-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= 
|-=>CompuNotes<=-|
-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
Notes from The Cutting Edge of Personal Computing
February 16, 1997
Issue 68
+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=
Managing Editor: Patrick Grote -- mailto:pgrote@inlink.com
Assistant Editor: Writer Liaison: Doug Reed-- 
mailto:dr2web@sprynet.com
Graphics Editor, Webmaster: Judy Litt mailto:jlitt@aol.com
Archives: ftp://ftp.uu.net/published/compunotes/
Website: http://users.aol.com/CompNote/
email: mailto:notes@inlink.com
fax: (314) 909-1662
voice: (314) 909-1662
+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=
CONTENTS
My Notes:
1=> Monday Chat!
2=> This Week's Winner!

Columnists' Corner:
3=> Jeff Fishbein wonders who reads their mail . . .

Reviews:
4=> Product: Learn & Play classic rock guitar. 1996. CD-ROM and 
Companion Guide 
Reviewed By: Richard Malinski, mailto:richard@acs.ryerson.ca 
5=> Product: The HTML Reference Card
Reviewed By: Gail B.C. Marsella, mailto:gbcmars@enter.net
6=> Product: Harley Hahn's Internet & Web Yellow Pages, 1997 edition.
Reviewed By: Richard Malinski, mailto:richard@acs.ryerson.ca
+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=
CompuNotes is: Available weekly via email and on-line. We cover the PC
computing world with comprehensive reviews, news, hot web sites, great
columns and interviews. We also give away one software package a week
to a lucky winner for just reading our fine publication! Never dull,
sometimes tardy, we are here to bring you the computing world the way
it is! Please tell every online friend you know about us!
CompuNotes
B440    
1315 Woodgate Drive
St. Louis, MO 63122
notes@inlink.com   
+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=
SYSOPS SEE END OF ISSUE FOR SYSOP INFORMATION!
+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=
To subscribe, send this email to listserv@peach.ease.lsoft.com
   SUBSCRIBE COMPUNOTES-L FirstName LastName
To unsubscribe, send this email to listserv@peach.ease.lsoft.com
   SIGNOFF COMPUNOTES-L
+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=
Patrick's Notes
1=> Chat Session with CompuNotes!

Every Monday night at 8:00pm, CompuNotes hosts a chat session on 
Yahoo! Chat! Last Monday was our first night and a fun, informative 
night was had by all!

This week we will be announcing the winners of our first annual 
readers awards. We will have our writers as guests to shed some light 
on the products coming out in 1997! We invite you to attend and join 
in on the conversation and fun!

The address is <http://chat.yahoo.com>. We are located in the 
SCIENCE&TECHNOLOGY area in the Computer/CompuNotes room. All you have 
to do is type WHERE IS COMPUNOTES and a guide will help you. Also, 
please plan on signing on Yahoo! 30 minutes prior to your chat if this 
will be your first chat. You'll need to download a plug-in for your 
browser to support the chat!

As always, we'll be giving away a free software package to someone in 
attendance. 

2=> Winner!
This week's winner is jlb2@jhideout.com! Send them a congrats
message mailto:jlb2@hideout.com!

3=> E-MAIL CAN MAKE PONY EXPRESS LOOK GOOD

If you want to learn more about a product or company, or buy a product 
or service, the Internet has a wealth of information. But if you have 
a problem and want to contact the company, buy a stamp. 

I understand that not all e-mail is directly read and answered by a 
human -- the sheer volume handled daily precludes that as a 
possibility. It doesn't bother me when the President doesn't 
personally reply to me, or when I get an "autobot" reply to 
registration form or a support request (unless that's all I can get). 

