------------------------------------------------------------------------ REVIEWS OF THE WEEK | Interesting software/hardware you may need . . . ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Product: Star Rangers | Reviewed By: Doug Reed (dreed@panda.uchc.edu) | ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Star Rangers is the latest release by the upstart new company Interactive Magic founded by Wild Bill Stealey. Although Interactive Magic has released several new games in the last few months, including the incredible helicopter simulation Apache, this is the first product developed "in house". Star Rangers is based on the old game Star Raiders, which was a big hit on the original Atari 2700 home game system. If you can actually remember when Star Raiders was new (as I can), you officially qualify as older than dirt as far as computer games are concerned. To bring this old classic to the PC, Interactive Magic has done a complete overhaul on the old game as well as tossed in all the latest bells and whistles. Star Rangers is a space combat 'simulation'. The term is generally used loosely because no one has actually fought in space yet (Computer Gaming World classifies space combat simulations such as X-Wing and Wing Commander as action games). In the game, you are a member of the Star Rangers Border Patrol, assigned to protect the residents of the frontier from Taureg pirates. You and your trusty wingman patrol the border in your trusty RG-10 spacecraft, protecting bases and civilian ships from alien attack. Some of you are probably thinking that this is just another game where you hop into your ship and blow the bad guys away. You're wrong. You have to carefully watch your energy levels, refuelling when necessary, and making crucial decisions about whom to protect and how. More than any game of this genre, Star Rangers forces you to make the decisions about how to proceed; there is no correct 'solution' to the dilemmas posed to you. There are no set missions; the number and skill of the pirates generated during each mission is determined by the skill level you set at the beginning of the campaign. Star Rangers probably offers the broadest reach yet in terms of replayability. But the story on Star Rangers does not end there. In addition to endless gameplay, Star Rangers offers fantastic SVGA graphics. The cut-scenes are terrific, from the launching of your RG-10 to the fiery destruction of one of your bases. The actual combat screens also look terrific. Depending on your computer and your speed capabilities, you are offered either a large 'low-res' cockpit or a smaller 'high-res' cockpit. If at all possible, I suggest you go with the high res cockpit and HUD; it is less obtrusive and easier on the eyes. What about the action? One word sums it up: Terrific. The ships and bases all look incredible, and you will drop your jaw in wonder at the flashing of your target's shields when you score a hit. Even better, once you destroy said enemy you had better duck or you will be hit by the debris! You will find yourself facing not only pirate fighters but also much bigger cruisers and light carriers. To deal with these, you have a variety of weapons including your plasma guns and autocannon, as well as a large selection of missiles (including tactical nukes!). To get around the large patrol area, you can engage your warp drive, which although energy consuming moves you quickly from one edge to another. In fact, the only quibble I have with the game is the warp drive, in which you must pilot your way through a twisting, turning warp tunnel in order to make it to your destination. Resources management is the key to winning at Star Rangers. One nice feature of Star Rangers is that it has a practice mode which allows you to quickly get into the action and hone your skills. Practice is essential before starting a campaign, especially at the higher skill levels. Once your combat skills are ready, you are ready for the tougher tasks of resources management and that tricky old warp drive. On the technical side, Star Rangers installs easily and quickly. The box recommends a minimum 486/33 with 8 megs of RAM; the game ran just fine on my 486/50. Those of you with Windows 95 will be happy to note that as long as you have the resources you can run the game in Windows 95 (i.e, not in MS-DOS mode). If not, the installation guide tells you how to set up Star Rangers to run in MS-DOS mode. I have as yet encountered no bugs in the game, a tribute to the quality testers at Interactive Magic. If you love space combat and/or love a infinitely replayable game, Star Rangers is definitely the game for you. Although many people are waiting for that soon-to-be-released $12 million magnum opus from Origin, it should be noted that Star Rangers does not require the latest and fastest in Pentium computers to run, but still manages to look just as good and play just as well. Star Rangers is a blast to play, providing plenty of excitement and thrills. Interactive Magic definitely has another winner with Star Rangers. Interactive Magic P.O. Box 13491 Research Triangle Park, NC 27709 (919)461-0722 ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Product: WarCraft II | Reviewed By: William Frazier | ---------------------------------------------------------------------- When I reviewed Warcraft: Orcs versus Humans, I predicted that it would be a top seller in 1995. Since that review, Warcraft has consistently appeared in the Top 10 and 20 lists of CD-ROMs sold throughout 1995. Warcraft is one of the few games I played from beginning to end, so it was with great anticipation that I awaited the release of Warcraft II: Tides of Darkness. Finally, in late November, Warcraft II hit the market, just in time for the Christmas rush. In it's first week Warcraft II became the number-one selling PC entertainment title. Warcraft II is a continuation of the fantasy-strategy drama set in the original Warcraft saga. Human and Orc civilizations continue their bloody clash of domination, seeking control of the world. In Warcraft II, many new elements are introduced, including battle on the seas and in the air. You are still required to produce gold and lumber to provision your armies, but you are now required to also drill for oil (offshore naturally and environmentally incorrect, but a challenge none the less). My initial impression of Warcraft II was one of "hmm, this is easy". The same old strategies used in Warcraft I made winning easy. I was afraid that the new version would be a rote repeat of Warcraft I. By the time I reached mission 5 my concerns were dispelled. The computer was the master. Game play was again a challenge, and fun. One factor that soon became apparent is the reduced effectiveness of archers. In Warcraft I you could create eight to ten archers and repel most attacks. This doesn't work in Warcraft II. Another change I liked is the role of the clergy. In Warcraft I, clerics were a separate entity. In Warcraft II, the role of the cleric is combined in the Paladin/Knight character. This character is both an effective fighter and a healer. Warcraft II begins with the Human forces establishing civilization in a new mid-evil world. Unfortunately the Orcs desire to continue the war, begun in Warcraft I, in hot pursuit of human civilization. The initial single player scenarios teach you the basics