I received a call from the people at Softcentre who produce the "Publicity" software. They wanted to acknowledge they had calls and thank me, so I'm passing the thanks on to you who bought it. During the conversation I learned the manual is available in printed form. Cost is $15. I was told it is actually on the disk in PDF form and so is the Acrobat reader. Good to know. You can always use the Acrobat reader anyway. Disk with printed manual is $25.

I see you can also rotate text and arbitrarily shape outlined text. Shadows also! There is a lot to this software and it is still a deal for $10 until March 31, 1998. Call them at 1-800-366-3311.

I also heard from John Lehmann at GoldenRam who was a bit overwhelmed. It seems he didn't have enough disks to cover the calls. He wanted a copy of my write-up so he could talk to his boss. He told me that the same information is available on their web site as a download. It takes a while but is worth it. Visit goldenram.com to download. I only passed on what John told me at Comdex about the free disks. They had oodles of them there.

The Delorme offer is good until March 30, 1998. Be sure to mention LM 123 when ordering. If there's a problem, ask for Andy Sturdevant. Order phone is 1-800-452-5931.

I'm glad you liked the Media Graphics item. I talked to George Rice in the shipping warehouse. I have to say this guy didn't just fall off the turnip truck. When he started getting calls mentioning my column, he immediately put together a couple of inexpensive deals and many took advantage of them. It's bad when people grab up the freebies (cost of shipping only) enmass but don't buy things that cost more, so he fixed that. In fact, here are the deals he put together:

The disk for the cost of shipping, $4.95, can be your choice of volume 1,2 or 3; or get all three (30,000 graphics) for $9.95 + $4.95 S&H. If you also want to include the picture guides for all three, add $10.95. Not bad. Call 1-800- 598-2037 to order.

This product will work with Internet Explorer or Netscape and works right out of the box with no voice training. You don't need a specialized mike either. Not only that but I was told it would also run your Eudora if you worked it right. I'm not much of an Internet person so I have little experience with a browser but it did the job when I tried it.

The problem was when my wife came into the room and saw me talking to my computer and no swearing. She just walked out scratching her head. Nobody came to get me so I guess it's OK. This product was meant for IE 3 and Netscape 3. It will do some but not all commands in version 4 of them. When it is updated, which will be soon, owners get to download the upgrade free.

Talk about a toy; my friend who also tried it says this is space age stuff! There's more! The price is only $24.95 + shipping. That's cheap for having fun. It's $24.95 also for the Power Point voice recognition software. In other words, you don't even have to see your screen when you are running the presentation. Only the length of your mike cord restricts you, or your cordless mike if you try that. I don't think they have a Mac version but you could ask.

You can also visit their web site at www.voisys.com for more information or simply call them at 1-800-425-8118 to order. Mention my column to get the discounted price. It's only $5 off but every buck helps. Alternate phone is 1-410-226-5310. I believe you can also order from the web site so don't forget to mention the column there also. One problem with all this space age stuff ... I'll hate it when my computer started cussing back at me.

Learning the ropes (of software). I've been playing with a CD that is trying to teach me some things about "Word 95" and while I'm a slow learner, it really takes me by the hand. "Quest 2000" offers learning CDs in several categories. It not only has video and sound but often has the button you want circled in red. When it tells you to pick something off a certain menu, that something is already highlighted.

Should you make a mistake, you are prompted first by an audio tone, then by a flashing hot spot showing exactly where to click. If unsuccessful after three attempts (too dumb to click the button it finally shows you) it will continue that part of the session automatically without any insults like mine. Besides the video, there is a box with the instructions in it to read.

So far I have been through tables, merging and setting up a form letter where I was tutored to perform the tasks. I ran it on my 486 with 8 megs of RAM and the 4X CD ROM drive. It ran Ok but synchronization for the lips and voice was off. My AMD K5 166 with a 24X drive worked fine. It will automatically start (win95) when you insert your CD unless you have that feature tuned off in Windows 95.

You need not have the actual software on your machine to run the tutorial CD. I ran mine right off the CD. They have other nice products coming that they may discount for my column such as training over the Internet with streaming video.

The learning CDs in the catalogue were mostly for Microsoft products (Office 97, Outlook and FrontPage 97 included). Also Paradox. Individual software CDs run $49.95 retail while office suite CDs start at $119. They have offered my readers a 20% discount if you mention the column. Not a bad discount and the product worked fine for me. Call 1-800-528-0380 or 1-941-727-1064 for a catalogue or to order. I wonder if they will have one on how to be polite to your computer when it crashes. When I tried that, I hit my head on my monitor when I bowed. It crashed again later anyway.

*Make your brain bulge with Windows 95 info.* I saw these at Comdex and liked them. They are just the ticket for a klutz such as myself. The one handed me at Comdex is a four page (letter size pages) plastic coated guide to things you want to know about Windows 95.

The front page has a screen shot of your desktop with the start menu up and the explorer window open. Every part of all those screens has a pointer with info of what it is and does. On the lower part is a section for "new features of Windows 95" with more information.

The second page is titled "Key Windows 95 Components." Sections there are: Windows keyboard and utilities; Key system desktop icons; System Tools; New & improved accessories; and the control panel.

Third page is all about The Explorer; Basic explorer operation and key explorer menus.

The fourth page is titled "Customizing Windows 95." Sections are: changing start and taskbar; display properties; shortcut properties; and multiple desktops.

There's not much to this four page plastic coated item but it contains a wealth of information at your fingertips. Many titles are Microsoft products but I noticed other interesting titles: "C" language; Computer Science; HTML; Internet; Java; Lotus 123; Internet Explorer 4; NetScape Navigator (reg & gold); NetScape Communicator 4; Quicken; WordPerfect 6,7,8; and even Mac OS 8.

There is also college titles for various subjects. The retail is from $2.95 to $4.95. They will give a discount of 20% if you mention the column and you must pay postage. I weighed mine + a manila envelope and 78 cents should cover it. I wondered if they would come out with one on "explaining and customizing a wife" but was afraid to ask.

Ask prices for what you want in particular. It took my eye and I'm passing it on to you. Call BarCharts Inc. at 1-800-226-7799 ext. 20 to order or for more info. I talked to Mr. Taylor if you have a problem. Maybe a club could buy them in bulk and use them for a fundraiser although they said the discount is the same.

That's it for this month. You can reach me at my fax 407-382-2781 or at my new email address dealsguy@mindspring.com and also at the old one dealsguy@aol.com. Meet me here next month for more deals. Bob, the Cheapskate, Click.

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