IVrURE TUBE-THrmSEjOMUGITAl TELEVISION

n.

OME COMPUTER RESOURCE

IMnrOM-LINE HELP FOR HOME OFFiaS

LOW-COST PC VIDEO

POWER USER GIFT LIST

INTRODUCING

ALL THE WRITE STUFF

FOR SMALL BUSINESS TYPES

NX-2420 RAINBOW

NX-1020 RAINBOW

NX-lOOl MULTI-FONT

NX-2420 MULTI-FONT

For a while there, it was beginning to look like there would never be a dot matrix printer versatile enough to be a real jack-of-all-trades. But no more. Now, for the first time ever, there's a new series of printers designed to bring you big-business performance at a small-business price.

Star's new NX Series printers have all the write stuff you need to get the job done and then some. Let's start with multiple fonts. Each of the four NX Series printers comes equipped with an incredible variety of fonts, sizes and enhancements,

DESKTOPJEWS

TOP FEED

For single sheets

which, when combined, put thousands of printstyles at your fingertips. And all offer high resolution graphics for more professional-looking presentations. Advanced paper handling features (which are optional on most printers)

^4 fS^

BOTTOM FEED

Easily handles muHipart fofma and labels

Multiplefonts

*.\ 'I -'jl^ Advanced '^*s^ . vf ' p'^P^i' handling

are standard with Star. The switchable push/pull tractor makes changing paper paths

a snap -a feature that's especially handy when you're printing a lot of hard-to-manage

forms. Plus, convenient paper parking lets you feed single sheets through at the touch

of a button —without

removing or wasting

continuous- feed paper. user-friendly control panel

NX printer control panels are designed for the ultimate in user-friendliness. You can easily select up to 14 of the most commonly used functions. And an Electronic Dip Switch Mode lets you customize the control panel with up to 15 of your own power-on settings.

Star's NX printers are Epson and IBM* compatible for use with most off-the-shelf software packages. Their standard parallel Centronics interface with optional serial-to-parallel compatibility

-X

converter makes them simple to use with most personal .'; I computers. All are capable of high-speed, bi-directional

<.

i

printing at extremely low noise levels. And the two /^/UAfSOW models -the NX- 1020 and NX-2420-even offer printing in seven vibrant colors. Star has one of the largest selections of printers available for

small businesses. So make sure you take a look at our

Color printing

2-YEAR LIIVIITED WARRANTY

Low noise level

new line of NX printers. They're engineered to give you the price-performance of a lifetime. To find out where you can get all the write stuff ■ ■

from Star, call 1-800-447-4700 now.

•Epson isa registered trademark of Epson Annerica, Inc. IBM is a registered trademark of International Business Machines Corporation. Ali features not available on all models.

THE COMPUTER PRINTER

Ctrcte Reader Service Number 115

cannpuTE

DECEMBER 1990

VOLUME 12 -NO, 9 • ISSUE 124

Editorial License 6

PETER SCISCO

The power of computers and the im- pact off television are creating a cul- ture buill around informalion and the moving image. News & Notes 8

EDiTORS

New Macintoshes from the old Apple tree. Spinnaker spinoffs, a way to re- duce computer ejestrain, a fight for computer piogr^mmer freedom, and more notes on the news.

Letters 12

EDITORS Praise for Shay, kudos all around.

Reviews 89

mrdStar 6.0 on the PC, AmigaVision on the .^miga. Digital Anisi on the 64, Inside Informalion for the NSacintosh, and a whole lot more.

Hotware 120

Best-selling software from around the countr\'.

IN FOCUS

Tomorrow TV 14

EDITORS

Television has changed the world, even as it has brought that world into our living rooms. Now our computers are changing television. Sometime in this decade, the two technologies will fuse into a personal communication and information device designed for the video age.

Desktop Video Here

and Now 22

HOWARD MILLMAN You can add a complete video system to your IBM PC for about J 1,000. Here's how. Conversations 28

KEITH FERRELL

The Media Lab at M.I.T. has its hands on the TV of tomorrow— An- drew Lippman, the Lab's associate director, talks of the PC-TV connection. COMPUTE'S November Sbanpak Disit 30

RICHARD C LEINECKER Organize your audio collection, make adjustments to your monitor, and track your videotapes *ith this month's collection of programs,

ON THE COVER

David Leich created Toshiba Greek Unraveling featured on

our cover. He used proprietary software called Visions to

generate polygonal computer graphics with image

mapping on a Harris 800 computer.

