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1994-01-10
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=====News & Views <psl_logo.pcx>
Contents:
-----February Means Business
-----No Accounting for Success
-----Monthly CD Category Schedule
-----Introducing PsL Online
-----Bad Slot Problems?
-----Letters
-----Not A Trojan
-----Do You Need a Gigabyte Drive?
-----December PsL CD Sold Out
-----[FILE NAMES]
-----Program Reviews
============================
-----February Means Business
Each month, in addition to the 700 or so new programs received during the
month, we add a category of our extensive disk-based pd/shareware library.
The February 1994 CD features Business related programs, including
accounting and finance, communications and networking, database,
spreadsheet, mailing list managers, contact management, general and
vertical business applications, engineering, statistics and
church/religion.
-----No Accounting for Success
During the last month, we had an opportunity to talk with Jerry Medlin,
author of one of the first accounting programs for MS-DOS machines, PC-GL,
and its companion programs for accounts receivable, payroll, and accounts
payable.
Jerry has seen many large retail accounting packages come and some of them
go belly up, but PC-GL continues to be a shareware winner. Back in the
early 80's when other programs suffered from awkward user interfaces,
Medlin's PC-GL was a model of user-friendliness. Good, easy-to-use software
never goes out of style.
For Windows, Money Smith and WinCheck are two examples of the high quality
accounting software available.
---Pop Goes the Zip Code
One of the most unique programs in the Mailing List section is not a
mailing list program, but Zipkey, a pop-up zip code look-up program. It is
a TSR that can be used with any software, such as a general database
program, a mailing list program or an order-entry program.
Zipkey can be configured so that when you enter a zip code, it
automatically inserts the city, state and/or area code. This speeds up data
entry and eliminates typographical errors. It can also be called up with a
hot key to search for city, state, zip or area code.
We have used it at PsL with our order-entry software for years, and new
callers never cease to be impressed that after we ask for their zip code,
we can tell them the city they are in, although our main concern is the
speed and accuracy it provides.
---Dial Up PsL
If you would like to call up PsL Online to download or upload files, to
exchange messages, or to access Internet, you must start with a
communications program.
There are many excellent comm programs, such as Telix and Boyan, or if you
want to join Compuserve, you will want Autosig or Tapcis. If you get hooked
on BBS-ing, you may want to try setting up your own. Check the BBS section
for software which will let you easily set up a BBS for your family,
business, or for the public to use.
---Lest We Forget...
A month does not go by without a half-dozen programmers writing more
appointment reminder and calendar programs, yet some of the oldest programs
are still among the best.
Nobody has really improved over MJOG for a program to put in your
AUTOEXEC.BAT file to remind you of upcoming appointments/dates each time
you boot up.
We have always liked TimeSaver for a month-at-a-glance program, and Ticklex
is still one of the most powerful and flexible appointment scheduling and
calendar programs around.
Above and Beyond and Almanac for Windows are two outstanding appointment
programs for Windows users.
---Databases
Numerous programs have been written for keeping track of specific types of
information, from mailing lists to record collections, but if you can find
a specific program that does exactly what you want, you can easily create
your own with a general database program.
PC-File was one of the first programs to be marketed as shareware. The
current version is many times more powerful than that first version of more
than a dozen years ago, but it is still easy to use.
Another program we have always liked is Wyndfields which, unlike most
database programs, lets you see a screen full of records at one record per
line. Now there is a Wyndfields for Windows, too.
---Spreadsheets
A spreadsheet program is what started the personal computer revolution. It
is what businesses used to cost-justify bringing the old Apple computer
into the office.
As-Easy-As is another shareware program that goes back a long way and
continues to be enhanced regularly. For certain types of data - anything
that you might keep track of in the rows and columns of a paper spreadsheet
- an electronic spreadsheet is even faster and easier than a general
database program.
---Other Categories
Engineering, Statistics, and Church/Religion are included on this CD with
the Business programs mainly because they don't fit any better into any
other category.
And even the Church/Religion section has a number of business-type programs
for accounting, keeping track of members, and other church-management
programs. In addition, there are files such as the complete text of the
Bible which, because of its size, we have preinstalled (unarchived) on the
CD in the directory \BIZ\DOS\BIBLE.
-----Monthly CD Category Schedule
In addition to putting on CD all the new programs that we get each month,
we also put a different section of our disk-based library. Over a six-month
period, the entire PsL collection will appear on CD, at which time we will
start over with updated collections.
Following is the schedule for when categories will appear or have appeared
on CD. A few copies of past issues are still available. Categories include
both DOS and Windows. All OS/2 files are grouped with Utilities. See the
Contents page of this issue for a list of subcategories for each category.
December 1993 - Programming
January 1994 - Games
February 1994 - Business (Includes Church, Engr. & Stats)
March 1994 - Home (Includes Education, but not Games)
April 1994 - Utilities (Includes all OS/2 programs)
May 1994 - Words, Graphics, & Sounds
June 1994 - the cycle starts over
In June, we will have Programming again, but updated for the thousands of
programs received since the last Programming CD.
-----Introducing PsL Online
At the start of 1992, we asked readers what types of distribution they
would like to see PsL move into as floppy disk distribution becomes more
and more outmoded -- CD-ROM or BBS. We got a tremendous response detailing
the pro's and con's of each.
Little did we imagine that within a year, we would be offering both CD-ROMs
AND a BBS.
Being able to offer a PsL BBS was a fortuitous circumstance which we
eagerly seized. This is not a start-up BBS. The "new" PsL BBS is a mature,
well-run BBS which has been around for 8 years, ably sysop-ed by Baine
Brimberry and assistants, Russell Ault, Peter Kust, Milt Eberhardt and
Maryjane Choate.
Until recently, the BBS was one of two official BBSs of HAL-PC, Houston's
10000+ member PC users group. HAL-PC decided to drop one of the BBS
systems, which made it available to PsL.
Baine Brimberry and PsL owner Nelson Ford were founding members of HAL-PC
in 1982 and were the first members to get together to collect, test,
organize and distribute public domain and shareware software, meeting until
the wee hours of the morning to look at new software.
While Nelson's interests and efforts led him into diskette-based shareware
distribution, Baine's led him into sysop-ing.
---PsL Online's Features:
The PsL BBS will, of course, have all the software from the PsL Monthly CDs
on-line. By May 1994, this will include all the 10000+ programs in PsL's
catalog, as well as Quick Look programs not added to our permanent catalog.
It will also have the text of past PsL News magazines and the latest
Reviews files with complete write-ups of all the programs in the library.
New programs received during the month will be made available as soon as
they have been tested and reviewed, so you don't have to wait until the end
of the month for them.
Via the BBS, members will be