of survival; how to produce the raw materials, multiply your forces, and prosper. As game play progresses, survival become problematic. Enemy forces become more aggressive and intelligent. In Warcraft I, once you explored an area, all enemy movement within that area was visible. "Fog of War", a new element in Warcraft II, allows the enemy to maneuver without direct observation, even when you have already explored the area. Although you can see the type of terrain explored, enemy movement is invisible when "Fog of War" is enabled, other than the area within your units direct line of sight. Surprise attacks are frequent and devastating. I guess what I like most about the Warcraft series is the combination o f strategy with real time, on screen combat. Your perspective is an overhead view of the battle ground. You build and organize your forces, and when battle occurs you get to observe and direct it with a god like omnipotence. Like Warcraft I, Warcraft II allows many opportunities for multi-player gaming. You can play directly with another person via modem or direct connect null-modem. Only one copy of the CD is required. On a LAN, up to eight players can engage in head to head combat, again with just one copy of the CD. Warcraft comes with a scenario editor for those who wish to customize their own games. If you plan to purchase just one game in 1996, this is the one you want . As a stand alone game it provides many hours of entertainment. If you can play on a LAN or with your friends via modem, the entertainment value is limitless. WarCraft II: Tides of Darkness Blizzard Entertainment P O Box 18979 Irvine, CA 92713 (714)-955-1380 WWW: http://www.blizzard.com PG, St. Louis, MO -- patrick@supportu.com On 01/06/96 at 1:55PM -- http://www.crl.com/~supportu/ ------------------------------------------------------------------ Web Rambler, Ray Hines, Editor| ------------------------------- (Note from Ray Hines: I've been unable to reliably access web sites for the past week due to problems with my ISP connection. So, in lieu of web reviews, I've ponied up with software reviews of two shareware programs that are for use in tandem with the Internet. My apologies to those of you that were expecting web reviews; you can expect them in the next issue.) iChat (beta) Programmers: ichat, inc. http://www.ichat.com Price: $? (shareware) iChat is really a fancy IRC (Internet Relay Chat) front-end program that integrates with the world wide web. What's nice about it is that it also supports MUD, TELNET, and connecting to BBSes via BBS Direct (a national network of BBSes that are accessible locally). Even nicer is the fact that the folks at iChat took a bit of time to create some "phone" book entries for you so that whenever you want to go to, say an IRC server, you can select which IRC server from a list that they've created. The same goes for MUDs, TELNETable systems, and the BBS Direct systems. While the lists aren't complete, it's still very nice for us lazy folk, and for some of you who don't have a list of sites handy. When you are using iChat, you get a black screen with colored text, which is pretty much the standard in the Internet world when TELNETing, IRCing, or MUDing. So far, from what we've put iChat through, it seems to support the ANSI set very well. That's quite a rarity in most TELNET clients. iChat also supports Zmodem transfers, so you'd be inclined to configure iChat as your primary TELNET client, especially if you're into web publishing. You can configure your browser to launch iChat whenever you click on a telnet link on a web page. In fact, iChat will do this automatically for you during installation if you agree to it. When using iChat as an IRC client, it's pretty spiffy, although not as nice as mIRC. When in IRC mode, you will get a screen with icons from which you can choose an IRC to connect to, a listing of channels, and a list of the folks in the channel you are in. You'll also have a separate text entry box below the action where you type in what you're saying without fear of interruption from the masses yakkin'. It's pretty much a basic, no frills IRC chat thingamagic with a notable exception, and that exception could be either positive or negative depending on your view. The exception we're talking about is an advertisement that's displayed at the top of your iChat session screen. It's a real billboard that changes every few minutes and we admit we thought it was rather neat. You can click on the current advertisement and be yanked to that advertiser's WWW site if your browser was activated. We just don't know if we'd get used to a billboard flashing in our faces while we're engaging in intimate chat with a loved one... Kinda like being at the old drive-in movie joint, eh? By the way, if you really want to get personal, you can select a person's name from the list of folks in your channel and retreive information about them using iChat's interface. While we're not MUD nuts, we did check out a few MUD sites that were listed in iChat's directory to see how it fared as a MUD client. iChat certainly made navigating a MUD easier, thanks to it's MUD interface. They call it their "Mud Control Area," and it contains several tools that "facilitate movement and communication with other users in a MUD." By that, they mean that they have a nifty visual compass with arrows pointing in all manner of directions (N,W,S,E,NE,SE, etc.) You just click on the particular arrow in which direction you want to go and the compass will issue the appropriate command to move you if it's valid. There's also a "Say Field" where you can type stuff and iChat will issue a "Say" command, saying you the trouble of typing those three letters. Another common MUD action is "Tell"ing a user something -- it's where you can speak privately to a specific user. There's a field for that as well, where you can type in what you want to say as well as select the user you want your whispers transmitted to. We didn't try the BBS Direct option since we're not members of the BBS Direct network, but we suspect it would work as well as any basic terminal used to connect to BBSes since it supported ANSI well enough and provided the capacity to engage in file transfers with the zmodem protocol. iChat supports macros where you can edit up a string of commands to be issued with one keystroke that you define. This is very nice if you're prone to repeating yourself like a parrot, or want to execute certain MUD commands repeatedly. You can also log all your sessions to your harddrive with iChat so you can start padding your novel with those hot and bothered chat sessions you've been having on IRC. ;) In short, iChat is a nice program that attempts to be an end-all-be-all and replace your IRC, MUD, and TELNET clients at once. The problem is, with these individual programs, such as mIRC, you can probably get better features as well as more power since they're tailored specifically to a specific application. However, if you're not inclined to having several different programs on your limited hard drive space when iChat will do the job, you'd be happy with iChat. Plus, iChat can be launched from a web page easily, making it seem to be a part of the web environment, which certainly is much better than that lousy excuse of "chat" that we see on some web pages where folks basically reload pages every few seconds to talk