COMPUTE Your Comp*«» HoiTw Computer ResourcB (ISSN 0194-357JQ rs ptjCfshed montfity m Sie United Slates and Canada by COMPUTE PuOlicabons Intefna^nal Ltd., 1965 Broadway, tie// ysrk, NY 1l»?3-5965, \Wume 12, Number 9. Issue 1^1. Copyright © 1990 Oy COMPUTE PuDICUions tntwnational LKJ. Al ng*its reserved. Tel. (212) d96-B100. COMPUTE is a regtsterBd tiademarV tit COMPUTE PubUcaxms Intefnatiorat Lid. Pnnted in ttie USA and OstnbuTed Moddwide t^ Curts Ciroiabon CorripanY. P.O Box 91 Q2. Penns^uhen. NJ 08109 Sooond-dBs^ postage paid at New York. NY and at addttKyiai inailmg ollices. POSTMASTER: Send addreat cltengei ti3 COMPUTE M«j|«zlr>», PO. Box 3245. Hotlon, lA 5:537.3041 Tet (8001 727-6937 BiM conietiB ixpyfighlod. Al ngnts ies^i^*d- Notlung may be reprodJCad n wtici* or in pail wittwyl wntten perrriusjon tiomtne tsjt3lisher, SuC3scripttons: US, AFO- $19.&4 one yoar; Canada and elsewtwre - S25.94 one year. Sogle copies S2.95in US. Tiw pubtishardiadaimsaB responsilMlity 10 retLrn unsolicited matter, and all ngtils m ponions putilished ttiefeot rerrtabi ttw sole pfopeny ot COMPUTE Putjbcations Iniernaboriar Ltd. Lattery sent lo COMPUTE or its editors tiecome tne property ol ttw magazine- EtWorial oHiCes ere tocated ai 324 WOst Wandover Awme. Sjito 2130. GraensOoro, NC 27406. Tel (919) 275-9609.

HOME OFFICE

COMPUTE Clioice 32

TONY ROBERTS If you've got accounting savvy, PiKioli 2000 olfers you all the tools you'll need to keep a topflight set of books for your home office. Workplace 40

DANIEL JANAL

Working at home doesn't mean you have to feel like the Lone Ranger. Time Is Money 40

RICHARD 0. MANN Make your computer your sutingcst ally in the struggle to convert time into profits. These ready-to-go soft- ware kits put you on the road to effective productivity. New Products 54

Here's a look at some of the new productivity products that can make every home office run more smoothly.

ENTERTAINMENT

COMPUTE Choice 60

PETER SCISCO

PGA Tour Co/f combines realistic piay, special effects, tournament play, and the ability to play with some of the world's top golfers.

GamePiay 66

ORSON SCOTT CARD Simulations don't represent the real worid because the real world is boring.

Mind Games 70

EDITORS

COMPUTE staffers take a stab at the software entertainment game by imagining their own products. A few surprises result.

DISCOVERY

COMPUTE Choice 78

LESLIE EISER

Learning math can be fun and excit- ing with the A'ai' Math Blasier Plus.

Don't Need a

Weatherman 84

GREGG KEIZER Here's how you can get personalized weather reports on your PC. Pathways 88

STEVEN ANZOVIN

From laptops to palmtops, the latest in

computers are growing ever smaller.

Now H?5 Stopslhe Clock QiOverlOO GEnie Services.

Now enjoy unlimited non- prime time usage of over 100 popular GEnie Service features. For just $4.95 a month* You get everything from electronic mail to exciting games and bulletin boards. Nobody else gives you so much for so little.

Plus enjoy access to software libraries, computer bulletin boards, multi-player games and more for just $6 per non-prime hour for all baud rates up to 2400. And with GEnie there's no sign-up fee.

Sign-up today.

Just follow these simple steps.

1. Set your communication soft- ware for half duplex {local echo), up to 2400 baud.

2. Dial toll free 1-800-638-8369. Upon connection, enter HHH

3. At the U*=prompt, enter XTX99497,GENIE then press RETURN.

4. Have a major credit card or your checking account number ready.

For more information in the U.S. or Canada, call 1-800-638-9636.

GE Information Services

•Applies only in \)S. Mon.-Fri., 6PM-8AM local time and all day SaL, SujIh, and seJea holidays. Prime dme hourly VAic SIS up lu 2-100 baud.

Some features subjea lo surchai^e and may \\ai be available outside U5. Prices and products listed as of Oct. 1, 1990 sulyect to ch;inge.

Telecommunication surcharges may apply Guarantee limited to one per customer and applies only to first month of use.

Circle Reader Service Number 177

CQIUIPUTE

PC View P&1

CLIFTON KARNES Windows 3.0 makes a big splash. News & Notes PC-4

ALAN R. BECHTOLD

Is Ihere a color scanner in your

fijture? Feedback PC-6

READERS

Top tips for compuler mainlenance

and cleaning. Becoming a PC

Environmentalist PC^

GEORGE CAMPBELL

Luriting in a little comer of your PCs

meinor)' is information most users

never sec. Here's everything you'll

need to master iL introDOS PC-16

TONY ROBERTS Should you upgrade your DOS ver- sion? Time-lested advice from our resident expen.

Power Up PC^17

CLIFTON KARNES Three super stocking stufTcrs for that special power user in your life.

BASIC Training PC-18

TOM CAMPBELL Why does QuickBASICs string han- dling make C and Pascal pro- grammers envious? Find out

Hot Tips PC-21

RE.\DERS

Those directory double dots revealed, WordMaster mail merge, and more. On Disk PC-22

GEORGE CAMPBELL Keep track of your floppy disks, mas- ter math, control your PCs environ- ment, save your screens, and more.

Online PC-24

GEORGE CAMPBELL Online games may be just the break you need. Here's a look at the best.

