![[UCS Trademark]](../../images/blulogo.jpg)
![[Color Bar]](../../images/rainbar.gif){kind=small}
Since its foundation by Dr. Michael Cowpland in 1985, Corel has developed products known for excellence and value that target emerging trends in the software industry.
In 1992, to coincide with the launch of Windows® 3.0, Corel introduced the first graphics suite. As a competitively priced, all-in-one solution, CorelDRAW™ 3 established the company as a world leader in graphics software. In 1995, CorelDRAW™ 6 was launched simultaneously with Windows 95 and was the first major 32-bit application available for the new operating system. Another milestone in this product's development history was reached in 1996 with the release of the first graphics suite for the Macintosh® user--CorelDRAW 6 Suite for Power Macintosh®. More recently, CorelDRAW 8 for Power Macintosh has been released to rave reviews. The growing CorelDRAW product line continues to attract major industry accolades and to win numerous prestigious awards.
In 1996, Corel broadened its focus when it acquired the renowned WordPerfect® family of business applications. The company has carefully re-engineered this world-class software into a market-leading line of powerful productivity suites. Corel® WordPerfect® Suite 8 with Dragon NaturallySpeaking™Corel's most recent release of WordPerfect brings together two award-winning products to give users speech-enabled word processing, in addition to powerful applications and advanced Internet technology.
Strategy
Over the years, Corel has developed a strong product line that
includes business applications, and professional and consumer graphics
software. By focusing its technology direction to offer customers value,
compatibility and choice, Corel has become a leader in the productivity
applications market while remaining dedicated to providing:
Access to Breakthrough Technology
The Internet is changing how people work and communicate and Corel
is leading the way by providing software that helps consumers stay ahead
in a competitive world. The latest release of the award-winning Corel WordPerfect
Suite includes built-in Internet tools that go beyond standard Web publishing
to let users collaborate over the Internet/intranet. Corel's business applications
and graphics software also include support for HTML and Java™ publishing.
Cross-Platform Solutions
Most organizations rely on a variety of computer platforms to get
work done. In response to that reality, Corel provides many software solutions
that make the latest technologies available without requiring an upgrade
in hardware and operating systems. Corel offers business and graphics products
for many platforms, including Windows 98, Windows 95, Windows NT®,
Windows 3.1x, Macintosh, DOS, UNIX® and Linux®.
Flexible Products
Many businesses have unique software needs and rely on applications
that give them the flexibility to get their jobs done quickly and efficiently.
At the user level, Corel has incorporated several intuitive tools that
make it easy to tailor the software to individual work styles. In addition,
Corel makes it easy for organizations and individual users to customize
their Corel software. For corporate developers, the Corel® Solution
Partners Program provides resources to help them integrate Corel software
into their corporate development solutions.
Unprecedented Value
Corel is renowned for its comprehensive, competitively priced products.
With powerful core applications and value-added utilities, the company's
cutting-edge software delivers everything users need to get the job done.
In addition to its award-winning products, Corel offers an innovative licensing
program, featuring cost-effective options for small, medium and large businesses,
as well as government and academic institutions.
![[Photo of Cliff]](../../images/cliff151.jpg)
![[Baton Bleu Image]](../../images/baton.gif)
By Cliff Millward, Editor cliffm@xmisison.com
What Price Logical Simplicity?
In my opinion, upgrades should offer improvements that make a product easier to use and/or offer some enrichment over a previous version. However, many of the programs I have recently observed or reviewed, at best, offer only window dressings. At worst, they complicate matters and make the program more difficult to use.
I recently tried to save an MS Word document in another format — what a pain! It presented me with several windows which stated, in effect, that I didn't know what I was doing because most people saved in MS Word format as it is the most compatible. Hogwash! My experience is that MS Word documents are the most difficult to import into other programs. RTF or ASCII files work very well. (Interestingly RTF is an older Microsoft format.) Even WordPerfect 5x and 6x work well, but MS Word files? Give me a break!
I honestly believe that Microsoft does this to spread FUD (Fear, Uncertainty & Doubt) so that people will be afraid to use anything but Microsoft products. This is one thing they seem to have learned well from IBM. So… Microsoft is subtly using their upgrades to spread propaganda about other companies products. I'm sure this doesn't surprise some of you, but is this really an upgrade? Do these little "help" boxes really help? Personally, I don't believe so — they are very annoying. I know what I want and don't have to be prompted to reconsider! Unfortunately, the naive novice user may consider these "helps" to be of significant value.
Perhaps this is an area user groups should focus upon— "How to use upgrades effectively," or "Making the upgrades easier to use," or "Removing FUD and unnecessary functions from products."
For the record, I do not have MS Word on my computer. I have WordPerfect and WordPro as well as PageMaker 6.0 and 6.5. Recently I had to use MS Word at a friends office. This is where I had the aforementioned saving problem. In all fairness, I do not know if MS Word didn't save in other formats because it was installed without export drivers — but I don't think so. I got around the problem by importing the Word document into WordPad, stripping out all formatting, and saving it from WordPad as a text file. If it saves as a text file from WordPad, why didn't it save as a text file from MS Word?
