Our meeting started at 6:00 PM with our Windows SIG. The first and most vocal discussion was AOL 5.0 and the number of problems it seems to be causing in Windows. Most of the members had, or knew someone who had, problems with AOL 5.0 upgrade. I think there were only two members who said they had not experienced any issues with their own upgrade. We need to give these people money for next week’s lottery. Mary Sheridan passed along some more Windows shortcuts. One that got the most attention (I saw everyone try it right then) was use of the "Print Screen" key. If the print screen key is pressed, a snapshot of your screen is saved to the clipboard. It can then be "Pasted" to any other program through the "Edit" drop down menu.

The general meeting started at 6:30 PM with our president, Mary Sheridan, presiding. Mary announced that Microsoft has agreed to give a presentation on April 4, 2000 at 7:00 PM in the USF Bio-Science Building. They require a 100-person minimum to guarantee their presence, so we will be combining with the Greater Tampa Bay Users Group to beef up the numbers. The Visual Basic SIG is going to be changed around a bit to focus on VB programming for MS Office. Merle was quick to point out that this will be more than just macros: Actual programming to customize and enhance Office. Sign up sheets for attendance and SIGs were passed around.

Our guest presentation started at 6:50 PM. Glen Gasbarro of e-stamp (http://www.e-stamp.com) demonstrated their new prepaid postage service. With e-stamp, postage is downloaded from the Internet, stored on a device attached to your local machine, and printed from your printer. The first time e-stamp runs you register on their web site. This activates the "vault", a device that attaches to your computer’s parallel port. When you purchase postage, it is stored in the vault for future use. This offers the definite advantage of having access to postage without being online. Up to $500 can be purchased and stored at one time.

Printing requires a printer with at least 300 dpi resolution, which is any ink jet on the market today. Dot-matrix users may be out of luck. The postage looks a bit like a metered mark common today on envelopes, with the notable addition of an enhanced bar code. These new bar codes look like a checkerboard pattern, but they carry far more information than the original bar codes. Encoded are the amount of postage, mailing address, return address, date postage was printed, envelope size, and serial number. Bar code readers at the Post Office can automatically process this type of postage and ensure proper delivery even if up to 40% of the postage stamp is damaged or if no other information is on the envelope. The bar code readers require the 300 dpi resolution to work properly. Postage can be printed to either an envelope or labels, and, with integration into programs like Word or Outlook, postage can be printed directly to a document and used with a windowed envelope. If the postage becomes damaged you can contact e-stamp for a postal claim form to be reimbursed by the Post Office.

The e-stamp program itself is capable of automatically determining correct postage for many different variables. Charts for different zones, package size and weight, shipping preferences, etc., are all accessible through pop up windows. e-stamp keeps up to date on all changes to postal regulations and prices, and updated rates will be made available to all users for the life of the company. They do not currently support registered mail, but they are working on it. The Postal Service requires printed postage to be sent in 24 hrs. E-stamp allows post dating of up to three days, and, if you forget to send your mail in time, a date correction label can be printed and added to the original postage.

The electronic vault is transferable to any machine equipped with a parallel port. When the vault is added to a new machine, you have to return to e-stamp’s web site and enter your registration information. This will verify the correct user is still in possession of the vault and prevents theft. Re-registering is only required the first time a user moves to a new machine. The vault can be moved back and forth to any machine it has been registered on.

e-stamp is available in retail stores or by calling 888-4 e-stamp. The initial purchase price is $49.99. There is no monthly service fee as with other online postage companies, but they make their income by charging a service fee from 10% to 5% on postage purchases. The minimum service fee is $4.99 and the maximum fee is $24.99 (on the $500 in postage). e-stamp ships with an address correction CD that will check and correct addresses and zip codes for your destination. Quick Books Pro 2000 ships with a full version of e-stamp.

After the presentation we had our weekly drawing. Among the winners were Will Goble, John Witmer, Brian Lance, Mike Hutchinson, Clark Evans, and Ed Snow. Congratulations to you all. u