Graphical User Interfaces and Beyond PC-26

ROBERT BIXBY

Choose the user interface that's right for you.

AMIGA RESOURCE

Amiga View A-1

R,ANDY THOMPSON Bill Gates tells Randy, "Go west, young man." News & Notes A-2

EDITORS and SHELDON "THE EAR" LEEMON Neft\ new products, and insider gossip.

Disney's Animation Studio A-6

BEN and JE'^N MEANS Taking a look at Disney-style anima- tion brought to the .^iga, and the capcd figure behind it all.

Feedback A-1 4

READERS and EDITORS A Sticky situation, communication breakdowns, turbochai^ged Amigas, and more.

Programmer's Page A-18

RHETT ANDERSON and TIM

MIDKJFP

Amiga Resource veterans and

Neandersofl progtammeis Rhett

Anderson and Tim Midtiff look at

high-performance programming in

assembly language.

Abstractions A-22

ARLAN LEVITAN

In this episode, .\rlan discusses trying out other computers, really hea\7 software, and the evils of porting code.

Spotlight A-24

JOHN FOUST

Transferring images between Amigas, ^facs, and PCs. CU Clips A-26

JIM BUTTERnELD

You're missing out on some handy

CLI commands— who's Fault is it?

Just for Fun A-28

SH.A.V ADDAMS As we watch the local consumer electronics stores for signs of CDTV, some developers arc rushing to get titles out, while others are taking a vrait-and-CDTV attitude.

Art Gallery A-30

Computer art on display: African Girl, Pushpin, and Sufi Dancer.

Taking Sides A-32

RHETT ANDERSON vs. RANDY THOMPSON Does "try before you buy" shareware software help the Amiga, or is it help- ing to drive commercial software developers out of business?

GAZETTE

64/128 View G-1

TOM NETSEL

A man in a red suit pays a holiday visit to a M owner. News & Notes Gh2

EDITORS

The 64 lives, say? Commodoie. Take a Scan at This G^

ROBERT BIXBY

Esamiric a new hand-held scanner for the 64 and 128. Programmer's Page G-1 2

RANDY THOMPSON

Try these three delightfiil dazzlei^

sent in by readers. Beginner BASIC G-1 4

LARRY COTTON

Program multiple sprites. D'lversions G-1 6

FRED D'lONAZIO Is there an agent in your computer? Machine Language G-1 8

JIM BUTTERRELD

Lcam about the 128's BANK command. Feedback G-21

EDITORS and READERS Mail about a dynamic loader, a birth- day daubase, and more. PROGRAMS

Crown Quest G-2S

DANNY ENGLISH

Stock Market T28 G-30

GARY DYGERT

Fuse G-33

HUBERT CROSS

High VoHago G-36

PETER M. L. LOTTRUP

Text Filter G-38

KHTH GROCE

MAC View M-1

DAVID ENGLISH Boot-on-demand publishing. Getting Organized M-2

STIVEN ANZOVIN

Five personal database programs thai

cost less than J 100. HomeCard M-8

ROGER WOOD

Using text in HyperCard 2.0, Apple Picks IVI-7

GREGG KEIZER Create your own Christmas newsletter. News & Notes M-8

DAVID ENGLISH

System 7.0 slips up; Soviets link up;

older Macs speak up.

/

DISCOVER THE DESKMATE

ilTMMii

Give Your Computer the Ultimate in Ease of Use

Help Fi Dk 30, 1990 (^icken - C;\Q\!fflJSHGL!)

rr/!5f-:HUF;!;?-fcliFi;QmtV Eiitriir- fttivi'ie;

You'll love the user- friendly look and feel of DcskMate ;!S ic guides you comfortably through your tasks. DeskMace provides a similar "environment" for different applica- tions, sa it's easy to move from one pro- gram to another.

If you need help, DeskMate has easy on- screen instructions — and on most programs, help pertains specifi- cally to where you are within the program!

To move around in DeskMate, all you have to do is "roll" the mouse to point to one of the choices on your screen, "click" — and you're there!

Coridsm

mm

Kineiy-Eigilt and Wimnumxuumtxmwm^m ni^Jfl ^^.^ : 1243 SU Kain Stmt

OEjrK or Electric Conpanti

■.mil

HIHD ?5«ntery?fli

Nor?

s.ow.w

A- variety of convenient accessories coine with DeskMate productivity software— and most are available for use while using any DeskMate application. There's a handy phone list, a calendar, a calculator, a corkboard for daily reminders, a clip- board to hold imported text or graphics, and more.

DeskMate uses handy pull -down menus— similar from program to program — to present your options clearly. Select a menu from an ever-present "menu bar" at the top of the screen. Use your mouse or the key- board to highlight your choice.

Handy pop-up dialog boxes present your op- tions in simple, plain English . So you don 't have to figure out con- fusing computer syn- tax just to get started.

Unlike other graphical

user interfaces, DeskMate requires only a minimum of RAM— and can even be used on 8086-based PC compatibles!

Choose From Many Popular DeskMate-Based Software Packages— All With the Same Look and Feel.

