Newsletter - Internet Edition

May’s presentation was by our own Eric Nisly, also known as a recent college graduate. Eric was well prepared with plenty of hardware and equipment courtesy of Gene’s Camera Store of South Bend and Goshen, where he works. The cameras Eric presented were the D-200L by Olympus, DC-50 by Kodak, the RD-175 from Minolta and the E2-N from Nikon. They were priced $599, $699, $5995 and $9995 respectively.

Eric took advantage of Howard Trumbull and used him as the subject for picture comparisons between cameras. In the first picture Eric took Howard’s picture and saved it to his hard drive, then using Adobe Photoshop 4.0 he zoomed in to show detail of Howard’s eye. It had a glare from the camera flash so he removed the highlight and changed color and contrast to enhance the image. Howard even inquired whether Eric could remove his cataracts this way too. Eric said “No, but it would be nice.”

The resolution capabilities of the cameras were 640 x 480, 756 x 504, 1528 x 1146 and 1280 x 1000 respectively. The D-200L has automatic flash, an optical viewfinder, LCD color srceen for preview and review, and capacity for 20 to 80 pictures depending on the resolution. The DC-50 has a 3x zoom lens, close-up mode, built in flash and choice of 7 to 22 pictures/MB. Eric discussed the features of the Minolta RD-175, but couldn’t demonstrate it on his computer for lack of a SCSI cable. The same was true of Nikon’s E2-N. Quite impressive was the SLR, or single lens reflex, that both Nikon and Minolta used. Keep in mind when purchasing one of these, that lenses are extra, you get the camera body only.

Eric also brought the NC-2 a color, personal photographic print maker from FUJIFILM. It uses no ink, ribbons or toner but rather uses Thermo-Autochrome (TA) technology. Printing time is supposed to be approx. 120 seconds. The paper tray or packet holds 20 sheets of 3 7/8" by 5 3/4" paper. You can print single, 2, 4 or 16 images on one sheet. The print maker sells for $395. If you need any more information on these items, be sure to give Eric a call at Gene’s Camera Store in South Bend.

So you think you’re ready to get started on the Internet? Or you’ve been surfing for a while, but could use some tips on software or ways to find what you’re looking for? Come join us at the June EPCUG General meeting. You’ll be sure to learn something new, whether you’re a novice or an Internet veteran!

In 1993 there were less than one thousand sites on the World Wide Web. Today, it has been estimated that there are over 200 million sites. By the year 2000, projections suggest a total of over 1 billion Web sites. An ever-changing medium, the Internet is still in it’s infancy in many ways. In the near future, it will probably be part of the daily lives of all Americans. So, don’t get left behind!

We’ll provide a list of 23 Internet Service providers with Elkhart access numbers, along with a list of some useful WWW sites to visit. Using a Windows 95-based machine, I’ll demonstrate some of the programs I find most useful. I’ll cover some of the indispensable tools you’ll need to get the most out of the Internet, including web browsers, news readers, email programs and search tools. We’ll also touch on several hot topics, including netiquette, privacy and spam.

Bring your questions and join us on June 26!

A picture is worth a thousand words. Eric Nisly’s presentation of digital cameras fielded a thousand questions. You know you’ve got a hot topic when I have to cut off the questions a little after 9:00. If you have a need to get photos into your PC, this is the way to do it. The uses are many, from wallpaper to sending a family picture thousands of miles across the Internet. The quality is much better and easier to use than a scanner. I would like to thank Gene’s Camera Store in South Bend for supplying the cameras Eric used. They carry a full line of digital cameras for the amateur and pro.

I am pleased to announce that Bob Irish has accepted the Director-at-Large position. He will be filling the position vacated by a resignation. Bob is the Director of Respiratory Care for Regency Place Rehabilitation in South Bend. I know Bob is excited about getting more involved in our group and would more than happy to help if you have any questions or comments.

We had an in-depth discussion at our May meeting about relocating our general meetings. To recap, we are outgrowing Crown’s meeting room. We want our group to grow, but our current meetings are filling the room. We have received many suggestions on possible meeting sites in Elkhart and have just begun to research them. The problem we have is that we want a place large enough to hold 200-300 people. This is more than we currently have attending, but we want a place that we can grow into and do not want to have to find a new location next year. If you have any suggestions, please feel free to contact me at anytime.

Last month’s Internet and Windows 95 SIGs were canceled due to the storm in Goshen. We’re sorry if any of you drove to either meeting place and then found out. Both SIGs should be back on this month.

This month’s meeting is on basic Internet usage. Cindy Oyer will be presenting, Cindy has a great deal of knowledge about the Internet and does a wonderful job presenting.

See you at the meeting...

