SMUG -  The January Upgrade



Author: Joe Duroux

Date: January, 1994

Keywords: News From the SMUG Bureaucracy

Text:
SMUG -  The January Upgrade:
     News From the SMUG Bureaucracy:  By Joe Duroux
     The December meeting started with member Mike Silva announcing
that he was starting to do some programming and was offering to provide
small applications as freeware to group members. He asked members to
indicate what kinds of applications they would like to have him
develop. Next came the usual lottery for volunteers to review products.
               The main program was a demonstration of some of the features
of the new on-line service called Northcoast Electronic Town (NET).
Larry Goldberg described the various services provided by NET. It uses
a graphic interface for the Mac and Windows based on the same software
that the SMUGgler's BBS uses. In addition to more common on-line
services, NET provides, or will soon provide, access to many entities
like local government agencies, businesses, newspapers, libraries, art
galleries, and social and community services. It covers Humboldt, Del
Norte, Trinity, Mendocino, and Lake counties. 
          The cost of the service is $5.00 per hour with a minimum of
two hours per month for a local line, or $13.00 per hour with a minimum
of one hour per month for an 800 line. For schools and libraries, the
service is free. Larry handed out sets of floppy disks with the
interface software to SMUG members and said that members could have six
free hours to try out the service. He said that members who were not at
the meeting could contact him and get the disks and the free time. The
phone number of the service is 443-8696 (44E- TOWN). 
          In response to our questions about classes and Special
Interest Groups (SIGs), we found members interested in one type of
class and two SIGs. The only class that members seem to want is in the
use of Internet. We may be able to participate in Internet seminars
that are being planned by another group. That should be easier than
arranging for facilities ourselves. We should know more later this
month. 
          The SIG topic that has generated the most interest is Desktop
Publishing. Thus far, six members have shown interest and one has
tentatively said that he may be willing to help organize it, but not
until summer. Meanwhile, we have six characters in search of a
coordinator (apologies to Luigi Pirandello). Anyone want to volunteer?
Also, two members said they would be interested in forming an Internet
SIG. Perhaps more will be interested after the seminars. If any other
members are interested in these or other SIGs, speak up in the SMUG
Members' conference on the BBS or contact me at SMUG, P.O. Box 4715,
Arcata, CA 95521. I'm keeping a list of interested members. -     -    
-     - 
     Denise Jesus, SMUG's Product Review Coordinator reports that we
have the following free products available to SMUG members for Review
in January: 
     *Common Ground - From No Hands Software. Distribute documents
between widely divergent computer setups and applications. 
     *Ascend - From Franklin Quest. Personal Information Manager. 
     *Times Two - From Golden Triangle. Double your disk space without
compres-sing files. 
     *WillMaker 4.0 (& beta 5.0) - From Nolo Press. Do-it-yourself Will
writing. Mangia - From UpStill Software. 
     *''The Cook's Best Friend'' cookbook and menu database. 
     *Advertising from the Desktop (book) - From Ventana Press. A
desktop publisher's guide to designing ads that work.
     *The Grey Book (book) - From Ventana Press. A guide to designing
in black & white. 
     Coming in February: 
     *The Deluxe American Heritage Dictionary, Third Edition - From
Star Press. *ColorDesign 1.0 - From Momentum Software. Create stunning
computer generated  or custom designs in 8 or 24 bit color. 
     *3-D Tutor CD-ROM - From Zelos! Tutorial for learning the
specifics of 3-D modeling, rendering and assembly plus you can test
drive 18 3-D software packages and view professional 3-D animations. 
     *Calculated Beauty CD-ROM - From Rocky Mountain Digital Peeks. A
journey through Mandelbrot space... copyright free multimedia fractal
images. 
     *Millie's Math House - From Edmark. 2-6 year olds learn numbers,
shapes, patterns, & more through six exciting activites. 
     *Thinkin' Things - From Edmark. Six activities for 4 -8 year olds
that help develop critical thinking skills.

Copyright © january, 1994 by Joe Duroux