with others. Such poppycock! You can grab the latest copy of iChat at ichat, inc.'s homepage: http://www.ichat.com. Enjoy! ----- InfoMagnet v1.22 Programmers: Walter Shelby Group Ltd. http://www.shelby.com/pub/shelby/ Price: $39.00 (shareware) Those of you that are bona fide nuts when it comes to joining electronic mailing lists can further enhance your nuttiness with a great new tool called InfoMagnet. The name's quite appropriate as it suggests that it's a magnet for information (nuts). How can joining mailing lists be made any easier than sending a simple email with the word "Subscribe" in it? Well, the hardest part is finding a mailing list that matches your interests. The second part is maintaining your account on it. What about those times that you have to go away on vacation and need to temporarily stop your participation on the mailing list without unsubscribing from it? What about those missed messages that you need to read and retrieve? How about receiving a digest version of the mailing list you are on, instead? How the heck do you remember all the arcane commands to be able to do all this?? First, the details: There's over 6,000 mailing lists with well over 2 million participants in thousands of topics such as "How to Farm Sheep", "Personal Finance", and last, but not least, "The African Global Experience." For those of you that aren't familiar what a mailing list is, it's an electronic mail exchange of discussions on a certain topic. It's not much different from a USENET newsgroup, really, but it's all done in Email. Every time someone posts a message to the mailing list, a copy is bounced to every member of that mailing list. The nice thing about mailing lists is that it cuts out the chaff that's plaguing the newsgroups these days. You can be pretty sure that when you join a mailing list about shoes, that it'll be all you talk about. A mailing list also helps foster the "community" feeling by letting folks share their experiences, ideas, and tips pertaining to their topic. It's often the best way to get the best information about whatever you wanted, as many experts join these mailing lists and are often too pleased to share their expertise with you. Now, with InfoMagnet, you can display a list of mailing lists that's provided with the program (the shareware version uses a slightly out of date list -- if you pay the shareware fee, you can update your list of lists as much as you want for free, by FTP). It's all categorized to make searching for mailing lists much easier -- for example, if all you're interested in is Technology, you can click on that category and InfoMagnet will present you with an extensive list of mailing lists that are related to technology (with our shareware version, when we clicked on the technology category, it gave us a list of 114 mailing lists to choose from!). Or, if you're particularly ambitious, you can just enter a few keywords for the program to search through the entire mailing list database with. Since we have a few nifty Amiga computers sitting around, we gave InfoMagnet the keyword "Amiga" to search. After 5 seconds, it popped up a box listing 14 mailing lists pertaining to the Amiga computer. Very nice and fast. Another nifty and powerful feature is the ability to search the archives of the mailing list you are interested in or are a member of. This is a great way to get information without having bug everyone on the mailing list if you're shy. To test this out, we had InfoMagnet search the archives of the FOODWINE mailing list for our favorite liquor: Kahlua. Within a few minutes, we had an email waiting for us in our mailbox. We opened it up and found it to be rather large, containing all the messages that had the keyword kahlua in it. It was great, because we found recipes for homemade Kahlua, how to make rice pudding with it, and chocolate Kahlua cake! Yowsers! We almost got really hungry and left without finishing this review. All said and done, there was a total of 142 hits on messages containing the word kahlua since last year. If you're really nuts about the ability to search archives of mailing lists, you can set InfoMagnet to search whatever you want on a periodic basis, set by you. It's sort of like getting a periodic magazine containing your favorite topics. Naturally, with InfoMagnet, you can join mailing lists. It's really easy, too, when using their lists of mailing lists -- just zero in on a list you're looking for and highlight it, then click "JOIN." If you're more of an advanced user, you can change the default settings upon joining (by clicking CHANGE) and have the option to change whether you want the mailing list mailed to you as a digest, index of topics, all messages, or just get nothing but be a member. You can also toggle it to not receive any files that are sent out to the group as well as elect to hide your name from the available list of subscribers. As you could probably tell by now, InfoMagnet has the ability to directly send commands out via SMTP or however your system is connected to the Internet, so you get instantaneous service. You can tell it to queue your commands, send them out immediately, or put it on demo mode to play around with so nothing is actually sent out regardless of what you do. Once you've joined a mailing list, InfoMagnet keeps track of it in a special folder named, "Discussion Groups You Have Joined." This is where InfoMagnet shines -- you can maintain your presence on the mailing lists you're a member of. For example, if you're getting ready to go on vacation, you can simply click on the vacation icon and have it tell your mailing list that you're going on vacation. When you get back, you simply click the vacation icon again and this time tell it that you've returned from vacation and whether you want to retrieve your missed messages. You can also change your settings on any mailing list that you've joined by clicking on the SETTINGS icon. You can change it to a digest format, etc. You can also, of course, quit a mailing list by clicking the LEAVE icon. This is all very easy where you just point and click instead of digging up your old print-out of how to leave a mailing list or having to embarrass yourself and asking the folks on the mailing list how you can unsubscribe. Better yet, it helps keeps those countless "UNSUBSCRIBE" messages from being bounced to every member on the mailing list. If you just want to check out a mailing list rather than go through the hassle of joining them, InfoMagnet has a "PEEK" icon that you can press. It'll provide the particulars on a mailing list such as: title, description, number of participants, whether it has archives or not, whether it lets you join automatically or needs approval, what country it is in, the organization hosting the list, the computerized administrator, the human administrator, the email address to send to post your messages, and other miscellaneous information. You can also toggle the advanced peek option and get: a list of recent topics, a list of documents and files available, technical information, a list of the group members, give information about your settings for that mailing list, and give you confirmation as to whether you are subscribed to the list or not. The only fault I could find with InfoMagnet is the fact that it is programmed to only work with ListServ mailing list processors. This means it probably