When doing work for a publication (like this newsletter) using some sort of layout program is extremely helpful. Some of the available layout programs are QuarkXpress, Corel Ventura, Microsoft Publisher, and PageMaker. Now, the basic functions of these programs are the similar, but they each do some things slightly differently. The little extras and ease of doing things are what makes a program a little better. Personal preference is another thing that puts one program above another. When doing layouts for the newsletter, I prefer PageMaker. I personally like PageMaker 6.5 because of the style of interaction it has when doing layouts.

In a layout program all elements are separate, like putting things down on a desk. The pencils can move separately of the pens. You can move the phone without moving any thing else on the desk. This is the style of movement in a layout program, whereas, in word processing programs everything flows as one continuous body. When you move one object out, such as a graphic or an article, the rest flows up to fill the space. The ability to move everything separately is a standard layout feature, but it is one that PageMaker has enhanced with what are called layers. These are basically levels, or planes, of your document that can be printed or not, individually or together

One of PageMaker’s new features consists of a polygon tool that allows you to make any number sided polygons, this is an improvement from when you were just able to make squares and circles. The polygon tool does more than just the three to one-hundred sided polygon settings. It also allows you to make the sides inset. So now, instead of only being able to make a polygon you can now make a star. The inset of the sides ranges in percentage of zero to one-hundred percent, zero putting only a little bend to the side and one-hundred putting the side back to the center of the shape.

When placing a graphic you now can mask your image to select just one part of the area to show in your layout. For example you can make a ten-sided polygon with an inset of 30%, place the polygon over your graphic. Select them both, then go to the ELEMENT MENU, and click on MASK. This will show only that part of the graphic that is showing inside the polygon. Both parts are separate, so you can shrink the polygon or enlarge the graphic to allow as much or as little of the graphic as you want to show through inside the polygon. When you’re done, select GROUP OBJECTS in the ELEMENTS MENU with both polygon and graphic selected, and the two are now as one.

When doing various functions, you will notice that there is a keyboard command for most of the menu items. For someone doing a lot of designing and layout, shortcuts can really cut a great deal of time and help with the flow of doing things. After using the same command over and over again, you just put to memory what does what, and try not to confuse commands with another program!

To do large graphics or long layouts for posters or books, you need large amounts of space. Maximum page size in PageMaker 6.5 it is 42 x 42 inches, and the maximum number of pages are nine-hundred and ninety-nine. For most people this is more than enough. With page size, if 42" x 42" isn’t big enough, then lay it out at 50% scaling and print it at 200%, or however big you need it. With the number of pages, you could just have two files to make up for the size limitation.

Overall, for the average person and the general graphic designer, PageMaker is an excellent choice. And PageMaker 6.5 has just enough new and improved features that if you already have the program, you will want to be sure to upgrade.

You’ve found a great piece of shareware online. Perhaps you downloaded it, or got it sent to you via the Internet. Are you ready to run it? Maybe not. What if the program is in some file format you do not understand - maybe even ASCII text!? Do you need to be concerned with viruses? What if the shareware isn’t what you want? How do you get rid of it, for good?

Anyone who downloads and uses shareware needs a group of utility programs to help. These will help you in installing, uninstalling, and protecting your computer as you evaluate and use shareware. This month, and the next three, we’ll look at four categories of utility products: Compressors/Decompressors, Encoders/Decoders, AntiVirus Software, and UnInstallers.

For ease of transport and to save transmission costs, most shareware programs are archived into one compressed file. This ensures that all the necessary program files are downloaded together, and the compressed file takes much less time to download. The standard compression technique in the PC world is PKZIP, from PKWare. PKZIP is the program that compresses files (called 'zipping') into a single file with a ZIP extension. PKUNZIP is the program that uncompresses the ZIP file back into its component files.

There is also a technique for creating self-extracting compressed files. Using the example of PKZIP, the ZIP file is first created, then a small PKUNZIP program is added to the ZIP file, turning it into a standalone executable (EXE) file. To unzip the file, you simply run the EXE file. The advantage of the self-extracting compressed file is that it doesn’t require PKUNZIP to be on your PC. The disadvantage is that the EXE file is larger than the ZIP file, so it takes more storage space and longer to download.

Compressed EXE files are becoming increasingly common on the Internet, where you download files from a Web page or through FTP (file transport protocol). If you download a compressed EXE file, copy it to a temporary directory then run the program. The files will decompress; you can then run the installation program or copy the files to the working directory.

Some Windows programs use a compressed EXE file that also does the installation. When you run the EXE, the installation program automatically starts. It will decompress the files as it does the install. Again it is a good idea to put the compressed EXE in a temporary directory, and let the install program copy the files to the correct working directory.

