ELECTRONIC BOOK TITLE: THE DEVIL'S DICTIONARY by Ambrose Gwinnett Bierce (1842-1914) Condensed, Edited and Converted to Windows 3.1 Help Format by Jon E. Noring (C) Copyright 1994 by Jon E. Noring ***** An OmniMedia Electronic Book ***** FREE DEMO VERSION -- FULL VERSION AVAILABLE -------------------------------------------------------------------------- PLEASE DO SHARE THIS DEMO VERSION WITH YOUR FRIENDS AND UPLOAD IT TO YOUR FAVORITE BBS. All we ask is that you include the three files you received without any modification. Thank you. -------------------------------------------------------------------------- INTRODUCTION: This OmniMedia electronic book is a hypertext conversion, using the outstanding Microsoft Windows 3.1 Help engine, of the Title given above. Please read the "About the Author and This Document" section of the Help file for a complete description of this title. This text file will briefly describe the: Electronic Book Title (shown above) Introduction (this section) System Requirements Files That Should be Included in the Distribution Package Viewing/Installation Instructions (for Windows 3.1 systems only) Ordering Information (to get the full commercial version) How to Contact the Publisher SYSTEM REQUIREMENTS: All Microsoft Windows 3.1 (and not 3.0!) installations should be able to view this Help format file (instructions below). It's been tested using the common color video resolutions of EGA, VGA, 800x600, and 1024x768, and so should work for them. For maximum clarity and readability, it is recommended that you use as high of a video resolution as your system allows, up to 1024x768x256. Higher resolutions, which should be even better for reading the Help file, have not been tested. Consult your Windows documentation for how to increase your resolution if that is possible for your particular video card and monitor combination. In addition, some other operating systems MAY also be able to view this Help format file including OS/2 2.x using a Windows shell, Microsoft Windows NT, and Excel for the Macintosh (for Excel, bitmap images won't be reproduced along with possible font differences). Since this Help file has not been tested on these other operating systems, it cannot be guaranteed that they will work as designed, particularly with regard to font attributes. All further technical details mentioned in this file are specific to Windows 3.1 installations. Two final and important notes: First, this electronic book is written using the Arial TrueType font, which is part of the normal installation for all Windows 3.1 systems. If you have removed this font from your system, for whatever reason, the file will not appear as it was authored (though it may look similar, or at least readable). It is recommended that you reinstall the Arial TrueType font if you have removed from your system. Second, both the background and foreground (text) colors have been hard-coded in this Help format file. If you have color vision difficulties which make it difficult to read all or part of this document (and not because you don't like the colors), please contact the Publisher and special arrangements will be considered. FILES THAT SHOULD BE INCLUDED IN THE DISTRIBUTION PACKAGE: devdemo.hlp -- The Windows 3.1 Help file of the Demo Version of the "Devil's Dictionary" book.ico -- A "book" icon that can be used for permanent installation read1st.txt -- This file VIEWING/INSTALLATION INSTRUCTIONS There are several ways to view, and if desired, install the Help format document on your Windows 3.1 system. Two will be given below. If you are not very familiar with Windows, it is recommended that you print this section out for step-by-step instructions. Of course, it is also recommended that you consult your Windows manual should any questions arise or these instructions don't work for you. 1) If you just want to view the Help format file (devdict.hlp) without permanent installation, place it anywhere on your system. Then, from File Manager within Windows, locate the Help file (devdict.hlp) and click on it. The Windows Help file viewer, winhelp.exe, will automatically be executed and will display it. 2) For a more permanent installation with an application icon, it is advisable to first create a special directory on your disk and copy the desired *.hlp file and the file 'book.ico' to that directory. As an example, which will be used for the explanation below, this directory path could be named 'c:\windows\books' and the files 'devdict.hlp' and 'book.ico' will be placed into it. (Of course, you can also copy these files into an already existing directory, but a special directory makes it easier to keep track of the files). The next step is to either select or create the program group into which you