I have come to the conclusion that many "help" files purposefully contain subtle (and sometimes not so subtle) psychological messages which are meant to indoctrinate the user with the penchant of the manufacturer. "Use our products exclusively, and you won't experience any problems. We know how to do it properly."
I remember a few years ago when I had OS/2 in a hidden drive alongside Windows. Somehow (I don't remember how) Windows detected that I had OS/2 on my system. It suddenly produced a "warning" message that Windows may not operate properly with OS/2 sharing the same computer. It cheerfully offered to "upgrade" my system by removing OS/2.
Needless to say, Windows operated fine alongside OS/2 and exhibited no cantankerous behavior. However, if I had been an uninformed user, I would have probably deleted OS/2. Obviously, this message was pure FUD!
User Groups are always looking for new ways to help and attract new members. Perhaps what we need to do is inform everyone about FUD. You might say that FUD is the ultimate computer virus! It can cause unbelievable paranoia, deleteus maximus, and obeyus blindus!
Finally, every action can be observed in at least two different ways. Consider the following:
A man walked up to the pearly gates and said to St. Peter, "I'm ready for Heaven."
"What makes you think so," St. Peter said.
"I gave to the poor, went to church, never cheated on my wife, didn't drink, and prayed twice a day," he replied.
St. Peter said, "What you mean to say is, you got a tax deduction, wanted people to think highly of you, were afraid you'd get caught, were allergic to alcohol, and said grace before meals!"
"…… I was hoping you wouldn't notice the difference," the man said.
Couldn't much of the same be said for the hype that comes with computer programs — especially that which proposes to make life easier for you?
If you don't believe what I've just written, your hard drive may crash! Finé
![[DAVE Image]](../../images/dave.gif)
RING-RING-RING went the telephone.
"Hello"
"Dave, …this is Bob Morris"
"Hi Bob, what can I do for you?"
"I want to install more memory in my computer. Can you guys do that at your hardware SIG?"
"Sure Bob, bring it over."
I spoke too soon! His request started the most frustrating time of my meager existence. The computer died on the operating table. For the last two months neither I nor any of the King's men have been able to put the computer together again.
At first it seemed simple. After the computer would come up in windows, it would display an alert window telling you that "Windows Explorer is corrupt. You will have to reinstall." The nanosecond you click the OK button, the computer locks up; keyboard and mouse. The only way out was to shut of the power switch and restart the computer. If you started Windows in safe mode, it still ended up in the same place.
Since then I and several other people have tried to get the system up. We've changed hard drives, motherboards, memory, CD ROM's, and versions of windows. Last Friday night I had six people all looking at the system and scratching their heads.
"It's not supposed to do that!!!" was just one of the statements made.
Poor Bob Morris has been without his computer for two months and has remained very patient. He's even brought a backup of his system over. (It didn't work either.)
I'm building another computer for Bob. I'm also keeping his system just so next time someone tells me how good they are with computer setups, I can turn them loose on it. Mean huh?
If anyone notices me gazing into space at the next meeting, it's just that I'm still trying to fix that @#*% computer.
P.S.: for the second time we've got an article from the Linux group. Would you guys be interested in BeOS writing a page for this rag?
P.P.S.: Let me know if you were impressed by BeOS. I was. But I once almost bought a set of Encyclopedias from a door to door salesmen.
That's all for now. I've got to figure out how to format this hard drive for Bob. Later
![[Review Image]](../../images/review.gif)
by Doug Taylor
Manufacturer: StateLine Software, 124 East Killingly Road, Foster RI, 02825-1313 System Requirements Windows 95 Pentium 90 or above 4 Meg of Free Disk Space 16 Megs of Ram The Testing System Windows 95 Pentium 200 MHz 64 Megs of Ram
Any serious windows program needs a help system, because the program's operation and flow is not necessarily intuitive. A help system must do what Windows users expect. If the on-line help doesn't have the look and feel of a Windows help system, users will have to learn too much.
Microsoft is now moving from the old Windows Help system (Winhelp.exe) to an HTML based help system. This review is based upon the Winhelp.exe system.
Every copy of Windows that is shipped contains a hypertext display program that is titled Winhelp.exe. The windows help system displays on-line help and on-line documentation for a window's applications. A window's help file (*.hlp) is generated by first creating a source file in RTF (rich text format), then compiling it with a Windows help compiler (hc.exe), and finally viewing it with Winhelp.exe.
This review is based upon creating a help system for a visual basic application (VB5). Some books on Visual Basic (e.g. MCSD Training guide-Visual Basic 5) state that the Professional and Enterprise versions of visual Basic along with Microsoft word provide all the tools required to create Windows Help files. This reviewer found out that this was not true. I could find no documentation within the VB development system for a Help File development.
The software was easily installed. I traversed the tutorial 5 times until I felt comfortable enough to author a help file. The first half ("general information") of the tutorial was verbose. The second half ("How To" section) had all of the substance in it, and required several passes to discover how to construct a help file. There was no way to skip the general information part of the tutorial. The user was required to go from the beginning to the end.
