COMPUNOTES - Issue #60 - December 8, 1996

-=> See MY NOTES about smaller issues . . .

                         This Week's Contents:

My Notes:
1) Header Contest - Send Your Entries - Last Week!
2) Smaller Issues?
3) Contest Winner!

Columnists' Corner:
1) Big City Byte with Howard Carson

News:
1) Internet Golf
2) F-PROT Moves Forward

Reviews:
1) Product: The American Civil War: From Sumter to Appomattox
   Reviewed By: Doug Reed <dr2web@sprynet.com>
2) Product: Electronic Publishing on CD-ROM by Steve Cunningham &
   Judson Rosebush
   Reviewed By: Don Hughes <dhughes@wwdc.com>
3) Product: QuickVerse 4.0 (Windows 3.11 or Windows95)
   Reviewed By: Danny Williams <danny@packet.net>
4) Product: Practical UNIX & Internet Security (2nd Edition)
   by Simson Grafinkel and Gene Spafford
   Publisher O'Reilly & Associates, Inc.
   Price US $39.95, Can $56.95
   Reviewed By: Don Hughes <dhughes@wwdc.com>

Web Sites:
1) Holidays 1996 <http://holidays96.com>
2) Home Arts Home for the Holidays <http://homearts.com> 

Interview:
1) None this week!

----------------------------------------------------------------------
Date : December 8, 1996 |CompuNotes is a weekly publication available
Issue: 60               |through email and many fine on-line networks.
------------------------|We cover the IBM computing world with
CompuNotes is published |software/hardware reviews, news, hot web
B440,                   |sites, great columns and interviews. We also
1315 Woodgate Drive     |give away one software package a week to a
St. Louis, MO 63122     |lucky winner for just reading our fine
(314) 909-1662 voice    |publication! Never dull, sometimes tardy, we
(314) 909-1662 fax      |are here to bring you the way it is!
----------------------------------------------------------------------
The Backroom Workers:                     |We are always looking for
Patrick Grote, Managing Editor            |people to write us with
<pgrote@inlink.com>                       |honest, constructive
Doug Reed, Asst. Editor / Writer Liaison  |feedback! We need to hear
<dr2web@sprynet.com>                      |from you! Please take the
Judy Litt, Graphics Editor/Web Master     |time to send us your
<jlitt@aol.com>                           |opinions, comments and
------------------------------------------|criticisms. Some of our
I am looking for a collection of shareware|better features have
reviews I put out in the 87-88 timeframe  |actually come from our
under my handle of NEVER BEFORE. I think  |readership! Thanks!
they started as NB*.ZIP. Can you look     |---------------------------
on your local BBS? THANKS!                |  Go St. Louis Rams!
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Every issue of CompuNotes ever published can be found at the following
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SYSOPS READ HERE!

Wanting to make CompuNotes available on as many BBS as possible, we
can't afford to call everyone's BBS every week. What we would like to
do is send those interested sysops a UUENCODED version for posting on
their BBS. If you can volunteer to receive the UUENCODED version, turn
it into a ZIP and upload it to your BBS, we'll list you in our sysops
directory.

If you are interested, fill out the following lines and send them
back to notes@inlink.com with SYSOPS.

We'll list your BBS in our SYSOPS LIST which will be included in
each version of CompuNotes we ship out. If you have a WWW link we'll
throw that up on our page.

BBS NAME:
BBS SYSOP:
BBS NUMBER:
URL:
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Patrick's News
Being The Publisher and Managing Editor Has Its Perks!
----------------------------------------------------------------------
HEADER CONTEST!|
----------------
We are still looking for header redesigns! We have four entries right 
now! Remember the following items:

1) $50.00 to the winner!
2) Stress being compact, while trying to leave all info in. 
3) Issue redesign are OK as well.

----------------------
SMALLER ISSUES . . . |
----------------------
Someone suggested publishing more frequently with smaller issues, 
under 25k. What do you think? If I don't hear too much negative 
feedback I think I'll start that after the first of the year.

------------------
WINNER IS . . .  |
------------------
The software package being given away this week is The ASP Shareware 
Collection! Our winner is:

zippy@primenet.com

Send them a congratulatory email!

----------------------------------------------------------------------
Columnists' Corner - We bring you a different person each week!
----------------------------------------------------------------------
The Big City Byte
by
Howard Carson

Is there anything more irritating than a warranty which doesn't cover 
whatever it is that's broken?  

No.

Is there anything more irritating than a new product, purchased with 
its warranty apparently intact, that turns out to be some off-shore, 
illegally manufactured garbage, which can't be serviced under ANY 
warranty? 

Nope.

Is there anything more irritating than purchasing a Quantum hard 
drive, taking it home, and only then realizing the brand name actually 
reads 'Ouantum'? 

Uh-uh.

