ñ ñ Random House Webster's Electronic Dictionary & Thesaurus College Edition Copyright 1992 David Batterson There's good news for those looking for a better dictionary than the American Heritage Electronic Dictionary (AHED) that we reviewed in PC REVIEWS last year. It's a software product from Reference Software, publishers of the Grammatik series of programs. The title is Random House Webster's Electronic Dictionary & Thesaurus College Edition. We'll refer to it as "RHW" in this review to save some space. RHW contains over 180,000 words with full definitions, and over 270,000 synonyms and antonyms. Included is a 11,000-word database of biographical and geographical words. Useful features include a "reverse dictionary" (searching for words by providing definitions), a wildcard search, and searching for anagrams. The sourcebook for RHW is current (1991), as opposed to AHED's (1982). For example, RHW contains terms like "glass ceiling," "secondhand smoke," "homeboy," "damage control," "win-win," and "download." RHW includes (as an option) etymologies and pronunciations of words. You will also find usage notes, idioms, homographs, use of the word in a sentence, and derived words. RHW supports all popular word processing programs, including WordPerfect, Microsoft Word, WordStar, Professional Write and many others. This is an excellent dictionary and thesaurus, and is highly recommended for anyone who does a lot of writing with a PC. We award it 5 stars. System requirements: DOS 2.1 or higher, at least 5.6 MB (9.2 MB if you install all options), and about 450K available RAM. A mouse is supported but not necessary. The list price is $99 but check with various software dealers for the best street price. For more information, contact Reference Software International, 330 Townsend Avenue, Suite 119, San Francicso, CA 94107; 415- 541-0222, FAX: 415-541-0509. # David Batterson is a good speller but still uses a dictionary. Send any comments via MCI Mail: 273-7218. Artline, Version 2.0 Copyright 1991 David Batterson There have been major changes in Artline 2.0 since we reviewed the older version called GEM Artline. For one, Artline is now a DOS application, rather than a GEM application. Artline can run under Windows 3.0, and includes a Program Information File (PIF) for that purpose. It can produce Windows metafiles, using the Hijaak file conversion utility now included. It's not a Windows application like Corel Draw (probably its closest competitor). So it runs quite well on a 286. In fact, that's what I reviewed it on: a 286, 16 MHz, with 1 MB RAM, and standard (640 x 480) VGA monitor. Artline has the CUA (Common User Access) friendly menu system, with icons, dialog boxes, and so forth we've come to expect in all new software. You'll find the learning curve faster as a result. The program comes with 35 fonts that can be rotated and reshaped. Artline supports Adobe Type 1 and 3 fonts too. When I sent in the registration card, I received ten more Artline fonts, plus a utility to convert Bitstream Fontware fonts to Artline's AF4 format. There's an excellent collection of high-resolution 200 clip art images, in both GEM and EPS (Adobe Illustrator PostScript) formats. Remember, you can resize such images with no loss in resolution. GEM is the native file format for Artline. This makes it perfect for use with Ventura Publisher too. There are specific instructions for use with Ventura, to achieve best results. Artline allows you to create some outstanding special effects in color. You may edit directly in color, or use wire-frame mode for faster screen rewrites. It supports the industry standard, Pantone, for professional color output, as well as CMY, RGB and HSB color models. Many users will choose to stick with b&w output, for use in DTP programs. You can do some great blends and text effects, so no worries mate! You can save files in regular PostScript and EPS (viewable or not) formats, for Linotronic output. There are pro features like registration and crop marks, screen types, screen frequencies and angles. Other features include masking, multiple layers, placement of text along a path, blending, merging and rotating elements, skewing text and drawings, image scaling and mirror effects. Its easy to create fountain fills and text shadowing too. I've spent many hours using Artline and I still haven't tackled all the features the sophisticated computer artist can use. One is Custom Toolbox. It lets you customize tools to your own needs, including macros. Artline's interactive autotracing is unmatched by its competitors. This feature lets you stop the tracing of an object, change the preciseness, and continue. This saves you from having to delete and start over. Artline can import .PCX, .IMG and .TIF graphics files for tracing. After using the various options, you save the traced image as a vector file. Requirements for Artline 2.0 are 640K RAM, EGA or better monitor/card, hard disk, mouse or graphic sketchpad, DOS 3.1 or higher, and 512K minimum EMS or EEMS for image tracing. You'll need 3.5 megs of disk space to install Artline. To include all the clip art, it takes about 7.5 MB of free space. Artline supports all popular printers and output devices. If your printer isn't listed, Digital will provide a printer driver at no charge. The company also provides lifetime free tech support via phone, FAX, mail or CompuServe. Artline's manual is extensive and well-written, though. Suggested price is $595. For more information, contact Digital Research Inc., Box DRI, Monterey, CA 93942; 800-443-4200, 408-649-3896, FAX: 408-646- 6248. # David Batterson reviews graphics and other PC applications. Contact him via MCI Mail: 273-7218. Calendar Creator Plus 4.0 Copyright 1991 David Batterson I used to enjoy making calendars using Print Shop. The finished product was a bit unrefined, though, and printouts suffered from the jaggies. Power Up! offers a superior program for creating customized calendars. The name is Calendar Creator Plus, and the latest incarnation is Version 4.0. While individual PC users, home businesses and computer groups will find this program of use, it offers enough sophisticated features for serious corporate application too. The program comes with Agfa Compugraphic fonts, CG Times and CG Triumvirate (like Times Roman and Helvetica). These are high-resolution, scalable (6 to 72 points) fonts that provide good print quality, even on dot matrix printers. You may use any black-and-white .PCX graphics image (more than 75 are included) to accentuate your calendar events, and place in the top corners of your calendars. A new Print Preview feature lets you see the calendar before printing it. This avoids unnecessary test printing. You see a full page view, and can zoom into any of four sectors for closeups. Calendar Creator Plus offers an extensive variety of calendar types, and formats within each type. This allows one to create the calendar YOU want. You can create a 1-year calendar, but you don't have to start with January. Since you may pick ANY starting month, you can print a fiscal year or school calendar, for example. The 1-year calendar may also be printed sideways if you prefer. You can start with a day of the week other than Sunday too. Other choices include a title, footnotes and graphics. The 6-month calendar prints in sideways (landscape) format only, across three pages. Like the 1-year calendar, you may start the calendar on any month. The 3-month calendar is similar to the 6-month, but it allows more space for events on particular days. A 1-month calendar looks like a standard wall calendar. If you wish, you can print the next and previous months in tiny size at the page bottom. Other options let you print graphics, the day of the year, and type of week (7-day, weekdays only or extended weekend). The 6-week calendar is similar to the 1-month, but lets you look ahead into the following month. Options are the same as the 1-month type. A 2-week calendar provides larger spaces to show events during any two weeks. You can start on any day of the week you want. The 1-week calendar is similar, but has even more space for events. The 1-week schedule divides up each day into time-period boxes; you can specify the starting hour. There are 2-day, 1-day and text-only calendar formats too. Finally, you can print 1-year, 1-month, 1-week, 1-day and text-only calendars in organizer notebook size, to fit Day Runner, Day-Timer and similar organizers on the market. After setting options for any calendar, pressing brings up the Edit Format menu. This lets you select a typeface, size and attribute (such as bold or italic). Calendar Creator Plus can be used using default settings, or you can use more features. One is optional banners. For instance, you can put "Bob Smith Vacation" in a banner spread across 1 week on the calendar. Another nice touch is the program's collection of proprietary extended characters. By pressing -166 through 204, you can select tiny text graphics, such as VISA card, phone, checkmark, shadow box, smiley face or pharmacy Rx symbol. While doing this review, I thought of an idea. No doubt you've seen those "Dallas Cowboy Cheerleaders" or "Hunks of UCLA" calendars. You could create similar calendars for your club, organization or office parties. You would have to photograph your models and print those pages separately, though. Calendar Creator Plus requires at least 512K and a video graphics card. A hard disk is highly recommended. It also supports LIM EMS 4.0 expanded memory. This is an excellent, well-thought-out software program that should have the programmers at Broderbund (Print Shop) burning the midnight oil to catch up! Additional Express Fonts are available from Power Up. Suggested retail price is $59.95. For more information, contact Power Up Software Corp., 2929 Campus Drive, P. O. Box 7600, San Mateo, CA 94403-7600; 415-345-5900; 800-851-2917 (orders). # David Batterson writes about diverse PC applications. Send comments via MCI Mail: 273-7218. The Random House Encyclopedia, Electronic Edition Copyright 1991 David Batterson Not all of us have multi-volume encyclopedias at work or home. It's not always convenient to go to a library when we need some answers fast. The best solution for PC users now is a CD-ROM disc edition of an encyclopedia since they not only have full text, but also feature graphics and sound. You'll need a CD-ROM player, though. The second best alternative, but still very useful, is an encyclopedia on computer disk. This is the only choice for most PCs users, since relatively few of us have moved up to the CD-ROM technology. The Random House Encyclopedia, Electronic Edition, is an abridged version of THE RANDOM HOUSE ENCYCLOPEDIA that has sold more than 200,000 copies. I haven't used the book version in libraries, since a library is more likely to have Encyclopedia Britannica. This is an ample encyclopedia for general use, especially for students. Serious researchers might find it somewhat lacking, and might want to consider a CD-ROM encyclopedia. The encyclopedia is set up on a hierarchy of categories system. When you start the program, you see the ten main categories: geography, history, philosophy/religion/mythology, social science, the arts, science, sports and leisure, law, government, and timechart. After