If your compressed file has a ZIP extension, you’ll need a version of PKUNZIP to 'unzip' it for installation. Two popular Windows shareware programs are PKZip for Windows from PKWare, and WinZip from Nico Mak Computing.

PKZip for Windows offers a Windows interface to those familiar with PKZIP’s DOS version, and works in Windows 3.1, 3.11, and Windows 95 (a 32-bit version is being developed). PKZip for Windows supports drag and drop from the File Manager (or Windows 95 Explorer), along with the standard DOS version options: zipping and unzipping, storing sub-directory information within the ZIP file, excluding files and directories, password encryption, and extracting ZIP files that span multiple disks. Many of these options can be set in Preferences. Corrupt ZIP files can be fixed, since PKZip for Windows incorporates the PKZIPFIX program.

When you open a ZIP file in PKZip for Windows, it displays the compressed files in a grid format. The display can be sorted by file name, extension, size, date, or compression ratio. From the button bar you can add, delete or extract files from the ZIP file, or select files by name, size, or date. You can also create a new ZIP file from the button bar.

PKZip for Windows handles basic zip and unzip tasks very well, and provides a familiar environment to those who use the DOS version of PKZIP/PKUNZIP regularly. However, if you want to move beyond the basics, WinZip offers Windows-based zipping and unzipping, and a whole lot more.

WinZip is a popular utility on online services, and has won several awards. The 16-bit version of WinZip works with Windows 3.1, 3.11, and Windows 95; a separate 32-bit version is also available. Like PKZip for Windows, WinZip also offers a drag and drop, and an easy-to-use Windows interface for zipping and unzipping files. Beyond ZIP files, WinZip can decompress other compression formats, including the Internet’s TAR and GZIP formats. WinZip can also support ARJ, LH, and ARC compressed files via links to external programs.

WinZip can hook in your AntiVirus program, allowing you to virus check ZIP files before unzipping them. It will automatically detect and use Norton AntiVirus, Central Point AntiVirus, MS-DOS’ MSAV, McAfee’s VirusScan, F-Prot (Frisk Software), Dr. Solomon’s Anti-Virus Toolkit, ThunderByte’s TBSCAN. WinZip can be configured to work with any other AntiVirus software. It will scan any of the compressed files WinZip supports, not just ZIP files.

If you are new to compressed files, WinZip offers a standard Windows 'Wizard' interface to simplify unzipping files. The Wizard walks you though the process; once you are comfortable with the program, you can switch to using the WinZip Classic interface. This Classic interface’s main window list the files in the ZIP file, which can be sorted by name, extension, path, date, size, or compression ratio. The toolbar provides access to common actions: creating new ZIP files, adding to and extracting from the zip file, and viewing a compressed file.

WinZip includes a handy Install/UnInstall feature. If the ZIP file contains an installation program, WinZip will run the installation program, let you evaluate the program, then optionally uninstall the program (removing files, directories, and icons, and restoring any altered INI files). If the ZIP file doesn’t contain an install program, a 'CheckOut' feature will extract the files and set up icons in a special CheckOut program group (or WIN95 folder) for your review. Later, WinZip will optionally delete the CheckOut group and its files.

Author Information: Kenneth E. Johnson is Assistant Editor of the American Bar Association’s Network 2d newsletter, Contributing Editor of DOS World Magazine, Law Office Computing, WordPerfect for the Law Office, and Technical Editor of the Small Business Journal. His book on Web authoring will be published by the American Bar Association in Spring of 1997.

Copyright 1996 by Kenneth E. Johnson, 930 North Blvd., Ste. 607, Oak Park, IL 60301. All rights reserved. This article was originally printed in the December 1996 issue of Hard-Copy, the Journal of the Chicago Computer Society. It may be reprinted only by not-for-profit organizations, provided proper credit is given to the author and to Hard-Copy, and provided one copy of the reprinting publication is sent to the author at the above address. This article may not be electronically distributed, except in electronic newsletters. Uploading to BBSs or Online Services is a Copyright violation.

This article is for seniors, age 50 and over. I recently helped beta test a new Web site for older adults called Third Age. It officially launches on June 16, but is open for preview right now. There’s nothing like it on the Web for people 50 and older. Third Age has several interesting areas in the Explore region including: Healthy Living, Love & Friendship, Money Matters, Passions and Pursuits, and News and Opinion. Each of these areas features things like web and book reviews, links to other Web sites, and in-depth feature articles for third agers on topics including care giving, intimacy, and travel. In Explore you’ll also get expert advice on money matters and technology, and you can catch up on current events with Third Age daily news.

One of the best parts of the site is the forums, chats, polls, and other interactive features. You can create your own user name at http://www.thirdage.com/join/. Then, you can jump into chat or read and post in the discussion areas (forums) where people can find out that “they aren’t the only ones” whether it is health problems or social adjustments. Your concerns can be discussed with people in YOUR own generation who will better understand the difficulties and more easily share the joys encountered at this new stage in life. There are already over 100 discussion topics started for you to get involved in.