You do have rights in most of these areas; rights which will protect 
you to some extent. But those rights tend to rely on the premise that 
most people will examine purchases very carefully indeed, before 
laying out hard-earned cash. Such care is difficult to observe for 
most consumers however, especially during the rush of activity which 
surrounds warehouse sales, sell-offs, store-wide inventory clearances 
(sic), and other, similar hard-sell pitches. 

The main consumer guideline to follow is simple: if you feel pressured 
into buying, don't buy. Go home. Consider the purchase. If you decide 
the purchase is warranted, go back and ask some questions. If you feel 
guilty about looking a 'gift-horse' in the mouth, you've got the wrong 
attitude. Any merchant who makes you feel self-conscious about asking 
pointed questions regarding sale merchandise is not providing decent 
service. Because an item is on sale, does not mean the product no 
longer merits. 

Merchants, dealers, value added resellers, ISVs, distributors and 
other purveyors of retail level computer products, utilize a variety 
of incursive methods to get both your attention and your money. 
Succumbing to their blandishments at first bite is rarely a wise 
course of action. Great, one-off deals do occur out there, but they're 
much fewer and farther between than the general run of advertising 
would have us believe. 

There are several easy-to-do examinations of any product which can be 
performed by intelligent consumers at the point-of-sale. While certain 
situations may create a bit of embarrassment for some consumers, the 
potential benefits are worth any momentary discomfort. 

First, make a habit of examining logos and brand names. Manufacturers 
take great care when designing such things and maintain careful 
consistency from product to product. Any merchant who suggests that an 
indistinct, altered or otherwise inconsistent logo or brand name is 
kosher, should be prepared to provide some backup documentation of any 
changes. When companies change or otherwise redesign their logos, 
etc., they always send out reams of support literature to announce the 
change; in any case. 

Second, if a price seems too low, it usually means trouble later on. 
Heavily discounted items can be accounted for in very few ways: 
business closure (and a subsequent lack of over the counter service), 
illegal brand names, lack of warranty because of second or third party 
resale, lack of warranty because of wrong jurisdiction (for example, 
there are innumerable U.S. warranties which will not be honored in 
Canada and vice versa), and resale of ill-gotten gains (stolen 
merchandise in other words). 

Third, there is an important and fundamental difference between making 
purchases at some hole-in-the-wall here today/gone tomorrow store 
front, and Computer City or Egghead et al. While we may not see 
absurdly low prices at reputable retail operations, the access they 
provide to warranty service, value-added service, and exchange/return 
policies, far outweigh the transient advantage of an absurdly low 
price. Some have claimed that merely living in most large cities 
bestows a certain advantage. 

Problems will always occur in off-brand or otherwise suspect 
merchandise. Attempting to enforce a phony warranty will get you 
little more than cold stares. Pleading ignorance is not an excuse that 
any profit-based corporation can accept. Authorized Seagate service 
centers will not service Seegate hard drives. Ever. Wishing otherwise 
is silly. 

Fourth, virtually every State, Province and regional jurisdiction in 
the U.S., Canada and Europe require that any item tendered for sale to 
the public, must be accurately described in antecedent advertising or 
support literature. Simply put, if a hard drive has a label affixed to 
it which states the capacity as 1.6GB, it had better be 1.6GB. Tests 
which reveal the capacity to be 1.4GB will catalyze serious problems 
for the manufacturer. 

There is no doubt that advertising can be a powerful tool. There is no 
doubt that powerfully delivered sales pitches can generate tremendous 
pressure. There is also no doubt that unscrupulous individuals (and 
companies) will take advantage of advertising to tell tall tales. 

If a service station owner alters his gasoline pumps to show 20 
gallons when only 15 gallons have been pumped, sooner or later someone 
is going to get caught in the middle of nowhere. That can be dangerous 
or benign. If it turns out to be a situation which places an 
unsuspecting citizen in danger, charges of criminal negligence can be 
rightly brought against the crook who owns the gasoline pump. 

We can easily find ourselves living in an atmosphere of rampant 
suspicion and internecine fighting, unless we remain vigilant. Such 
vigilance will weed out the casual offenders and make the habitual 
thieves more wary. Avoiding the obvious traps will force the most 
salacious liars into comparative obscurity. We can avoid dealing with 
events forced into obscurity because their very nature belies the 
habits of normal conduct. 

In any event, if a computer carries a badge which says 'Compak', don't 
buy it. 

Letters To the Editor:

There was a *lot* of e-mail in response to my last column (I call it 
'File Selector Wars'). Thanks for all your input. We appreciate 
hearing different viewpoints. I can be reached at hcarson@io.org, 
anytime. The very best letters will be submitted to the CompuNotes 
editor (Patrick Grote). 