The tutorial is composed of the help authoring user interface (UI) and a separate information and control Window. The information and control Window has a menu and 5 buttons of which only two ("Go" and " Next") were used in the tutorial. I thought that the menu items were superfluous, and not necessary for the flow of the tutorial. The tutorial automated the help file creation.
The descriptive text was written in a Rich Text Edit Control on the UI and tutorial controlled the movement of the cursor to the various control buttons of the user interface. The tutorial produced a professional quality help file, with a table of contents, a description of all of the components of an edit menu.
The tutorial easily constructed Hypertext links (jumps) to all of the help subjects. Then the tutorial built a browse sequence. A browse sequence groups similar topics together, and then the user of the final product can traverse forward and backwards with the >> or << buttons of the help system. Finally, the tutorial developed an index of keywords, with hypertext links to text in the help files.
Other useful and intriguing features discussed in the hypertext section show the author how to do the following. He can build jumps to another topic, build jumps to other keywords, construct jumps to a Macro which allows the user to run other programs, play Multimedia, create buttons that run other Macros, and create menu items.
I created a credible help system from scratch user the Visual Basic Wizard supplied in the package. First, a context sensitive help ID number was assigned to all the forms and controls of the VB Project in the properties widow of the VB Integrated Development Environment (IDE). Then within the Help Magician Pro framework, the VB Wizard scanned all of the source files in theVB *.vbp file and created a help file shell based on the HelpContextID properties assigned to the forms and controls in the source.
This version of Help Magician Pro (4.0) would not recognize form names in the *.vbp file which had more than 8 characters + the .frm extensions (DOS file naming convention). Hence I had to rename all of the forms to conform to the 8-character limit. I then entered the descriptive text for each of the context ID's, built a Table of Contents, and then formed the hypertext links (also called jumps). An index of keywords was finally added.
Another notable feature is that Help Magician emulates the Windows help system in process so that you can see the finished product as you work.
In Addition to the HelpContextID, Visual Basic has another parallel help system, named "WhatsThisHelp". WhatsThisHelp is not as comprehensive as the HelpContext system. WhatsThisHelp is displayed in a pop-up and is visible only until the user clicks the application window again. The Help magician authoring system did not allow me to create both a HelpContext and a WhatsThisHelp system.
In conclusion, I believe that this is a pretty good software product. However to become a master of this help authoring software does require a major investment in time. On a scale of 1 to 5 (5 best) I would rate the software at 4.5, but the Reference Manual included with the package at 3.
![[Save a Penny image]](../../images/savea.gif)
This column features special offers to Blue Chip members.
Proof of paid up membership is required.
by Ryan A. Millward
Manufacturer: Electronic Arts www.simcity.com System Requirements: Windows 95-98 Pentium 166 or higher 230MB of hard drive space 32MB RAM 4x CD_ROM Mouse 2MB DirectDraw Video Card DirectX 6.0
Have you ever wondered what it would be like to run your own city? To take it from a small little berg to a thriving metropolis? Well, with SimCity 3000 by Maxis Software, your dreams of a ruling class are reality.
Loading is a snap. Just put the disk in the drive and, if you have your autoplay on, the installation screen comes up. You just follow the easy instructions, and before no time you will be on your way to play. There are also options available to customize your installation to cut down on hard drive memory.
This game is quite easy to use even if you have never played any of the previous installments. Just start your city on the easy level and the game will walk you through all of what a growing city needs.
Your reign begins by building the town from the ground up. Utilizing a very user-friendly point-n-click interface, you can create anything from a park to a palace. There is even an option to build real landmarks like the Statue of Liberty or the Eiffel Tower.
If you want, you can negotiate deals with neighboring towns. This can be great for the beginning town who has extra resources and little cash.
Be warned, however, running a town isn't all gumdrops and lollipops. Most of the time, you are under control of a very picky Sim population. And if you don't give in to their needs and desires, you will be left with running nothing but a ghost town. A word to the wise: Nobody wants to live next to the town dump. Or even the power plant.
As your town grows, so do your options. Upon reaching certain population totals, the citizens present you with various rewards, from your own house to a bronze statue signifying your brilliant leadership. Even the federal sim government will come knocking when your town reaches a certain population (Federal Aid!!) But watch out, your Sims probably won't like that chemical weapons disposal plant right next to the ballpark.
One of my favorite options are natural disasters. When I get tired of my town, I just love to send a tornado through downtown. Or call down an alien invasion to terrorize the farms. If your speakers are loud enough, you could swear that you were standing on ground zero.
All in all, this game is one of the funnest, and funniest, simulation games to come out this year. It is true to the style of its predecessor, SimCity 2000, and just as inventive. If you just can't get enough out of taxing the peasants, calling down the forces of nature to punish an antagonistic population, or even just creating a flawless and unbelievably high-priced metropolis, this is THE game to buy.
by Lee Ammons
Manufacturer:
Live Picture Inc.