won't work with majordomo, another popular listserver processor. I suspect it would be relatively easy to for the folks at the Shelby Group to modify InfoMagnet to work with majordomo. The problem is, however, there's no reliable database of mailing lists using majordomo while ListServ boasts of such a beast and that database represents the core of InfoMagnet's value as a tool. InfoMagnet is a powerful, valuable, and easy to use Internet tool that you shouldn't do without if you're a member of several mailing lists. Just whip out your copy of InfoMagnet and let it do all the power work for you and it'll make it seem as if you're a seasoned professional that knew how to harness the power of mailing list servers at will. You can find shareware copies of InfoMagnet at: http://www.shelby.com/pub/shelby/ That's all folks! I'll be sure to have reviews of some web sites for your rambling pleasure in the next issue. -Ray ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Product: Offline Express for Windows | Reviewed By: Jim Hanoian (jim.hanoian@lunatic.com) | ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Offline Xpress for Windows is an offline mail reader for use with QWK mail packets. These packets are produced by virtually all bulletin board systems (BBS) in operation today. Instead of calling a BBS and spending a lot of online time reading mail in a variety of topic areas (called conferences), you can tell the BBS to package all of the unread mail for downloading. Once you get this QWK packet, you can disconnect from the BBS. The offline mail reader opens the mail packet so you can read the mail, compose replies, search for keywords in messages, etc. When you quit the reader, it bundles up your replies in a return (REP) packet. On your next call to the BBS, simply upload this REP packet and download the next QWK, continuing the cycle. There are many offline mail readers, and while they are available for virtually every known platform, most are for DOS or Windows, and most are either freeware or shareware. Offline Xpress for Windows from Mustang Software is one of the only readers that is available in commercial software stores like the one you find in your local mall. Offline Xpress for DOS, another product from Mustang Software, also fits this pattern, and is available with the QModem communications program. Although I fully support shareware, many people find mainline retail software comforting. Shortly after I received this product for review, I found that an update had been released. Even though I had not yet mailed in my registration card, I called the Mustang Software bulletin board and after a short login questionnaire (including my registration serial number), I was able to download the patch file. Touches like this show that the product is clean, up front, and professional. I was pretty eager to try this reader, so I tossed aside the manual and stuck the first of two disks into drive A:, picked "File | Run", typed A:SETUP and off it went. The installation asked a minimum of questions, and smoothly installed itself. The patch, once I got to it, went just as easily, boosting me from 1.00a to 1.00b. Something that impressed me from the start was that the reader was well planned with good implementation. The long history of producing offline readers is evident. Start the reader, and a clean packet "open" box is displayed. From there you can select a packet to open or perform maintenance on your packets such as deleting or renaming them. Offline Xpress uses sound files (WAVs) attached to certain events. When the reader starts, for instance, a pleasant voice says "Welcome to Offline Xpress". Double-click on a packet, and the voice says "Opening Packet". As with most things in Offline Xpress, the user can configure the sounds and even attach other WAVs to the events. Clear icons are used in the toolbar, which changes as the user enters into different areas of the program. The standard one allows a single click access to open another packet, the In-Box (where messages to you are stored), the Out-Box (where messages from you are stored) and to the Address Book. This feature includes long internet address capability and even PostLink routing (as used on the RIME network). All messages in the In-Box and Out-Box are permanently stored in a database by default. In the preferences area, you can modify this so that messages get purged out of the boxes based on an individually set number of days. Other messages can be saved in folders, as ASCII (normal DOS) text, or printed. Offline Xpress handles file attachments and automatically translates UUencoded text from messages. This is a method used on some networks to send binary code (such as pictures or small utilities) as text. Usually, you have to be proficient with the right software to take the message and UUdecode it back to what was sent, but with Offline Xpress a toolbar button does all the work. Configurability is a high point in the reader. You can use the standard internal editor which is decent in every regard. It works just like any other Windows product and can also be controlled using the old WordStar command set (for those old DOSasaurs among us who are set in their ways). The package includes a good spell checking program which can be invoked by button or automatically during the message saving routine. A neat little feature in the save routine allows placing the outgoing message on "hold" instead of "send" status. I think it is important to note that the fonts used in the message viewing windows and in the internal editor comply with the American "standard" for ASCII characters greater than 127. This ensures that you will see the line-drawing characters and special symbols just like the originator intended. The font maintains this stability even if "use only True-Type" is checked in the Windows control panel settings. There is a real wealth of configuration options under the menu pull-down. Each works as you would expect. User controls include normal text and quote color and font selection, quoting style, tagline use (yes, you can totally suppress the taglines AND reader identification if you'd like), sounds linked to events, function key macros, archive utilities with command lines, packet sorting and automatic renaming/deleting after reading is completed. Most offline mail readers offer twit lists, which kill (or merely mark as "already read") messages from or to people who you wish to ignore. Offline Xpress also has a skip list where topics or keywords get the same treatment. Windows-based offline readers usually don't "click" for me (sorry for the pun), probably because it doesn't make sense to use a GUI for a text application. Offline Xpress, however, is a hit. It is friendly, easy to use, and goes out of its way to make everything smooth. Did I mention the help system or the manual? Both follow through with this idea and offer clear explanations of how and why things like BBSs or mail work the way they do, not just things about the program. Tip of my hat to the programmers on a fine product that goes that step beyond what is expected. Two thumbs up! Mustang Software http://www.mustang.com/ ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Product: WinProbe 4 | Reviewed By: Randy Gross (randy1@sundial.sundial.net) | ---------------------------------------------------------------------- This was