Or go to the freebie section! They have a database of thousands of free and discount resources especially selected because they are geared for our generation! Speaking of free, it costs nothing to register or participate in this new community. When you register, add my email address to the referring field, later they’ll tell me all my friends who have joined, and who knows, I might even win a prize!

I enjoyed being a beta tester to help get this site online. The areas are well planned and the overall site is excellent. You won’t encounter any young kids’ stuff here! But YOU should be cautioned to be careful, you just might find yourself addicted to enjoying life and this site too much! Check it out Third Age. I’d love to see you there.

To complement the presentation from Gene’s Camera Store, I found several graphic related shareware programs that rounded out the whole idea of digital cameras. Most digital cameras will come with some type of graphic program, but these give you an alternate choice and you will even find them useful even without a digital camera. They are good for working with any type of graphic, not just those that came into your PC through a camera. So go ahead, edit them, catalog them, dress them up into an album, and just enjoy your graphics and photos.

In addition to presenting a variety of anti-virus programs this month, I also have the monthly updates for several. If you do not see your particular program here, and they do provide a monthly downloadable update, let me know and I will go get it and have it next month. As I have always done with McAffee, I will check online the day before our meeting and update my copies of all these files so that you can pick up the latest versions. A couple of misc. and utilities round out this month’s shareware collection.

Photo/Graphic Related

GRAFCAT-WIN 3.x/95/NT Print image file collection in high resolution thumbnails to any printer supported by Windows. GrafCat is easy to set up and use. It makes an ideal tool for printing paper catalogs of your pictures, generating proof pages for book manusrcipts and for any other application which requires that you print a lot of pictures. Png, Gif, Tiff, Jpeg , Pcx, Kodak Photo-cd, Iff/lbm, Pc Paint Pictor Pic, Targa Tga, Windows /Os2 Bmp/dib, Windows3 Rle, Microsoft Paint Msp, Pfs:First Publisher Art, Halo Cut,sun Raster Ras, Hrz Sstv, Wordperfect Bitmapped Wpg, Macpaint & Gem/img.

GALLERY DOS Older basic DOS program to arrange your graphics files in a photograph album or a visual database. Create thumbnail versions of your image files.Holds 65,280 images in MAC, PCX, GIF, BMP, & TIF.You can add key words and comments to graphics. Prints individual or group thumbnail versions to IBM, Epson FX or HP LaserJet printers, save each srceen of thumbnails as a graphic by itself. Reqs 640K RAM and DOS 3.x

PICTURE ALBUM LITE Win3.X + 95 Create picture albums (from digital cameras, scanners, files, video, etc.) and then freely distribute them. Add frames, captions, audio clips, backgrounds, videos and much more! Easy to use page/album metaphor to compose multimedia albums. Overview window to peruse entire album with random access. Navigate to individual pages with a click of the mouse. Built-in slide show capability. Background colors/patterns Comprehensive picture input and multimedia support-.avi .mov .tif .tga .bmp .pcx .jpg .png .cmp .pic .pcd. Supports Photoshop or Twain modules to most scanners & cameras. Import files of type Pict, gif, jpg, PhotoCD, and TIFF. Video frame grabber capabilities. QuickTime or Microsoft movies. Up to 24 bit images. Sound annotation. Text blocks with colored text and backgrounds. Custom picture tools-Crop, rotate, mirror, scale functions. Image adjustment tools (contrast & brightness). Adjustable compression for maximum storage. This ‘lite’ version is limited in functionality (Unavailable features show red in the menus) But it still does a *great* job!

PAINT SHOP PRO-Fully functioning, complete, Windows graphic and photo editor for raster (bitmap) image creation, viewing, editing and manipulation. Features include painting with eight brushes, photo retouching, image enhancement and editing, color enhancement, an image browser, batch conversion, and scanner support. 20 standard filters and 12 deformations, and supports plug-in filters. Provides full support for all of the most popular raster formats and full or partial support for many less-popular ones; and can read nine meta and vector image formats. Over 34 file formats supported in all. Win3.X (2 disks) Win95 (3 disks)

PHOTO EQUIPMENT DATABASE- Win- Maintains a complete listing of all on-hand inventory related to photography. Enter vendors, parts, film, and so on, along with quantity and price. Tracks where each item was purchased and how much capital is invested. Includeds field for serial numbers in case of loss or damage. A packing list report can identify products for travel and assignments.