1955 The Alameda, Suite 200
San Jose, CA 95126
Tel: 408-551-5400
info@livepicture.com
Minimum System Requirements
Pentium, 100 MHz
16 MB RAM
Windows 95, Windows 98, or NT
45 MB for LivePix,
15 MB for Novita Live Letter
800x600 resolution, 16-bit color
2X Speed CD-ROM drive
Modem
Recommended Hardware:
Pentium with MMX
32 MB
4X or above speed CC ROM
Sound Card,
Photo input device (digital camera, color scanner, or video capture card.
Input devices must have a 32-bit TWAIN driver to be controlled from within LivePix)
Services:
Internet Access with an e-mail account
LivePix Looney Tunes is a fun program that has all the features of LivePix plus the added features of Warner Bros. Looney Tunes. Live Pix Looney Tunes lets you take your own photographs and incorporate them into C Stationary, Cards and other cute fun projects. Live Pix comes with over ready-made projects to help you get started. You can use the project templates that come with the program or be creative and make your own.
If you want to create a project from scratch from your own projects already created, you can. You can use photos that you have already stored or scan new photos right into the program and save them in a photo gallery. The Gallery lets you organize and store your photos so that you can find them easily when you need to.
Included in the program are color-correction features that will make your photos even better. You can enhance colors, remove red eye, brighten or sharpen your photos so that they take on a very professional appearance. Also you can share photo albums over the World Wide Web or send them via e-mail thanks to the integrated Internet features:
There is a Quick Start Guide (Printed-which I did not receive) that gives you the installation instructions, and descriptions of available projects. This will help you to be up and running in a very short time.
Next, there is an Orientation Tour on the CD which I found very informative and helpful in learning the basics of the program. Of course, I am still learning the basics but it does help. I need lots of help and I play this over and over and each time I do I learn something new that I had missed the time before. If you don't want to take the tour after you install the program you can take it later.
It shows you how to take a canvas, (which is where your project goes), and then how to put what you want onto the canvas — photo, scene or whatever you have chosen to start with.
In Looney Tunes you can take a photo that is already there or pull one of your own in and place it in an already prepared project or if you are creative you can start from scratch and create your own project and insert your pictures into it. You can place more than one photo at a time on the canvas and be very creative. There are really no limits to what you can do. Let me re-phrase that at bit; none that I have found so far. I am still experimenting, so who knows what else I will turn up. Right now, it is just fun taking my grand kids pictures, cropping them and placing them on their very own Calendars. A different photo for each month. They are very impressed with their grand mother.
Creating collages is a way to use the program. You create the collage that you want and then add the photos that you want to the collage. Just go to your neatly organized Gallery and pluck one or more photos that you want in the collage, drag and drop. The photos are thumbnails in the Gallery so you can see all of them which makes choosing easier. You can make changes to your photos on the canvas and yet your original photo remains as you had it minus the changes.
This makes it easy to use your photos over and over again and be creative on your canvas.
As I stated earlier, you can scan objects or photos into LivePix Looney Tunes also. LivePix uses the TWAIN technology which is pretty standard for the industry. Digital cameras work well with the program too.
Saving your work is easy, as you can use the most common file formats to save with, such as, TIF, JPG, BMP, FPX, (LivePix's own format) PCD, PCT, PCX, WPG and more. Even FAX formats or ICO, CUR, EPS, RAS. This is not all, so whatever you use with your other programs is probably usable here.
The Help files are very good. The User's Guide on the CD is 108 pages worth of valuable information and the narrated Tutorial is excellent. This is a good program and I would highly recommend it. You'd think with a name like Looney Tunes it would be for children which is what I thought and yes, it is but for grown up children who like to play. It's not a game but a very good photo enhancing program plus the added benefit of the Looney Tunes characters to make it even better. It is LivePix with Looney Tunes by Warner Bros.
by Stuart Gygi
Manufacturer: A & J Systems Distributed by: Seem Software http://www.seemsoftware.com List price: $29.95 System Requirements: 486 processor or higher Windows 95, 98, or NT ?? Ram 1.1Mb hard-drive disk space
Express Assist is a simple utility that allows the user to backup and restore files used with Outlook Express. Outlook Express is a Microsoft e-mail program distributed with Internet Explorer. It comes with Windows 98 and doesn't have a comprehensive backup capability.
The initial version of Express Assist I looked at was version 2.2. The newest version is 5.1.6 which supports Outlook . You will want it because there have been improvements. Outlook Express allows you to establish multiple e-mail accounts. Version 2.2 didn't recognize anything but the standard account established when Outlook Express is established. The new version found all the accounts I setup.
Installation is straightforward. It installs in under a minute and automatically locates the Outlook Express Folders. The installation also installs two desktop buttons, one for regular backups and one for fast backups. A nice feature of the installation is the choice to save any files changed by the installation. For example, if you upgrade from one version of Express Assist to a later version and choose the save option, you can then uninstall the new version and the old version be completely restored.
