NETSCAPE BOOKMARKS

Rearranging the Bookmarks menu in Netscape is a real pain. Moving a bookmark from the bottom of the list to the top takes a long time, since Netscape rebuilds the Bookmarks menu after each move.

You can make a long Bookmarks menu easier to manage and use by organizing it topically with submenus. Begin by choosing View Bookmarks from the Bookmarks menu to open the Bookmark List window. Create a new header at the bottom of the Bookmark List by selecting the last item on the list and clicking the New Header button. Begin moving the header up the list by clicking the large UP arrow below the list. When the header passes an item that belongs under that header, select that item and click the UP arrow to make that item subordinate to the header. If you reselect the header and move it some more, its subordinate items go with it. Moving a header with its subordinate items is much more efficient than moving each item individually.

IN THE FUTURE, you can save the work of rearranging the Bookmarks menu by adding new bookmarks exactly where you want them. Instead of choosing Add Bookmark from the Bookmarks menu, open the Bookmarks List window, highlight the item in the list AFTER which you want the new bookmark to appear, and click the Add Bookmark button. Taking the trouble to put a new bookmark in the right spot from the start, saves a lot of tedious menu-rearranging later.

ALTERNATIVE: Read the directions on our club's Home Page on "How to Make Your Own Local Home Page". You could set up your Local Home Page as a table of contents of the subgroups of URLs that you want easy access to. Then make separate HTML files for the URLs for each of your subgroups. Your Table of Contents file would have tags to jump to the individual subgroup files. The subgroup files would have the URLs to take you to the Home Pages on the WWW. Don't panic. HTML code is really simple. Anyway, all you have to do is cut and paste to the sample file that is listed on our Home Page. Come to the Internet SIG meeting on September 20, and see how easy it is.

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PRESIDENT'S PIECE FOR SEPTEMBER

Winners - August General Meeting
Beverly Altman won T/Maker's Creative Fuel.
Lamont Shadowens and Barry Smith both wonAdobe's Acrobat.
Alan Kertz won T/Maker's Clip Art disk.

September Guest

Microsoft: Windows95- NT for the rest of us.

AltaVista Technology* MediaWrangler from AltaVista Technology helps organizegraphics, sound, text and video files that are spread out overseveral media such as CD-ROMs, hard disks and networkdrives. The program uses hyperlinks between media types toorganize files in hierarchies. MediaWrangler can annotateimages; play, record and edit audio files; and convert betweenimage format. JPEG compression and decompression are builtin.

Storm Software* EasyPhoto is a combination of software and hardware thatoffers a quick and easy way to add color or black-and-whitephotographs to documents. EasyPhoto can add a picture of yourloved ones in a holiday letter or help prepare a comprehensivereport on a proposed construction project, a written deposition,an accident investigation or any kind of business proposal. Thefiles can be printed on conventional paper or special paper withan inexpensive color ink jet printer marketed by Canon, Epson,or Hewlett Packard.

PrintScreen This issue is a creative collaboration between Mildred and I. It'stoo much fun for just one person. A Big Thank You to MicheleMichum from T/Maker for the Newsletter Graphics.

General Meeting Agenda
It's changing in October. Click "H" for Help. [Webmaster Note: Ask Brian what this means.]

*(Source: Windows Mag. Reviews, AltaVista Tech., StormSoftware literature)

See you on September 27...Brian

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CHKDSK, SCANDISK, and Other Mysteries

A newsletter from a user's group included an article on using CHKDSK. You'll find the article in this issue of PrintScreen. When I tried it on my computer (a Gateway 2000 4DX2-66 brand new in June 1994), my screen filled with a lot of information, some of which I could understand. The easiest message to understand was the last paragraph, which began with "Instead of using CHKDSK, try using SCANDISK." The message also said that help was available by typing HELP SCANDISK at the command line.

I won't bother you with the details of the help. If your system has what my system has, you won't need it, and if your system has something else, it won't interest you.

I eventually typed SCANDISK on my system, and after some multicolored screens with ample instructions, I found that I had 2,027 lost clusters saved as files in five chains. I was also told the names and locations of the files. What next? That decision, apparently, was mine alone.

I use the word processor provided with Microsoft Works, and whenever I make what the operating system considers to be a serious mistake, it creates a temporary file of one kind or another. Most of the time I find these files when I use the File Manager to find out what's in a directory. Then I change the .tmp file extension to a .wps file so that I can read the file. If I can't read the file, I just delete it. I assume that if I didn't miss it, it probably isn't important.

For various reasons, I install and uninstall applications. I occasionally try Paintbrush or some other part of Windows that I don't understand very well. I don't know what happens when I make mistakes there, or in some of the applications I have. I have also learned that if I do something unexpected while moving files from one director to another with the File Manager, a file might be unavailable even to the Search... selection on the File menu. To summarize, I can think of many activities that could result in 2,027 lost clusters in five chains.

When I found the files made of lost clusters, I assumed them to be .wps files, and treated them as if they were. What appeared on the screen were long strings of many symbols. The files may have been executable files of some type, or graphics files that I attempted to move, or the result of some unknown error. I couldn't use a method analogous to my approach to .tmp files. That is, I couldn't try different file extensions. Perhaps that's one of the differences between SCANDISK and uninstall software. As usual, I decided that if I had no idea what they might be, I could go on without them, and deleted them.