selecting one of these, you see subcategories. Choose one of those to display a list of topics. Type the first letter of an item, such as "W" for Washington, and it jumps to a new section where your article is located. As an example, I selected social science, then linguistics, the Rosetta Stone. Another way to select an article is with the key. Type in "Rosetta" at the Find: prompt, and the article pops into the text window. You may print any article or save it to disk. Other features include the Bookmark, which allows you to mark and return to a location later. There are cross references, by using (Find Next) and (See Also). The Reverse Dictionary feature locates articles by searching for specified words within any articles in the encyclopedia. You can narrow it down by entering several words, such as "birds black large." By using the Boolean "OR" method, you can broaden the search. Another useful innovation is SWAPINFO. This memory management utility lets you hot-key into the encyclopedia after loading your word processor or other program. After using it, you exit back to the other program. A couple of points about the configuration program: while trying to change screen colors, the program kept crashing and locking up my system. Also, the color changes should be displayed instantly in the config section, without having to exit to the program to see how the new colors look. Requirements for The Random House Encyclopedia are DOS 3.3 or higher, hard drive with at least 5.6MB available space, and 480K minimum available RAM. To use SWAPINFO, you'll need 530K of free space, either on hard disk or expanded/extended memory. A company official indicated they would be providing updates in the future but further informaton/prices were unavailable. I think an annual "yearbook" should be published, as with book versions of encyclopedias. Suggested retail price is $79, but you'll pay a lower street price. For more information, contact Microlytics, Inc., Two Tobey Village Office Park, Pittsford, NY 14534; 716-248-9150, FAX: 716-248-3868, 800-828-6293 (orders). # David Batterson is a freelance writer and consultant. Contact him via MCI Mail: 273-7218. MIRROR III - Version 2.0 Copyright 1990 David Batterson The long-awaited new version (2.0) of MIRROR III is finally here, after a several month delay. Apparently SoftKlone was spending extra time getting its new TAKEOVER remote access software to market. MIRROR III, for those who aren't familiar with it, is a clone of the popular CROSSTALK program from DCA, Inc. It has sold very well to corporate users, although many individuals prefer PROCOMM Plus and QMODEM. One reason for the latter is that MIRROR III didn't have a particularly easy command interface, although I personally am very comfortable with it. Version 2.0 now features pull-down menus with mouse support. Those users out there who prefer menu-based software will be pleased. MIRROR III, Ver. 2.0 is not shareware, and never has been. That also eliminates a lot of users who don't buy much commercial software. (Of course, PROCOMM PLUS is no longer shareware, like the older PROCOMM.) To avoid annoying their large user base of loyal MIRROR III users, SoftKlone provides menus as an option, while retaining the standard command structure, using GO, DO, XY, SEnd, DIr, CFile, TYpe and similar commands. I think that most new users of MIRROR III, Ver. 2.0 will opt for the menu interface, called the Dialing Directory. You'll get up-to-speed faster since you don't have to memorize commands; just point and shoot. While online, you also get pull-down menus. Using these, you can select your protocol choice, capture to disk, turn on your printer, enter Chat Mode, quit the session, and so on. MIRROR III, Ver. 2.0 retains all the other features of MIRROR III, including the "Password Maintenance Utility" (for security), a usage log, many emulations, an editor, several DOS commands (without exiting to DOS), background operation, and extensive help screens. Most BBS callers are familiar with ZMODEM, a fast external protocol. It can be used with PROCOMM PLUS, QMODEM, Telix and other communications software programs, although there are sometimes problems. Rather than implementing the ZMODEM protocol themselves, SoftKlone decided instead to include Chuck Forsberg's DSZ program. Installing ZMODEM is quite easy. You simply place the command, ADD-IN = ZMODEM.MAF, in your MIRROR.CFG file. Or you can use the command, ADDIN LOAD ZMODEM, from the Command? prompt. DSZ remains shareware, and buyers of MIRROR III, Ver. 2.0 are requested to send the $20 registration fee to Omen Technology. The registered version of DSZ comes with additional docs and some advanced features. Another new feature is the Backscroll addin. This lets you page through previous text. The number of pages displayed is determined by the retro-buffer size in the MIRROR.CFG file. The maximum is 63K. Besides mouse support in the Dialing Directory, you can also use a mouse with the standard interface. You can define the mouse cursor color, shape (using ASCII characters), and online buttons. The file transfer status screen has been update. Now you can watch a moving bar display, as the transfer moves from zero to 100% completion. It also displays the effective speed and relative performance. There are many other minor changes to MIRROR III, Ver. 2.0. One is the "no-editor" version of MIRROR.EXE, if you need to cut memory usage. It chops RAM use by about 21K. Another is support for F keys 11 and 12. MIRROR III, Ver. 2.0 now includes the MNP5 software addin, so owners of non-MNP modems can make use of MNP error correction and data compression. You load it the same way as with ZMODEM. When performing data transfers between your PC and another MNP user, optimum results are achieved by using YMODEM-G, with the no-acknowledgement option. The MNP add-in automatically selects that option for you. I give an overall grade of 'A' to MIRROR III, Ver. 2.0. SoftKlone still offers free technical support. There's also a SoftKlone Information Exchange BBS open 24 hours, for tech support, PRISM scripts, more emulations and latest announcements. MIRROR III, Ver. 2.0, lists for $149. Registered users of MIRROR III can upgrade for $49 (plus shipping and handling). For more information, contact SoftKlone Distributing Corp., 327 Office Plaza Drive, Suite 100, Tallahassee, FL 32301; 904-878-8564; 800-634-8670; FAX: 904-877-9763; BBS: 904-878-9884; MCI Mail: 289-0683; CompuServe: 76224,134; Telex: 6714280 KLON. # David Batterson writes about the online industry, communications software, and modems/fax boards. Contact him via MCI Mail: DBATTERSON. American Heritage Electronic Dictionary, Release 1.01 Copyright 1991 David Batterson You've probably seen a spell-checker program in the past that was labeled a "dictionary." Of course it wasn't, since it could only correct the spelling of words. Now we do have true dictionaries for the PC. One of them is the American Heritage Electronic Dictionary from the excellent book publisher, Houghton Mifflin Co. In my review, I'll call the software "AHED." (I chose this name since AHED is used for the program and subdirectory names.) AHED is compatible with most popular word processing programs, including WordPerfect 5.1, Microsoft Word 5.0, WordStar 6.0, PC Write 3.0 and many more. AHED features definitions for more than 116,000 words, as well as usage advice, definitions, pronunciation, hyphenation points, synonyms, idioms and etymologies. It also includes Roget's II Electronic Thesaurus, with more than 500,000 synonyms. But wait, there's more; no Cubic Zirconium, but there are some clever features. The SearchText mode lets you use keyword instructions. You may use wildcard characters to find words that have common letters, or the anagramming function to locate anagrams. There's "recycling," the ability to move from a dictionary or thesaurus entry to another with a keystroke. AHED is a TSR (Terminate and Stay Resident) program that requires up to 140K (this is variable). With all the words and definitions, you're looking at a minimum of 3Mb free hard disk space. AHED will work with DOS versions 2.1 or higher. If you use AHED as a standalone program, you only need 256K RAM. Otherwise it requires a minimum of 512K, but 640K is always better. After the no-nonsense installation program, you run AHED by simply typing AHED at the DOS prompt. In this default mode, it uses only 43Kb RAM. Using switches after the AHED command, you can vary the amount of RAM by 10Kb increments, up to 133Kb. Or you can use AHED /S, /M or /L, for small (43Kb), medium (93Kb) or large (133Kb) memory usage. AHED's default hot keys are easy enough to remember: D - Main Menu " " L - Lookup " " T - Thesaurus " P - Paste You can customize the hot keys if there are conflicts with other TSR programs you may be using, or with your word processor. To look up words, there are two methods. One is to invoke the Main Menu with D, select LOOKUP, and then type in any word. The other method is just like spell-checking a word: put the cursor anywhere on a word, and then press L. To return to your document, just press , press twice, or highlight EXIT in the Main Menu and press . You then paste a word quickly with the other hotkey. The SearchText feature of AHED is perhaps the most powerful. It lets you find words when you know only a vague meaning or a definition, using the Boolean Operators AND, OR and NOT. For instance, to find out what a Thai dollar is called, you would type in "Thailand AND currency" to obtain the answer: "baht." AHED is a beneficial program, for students, secretaries, journalists, lawyers, consultants, and anyone who writes on a PC. The suggested list is $99 but check around for the best street price. For more information, contact Writing Tools Group, One Harbor Drive, Suite 111, Sausalito, CA 94965; 800-523-3520, 415-332-8692, FAX: 415-332-8780. # David Batterson has been a writer for many years. Contact him (using your favorite words) via MCI Mail: DBATTERSON. Sources of Foundations Copyright 1991 David Batterson PC users generally think of software as application programs that allow users to perform certain functions, such as word processing, desktop publishing, accounting or data communications. There's another type of software, which consists basically of information. PC REVIEWS is an example of this type of software. ORCA Knowledge Systems publishes a series of "KnowledgeBases" called Sources of Foundations. These are specialized databases system that provide detailed information on foundations along with current funding information. Currently available are Sources of California Foundations (with over 700 included) and Sources of New York Foundations. New editions being released in 1992 include East of the Mississippi, West of the Mississippi, and a National Directory. Information on each foundation is divided into convenient categories, including financial information, to whom, for what, restrictions, and application information. By learning this specific information about every foundation, you will not waste their time or yours with inappropriate grant requests. For example, one foundation's restrictions are: "Primarily in Southern CA, with major emphasis on Los Angeles County. No grants to individuals, or for continuing