Sorcerer Software Users Newsletter Issue 0302 Welcome to our monthly newsletter, covering the latest updates, tips and user questions about our software programs. If you have an issue or question you would like to see addressed in a future newsletter, either by me or by your fellow users, please email me and I'll include it. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- February 28, 2003 CONTENTS: 1. The Abacus 2. Envelope Printer 3. CD Stripper 4. Another commercial web site - not an advertisement! 5. For the literary minded... -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- The Abacus http://www.TheAbacus.biz We made two enhancements to the Word add-in version of the Abacus (version 3.0) this month. A few users asked for the option of unprotecting documents that had been protected during their production. So in this latest build -- 030226 -- on the "Options->Misc" screen you can select "Ask to unprotect docs" if you want Abacus to ask you for a password if it encounters a protected document. It will then unprotect the document, count it, and then re-protect it. This option is enabled (turned on) by default. If you never use protected documents there is no harm is keeping it enabled -- Abacus just ignores this instruction if it finds the document being counted is not protected. But if you have a protected document and you uncheck this option, you may end up with an abbreviated line count! If you count protected documents but you won't know their password, you can disable this option so that Abacus doesn't ask you for one. In this case, Abacus will just do the best it can. We also fixed a problem that occurred with Abacus and some combinations of Office/Windows (and it seems to be mostly OfficeXP and WindowsXP). When you go to the Batch mode screen, the files in the selected directory do NOT show up in the file list! So we rewrote some of the code to fix this problem. If you have this combination of Office/Windows and you are having this problem, the new build of Abacus is for you! The current version 3.0 Abacus build is 030226. If you have an earlier build of version 3.0, you may want to download and upgrade to this build. This is the Word "add-in" version. The current Abacus SE build is 030131. If you have an earlier build of Abacus SE/4.0, you may want to download and upgrade to this build. This is the freestanding version. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Envelope Printer http://www.sorcerersoftware.com/envelope.htm I have been asked to review the technique of putting a bitmap image (*.bmp file) on an envelope. I described this in an earlier newsletter, so for the benefit of our newer readers I have repeated it here: To place a BMP image on your envelope, you must first select an image using the Envelope Options screen ("Options->Envelope"). In the lower right section of this screen, select the image you want to use by clicking on the "Add Image" button. Then check the "Display image" box so the program knows that it's supposed to show the image on your envelope. Click on "OK". Now if you click on the Print Preview button ("Print->Print Preview"), you will see your image next to the return address. To move it just grab it with the mouse, hold the left mouse button down, and drag it to its new location. Then release the mouse button. To resize the image, place the mouse cursor over the right or the bottom margin of the image, press the left mouse button, and drag again. Release the mouse button when the image is resized to meet your needs. You're now ready to print. If you want to save the image, its size and its position, click on the image "Save" selection. You will find this in gray text underneath the stamp on the Print Preview screen. If you move the mouse down from the stamp toward the bottom of the Print Preview screen, you will highlight the "Print", "Save", "Refresh", and "Reset" options. The Print option will print the envelope as you have it configured. (The Refresh option will update the screen. The Reset option places the image back to its original position and size next to the return address.) To then save this reset image position, click on "Save". If you do elect to "Save", the image, its size and its position will apply the next time you start the program. The current Envelope Printer build is 021209 of version 6.1. If you have an earlier build or version, you may want to download and upgrade to this build. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- CD Stripper http://www.sorcerersoftware.com/cdstrip.htm I have used this space in the past to rant about the legality of stripping and steps being taken by commercial establishments to restrict our rights to listen to music we have already paid for. Napster is dead of course, and the music industry claims to be working with cyber-gurus to establish a system to distribute music online in the form of MP3, WMA, liquid audio, or some other format. The latest incarnation of online music-for-a-fee is: http://www.umusic.com and it's not TOO bad. Unlike some of its rivals, there is no subscription fee. You pay a flat fee of 99 cents per song, or download an entire album fo $9.99. And you can do what you want with the songs you download: play them or burn them to a CD, but you can't sell or give them away. UMusic has a sizeable and growing library of music. Not perfect, but not bad, and in my opinion they are at least moving in the right direction. As I have said before, I do not favor the illegal online swapping or downloading of music. I do think that a system like the one described above can be useful. And most of all, I believe that we should be able to listen to our music any way we want. If I want to use CD Stripper to rip a track off of a CD that I already bought, and play that track on my computer, portable MP3 player, or burn it onto a CD for my own personal use, I should be able to do so. The current CD Stripper build is 020820 of version 4.0.1. If you have an earlier build or version, you may want to download and upgrade to this build. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Another commercial web site I'm doing this one as a followup to a small piece I wrote about ink jet cartridges last year. For those who may remember, I bought some cartridges from an on-line company that then shared some of my vital information with another commercial company. So I severed my relationship with them and went hunting for their replacement. I have now had a number of very satisfactory transactions with an online provider of inkjet cartridges named "Carrot Ink" (www.carrotink.com). In addition to buying inkjet cartridges, I bought a few of their refill kits, just to see how they would work. And I'm happy to report - so far, so good. Since a lot of readers of this newsletter do a lot of printing, you might want to have a look at them. (No, they don't give me a kickback for plugging them. But if you have a bad experience let me know and I'll pass it on.) -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- For the literary minded... For some reason that I now can't remember, in last month's newsletter I decided to write about my favorite literary opening lines. Much to my surprise and delight, a number of our readers seem to share my interest. I thought you might like to read some of the responses I got: 1. "I like the subject of the current column. Literary is a fallow field. There are tons of great material here. Stick with the overture for another month." 2. Another reader must have thought this was Jeopardy and tried to stump me with this opening line: "Happy families are all alike; every unhappy family is unhappy in its own way." (Hint: Think Russian themes -- cold, snowy, long dark winter, lots of vodka, depression)*. 3. One reader, who is also a writer, suggested the opening line from one of his own works: "He rolled slightly right under the straps, shifting very slowly." You can read it and an excerpt from the book online at: http://www.whalebook.com/falconquest/preview.html 4. I also got an email from a reader who thought he remembered a web site of opening lines, so naturally I went to www.google.com and entered "opening lines". I guess I just wasn't thinking straight, because a lot of the responses I got were to opening lines for picking up girls (Duh!). But I did come across two interesting sites: one for the best opening lines and another for the worst opening lines (both literary, not social), to wit: "Scarlet's hair was as red as my persistent canker sore.". You can even take a test online and pit your knowledge of opening lines against Cliff Notes at: http://www.cliffsnotes.com/litnotes/firstlines1.asp But if you really want to fall out of your chair laughing, check out: http://tntluoma.com/fun/fwd/badopeninglines Finally, last month I referred to what I consider the greatest of literary opening lines. I believe these to be two of the best: "It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness, it was the epoch of belief, it was the epoch of incredulity, it was the season of Light, it was the season of Darkness, it was the spring of hope, it was the winter of despair,..." (and it goes on)**. "Now is the winter of our discontent..." (it goes on, also)***. But the best opening line of all, is my all time favorite (for our American audience): "We the people..."**** -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- That's all, folks. Look for our next newsletter in about 4 weeks... -- Bill bill@sorcerersoftware.com Sorcerer Software http://www.sorcerersoftware.com To read all the old newsletters, go to: http://www.sorcerersoftware.com/archives.htm To be removed from our mailing list, send me an email with the word "unsubscribe" in the subject line. *Anna Karenina, by Leo Tolstoy **A Tale of Two Cities, by Charles Dickens ***Richard III, by William Shakespeare ****If you need help with this one, go back to high school civics/history class...