Lotus SjuracLslim

Ded;Mat( .;. Q&.A Write

:^

tlipfPPtf]

Now an expanding selection of popular MS-DOS® based software packages run under DeskMate: like Lotus Spreadsheet for DeskMate, the award-winning Q&.A Write, the popular Quicken financial manager— and many more! And since all these applications use the same operating environment, when you learn to use one program you've learned to use them all!

CREMrtNC NEW STMNDARDS

PROVEN LEADERSHIP

Over 7,000 USA locations, 39,000 employees, seven research and development centers, 31 USA and overseas manulacturing plants — NOBODY COMPARES!

GUARANTEED SATISFACTION

Over 35 million customers benefit annually from our satisfaction guarantee. Putting you first fias made us #1 in PC compatibles— NOBODY COMPARES!

MMERICA'S TECtmOLOCV

Radio Shack is a division of Tandy Corp. MS-IKIS licensed from Microsoft Corp. Ciida Reader Service Number 104

EDITOR ALTICENSE

PETER

S C I S C 0

Except for the invention of mov- able type and the printing presses that it spawned, no medium has had as dramatic an effect on popular culture as the television. From its humble start half a century ago to the sophisticated array of im- ages it presents today, television's im- pact has been felt by almost every civilization worldwide. More and more, our collective memory is shaped by television images.

What I remember about growing up with television: The orange glow of vacuum tubes. The mysterious white dot that lingered when the set was switched off. My family's first color set, into the house far after most of the neighbors had made the change. A set of rabbit-ear antennas that looked hke a prop from a B-grade sci-fi flick and did nothing for reception. Only two channels, the local NBC and CBS affiliates.

Though it should've been a won- der, and I suppose it was to my parents and grandparents, the TV quickly became just an- other thing that had al- ways been there, no stranger than the radio or the phonograph. Television in the sixties, fueled by millions of baby-boomer eyes, framed the cusp of a new American culture, one set apart from pre- vious generations by its reliance on the moving image as an essential, if not primary, communi- cations medium.

Almost since its in- ception, TV has been re- viled as an enemy to literacy and critical thinking, a vulgar de- vice of endless chatter and images, bubble gum for the eyes. Looking at television's emphasis on entertainment (even in its presentation of the

"news"), it's difficult to argue against that view. But with the advent of per- sonal computers and the inventive fu- sion that's already taking place between that technology and televi- sion, the future of television may yet dismiss those arguments as shortsight- ed. Television provides a commonal- ity of experience and is the cornerstone of what Marshall Mc- Luhan called the global village, a phrase that takes on added meaning in the age of the personal computer. As a multifaceted communica- tions device, TV has surpassed all but the most outlandish predictions. And even those predictions considered too far out (or bad financial risks, like videotex) may eventually come to pass as technologies such as HDTV and fiber optics become common- place. Even so, TV remains the Rod- ney Dangerfield of communications, a technological marvel taken for grant- ed and given no respect. No one calls

the TV the visually enhanced audio information unit; everyone calls it the tube.

Computer technology may change all of that. Televisions have for some time now embraced silicon- based circuitry at the expense of tubes, solder, and wire. The line that sepa- rates a television from a computer is blurring. Entertainment centers across the country bristle with TVs that look and act more like computer monitors than traditional television sets. Hard- wired and cable-ready, the latest gen- eration of sets represents the first step in digital-information delivery for all consumers. That delivery, from a va- riety of sources, is the next logical step for TV and for consumer computing.

In its ability to process infor- mation, the home computer exceeds the capability of the most advanced television. Television, by comparison, excels in its ability to disseminate information. It can be argued which capability is the more powerful — the one that promotes an individ- ual's access to and mas- tery of information or ■ • the one that carries a

message to more people faster and with more impact than any other single device on the planet.

Either way, the de- velopment of the per- sonal computer and the evolution of the TV arc proceeding along paths of ultimate intersection. Where they will meet. sometime in the mid to late nineties, is a digital world of customized information delivery and manipulation. Smart TVs, customized news services, personal- ized entertainment ven- ues— all coming through your door by wire. Information for the video age. a

ANNOUNCING THE NEW $35 MONEY MANAGEMENT SOLUTION...

'Comes with perhaps the friendliest user interface of any financial program an excellent value.

—Compute! Magazine

MONEYCOUNTS

n

"One of the besi personal finance managers published —PC Computing Magazine

GUARANTEED.

"I was impressed. It wins the cost-effective award." —John Dvorak PC Magazine

"mnEYCQUNTS is one of the finest examples ofjustlfow good inexpensive software can be."

— Leonard Hyre, PCM Magazine

We invite you to examine MONEYCOUNTS. it's the clear choice for home and business. MONEYCOUNTS is CPA designed, easy to use, menu driven with on-line help, and requires no accounting experience. You'll appreciate the ease with which MONEYCOUNTS ....

■ Manages your cash, checking, savings & credit cards.

■ Prepares your budget and compares it to your actual results.

■ Quickly balances your checkbook. Its Smart Checkbook Balancer even locates errors when they occur.

■ Prints eight types of financial statements (including net worth) and six types of inquiry reports.

■ Prints general ledger and accountant's trial balance.