When I get no reply from a company, though, it just makes me angry. It 
seems to be happening more and more. Here are three prime examples: 

1. I have had nothing but difficulties with my Iomega Zip Drive, a 
product apparently manufactured by the company Dilbert's boss used to 
work for. When you call their tech support number -- even the toll 
number -- you get nothing but recordings, and no way to leave a 
message. I sent at least 10 e-mail requests for support with detailed 
descriptions of my problems. I've yet to get a reply (and, like most 
Zip users, it took me about 25 attempts to download the software 
upgrade, because their server kept killing the transfer). 

I've since discovered that my situation is far from unique, both in 
terms of quality of the product and response from the company. 

2. I have tried to register three times with the Sitebuilder Network 
from Microsoft. The form response says verification takes five 
business days. I waited more than 10 days each time, then tried again. 
That was more than a month ago ... I've yet to hear from them. 

And they don't have an e-mail address. This is the thanks I get for 
promoting their limited-use technology (ActiveX)? 

3. I registered for ZD Net almost two years ago. Since then, I've 
replaced my hardware and software -- and lost my cookies -- and now I 
can't get back on. I still get the weekly newsletter, but can't log 
into the site. The "mother's maiden name" verification rejects me, as 
well. Apparently Ziff-Davis knows something I don't about my mother. 

After repeated e-mail to ZD, I tried calling their New York offices, 
and left voice mail -- No response. Finally, last week, the e-mail 
address of a real human (!) who works at ZDNet was published in the 
newsletter, and he's taking care of my problem. But if his address 
hadn't been published, I'd still be waiting. 

California has proposed legislation that would require companies doing 
business in that state over the Internet to identify the business and 
offer consumers information on how to contact the company. Although 
some have blasted the proposal as an unwarranted and unenforceable 
regulatory effort, it's really no more stringent than the requirements 
placed on any other company that wants to do business in California by 
any other method. 

Too bad California's lawmakers can't make a company answer its e-mail. 

--Jeff Fishbein is a freelance journalist and Internet consultant 
based in Selinsgrove, Pa. He owns an Internet commerce site, 
http://www.riverweb.com 

4=> Product: Learn & Play classic rock guitar. 1996. CD-ROM and 
Companion guide(36 p) 
Reviewed By: Richard Malinski, Novice! mailto:richard@acs.ryerson.ca
Requirements: Windows, 486/66mhz, SVGA, Sound Card, 2x CD-ROM drive 
and mouse. 
MSRP: $59.95US
     
Practice! Practice! Practice! If you learn anything from this CD-ROM, 
you're sure to learn that your won't get far without persistence. 
Notwithstanding this truism, playing with this CD-ROM is a great deal 
of fun. As a novice I could step through each of the eight songs 
slowly and repeat the lessons until I understood them. Understanding 
them is one thing, putting them together to sound like the 
demonstrations is another! 

The CD-ROM demonstrations and the commentaries on the songs in the 
guide are excellent for the novice and, I would think also for the 
advanced amateur. This CD-ROM, volume 1, includes 84 lessons covering 
basic guitar techniques and eight classic rock songs. The songs are 
Hey Joe; No Woman, No Cry; Life By the Drop; Sweet Home Alabama; Dust 
in the Wind; Blowin' in the Wind; Wild World and Blackbird. 
 
The installation of this product is not without its hitches. The 
installation program runs well enough. The screen displays are fine, 
the speed of the music is adequate but the volume is difficult to set. 
(I was not able to correct the volume problem on my 486/66mhz machine 
with SCSI CD-ROM.) As a result of this, with the volume set extremely 
high, the static and CD-ROM noise detracts from the songs. 
Reinstalling the software and resetting the sound from within Windows 
and within the Sound Blaster mixer does not help! The website has some 
technical hints but nothing more valuable than the trouble shooting 
section of the guide. 

The menu presentation and ease of use is excellent. The combination of 
printed guide and CD-ROM menu work well together. The guide gives a 
few extra hints and is suitable for those needing the security of a 
booklet but the CD-ROM really draws you in and through the lessons. 
You can choose one of eight songs to study. With each song there are 
sections covering the music, the chords, the words and specific 
lessons. You can listen to the song and not only hear it but also see 
the chords being played. This function provides you with a goal and as 
you pick through the lessons you can return to hearing the song to 
gauge your progress. Linking this type of personal instruction with 
computer capabilities brings the needs of the learner and the untiring 
repetition of the computer together! 