Sig/Pattern/Dat/ Updates Only

IBM Update 2.5.2I - May 19, 1997 for versions 2.4.0 - 2.5.2

PC-Cillin PATTERN# 288 May 6, 1997

Norton Definition file-May 1, 1997-NAV1.0-2.0 Win95 NAV3.0 NAVNetwork Manager NAV2.0 for NT NAV 2.0 for NetWare

McAfee Dat file only for: Ver. 2.5x-April 16, 1997 Ver. 3.0.x-April 17, 1997

Anti-Virus Programs

ThunderByte-DOS-Eval Ver. 8.00 April 7,1997; WIN 95-Eval Ver. 8.00 April 11, 1997

F-Prot DOS FREE V 2.26 - February 1997 +Sig File - May 7, 1997

Dr. Solomon DOS Fully-working time-limited (up to 2 mths) version

McAfee Anti-Virus Programs Win 3.x 95 DOS PMScan OS/2 Boot Shield Vsheild Documents

Misc and Utilities

FULL SCREEN WALLPAPERS Disk 1 Disk 2 4 High Resolution 800x600 Full srceen Sized WALLPAPERS

MIDI FILES A Collection of Over 280 Midi files. Hours and hours of listening!Some are over 20 min.Variety includes Religious, Classical, Classic Rock, Soft Rock, Country, Folk Ballads, and others.

DISKCOPY Win 3.x & 95 A simple program for creating duplicate disks. Unlike File Manager or Explorer,which needs to read the source disk for each disk you wish to create, DiskCopy asks you for the number of copies you want to make, Makes for a much quicker operation.Win 3.x reqs. VBRUN300.DLL included on it’s disk.Win 95 reqs. VB40032.DLL included on it’s disk,too.

The following questions from lawyers were gathered from various collection points on the Internet and were taken from official court records nationwide...

The following questions from lawyers were gathered from various collection points on the Internet and were taken from official court records nationwide...

I recently sent an email to someone, and did not pay attention to where in the world they were located according to their email address. When I received their return email, they had responded before I wrote to them (about 9 hours earlier!). I then actually looked at their address and saw that it did contain a clue to where they were located and of course then asked them, and yes, they were in Taiwan.

The following is an excerpt from a mailing list published somewhere here in the US and distributed all over the world. The mailing list is called the Tourbus, as it takes you on a virtual tour of sites on the Internet. Someone posed an interesting virtual idea, and it is similar to the one that had just occurred to me, tho not quite in the same terms :)

‘Did you realise that now that you are distributing your wisdom around midnight I now actually receive them on the same day you send them (because as far as the time stamps are concerned I’m about 15 hours into your future). I do realise this is just to do with time zones (the actually delivery time is usually only minutes) but I have a couple of 'interesting' trivia questions. Who do you mail to that is furthest into your future and who is the furthest journey into your past? Then as a corollary. How would Einstein measure the length of the bus if he wasn’t travelling on it, but just watching it pass by?’" Bob Rankin

The Internet Tourbus, 27 May 1997 - Revenge of the Riders, TOURBUS - (c) Copyright 1995-97, Patrick Crispen and Bob Rankin.

On This Day for Windows is a shareware program that I have featured twice before in the Resource Center. I really think it is a cool program. It is a database of events, but that usually means birthdays to most people. On This Day is much more, it will tell you what day a holiday was on in a particular year, and whether or not there was a full moon on the day you were born. In addition to birthdays, holidays, and the phases of the moon, they also include a database of historic events. All told, On This Day currently contains nearly 18,000 items.

Some various uses for On This Day include of course the usual birth announcements and birthday/anniversary plaques and cards. But On This Day can also be configured to display its information every time you start up your computer for a bit of daily trivia. Use it to find a unique excuse to have a party (or even a day off from work?) add an extra touch to a speech or term paper. Include a section in your daily interoffice newsletter to give the day an enjoyable start along with getting out the important stuff. Use your imagination and your favorite word processor or layout program to include graphics, borders, and watermarks to make certificates for any occasion that needs an extra something. It’s really a lot of fun.

The most recent version of the shareware edition of On This Day will be on the table again in June, and of course it’s always available by request.

On This Day costs $30 to register, plus $5 S&H. Check out the shareware version and then be sure to register the product if you find it meets your needs (or if you just enjoy it as much as I do!)

St. Joseph County Public Library has monthly programs on basic Internet introduction as well as highlighting specific useful techniques, applications, and other special related topics. They are usually 90 minutes with a lecture and an online demonstration. Librarian Michael Stephens is in charge of the Internet training and development for the St. Joseph County Public Library.

All dates, times and topics above are subject to change. For questions about the Internet classes, send e-mail to: m.stephens@gomail.sjcpl.lib.in.us

Main Library 304 South Main St. South Bend, IN Phone: 282-4625

Do you know of a computer related, community event that could be listed in our newsletter? Please submit it to the editor.