■ Lets you optionally save any report to disk or display it on screen. You can even export directly to Lotus 1-2-3^ or Quattrrf.

■ Prints any type of pin feed (or laser) check.

■ Handles up to 999 accounts and 100,000 transactions a year. " Estimates your persona! income tax.

■ Analyzes financing options & savings programs - computes interest rates & loan payments - prints amortization & accumulation schedules.

• Manages mail lists - prints labels and index cards.

■ Displays and prints three dimensional graphics (both pie charts and bar graphs).

■ Provides password protection, fiscal year support, pop-up note pad, pop-up calculator, DOS shell, automatic backup of your data files, and much more.

'^^"'H^^A^tt^^-- i^^

375 Collins Road NE Cedar Rapids, lA 52402

Hard to believe the low price? Don't worry! There's no catch. Ifyoii're not 100% satisfied, return MONEYCOUNTS within 30 days for a full refund

(excluding shipping).

Over 200,000 users have decided in favor of MONEYCOUNTS!

Try it today and see for yourself.

For Same Day Shipping

VISA, MasterCard, American Express, Discover

and C.O.D. orders welcome. Call

1-800-223-6925

(FAX 1-319-393-1002)

Men. - Fri. 8:30 a.m. to 9 p.m.. Sat. 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. CST

Or send check or money order payable to Parsons Technology.

MONEYCOUNTS®

$35 + $5 shipping

Nol copy proltclcd.

Includes primed manual and

FREE technical support

375 Collins Road NE Cedar Rapids, lA 52402

Name

Address

City

Zip

. Phone L

.State.

L

Q Check or Money Order Q MasterCard d Discover

LS American Express [^ Visa

Card * Exp. Date^

Circle Reader Service Numlwr 1B0

MoneyCmtnts requirfs an IBMITandylCompaq or compmibte compiaer.3&4K RAM and DOS 2.11 or higher, 2 dhk drives (ttr hard disk), Works wiih all printers and motdiors. Add S5 skippinglhandling -SIO outside Ntirth America. Iowa residents, ptease add 4% sales ta.\.

CODE= MCC0MI2

NEWS & NOTES

Spinnaker Spins Off Titles

Spinnaker, the company respon- sible for such hit educational titles over the years as FaceMaker, SnooperTroops, and KidWriter, has decided to concentrate its ef- forts on productivity softw/are. The company sold its Spinnaker and Springboard educational soft- ware lines to Queue, a Fairfield, Connecticut, software company. Queue will continue to sell all of the Spinnaker and Springboard educational products, said Jona- than Kantrowitz, CEO of Queue, In addition, it will bring back some products that Spinnaker was no longer marketing and revise some of the older titles. Spinnaker, which began as an educational software company in 1 982, sold off the titles so that it could con- centrate on its BetterWorking pro- ductivity series and Plus hypermedia program. —DENNY ATKIN

What Next— A Papal BBS?

Has the world got you down? Don't give up hope; call the Pope on the Popeline, a new 900 num- ber run by Sprint USA. It features Pope John Paul H's daily mes- sage and costs $2.00 for the first minute and $0.95 for each addi- tional minute. The Pope records his own messages. Call (900) 230- POPE, -DAVID ENGLISH

New Mac Attack

Seeing an "at-home computer" market rather than a "home com- puter" market, Apple Computer unveiled in October a new line of lower-priced Macintosh computers, but it didn't announce the long- rumored $ 1 ,600 color Mac.

Three new Macintosh models were introduced. The Mac Qassic has the familiar upright look and built-in monochrome monitor of the SE and Plus models. The Classic comes with 2 megabytes of RAM, a 40-megabyte hard disk, and a keyboard; it carries a suggested retail price of about $ 1,500. A single-floppy disk configuration is available for around $1,000.

The Macintosh LC (for Low-cost Color) is modular, with a sepa- rate monitor and CPU. The CPU unit itself is the sleekest of all Macs, with a small footprint and thin case. Aimed at the business, education, and at-home markets, the LC with 2 megabytes of RAM, a 40-megabyte hard disk, a 12-inch RGB color monitor, and a keyboard should have a suggested retail price of about S3,000.

The upper tier of the market was addressed by the Macintosh Ilsi, another modular Mac. Configured with 2 megabytes of RAM, a 40- megabyte hard disk, a 13-inch high-resolution color monitor, and a keyboard, the Mac Ilsi (for Simply Irresistible) was expected to carry a suggested retail price of around $4,600.

Both the Mac Classic and Mac Ilsi were to be available on the Oc- tober 1 5 announcement date. The LC was, at press time, to be an- nounced in October, but it may not be available until early 1991.

The decision to equip all configurations of the new Macs with at least two megabytes of RAM means that the computers are ready for System 7.0, the latest and much-delayed update of the Macintosh op- erating system software. System 7.0 is expected to be released early in 1991.

Both the LC and Ilsi come with a microphone, allowing for sound input as well as output. For the education market, an Apple He emula- tion board for the LC was announced, but it wasn't expected to be ready before the spring of 1 99 1 ; the board should retail for under $200.

