Sorcerer Software Users Newsletter Issue 0402 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 29, 2004 CONTENTS: 1. The Abacus 2. Envelope Printer 3. Do you TiVo? -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- The Abacus http://www.TheAbacus.biz This question about the MS Word add-in version of Abacus just came up the other day: "It was working alright with Word 2000 for two days, but today I upgraded to Word 2003 and it has stopped working. Repeated installations have not worked. I went through the list of shortcuts in word and deleted the one using Ctrl + Shift + A, but that has also not worked. Please help. Its window just does not pop up." As I reviewed this problem further with the user, it became clear that she had followed all the proper steps when re-installing Abacus; and that her new version of Word 2003 was correctly installed and working. So what the heck was going on here? The answer lies in a problem with both Word 2002(XP) and 2003 that for some strange reason did not exist in Word 2000 or 97. These newer versions of Word do not always load add-in files (like Abacus) as efficiently as the older versions, and sometimes have to be reminded to do so at all. But this is an easy problem to fix. Here's all you need to do: 1. Start Word and click on "Tools->Templates and Add-ins". 2. On the Templates and Add-ins screen, click on the Add button. 3. From the Add Templates screen, locate the file "Abacus.dot". This is usually located in: "c:\program files\microsoft office\office\startup" (in Word 2002 use "office10" instead of "office") Once you locate the file, click on it (so that it appears in the "File name" box of the Add Templates screen) and click on the OK button, returning you to the Templates and Add-ins screen. 4. On the Templates and Add-ins screen, you will now see "Abacus.dot" listed in the "Global templates and add-ins" section. Make sure the checkbox next to it is checked. 5. Click on the OK button, close Word, restart Word, and try to start Abacus again. These steps remind Word that it is to load Abacus into its memory each time it starts. I don't know exactly why Microsoft did this to us, but these steps seem to solve the problem. The current version 3.0 Abacus build is 040214. 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 Last month I mentioned that we had some new features we were trying out, and I was recruiting testers to put the new program through its paces. We have now completed that process and the new release has been posted to our web site. If you don't remember what new features we added, you can read about them in last month's newsletter at: http://www.sorcerersoftware.com/ss0401.txt So far the new features have been well received. If you would like to try this new release, you may want to first back up your current version of the program by making a copy (perhaps to a floppy disk or to another directory on your hard drive) of all files in your Envelope Printer folder ("c:\envelope"). Then download the new program from our web site and install it just as you did originally. When you start the program, click on "Help->About" to check the version and build number and make sure the upgrade was successful. If you currently have any build of version 7.0, this upgrade is free. If you have version 6.1 or earlier, you can upgrade for half price. To read more about upgrading, please see our web site at: http://www.sorcerersoftware.com/envelope.htm#currentEnvelopeusers The current Envelope Printer build is 040125 of version 7.0. If you have an earlier build or version, you may want to download and upgrade to this build. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Do you TiVo? I have used this space in the past to write about (among other things) new technologies, products, or services that I have found interesting. We have now been using TiVo at our house for the last year, so I decided I should report on it for those who haven't yet been introduced to its magic. You have probably read for years about the coming convergence of computers and television. Many companies, including Gateway and HP, are now selling products that try to unite these two home appliances. But I think the most successful marriage of computer and TV technology is the digital video recorder (DVR) which has been made popular by TiVo, the name of the company that makes such a recorder and whose name is becoming synonymous with recording. (As in "I TiVo'd 'Law and Order' last night.") What is TiVo? OK -- here's what it is. Like VHS recorders, TiVo records whatever is on TV. But unlike VHS, TiVo records to a hard drive inside of a box that attaches to your TV. (Fellow techno-geeks, have you grasped the significance of this?) No tapes to swap in and out. And since the recording is purely digital, you get a faithful reproduction of whatever TV show you recorded. You can then use your remote to display on your TV screen a listing of shows you have recorded onto TiVo, and select and play one back -- then deleting it when you are done by just pressing the remote's "Delete" button. And of course you can fast forward, reverse, stop, and pause -- just like VHS, but of course better audio and video. But wait... there's more. TiVo also has a built in "short term" memory that does not record to the hard drive, but remembers what you are watching. Kind of like having RAM. This short term memory records up to 30 minutes of whatever you are watching, so you can reverse, play back, and pause. Imagine that: you're watching your favorite show and the phone rings, so you pause live TV. Then 5 minutes later (or if you're my daughter, 25 minutes later), you start the show up again right where you left off. Is this a great country, or what? You don't have to be a TVaholic to appreciate this device. I don't watch a whole lot of TV, but I never watch live TV anymore. I TiVo everything I want (it has a built in menu system to let you instruct it what shows to record, and it then does so automatically) and then play my shows back at my convenience. I don't even know what time or day of the week some of them air. And I don't care. It just doesn't matter. And don't forget -- an hour TV show doesn't really last an hour with TiVo. It lasts about 50 minutes, because you can fast forward right through the commercials! I'm sure this sounds like an advertisement, but I'm just sold on this technology. And at our house we love our TiVo! If you want to learn more, check out their web site at: http://www.tivo.com -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 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.