When started, the program presents the initial screen with 3 menu items, File, Options and Help. The options menu presents one option, a reminder function that periodically reminds the user that a backup has not been made in the past two days, or any other user selected period. Below the menu are two simple selections, 1) Make Backup/Archive, or 2) Restore or Copy Folders. The same selections are available through the file menu. The Copy function is for copying folders to another machine. The Help menu item presents comprehensive instructions and tips. It is not extensive, so be sure to read through it. However, the program is pretty easy to use, so you will probably be able to do simple backups without reading help.
Backing Up
The first backup screen reminds you to compress the Outlook Express
folders. This is an Outlook Express function and reduces the size of the
folders. The next backup screen locates and displays all of the mail folders
currently in use by Outlook Express. It also displays the Windows Address
Book, currently subscribed User Groups and IE Favorites.
These folders can also be saved. Just select the folders to be backed up. The right side of the screen tells you how many folders are selected, the space those folders occupy and the estimated archive size. Then, go to the next step and specify the folder where the archive is to be stored. The program remembers where the last archive was stored, so if backups are usually made to the same place, just click next and you will given the file name of the archive. The file name will contain the current system date, so each day's archive will be a separate file.
Restoring
The restore screen automatically chooses the last archive and displays
it. There is a Browse button that allows you to select a different archive
from the last archive folder or you can choose a different folder. You
can either restore all folders from the archive or you can choose selected
folders. With this selection you can choose whether to restore a folder
to the same folder on the hard drive or to another folder. This allows
restoring old messages without losing current messages.
Replacing a current folder with a archive folder replaces all current messages with those in the archive. Read the Express Assist help instructions about creating a new folder in Outlook Express.
Copying Folders
This is not a special function, but requires the following 3 steps.
This requires Express Assist on both machines.
Fast Backup
Express Assist remembers everything about the last backup performed,
the backup folder, archive file name and the folders selected to be backed
up. The fast backup button will automatically perform the same backup.
If you have an established backup procedure to be performed regularly,
this is a good way to do it. However, if you mistakenly select the fast
backup, the first screen presents a "go ahead" dialog box. Select
cancel to go to the regular backup program. OK performs the fast backup.
Backup Reminder
This function will remind you each x days to backup. It can also be turned
off. If you choose to backup when reminded, the Fast Backup mode will be
selected.
Other Features
An interesting feature of the Help menu is the "Express Assist - In
Touch" option. This lists a set of topics including a list of the
latest revisions. Click on one (with you Internet connection established)
and some information about the topic will be downloaded from the Internet
and displayed for you.
Support is available via e-mail. Got to www.seemsoftware.com and use their e-mail button. I received very quick responses to my questions.
by Donna Nendell
Manufacturer: Live Picture Inc. 1955 The Alameda, Suite 200 San Jose, CA 95126 Tel: 408-551-5400 info@livepicture.com Minimum System Requirements Pentium, 100 MHz (Pentium MMX recommended) 16 MB, (32MB recommended) Windows 95, 98 or NT 45 MB for LivePix. 15MB for Novita Live Letter 800x600 resolution, 16-bit color 2x Speed CD-ROM drive (4x Speed recommended), modem, mouse, (sound card recommended) Photo input device such as a digital camera, color scanner, or video capture card. Input devices must have a 32 bit TWAIN driver to be controlled from within LivePix. Internet access with an e-mail account
Reviews. Boy, do I hate reviews. Every time it is required that I take up slack and write a review, I just dread it. Usually the review is on a program subject that does not interest me in the least, and so it was with LivePix SOHO. The program installed without a hitch and I got to playing around and would you believe having fun with it. So much fun that I now have to quit and write the review. I would much rather continue with the LivePix SOHO application. Well here goes.
LivePix SOHO is designed for small businesses to make lasting impressions so that your business will stand out from all the rest. That is quite a trick when you consider there are more than 7 million small businesses in the United States, and they all want the same thing. You can use your own photos to make your brochures, flyers, letterhead, labels, envelopes, business cards, postcards and other business materials into professional-quality and express exactly the way you feel or what your company is exactly all about, and get that "lasting impression." The old saying "A picture is worth a thousand words," is certainly true in this case.
In just four easy steps you can create picture-perfect business materials.
LivePix SOHO features hundreds of ready-made designs and a variety of professionally designed templates. Fast photo-enhancing tools can be used for color correction, contrast, red eye removal, cloning and you can even add special effects to your photos. Also, you can customize albums to organize your photos and projects into their own personal galleries.
They advertise, "With LivePix SOHO's focus on business-oriented templates and ready-to-use quality and professional images could be just what your small business is looking for." I heartily agree.
There you have it, in a nut shell, to be sure. I personally want to get right back to designing and creating all those goodies I think we need for our small business.
Late News Flash: MGI Studios recently purchased LivePix. I might add, I personally hope they continue to develop this great little program. For about $29.00 it sure packs a big wallop.
Four Easy Steps to Create Business Materials
![[Corel/WordPerfect Watch Image]](../../images/sllug.jpg)
by Jason V. Morgan <jvmorgan@writeme.com>
What makes or breaks an operating system? Many operating systems are kept alive by virtue of the type of hardware they run on. Others live on because of a loyal user base. But in general, an operating system thrives or starves based on how well it appeals to programmers. Free Unices are, as members of this operating system genre, going to thrive because of their appeal to programmers.