Tested ON A: 486DX2-66, 8 megs ram, Diamond stealth video card and a creative labs CD rom with a sound blaster card. WINProbe4 for Windows 3.1 and Windows '95 was very simple to install and operate. Its screen is very simple to view, read and understand. WINProbe4 status screen displays everything and more you ever want to know about your computer. WINProbe4 status panel lets you view the amount of free memory available and will even optimize it for you. With this program you are able to test your computers parts; from the key board to the cpu. It displays the status of each item tested and tells you if it passed or not. This program has an ini clean up feature that i thought was very nice; it went into my Windows ini files and found unneeded ini entries and incomplete entries, with this program I was able to easily edit or delete them with ease. WINProbe4 Tune-up option is nice, it gives you suggestions on making specific system changes to help the overall performance of YOUR computer. It also gives you regular suggestions, by that I mean that it tells every 1 the same things like; I can increase my performance if would install more memory, a DX 100 chip or a pentium CPU. The one Item that I consider an excellent part of this program is the Tune-up suggestions, my only problem with this area of the program is that I wish it would give you more specific suggestions for your computers performance and skip the generic ones like adding more memory etc... Overall, on a scale of 1-5 where 1 is the worst and 5 is the best, I would rate WINProbe4 around a 3.5 - 4. An nice added bonus that this program came with was a CDROM that includes an windows '95 uninstaller, a CD troubleshooter, ini and registry editor and Quarterdeck Mosaic. Quarterdeck http://www.quarterdeck.com/ ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Product: Procomm Plus for Windows | Reviewed By: Patrick Grote (patrick.grote@supportu.com) | ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Procomm Plus for Windows 2.11 raises the bar on Windows telecommunications in a way in which no one has seen before. Amazingly, Datastorm hasn't been snapped up by some large software concern; you can tell. The product has features and appointments that you would only see in software crafted by a group of folks who really care. No, I'm not describing heart surgeons or emergency room nurses here. The folks at Datastorm have been wizards at making rock solid technology, but they have always been a little bit behind in the appointment side of the room. You know, if the old versions of Procomm were girls you would say they had nice personalities. PPW2.11 is a remake of their first stab at a "Windows" version. Even though they say it is an update, it is really a remarkable improvement. The screens are designed with the user in mind with most all the selections being a click away. Say you want to dial a number. No need to open the phone directory -- just quick pick from the list on the main screen. Same with scripts. Heck, it is so user friendly there is even a tip of the day! The interface sizzles. Whereas older Windows interfaces were kludges, this baby is hot! The icons for the different features are large enough to actually tell what they mean, but not so large as to where they cut into your terminal window. Terminal type, protocol and modem connection are shown on the bottom of the screen. These aren't static informational only boxes, you can actually click on them and change their configuration. For instance, you contacted a BBS that doesn't support Zmodem. To change pr otocols, just click on the Zmodem on the bottom of the screen and change to Kermit. Same with terminal type and modem connection. No wading through menus and dialog boxes you could care less about. Boom! You are there! Installation is even a snap as well! Procomm recognizes and tests over 900 modems on any COM port your machine supports. You can even use modems over your network! As this is an update, the folks at Datastorm have done a wonderful job of adding features. The hottest feature you'll recognize right off the bat is the integration of telnet and FTP functionality into Procomm. The telnet feature is super for telnetting into BBSs across the country and downloading via Zmodem, which isn't available with most telnet programs! The best feature concerning telnet is its ability to be configured with in your dialing directory. Instead of inputting a phone number for a BBS you would simply put in the internet address. Like to call abc.com? Just put it in and you are off! Procomm Plus bring telnet so much more functionality now that it is part of the package. Scripts and other feature un fine with the telnet feature enabled. FTP takes over when you need to crunch files down from a true FTP site. The implementation inside Procomm Plus for Windows works well, but isn't perfect. I received a few WINSOCK errors while transferring files from mainly WindowsNT FTP servers. The problems manifested themselves in transfers that would start then stop. Another aspect of Procomm Plus for Windows that has been spiffied up is the support for fax cards. Procomm Plus supports the popular Class1 and Class2 fax modems in addition to SendFax. Unfortunately, all the users out there with Intel Satisfaction modems will be disappointed to see that CAS modems are not supported. Datastorm did a super job of integrating fax features into the program. Rather than felling disconnected and segmented, the program actually feels fluid. This extends to the external programs such as the fax cover page designer and fax viewer. Oh, another note about faxing. Procomm Plus supports drag and drop for faxing as well. This is a great time-saver that allows you to drag a file from File Manager and drop it onto Procomm for sending. Procomm Plus just keeps surprising you was you get more and more into its features. Rather than including a script for logging onto CompuServe and exiting, you get a fully functional script collection that logs you in, transfers files and even allows off-line mail management. Geesh! Speaking of the scripting language, Aspect, the latest version is backwards compatible and now supports global and local arrays. It even converts old Aspect files on the fly. Procomm doesn't stop communicating in terms of modems, but it even supports the popular MAPI email format. This means that you can forward text, graphics and files to others on your local area network from within Procomm Plus. The only other Gee Whiz feature I could find was something called WinLink. An Aspect script that you have to run on two machines, WinLink allows you to transfer files from one machine to another using a modem or even a simple cable. The whole script is well written with dialog boxes and pick and choose lists. It's easy to use and very configurable! The Datastorm team also upgraded a bunch of features including host mode's ability to fax documents to callers (a mini faxback system), support for Caller ID and ability to rapid dial a group of systems. Procomm has done an outstanding job of bring communication power to Windows 3.x. Let's hope Datastorm can remain independent and continue to bring us innovative software! Procomm Plus for Windows 2.11 Datastorm 2401 Lemone Blvd. POB 1471 Columbia, MO 65205 (314) 443-3282 Book Review: Creating Cool Web Pages with HTML, by Dave Taylor. Here's