While the new Macintoshes don't directly address the home con- sumer, at least not with color, as had been widely expected, the ma- chines do represent a substantial shift in Apple's pricing strategy. The LC fills a gap in the modular Macintosh line, providing for the first time a relatively low-cost color-Macintosh capability. Street prices for the new machines should be substantially lower than suggested retail pricing.

Apple representatives declined to comment on the recent rein- vigoration of the home computer by IBM, Tandy, and others. Com- puters in the home, according to company spokespersons, are extensions of those in the office or the classroom rather than being true home information appliances. In other words, if you're not using a computer for work or school, you may not have much need for one at home.

Apple representatives also noted that the company's Apple II and IlGS lines would continue to be supported, ^KEITH FERRELL

Circle Reader Service Numbef 3S0

8 COMPUTE

DECEMBER 1990

LucasArts on the art and science of entertainment

WORNKG

NltflS

TOYIACrORy

HAS ITS

UPS AND

DO\^NS.

Tired of the same old 9 to 5? Then it' s time to punch in forthe Night Shi/r at industrial Might and Logic, And take control of the wackiest, wildest, toy-making machine you've ever imagined.

Here's your chance to punch out DarthVader ™ Or Luke Sky walker™ Indiana Jones? even Zak McKracken: mini- ature dolls of your favorite Lucasfilm characters. But make sure you get their heads screwed on right. Or this might be your last day on the job.

Each eight hour shift takes just a few minutes to complete, But the better you get, the tougher your job gets. Bigger Quotas. Pesky lawyers. Furry pests. And of course llinjiccil ■■'" thmKhim hardly ever IHaSS^ISiilll breaks down.

^ • Recycled industrial mste becomes fantastic piislic ■ if you can keep your cool.

' One wrongsqueezeofpaint and you'll turn ArtooDeeloo ^ green with envy.

'Asqmrtofglue,awt}ackin the head, and a toy is born.

■_ • You probably won't need the ^ automatic quality controller, Lil because you'll never tnake "■^ mistakes,

^ 'Pack 'em up, ship 'em out, ' c make a bundle, and go home.

A DIVISION OFLUCASARTS ENTERTAINMENT COMPAKY

M^Srvfts availaOe br 8U znH

100°;* corrpairbies, Amiga. CommodOrB 64120, aid Atari ST personal compuiers Vs;yojrre:a!£r orGrdefd;fec!VA"i ■Ji'±\'C':. ccl^ral-ECO-S'i^.Z-A-S -C-3^=z^

[■acernarks cl Lxa^l Im ud. M rights resBfvsd. IBM is a iraaeirarV cf fn;efr^W)n3f B^jiiness Machines, inc Amitja ts a JrafleTjri; ol CoTimodoJE- Amga. Ire. CoTmcooie y and t2B are S32e?r.5rxs cf Cownotoe Eleci(0!>cs , Inc. Aian and ST a/f trademaTkE o! Alan Dyp. Circle Reader Service Number 204

NEWS & NOTES continued fmm page 8

Supercomputer Medicine,

Eli Lilly, the fourth largest U.S. pharmaceutical firm, has added a Cray-2 supercomputer to the arsenal of tools it's applying to the devel- opment of new drugs.

Because pharmaceutical research rests upon complex molecular modeling — remember those colored Ping-Pong balls and straws from high school chemistry? — the arrival of the supercomputer is expected to speed up the research process. The Cray-2 enables researchers to "build" proteins and enzymes, depict them on monitors, and simulate their interaction with experimental pharmaceutical compounds. Using the computer, scientists can rotate, assemble, disassemble, and view chemical structures in a fraction of the time previously required.

Lilly scientists and researchers have undertaken training in super- computer operation and are applying the Cray-2 to the search for cures or treatments for AIDS, Alzheimer's disease, and other currently in- tractable medical challenges. —KEITH FERRELL

Software Justice League of America

The computer software industry is increasingly litigious, and program- mers are banding together to protect their ability to create new software without fear of being sued.

The League for Programming Freedom (LPF) was founded to op- pose look-and-feel lawsuits, software patents, and other monopolistic computer industry practices. Richard Stallman, president of the organi- i^ation, Is best known as the founder of the Free Software Foundation, a group that has, among other things, worked to create a freely distri- butable UNIX clone called GNU.

The LPF points to the Lotus Development suit against Paperback Software, where Paperback was found guilty of infringing on Lotus's copyrights because its spreadsheet obeyed the keystroke commands used in Lotus 1-2-3 and had a similar user interface. The LPF's position paper opposing the look-and-feel copyrights compares this suit to a company filing a user-interface copyright on the steering wheel.

"During the span of the copyright, we would have gotten cars steered with joysticks, cars steered with levers, and cars steered with pedals. Each car user would have to choose a brand of car to learn to drive, and it would not be easy to switch," the paper states.

LPF members are also concerned about software patents. The U.S. Patent Office has issued patents on techniques the organization calls obvious, such as using an exclusive OR (XOR) to display a cursor (a technique used by most computers) or the technique of storing an obscured part of an onscreen window in memory so it can be redrawn quickly when the obscuring window disappears.