Recently, I tried SCANDISK, and found that all was well. However, I then tried CHKDSK, and was informed that C:\SNAP contains three non-contiguous blocks, and the C:\CUST.DAT contains three non-contiguous blocks, something which didn't concern SCANDISK. It didn't really concern CHKDSK, either, for when I tried CHKDSK /F, it did not remove those non-contiguous blocks.

The point of all this is that the use of any DOS commands beyond CD, DIR, and a few others may get a novice user into dangers places, or to places that require knowledge that the best of help screen can't provide. How much DOS should a novice user learn?

My first answer to this rhetorical question is "At least enough to be able to edit the AUTOEXEC.BAT file." I found eight files when I searched for AUTOEXEC.* because a new one is created every time I install commercial software for the first time. I'm never sure which one is controlling my system. Although I've learned to use the editor while creating QBasic programs, I still haven't done anything about all those AUTOEXEC.* files. It isn't a matter of knowing how to edit the file. It's a matter of knowing what to edit and why, which is more complicated. I have only a vague notion of what all those lines of code mean.

A minor problem, such as a temporary loss of power, could easily create a need for editing those files. Relatively easy, if you know what to do and why. It's similar to the issue of getting a flat tire in the desert out of reach of a telephone. You can get help, but perhaps it's worthwhile knowing how to do it yourself.
----------------------------------------
Ed. note: This is the article which prompted Ted's explorations.

CHKDSK Reprinted from Golden Gate Computer Society, Feb. 1992 via Redwood Chips, August 1995

This command can be used for a quick check for non-contiguous files, type:
CHKDSK *.*

This will check all files and give a listing of any errors or non-contiguous (non-adjacent) files and report them. If there are any errors reported during CHKDSK, they can be fixed using
CHKDSK/f

This will take any mis-allocated files and place them in files in the Root directory called FILE000.CHK, FILE0001.CHK, and so on. If they are text files, you will at least be able to get at them without losing the whole file.

Ed. note: What could constitute a greater appeal for help from us novices? Since the days of single sided, single density disks I have been able to get help when disasters occurred, but no friend has had time to teach me how to help myself. A friend is better than a book. Some people do prefer to spend hours and days digging things out for themselves, but, unfortunately, I'm not that type.

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Review: PC Novice Magazine

Ted Murdoch brought the beginners' magazine PC Novice to my attention. He told me that he would tear the useful pages out of various computer magazines and throw away the advertising. Most computer magazines, he found, consisted mainly of advertising with precious little that would be helpful to a novice.The first issue of PC Novice which I bought at a newsstand is the August 1995 issue. Of the 90 numbered pages, the first 15 consisted of short articles, interesting and helpful, even though were actually describing software for sale Beginning with page 15, the magazine began to live up to the "novice" part of its name. The first article describes the DOS FIND command and its switches, a one-page article (albeit filled in with a funny detective cartoon). The next article was about conserving power in a battery operated portable. This, too, was a one-page article. What a sweet sight for the eyes of an editor! Flipping through the magazine demonstrated the policy of having articles completely together (not all one-page, either), eliminating the troublesome burden for both the editor and the reader of coping with the "to be continued" on a further page problem.

Turning the pages revealed one interesting and useful article after another. The first of three articles on PC DOS 7.0 (on three contiguous pages) was about PC DOS vs. MS DOS. A debate over the relative virtues of the Mac vs. the PC took four pages. This PC novice publication admitted that the Mac is easier to use. As a new grandmother (one 4 years, one 4 weeks), I was fascinated by the article on the use of the computer by children of various ages. Another important article described and compared computer dictionaries, naming the prices and directions for ordering. CD ROM reference tools were the subject of another article.

The index showed a section labeled "At the Office" which listed an article detailing how to get the news online in several services and "Getting Started with WordPerfect for DOS 6.0: Part 1." The index label "Quick Studies" listed tutorials in Ami Pro (Editing Your Documents) and Excel 5.0 (Entering Data) which were labeled "Beginner." Quattro Pro 3.0 (Selecting Fonts) was labeled "Intermediate," while Microsoft Word 6.0 (Generating a Table of Contents) and Lotus 1-2-3 4.0 (Working with Graphs) were labeled "Advanced."

The index section called "Beyond the Basics" included "Installing a PC Card Reader" (four pages including excellent drawings) and "Harvesting PC Cache Crops" with detailed instructions and advice.

I have not exhausted the resources available in this magazine. It is $2.95 on the newsstand. I filled out the enclosed subscription card and ran to the postoffice. I hope in my spare time (ha, ha) to look at past issues in the library.

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REVIEW: Ascend 5.0 Personal Information Manager (PIM) for Windows

Franklin Quest, Manufacturer of the Franklin Day Planner calendar/address books many of us use, also publishes this computer version of the popular "get organized!" product. Taking this evaluation copy home from the August meeting, and being the model user all software companies dream of...NOT!..., I began by reading the documentation. And therein lies a story:

In addition to a very nice 60+ page "Up and Running" booklet with the expected installation, registration, and tutorial sections, and a thorough 300+ page "Users Guide" for reference, I found a little booklet titled, "The Franklin Time Management System." The theme: "Putting your daily behavior in line with your inner values." When was the last time a software product spoke to you about Inner Values?