----------------------------------------------------------------------
NEWS OF THE WEEK| This section is dedicated to verified news . . .
All News (C)opyright  Respective Owner - Will Only Reprint
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Internet Golf . . . |
---------------------
 WALNUT CREEK, Calif., Nov. 26 /PRNewswire/ - Maxis (Nasdaq: MXIS), 
the interactive entertainment publisher which gave computer users the 
ability to create their own cities with SimCity, is now giving 
computer golfers the power to design and play their own custom courses 
with SimGolf. And after they build the course of their dreams (or 
nightmares), SimGolfers can use the Internet or a LAN to trade courses 
or even round-up a foursome for a virtual match. 
        
 "SimGolf, the first sports title in Maxis' popular 'Sim' line, allows 
players to make their courses as realistic or wacky as they want," 
said Sam Poole, Maxis' president and CEO. "SimGolf even lets you tee 
off on the Internet and chat with other SimGolfers - recreating the 
social element of real-world golf." 
        
 With the powerful "Course Architect" players can create their own 
courses from scratch - placing every hole, hill and hazard. Master 
course architect Robert Trent Jones, Jr., who helped Maxis create 
SimGolf, explains how golf courses are designed to be challenging and 
fun in over 100 on-screen video segments. Or players can enjoy golfing 
on two RTJ, Jr. masterpieces, The Prince Course in Kauai or Rancho La 
Quinta(TM) in Southern California, which are packaged with SimGolf. 
        
 Realism is another key feature of SimGolf. Maxis has created the new 
"MouseSwing" interface which uses the computer's mouse to control the 
speed and path of the virtual golfer's club. The feeling of realistic 
golf play is also enhanced by SimGolf's detailed, 3D view that allows 
full freedom of movement through the course. Other features allow 
players to: open multiple view windows; choose the type of play - 
skins, match, stroke or practice; alter course conditions; and select 
their own golfer's clubs. 
        
 SimGolf, a Windows 95 title, is sold at software stores and mass 
merchants at an estimated street price of $40-50. More information is 
available from Maxis customer support at 800-33-MAXIS (800- 336- 2947) 
or Maxis' web site at <http://www.maxis.com>. 

----------------------------
F-PROT Moves Forward . . . |
----------------------------
 JUPITER, Fla.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Nov. 26, 1996--Command Software 
Systems, Inc. is pleased to announce that F-PROT Professional anti- 
virus software has received the esteemed SECURE Computing 
Checkmark(TM) Certification. 
        
 To receive the Checkmark(TM) Certification designation, products must 
undergo strict testing procedures in the SECURE Computing test labs. 
Products are tested for detection against the In the Wild virus list - 
the viruses that represent the most significant, real life threat. End 
users can be assured that the anti-virus products receiving the 
Checkmark(TM) logo have been objectively tested and can be relied 
upon. 
        
 "Command Software Systems' commitment to excellence is underscored by 
qualifying for SECURE Computing's prestigious Checkmark(TM) 
Certification program," states Dyan Dyer, Command's CEO and president. 
"It is of the utmost importance that anti- virus products be tested 
independently by valid testing organizations. SECURE Computing is 
respected worldwide for their testing methodologies," Dyer added. 
"Their Checkmark(TM) designation signifies credible performance which 
the public can count on when making purchasing decisions." 
        
 SECURE Computing repeats this testing procedure every three months. 
In order for a product to maintain its Checkmark(TM) status, the 
manufacturer must be committed to improving the product, incorporating 
all newly emergent virus signatures and types. Users can rely on 
Checkmarked products, since the SECURE Computing labs are 
independently verifying the quality of the products. 
        
 The SECURE Computing testing process has been beneficial for F- PROT 
Professional, according to Therese Padilla, Command's director of 
product management. "F-PROT Professional has long been known for its 
excellent detection and disinfection capabilities," she said. "It is 
always gratifying when an organization that has the respect and trust 
of the anti-virus industry substantiates the quality of our products. 
The Checkmark logo will now be added to recognition from the NCSA, 
NSTL Software Digest and Virus Bulletin." 

----------------------------------------------------------------------
REVIEWS OF THE WEEK | Interesting software/hardware you may need . . .
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Product: The American Civil War: From Sumter to Appomattox
Reviewed By: Doug Reed <dr2web@sprynet.com>
MSRP: $49
----------------------------------------------------------------------

	For Americans, no period of time in our history is more 
interesting and fascinating than the Civil War in the latter half of 
the 19th century. For wargamers, then, it would only seem natural that 
a considerable number of games would focus on that pivotal time in our 
history. But until recently, the availability of software focusing on 
the Civil War was like a desert. In the last couple of years, however, 
we have seen a flood of software, from Talonsoft's brilliant 
Battleground series that covers tactical battles to real-time 
disasters like The Blue and the Grey (by Impressions) and The Civil 
War (by Empire) and strategic nightmares like No Greater Glory (SSI). 
Most of these games have been flops, to put it kindly. About the same 
time that the rest of these titles were coming out, a small company 
released From Sumter to Appomattox. The game won universal praise for 
its focus on leadership and morale in battles and strategic elements; 
the graphics were abysmal, however, and the length of the game was a 
monster. From Sumter to Appomattox (I'll call it FSTA for the rest of 
the review) is now in its third version and has been picked up by 
Interactive Magic, makers of fine software products like Apache and 
Capitalism. This version features numerous improvements over the 
previous versions (especially in the area of graphics). 