More than 2000 software patents have already been granted, the LPF says, with 700 granted in 1 990 alone. The organization worries that if obvious or easily derived programming techniques are patented, the sheer number of patents will keep small companies out of the software business. Patent search fees and licensing costs make software devel- opment prohibitively expensive. New York-based REFAC Technology Development, for example, owner of the patent rights for the natural- order recalc technique used in spreadsheets, is demanding 5 percent of all earnings from spreadsheet sales.

The LPF plans to serve as an information resource and to actively lobby against programming restrictions. For more information, contact The League for Programming Freedom, 1 Kendall Square #143, P.O. Box 9171, Cambridge, Massachusetts 02139, or call (617) 243-4091.

—DENNY ATKIN

THE EYES

EIT

Computer usen can dramatically

reduce eyestrain by using indirect lighting, according to a new study from Cornell University.

The study compared con- ventional computer-area over- head fluorescent lighting with indirect, bounced fluorescent lighting. Workers who used con- ventional overhead lighting had 25 percent more complaints of eyestrain.

The study found 71 percent of those using the indirect light- ing and 74 percent of those using conventional lighting preferred the indirect lighting. The most popular form of lighting consist- ed of lensed indirect fluorescent lights that focused light toward the ceiling. —DAVID ENGLISH

Rejected Suitor

The signs read "Drop the Suit, We Have You Surrounded" and "Can Las \fegas Sue Atlantic City?" as about 320 marchers protested Lotus Development's recent bout of lawsuits protecting the look and feel of 1-2-3. The Au- gust 2 rally at Lotus's Cambridge, Massachusetts, office was orga- nized by the League for Program- ming Freedom (LPF). The LPF believes user interfaces shouldn't be copyrighted.

Highlights of the demonstra- tion included the protesters' hex chant: "1-2-3^, kick that lawsuit out the door; 5-6-7-8, innovate — don't litigate; 9-A-B-C, Interfaces should be free; D-E-F-0, look-and- feel has got to go." —DAVID ENGLISH B

10 COMPUTE

DECEMBER 1990

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Addams Admired r am in the process of upgrading from a Commodore 64 to an IBM done. Since I became interested in the PC world, I began to read your magazine and have recently bought a subscrip- tion. Let me tell you, I think your magazine is great. It has the right bal- ance between business and entertain- ment software, and I love it, I have one suggestion, though. I used to subscribe to Commodore Magazine before it was sold to Run. Since I have switched to COMPUTE, I only miss one thing from Commo- dore Magazine. It is a monthly col- umn that Shay Addams wrote, which was dedicated totally to adventure (RPG) games. Mr. Addams would have reviews and hints and would keep us posted on the newest games. I really think it would be great if COM- PUTE could adopt something like this, and I think other adventurers would, too, JOSHUA EUDY STATESVILLE. NC Good news, Joshua. COMPUTE readers whose edition includes the Amiga Resource section will be able to enjoy Shay Addams's ideas on a regular basis. His column is called "Just for Fun. " For the rest of our subscribers. Nebula and Hugo award winner Orson Scott Card continues his meditations on computer games every month in "GamePlay. " October Issues I just got your October magazine, and it is GREAT! I love the new setup and the way you split up the information into different sections. I subscribed in June and got my first magazine on September 14, and the subscription is due to expire next June, which is obviously not the full 12 months. Will I get all 12 issues? Also, do you have a special COMFt/re edition for just IBM own- ers? That's the part I read and focus on. One suggestion I have is to make the SharePak and the On Disk avail-

able for Amiga, Commodore, and Macintosh users. I would hke to mention that I thought "How to Get Started with Programming" was an excellent idea for anybody who might like to learn a Uttle bit more about different pro- gramming, and it may even get some people interested in it. I also think that the "Feedback" column is very helpful. STEVE RISH INDIANAPOLIS. IN Thanks for your encouraging re- sponse to the October issue. We're glad your like the new format, and we appreciate readers' comments and suggestions. Rest assured that you will get all of your subscription, which be- gins with the October issue and will run for 12 months. During the tran- sition from our previous owner to our new corporate parent, we took a brief hiatus. We do print a special edition just for MS-DOS computer owners. If you would like to change the edi- tion to which you subscribe, just let us know when your subscription comes due for renewal. In the mean- time, enjoy the added home com- puter knowledge you'll be getting in the Amiga Resource and Gazette sections. Your suggestion about disk products for each of the sections is a goad one; however, the only disk product we lack now is one for the Macintosh. Let's hear from all you Macintosh owners — would you like a SharePak disk for your Apple? Do you have questions or comments? Send your letter — with your name, ad- dress, and daytime telephone num- ber—to COMPUTE Feedback. 324 West Wendover Avenue, Suite 200, Greensboro, North Carolina 27408. We regret that, due to the volume of mail received, we cannot respond indi- vidually to questions. We reserve the right to edit tetters for clarity and length. E