support, annual campaigns, deficit financing, professorships, internships, individual scholarships, fellowships, film production, exchange programs or loans." Under "to whom," that same foundation indicates "education, the arts and humanities, medicine and health, and a broad range of social welfare programs." Under "for what," you see "building funds, equipment, endowment funds, matching funds, scholarship funds to institutions, special projects, renovation projects, and capital campaigns." Since the company is a publisher of infobases, the "Sources" products use another software program called Folio VIEWS for the user interface. This is a easy to use, menu-driven interface (mouse optional). It features an online user manual, online tutorials, and context-sensitive help. You can do various types of searches, using words, combinations of words, groups and combinations of groups. There are also Boolean searches (And, Or, Not, Exclusive Or). The Block command is a useful feature. You can select a block of text, and then search, print or save to disk. Sources of Foundations can save time and help grant writers increase their efficiency. It looks like a good idea to me. Registered users can purchase yearly updates for the programs. The CA and NY updates cost $30. Updates for the East, West and national directory will run around $55. The company also plans additional products along the same lines, including education funding, AIDS funding and others. I think they will find a market for those too. The CA and NY KnowledgeBases sell for $89 plus tax and shipping, directly from the publisher. For more information, contact ORCA Knowledge Systems, P. O. Box 280, San Anselmo, CA 94979; 415-461-4912, FAX: 415-459-4678. (For more information on Folio VIEWS, contact Folio Corp., 2155 N. Freedom Blvd., Suite 150, Provo, UT 84604; 800-54-FOLIO, 801-375-3780. Remember, this is a separate program from the infobases; you may purchase it for other uses.) # David Batterson continually reviews new software of all types. Send any comments via MCI Mail: 273-7218. PC Paintbrush IV Plus Copyright 1990 David Batterson Like other software companies that are doing well in today's competitive marketplace, ZSoft continues to improve its products by leaps and bounds. I recently spent several hours testing out their new PC Paintbrush IV Plus, the latest member of the PC Paintbrush family. PC Paintbrush IV Plus conforms to the CUA (Common User Access) interface, with pull-down menus and dialog boxes. This gives it a look similar to Windows, WITHOUT the buggy problems many have experienced with Windows. Other new features include three levels of online help, as well as a constantly changing information line. There are multi-levels of zoom-in and zoom-out. It supports .TIF as well as .PCX files. The seven special effects include blend, smudge, gradient, tiling, tint, brightness and contrast. These can be used for sections of a graphic image, or can be applied to the overall image. You can draw all kinds of lines, curves and geometric shapes. Editing capabilities include rotate, shrink and grow. You may also customize the screen and palette style sheets. A new eye-dropper allows for precise editing of your color images. There are both bitmap and outline fonts. Effects such as outlining, shadows and gradient are easily accomplished. For systems with no EMS or extended memory, PC Paintbrush IV Plus can still handle large images through disk swapping. I don't own a scanner, so wasn't able to test the new scanner commands. However, you can fully control your scanner from within PC Paintbrush IV Plus. This means you can choose resolution, halftones, page size, positive/negative, scanning area, and rescaling (25 to 400 percent). The FRIEZE screen capture program now captures in VGA mode. ZSoft also offers an optional version of FRIEZE for Super VGA (640x480, 256 colors or 800x600, 16 colors). There are several utility programs. One translates your HP soft fonts into XFR bitmap fonts. Another converts gray scale images into b&w images for use with Ventura Publisher. While most users will use PC Paintbrush IV Plus for DTP purposes, others will find it useful for slide shows. That's because there's a new service bureau which turns any .PCX files into high resolution slides for $8 each. PC Paintbrush IV Plus requires a hard drive, DOS 3.0 or higher, and a drawing device (mouse or drawing tablet). Expanded or extended memory is highly recommended. Virtually all display adapters, printers and scanners are supported, so "no worries mate." All in all, quite a nice graphics package. Suggested list price is $199. Owners of PC Paintbrush IV may upgrade for $69; owners of PC Paintbrush Plus pay $50 for the upgrade. For more information on PC Paintbrush IV Plus, contact ZSoft Corporation, 450 Franklin Road, Suite 100, Marietta, GA 30067; 404-428-0008. For more information on the slide service, contact Accent Presentations, Inc., 12780 High Bluff Drive, Suite 250, San Diego, CA 92130; 800-222-2592. # David Batterson enjoys playing around with graphics software when he's supposed to be working! Contact him via MCI Mail: DBATTERSON. PC TOOLS DELUXE, Version 6.0 Copyright 1990 David W. Batterson PC Tools Deluxe, Version 6.0, is the latest incarnation of this best- selling utility package, which is the best value available, bar none. Yes, the new version has been greatly improved, thanks to the programming wizards at Central Point Software. These guys kick butt and take no prisoners! No matter how good, no software program is EVER finished. All programs can be improved, and should be if the company expects to remain competitive. That has been Central Point's philosophy since they first came out with COPY II for Apple II computers. Just about every //c or IIe owner used that program to make copies of protected programs. I had a copy too. PC Tools Deluxe Version 6.0 is once again an incredible value, when you see how much it offers. It lists for $149, but is heavily discounted, so often has the lowest street price of comparable products. It's $35 for the upgrade from earlier versions. Besides the Compress program to optimize your disk, and PC Backup, which backs up your hard disk in a remarkably short time, there is the improved PC Cache to speed up hard drive access. The Mirror program protects against accidental formatting of your hard disk, while PC Secure is an encrypt/decrypt and compression/expansion utility. While my hard disk may not have needed optimizing, I did it anyway for test purposes. The Compress program is very simple to use, and fast. Its Disk Analysis mode indicated I had only 1 percent fragmentation, but it gave me the message: "Compress Recommended." Not long ago, my hard disk crashed, and I didn't have it backed up. Sure, I had all the original software, but I was forced to reinstall and reconfigure all those programs again. It took a long time. Plus I lost a few text files forever. It all could have been avoided by backing up to disk. I've learned my lesson, and now I do regular backups. Since PC Tools provides a lucid backup program, you can't say that it's too time-consuming. Take the time! It takes me only about 15 minutes with PC Backup, depending on how much I've added to and deleted from the hard disk. Now there's support for tape drives, including those from Mountain, Colorado Memory, Compaq or IBM. Another new addition is incremental/appended backups. PC Tools Deluxe also offers an improved Desktop: notepad with spell- checker, appointment scheduler, dBASE III/IV-compatible database, three calculators, communications program with background file transfers and enhanced script-file handling. Also, you'll find a macro editor, outliner, clipboard, and CAS-compatible fax board (such as Intel's Connection Co-Processor) support, to send/receive faxes anytime. But hold on, "thar's more." The DOS Shell will make you zap the MS-DOS 4.1 Shell from your hard drive. Its new features include being able to view over 30 different types of files, such as QUATTRO, PC Paintbrush (.PCX), R:Base, XyWrite and PKZIP. You can also locate files (by name or content), and customize function keys for quicker commands. There's a DOS command line too, if you want it, at the menu's bottom. A version of Traveling Software's LapLink is now bundled too, for laptop file transfers. Another new feature, DiskFix, is a disk-repair program that works automatically--it's idiot proof! It does far more than the CHKDSK/F command, and does its work fast too. PC Tools Deluxe Ver. 6.0 features pull-down menus, movable and resizable windows, and has full mouse support, including the right mouse button too. You can run it in pop-up TSR mode or from the DOS prompt. It supports LANs, including Novell NetWare and IBM Token Ring. At the bottom of PC Shell screen, are the Status Line, Command Bar and Message Bar. These make using PC Shell easier and faster than ever. For instance, the Zoom command expands a file window to fill the screen. Ver. 6.0 conforms to CUA/SAA (Common User Access/Systems Application Architecture) standards for the '90s. It comes with three professionally- written manuals, each containing lots of screen shots. Context-sensitive help is also available online by pressing . PC Tools Deluxe Ver. 6.0 deserves an A+ rating. The company is dedicated to quality, and has done 'the right thing' again. For more information, contact Central Point Software Inc., 15220 N.W. Greenbrier Parkway, #200, Beaverton, OR 97006-5764; 503-690-8090, FAX: 503-690-8083, BBS: 503-690-6650. # David Batterson writes articles and reviews for computer and business publications. Contact him via MCI MAIL: DBATTERSON. The Wedding Planner Ver. 2.0 Copyright 1991 David Batterson Hundreds of new software programs and updates hit the stores each year, and many of them wind up at the PC REVIEWS office for evaluation. It gets monotonous looking at similar products all the time, such as word processors, paint programs, scanners or mice. When a new and unusual product comes along, I enjoy taking a look at it. Such a program is The Wedding Planner from Ninga Software in Canada. As the company president Sergei Scurfield puts it, The Wedding Planner "addresses a niche software product that has been ignored too long." (Liz Taylor should buy this program since she'll probably be needing it again.) Since there are more than 2.5 million marriages in North America every year, this is a sizable niche he is talking about. "The amount of stress built up in planning that day can be overwhelming," Scurfield says. When Jim Standen, a senior programmer analyst at the University of Calgary, was getting married, he and his bride Sherri looked for software that would be useful but found none. So they decided to create their own. Although I have no experience with weddings (nor do I want to), it looks like the Standen newlyweds did a nice job with their planner software. It appears to cover all bases. The Wedding Planner is a customized database, and more. It lets you create invitation lists, including whether friend of the bride or groom, and later track the RSVPs. Pressing while in this section brings up the Gift Screen. The names from the invitation list are displayed in the upper left corner. You then describe the gifts received, add any notes, and later you'll