An example might give an idea of how I used this CD-ROM. To start, I 
tuned my guitar using the regular tuner. (There is a digital tuner for 
those with an electric guitar or an acoustic guitar.) By clicking on 
the notes of the headstock displayed I could hear the note and tune my 
guitar. This feature is a gem. I dread the thought of tuning a guitar 
but this feature makes it uncomplicated and a joy. Even with the 
static mentioned above I had no difficulty doing this! Next, I chose 
Life by the Drop which has 6 lessons. The number of lessons varies 
(Hey Joe has 15 whereas Sweet Home Alabama has 11) but many of the 
lessons are themselves segmented to give you a better opportunity to 
breakdown the sequences and learn the chords, fingering and 
techniques. Each chord is illustrated with a demonstration which you 
can see over and over again until your fingering and sound matches the 
demonstration. Combining two or three or four of the segments into one 
lesson and comparing it to the demonstration is either exciting or 
heartbreaking! Don't forget persistence! 

I especially liked the use of the written music and the navigation 
bar. One of the screens provides you with several graphics so that you 
have the ability to read the music in standard notation or tablature 
as well as see the chords illustrated as on the guitar (vertical or 
horizontal) and move through the song with the click of the mouse. The 
navigation bar lets you move from the introduction to any part of the 
song, highlight the music, see the chords and practice the part. I 
think that the combination of all of these elements that is the 
linking note, chord, fingering and sound into one is extremely helpful 
in learning the songs. Using the playback buttons you can stop, play 
and rewind or loop the music or jump to a section that you want to 
hear and/or try out. 

There are two help buttons or graphics used. One is a graphic of a 
cartoon character called Jim. By clicking on Jim you can get help on a 
particular feature on the screen or help with what you can do next. 
The other help feature is a question mark superimposed on a guitar 
pick. By clicking on the question mark you get access to basic guitar 
techniques such as hammer- on, tapping, pull-off, slide and trill. 
These two features are well designed because initially you need Jim to 
help you around the screens but once you get involved with learning 
the songs you need the guitar pick because you find yourself going 
back and forth from song to technique to song. 

For quality of development and ease of use, I'd give this product a 
silver rating. The depth of the lessons and the variety of ways to 
view each song contributes to a better understanding of how the 
components of a song go together. Such a product also illustrates how 
a well designed program can provide training in a way that isn't 
tedious nor superficial. I look forward to hearing the volume 2 in 
this series. I expect that by then either I'll have a new system or 
the problem with volume control will be resolved! 

UBI Soft
80 East Sir Francis Drake Blvd, Suite 3E
Larkspur,  CA   94939
Telephone:1-800-UBI-SOFT
mailto:info@UbiSoft.com
<http://www.UbiSoft.com>
 
5=> Product: The HTML Reference Card
Reviewed By: Gail B.C. Marsella, mailto:gbcmars@enter.net
MSRP: $4.50

Most of us with Web pages go to some length to avoid actually writing 
anything in HTML. We either purchase a specialized editor with buttons 
for the various functions (like HotDog or Netscape Navigator Gold), or 
pay someone else to take care of the details. Now and then it pays to 
jog memory on the actual commands, however, if only to correct the 
Webmaster's mistakes. 

The HTML Reference, a quick help card from Specialized Systems 
Consultants, does exactly that. It's actually a large brochure, with 
categories corresponding to the different areas of HTML (document 
structure, fonts/emphasis, lists, headers, images, forms, anchors, and 
so on.) There's no excess verbiage here, just a straightforward 
listing of the common commands, the correct syntax for them, and 
examples of the output. There is also a complete HTML listing for a 
simple Web page (using a wide variety of the commands), and right next 
to that a brochure section with the output as it would look on the 
screen. 