	FSTA's third incarnation in designed for Windows 3.1/95, which 
means that it is relatively easy to install and no system 
configuration is required. Although the CD does support Autoplay for 
installing the game, it does not support Autoplay for actually playing 
the game even though the CD is required in order to play the game. A 
little annoying, but no big hassle. The introductory sequences are all 
multimedia, of course, featuring old pictures from the war and tunes 
played by either the North or the South. The game includes a CD player 
utility so that you can continue to play Northern and Southern tunes 
while you play the game. The actual game itself is very pretty to look 
at; the main map is done in 256-color SVGA graphics, fully depicting 
railroads, fields, mountains, and rivers in Atlas-like detail. The 
graphics and sounds shine throughout FSTA. 

	This is a strategic game, however, so the real question of the 
game's merit lies in its gameplay and quality of its computer AI 
opponent. If you've played a wargame before, especially one in 
Windows, then you should feel right at home, poking around and finding 
the various commands, etc... FSTA provides a considerable number of 
things to do, like dictating what supplies go where, and for what, and 
to whom. Rifles and warships must be built, and troops must be raised 
to see the player successfully to their goal. As was true 
historically, the Union has a considerable advantage in both supplies 
and manpower; playing the Union is a good way to learn the game and 
you can move on the play the Rebels once you're ready for a challenge. 
At times, however, I almost felt as though I was neck-deep in the 
details of supply allocation and such; the game provides no easy way 
to tell if you have chosen to manufacture enough rifles to cover the 
new recruits that will appear at the start of each month. 

	I'll tell you right now that the biggest problem with this game is 
the quantity of help provided in how to play it. There is precious 
little, most of it in the manual, and most of it almost impossible to 
make any sense of. The manual is one of the poorest I have seen in 
some time. It took a considerable amount of searching to find out how 
to get a Army corp to move towards an objective (Armies can be 
assigned an objective, but independent corps must be directed toward 
their targets manually). Further, when your troops enter battle you 
are given a choice of "Intensity" based on your leader's skill and 
your orders - but no where in the manual does it say what affect the 
different Intensity settings might have on the outcome of the battle. 
Fleets leave harbor immediately upon being given orders; better make 
sure you get them right! 

	I also found a number of small but irritating bugs, some of which 
have now been repaired by a patch you can get from Interactive Magic. 
The first was a bug that made it impossible to capture the enemies 
capital, even if he had no troops in the city! Secondly, a number of 
times my Union fleets got "lost" when assigned targets in the Gulf of 
Mexico - invariably they would get stuck trying to go through the 
Carolinas to get to Alabama. Predictably, the computer opponent is 
weak, even after installing the new AI in the patch. Other people have 
reported the game as running slow, even on a Pentium, but this was not 
a problem that I observed. 

	Now that I've got all my problems with FSTA out of the way, let me 
tell you that I still like this game. This is, without a doubt, the 
best strategic game about the Civil War to be released. Although the 
computer opponent is weak, the game does fully support email play 
which means you can easily reach across the Internet to crush someone. 
Since each turn lasts one week, a full game could easily stretch on 
for days or even weeks, so be prepared! The game allows you to play 
historically, or you can alter a variety of settings to provide a new 
challenge. For example, you can choose to randomize the abilities of 
your generals, making it tougher to choose the best ones, much as it 
was for Lincoln and Davis. Through promotions and removals, you will 
eventually find your Grant and Sherman (or Lee). Promotions and 
removals, however, do come with a political cost! In general I like 
the methods by which the issue of supplies is handled (dedicating so 
many to feeding the troops, building weapons, etc...), although at 
times it would be nice to be able to pass this off to a computer 
assistant. FSTA does come with an additional CD which contains the 
multimedia presentation "Fateful Lightning" that provides a rich and 
detailed history of the Civil War, complete with old photographs, 
sounds, etc.... If you are a Civil War buff, as I am, the second CD 
alone is worth the price of purchase. FSTA is a gem, albeit still a 
rough one, that with some more polish will truly shine. 

Interactive Magic
P.O. Box 13491
Research Triangle Park, NC 27709
919-461-0948
http://www.imagicgames.com

Installation/Ease of Use: Gold Medal
User-Friendliness: Bronze Medal
Quality: Silver Medal
Audience:  Civil War Buffs & wargamers.
 