Programmers provide the applications for an operating system that makes the system usable. The importance of a wide range of applications to an operating system is so strong that lack of application support is one of the first issues brought up when discussing "alternative" operating systems. Fortunately, free Unices have lots of applications available for them; partly because code often can be ported very easily between them and commercial Unix systems and partly because they are very sexy operating systems from a programmer's perspective.
Often programmers can become attracted to an operating system when there is money to be made developing for the system. Programmers can also be attracted to an operating system when they like the development tools available for the operating system or when the cost of developing for the given system is inexpensive.
The free Unices fulfill all these programmer desires. Money can be made in a variety of ways that are being explored more and more as the popularity of Linux-based systems expands. But even more important, these systems almost always come with lots of goodies for software developers. One major example is if a developer needs a C or C++ compiler, that developer needs look no further than the hard drive the operating system is loaded on. There is no need to purchase licenses at $300 per seat for the privilege of developing software. This little benefit alone is enough to attract new programmers, such as students, who do not feel the need to resort to illegally obtained software.
Other fun goodies that come with FreeBSD, GNU/Linux, and all the others include a wide collection of GNU development tools. Autoconf, Make and even Fortran are commonly included tools. There are also newer tools such as Perl and Python, as well as a variety of GUI based development tools. Programmers on these systems are also blessed with various extras, such as a full web server and various SQL databases, that allow them to do different types of development. All these fun items themselves are enough to entice any sane programmer to develop on these systems, but there is more.
Free Unices come with their source code. Most development tools and a large number of applications for these systems also come with their source code too. This gives programmers something they can easily learn from. When a programmer wants some piece of functionality that another program offers then it can often be relatively easy for that programmer to find out how that functionality was provided by looking at the source code. Sometimes the source code can even be incorporated directly in the software if the licensing needs of the new program do not conflict with the license for the original source code. Even when source code cannot be incorporated directly, the availability of the source code can be extremely useful.
Of course, development for these systems does not prevent software developers from developing on other systems. Often one cannot name a developer as a "Windows programmer," a "Mac programmer" or even a "Linux programmer." Developers are normal people who have a wide range of interests and skills. But be prepared to see some of the most amazing applications available only on certain "alternative" operating systems as programmers show more and more interest in them.
Unix operating systems have always been fun for programmers to work with, and the free derivatives are no exception. With the cost of developing on a free Unix-based system almost free, programmers have just one more reason to develop on them. With more programmers comes a steady supply of new applications. And with new applications comes operating system immortality.
Dave Otterstrom called meeting to order in his inimitable manner being as presidential as possible (oh yea!). The scene then shifted to Rick Gregory. Rick asked people to sign up to man our booth at the Tech 20 20 Computer Show on October 26 and 27 at the Salt Palace.
Don Nendell then talked about a new fund raiser for the group. For more information about this fund raiser, see Double Your Pleasure.
A new SIG location at South City Campus of SLCC was announced by Dave Otterstrom. This is a fantastic facility! The SIGs will be held in Room 185N. If you go in the front door, turn left and go to the end of the hall
Mike Crawford then talked about the SWAP meet to be held at the Taylorsville Park on 4700 S. Redwood Road.
John Movius reminded every one of the new Web SIG starting at Dave Otterstrom's home.
October's presenter will be Philip Graham from Corel WordPerfect. Our own James Alexander and Erma Wheeler will assist taking us through the intricacies of the program. In case you didn't know it, Erma is a former employee of WordPerfect who answered question over WP's help line. She knows WP inside and out!
Dave then turned the time over to Andy Brown, President of BeOS user group. He gave a short history of the BeOS. It was started by an Apple programmer who envisioned better things for computers and computer operating systems. Intel saw what was happening and financially supported this new venture so that the system would run on Intel products. Andy then introduced Dave Johnson from company headquarters in Menlo, California.
BeOS is multi-threaded operating system. It is a cross between Windows and the Mac. It easily installs in about 15 min. It will load in 20 seconds. (Technically, It has a Posix compliant directory, and is Gcc compliant.) He showed us several programs written for the BeOS and how easy they are to use. Just about every type of program is now available for this system.
Andy brought up a window to monitor the cpu activity. (By the way, he had a dual 500 MHz machine — drooling, envy, and overkill came to mind of all those present when he announced this fact!) Eight apps running at the same time posed no problem for the BeOS system — and several of them were videos!
Door prizes were then drawn. One person won two items because of the "candy purchasing" new program. For those wanting the BeOS system, but not lucky enough to win one, Tim and Steve from Software & More were there to sell you a copy at a (very!) reduced rate.
Come to this month's presentation and you too might be visited by the Blue Oracle!
On behalf of the Utah BeOS Users Group, I want to thank you all for the fine reception of our presentation on the BeOS at your last meeting. We were happy to see your enthusiasm rival our own when it comes to the contribution Be has made to the advancement of operating systems.