The following article reviews two products from TouchStone Software Corporation. A copy of PC-Cillin was given away at the May meeting and a copy of FastMove will be given away at the June meeting. Since FastMove is only useful to certain people, there will be a sign up sheet from which we will select a winner. If you are interested in trying this product, be sure to stop by the sheet and get your name on it!

FastMove is especially useful for those who either 1) have a zip drive or other removable drive and use it to store duplicate files or backups or 2) are connected to a network and share files or 3) transfer files to another computer (i.e. desktop to laptop). FastMove has a file manager/explorer style interface which lets you see both systems and has a center column which indicates which files are newer and which files are the same. You can then decide which files to update or even update and synchronize all files in both directories with a single click.

No more time spent making sure both systems have all the exact same files each time you work on one system or the other. If two people are working on the same project they no longer have to verify which files the other one worked on. Just use FastMove to update both directories before anyone begins working.

For example, Eric and I have our computers connected with a simple network connection, he’s upstairs, I’m downstairs. When we start working on the newsletter each month, I begin by adding files to the current month’s directory as they come in from other officers and contributors. Sometimes I even start the actual PageMaker file and add some things to the pages. Then Eric takes over, copies all the files upstairs to his duplicate of the directory, and adds, moves, situates, etc. the articles and advertisements. After he goes to bed, sometimes I will fiddle with the pages, fine-tuning things like hyphenated words or orphans and widows (words left alone on a line and single lines of a paragraph left in a column). Before either of us begins, FastMove synchronizes all files in the directory with the click of a button. He gets any new files I’ve added, and we both always work on the latest copy of the newsletter!

An extra feature of FastMove is that it fully integrates PC-Cillin into it’s interface, so that you don’t swap viruses along with files! And speaking of PC-Cillin, let’s do so.

PC-Cillin II is a virus protection program, which works against macro viruses also. It’s really hard to review a virus program, unless you have a spare computer at your disposal and deliberately infect it. I don’t have one, and don’t know that I would want to do that even if I did. I’ll leave that to the experts and the crackpots that make viruses! The best I can do here is tell you about some of the features that PC-Cillin has that I find exceptional and hope that helps you in deciding whether this program is one you would like to look at further.

First I’ll tell you that PC-Cillin has all the usual features of a virus protection program, on-demand scanning, background monitoring, macro protection, and cleaning without destroying your data.

Second, I’ll discuss some features that not all other programs have. I think the integration features are something that are really nice if you use any of the other TouchStone products such as e.support or FastMove. Knowing that your virus program has that little extra edge could make a difference. A really nice set of features that I particularly liked about PC-Cillin is it’s Internet connection area. You don’t have to go get their updated pattern files and install them, it has an automatic feature which you can set up so that it will go get the update and install it for you. PC-Cillin also has a Virus Lab which will automatically send any files that it can’t clean to the company directly over the net so that they can begin the identification process.

A feature called Virus Watch causes PC-Cillin to be a bit more diligent in it’s monitoring once you’ve had a virus. Without understanding about the mutation capabilities you might ask “Why isn’t it that diligent in the first place?” Understand that one of the worst features about viruses is their ability to change with every transfer! That means that what the program looked for on my machine is not the same as what it will find on your machine after I infected you with the exact same virus (Not that I plan to do that!) Therefore, anti-virus programs do a certain amount of guessing at what is possibly a virus mutation. This guessing process is actually what is increased after you have had an incident, not the srceening for exact known viruses.

Check out a copy of PC-Cillin at any retailer, or get a copy of their trial version from the Resource Center or their Internet site: http://www.antivirus.com/products/fpc-cillin95.html.

One important issue I failed to mention in last month's article on viruses (Hoax, Trojan Horse or Virus) was the issue of boot sector viruses, which can be carried on a diskette and transmitted simply by making the mistake of leaving a diskette, infected with a boot sector virus, in your floppy drive when you boot up your computer. When your system attempts to boot from the floppy it cannot do so if it is not a system disk and tells you that you have a non-system disk in the drive. Unfortunately, if the disk has a boot sector virus on it, you have already been infected.

Editor’s Note - This article is based on instructions given at the last meeting. Don raised the question about DOS printing from Windows and has graciously reported the answer for all of us. If anyone else has found the answer to a question and would like to submit both question and answer to the newsletter for the benefit of all, we would all be grateful.

Does your DOS printing from Windows take forever to get to the printer? Here is the fix.

Click [Start] [Settings] [Printers]

Double click [Add Printers] to add a printer. Follow the instructions to add another copy of your current printer. When you get to the srceen that has [Configure Port], click that and click and make sure that [Spool DOS printing] is not checked. Don’t set this printer as your default at that srceen. Continue on to the test print with the printer.