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Product: Electronic Publishing on CD-ROM by Steve Cunningham & Judson 
Rosebush
Reviewed By: Don Hughes <dhughes@wwdc.com>
MSRP: US $36.95, Can $52.95 (BOOK and CD-ROM Included)
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Electronic Publishing on CD-ROM is a solidity filled three hundred and 
eighty page "how-to" guide. A statement by the authors in the preface 
of this book defines their goal: "This book describes the stages of 
publishing an electronic title on CD-ROM-from the authors initial 
idea, through detailed design and authoring, to manufacturing, 
marketing, and distribution. The book has grown directly out of the 
authors own experience in electronic publications." Having made their 
point the authors prepare the reader for an interesting and 
informative journey into the realm of Electronic Publishing. 

The CD-ROM market place is expanding so rapidly one would have to be 
living in the deepest jungle or another planet to be unaware of the 
thousands upon thousands of titles available today. The is no doubt 
the expansion of CD-ROM technology and Electronic Publishing will 
continue to expand at a phenomenal growth rate. A recent article in 
the Computer & Entertainment Retailing (Sept. 96) stated: "The 1.44 
floppy drive is history...Software vendors are flocking away from 1.44 
floppies as a medium for software distribution. The CD- ROM is cheaper 
to produce, vendors can stuff extra value in the CD. Customers prefer 
to install software from a single CD-ROM then a couple of dozen 
floppies." 

The lower cost and the convenience of CD-ROM technology plus the 
public's hunger for information at their finger tips is the driving 
force in the CD-ROM explosion. Sales of CD- ROM players have grown 
from One million per year in 1992 to over six million per year by 
1996, to an estimated installed base of over eighty million by the 
turn of the century. Compared to the old 1.44 floppy disk a single CD-
ROM can hold 654.7 megabytes of data or one thousand, (300 pages each) 
books in ASCII format. 

The storage requirements rise if the book has black and white 
graphics, and six hundred (300 page) books per CD. If the same book is 
in postscript is storage space is about 20 MB per book, or 30 per CD-
ROM. However, if the books are in Acrobat PDF format, the space 
required is 2.4 MB per book or 250 books on a single CD-ROM disk. 
Storing colour images on a CD-ROM presents another problem, as a 1K X 
1K 24-bit colour image may require 3 MB of space, however, many images 
can be compressed in one tenth their original size. 

The authors assert that: ".a small run (about 1,000 copies) the total 
production cost (including mastering, replication, and packaging) for 
a disc in a jewel box might be less than $2.00 per disk. More 
elaborate kinds of packaging (i.e., printed boxes) can add another 
$1.50 to this cost, printing and binding a book on the other hand is 
likely to run more like $10 or $12 in these quantities..the greatest 
cost for the CD-ROM is creating, integrating, and testing the content 
in the first place." The CD-ROM electronic publications present 
unlimited opportunities for anyone wanting a low cost way of producing 
data in none traditional formats. Along with text information you can 
include video clips, still photographs (in colour and black and white) 
plus add sound to enhance your product or information. 

The authors give an example of the skills necessary to create your own 
CD-ROM. The skills required are the ability to: "write, edit and 
proofread, take pictures, scan and colour correct them, and crop, 
record or compose music, lay it down on tape and digitize it, shoot 
video tape, edit, and direct actors, create animations, program a 
computer and design User interfaces, buttons, and navigation, act as a 
psychologist in order to under stand how people use and relate to 
media, market and package the title, and figure out all the money and 
time involved." 

If you do not have all the skills required, then you will need to seek 
the expertise of an Author, Developer, Publisher, Distributor and 
Retailers. In their book Electronic Publishing on CD- ROM, the authors 
determine the boundaries of just such an undertaking for the reader 
and the pro's and cons' of producing your own CD-ROMs. They break down 
this complex task into many steps, and demonstrate that while 
producing your CD-ROM is a rewarding task, it is also one not to be 
taken lightly. 

Moreover, as a business venture there is no guarantee that your CD-
ROMs will be a success in the market place. Electronic Publishing book 
includes a CD-ROM containing more information and their resources for 
their book in PDF format. The authors wisely enclosed two other tools 
for viewing and printing (if you desire) as part of the package. 
Included are Adobe's Acrobat reader and Apple's QuickTime move player, 
and they have put their Outline in two formats, PDF and HTML. 

The CD-ROM is made to be readable in Windows, Macintosh, and Unix 
format. The only flaw in this fine literary work is in fact their CD-
ROM interface. I would like to have seen a more point and click button 
style user interface and perhaps a little music. The Outline.pdf does 
allow the user to browse and then click on each chapter and view the 
contents using the Acrobat reader, cumbersome, but workable. 