Well, folks, they've got a point. Time management, like getting in shape or stopping a bad habit, is something we all tend to stab at without enough preparation. In my experience, using a calendar and to-do list do not, by themselves, move me toward long range goals. Franklin's approach is to start with one's personal Governing Values, translate those into Long Range Goals, build a set of intermediate Steps to reach each goal, and finally identify specific Daily Tasks. On a daily basis, you actually deal with the Task List. So this little booklet, easily bypassed as one just grabs the diskette and jumps to "Files: Run A:\setup", may be the hidden gem in this package.

OK, back to the software. In addition to Values and Goals, the program offers Prioritized Daily Task List, Appointment Schedule, Daily Record of Events, Address and Phone book, Red Tabs, and Turbo File windows. It's quite a lot to digest, possibly more than many of us need. The second time I opened the program, I just started adding to the address book, copying notes off the back of envelopes, out of WinFax, WinCIM, Eudora, etc. I found far more fields available than I needed_five phone numbers per person, two addresses, birthday and anniversary dates. It's obviously intended as a tool for keeping up with many sales contacts and clients.

The program will auto-dial voice calls, and 'though I couldn't try it, it does email through cc:Mail and MS Mail. But what about Internet and CIS email? I'd like to consolidate all my voice, email, fax, and snailmail data in one place. But I haven't fired that out yet; maybe it's a problem.

The appointment scheduler is full of neat features like linking meetings back to the address book record for each attendee, re-scheduling with drag-and-drop, etc. Certainly, more than this solo software developer is likely to use for a while. For "Coat Pocket" convenience, you can print the address book, calendar, and to-do list_either on plain paper or on preprinted sheets that fit into the Franklin binder.

I tried to locate a PC Mag or InfoWorld review without success. There are lots of PIMs out there, as well as an overlapping class of products called Contact Managers, which seems to suggest more power for telemarketing type use. So without any basis for comparison, I have to give credit to Franklin for good documentation, a nice clean interface, painless install and setup, and an Inner Values theme we might all benefit from! If you're ready to try getting your life in order, Ascend 5.0 may be your salvation.

For Windows 3.1+, 4MB RAM 8MB disk space.
$199 suggested retail, $165. at Egghead.

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INTERNET CLASSES

In the Little House (Menlo Park Senior Center) announcement of coming computer classes for the fall, Internet for Macintosh and IBM is listed. The class is scheduled for a six week session beginning Friday, September 22 from 1:20. Only 10 students will be accepted. However, the overflow may be organized into a class on Saturday morning, exact time yet to be determined, and will perhaps allow for more than 10 students. The cost is $50 to Little House members, whose membership costs $30 per year. Second sessions beginning in October or November are being considered to follow the first sessions. The Little House phone number is 326-2025. Its location is 800 Middle Ave., Menlo Park.

A Foothill College class entitled, "Using the Internet" is offering l 1/2 hour lecture, 1 1/2 hour lecture in the laboratory and l 1/2 hour terminal time. The course description is as follows: "Introduction to using the Internet from your home or office computer, from connecting and communicating through tunneling and retrieving useful information via E-Mail, FTP, Gopher, WAIS and news groups. Weather data, library holdings, research papers, financial information and collaborations are examples of the capabilities presented." The course is 2 1/2 units, Since each credit costs a person who already has a degree $33, the total cost will be a good deal, but it is not much different from that at Little House if joining the Senior Center is part of your cost. Starts Sept. 28.

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SPAUG Table at Computer Expo

SPAUG had a table at the show at the Santa Clara County Fairgrounds on Saturday, August 19. The whole thing was set up at warp speed starting with my receipt of a notice of the EXpo about 10 days ago. Beverly Altman then called to get permission for our table. Jim Powell made about t0 DOMs, of which we sold $24.50 worth at 2.50 each, 3 for $6.00. Walt Varner set up the whole thing with the promoters at no cost, as well as free parking and entry for exhibitors. Walt manned the table from 10-4 and I worked from 12:30 to 4. The prooter thanked us for coming and hoped we would attend the next one.

About 20-30 people visited the table. Half voiced interest in the club but no one signed up at that time. There was some kidding about whether people from Mountain View and Sunnyvale would be welcome to a Stanford-Palo Alto group.

Thanks to Bev for getting permission PDQ. Many thanks to Jim Powell and Walt Varner for their time and effort.

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Mac-In-Dos for Windows

I wanted, and now have found, an economical and practical way to bring the DOS and Mac worlds into communication, if not close contact.

Mac-In-DOS, by Pacific Microelectronics, Inc., of Mountain View, CA, came to my rescue on a book-editing job for someone who used Microsoft Word on a Mac, while I was working mostly in WordStar 6 and Word for Windows. From the beginning, Mac-In-DOS seemed too easy. There was plenty of room for error, transferring from WordStar to WordStar for Windows, then to Word, then converting to Word for Mac with an untried program. I had been warned of problems with other methods of transferring DOS files into Mac. As it turned out, I converted Microsoft Word text files produced on a Macintosh into readable DOS files with no loss of formatting or special features (including footnotes). The edited files moved back to the Mac with no loss. "Everything laid in perfectly," I was told. We had the same perfect result with a scanned graphic.

