Sorcerer Software Users Newsletter Issue 0310 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. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- October 31, 2003 CONTENTS: 1. The Abacus 2. Envelope Printer 3. CD Stripper 4. iTunes for Windows, at last! -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- The Abacus http://www.TheAbacus.biz One of the most common question I get has to do with installing Abacus on a new computer. Sometimes the user got a new computer and wants to transfer Abacus, sometimes the old computer died. And sometimes the user wants to put Abacus on a 2nd computer. So the question becomes, "How do I do this?". Here's the deal: 1. When you buy Abacus, keep your unlock code recorded someplace safe. This is your key to reinstalling, whether it's on the same computer after a hard drive crash, or a new computer that you just bought and wish to transfer your programs and files to. 2. When you want to install or reinstall Abacus, you need the Abacus installation program. You can always download this from our web site. If you need the Word add-in version, you can get it from our web site at: http://www.theabacus.biz/abacus30.exe and if you need the standalone executable version (Abacus SE), you can download it from: http://www.theabacus.biz/AbacusSE.exe Once you have downloaded either of these installation programs, just double click on it and let it install Abacus for you. 3. Once you have installed Abacus, your computer will now think that you have the trial version of the program. So just enter your unlock code (see step #1, above) and your all set. 4. Finally, if you want to put Abacus on a 2nd computer and run it on two computers at one time, you need to buy a 2nd license. In other words, you need to pay for it again. Hey... it's a great program and well worth it, right? The current version 3.0 Abacus build is 030723. 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. To get your Abacus version and build number, start Abacus and click on the copyright message at the bottom of the main screen. The current Abacus SE build is 030914. 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. To get your build number, start Abacus and click on "Help- >About". -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Envelope Printer http://www.sorcerersoftware.com/envelope.htm I hate to admit when bugs appear in the program, but one has been identified to me (and fixed!) within the last month. Some time ago I added a return address font feature so that we could specify a font name, size, and color that is different from the address font. I thought it was working fine but then I received this email: "On my newly purchased Envelope software I can change colors on the return address but am unable to change the font or size of letters. Any ideas?" I assumed that the writer was using the program incorrectly but when I tested it, I found -- inconsistently -- that he was right. So I spent some time reviewing the appropriate code and making changes that resulted in the most recent build of the program, build 031026. This build is now available from our web site and can be downloaded. Which brings me to my next point: downloading updated builds of the program. When upgrading your Envelope Printer software by downloading from our web site, you have 2 options: 1. Download the installation program as you did originally, and reinstall the entire program. The current installation file is named "envelp70.exe". Nothing wrong with this approach, but it may be a bit more work that you need. 2. Download the file "envelope.zip", which contains the updated file ("envelope.exe") plus its help file ("envelope.hlp") and a Readme file ("readme.wri"). Just unzip -- using PKZip, WinZip, or any other unzipping program -- and replace your current Envelope Printer file(s) with the updated one(s) in your Envelope Printer folder ("c:\envelope"). One final note: If you have an earlier version (ie, earlier than version 7.0, such as version 6.0 or 6.1), this approach will not work. You will first need to upgrade to version 7.0 by installating the entire new program, and then by purchasing a new license (which is only $10 if you're upgrading from an earlier version) from one of our vendors. You can find a list of our vendors on our web site at: http://www.sorcerersoftware.com/envelope.htm The current Envelope Printer build is 031026 of version 7.0. 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 A quick note to CD Stripper users regarding the use of online music services who provide songs for downloading (see next article about the Apple iTune service). I do like ripping songs off of CDs that I own (or recording them from cassette tapes, phonographs, or when my daughter wants to record some of her piano pieces). But I don't like the idea of free file sharing of copyrighted material. As a software developer I appreciate the concerns of the music industry. So I was quite pleased to find a good song purchasing site at Apple iTunes. But why do I bring this up to users of our CD Stripper software? Here's the semi- technical issue: 1. You pay Apple 99 cents for a song which you then download in a proprietary Apple format (not MP3, not WAV, etc.). 2. You play the downloaded song on the Apple iTunes player, and you burn it to a CD. (So far, so good.) 3. But what if you want the song in a standard MP3 format so that you can play it on a portable player or an MP3 player, or use on your computer an MP3 software playing program to play all your music tracks (like I do)? Answer: Use CD Stripper. Just download the songs you want from Apple's iTunes web site, burn them onto a CD, and then rip them back off using CD Stripper, saving the songs in either MP3 or WAV format (or both!). OK... minor detail. But I thought I'd pass it on. The current CD Stripper build is 020820 of version 4.0.01. If you have an earlier build or version, you may want to download and upgrade to this build. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- iTunes for Windows... If you have been following the Napster/Kazaa/Morpheus story (online sharing of MP3 files), you probably know that many recording companies and distributors have been looking for ways to sell their music online in order to capture the revenue they have been losing to the file sharing crowd. I have looked at a number of these online sites and found all of them lacking for one reason or another. But within the last year, Apple launched a site named "iTunes" which I reviewed and like. They set it up the way I thought it should be done. They let users download songs for 99 cents each, and the users can then save them, play them on their computers, and burn them onto CDs. The catch: it previously only worked with Apple computers. But within the last month, Apple launched iTunes for Windows. I have tried this new system out and have been very pleased with it. I first downloaded a song ("Layla" by Derek and the Dominos) and played it back using the iTunes player that Apple gives you when you sign up. No problem there. Then I burned it to a CD using standard software -- in this case, Roxio's CD burning program. Again, the song played back just fine. But then I decided to go one step further to see if I could rip it back off the CD (see the above article regarding the CD Stripper program), and again had no problems. So I now have my downloaded song in Apple's format and also as an MP3, which is how I like it. I'm not sure that Apple's site will prove to be the perfect solution, but so far it seems to work great and I'm very happy with it. If you like downloading songs and (like me) feel guilty about downloading without paying the content creator (such as the artist, or in the case of software, the software developer), check it out: http://www.apple.com/itunes. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 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.