If the properties option did not come up, right click on the new printer version and click [Properties] and [Details] and [Spool Settings] and check [Print directly to the printer].

You can also right click on the new printer icon and change the name to indicate it is the DOS printer.

Now when you have a DOS job to print, click on [Start] [Settings] [Printers]. Highlight the printer you want to use and then click on [File] [Set as Default]. Then do your DOS printing. Remember when you are done to set your other printer icon as the default so that your Windows session printing will be good. Thanks to Jon Slough for the ideas behind doing this.

Even the good sometimes go sour. I talked about tech support, good and bad, and praised Quarterdeck for good service I received from them. They finally gave me a bad one.

Friends told me that putting Windows 95 on my laptop would solve the problem of getting my CD ROM drive up and running so I finally decided, against my better judgement, to give it a try (actually, desperation). My laptop is only a 486 DX2 50 with 12 megs of ram so I didn’t really feel it was the best situation for running windows 95, but so what. If I didn’t like it, I could take it off and go back to Windows 3.1.

In preperation, I called Quarterdeck and asked about that move concerning QEMM. A very knowledgeable guy walked me through the preperatory steps, and even offered several very good tips to prepare my machine for the installation. I was impressed.

After the installation, some software didn’t work well so I decided memory must be the problem. I tried memmaker but ended locked up. I wanted to get the QEMM back up and running, but wondered if I needed to reinstall, or could I do it without that. (actually, I couldn’t find my disks)

I got a tech very quickly, but not a very good one. I ran into many problems and after an hour and a half, many lockups, and much frustration, he finally gave up and told me to use the patch I had been sent via email attachment, and call him back (ver. 8.3 for my QEMM ver. 8). It was obvious he wasn’t knowledgeable when he continually put me on hold for a while. One bad experience isn’t bad after all the good ones.

Getting the CD ROM drive running was still not that easy and I had to use a paid support service to accomplish it. I was told by the warranty people at Packard Bell (they bought Zenith, my laptop company) that since I had installed Windows 95 on it, my warranty would be voided. How about that. Thanks a lot Packard Bell. I’ve also had messages from others who had problems with the lack of tech support at Symantec, but enough about my problems. Here is what I have for you this month.

*3D Choreographer* etc. are still good for June so if you missed that deal, better get crackin’. Call them at 1-800-949-4559; mention me and your Users Group. I printed other ongoing offers last month. I hope you keep previous issues for reference because I often get requests for old information.

*Micrografx extends offer; adds new product* (and adjusts some prices) It’s nice when you run into the Users Group coordinator and get new information to print. The presentation of Webtricity I saw sure impressed me with great graphics techniques. They are good to Users Group folks in case you don’t already know that. Here is the new list and you already know most of the desrciptions.

American Greetings CreataCard Plus-$19.95/CD only/Win 3.1/95 (I’m reviewing the copy I received at COMDEX now and it’s really different. Contains a unique srceen saver also); American Greetings CreataCard Gold (contains much more to work with such as; 4000+ greeting cards etc, 3000+ verses, 2500 designs, Avery/American greetings card stock, envelopes and much much more) $39.95/CD only/Win 3.1/95; Windows Draw 5 (one of my favorites)-$39.95/CD only/Win 95/NT; Small Business-reduced from $69.95 to $24.95/CD only/Win 95/NT; Micrografx Graphics Suite 2-$129.95/CD only/Win 95/NT; Micrografx Flowcharter 7-$99.95/CD or disk/Win 3.1/95/NT. Also: Webtricity (Look what’s in it!! Simply 3D 2, Picture Publisher, Designer, QuickSilver, Media Manager (actually a GIF animator), a bitmap hot-spot editor, and over 45,000 Web-ready professionally designed pieces of content)-$129.95/CD only/Win 95/NT; Simply 3D 2-$64.95/CD only/Win 95/NT; Visual Reality 2.0-$174.95/CD only/Win 3.1/95; and Instant 3D for Windows 95 (add stunning 3D text and 3D objects to your presentation. Works with an word processor or presentation package) $39.y95/CD only/Win 95/NT.

I hope you see something you like after all that typing. She said they will have more new products in a month or so. Good until June 30, 1997. Mention your Users Group. By the way, when I mentioned my bad experience with their tech support, she was horified, wanted to know who I talked to so she could look into it. I did see a couple of the Webtricity and Simply 3D 2 in an ad for a local store at the same price I have listed, so keep a lookout.