YABATI, "Yet Another Book About the Internet!" This one's for newbies that are interested in creating "cool" web pages with HTML for their fun pleasure or business ambitions. "Creating Cool Web Pages with HTML" is attractively designed to catch your eye on the bookshelves and comes with a free Windows web browser that I've never heard of on a floppy disk. You'll be better off using your favorite web browser, however. The book is supposedly geared to all levels of intelligence, ranging from the newbie to the advanced user. I'd peg it just above the newbie level since it's impossible to be an end-all-be-all in just 247 pages to all of Internet HTML'ing society. It's easy to understand and use, in large part thanks to Dave Taylor's light hearted conversational writing style. What's especially useful are the various tips and notes scattered throughout the book, pointing out many important facts that are instrumental in designing a well thought-out web page. Most chapters in the book cover everything to do with HTML publishing, from the basic linking stuff all the way up to using imagemaps, video, audio, forms, and specific Netscape extensions. I appreciated the many references to actual sites on the Internet for examples as it helped illustrate many of the points the book attempts to make. There's no "practice" sections in the book, so I suspect you'll be referring to those example sites on the Internet frequently while reading the book. Dave just doesn't stop at teaching you how to create nifty web pages, though; he also shows you how to register and announce your new web site to the various indexing services on the internet. There's also a useful HTML Reference appendix in the back of the book for fast and easy referencing. As some of you may have noticed, in your local bookstore there's been a virtual avalanche of books on how to create HTML documents for the World Wide Web. This is mostly good since it means the Internet is getting the recognition it deserves, and you have a wider variety of books to choose from. The negative is that you are going to run across some books that were written merely so the publisher could make a fast buck, or were rushed to the printer too quickly to be considered complete. In the case of "Creating Cool Web Pages with HTML," I am not sure which category it would fall under. The author, Dave Taylor, is highly qualified to write about the Internet since he is been on it since 1980, has written several programs for the Internet (such as the Elm Mail System) and has developed several internet sites (The Internet Mall) and so on. Even Scott Yanoff (famous for his Internet Services List, aka Yanoff's List) wrote the introduction to the book, giving it his seal of approval. I think it's the editors of "Creating Cool Web Pages with HTML" that failed in their duty to make sure the book was ready for printing. We stumbled upon errors in the book that should have been snagged by even a novice editor. To top it off, the software included with the book wasn't working too well. To wit: There are many references to WinWeb at the beginning of the book, but there's nothing telling us how to install the program from the included floppy. It just assumes that you found the disk, explored it, and installed the program yourself without any instructions. WinWeb wasn't worth hassling with anyway. Several examples in the book (using screen shots from WinWeb) showed us how some HTML code should look but it didn't match our actual WinWeb screens, especially when using certain fonts. The sample web pages included on the disk were useful, but they didn't follow the book completely, leaving us to find our way ourselves at times. Finally, some of the examples given to us to try out didn't always match the results we were told to expect. It's slightly annoying because the book tells us to always check our web pages with all sorts of browsers to make sure they come out correctly and yet it seems they didn't follow their own advice. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Product: MechWarrior 2: Ghost Bear's Legacy | Reviewed By: Mark R. Borst (mrb@imagesys.com) | ---------------------------------------------------------------------- The story so far: In MechWarrior 2: Ghost Bear's Legacy (GBL), you are once again an upstart young noble in the warrior caste struggling to accumulate honor for you and your clan in battle. Your current objective is to seek out an unknown clan that has stolen the genet ic material needed by your clan to create a new generation of Ghost Bear Mech Warriors. Your mission: find the underhanded clan that is responsible for this outrage, recover the stolen genetic material and deliver swift and unmerciful vengeance to the perpetrators. What's new in the expansion pack: The expansion pack contains a complete update to the MechWarrior engine. Activision has included more cut scenes (incredible!), new environments (space, underwater, icy plains, forests and more) with 12 new Mechs and 5 new weapons to equip them with (including torpedoes for the underwater mission). If that isn't enough, they also threw in the combat simulator to add hundreds of non-story related missions. Overall there are 20 new missions ranging in difficulty from moderate to close to impossible. Included with the new missions is a "combat simulator" you can use to sharpen your skills in various mechs, giving you even more missions that you ca n accept. There are some more features which add to the realism of the game, such as when you select a Mech to pilot, you take it with you on a few missions before you can select another. A word to the wise, don't always go for the largest Mech with the most fire power, you might need speed on other missions. Bigger is not always better. I particularly liked the diversity of the missions in this pack. Most other add-ons of this type give you missions that just involve rudely blowing up everything in sight. In GBL, you are asked to carry out many different types of missions like scouting raids, search and destroy, and surgical strikes. You are also forced to think very carefully about what Mech to take, how to outfit it, and if it will be heavy enough or light enough let you complete your next mission. In the missions themselves, you might have to make judgment decisions that may make your commander call for a battle of defiance. While I loved the add-on pack, I noticed that there were quite a few clipping bugs in the game. More so than the original MechWarrior 2 engine. Requirements: Double spin CD-ROM or higher, 486 or higher processor, and 50 - 165 MB of hard drive space for installation (depending on what options you choose to install). DOS 6 or Windows 95. To buy or not to buy: I highly recommend to anyone that has MechWarrior 2 pick up the expansion pack. MechWarrior 2 Expansion Pack: Ghost Bear's Legacy Activision /FASA corporation CompuServe: GO ACTIVISION URL: http://www.activision.com ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Product: Creating your Own Netscape Web Pages by Andy Shafran | Reviewed By: Karl Roberts (roberts@TheRamp.net) | ---------------------------------------------------------------------- You have been all over the "web". There have been some pretty good looking Home Pages, so you decide that now is the time to get one out for yourself. After all, how hard can it be? You've seen the source code in