indicate if a thank you card was sent. You use the budget section to plan and contact vendors for services, such as flowers, photos, cake, wedding dress, reception hall rental, etc. When you edit budget items, you specify contact name, company, description, cost and any comments you wish to add. As prices change, it is updated instantly in your budget total. There's a handy Calendar section, used as a "to do" list. The program includes 15 reports that can be printed, including invitation list, list of those actually attending the wedding and/or reception, budget report, and gift report. There are two other sections worth noting. The Summary/Status screen shows all totals and dollar amounts at a glance. The other useful feature is the General Wedding Information section. PC users who like to be organized and are getting married should find The Wedding Planner very helpful. (This may sound morbid, but I wonder if Ninga will offer a similar product, "The Funeral Planner," some day?) The Wedding Planner sells for $49.95 at software dealers and bridal shops. Or order it directly from the publisher. For more information, contact Ninga Software Corp., 736 -8th Avenue S.W., Suite 330, Calgary, Alberta, CANADA T2P 1H4; 403-265-6611, FAX: 403-265-5760, 800-265-5555 (orders). # David Batterson reviews a hodgepodge of PC products every year. Send comments via MCI Mail: 273-7218. Personal Tax Edge Copyright 1991 David Batterson Parsons Technology, the software firm that offers useful products at low prices, has released 1991 Personal Tax Edge. Personal Tax Edge calculates and prints IRS-approved tax forms. It includes almost 40 forms, schedules and worksheets. This year it includes state modules (all states except Hawaii). After using the painless install program, you may begin preparing forms right away. Or you can get help with how to proceed by the online interview. Other features include: multiple copies of forms are supplied automatically when more than one form is required. The program tracks all forms and lets you know which forms are complete. Also, it uses a Bookkeeper feature to tally receipts and other supporting figures for each line item. Tax Edge tags notes to line items for recording comments or details that may be requested later by IRS. The program cross references each calculated line item providing a summation of all the values that comprise each line item. There's a What-If Tax Estimator to compare different filing alternatives. The Final Checklist indicates all steps necessary to file a complete return. You can use the comparison chart to U.S. averages to check the consistency of individual situations. When you need help, it's available any time online. The help section includes instructions for each form, a glossary of tax terms and a program operating guide. Buyers of Tax Edge can create an unlimited number of tax returns. The Audit Warning feature warns of errors you may have made while entering data. This Audit works on a single form or the entire tax return. Personal Tax Edge calculates your complete, cross-referenced form in only two seconds with a 386SX PC. You'll have to wait four seconds if you're using a 286, and six seconds with an 8088 PC. You can't complain about that. You can import data from financial management programs like MoneyCounts, Quicken, Managing Your Money and any others which generate ASCII output. Another new feature is advanced windowing capability. This allows you to work on different simultaneously. While working on your 1040, you can open windows for other forms and schedules. The pull-down menus work easily with keystrokes or mouse clicks. Tax Edge includes such forms as Expenses for Business Use of your Home, Extension of Time to File an Income Tax Return, Casualty and Theft Losses, Moving Expenses, Noncash Charitable Contributions, Child & Dependent Care Credit, and Trade or Business Gains or Losses. You can file your income tax return electronically using Tax Edge. The data is sent to Parsons Technology, not directly to IRS. The cost is $19 and the refund is deposited directly into your checking account. Personal Tax Edge requires 640K RAM, DOS 2.11 or higher and hard disk; a mouse is optional. The program supports all printers and monitors. Suggested retail is $49; state modules are $49. For more information, contact Parsons Technology, One Parsons Drive, P.O. Box 100, Hiawatha, IA 52233-0100; 319-395-9626, 800-223-6925 (orders), FAX: 319-395-0217. # David Batterson reviews hardware, software, peripherals and computer books. Contact him via MCI Mail: 273-7218. EasyTax Copyright 1991 David Batterson There's an excellent new program to help you cope with those dreaded three letters of the English language: IRS. It's EasyTax from Timeworks, publisher of the popular Publish It! DTP software. You don't have to be a tax expert or accountant to use EasyTax since it's designed to be hassle-free for average taxpayers (like yours truly). It has advanced features for professional use too. For those who have never used tax software, you'll find all the help you need online. The six kinds of help include: a quick-start mini-manual, context-sensitive help in hypertext, cross references that tell you the source of information on a specific line, a tax information flow chart, a tax form locator, and a tax preparation checklist. Additional features include automatic timed back-ups, electronic placemark, DOS access, automatic form linking, batch printing, depreciation tables and "shoebox-style" expense entry. There are more than 65 forms, schedules and worksheets included in EasyTax. Another helpful feature is the taxpayer interview questionnaire. This helps you determine what forms and schedules you'll need to file. The "what if" worksheet lets you enter up to three alternatives to your completed 1040. By choosing this option, you can decide your best filing strategy before you mail it in. There are more than 60 tax tips that offer often-overlooked deductions, and year-end tax strategies. A built-in tax deadline alarm warns you of approaching IRS deadlines. You can import data from Quicken, Lotus 1-2-3, Dollars & Sense, and Managing Your Money. There's an "audit alert" that will warn you if your return might get audited by IRS. The program requires 512K or more RAM, DOS 2.1 or higher, and a hard or floppy drive; a mouse is optional. For state taxes, you'll need 640K. EasyTax supports 9- and 24-pin printers from Epson, IBM and Okidata (and compatibles), as well as HP LaserJets and compatibles. Even with dot matrix printers, EasyTax prints IRS-approved forms and schedules in high-quality graphics mode. With a laser printer, you get virtually identical forms to those from the IRS. For those getting a refund, electronic filing is a useful option with EasyTax. An individual still cannot file directly with IRS, but instead must deal with an IRS-approved "Electronic Return Originator." This costs $20, paid with a personal check drawn on the same account designated to receive a Direct Deposit tax refund. This process speeds up your refund by up to six weeks. You can file electronically either on disk or via modem. You must include IRS Form 8453; EasyTax prints this form also. You can order EasyTax state income tax software for 24 states; they cost $39.95 each. These allow you to download data from the Federal EasyTax program, complete your state filing, and print out the necessary forms. Timeworks offers free, unlimited tech support via voice, FAX or mail; 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. CST weekend support runs February 29 through April 15. CompuServe users can get help by typing "GO TIMEWORKS." Suggested retail price is $79.95, which includes a one-year subscription to Success or Working Woman magazine, and a $10 rebate upon returning the registration card. For more information, contact Timeworks, 625 Academy Drive, Northbrook, IL 60062; 708-559-1300, 800-323-7744 (orders), FAX: 708-559-1399. # David Batterson likes any software that saves time and money. Contact him via MCI Mail: DBATTERSON. It's Legal 2.0 Copyright 1991 David Batterson I guess Dan Quayle is not the only person who's a lawyer-basher. With the increased sales of legal programs, many consumers are tired of paying expensive attorney fees for oftentimes routine, boiler-plate documents. The latest of these software offerings is It's Legal Ver. 2.0 from Parsons Technology. The company specializes in financial, personal productivity, personal improvement, utility and church software. It's Legal was designed by attorneys and its binding legal documents are valid in 49 states and the District of Columbia. (Louisiana's legal system is based on French law, rather than English.) The new version offers 24 different documents including many new ones. There are wills, general and special power of attorney, durable health care power of attorney, living wills and promissory notes. It also includes consumer letters, credit letters, residential and commercial leases, bills of sale, board of director minutes and employment documents. According to the company, the durable health care power of attorney is the most widely used document by its customers. With the aging of America, it's no surprise. This document lets you designate and authorize an attorney-in-fact (or proxy) to make health care decisions if you become unable to do so. The designee is not necessarily an attorney, but rather a relative or friend that you trust. That person, according to options you choose in It's Legal, can make decisions about artificially administered nutrition/hydration, the use of heroic, life-sustaining measures, as well as types and location of medical care including nursing homes. As with all the documents, the program takes you through the steps one at a time, and offers help screens throughout the program. There's also an online Glossary that explains more than 200 legal terms used in the documents (e.g., "intestate" - to die without a will). Another helpful feature is the Legal Guide. This provides further explanation and clarification of legal subjects, to help you while completing the various documents. The Utilities section includes useful features, including a financial calculator, math calculator, note pad (mini word processor), DOS shell and backup. Under Settings, you can select your printer and one of 12 existing color palettes (including two for monochrome monitors). It's Legal uses a proprietary windows (not Windows 3.0) interface, allowing resizing of windows and opening of multiple documents at once. Moving from one window to another is done with the mouse or by pressing . You can also look at the Window List to see how many windows are open. Systems requirements are 512K RAM, DOS 2.11 or higher and either 2 floppy drives or a hard disk. A mouse is optional. I found the program to be clear, unintimidating and free of confusing legalese. Many users will find it It's Legal useful even if they retain an attorney. Prepared documents can be a time-saver at the lawyers, since you are not starting from scratch. It's Legal lists for $69, but usually costs less. Call the company for occasional mail order specials. For information, contact Parsons Technology, Inc., One Parsons Drive, P.O. Box 100, Hiawatha, IA 52233-0100; 800-223-6925 (orders only), 319-395-9626, FAX: 