Mac-In-DOS is an easily installed, easy-to-use menu driven program which allows a DOS machine to read from and write to Mac disks_a seamless bridge connecting the two worlds. The program is available for MS-DOS 3.0 or higher, and for Microsoft Windows 3.0 or higher. Other requirements are a hard disk drive, a two-button mouse, and a 1.44MB 3.5 inch high density disk drive on both the PC and Macintosh computers. The DOS version has been out for four or five years, and the Windows version, Mac-In-DOS 2.1, came out in '94, with another upgrade due shortly. Version 2.1 is friendlier and faster than 2.0, and, as Pacific Microelectronics people explain, a little classier and with improved disk formatting. Since 2.1 uses both a logical and a physical format, you can use it to transfer text and graphics files by modem. I didn't test that mode; my customer had a runner carry the floppy, but I am confident that modem transfer would work well.

Mac-In-DOS lets you see exactly what you're doing, with MAC and DOS files shown in side-by-side windows. You can easily format a diskette to Mac in about 45 seconds. After a quick and easy set up we transferred three files totaling 80K from DOS to Mac in about three seconds. The menu driven program was quite easy to follow, but we still had to refer to the trouble-shooting guide for a clear explanation that word processing files had to be transferred in binary mode, and that only plain text should be transferred in text mode. An especially handy feature is that the program allows you to clean up your disk by deleting DOS or Mac files. The documentation for all operations was clear, but almost unnecessary.

Street price for either version is about $80. The Windows version includes Super Cut for cutting and pasting text or graphics. An upgrade to Mac-In-DOS 4 Plus, which allows you to use a DOS machine to read a Mac Cartridge, and to transfer multi megabytes, is available. Pacific Microelectronics is located at 201 San Antonio Circle C250, Mountain View, CA 94040; Fax: (415) 948-6296; Tel: (415) 948-6200.

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COMPUTER-RELATED BROADCASTS

TELEVISION
Mark Bunting - "The Computer Man"
Mondays - 12:30 to 1:00 am - Ch 4 (KRON), S.F.

Comments: Explores variety of subject; casual style makes hardware & software subjects fun and unintimidating. Viewers are entertained & informed.

Computer Chronicles
Thursdays - 6:30 to 7:00 pm - Ch 22 (KRCB), Cotati/Rohnert Park

The Computer Man
Saturdays - 6:00 to 6:30am - Ch 10 (KXTV), Sacramento

Computer
Saturdays - 1:00 to 1:30 pm - Ch 54 (KTEH), S.J.

RADIO
Leo Laporte on Computers Talk Show
Saturdays - 10am to 1pm - KSFO, 560 AM, S.F.

Comments: Fast-paced, sometimes wild, wacky, and wired; a great source for news, views, tips, and computer help.

Call-in # 808-5600 (toll free from 707, 415, 510, & 408 area codes)
Fax # (415) 658-5401
E-mail to Leo at laporte@ccnet.com
For show subjects and downloadable files for those on the Internet:
http://www.ccnet.com/laporte/welcome.html

On Computers (with Gina Smith)
Sundays - 10am to 1pm - KPIX, 1550 AM, S.F.
10am to 1 pm - KPIX, 97.5 FM, S.F.
10am to 1 pm - KBFK, 1530 AM, Sacramento

Comments: Designed to help you figure out you computer. Call 1-800-827-7770 during the show to have questions answered.

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AMERICA ONLINE

So you want to surf the net? Just what is all the fuss about the Information Superhighway?

Don't know how to surf or even where to start? How about America OnLine? This easy to use pro-gram will have you on line and interactive in a flash. How easy is it? I went from a non user to surfer in about 5 minutes. Is AOL (America OnLine) for you? Do you need to know Washington's Farewell Address, the weather in Cheyenne WY., info on Johnny Appleseed, the care and feeding of your Iguana? All this, and much, much more is available from AOL.

What is AOL? Is it the Internet? Yes, Virginia, it is the Internet, or at least a part of it.

AOL is a service provider. They offer you a way to gain access to information. What kind of in-formation? All kinds, any kind, that is the beauty, and the rub. You have access to tons of info, much more than you could possibly use. AOL helps you filter this info. Their point and click interface lets you search for the info you want. Want to know what to feed your Iguana? Click on the hobbies icon, scroll down to the Pet forum, click on Pet Forum, scroll down to reptiles, look for info there. Need to research a subject for a project? Click on Resources. Want to talk to people about Star Trek? There is a Star Trek chat room. The possibilities are endless, or almost endless. Want to access the World Wide Web? Sorry, no can do...yet. You can preview the Web, but not surf.

But wait, you said it's the Internet. Yes, it is a part of the Internet, and yes, you can access the "net" from AOL. Just click on the globe icon or click on the Internet box. There, you are out on the net. It seems no different from AOL. It's not, really, but you now have access to a LOT more information. Great, so how do I access it? Well, that depends on what you want. Want good old George's farewell address? Use a gopher. What's a gopher? It's just what it sounds like, something that tunnels through the ground in search of something, or someone who goes "fer" something. Remember, these things are named by computer people, and they all think they are the cleverest. Want to download some files from Cornell? Use FTP (File Transfer Protocol). The AOL Internet interface makes it easy. Want to see what other people with your interests are doing, check out the Newsgroups. There are newsgroups on just about every topic, from computers to Monty Python skits.