If you're a complete beginner with HTML, this card is not for you, but 
if you just need an occasional reminder, give the HTML Reference a 
try. They've gotten about as much as possible into a small space, it's 
clearly organized, and the price is reasonable. 

The HTML Reference card (ISBN 0-916151-79-4) is available from 
Specialized
Systems Consultants, Inc.
Phone: 206-782-7733
Fax: 206-782-7191
mailto:sales@ssc.com
<http://www.ssc.com>

6=> Product: Harley Hahn's Internet & Web Yellow Pages, 1997 edition.
Reviewed By: Richard Malinski, mailto:richard@acs.ryerson.ca
System reviewed on -	486-66mhz, 16mb RAM, 3x cd-rom

Many of you are probably aware of this classic work. The earlier 
editions have been used by many as their first introduction to 
Internet resources and their locations. It is reassuring and very 
comfortable to have a sense of the depth of material on the Internet 
before beginning. Hahn's work gives this as well as convenient 
organization for those who like to have a 'little' guide of 900+ pages 
on the side. 

The installation of the book is no problem! The CD-ROM is almost as 
quick and certainly as painless. The brief instructions for installing 
the CD- ROM are located on the last pages of the book next to the cd-
rom holder which is on the back cover. Putting the cd-rom in the 
drive, using FILL MANAGER to bring up the directory and double 
clicking on SETUP is nothing out of the ordinary. The Modern Age Books 
installation program is excellent. Selecting a directory in which to 
load the files and choosing to load Hahn's software but not the AT&T 
Worldnet service (I didn't need this service) is all there is to it. 
The group and the icons for Hahn's cd-rom software are inserted in 
Windows without mishap. 

There is however, no UNINSTALL icon! But wait, if you look closely at 
the contents of the CD-ROM you'll find an uninstall.exe file. If you 
double click on this file it will remove the software. Why not put 
this in an icon when the main icon is loaded? This would make a useful 
addition. Was this put together too quickly? More on this later. 

The use of the book and CD-ROM is almost as easy as installation. As 
you might imagine, the book and CD-ROM are organized along the same 
lines. The 'List of Categories' in the book is the same as the 
'Contents' on the button bar. The 'Table of Contents' in the book is 
exactly like the expanded 'Contents' of the CD-ROM. The 'Index' at the 
back of the book is the alphabetic list of topics brought up when you 
click on the 'Index' of the button bar. The entries in the book are 
reflected in the cd-rom. There is certainly a comfortable feeling with 
the intuitive, book-like layout of the screen. 

At this stage the features of the CD-ROM begin to shine. The screen 
image is laid out as if you were using the book and one over which you 
have a lot of control. For those of us needing text bigger than 10 
point, there is a slide control that lets you enlarge the image text 
to suit your preference. The menu and button bars are familiar to 
anyone using Windows 3x. On the menu bar under EDIT there is an 
ANNOTATE command which lets you attach notes to entries as you work 
with the material. The BOOKMARK not only makes a list as you would 
imagine but also pops up a small, yellow number tab out of the top of 
the book page. When you want to go back to a particular tab you place 
the cursor on the number, a title describing the tab pops up and if it 
is the one you want you click on it to return to your previous place. 
A very good feature on the menu bar is the USER button which enables 
users of the CD-ROM to each have their own set of bookmarks. 

The most useful aspects and at the same time the most challenging are 
the variety of ways to search for information on the cd-rom. You can 
browse through the expanded table of contents. You can click on the 
INDEX button, type in a word and see whether it is in the index or 
not. You can click on the SEARCH button, type in a word or phrase or 
use operators (AND, OR, NOT, NEAR) and find occurrences of the topics 
you want. You can also use the ASSIST command to bring up a form in 
which you can type words, click on the operator and then search the CD-
ROM for your topic. As you might guess, the first methods are fairly 
straight forward but as you move down the list they get a bit more 
finicky. 

