other side of the table from you. If you have ever done any interviewing you know that most interviewers are as nervous trying to figure out how much a prospective employee knows in one hour, as the prospective employee is. When thinking about the fact that the person you will hire, based on one to three hours of discussion and a brief reference check that only verifies that the person worked somewhere and left there breathing, may play a vital role in the most important project of your career. It's enough to make even the most hardened executive sweat a little.

I remember a guy graduating from college who must have had the worst resume of all times. I never actually saw the resume. But, during his senior year in Electrical Engineering with a better than average GPA, he sent out 200 resumes to perspective employers. He got back 210 rejection notices. He went down to Huntsville AL to a job fair and the first company that talked to him before reading his resume hired him.

Someone once told me that a one page resume is the maximum size for someone fresh out of college. Someone with many years of experience can go up to two pages but no more. You should be Albert Einstein, have been in charge of the space shuttle redesign, have been a primary developer on Microsoft Windows and UNIX to go over two pages. After reading resumes for the latest job we advertised for at work, I realized that the ones that got moved into the keep stack were the ones that impressed me in about 10 to 15 seconds. They had to be well laid out with headings I could easily see. I didn't really care about the work experience at first glance. I wanted to know what skills they had that would benefit me. Cover letters are great but I used them and the work experience sections to limit the keeper stack.

How do you get the salary thing out in the open?  My boss set up an interview with someone for a tech. support position in our company. I asked my boss what salary range the applicant was looking in. He said he didn't ask. When the guy came in the first question I asked was "what salary range are you looking for". My boss's mouth dropped as if to say how dare you get so personal with this guy right off. When the applicant said 60K I thought my boss would faint. We were looking for someone in the 20K range. So, is it Ok to ask a perspective employer what salary range they are looking in. I think so. It keeps you and the employer from potentially wasting time. I am not saying that you should start trying to negotiate salary at the first interview. Wait till they have decided they want you before you start negotiating. Your negotiating hand will be stronger then.

Considering the interview. I think I have had all types now. I had one where I walked in to visit a friend for lunch and his boss asked me if I knew more about computers than my friend did. I jokingly told him yes. He told me to come back tomorrow. The interview if you can call it that took about 15 minutes. I worked there for 5 years as a network administrator. I had another interview where the two interviews were separated by 6 months. I couldn't remember the people who had interviewed me previously or what job they were looking for. I walked into another interview one day after work. I was wearing jeans and a leather jacket. The manager who interviewed me said that anyone confident enough in themselves to come to an interview dressed that informally was Ok in his book. He hired me on the spot. I arrived 10 minutes early for another interview. Instead of the receptionist calling down to the office of the person I was to meet. She escorted me down there. He was interviewing a friend of mine at the time. Talk about embarrassing. The receptionist got the interviewer so mad that neither my friend nor I were considered for the job. By far though the interview type I like the most, I have had twice. It's the panel interview. A group of people sat across a table from me and asked me canned questions. It was funny watching them try to write down every word I said. I found my self pausing to let them catch up sometimes. I actually found that it helped to pause briefly while answering the questions. I was able to formulate my responses and choose my words more carefully.

If you are looking for a job, just remember that your resume gets the door opened or slammed shut in about 15 seconds. Any job announcement gets at least 50 resumes. Make the important stuff stand out and be easily identified. If it isn't I don't bother looking for it. If you get an interview, remember the person on the other side has a lot riding on their decision. They need to get a sense of confidence in their decision to hire you. They can't get that confidence in you if you don't have it in yourself. I love to scuba dive. My scuba teacher taught us to do the following  4 things when in a stressful situation. I think interviewing qualifies. Stop whatever you are doing, it got you into this situation so stop it. Breathe, most important underwater, but even on land you pass out if you don't do it. Think, you can't get out of a situation unless you can think clearly about what got you there and what you need to do to get out. Once you have done the preceding 3 items, and only then, ACT. You have gotten yourself under control and decided what to do. So now just do it.

Just some side notes for those of you looking for jobs. There are news groups available on the Internet for job hunters. Some I have found useful for contract and permanent openings are misc.jobs.contract, misc.jobs.offered, misc.jobs.offered.entry and several other newsgroups. Many national headhunters advertise in these news groups and will accept resumes either by mail, fax or e-mail. Remember you will always come across as more confident in yourself when you are enjoying yourself. So good luck, relax and enjoy yourself.


Ramblings by Patrick Grote
RAMBLINGS FROM PATRICK:

(Feel free to respond to patrick.grote@supportu.com)

LATE ISSUE

Ok, this issue is a little late out the door. No particular reason, except that in our effort to keep the commitment to publishing an electronic publication entirely through electronic means, we have met with some pitfalls:

*	Email connections lost.