AOL seems to have it all, but only on the surface. For the novice, it is the best place to start. For the family, it is perfect. For someone who really wants it all, it falls short. Let's talk about the novice (like me). AOL is easy to use, easy to understand, easy to start. All that you need is the disk from AOL, a computer, and a modem. Insert the disk, follow the instructions that come with the disk, and presto, you're on-line! How do I get this magic disk?

Easy, Call their 800 number, fill out the card in just about every computer magazine (sometimes the disk even comes in the magazine), or you can even buy the software. If you have the free disk, you get 10 free hours of use in your first month. After that, it'll cost you $9.95 per month. You get 5 hours a month for your money, with each additional hour costing $2.95. Expect to spend the first hour getting used to the interface. They have excellent on line help. Just how easy is it? Well, judging by my experience, very easy. I had my computer about three days before I signed on, and without knowing what I wanted or how to get there, I found all sorts of neat information. The only problem was the time just flew by. Forty minutes seems like five.

AOL has features that are directed at the family. Multiple sign-on names, parental controls, even a kids section. Worried about who little Johnny is talking to online? Lock out the chat rooms under his screen name. AOL allows for five screen names, each with its own password and e-mail address. There are four levels of parental control available.

For the user that wants it all, AOL falls short. The World Wide Web, a network of computers offering access to "Home Pages" (a home page is like the front page of a newspaper, but only in appearance) is not available yet. Once AOL has the WWW, they will have a fantastic package. Most of the time, AOL works flawlessly, but when it can't access a host or a server, your online time becomes hourglass mode. Hourglass mode is when you are staring at the hourglass, waiting for something to happen, and that can be annoying. All things considered, AOL is an excellent way to get started. It is inexpensive, easy, and most of all, fun!

Ed. Note: Get a friend of yours on AOL to sign you up so that friend can get 10 free hours on AOL.

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JOIN FREECELL ANONYMOUS

It's the fault of our president, Brian Christopher. He gave me a copy of Pixar Typestry to review. I couldn't do a thing with Pixar Typestry, so I gave it back to Brian. However, it left on my computer a derivative Solitaire game called Freecell. Since no documentation was left with the game, I couldn't figure it out. I had occasion to speak to a fellow club member about this game; he gave me the essential rules and I worked out the others. Now I am addicted-cured only of my previous addiction to the pedestrian Standard or Klondike Solitaire, which I now find too boring. I then discovered that my friend is addicted, too!

Freecell has 32000 numbered deals which appear randomly unless one selects a specific number. The cards are dealt face up in eight columns. As in Standard Solitaire, winning depends on piling all the cards on their respective aces of the same suit.

Two weeks ago, having been devastated by my inability to win a particular numbered game, I confronted my fellow club member to ask, "Are they all solvable?" He couldn't answer, not having played all 32000 of them. On my next try of that same impossible game (I kept track of the number of the games randomly dealt out to me) I succeeded in winning. Then I found that if a game was hard, doing it over several times, analyzing the difficulties in order to avoid them, led to victory. I would say to myself about a difficult game, "If I win this, I'll quit." But, another game was soon on the way, often as a reward for spending a couple of hours working on the PrintScreen (or an hour, or 30 minutes, or 15 minutes...!). Or, on the other hand, to relieve frustration, a frequent accompaniment of PrintScreen work.

A few days ago I started choosing game No. 1, then No. 2, etc. I had sworn off with No. 10 and telephoned my fellow (known) addict, "I can't solve No. 10; I'm going to swear off." "You won't quit. I swear off all the time and I'm playing Freecell now." (We both feel guilty about wasting our time.)

I booted up my computer and had a fifth try at No. 10. Having improved my strategy with the four previous tries, I won. I swore off_until I started writing this article. In order better to describe the game (e.g. eight columns of cards) I had to ask for No. 11. You can guess_did I ultimately win?

Does anyone out there want to join Freecell Anonymous?

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THE SIDEWALK FAIRE RECAP

The Sidewalk Faire was a financial success in spite of the various crises that occurred, including our being evicted from Building 7 the day before the event! We will never know how much more successful it might have been without "the glitches".

However, on the brighter side, the reason for the success of the Faire was the great software that was donated by so many generous companies. With out their support, we couldn't have even attempted such a fund-raising effort. Many thanks to Adobe Systems,Berkeley Systems, Borland, Broderbund Software, CommonGround Software, Computer Attic, EasyPhoto, JDGBooks, IndividualSoftware, Intuit, Kepler's Books, Logitech, Lotus Development, MaxisSoftware, Microsoft, Mike Murach & Associates, Novell, Starfish Software,and ViaGrafix.

Also a special thanks to the very cooperative members whose brain and brawn was so indispensable: LaVonne Murdock, who worked long and hardon all the signs on the tables, Alex Ehunan, who worked from 3:30 to10:30 loading, unloading, packing, unpacking and whatever else was necessary and helpful; Allen Holzman, Jim Dinkey and Jim Bailey for more loading and unloading and for the useof their tables. I really appreciate your time and effort.

PS. The fund-raising continues. Look over the list of available software and keep on buying. Do your holiday shopping. It's for a very good cause!!

THE PRICES ARE TOO LOW TO PRINT.

Call Beverly Altman to get the prices. You can pick up the software at her house in Menlo Park, or you can arrange for her to bring it to the General Meeting on NOVEMBER 1.