I found trouble with two aspects of the searching. The SEARCH feature 
allows you to type one or more words, to use operators and to 
incorporate brackets to nest your searching. I am, to this point, 
unable to get the AND operator to work the way I expect it to. 
Searching for 'feminism AND family' produces a list of entries with 
either feminism or family but none with both. You can get around this 
by using the NEAR operator and limiting the distance to one or two 
words. If the AND feature worked the way that HELP explains it, it 
would be fine. After several tries using AND I reverted to the NEAR 
solution. Notwithstanding the AND problem, the SEARCH function is the 
best way to access topics that might have something of relevance. 

With all the work that went into this CD-ROM it is a pity that the 
searching doesn't include the URL components. Invariably, you remember 
a snippet of a URL but not the whole thing. There is lots of space on 
the CD-ROM and the search capabilities are present. Perhaps the next 
version of Hahn's CD-ROM will have this feature. 

The ASSIST feature is more problematic. The form fill-in is a good 
idea but the closed vocabulary creates frustration. ASSIST or the 
'Search Assistant' as the dialogue box is titled lets you scroll 
through a list of keywords. Some checking should have been done 
because several of the initial terms look like spelling errors and 
result in a 'No items found' message. It is odd also that the hint for 
searching in found stuck under ASSIST To make matters worse the 
examples are not even in the text; i.e., BEES AND HONEY doesn't 
produce the outcome that is suggested and as for BEES LOVE HONEY, 
there is no entries! It does seem that this component was assembled in 
a hurry. The HELP feature is no help in explaining ASSIST so I 
returned to SEARCH. The SEARCH feature is really the best way to get 
around the material. 

A really excellent feature is the hot links to Internet addresses. You 
access this feature by making a PPP/SLIP connection to your Internet 
service provider and starting up Hahn's cd-rom. Once you've found 
information and a site you want to explore further you, click on the 
Universal Resource Locator (URL) listed and presto change you're 
linked via your PPP/SLIP connection to the location and the 
information. 

The rating of this book and CD-ROM varies. The installation is near 
the top except for the hidden uninstall file. I'd give it a silver 
grade. The user friendliness of the screen layout and features is on 
the whole very good. The hot links are a real plus. The flaws in the 
Search Assistant need fixing. I'd rate the useability as silver again. 

Overall, the beginning user will have a positive experience with 
Hahn's material. It provides a good map of what is out there on the 
Internet. It has less benefit for the seasoned Internet user. Once you 
are more familiar with search engines like Yahoo and Alta Vista, you 
will easily find material that is more up-to- date material available 
than in Hahn's book. As you will quickly find out, the Internet is 
ever changing. While using the Yahoo or Alta Vista access won't cost 
you the price of the book, what it will cost you is time to search and 
select sites you want to explore. With the book and CD-ROM you would 
probably save some time! 


Osborne/McGraw Hill
2600 Tenth Street
Berkeley, California 94710

Information on Osborne books - 		<http://www.osborne.com>
Information on Harley Hahn's books - 	<http://www.harley.com> 

+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=
SYSOPS READ HERE!

We want to make CompuNotes available on as many BBS as possible.
Sysops who volunteer upload this newsletter to their BBS as a ZIP file
will be listed in our sysops directory shipped with each newsletter.
We'll also link to your website.

If you are interested, fill out the following lines and return them to
notes@inlink.com with SYSOPS as the subject. After processing this,
we'll send you a weekly UUEncoded version of CompuNotes.

BBS NAME:
BBS SYSOP:
BBS NUMBER:
URL:
+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=
To subscribe, send this email to listserv@peach.ease.lsoft.com
   SUBSCRIBE COMPUNOTES-L FirstName LastName
To unsubscribe, send this email to listserv@peach.ease.lsoft.com
   SIGNOFF COMPUNOTES-L
+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=

--END OF ISSUE