your browser after the various pages have loaded , and it really doesn't look all that hard. So you sit down, having a pretty good idea of what you want to put into your page. "Now, wait a minute. How did those guys get that great looking table into their page?" you ask yourself. "Creating Your Own Netscape Web Pages" is where to go to find that and most of the other answers that you will be looking for when you decide to write that great home p age. This book starts with the planning, creating, publishing and advertising that you should do to have your very own home page. Included on the CD-ROM are hundreds of graphics, icons, and pictures that are royalty free; wav files, HTML Editors, Image Map Editors and even a couple of programs to teach you how to build clickable maps. Plus more. All of these are either shareware or freeware. Andy takes you through the process of laying out and building of your own home page. With a step-by-step approach showing you how to add backgrounds, graphics, links to other pages, lists, tables and even sound and video clips. This book is loaded with very useful graphics showing how the page looks typed out using the Hot Dog Web Editor and then as viewed using the Netscape browser. A sort of before and after that gives you a pretty good idea of what all those weird looking symbols are supposed to do. After you have your home page all neat and presentable, Andy even shows you how to have a counter added to your page. One of the hardest, but definitely most appealing aspect of a home page is the clickable image map. We've all seen those; click on any portion and off you go to a different "world". Included in the book and accompanying CD-ROM is a how-to create your own, and by following the detailed instructions, it really isn't all that hard to make your page look like a professional had done it. After working with this book, you will feel pretty professional anyway, so might as well make your page look like a million while you are at it. Liberally spaced with URL's to various sites to see some really great pages or just for information, you can't go wrong by trying a few if not all of them. I found a couple that were out of date, but on something like the Internet, that is going to happen all the time. This book is excellent for the beginner to average user who wants to make his/her own very presentable home page. Que Corporation ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Product: Go Figure Free Form Problem Solver | | Reviewed By: Richard Malinski (malinski@acs.ryerson.ca) | ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Requirements - Windows 3.1 or greater, mouse or other pointing device, 4 megabytes of ram, 3.5" diskette drive and cd-rom (only if you buy the cd-rom version). The user's guide for Go Figure states that it is a free-style alternate to the traditional computerized spreadsheet. It is all that and more! If you like to use scratch paper and doodle until you've set up your math problem, this software package is for you. Go Figure for Windows is a large scratch pad composed of 8x4 printing pages in portrait orientation or 6x6 pages in landscape. This electronic paper (E/paper) allows you to start your problem wherever you think best and adjust and move your text, equations and formulas without fuss as you think through the problem. Clicking on the text icon provides you with a 'math-aware' word processor to outline your problem. You can then click on the equation icon and develop your own formula to fit or you can chose the encyclopedia icon to pick one of the thousands of preprogrammed formulas. Build, move, erase, rebuild effortlessly. As you construct your model you can use the connection icon to link numbers within the text description to numbers within the formulas. Change the numbers in your text portion and you change the linked numbers accordingly. You can also work with series of numbers and connect these through formulas to develop a series of answers. You can insert a bar chart if you prefer to have a graph instead of just a list of values. Your can also have a tape of your calculations (displayed or hidden) within your E/paper for later verification. As you create a larger and larger model you can group elements and mark them with coloured tags so that you can jump from one spot to another quickly. Go Figure, on the whole, is a well developed package. The installation from two 3.5" diskettes is straight forward. The User's Guide is clear and thorough. It could use more screen images in the manual with explanations attached to the parts of the images. The online help is comprehensive. The encyclopedia of formulas is really excellent! If Villa Crespo would just put the diagrams that are in the handbook into the online help that would be a real boon! Go Figure would fit right into high school mathematics and physics courses not to mention business courses!! The addition of a booklet of 26 examples is extremely useful in indicating what is possible. One thing to note however, is that many of the examples are, for the novice, cryptic to the point of frustration. The 'hints' in the examples are excellent but some of the 'methods' are not complete. For instance, the method in example 15, converting a series of kilometers per hour to miles per hour by using a conversion formula, just does not work as described. This shouldn't distract you from the real worth of the package. You can figure out the fix either by playing with the series and the formula or in a pinch by reading the User's Guide! I'm sure that this will be tightened up in the next edition. After working with Go Figure, I'm impressed with the ease of sketching problems on the E/paper, linking numbers together either one to one or series to series, choosing a formula from the extensive encyclopedia of formulas and using the very powerful goal seeking methods outlined. As a task oriented graphical spreadsheet it is top notch and one that many will find a real pleasure to work with. Villa Crespo Software 1725McGovern Street Highland Park, IL 60035-3213 ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Product: Escape With Your Life CDROM | Reviewed By: John Nelson (john.nelson@wdn.com) | ---------------------------------------------------------------------- This review was performed on a Pentium 100 using Windows 95 w/ 4 speed CD R drive, 16 megs ram, ATI Mach 64 video card. Minimum Requirements: Windows 3.1 MPC 1 compliant CD-Rom drive Vga Graphics card, minimum 640x480 256 colors. "Escape with Your Life" Self Defense Tactics for Women. After a seamless installation on a Windows 95 machine, I found a simulation led with very useful and easy and natural self defense moves that anyone can learn. Using natural movements like poking, clapping your hands, twisting you wrist kicking and kneeing you can learn to fend off attackers and walk away unharm The full motion video makes it very easy to see how the moves and strategies performed and the practice sessions allow you to try the moves over and over again until you begin to feel confidant that you can use them if you find yourself in an unpleasant situation. "Escape with Your Life" can be used in three different ways to make studying interesting. 1. "Freeform" works very much like a VCR so you can fast forward, wind, freeze frame, and stop as necessary to study the different techniques. It allows you to skip to any topic you wish and you can record specific segments later review. 