GOOD SOFTWARE AT A GOOD PRICE, AND IT BENEFITS SPAUG!

Under a Killing Moon CD
Acrobat Exchange
Adobe Wild Type
Looney Tunes Screen Saver
3D home Architect
Infinite disk
Ascend 5.0
AnyTime
Quicken
Parents' Guide to Money
Financial Planner
TrackMan
Word Pro 96
Smart Suite
Sim City 2000 CD
Sim Tower
Widget Workshop
Windows 95 w/o Windows
Perfect Office
Power Mouse
Sidekick 2.0
Easy Photo
CADD 5.0
Enable Works plus 1.1
InfoCentral
ObjectVision 2.0
Perform Pro
QEMM & 2 games
Norton Utilities
Norton Navigator
Norton Antivirus
Norton pc Anywhere
SQZ! PlusNorton Disklock 3.0
World of Multimedia CD
Training Programs
Learning Win 95
Learning Word 6
ParadoxdBase
Delphi
ReportSmith
Typing Instructor

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TIPS & TRICKS: LABELS & STICK-UM

Try making 3 1/2 " disk labels on plain paper using 3x3 shareware label makerand attaching them with Dennison's Removable glue stick. 3x3 has another tstanding feature - it prints an edge zone so the contents of a stack of disks can be read without removing the disk. The glue stick allows labels to be cleanly stripped from a disk. I bought my glue stick from Norney's, but I'm sure they're available at any stationer's. 3x3.zip can be found on AOL.

3x3 is a small utility that does one thing well; it produces 3 1/2 " disk labels on Avery 5196 label sheets or plain paper. Avery 5196 is a 3x3 matrixof labels for laser or inkjet printers, hence the file name. I find plain paper preferable to commercial labels- noadjusting the printer, easy to secure and strip with the glue stick, and muchless expensive. 3x3 was easy to use once I learned it's procedure, but that wasn't simple. I spent several hours of trial and error before I got the hang of the program. It's HELP file seemed to lack coherence and was not too helpful. However, once learned it's easy to use so stick with it. (Checksome of the disks in the DOM box to see the end result). If anyone tries 3x3 and has a problem call me. I think I can help you get started. 3x3 does not print single labels; only nine at a time.I found this disconcerting at first - throwing eight labels away just to get one - but there's nothing lost when you print on computer paper.

I've tried both the Permanent and Removable glue sticks. They both adhere will; however, the removable type peels off cleanly and the permanent does not. The permanent type leaves some residue which scrapes off easily compared to commercial labels, but isn't as easy to remove as the removeable kind. I also tried removeable glue stick over ocmmercial label adhesive. The commercial label peeled with none of the familiar,almost impossible to remove debris or residue. Some may prefer the permanent glue stick; it's easy enough to try both. Make your own choice or use both as usage dictates.

I find the use of a glue stick so enticing that I'm going to try not to use commercial labels any more. As an inveterate experimenter I'm going to try making label templates withClaris Works for Windows' draw Utility (Claris Works-Win is the son of Mac Works) and has excellent Level2 desk top publishing capability. Whether or not this works I'm going to make small edge zone labels on which I can hand print or print and over paste on my master commercial disks to identify the master at a glance. I also plan to make some blank 2 3/4 x2 3/4 wrap around labels out of printer paper to see where that approach leads. If anyone has other ideas we can share them. P.S. It's easy to do, making different labels in one printing. but learning the process was anything but intuitive.

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CREATIVE COMPUTER WORKSHOP

Creative Computer Workshop, on the corner of High and Hamilton Street in downtown Palo Alto, is a self-service computer graphics center.

We offer high-end graphics workstations: Pentium 90 Mhz and Power Macintoshes, with NEC 21 inch monitors and Wacom Drawing tablets ($12.75 per hour). Browsing the World Wide Web with Netscape is available at the rental rate on our PC. We offer many opportunities to learn about computer graphics software through classes (the current schedule includes: Learn How to Scan, QuarkXPress, Ray Dream Designer, Fractal Design Painter and Poser, Adobe Photoshop, and Intro to the Macintosh). Self-paced programs include Personal training systems audiotapes, which are free with computer rental (for example, we have an introduction to Microsoft Office on audiotape). Newest to our list is an interactive CD-ROM on the Internet and HTML programming for Web Pages.

We also can arrange individual tutoring for special projects. We have many printing options, from photorealistic dye sublimation prints to full tabloid size black and white laser prints. Even if you don't need to print or rent computer time, come by to see our digital art galley, currently exhibiting the work of fourteen local artists. It is the only gallery of its kind on the Peninsula.

We also offer free seminars on a number of computer topics, including "Design for the World Wide Web," new 3d software for drawing the human figure (Fractal Design Poser), and MacroMedia's director, to make exciting multimedia presentations. Call (415) 328-5048 to be on our mailing list for announcements about these seminars, as well as updates to the class schedule.

For you PC advocates, we have the following software on the Pentium: Microsoft Word, Powerpoint, and Excel, QuarkXPress, Adobe Photoshop, CorelDraw, WordPerfect, Ray Dream Designer, Fractal design Painter, and PrintShop Deluxe, and Netscape.

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Building a Business Presence on the Internet

CONNECTING TO THE INTERNET

Continuous 24-hour connections are generally available in several flavors, depending on the performance you want. The least expensive is 28.8 Kbps, which is an analog connection using a standard telephone line.