Speaking for myself, I have long been baffled by how the breathtaking advancements in computer hardware are consistently countered with ever yet slower operating system software. The BeOS is certainly a breath of fresh air, and a good antidote for this malady.
Considering the real youth of the whole personal computer industry, I am underwhelmed by all the claims that 8 years of OS dominance by Microsoft will assure their seat for eternity. I think the jury is simply still out.
The incredible glimmer of attention now surrounding Linux shows how rapidly alternatives are being adopted. The strength of this demand is especially pronounced to anyone who has actually tried to install Linux. Though I have great respect for the power and future of Linux (a part time user myself), its difficulty and complexity is not to be trifled with. Linux is undisputedly an OS for professionals.
I am not a CS expert. But I have been messing with computers since Apple II days, building embedded microcomputers from scratch and programming them in assembly language. And on the desktop, I have continually upgraded my technology. Most recently, I graduated with a Masters degree in digital signal processing, a computationally intensive field. I don't mean to bore you with my resume, but only to illustrate (hopefully) that I am in fact technically competent. Nevertheless, I started trying to get Linux working in a usable manner 3 years ago. I have invested at least one or two dozen hours, and finally this summer, I got it working. I even like it. But that's a heavy price to pay and one I believe most will not. I, indeed, doubt that the majority of trade press authors hyping Linux know how to manage it themselves.
The commercial high-performance consumer market demands a commercial product, not power hand-tools. For this, the BeOS shines. Unfortunately, a small oversight at the end of a long day prevented your seeing the completion of the BeOS install at our demo. But I can assure you that it really works and it is really that easy. I have stopped offering others assistance during install because I have inadvertently offended them when they see how easy it is. Most would find it as easy as installing a standard application.
It is unfortunate that BeOS hasn't reached critical mass yet. Admittedly, the application selection is not as impressive as the demos are. But of the dozens of significant multimedia applications announced, only a few are yet out. So the rest of year has the potential of being a critical turning point. Remember how little we heard about Linux in the popular press even a year ago? But the key difference in usability, which I mentioned above, will allow BeOS to truly spread like wildfire, uninhibited by such a steep learning curve. And learning curve is everything. Look at the success of AOL and GUIs in general.
Until then, enjoy the BeOS as a game. With that attitude, $45 is a fine price. And you'll be ready to catch the wave when it comes. And for what it can do now, you'll be happy to have the BeOS as a refreshing refuge whenever you need a vacation from that other stuff.
We invite those of you interested in pursuing use of BeOS to make yourselves welcome at our meetings. We discuss the latest news surrounding BeOS and usually have a presentation on a usage or development topic. Our regular meetings are on the fourth Thursday of the month at 7:30pm. We meet downtown at 17 Exchange Place at the offices of Driversoft. Driversoft also hosts a BeOS demo machine which is accessible by the public during regular office hours and sometimes into the evening. Current meeting, contact information, directions and more can be found on our web site at www.driversoft.com/UBUG. Or feel free to write me directly at andrew@driversoft.com.
Thanks again and hope to see you there.
Andrew Brown, President Utah BeOS Users Group
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Business SIG
Contact James for details.
James Alexander 571-2592
Genealogy SIG
Meets the last Saturday of each month at 1 pm at the Salt Lake
Community College campus (about 1580 So State) Rm N185
Rick Gregory 582-7783
Hardware SIG
Contact Dave for time and place.
Dave Otterstrom 571-4138
Magazine Publishing SIG
Meets the last Saturday of each month at 10 am at the Salt Lake
Community College campus (about 1580 So State) Rm N185.
Cliff Millward 955-9633
WordPerfect 9
Meets the last Saturday of each month at 12 noon at the Salt Lake
Community College campus (about 1580 So State) Rm N185.
Erma Wheeler 474-2769
Web SIG
Meets the last Saturday of each month at 11 am at the Salt Lake
Community College campus (about 1580 So State) Rm N185.
John Movius 284-5917
Windows NT
Meets the last Saturday of each month at 2 pm at the Salt Lake
Community College campus (about 1580 So State) Rm N185.
Larry Guiver 943-3149
by Don Nendell
The "Candy Sale"at the September general meeting netted Blue Chips coffers the grand sum of $58, with a huge thanks to a lot of very generous members in attendance (see Blue Chips Magazine, September 1999, page 15 for details). Everyone seemed to have a lot of fun with the first-time event. With that kind of success, we'll give it another shot at this months meeting with drawings for 1. "Pagis Pro 3.0" and 2. SYMANTEC's "View." Join us this month for all the fun.
I've got some good news and bad news to report. First the bad news. Here's the latest example of the new cyberspace term, "Moving at Internet Speed" which strikes close to our Blue Chips hearts - and pocket books. As you all know by now, without any notice or fanfare, CompUSA literally pulled the plug - nationwide - on its Business Sales Sections, and down the drain they went. The Japanese have recently coined a new word to describe the phenomena - it's "risutora" - the Japanese version of "restructure." Its most common meaning is to be fired or pressured to quit as a company "downsizes." No matter what you call it, the special CompUSA Blue Chips "Cost plus 13%" deal for UBC members disappeared - maybe forever - into the first whirlpool that appeared above that drain pipe. It's back to full retail for us now at CompUSA.