will place the "Devil's Dictionary". To create a new program group which could be called, for example, "WinHelp Books", simply go to the 'File' menu of your Program Manager, select 'New', 'Program Group', 'OK', and then in the box labeled 'Description', enter the string "WinHelp Books" (or whatever else you want to call the program group), then press 'OK' (leave empty the 'Group File' box). Once the program group, whether old or new, is selected, then from Program Manager select 'File', 'New', 'Program Item', 'OK'. At this point, you have three text boxes to fill. For the 'Description' box enter "Devil's Dictionary" (or whatever you want the application icon to be called); for the 'Command Line' box enter "c:\windows\winhelp.exe fanny.hlp"; for the 'Working Directory' box enter "c:\windows\books". Then to select the icon, click on 'Change Icon' and attach 'book.ico' from the directory 'c:\windows\books' to this application using 'Browse' to locate it. Then 'OK' twice to finish. Now, your selected program group should contain an icon of a book with the name "Devil's Dictionary" underneath it. Just click on the book icon whenever you want to read it! ORDERING INFORMATION This free Demo is identical to the full commercial version except that the definitions to the letters C-Z have not been included (the words, however, are included in the Dictionary to show you what you're missing!) The 92 definitions included here (out of a total of 623 in the full version) are enough to make this Demo worth reading and keeping, even if you decide not to purchase the full version. You have two options to receive the full 623 definition version. Option One ($7.00) is by mail on a 3.5" diskette. Option Two ($5.00) allows you to download it via anonymous ftp from a protected directory on the Internet, or to receive it via e-mail as a uuencoded file -- both methods have certain qualifications (listed below). In either case, payment is by cash, check, or money order in U.S. dollars (sorry, we don't yet take VISA/MC, but we're working on that) and California residents add 8.25% sales tax. (Option One price includes postage, handling, the cost of the diskette, etc. -- everything except California sales tax.) Please mail your payment to the Publisher (see address in next section) and make checks payable to "Jon E. Noring". All sales are final. Any defective (i.e., unreadable) disks that are returned, or defective files that are downloaded from the Publisher's anonymous ftp directory, will be replaced within the first 30 days of receipt of order. [There are some obvious qualifying requirements for Option Two (downloading the full version via anonymous ftp, or receiving it via uuencoded e-mail). First, you must have a valid Internet-accessible e-mail address so we can communicate. Second, for downloading via ftp, you must download within a restricted time period (usually a one or two hour time slot) that we'll establish in our e-mail communication. Third, you must be able to unzip the received file (and also to uudecode it if received via e-mail.) Fourth, for downloading via ftp, you must know how to use anonymous ftp on the Internet and must verify that you can download from our site _before_ sending payment -- this can be done by downloading any accessible file from: ftp.netcom.com /pub/noring/books It is recommended that you download the file Aesop's Fables (aesop12.zip), which is Freeware. Be sure to type 'binary' before issuing the 'get' command! And be sure to include your e-mail address when sending in payment, as well as how you'd prefer to receive the file! The download will be allowed, or the uuencoded file sent, after receipt of payment. Hopefully, these qualifying requirements are not too confusing.] HOW TO CONTACT THE PUBLISHER OmniMedia is devoted to producing only the highest quality works on most forms of modern media. Our current and planned offerings include: Electronic books published in Windows 3.1 Help and Microsoft Multimedia Viewer formats Audio CD reissues (using state-of-the-art digital restoration) of early jazz, blues, dance and personality recordings Very high resolution fractal image prints. For more information or advice about this electronic book or other OmniMedia offerings, contact: Jon E. Noring OmniMedia 1312 Carlton Place Livermore, CA 94550 Internet: noring@netcom.com (510) 294-8153 (510) 447-1771 (fax -- not always available) --> ENJOY THE "DEVIL'S DICTIONARY"! ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- Windows, Windows 3.1, Windows NT, and Excel are registered trademarks of the Microsoft Corporation. OS/2 is a registered trademark of IBM. Macintosh is a registered trademark of Apple, Inc. -----------------------------------------------------------------------------