The digital connections start with ISDN which can be used at 56/64 Kbps (one channel) or 112/128 Kbps (two channels). ISDN lines can be used in multiples, including a 23-channel T1 connection. Until recently, equipment costs were quite high. Prices are now coming down quite rapidly, making ISDN services attractive.

Frame Relay comes in two flavors, 56 Kbps, and 128 Kbps to 1.544 Mbps. If you plan to grow, start at 128 Kbps and when you increase the bandwidth, you can do so without incurring additional installation and equipment charges. Many ISPs (Internet Service Providers) alter the throughput of these services, so make sure you are getting the CIR you need.

For those of you who like lots of bandwidth, a dedicated T1 (leased line) can provide 1.544 Mbps at very reasonable prices, and can be implemented as Fractional T1.

The ISP's Internet service fee is determined by the bandwidth, and is in addition to the continuous connection cost. Co-locating your server on the ISP's premises can save continuous connection costs by sharing the ISP's high-speed connections.

For an entrepreneurial or growing business, the best option to minimize start-up costs is to have the ISP host your website. As you grow, the ISP can help you set up your own server and provide you with the appropriate high-speed connections.

QUALCOMM'S EUDORA PRO
"The Ultimate Electronic Mail For The Internet"

As a Eudora Light user, you are probably already aware of Eudora's many benefits, including its reliability and well-designed and easy-to-use interface. What you may not yet be aware of are the benefits of moving up from Eudora Light for Windows to the commercially available Eudora Pro for Windows.

Eudora Pro (version 2.X) differs from Eudora Light (version 1.X) in three significant areas: features, documentation, and support.

Eudora Pro has an enhanced feature set that goes well beyond the capabilities of Eudora Light, including the following:

- Rules-based message filtering
- Built-in spell checking
- On-line Help describing all menus and windows
- Color-coded message labeling
- Automatic opening of attachments from within message windows
- Direct serial dialup connection support
- Kerberos Password Authentication System support
- Uuencoding and decoding
- Multiple nickname files
- Multiple signature files

DOMAIN NAMES

Considering starting a business on the Internet? Or maybe you are thinking of moving your current company on to the information super-highway? In either case, building an Internet presence is easy.

Your first step should be to register your company's domain name. Your domain name is your address on the Internet. Without your own name, you do not have a strong identity on the Internet.

But, don't delay. Domain names are currently being registered at a rate in the hundreds per day. Once the domain name you want is registered to someone else, it is gone--most likely forever. Domain names are easy to register with your local ISP (Internet Service Provider) and only cost $50 a year to keep.

Once you have registered your domain name, you will want to decide whether to have an ISP host your web site, or if you want, you can maintain your own server. Both have pro's and con's, which you should discuss in detail with your local ISP before you make a decision.

If you decided to have the ISP host your site, make an appointment to sit down and design your web site. Make sure to discuss issues such as updates, and auto email robots.

Auto email robots send an automated reply via email to anyone who sends them an email. Many people don't realize that many larger corporations are starting to prevent their employees from surfing the net. Without an auto email robot to send them information via email (which most of these same companies rarely limit) your potential customers will never get your information electronically.

If you decide to maintain your own web server, you will want to find an ISP that can sell you the necessary hardware and software, as well as provide you with the appropriate connection.

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USING TRUMPET WINSOCK OVER INTERNAL SLIP/PPP

SLIP is a simple protocol which allows an Async serial connection to send Internet Protocol (IP). You usually need to have access to a server that can understand SLIP. SLIP is usually accessed via a phone line, and with the advent of high speed modems, TCP/IP (Transmission Control Protocol/Internet Protocol) is a reality over a dial-up connection. PPP (Point to Point Protocol) is a protocol that is more complicated than SLIP, which offers error correction, and is more reliable than SLIP. The Trumpet Winsock has facilities for managing a SLIP connection, as well as the ability to use dialling scripts for logging in and out of your SLIP server.

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PACKET DRIVERS

A packet driver is a small piece of software which sits in between your network card and your TCP (Transmission Control Protocol) program. This provides a standard interface which many programs can use in a similar manner to BIOS calls using software interrupts.

Why is it called a packet driver? This is because modern networks send information using packets of information, rather than sending information one byte or character at a time. For example, Ethernet sends information in frames of up to 1514 bytes long. The reason for sending things in packets is that information can be transmitted much more efficiently in packets.

Central to the concept of the packet driver is a vector, which is used to communicate with it. The 80x86 family of processors allows programs to communicate with the operating system through what is called a "software interrupt", which always has a number in the range 0 to 255. This is termed a "vector" and is the one of the key mechanisms to pass control to the MS-DOS operating system. Usually the vectors are expressed in hexadecimal, with the range 0x00 to 0xFF. The 0x in front of the number means that we are using hexadecimal numbers instead of decimal numbers. They may also be expressed in the notation 00H to FFH, or $00 to $FF. If you are dealing with packet drivers, hexadecimal notation is much more common, but occasionally they are expressed in decimal. Examples of software interrupts in use on PC's are 0x10 for the video BIOS, or 0x21 for calls to DOS.

Packet drivers are only allowed to have a software interrupt vector in the range 0x60 to 0x7F. Normally, you will pick 0x60 as the default place to install your packet driver, but certain machine configurations may make that vector unavailable. Just choose one that is free - the packet driver should tell you if you can use it or not.