Despite my minor peeve, Electronic Publishing on CD-ROM is an 
excellently written, and an information packed book. The authors, 
Steve Cunningham and Judson Rosebush, and their Publisher O'Reilly & 
Associates, Inc. must be very satisfied and proud of their product. If 
you work in the electronic publishing media or simply want to learn 
more about producing CD- ROMs, you need to acquire this book. The book 
combined with the other resources listed on the CD, are worth every 
penny. On a scale of one to five, Electronic Publishing on CD-ROM, I 
give it a FIVE and in the Olympic tradition a definite GOLD. 
        
Electronic Publishing on CD-ROM
O'Reilly & Associates, Inc. 
103a Morris Street,  Sebastopol, CA 95472, USA 
Inquiries:707-829-0515, 800-998-9938
Fax: 707-829-0104  

-----------------------------------------------------------------------
Product: QuickVerse 4.0 (Windows 3.11 or Windows95)
Reviewed By: Danny Williams <danny@packet.net>
Reviewed on: Pentium-75, 16Mb RAM, 4X CD-ROM
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
Researching Bible topics in a library for a college class, Sunday 
school class, or sermon can easily take hours of searching not only 
for the right books, but the pertinent sections in those books. The 
QuickVerse 4.0 Bible Reference Collection (QVBRC) provides a good 
starting collection of Bible references as well as a foundation on 
which one can further build an even more complete collection of 
interconnected references. 

Installation is typical for CD-ROM products - insert the CD and run 
the SETUP program. Varying amounts of data are written to your hard 
disk, from 0Mb to over 100Mb, depending on how fast you would like to 
search the large databases. With a 4X CD-ROM, I had no performance 
complaints for occasional use, but if I were using this every day, Id 
allocate 10Mb or so for the index files on the hard disk and leave the 
large data on the CD-ROM. This dramatically improves speed for a small 
cost in hard disk space. One sign of a small lack of integration 
between the products is that after all the programs are copied, I had 
to tell one of them through a configuration menu where the others were 
on the disk, even though it has just finished setting up each of them 
itself. 

QVBRC is really three products and nine reference sources on one CD-
ROM:
-QuickVerse (Bible texts & Notes)
     -King James Version
     -New International Version
     -New Revised Standard Version
     -Strongs Concordance
     -Notes & commentary
          -The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (any translation)
          -Matthew Henrys Concise Commentary on the Whole Bible 
           (any translation)
          -The Rainbow Study Bible (KJV)
-QuickVerse Library (Reference books)
     -Holman Bible Dictionary
-PC Bible Atlas 

Each of the mail products are foundations on which you can add more 
references later as the need arises. In addition to the Bible 
translations listed above, there are "Notes" files available that are 
tied to one or more of the translations and add commentary and insight 
to the verses. QuickVerse includes the three listed above, but others 
available include The New Scofield Study Bible Notes, the Ryrie Study 
bible Expanded Edition Notes, and The Believers Study Bible notes. 
Each of these notes files are displayed in a small, adjustable window 
below the Bible text. When you view verses which have commentary on 
file, the commentary is displayed in the lower windows. One gripe I 
had with this system is that if the verse pointer was pointing at 
verse 2 and the commentary is on verses 1-10, the commentary would not 
display. The pointer had to be on verse 1. 

QuickVerse Library display any STEP (Standard Template for Electronic 
Publishing) documents. Both Parsons and other publishers produce STEP 
compatible materials, so even though there is only one dictionary 
included in this release, you can easily add references from several 
publishers as you expand your library later. 

Ive found QVBRC useful for preparing for Sunday School lessons. 
Usually find myself staring with QuickVerse and looking up the verses 
on which this weeks lesson is based. In QuickVerse, I can pull up one 
or more translations, show them side by side on the screen, and 
synchronize the two sides so I am always looking at the same verses 
two different ways. One translation, Strongs Concordance, even shows 
the original Hebrew written phonetically for English and including a 
dictionary style description of the source roots of the word. This can 
often go a long way toward understanding the subtle differences in the 
language that can change the original meaning of a verse. 

While reading one verse about, I wondered which verses in the Bible 
mentioned his name. Marking his name with my mouse in the verse I was 
reading and then clicking on the QuickSearch button was all it took. I 
quickly saw a list of all 57 verses in the Bible mentioning his name. 

A Search menu item from QuickVerse allows a quick connection to 
QuickVerse Library. The Library comes with one Bible dictionary, the 
Holman Bible Dictionary, which offers a one paragraph description of 
the life and times of Nebuchadnezzar and told me that he was the King 
of Babylon from 602-562 B.C. and offered a link to a modern day 
picture of the "Procession Street" of Babylon built by Nebuchadnezzar 
in about 580 B.C. 

Another Search menu item available from QuickVerse connects to PC 
Bible Atlas. Highlighting the word "Babylon" in the text about 
Nebuchadnezzar and selecting the Atlas product returns a list of 15 
maps which include Babylon. Select the one most relevant to the lesson 
being studied and see a color map of Babylon, the surrounding area, 
and several landmarks in the area. Many of the landmarks are hot-
linked to short descriptions of the landmark. Be careful here! Just 
like flipping through an encyclopedia or surfing the Web, its easy to 
go off chasing rabbits and forget what you were looking for in the 
first place! 