2. "Classroom" allows for multiple students to log in and study. Question ar asked at the end of each segment and incorrect answers take you back to review the information again. 3. "Interactive" allows you to pick from 12 different scenarios and you have decide which self defense tactics are best for the situation. I found the Interactive segments to be the least useful as the situations th arise in the 12 scenarios could be handled in a variety of ways, however the program only allows for 1 correct move. Therefore I found myself just randomly picking to find "the" correct answer. As the name implies this Interactive CD is meant to teach a person how to ge out of a bad situation by "Escaping" and therefore teaches purely defensive m s that can harm or disable your attacker permanently. Used wisely these methods could truly allow you to "Escape with your Life" Villa Crespo Software ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Product: Computer Museum Guide to the Best Software for Kids | Reviewed By: Richard Malinski (richard@acs.ryerson.ca) | ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Book Review - Title - Computer Museum guide to the best software for kids. Author - Cathy Miranker and Alison Elliott Publisher - Harper Perennial, New York Date - 1995 Estimated price - $16.00 USA - $22.50 Can This guide provides 'concise and thoughtful advice on software right for kids'. It is not simply a description of each program! For those interested in introducing kids, ages 2 to 12 and over, to challenging and exciting computer software this is for you. If you have a modem and software capable of accessing the world wide web, this book introduces you to the Computer Museum homepage at http://www.tcm.org Have a look at the book and if you want more up-to-date information try their homepage. This guide covers over 200 software programs which are for IBM or IBM clones running DOS or Windows and for Macintosh machines. You can find the programs by looking them up by title or by one of the many indexes. The programs are indexed by publisher, by age, by a four-star rating as well as by subject. If you are looking for games that are available on cd-rom or on floppy disks there are indexes for these formats as well. In addition, there are also lists of the 'best' titles within areas such as simulation programs, 'video-game-meets-education' programs, programs for siblings to share and programs for kids and parents to use together. The indexes and the guide are easily usable by parents, grandparents and kids alike. Each of the programs is described consistently in accord with a list of nine elements. The title and overall star rating are at the top of each page. There is a short one or two sentence outline of what the program does. This is followed by a longer one, two or three paragraph description. Then comes an indication of the age group for which the program is most suitable. Next is the rating under the three topics of learning, looks and longevity followed by the computer platform it runs on, by an estimated cost, by the publisher's name and telephone number and by a 'bottom line' comment. This is really a well thought out list and it is filled in for each program. You get a very good idea what the program is like and you can compare one with another in order to make a sound decision. The super feature is the rating. Each piece of software is rated under aspects of learning qualities, the looks and the longevity. Under learning the authors and the kids and parents who have helped try to answer questions about the level of the child's developmental needs and interests the program addresses. They also indicate whether it invites participation, whether it challenges the child and whether the program uses the computer to create a unique experience. Again, this is a very well crafted guide! The aspect of looks draws attention to the program design and use of animation, sound and video, whether it is appropriate for the age of the player and whether it is intuitive. Lastly, the longevity criteria deals with the probable length of time that your kids will use it. How many times have you bought something that sounds good but after it is opened it just sits around and gathers dust? The longevity rating is a really terrific feature. For the programs that I'm familiar with, the evaluations of software using these three ratings are bang on the money! This guide is more that a book. It is a gateway to fun and learning. It provides an introduction to computer software for kids and then provides an added route to a world wide web homepage. This union of print and electronic formats is the perfect way to show parents and kids that there are various ways to get access to information and that one route is never enough! ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Product: The Discovery Channel- Ocean Planet | Reviewed By: John Nelson (john.nelson@wdn.com) | ---------------------------------------------------------------------- This review was performed on a Pentium 100 using Windows 95 w/ 4 speed CD Rom drive, 16 megs ram, ATI Mach 64 video card. Minimum Requirements: 386 SX or higher Windows 3.1 or Later MSCDEX version 2.2 or later CD-ROM drive, sound card, mouse Vga Graphics card, minimum 640x480 256 colors. If you are curious about the world we live in, or you are concerned about the environment the Ocean Planet CD-ROM is for you. With this CD-ROM you will learn about not only the oceans on our world but will be able to study how the oceans affect virtually every aspect of our lives. Study how the oceans affect the weather and climate, learn how pollution is impacting on the oceans and what we can do about it. Learn about global warming and the ozone. Talk to the experts and ask question about the oceans. Watch beautiful film clips in full color and sound. All of this and more can be found on the Ocean Planet CD-ROM. The Ocean Planet CD-ROM is an interactive exploration of the unique water planet known as earth. Just insert the CD and run the short install program and your on you way to exploring the only environment of its kind in the entire solar system. The Ocean Planet CD takes you on a Multimedia Adventure in an undersea museum filled with interactive exhibits. Visit the "Undersea Theater" for a breathtaking look into the depths of the oceans. Go to the "Library" to find in-depth information on a broad range of subjects ranging from endangered species, fishing and its impact, to pollution and its effects on our world. Go to the "Q&A" section and you can question the experts on a variety of subjects. Visit the "Planet Ocean" section to learn about all the different oceans with subject covering everything from plate tectonics and the undersea ridge to the history of diving and its developments. The "Current Connection" section and you will learn all about currents, weather and atmosphere and its effects on our planet. "In Danger" allows you to explore the many ways that our oceans are endangered by pollution, overfishing, etc. "Sharing the Planet" lets you discover ways that we can utilize the oceans for our needs while allowing other species to continue to exist. The "Ocean Planet" CD-ROM is a must have for anyone with an interest in our planet and it's diversity of life. Discovery Software þ