319-395-0217. # David Batterson continually reviews new software, hardware and peripherals. Contact him via MCI Mail: 273-7218. LabelPro Laser Software Copyright 1991 David Batterson Have you ever tried to print address labels in your laser printer, using DTP programs? If so, you probably had as much trouble as I did. I've tried it with Publish It! and PFS:First Publisher, but the text rarely lined up properly on the label stock. Making a template (style guide) for such labels is a pain too. Avery LabelPro Laser is a software program specifically designed for use with a wide variety of Avery Laser Labels. This program is a snap to use, and the results are quite professional in appearance. Creating a label is quite straightforward. You select an Avery label size (such as 5160 address label, 3 across). Then you select a form (different for each size of label). These include text only, graphic only, text with border, text with graphic and so forth. Next enter the text information, select typeface (Times or Arial), type size, text alignment and a graphic if you want. The program uses PCX format (PC Paintbrush) and comes with a small library of PCX images. LabelPro Laser uses scalable fonts, from 6 point up to a huge 96 point (for transparencies). Each size label uses specified type sizes. You may preview your design any time during the process. In the preview mode, you can view a full page or zoom in for a closeup look. Then you are ready to save and print. One handy feature lets you easily enter symbols, including a bullet, trademark, registered trademark or copyright. You press and select the one symbol you want. Or you can enter many ASCII extended characters (numbers 128 to 173), using the standard key + number method. The Quick Print section lets you print out standard labels, such as "First Class," "Urgent," "Parcel Post" and so forth. These cannot be customized. Switching to the Data Manager menu lets you create a mailing list for labels. Or there are data entry formats for other Avery labels, such as diskette, file folder, audio/video cassette and index tabs. You can import your lists in dBASE III/IV, WordPerfect mail merge or comma-delimited files. Each Data Manager file can hold up to 300 records; there's no limit on the number of files, though. A companion product to LaserPro Laser is Avery Index Maker for Laser Printers. Using Avery's software (or WordPerfect, Microsoft Word or Ventura Publisher), you can create custom tab titles. The package comes with clear tab labels and blank indexes. LabelPro Laser Software can also prepare overhead transparencies. Avery has a new type of transparency called ColorFrames, with blue, red and green borders. The colors add some zip and organization to your presentations. LabelPro Laser is a first-class system for creating and laser printing many types of useful labels. System requirements are 512K (430K free), most any graphics card, a hard disk and DOS 3.0 or higher. Supported printers include HP LaserJets and compatibles, HP DeskJets, Xerox 4045, Canon LBP8 and PostScript laser printers. The suggested list price is $99.95. For more information, contact Avery Dennison, Commercial Products Division, 818 Oak Park Road, Covina, CA 91724; 818-915-3851; 800-541-5507; FAX: 818-332-2099. ClickArt Newsletter Cartoons Copyright 1992 David Batterson T/Maker has been publishing DTP clip art for several years now, concentrating mainly on the Mac market. It has now increased its offerings to DOS-based graphics and DTP users, realizing the size of this PC userbase. Here's some history that I didn't know, and I'll bet few of you knew it either. In 1986 T/Maker introduced ClickArt Personal Publisher, the first entry-level DTP program. Software Publishing Corp. acquired the rights to it, and it became the popular PFS:First Publisher. The latest in the T/Maker's ClickArt series for the PC is Newsletter Cartoons. This collection of 100 cartoons was created by cartoonist Phil Frank of Sausalito, CA. If you live in the San Francisco Bay Area, you may know of Frank as the creator of the San Francisco Chronicle comic strip called "Farley." It is one of my favorites. San Franciscans love its cleverness and wicked satire. Frank's DTP cartoons have a softer edge to them, since they are appealing to a much different audience. They are appropriate not only for newsletters, but also for ads, memos, brochures and flyers. They are divided into categories like Accolade, Children, Educate, Health, Headline, Money, Sports and Travel. Sometimes the categories are arbitrary. BEARSCAR.PCX is under Animals, but also could be in Travel. EZCHAIR.PCX is under Travel, but could also go under Leisure. It doesn't really matter, though, as users will decide how and where they want to use the cartoons. Naturally, you can edit and alter the cartoons for your own use, using graphics software like PC Paintbrush. NOTE: these images are all copyrighted, and buyers may use them under the Images License. For example, you can use the cartoons in newsletters and similar work but you CANNOT reproduce a cartoon and sell it as a T-shirt. The cartoons have a different style to the clip art you get with DTP programs such as Publish It! or Express Publisher. TVSALES.PCX shows a pitchman actually reaching out of the TV toward your wallet! PUPPETS.PCX doesn't just show the puppets but also the person behind and the kids out front. Under the Educate category there is STUDENT2.PCX, which shows a boy in sneakers snoring at his desk. The cartoons are compressed and have to be extracted to your hard disk (or a floppy) before use. You can decompress either single images or a subdirectory of images. T/Maker uses the PKZIP compression method. If you already use PKZIP and PKUNZIP, then you'll know what to do. Otherwise, just follow the instructions in the included "quick start guide." ClickArt Newsletter Cartoons has a suggested retail of $69.95, but the street price will be much lower. (The Mac version goes for $49.95.) For more information contact T/Maker Company, 1390 Villa Street, Mountain View, CA 94041; 415-962-0195, FAX: 415-962-0201. # David Batterson enjoys loves good cartoons, desktop publishing and "Farley." Contact him via MCI Mail: DBATTERSON. ClickArt Newsletter Cartoons Copyright 1992 David Batterson T/Maker has been publishing DTP clip art for several years now, concentrating mainly on the Mac market. It has now increased its offerings to DOS-based graphics and DTP users, realizing the size of this PC userbase. Here's some history that I didn't know, and I'll bet few of you knew it either. In 1986 T/Maker introduced ClickArt Personal Publisher, the first entry-level DTP program. Software Publishing Corp. acquired the rights to it, and it became the popular PFS:First Publisher. The latest in the T/Maker's ClickArt series for the PC is Newsletter Cartoons. This collection of 100 cartoons was created by cartoonist Phil Frank of Sausalito, CA. If you live in the San Francisco Bay Area, you may know of Frank as the creator of the San Francisco Chronicle comic strip called "Farley." It is one of my favorites. San Franciscans love its cleverness and wicked satire. Frank's DTP cartoons have a softer edge to them, since they are appealing to a much different audience. They are appropriate not only for newsletters, but also for ads, memos, brochures and flyers. They are divided into categories like Accolade, Children, Educate, Health, Headline, Money, Sports and Travel. Sometimes the categories are arbitrary. BEARSCAR.PCX is under Animals, but also could be in Travel. EZCHAIR.PCX is under Travel, but could also go under Leisure. It doesn't really matter, though, as users will decide how and where they want to use the cartoons. Naturally, you can edit and alter the cartoons for your own use, using graphics software like PC Paintbrush. NOTE: these images are all copyrighted, and buyers may use them under the Images License. For example, you can use the cartoons in newsletters and similar work but you CANNOT reproduce a cartoon and sell it as a T-shirt. The cartoons have a different style to the clip art you get with DTP programs such as Publish It! or Express Publisher. TVSALES.PCX shows a pitchman actually reaching out of the TV toward your wallet! PUPPETS.PCX doesn't just show the puppets but also the person behind and the kids out front. Under the Educate category there is STUDENT2.PCX, which shows a boy in sneakers snoring at his desk. The cartoons are compressed and have to be extracted to your hard disk (or a floppy) before use. You can decompress either single images or a subdirectory of images. T/Maker uses the PKZIP compression method. If you already use PKZIP and PKUNZIP, then you'll know what to do. Otherwise, just follow the instructions in the included "quick start guide." ClickArt Newsletter Cartoons has a suggested retail of $69.95, but the street price will be much lower. (The Mac version goes for $49.95.) For more information contact T/Maker Company, 1390 Villa Street, Mountain View, CA 94041; 415-962-0195, FAX: 415-962-0201. # David Batterson enjoys loves good cartoons, desktop publishing and "Farley." Contact him via MCI Mail: DBATTERSON. ArcList 2.03 Copyright 1991 David Batterson For those who may never have heard of this program, ArcList is a professional-level, menu-driven mailing list management program for medium to large companies. It provides all the features you usually get only from a professional mailing house or high-end mainframe or minicomputer system. A typical problem companies have with mailing lists is duplicates. ArcList will eliminate those dupes from ArcList files or from existing dBASE or ASCII database files. Upon creation of a mailing list, you may choose to disallow duplicate entries or those with similar information. The software then looks at each record as you save it, to get rid of any duplicates. ArcList lets you find exact duplicates, near duplicates or match code duplicates. For example, some mailing list programs might view these two records as different people: Robert Moore Bob Mohr 25 Greenwell Ave. 225 Greenewell Street Sanraphael, CA 94903 San Rafael, CA 94903 ArcList uses "string parsing and phonetics" to catch duplicates. These dupes can be deleted, printed in a report, saved to a file, viewed onscreen or merged together. A money-saving feature of ArcList is the ability to do presorting, and then print labels for first, second and/or third class mailing. This not only helps out the U.S. Postal Service, but earns you discounts. You can also take advantage of using Carrier Routes, ZIP + 4, 5-digit or basic bulk mailing rules. ArcList will print postal barcodes on most dot matrix and laser printers too. ArcList is compatible with the major databases and other programs, including dBASE, R:Base, PC-File, Multiplan, Lotus 1-2-3, Symphony, Microsoft Word, WordPerfect, WordStar, MailMerge and others. It supports all ASCII delimited, ASCII fixed field, dBASE and DIF formats. Reports are very useful with mail management programs. ArcList's reports include list profiles, dupes, comparison charts, sheet listings, subheading listings and line queries (based on key fields). As for printing labels, ArcList makes this easy enough. There are 16 ready-to-use label formats, including Cheshire, standard pressure-sensitive, index