Each of the references is reachable and searchable from the other, and 
this makes it easy to put together a comprehensive package of 
information on just about any Bible subject. Copyright limitations are 
even written to allow reproduction for members of a class, so everyone 
can have a copy and not have to squint at the one you are holding at 
the front of the class. 

I own a paper Bible which has a list of topics and verses which 
address that topic. I found nothing in QVBRC which duplicated that 
index. I did find, however, find in the documentation that an add-on 
module called Naves Topical Bible provides just that sort of index 
and can easily be added to the QVBRC system. That, perhaps, is one of 
the strongest points of this system - it is as easy to add information 
to it as a paper library, and vastly easier to search. 

Additional modules are sold both by Parsons and many local Christian 
bookstores. 

Parsons Technology
One Parsons Drive
Hiawatha IA 52233
1-319-395-9626
WWW: <http://www.parsonstech.com>
AOL: keyword PARSONS
CompuServe: GO PARSONS

----------------------------------------------------------------------
Product: Practical UNIX & Internet Security (2nd Edition)
by Simson Grafinkel and Gene Spafford
Publisher O'Reilly & Associates, Inc.
Price US $39.95, Can $56.95
Reviewed By: Don Hughes <dhughes@wwdc.com>
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Practical UNIX & Internet Security (containing over 971+ pages)is an 
in-depth look at the issues and measures taken to provide business and 
the end user with a safe and secure place to do business. However, as 
the Internet and the use of networks expand in to days global village, 
so does the rise in computer crime. Studies in 1995 concluded that: 

....Combined losses from computer and telecommunications fraud in the 
U.S. alone may be over $10 billion a year, 

.Theft of proprietary business information, as reported monthly, rose 
260% during the five year period from 1988 to, 1993. 

.Unauthorized access to computer files for "snooping" (as opposed to 
outright theft) has increased by over 91% in the past five years. 

.Intentional introduction of virus into corporate networks is up 66% 
over the past five years. 

.Unauthorized access to business information and theft of proprietary 
information are up over 75% in the past five years. 

....The majority of computer security incidents are never reported." 

The widespread uses of the UNIX operating system for the Internet and 
company networks make the system a prime target for information 
gathering or worse. This book is intended as a guide to System 
administrators and others to increase their knowledge of UNIX security 
issues. The authors in their opening introduction included the 
following: 

 ....A Note to Computer Crackers We've tried to write this book in 
such a way that it can't be used easily as a "how to" manual for 
potential system crackers. Don't buy this book if you are looking for 
hints to break into systems. If you are a system cracker, consider 
applying your energy and creativity to more pressing problem facing us 
all, rather than creating new problems for overworked computer users 
and administrators. ....We realize that most of our readers would 
never even think of behaving this way, so our apologies to you for 
having made this point. 

The Practical UNIX & Internet Security book takes the reader on a 
complex and informative excursion of UNIX from its history and 
introduction in chapter one, to chapter 27 entitled "Who do you 
Trust?" 

The book does an excellent job in stating the pro's and con's of 
providing a secure and safe computer environment. 

The Authors Simson Garfinkel and Gene Spafford,in this book have 
divided security planning into six discrete steps: 
1. Security needs planning
2. Risk assessment
3. Cost-benefit analysis
4. Creating policies to reflect your needs
5  Implementation
6. Audit and incident response.

This book stresses the value of total security planning from the 
simple password protection to physical security. The standard UNIX 
operating system has the capability of more than 43,000,000,000,000 
passwords. The authors recommend a password containing both upper and 
lower case, digits, and characters, and easy to remember. The 
following are examples from their book of just such passwords: 
"robot4my or eye-con or auPEGG-translated ALL UNIX programmers eat 
green cheese." The main idea is that whatever the password is that you 
chose it should be easy for you to remember, yet not easy enough for a 
person to crack. 

Not recommend by the authors is the use of "Smoking Joe's" or password 
and user names that are the same as they are easy to crack and if the 
computer displays a user list also easy to find. The book deals 
extensively with the indisputable realm of security threats that 
exists in present technological societies. 

These dangers vary from: security tool kits (software) on a system, 
that is intended to keep out unauthorized persons, being used to 
access the system, back or trap doors left by programmers who use this 
method to update software, logic bombs set to go off on certain dates, 
viruses, or Bacteria or Rabbit programs that multiply and congest a 
system. 

There is also the physical side of computer security, in that you can 
secure the software with firewall, and password protection to the 
utmost. However, you must also acknowledge and plan for mysterious 
disappearances or acts of God. Information, comparable to gold and 
silver, needs a protected environment if it is to endure: fire, theft, 
vandalism, smoke, dust, power surges, electrical noise, lighting, 
humidity, water, food and drink, explosions, and in some areas of the 
world, earthquakes, and last but not least, real biological bugs. 