*IQ test is back.* The Complete Career IQ Test probes your mind with a clinically validated IQ test, surveys & examines your interests and skills, then offers a list of career matches that are carefully selected from a database of countless possibilities. User Group price is $19.95, ($5 0ff). The Children’s IQ and Achievement Test series provides a fun experience for kids; a comprehensive evaluation of the child’s aptitude and assesment of performance in the areas critical to academic success for the parents. User Group price is $29.95, ($10 off). Contact Virtual Entertainment/Virtual Knowledge at 1-800-301-9545, or E-mail Sales@virtent.com . Available for Windows, (486 with 8 megs of RAM) or Mac.

*The Internet for FREE!!* Competition is strong in the Internet Service Provider business (look how popular Juno got because it’s free) and listen to this. I received a call (These folks read my column in Las Vegas) announcing a new FREE Internet service intended to be nationwide in time. They are just getting started so this may be a little premature, but I’m alerting you to this trend if you are shopping for an ISP.

Tom & Raye Jones have founded 'Instant Savings Online' and 'The Savenet Network.' Right now it is in Orange County, CA. (714-693-3829) and Las Vegas, NV. (702-433-3646) with service opening in June in the Tampa/St. Perersburg area in Florida (813-363-1712 for info). This Internet Provider will be absolutely FREE - FREE - FREE, not even a setup fee (all the services paid for by advertisers). As I understand it, they offer everything other ISPs do, even space for your own home page. To find out more, visit their Web site at http://www.savenet.com to get all the information as well as everything you wanted to know about Las Vegas. Also, check it regularly to see about new areas opening up. I know there is another free nationwide Internet service trying to get started (hampered by a lawsuit right now over the name) and a local ISP is opening in my own area with free access, but both have a setup fee, so let’s see where this goes. I like the 'no fees at all.'

*More Web Software.* WebExpress 2.0 for Windows 3.1/95 is a WYSIWYG (What You See Is What You Get) page authoring tool for creating stunning Web pages and well managed Web sites. No previous experience required. It handles all the complex HTML details behind the scenes. Included are hundreds of useful built-in background textures and images to quickly turn your ideas into a creative Web presence. WebExpress includes a Web Site Manager which conveniently tracks all the links in your web site starting from your home page down. It will visually display the pages in your site, including links to pictures, email references and downloadable files. There’s more desrciption so visit their web site at www.mvd.com/ugc or call them at 1-800-998-4555 to find out more.

Order your copy for just $50. Expires June 1, 1997 so hurry. If you can’t order until after June 1, 1997, tell them you read it in my column. They said that will work for a few days since they were very emphatic about the price going back up after the deadline.

*Last minute change.* I had another Vendor written up for this spot who wanted to see the writeup before I sent it to you (always a problem). They wanted several changes, some of which bothered me, so I decided to hold up on that Vendor, a familliar name. My policy is that I don’t publish advertising copy per se for the Vendors, other than bits and pieces of the desrciption so I can better explain what the product is about. It’s not the first time I’ve dropped a Vendor I asked for a Deal when they wanted to almost write my whole copy. I hope you agree with my policy of using my own words. Instead I have elected to fill the requests of many who asked about purchasing the unique paper such as I use on my Business Cards.

Those of you with my card saw how it changes color from the heat of your fingers. I get many comments about them. PaTeCh, Inc. offers all kind of products using 'living paper' that actually changes color as you touch it. The color changes are as follows: Purple to pink; Orange to Yellow; Green to Yellow; Teal to Yellow; Blue to White; and Gray to White. My information is from 1995 when I first published this item so I’m not sure how their product has changed. In some ways it pains me to print this because this company is hard to communicate with. They rarely answer their phone in person now, and when you leave voice mail, they may not return your call for a week. I guess they don’t really need the business. When I asked for an update a couple months ago, I did get a return call a few days later and had an interesting conversation with him about the product, but I’m still waiting for the info he promised, and my follow up call has not been returned.

They offer a variety of products such as stationery, envelopes, presentation folders, portfolios, desk pads, hot-note pads, gift boxes, occasional cards, educational tools such as hidden answer maps, math books and much much more, all in the 'living paper.' Available in 10pt and 18pt weight. Ask for more info about other products, and samples. When I ordered mine, I was able to order a 'rainbow' pack of both reams I wanted, consisting of an assortment of the colors. There is really no deal here and I can’t quote you prices since my information is 1995 data, but I do think the product is very unique. They just moved into new headquarters so perhaps that has something to do with their inability to answer the phone. Call them at 1-800-373-0045. Another number I have is 1-561-367-7774 which I’m not sure is a fax number or voice. I thought the paper was expensive until I priced some good quality paper for an inkjet printer and found out these prices weren’t so bad... at the price I paid in 1995.

That’s it for now. Next month will be my tirade about 'voice mail.' What a waste. I can be reached at 407-273-7499, or fax at 407-382-2781, or E-mail Dealsguy@aol.com. Also E-Mail RobertC204@aol.com.