*	Uuencoded files showing up corrupt.

*	Missed deadlines due to hardware failure

With each obstacle faced, we have developed better processes and work-arounds. Look for us on a monthly basis with our next issue due out on January 29, 1994!

Remember, CyberNews is produced by a team of dedicated people. We are devoted to bringing you real world reviews from real world people. Sometimes, the grammar or punctuation may not be the best, but these are real people.

NEW STAFF ADDITION

Wayne Macleod joins us in this issue as the Reviews Manager. Wayne is responsible for assigning reviews, coordinating the editing of the reviews and ensuring writers complete assigned reviews. Join me in wishing Wayne luck by sending an email message to him at wyattj@delphi.com.

DEATH AND CYBERSPACE

In a certain sense you can say that we all exist forever in cyberspace. As long as there is a message thread with our name in it, a file with our credits on it or a compiled message listing available for download with a glint of wisdom from us in it, we live forever in the electronic domain.

I've come to reflect on death and cyberspace just recently. Not that anything has happened to me personally, but something strange happened with a piece of software I own and use . . . FidoPCB.

If you are a PCBoard sysop you may know that FidoPCB was about the only mail tosser available for Fidonet mail for your PCBoard. The author of FidoPCB, Matjaz Koce, was a resident of  Slovenia. As a typical American I have absolutely no clue where Slovenia is on a globe. About the only thing I cared about concerning Slovenia was that support and new releases came from its telephone lines.

One day while scanning my mail packet, I noticed that someone had entered a message concerning Matjaz's death. My first impression was one of disbelief. I was in shock. As the day wore on it quickly sank in that he was gone and the software might be going as well. Luckily, the chief support person in the Untied States. Jeffrey Boyd, quickly dispatched a message to all FidoPCB owners letting us know that support and development would continue through Matjaz's partner. Whew, that was a relief. The product we knew and loved wouldn't be disappearing. But what about Matjaz? His family? These were questions we began to talk about in the FidoNet FidoPCB Forum. As we were just beginning to get a grip on Matjaz's death, Jeffrey Boyd died.

What do you do? Now that the author and the chief support person have passed away does the product fade away? What about their memories? These are people known only to you by the pixels formed by their words. You never met them. You never felt them. You never even saw them. Your whole impression or thought of them was based on their writing style and what you thought someone with their name should look like. How do you deal with this?

In a typical death you would go through a traditional period of mourning. Maybe send your regrets to the family, attend a wake or service then attend the funeral. But in Cyberspace you don't know the family. You don't even really know the person. How do you mourn? This is just one of the many questions we are still facing as cyberspace becomes more and more populated.

We'll see you next month . . .


newad
Tired of seeing the message, "No Mail Waiting"? The Directory section of the E-MAIL CLUB's Newsletter contains Personal Profiles of MEN AND WOMEN worldwide with names and E-mail addresses. This is NOT an "adult" service but the way to make dozens of on-line friendships with fellow professionals, students, hobbiests, and persons with similar interests.

E-mail request to CIS: 74167,1004 * emailclub@aol.com * emailer@delphi.com for full details.


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Classic Software (Network Utilities for Novell Netware) NLM's, DOS and

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to : catalog@classic.com

Desktop Publishers--the SPOT to be for DTP is The INK Spot! Articles &

samples from readers--beginners & pros. Variety of tools & techniques

used; 8 issues/yr; digest size, 40 pgs. Ideal for beginners & home-based

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Sample $3 (Can/Mex + $1.50 Overseas + $2.50) Check/MO to J Bear & M

Johnson at POB 142103 Austin TX 78714-2103

As eclectic as we wanna be:  privacy, freedom, Christ, anti-virus,

etext, Phrack, CuD, moodiness, technology, music, opinion, unabashed

conservatism...  ASCII, ASCII, and more ASCII!  A sprinkling of DOS and

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Cox Consulting (Professional Netware Developers) DOS, Windows and

Netware Programming and Installation services. For more information

email the following address. Internet : new.business@classic.com

Tired of seeing the message, "No Mail Waiting"? The Directory section of the E-MAIL CLUB's Newsletter contains Personal Profiles of MEN AND WOMEN worldwide with names and E-mail addresses. This is NOT an "adult" service but the way to make dozens of on-line friendships with fellow professionals, students, hobbiests, and persons with similar interests. E-mail request to CIS: 74167,1004 * emailclub@aol.com * emailer@delphi.com for full details.

Any documentation turned into a Microsoft Windows compatible help file. Can be used for on-line documentation, training reference, etc. For a quote on your project send a message to CyTronics@supportu.com or CIS: 74044,3451.