The Trumpet Winsock also uses a special virtual packet driver "wrapper" which enables your packet driver to function correctly in Windows. While the packet driver is an efficient way to communicate with your network card, it will not work correctly from Windows without a little assistance. The program "WINPKT" was written by some clever people on the Internet to allow a packet driver to work correctly within Windows by making sure that packets get directed to the correct "virtual machine" under Windows enhanced mode. A "virtual machine" can be either the entire Windows session, or any DOS session active within Windows. Refer to the Windows system documentation for more details.

(Transmission Control Protocol/Internet Protocol - TCP/IP) TCP and IP are two sets of protocols that originally were designed for use in the ARPANET. Now they are used widely throughout the industry for Internet linked multiple networks, as well as for LAN communications. Routing of information through the Internet is based on the use of TCP/IP protocols

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REVIEW: Typestry 2

About two weeks ago, I volunteered to evaluate this program, after another member of the computer club had trouble to getting it to work. I had more success, but also had some problems as well. My old 386 machine didn't have enough Ram to run it, but recently I purchased a new Pentium computer with Windows 95 on it. I had trouble getting it to install on Windows 95, because of a 32-bit extension file(s) that would not install. Windows 95 is already a 32 bit OS, so this extension file(s) isn't needed. With a 32 bit operating system one only needs to install just the Typestry program itself, but with Windows 95 the installer program kept on insisting that the user install the 32 bit extensions. But when I try to install these extensions, it says the operating system is already 32-bit ready, so they aren't needed. The instruction manual says that it can be used under Windows NT, the grand daddy from Microsoft without these extensions. These extensions are only needed for the old Windows 3.1 Operating System. After all this frustration, I finally found a machine that would run this program. This machine was an old 386DX-25 at Lamont Shadowens' office in Redwood City. This machine isn't the ideal machine, but was better than nothing. A 486 or Pentium is the ideal machine for this program. Now into what this program can do.

The program came with one large manual, a command card, 8 3.5 inch floppies, and a CD ROM disk. The large main manual has a lot of material about what this program can do. It has extensive illustrations of 3D letters, pictures wrapped around objects such as spheres, boxes and other objects. One example of an object is a world map wrapped around a sphere to make it look like planet earth. Another object is an ordinary letter or word turned into a 3D object with textures or pictures wrapped around them. The manual goes into detail about all the different features this program has, and shows screen shots of various different windows menus and objects on screen. Over all, this manual is a well written manual, with lots of information about this program. Most all features in this program are described in detail, so the user should be able to understand how to use the features this program has to offer.

I played with the text features a lot in this program. I typed in the word "USS ENTERPRISE" and was able to put a brick texture on to the front and add a 3D effect on the back of the words. I could add many different textures or Looks to these or any other words. Besides the Looks, one could add lighting, shading, motion blurr effects, etc. to their projects as well as the Looks. These textures are called Looks for how they make an object look. There is a library of these Looks that come with program. Extra ones come on a CD ROM disk with many extra Looks. The users could also create their own using pictures they created in other programs. Other objects could also be imported from programs such as Corel Draw, Adobe Illustrator and others or vice versa. This program reminds me of a Macintosh program called Adobe Dimensions. This program does very similar functions to Pixar Typestry 2. After playing with some of the features of this program, I think this program is a very powerful program for many people to use. In fact, this program was used to create scenes from movies such as Beauty and the Beast, Terminator 2, and dinosaur skin in Jurassic Park.

I myself would buy this program if I could run it under Windows 95. I think if this program would run under Windows 95, it would a lot better than under Windows 3.1. It probably runs well under Windows NT, but I haven't tried it since I don't have access to a machine that runs Windows NT. I was disappointed that it didn't run under Windows 95, but hope the a version for Windows 95 comes out soon. I wouldn't mind trying the 95 version when it comes out. I would have tried the many more fancy features of this program if I had it running on a faster machine.

Pixar Typestry 2 for Windows - Version 2.0
Memory: 8 Megabytes min, the more the better.
Windows 3.1 or Windows NT, not compatible with Windows 95
386 or higher CPU, Math Co. CPU recommended
486 or higher recommended
CD-ROM recommended, not required
Pixar, Richmond CA
Phone: 510-236-4000
Fax: 510-236-0388

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Quarterdeck Software has come out with a program for WINDOWS that makes it easy to clean up your hard disk. CleanSweep (list $59; at Fry's $30) is the one program on the market that will uninstall programs without having a previously produced install log. That is, other uninstall programs require that you run their software while you install your software; it then makes a log of what was installed and where, so that it will know what to uninstall later.

CleanSweep makes a log after the fact, that is, you click on the icon of the program or program group that you want deleted, and it makes a list for you to approve before deleting (if you check "Test"). It will make a compressed backup file of the deleted items if you wish.

Other features allow you to search for Duplicate Files, Orphaned Files, and Unnecessary Windows Files.

I bought CleanSweep because I have a baby hard drive, and I had a lot of utilities and stuff that came with the computer that I never use. CleanSweep got rid of this junk for me, and gave me more memory. I hardly had to look at the manual.

If you want to clean up your hard drive, then CleanSweep is for you, it is very simple and the price is right.

(This is the first time that I have reviewed software that I have paid for.)

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