cards, postcards, Rolodex cards and business envelopes. Or you may create and print customized labels. You can create personalized form letters, by combining a basic letter with variable text for selected records. There's a complete text editor which also allows adding printer attributes (bold, italic, fonts, etc.) For major projects you can save time and energy by using the included full-featured macro programming language. You can use this simply to eliminate repetitive keystrokes, or to create complex macro programs. There are 120 context-sensitive help screens available by pressing the anywhere in the program. You may also then press through to bring up additional help and information, including system statistics, labels, fields, reports and so forth. The system requirements for ArcList are simple enough: 640K, DOS 3.0 or higher, and a hard disk with 5.3 MB available. Group 1 offers 90 days of free tech support for registered users. An additional one year of tech support and free updates costs $125 for single users. The suggested price for ArcList is $695 for one user. The ArcList LAN Pack (for users 2 through 6) lists for $795. ArcList 2.03 looks like an effective solution to the complexities found in today's mailing management. For more information, contact Group 1 Software, 6404 Ivy Lane, Suite 500, Greenbelt, MD 20770-1400; 800-368-5806, 301-982-2000, FAX: 301-982-4069. # David Batterson reviews various PC hardware, software and peripherals. Contact him via MCI Mail: 273-7218. ACT! 2.02 - Contact Manager Copyright 1991 David Batterson I first used ACT! (Ver. 1.1) some months ago while doing consulting work for a client. I was previously a Tracker Plus fan, but after a short time of using it, I discovered I liked ACT! much better. If you haven't used contact management software, this will give you some idea of what the new ACT! 2.02 can do. It's an organizer, telemarketer, lead tracker, note book, appointment calendar with alarm, phone directory with autodialing, word processor, calculator, label maker and expense-tracker. ACT! features pull-down menus, week-at-a-glance calendar, day-at-a-glance activity schedule, histories for each contact, a reference library, data export/import capability, powerful search capability and context-sensitive help. The few shortcomings found in the old version have been eliminated. For example, ACT! now has the 80K word Merriam-Webster dictionary with Proximity spell checker. There's support for over 300 printers too. With its wide range of features, most ACT! users will employ only some of them. For instance, I've never been too crazy about PC calendars, but others will like this feature. On the other hand, I absolutely MUST have a contact database with word processing and unlimited note-taking capability. ACT! has what I want, and more. Within each contact profile, there are 74 fields. Over half of them have handy pop-up menus, each containing 26 entries for the users to customize. As for user-definable fields, you get 29 in all. This means customizing power! The pop-up menus are real keystroke-savers. While you're in the City field, for example, pressing the pop-up key brings up a list of cities. Then you press the letter of the appropriate entry to enter it in the field. This method also works with Title, State, ZIP, Last Results, RE:, FAX and other profile fields. Another handy feature is the ability to shell out to DOS. You can run any program and then return to ACT! to finish your task. ACT! holds on to only a tiny 10K while shelled-out. A second method of running other programs is to create batch files, and use the "Launch" feature in ACT!. It also releases all but 10K RAM. To use these two features, you must have at least .5MB available on your hard disk. Sending out form letters is easy with ACT!. You create the "boilerplate" text for your mailing list, and the program automatically adds the date, contact's name and address, and salutation. You select all or part of your contact list, and print out those letters as fast as your printer will go. Contact management programs offer the ability to create reports. ACT! offers reports on calls, completed activities, task lists, phone directories and custom-generated reports. ACT! comes with well-written user's guide, reference manual and a tutorial. While it sounds like a complicated program, there's no reason to panic. You should be up and running soon after installing ACT! on your hard drive. System requirements are DOS 3.1 or higher, 640K minimum, hard disk, and practically any monitor. A mouse is optional. Suggested price of ACT! 2.02 is $395, but street price is much less. For more information, make contact with Contact Software International, Inc., 1625 W. Crosby Road, Suite 132, Carrollton, TX 75006; 800-365-0606, 214-418-1866, FAX: 214-416-2311. # David Batterson continually reviews new microcomputer products. Make contact with him via MCI Mail: 273-7218. Express Publisher Version 2.0 Copyright 1991 David Batterson I've been recommending Publish It! to people for some time as a fine intermediate-level DTP program. It's very handy for producing newsletters, brochures, fliers and so forth. After looking at Express Publisher 2.0, I now recommend it instead, and I'm awarding it 5 stars too (Publish It! earned 4). Let's see why. Express Publisher 2.0 has taken all the basic DTP commands and tools, and refined them greatly. For instance, you draw a text frame and then start entering text immediately. You don't have to select the text frame with the pointer first, as with some programs. Slick! There are useful display options. You may turn off the display of actual fonts and/or bitmap images. This speeds up the program, and uses less memory. You may opt to display images in high resolution, rather than the default low resolution used by Express Publisher 2.0. Other programs duplicate objects, but here you'll find the Duplicate Many command. This lets you make multiple copies automatically, in rows, columns, page "fill" or customized. Two special tools let you align objects, or make two objects equal size. The programmers have added TextEffects too. This lets you put text in a curve or along an angled line. You can increase/decrease in size from one text character to the next. Text can be filled with a pattern or made transparent (so that a graphic can show through). You can select multiple objects (not just one) by holding down the key. Then cut, copy, move or paste all objects. When you use the page Zoom In/Out commands, you retain all editing features in any page size. The program uses Agfa Compugraphic Intellifont Scalable Typefaces. These fonts are scalable from 6 to 144 points. Since they are created "on the fly," documents print much faster than using bitmap fonts (as in Publish It!). The fonts include Times, Triumvirate, Univers, Bodoni Bold, Cooper Black, Futura Bold II, Garamond Antiqua and Microstyle Bold Extended. Express Publisher 2.0 supports your printer's resident fonts too. These don't display; the program instead substitutes equal-size screen fonts. If you wish, you can use Bitstream, HP and MicroLogic More soft fonts with the included SOFTFONT utility. This will add such fonts to Express Publisher's laser printer drivers. There are over 70 extended characters (boxes, copyright symbol, etc.), but you don't select these with and numeric keypad. Instead, you press , followed by a key listed in a chart. Express Publisher 2.0 is not a Windows application but it will run under Windows. You have to install the EP.PIF file, and add the Program Item to the Windows Program Manager. Express Publisher 2.0 can import graphics files of many types: .PCX, .TIF (b&w only), .EPS (Encapsulated PostScript), .MAC, .IMG, .NAM (Print Shop), .GIF (CompuServe Graphics Interchange Format), and .ART (PFS:First Publisher). Using the included conversion utility (CGM2TIF), you can convert .CGM (Harvard Graphics, etc.) files to .TIF. Numbering pages has a smart feature. When you add/remove a page, the page numbers are corrected instantly. Besides numbers, you can use uppercase Roman, lowercase Roman, uppercase/lowercase letters, or English (one, two, etc.). I want to add a word about the well-written user manual. It contains plenty of helpful screen shots and illustrations, and is clear and concise. Express Publisher 2.0 requires 640K, graphics adapter, mouse, DOS 3.0 or higher, and a hard disk with at least 3MB of free space. You'll need about 2MB more to install all the clip art. The program uses extended or expanded (LIM EMS 4.0) memory automatically. The suggested retail price is $159.95, but I've seen it advertised by one mail order firm for $95. Registered users may upgrade to Ver. 2.0 for $34.95. For more information, contact Power Up Software Corp., 2929 Campus Drive, San Mateo, CA 94403; (415) 345-5900; 800-851-2917 (orders). # David Batterson is a business editor and tech writer. Send your comments via MCI Mail: 273-7218. Grammatik IV - Grammar and Style Checker Copyright 1990 David Batterson The problem of illiteracy in the U.S. is an enormous one. According to Project Literacy U.S. (PLUS), over 25 million Americans are functionally illiterate, while some 50 percent of American workers have problems with spelling, punctuation and grammar. Software products such as Grammatik, Readability Plus and RightWriter correct grammar, style and spelling errors. We still need a good writing tutorial program (with lessons rather than corrections) for PCs, but that's another story. More than a year ago I reviewed Grammatik III, an excellent grammar/style/spelling checker. The company, Reference Software, later announced that Grammatik III Utilities were forthcoming. The Utilities offered improvements, including making Grammatik III RAM- resident. However, the Utilities were never released. Instead the company overhauled the software and released the enhanced Grammatik IV. It was worth the wait since Grammatik IV is quite an achievement. I think the best new feature is Grammatik IV's ability to run from within your word processor. It works with WordPerfect 5.0, Microsoft Word 5.0, Professional Write 2.1, WordStar 5.5, and XyWrite III. The process works very easily. Instead of typing your normal command to start your word processor, you use: G4RUNWP. Write your document, and then press a hot key to access Grammatik IV. For instance, within Professional Write 2.1, you merely press -G when you're ready to check your document. This automatically triggers Professional Write to save your document before bringing up the Grammatik IV opening screen. When you are finished proofreading and correcting your document, press Q (for Quit) and you go back to word processing with the edited changes now on screen. Grammatik IV saves the original file with the default extension .G4B (you can change this if you want). For those who haven't used any version of Grammatik before, you're in for a treat. Improved Artificial Intelligence techniques and its Rule Dictionary locate split infinitives, syntax errors, subject/verb disagreements, incorrect homonyms, incomplete sentences, sexist terms, vague adverbs, archaic words, wrong articles, cliches, punctuation mistakes and spelling blunders. Naturally, I had to test my own writing with Grammatik IV. I checked an opinion piece I wrote