Not to despair "mis compadres," The good news is, an old friend of Blue Chips has come to our rescue, again. Russ Dauterman, long-time-ago of CompUSA Business Sales, and one of the architects of the Blue Chips members deal, has joined partners with Serge Chevrier to bring us Serge's Computers. Located temporarily at 225 West 9210 South in Sandy, Office Phone: 801-566-8524, Office FAX: 801-255-1074, Serge's will have access to over 75,000 computer products: hardware and software including hundreds of major brands such as 3COM, AMD, Compaq, HP, Intel, IBM, NEC, Sony, Toshiba, ViewSonic, etc., as a Specialty Mail Order business, just like the "Biggies" on the Internet do. The good news? They will beat that excellent CompUSA Blue Chips members deal - drum roll please - with their own Blue Chips members "Cost plus 12%" deal.
Serge's offers even more services like: Computer Upgrades and Repairs; Training in Popular Applications, e.g., Windows, Internet, Word, Excel, Access, WordPerfect, GoldMine, etc.; Network Installation; Leasing; Custom-built computers to your specifications; and, a lot more. They accept credit cards, cash (naturally) and checks, but they do not offer 30 Day Net Accounts yet. Orders can be drop shipped by their suppliers directly to you or you can arrange to pick them up at their office (small orders may incur shipping charges). Normal delivery time is three days from date of order and overnight shipments can be arranged at extra charge. Their catalog is "Under Construction."
We wish to acknowledge the generosity of Serge's Computers, Russ has donated many products for use in our new Blue Chips fund-raising campaign. Russ says, "Lots more to come." Good Luck Serge's, we welcome your wonderful support. Now members, let's see what they can do.
What can we do?
Let's support them!
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by John Ogilvie
Courts have limited "jurisdiction," which means they cannot necessarily exercise authority over every dispute that comes before them. A court's jurisdiction may be limited according to subject matter. For instance, United States District Courts have initial jurisdiction over cases that arise under any act of the United States Congress relating to patents, copyrights, or trademarks. Thus, a suit for patent infringement will not ordinarily be heard by a state court. After a trial in a state or federal court, one or more courts of appeal have jurisdiction.
Jurisdiction may also be limited by the relationship between a potential defendant and the state or other geographic region in which a court is located. For example, consider a court in a hypothetical state we'll call "Distant." The court must have "personal jurisdiction" over a non-resident defendant before it can properly hear a case against that defendant. Personal jurisdiction may be either "specific" or "general." General personal jurisdiction may be found if the defendant has had substantial contact with Distant, even if those contacts are not necessarily related to the current case. By contrast, specific personal jurisdiction only requires a minimum amount of contact between the defendant and Distant, but those contacts must be related to the case at hand.
Jurisdiction is often clear and undisputed. But it is nonetheless very important, because it is a cornerstone of any court's authority. If there is no jurisdiction, then there is no case. Because it is a fundamental requirement, a court's jurisdiction may be questioned at any time: before trial, during trial, after trial, or during an appeal of the trial results before a higher court. Jurisdiction may be questioned by any of the parties, or the court may raise the question itself.
Because personal jurisdiction traditionally depends on activity within a geographic region and the Internet is not clearly tied to any single region, it may be difficult to determine whether activities on the Internet provide a basis for jurisdiction. The outcome of a jurisdiction dispute often depends on the specific facts involved, and the law is still evolving, so useful predictions about jurisdiction are hard to make in the present context.
To the extent possible, however, courts often try to apply traditional rules to new fact situations. For instance, posting web pages is viewed as a form of advertising; querying users is similar to asking questions over the phone or through direct mail; taking orders and/or payment at a web site is a form of commerce. Traditionally, mere advertising does not create much risk. Thus, the fact that your web page can be viewed by people in Distant does not automatically mean you can be sued in Distant by someone who feels your advertising is misleading or illegal for some other reason. Aiming the advertising specifically at citizens of Distant increases your risk by increasing the likelihood a court would find personal jurisdiction.
Asking potential customers in Distant to provide information about themselves further increases the risk. And conducting commerce by taking orders or making sales to citizens of Distant makes the risk substantial, as does entering a contract (even a click-through shrink wrap license) with someone in Distant. Finally, if you do more than one of these activities, the risk of being subject to jurisdiction in Distant increases even more. Of course, this is just a brief overview. You should see your attorney for legal advice tailored to your particular situation and the current state of applicable laws if you have questions about being sued in Distant (or any other state).
John W. L. Ogilvie is a Registered Patent Attorney and founder of the Computer Law++ law firm. He can be reached at (801) 355-0828 or email jwlo@LawPlusPlus.com.More information is available at http://www.lawplusplus.com. LAWPLUSPLUS is mark, and Law++ and COMPUTER LAW++ are federally registered marks of John Ogilvie. Copyright 1997-1999 John Ogilvie. All Rights Reserved.
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