Looking Back to 1995

From the January, 2005 Newsletter

Secretary's Report
MINUTES OF 12/14/94 MEETING
and Personal Comments by Jim Clark, Tampa PC Users Group

Another important meeting for the TPCUG, with elections taking place for the five elected positions on the Board of Directors. And there was a good turnout for this important event, as well as for a fine presentation by a very popular software vendor, Broderbund.

USER GROUP NEWS — A foul-up by the Ybor Campus staff, who had just closed the campus that day for the holiday season and hadn't made arrangements for our use of the facility, caused a delay in the start of our meeting, cutting down the time available for user group and industry news.

SECOND BBS PHONE LINE IN OPERATION: Thanks to the donations received so far in the Adopt the BBS campaign, the generosity of an anonymous donor of a 14.4 modem, and an offer by REALTRON (the host site of our BBS) who is allowing use of an existing phone line for the BBS, paying only the monthly phone bill, our second line to the BBS has been put into operation and is now available for all members. This line, 237-4997, is reserved exclusively for members in good standing. Harvey also called attention to the how-goes-it chart in the newsletter which shows the generation of funds still far below that needed to upgrade the BBS with more file space and other improvements. He emphasized the importance of supporting the ADOPTBBS fund-raiser if we are to realize these improvements in the BBS.

NEW SIGs BEGINNING: Harvey announced the offer of one of our members to host two SIGs at his business facility near the intersection of Anderson and Waters. Mr. Hodges [Mike Hodges] is also making available for these SIGs his computer equipment. Plans are already under way to begin an Internet SIG in February; final plans will be announced at the January general meeting; reservations will also be open at that time. Space will be limited to 20 people for each class. Harvey also solicited people to lead other SIGs, such as but not limited to Windows, DOS, communications, or any of the many popular software applications, to name but a few. One need not be an expert in the SIG subject, but need only have an interest in it and be able to guide the learning experience for all. If you have an interest or would like to discuss the matter further, please contact Harvey.

ELECTIONS: Harvey announced the names of the members nominated for the five elected positions on the Board of Directors and opened the meeting to additional nominations from the floor. Receiving none, Harvey proceeded with the election and issued guidance on completing the ballots which had been provided. The ballots were collected and counted, producing the following elected BOD officers who will take office in January:

Congratulations to you all. We are confident that you will do an excellent job for the TPCUG.

INDUSTRY NEWS:

INTEL PENTIUM CHIP: The bug in Intel's Pentium chip has received a good bit of publicity lately. Intel says the bug has been fixed and all of their new chips do not have the flaw. They also say there has been a big to-do about nothing, that the probability of anyone having trouble with the chip is negligible, that there is no need to replace them, and they have no plans to do so. They will, however, replace the chips for anyone having trouble. Informally, word is that they will replace the chip for anyone requesting same, but it may take a while since they are well behind the demand for their Pentium chip.

PRESENTATION — BRODERBUND Tad Brickson, Southeast Sales Representative for Broderbund Software, Inc., was kind enough to make a presentation for us on some of the Broderbund software. Tad noted that Broderbund had some 147 software titles, categorized into three broad categories — productivity, education and entertainment. However, he wisely chose to limit his discussion to an overview of the company and a brief review of 4 of those titles. Sitting here writing about Tad's presentation, one thing seems to dominate my thoughts — consistent with all four programs is that they seem to be very easy to use; a bit like a multiple choice test where all the answers really are good answers and you can't go wrong.

Print Shop 2.0 for Windows: This is probably the best known and most popular Broderbund title, and it is a really good one. I have used Print Shop Deluxe for DOS and Windows, both of which are fine programs. But, Print Shop 2.0 makes major improvements, adding labels and business cards to the list of things one can create in the other programs - greeting cards, signs, banners, letterheads and calendars. Even more emphasis has been placed on user friendly - and it is truly easy to use - while adding significantly to the text, graphic and layout template options available, and including the capability for almost unlimited user control of all of these. It would be tough to dream up a creation in any one of the categories of documents that Ver. 2 is designed for that one couldn't produce in minutes, selecting only from included layout options; the toughest part would be your determining what words you wanted to say in the document. Ver. 2 will handle a variety of graphic formats, and it provides the capability to print out in any density now available in popular printers or expected to be available in the foreseeable future.

Print Shop 2.0 for Windows is available on floppy disks and CD-ROM. Both have the same program, but the CD- ROM version includes more goodies than the floppy version - 73 versus 30 TrueType fonts, for example, and some 1600 pieces of clipart and 25 PCD photos. The floppy version has a good supply of clipart, though well short of the CD-ROM, and no PCD photos. The CD- ROM version also includes Print Shop Companion. Originally conceived as a program for youngsters, Print Shop has evolved into a powerful, very flexible program suitable for all ages and purposes, including business.

Math Workshop: An example of the education category. Math Workshop is a program designed for younger kids. It does an excellent job of teaching in an entertaining way. Like Print Shop, this program is very easy to use, yet contains a wide variety of options. The graphics are well done and entertaining, even for adults. It provides a number of different levels of difficulty and several different approaches to the learning of math.

3-D Home Architecture: Another example of a productivity program, 3-D Home Architecture shines above the other programs in its category that I have seen for its power, speed and ease of use. Home Architecture is very easy to use, almost intuitive. It is well laid out, fast and very powerful, allowing switching between 3-D and 2-D views and between 3-D views quickly and easily with a click or two of the mouse button. Imagine a house suspended in air, for example, giving one the ability to view the structure for any angle, including from underneath - that is the kind of capability built into Home Architecture. Unlike other programs I have seen, this program will create a useful list of construction materials. Tad was using a 486/33, with a mathco [math coprocessor], for the demo. As fast as the program operated on that machine, I would judge that it would operate fine on a 386/25 or better with mathco, but may be a bit tedious with lesser capabilities. A mathco is not a criteria, but because of the very large amount of complex calculations that take place, it makes a big difference in how fast the program operates.

Myst: Tad informed that this is the best selling entertainment software in the industry today. It is an impressive program, for sure, with stunning graphics. Tad was able to do little more than demo the graphics in the program, however, but reported that it could be addictive in that once you get started it may be difficult to stop. One of our members who had tried the game confirmed that it is very fascinating and hard to quit.

Tad, thanks very much to you and Broderbund for an excellent presentation and the opportunity to view some of your great software programs. We will look forward to seeing your updates to these programs, and perhaps an introduction into some of your other programs.

AND THE WINNER IS

Thanks to the generosity of Brainchild Computer Distributions, who donated Fox Pro 2.6 for Windows, and Broderbund who donated the rest of the door prizes, there were several very nice door prizes. Those among us to have the good fortune to win are:

The meeting adjourned at about 8:40 PM. u