If you are a system administrator or UNIX programmer or involved in 
providing a more secure computer environment, then "Practical UNIX & 
Internet Security" is one book you should not be without. The book 
covers numerous and various subjects such as: file Encryption and 
decryption, TCP/IP, UUCP, NFS, wrapper and proxy programs, World Wide 
Web security in detail. If this book was in the Olympics, it would be 
sure to win a gold metal. Simson Grafinkel and Gene Spafford and their 
publisher O'Reilly & Associates, Inc. have done a outstanding job, 
thusly making the computer community more aware of all the aspects 
required in designing and maintaining a safe and secure system. 

Practical UNIX & Internet Security (2nd Edition)
by Simson Grafinkel and Gene Spafford

O'Reilly & Associates, Inc. 
103a Morris Street
Sebastopol, CA 95472, USA 
Inquiries:707-829-0515, 800-998-9938
Fax: 707-829-0104   

-----------------------------------------------------------------------
WEBSITES OF THE WEEK! | This section is devoted to cool WebSites . . .
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
Holidays '96!|
--------------
 NEW YORK, Nov. 26 /PRNewswire/ - Love, hope, charity, joy, peace on 
earth...they happen everyday in vivid color on one of the Internet's 
most popular websites - Christmas96.com (also URL address 
<http:\\Holidays96.com>). With its debut on the World Wide Web on 
November 1, 1996, the "Home to Christmas on the Internet," is the 
number one online resource for the holidays on the World Wide Web. 
Epicenter Communications has partnered with S&A Associates, primary 
sponsors, AT&T WorldNet(SM) Services and Chase, and content sponsors, 
"Women's Day" Magazine, StarChefs and Culturefinder to create 
Christmas96.com, an informative and entertaining virtual place 
designed to fulfill all your holiday needs. 
        
 - Learn how 35 different cultures celebrate Christmas on a virtual 
trip around the world through beautiful photos shot by the world's 
most famous photojournalists. 
        
 -- Create personal digital greeting cards using Christmas96 images 
and send via email. 
        
 -- Pull up information on other celebrations including Chanukah and 
Kwanzaa, and read about holiday happenings in a special "Christmas in 
New York" section sponsored by Chase Bank. 
        
 -- Shop online for special gifts through amazon.com, Flowerlink, 
Spiegel and econnection.com. 
        
 -- Download special holiday recipes from the experts at Women's Day 
and StarChefs, a website devoted to cuisine from famous chefs and 
cookbook authors. 
        
 - Donate to several charities or answer a needy child's Christmas 
wishes. 
        
 - Find out information on holiday entertainment including a guide to 
local events (i.e. Christmas light shows, Santa appe eht, phiy, 
travel, gift and events. 
        
 The Internet makes this multimedia, multi-source, multi-use site 
possible - - all at the speed of electricity. 

---------------------------------------------

---------------------------------------------
 NEW YORK, Nov. 26 /PRNewswire/ - Holiday time at HomeArts! - 
<http://homearts.com>. The Internet's .1 lifestyle site for women, 
offering information on Life, Love and a Great Home, helps people get 
ready for the entire holiday season from cooking, to decorating, to 
relationships and shopping tips. 
        
 - The Cook's Corner program on the Eats Channel of the HomeArts 
Network, <http://homearts.com>, will provide users with turkey tips 
for Thanksgiving, party food ideas for Christmas and Chanukah, and 
champagne suggestions for New Year's. Look for turkey tips the week of 
November 22nd - Just before its time to shop. Can the Christmas 
cookies be far behind? 
        
 - How long are the in-laws staying? Whose house do you visit first? 
Holidays can be highly stressful times for couples and families where 
love and patience can be put to the test. Starting in December, the 
LoveBytes program on the Kiss.net Channel of <http://homearts.com>, 
will offer helpful ways to sail smoothly through the holiday season 
and into the New Year by sharing stories from HomeArts editors, 
affiliates and Hearst magazines. 
        
 - HELP ... My plants are dying!!! Many people find that along with 
their dwindling moods, their plants seem to develop the "blues" during 
the cold, dark months of the holidays, too. Now the HomeArts Network 
can help. The Phyllo Facts program on the Bloom! Channel of 
<http://homearts.com>, provides information on plants best suited to 
the current season. November's focus is Winterberry, while December's 
will be the Poinsettia. Many other plant facts and tid- bits, as well 
as garden tours, are always available on the HomeArt's Bloom! Channel. 
        
 - Of course everyone's talking about using the Internet to skip the 
crowds and bad weather this shopping season. So, where do you start? 
Find great holiday items, catalogs and gift ideas at the HomeArts 
Holiday Shop on <http://homearts.com>. 
        
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  --END OF ISSUE--