last month. The only problem it flagged repeatedly was too many instances of passive voice. ["I'll have to watch this more closely" is stronger than "This will have to be watched more closely."] Grammatik IV lets you choose among six writing styles for polishing up your writing: general, business, technical, fiction, informal and custom. The rules are slightly different for each style. For example, if you write a complex technical manual, you wouldn't want to proofread it using the general style. If you did, Grammatik IV would flag jargon and technical words as inappropriate, even though they were fine for your intended readers. Replacing recommended words or phrases is easier now. Let's say that Grammatik IV flagged "your" because you should have used "you're." Simply press and the word is corrected. Then press to proceed to the next problem area. At any time, you may ignore suggestions. You may also type in your own correction. There are instances when this is better, since you might want to rewrite the whole sentence. Grammatik IV checks for spelling errors, but you may choose not to use it since most word processors have spelling checkers. By default, this feature is turned off. Just remember to check spelling within your word processor before using Grammatik IV. You'll find excellent context-sensitive help screens at the touch of . Corporate users can also design their own customized help screens, explaining rules for their particular company or industry. Grammatik IV rates an "A" for performance and value. The suggested list price is $99 (you'll pay less); a five-user Network Edition costs $189. Registered owners of earlier versions may upgrade for $29. For more information, contact Reference Software International, 330 Townsend Street, Suite 123, San Francisco, CA 94107; 800-872-9933, 415-541- 0222, FAX: 415-541-0509, MCI Mail: 288-1979. # David Batterson is an independent writer and editor. Contact him via MCI Mail: 273-7218. The Humor Processor (joke writing software) Copyright 1989 David Batterson After evaluating so many of the usual software products like word processing, desktop publishing, graphics, utility, database and communications programs, it's always enjoyable to review something really fun and different. Such a product arrived in the mail recently, and I dropped what I was doing at the time [good thing I wasn't carrying an anvil!] to take a look. It's called The Humor Processor. I like the title, as it describes the function of the program correctly. Just like a word processor, it's a tool, but the true creativity must still come from your own brain. Author Alan Macy of Berkeley, CA (where lots of brainy and witty people live) could have called it The Gag Grabber, The Funny Formulator, The Comedy Constructor, The Pun Picker, or The Joke Jerker. But luckily for us, he resisted the temptation. The Humor Processor is a two-part program. The first part is a large database of jokes. You search the database by category (religion, lawyers, animals, etc.), by occasion (birthday, dinner, speech, etc.), or by key words (money, cats, women, work, football, etc.). If you like, you can just "Browse through the Database" and read the jokes at random. Some of them are funny, some rather stale (like the "Sahara Forest" joke, or the prisoner telling jokes by calling out numbers), and a few I thought were passe (the drinking jokes). I liked this one: "The other day, the local department store was running a special. I bought a toaster, and they gave me a free Savings and Loan Association." You can easily rewrite the jokes, or add new ones that you make up or hear at work or parties. The database is basically a starting point, and is not meant to be the best source of jokes. You can buy many books for that. The main purpose of The Humor Processor is to help newsletter editors, politicians, teachers, deejays, columnists, dinner speakers and others to liven things up with some good (and hopefully original) humor. As the manual states, "trying to come up with a funny line can be very frustrating. The Humor Processor eases the pain significantly...as you work at it, you'll see a steady improvement in your comic output." Which brings us to the best part of the program, the Brainstorm section. After hearing some of the humor on TV, I think some of those writers could use a Brain Hurricane section! First of all, you come up with the humor concept, which The Humor Processor calls the "setup." This means the type of joke or humor, such as "Exaggeration," perhaps used best by Rodney Dangerfield: "I was so poor that...she's so ugly that...", etc. Other Humor Processor setups include "Malapropisms" ["I guess I'll have to start from scraps."--Casey Stengel], "Definitions," "Play on Words," "Cliche Rewrites" ["Old postman never die, they just lose their zip."], "Misdirection," "Puns," and other types. The Brainstorm section lets you use lists of what are called "Images." These images contain such data as movie titles, common cliches, well-known personalities, things related to kids, television, and so forth. The files can be used as is, or edited. You can easily create new categories too. You then load two image files of your choice, with each displayed side by side. You scroll through the lists (automatically or manually), to match up words and ideas. It's a lot easier that it may sound. For instance, I imported the COMPUTER.DTA file into the left side, and the SONG.DTA file into the right. I soon came up with this joke: There's a new antiviral computer software program out now. It's called "Beat It." Next I loaded movie titles into the left side, and common expressions into the right. After scrolling around a while, I created this one: "They say a fool and his money are soon parted......I think that was said by the producer of Conan The Barbarian." OK, those aren't the greatest, but it gives you the idea of how The Humor Processor works. It helps you use free association to conjure up new and odd combinations, which is what humor is all about. The program's interface is nicely done, and very intuitive. There were no surprise offbeat commands, like I sometimes see in programs from small software publishers, such as (F2> to save a file! The requirements are simple: 320K available RAM, and PC- or MS-DOS 2.0 or higher. The program also supports a Microsoft-compatible mouse. The spiral- bound manual explains everything well, and even includes a list of humor books, newsletters and organizations. I liked The Humor Processor very much, and recommend it highly. I plan on using it many times. The Humor Processor is available directly from the publisher for $49.95 plus $5 shipping and handling. I don't know if it's available from software stores and mail order companies. For orders or information, contact Responsive Software, 1901 Tunnel Road, Berkeley, CA 94705; 800-669-4611, 415-843-1034. # David Batterson enjoys good humor as much as he does good software. Send your favorite jokes or comments via MCI Mail: DBATTERSON. The New Print Shop (Print Shop's Metamorphosis) Copyright 1989 David Batterson Quick!--what's the most successful graphics program in computer history? PC Paintbrush, Harvard Graphics, or The Newsroom? Nope. It's The Print Shop, from Broderbund. Virtually every Apple owner has used Print Shop. It later migrated to the PC side, and was soon followed by The Print Shop Companion. I liked Print Shop too, using it mainly for cards and banners. The graphics were crudely-drawn and fonts had a case of terminal "jaggies," but it sure touched a positive nerve with computer users. Broderbund says Print Shop has sold over a million copies. The New Print Shop is the latest incarnation, and it's quite an impressive upgrade. The New Print Shop--we'll use the "NEWPS" nickname from now on-- retains its ease-of-use which helped make it so popular, while adding a noteworthy lineup of improvements. There are ten new fonts, of a wide variety. You can use your old Print Shop fonts, by converting them with an included conversion program. NEWPS comes with all-new, more refined, high resolution graphics. They look more like the clip art you find with popular DTP and paint programs. There are also larger graphics, called full panels. Full panels come in vertical, horizontal, and letterhead formats. Vertical full panels are used in tall signs, vertical banners, and sidefold cards. Horizontal full panels are for wide signs, topfold cards, and horizontal banners. Letterhead full panels are used for letterheads, obviously, and also for calendar headings and footings. They are very artistic and eye-catching. NEWPS offers new borders--thin and wide. Wide borders, with names like CLIPBOARD and COLUMNS, look like large, decorative picture frames. Borders and graphics from the earlier Print Shop can likewise be converted for use by NEWPS. The graphics, however, will not look as impressive, as they are low-resolution. Extra large calendars, and giant posters (up to 6 1/2 by 9 feet) can be created with NEWPS. All projects offer additional options through the Customize Menu, such as Stretch/Shrink, Pick Color, and Flip. Another new feature is the Name File. This is a master file containing names which are inserted into NEWPS projects. It works like the mail merge function of your word processor. You choose full names, or first names only. The graphics-layout capability for your designs has been increased dramatically. Precise placement of fonts and graphics can be accomplished. You may also use different graphics and fonts on the same page. NEWPS supports most new printers, including HP LaserJets (and 100% compatibles), DeskJets, Apple ImageWriter II, Epson LQ series, Citizen Tribute series, Alps Allegro 24, and many more. The suggested retail price is $59.95, but it'll be heavily discounted by many software dealers. An upgrade from the old Print Shop costs $20. Three new Graphics Libraries (Sampler Edition, Party Edition and School & Business Edition) each contain over 100 graphics, borders and fonts. They retail for $34.95 each. All in all, The New Print Shop is top-drawer, and looks like it'll be a monster hit. Too bad I don't own some stock in Broderbund! For information, contact Broderbund Software, Inc., 17 Paul Drive, San Rafael, CA 94903-2101; 415-492-3200 (info), 800-999-3256 (credit card orders). # David Batterson is an old Print Shop user from his Apple //c days. Contact him via MCI Mail: DBATTERSON. ProCalc 3D Copyright 1991 David Batterson I'm not a power spreadsheet user, as I prefer to "crunch" words instead of numbers. But that doesn't stop me from wanting to look at a new product. Parsons Technology, which sells a variety of personal productivity, financial and utility software at reasonable prices, now sells a spreadsheet program called ProCalc 3D. Obviously you must have Lotus compatibility. You can not only import or export .WK1 files, but also .DBF (dBASE), .DIF and ASCII files. If you have their MoneyCounts program, you can import data directly from it, or link to budget, actual or current balance information for any MoneyCounts account. Like Lotus and the other biggies, ProCalc 3D has built-in @functions, file password protection, column hiding, worksheet auditing, global search & replace, keyboard macros, EMS support, and goal seeking. The cells per worksheet can be as large as 134 million. What exactly does it mean by 3D? While ProCalc displays data in the usual two-dimensional format, it calculates data in three dimensions. It uses multiple pages. There are 512 cells both horizontally and vertically, plus an additional 512 pages deep. Using the 3D "WorkCube" spreadsheet, you can divide data into smaller related spreadsheets. Then you can move among the worksheets with ease. You can perform a calculation on a single page, or throughout the WorkCube. You can also rotate the spreadsheet to access "cross sections of depth data." Doing a rotation allows viewing of data from different worksheets on the screen at once. ProCalc 3D features pull-down menus, context-sensitive help, a handy online tutorial, and a visual file manager. Using the latter feature, you can manipulate files and directories by pointing and selecting. You can create pie, line, bar, hi-lo and 3-axis graphs. Graphs can be customized by selecting colors, 3D, fonts, patterns and so forth. Many software products contain a mini-install program that you use when you change printer, monitor, mouse, etc. With ProCalc 3D, you have to reinstall the whole program. It does offer three supplemental programs: There's a setup program to customize ProCalc 3D. In it you can specify colors, allocate expanded memory (EMS), select 43-line mode, choose menu style (BackTrack or Lotus), and similar things. A help screen editor lets you edit ProCalc's own help file or create customized help screens for your application programs. Likewise, the error message editor can be used to edit ProCalc's error file, or create customized error messages for application programs. Most users will not make use of this. After giving it a check-over, it looks like a solid value for the price, when compared to what you'll pay for Lotus 1-2-3, QUATTRO PRO or Microsoft's Excel. The system requirements for ProCalc 3D are simple enough: 512K RAM (but 640K recommended), DOS 2.11 or higher, practically any monitor or printer, and a hard drive. ProCalc 3D has a suggested list price of $89, but may be less. For more information, contact Parsons Technology, One Parsons Drive, P.O. Box 100, Hiawatha, IA 52233-0100; 319-395-9626, FAX: 319-395-0217, 800-223-6925 (orders only). # David Batterson never strays too far from his PC. Contact him via MCI Mail: 273-7218. Professional Write, Version 2.2 Copyright 1990 David W. Batterson WordPerfect is still the best-selling word processing software, but many users don't need its advanced features, or want to pay that high price. However, there are dozens of other word processors to choose from. Software Publishing Corp. has now released Version 2.2 of Professional Write, which is one of the easiest word processors to learn. It also has the power and features you need, without overkill. One of the major new features of Version 2.2 is a customized version of Grammatik IV. (We reviewed Grammatik IV in PC REVIEWS, and gave it 5 stars.) Previously, you could use a stand-alone copy of Grammatik IV with Professional Write. Now it's an option in the pull-down menus, and it requires no separate installation. The Grammatik IV add-in program checks for common grammar, style, usage and punctuation errors. In setup, you can select "general," "business" or "technical" writing, or customize it to your needs. Professional Write 2.2 has made one change in its excellent page preview feature. Besides font and/or style changes--and seeing how this affects line and page breaks--you now can add automatic hyphenation. The previewed pages can be displayed side by side, or you can zoom in to page portions for close detail. For your documents that include a graph, the placement of the graph is represented by a shadow box. Even without using page preview, you can add hyphenation prior to printing as a print style option. In this case, you don't see the hyphenation prior to printing. There's additional printer support (over 150 now), including the HP LaserJet III, HP DeskJet Plus and Canon LBP 8. Ver. 2.2 has caught up with the font frenzy too. It supports most HP and compatible font cartridges, including Pacific Data Product's popular 25 Cartridges In One. Since laser printers allow proportional fonts, this can cause problems with your right margins coming out too wide. At print time, Professional Write rewraps lines to preserve the margin you wanted. Professional Write reads files from most popular word processors, so no file conversions are required. You can import files from WordPerfect 5.1, WordStar 5.0, Microsoft Word 5.0, MultiMate 4.0 and others. You can save in those formats, or in ASCII. The spell checker (77,000 words) and thesaurus (20,000 keywords) have not been upgraded from Version 2.1. I wish they had beefed these up. However, you can add about 5,000 words to the personal dictionary. File length has been limited in earlier versions of Professional Write. This problem is gone now. Even if you have only 512K RAM and no EMS, it makes use of your hard drive to allow extremely long documents. Form letters can be created using Professional Write's own Address Book, or by using Professional File or dBASE files. You can append delimited ASCII files to your address book, or copy individual records to delimited ASCII files. You may insert a Lotus 1-2-3 worksheet, or include a graph from Harvard Graphics, Harvard Presentation Graphics 1.0, PFS: First Choice or Professional Plan 1.0. In some word processing software, creating macros can be confusing. Professional Write has online instructions to help you write macros. You can create as many as 35, with variable lengths. If you forget what key combination it was, there's a handy menu of all your macros. Other useful features of Professional Write include a calculator, file encryption, EMS memory support, and the Address Book. The Address Book can hold up to 2,000 names & addresses. You can then insert these in letters, use them for form letters (mail-merge), and print envelopes and mailing labels. There are a few minor omissions, that we may get in Ver. 3.0 some day. One is support of .PCX graphics files. The other is automatic saving of documents (not crucial, but very useful). The suggested list is $249 but Egghead Software and other discount software dealers sell it for much less, so shop around. The upgrade from earlier versions costs you $55 ($65 after September 15). If you purchased Ver. 2.1 after April 16, you can get a free upgrade with proof of purchase. For more information, contact Software Publishing Corporation, P.O. Box 7210, 1901 Landings Drive, Mountain View, CA 94039-7210; 415-962-8910, FAX: 415-969-8466. # David W. Batterson is a freelance computer journalist who doesn't use the "Big W" word processing programs. Send comments via MCI MAIL: DBATTERSON. Publish It! Ver. 2.0 Copyright 1991 David Batterson Before we go into the new features of Publish It! Ver. 2.0, let's look at the overall features of the program, as there are many users out there who have never used the software. Like Ventura Publisher, Publish It! runs under GEM, the Digital Research GUI (Graphical User Interface). GEM was never able to compete in a big way against Microsoft Windows, but it's similar and easy to use. Page layouts are either done from scratch, or by importing a style sheet (template). The Design Ideas collection of templates is now included. It's not difficult to create your own page layouts. For some, it might be a good idea to sketch out a rough design on paper first. Then create your Master Page, choosing page dimensions, orientation (portrait or landscape), number of columns, gutters, and so forth. Publish It! uses text and picture frames which can be positioned precisely (to 100ths of an inch) anywhere you like on your pages. If you want to move frames or change their size later, this is easily done. You can import text in many formats, including WordPerfect 5.1, Microsoft Word 5.0, Microsoft Works, Word for Windows, DisplayWrite WordStar 5.0, ASCII, and others. One useful feature is that single/double quotation marks (' and ") are automatically translated into standard typesetting quote marks (`' and `` ''). You can also use Publish It! to prepare your text, as it contains word processing features like cut/paste, search/replace, headers/footers, tabs, centering, text aligning and more. It's no problem to choose justifications, indents, and leading for your paragraphs. [The term "leading"--pronounced LED-ING--is carried over from the old typesetting days using lead type.] Publish It! 2.0 still uses Bitstream Fonts: Dutch, Swiss, Drury Lane, Madison, Ravinia, and Rockface). But it now also includes 8 scalable fonts from Typografica in 17 styles. These can be created in sizes 6 up to a huge 72 point (one inch high). Three new text styles have been added: box, rounded box and strikethrough. These have limited use but can come in handy when needed. You can now save documents as ASCII text only. This was one feature I definitely wanted to see in the program update. To use this feature, you select Export Text from the FILE menu. You can import clipart in several formats: PC Paintbrush (.PCX), GEM Paint (.IMG), GEM Draw (.GEM), Lotus 1-2-3 (.PIC), Tagged Image File Format (.TIF), SPLASH! (.SS) and Encapsulated PostScript (.EPS) files. With the EPS support, you can import graphics created by CORELdraw!, Adobe Illustrator, and similar draw programs. These EPS files can also be rotated. You cannot view them in a document, however; they appear as boxes. While Publish It! is not designed for preparing elaborate graphics, you can draw lines, boxes (regular and rounded), circles, ellipses, and polylines, with the same selection of line styles and fill patterns. There's a new installation program. For those upgrading, it's best to install the whole program, saving only your document (.DTP) files to another subdirectory temporarily. Your old document files are still useable. Other new features include: support for expanded or extended memory, automatic timed backup of documents, draft printing of documents (text only), customized default settings, five page-numbering styles, and selection of multiple objects on a page. For those who need an intermediate level DTP package, I can recommend Publish It! highly. You'll save lots of money and still get professional results. I've done DTP work with Publish It! that others guessed was done with Ventura Publisher. Publish It! Ver. 2.0 requires 640K RAM. It supports most printers including HP LaserJets and DeskJets, LaserWriters and compatibles, Canon Bubble Jets, Canon LBP series and the NEC Pinwriter, as well as most graphics cards and monitors. The package includes the same 150 pieces of low-res clipart. I wish they had eliminated these, as the quality is poor. Luckily, they also bundled about 30 high-res images (.PCX, .GEM and .EPS formats) that are more usable. List price is $249.95, with street price much less. Registered users may update for $49.95. Site licensing is available for schools and corporations. For more information, contact TIMEWORKS, INC., 625 Academy Drive, Northbrook, IL 60062; 800-323-7744 (orders); 708-559-1300, FAX: 708-559-1360. # Besides writing computer articles/reviews, David Batterson does desktop publishing and tech writing. Contact him via MCI Mail: DBATTERSON.