12 COMPUTE

DECEMBER 1990

CDfUlPUTE

EDITORIAL Editor in Chief Peter Scisco Art Director Rot>in Case SBnior Editor Keith Ferrell Managing Editor Oavid Hensley Jr. Editor. PC Cfifton Karnas Editor, Amiga Resource Randy Tlioitipson Edhor, Gazetto Tom Nietsel Associate Editors Denny Atkin Robert Bixb/ David English Assistant Editor Mike Hudnali Copy Editors Karen Huffman Karen Siepak Edilorlai Assistant Kandi SyKes Contributing Editors Shay Addams, Rhett Anderson. Afan R. Bechtold. Jim BiJtterfieid, George Campbell. Tom Campbell. Larry Cotton, Fred D'Ignazio. John Foust. Sheldon Leemon, Allan Levrtan, Tony Roberts

ART

Assistant Art Director Kenneth Hardy Typesetter Teiry Cash

PRODUCTtON Production Manager De Potter

Traffic Manager Barbara A. Witliams

PROGRAMMING Programming Manager Richard C. Leinecker Programmers Bruoe Bowderi Joyce Sides Troy Tucker

ADMINISTRATION President Kalhy Keeton Executive Vice President William Tynan Olfice Manager Sybil Agee Sr. Adminrstrative Assistant,

Customer Service Julia Reming Administrative Assistant EKreda Chavis

ADVERTISING Vice President, Associate Publisher Bernard J. TTieotald Jr.

(2t2) 496-6100

Marketing Manager Caroline Hanlon

(9191 275-9B09

ADVERTISING SALES OFFICES East CpAifc Fuii-Pflgs and Standard Display Ada— 'Semsrd J. Thootakl Jr.. Ctiris CCNairiO; COMPUTE Public^tons IrrtOfngtKjnal Ltd., 1965 Bfoaciwa)*. Nev/ Yoih. NY 10023; (212)496-6100. Eatl Coatt Fraclional and Produci Marl Ads— Carolina Manton, MarltBting Man- ager; COMPUTE Publications Iniernatjonal Ltd., 324 W. Wendover five., Siit^ 2O0. Greensboro. NC 27iOS: (919) 275-M09. SouJlieattarn Accts. Mgr.: Full-Paga. Standard Digip^y^ and Maii-Ordar Ada — Harr>ei Rogers. T725 K St. NW. Wastiingioo. D.C. 20O06; [2D2) 72S- 0389 Florida:. Ja^ W Rorrier Assocales. 3300 NE IHnd 5l . Sune 912, AventufH, FL 33180; (305] 933-1-167. MIdwBit: Full-Pago and Stand- ard Dtiplay Ada— Starr Lano, Waiional Accounts Wanagar; 1025 Cres- Cflni Blvd . Glen BJyn, li. 60137; f/OS) 79(K:I71. Mldwatt Fractlonfll, Product Mart, and Claitiried Ada— Barbara va^es, iS Vii ^Si C^ntlwwxJ Ln , Warrerviiie. IL 60555, i[7{)BJ 393-1399 Mld-South- vwsL Jcrf Surlesor. Tamara Cramer. Carof Orr; CaroJ On & Co.. 3500 ^^apie, Suns 500. Dallas. TX 75219; |214) 521-61 16- West Coast: Education/ Enlerl0in.m9nt — Jerry TlTompson, Jules E. Thompson Co.. 1290 Howard fi*/e.. Suite 302. Bjrlingame. CA 94010; (415} 3^8-6222. Western Accts. Mgr.: Productivily/HwniO Oftice — lar Urigviood, 5728 Eton flt/e.. Conoga Park. CA 91303: (8l8l 992-4777. Weat COBit Frac- 9onai Kail-Ord«r, Shirawart, and Product M^n Ads— LuQiie Den- nis, Jules E Thcmpson Co.. 1290 Howard Are , Suie 303. Buriirigame. CA 94010. (707) d5l -8209. U.K * Europ»— Beverty Wfefdale, 14 Lisgar Ten-,, London W14. England; On -441 -6(^-3296. Japan— Inlergroup GommumcaDons, Ltd., Jjro Semtia, Present: ^P T<ger BkJg, 5-22 Shiba-toen. 3-CnofTre, Minato-hu, Tokyo 105. Japan; 03-434-2607

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ADMINISTRATION Sr. VP/Adm'nistrative Services. Jeri Winston; Sr. VP/Art A Graphics: pTsnk Dewino; VP/fiewssland Cltculaiion: Maroa Orovitz; VP/Drrector of New Magazine Development: Rona Cherry: VP Dirsciot Sstes Promo- tions: Beverly Gretper; VP ProducTian: HaS Halpoer; Controtler: Patrick J. Gavin; at Newzstand Orculaliiy}: Pad Rolfiidc O^r, fJgw^sland Cfrctila- tion DismCsuiron Cnatlts Anderson, Jr.; Oir. Nowssiind Cif!:utgtion Marketing Bruce EkJrxJge.Dif Sut^scnpuon Circulation: \ARfcia Sc^tAz; Dtectot ol fiosearch. Rot>ert Partner, Atfv&rfjsinj Protiuchon Director: Chariene Smith. At^vervsing Produciion Traffic Mgr.: Mark Williams; Tra^ tic Dir.: WFlliam Harbull; ProducUin Mgr.: Tom SfinscMl; Ass I Protfyctiw? Mgr.. Nancy Rice: Foreign Edilior.^ Mgr.: M^Jhael Slevensfxec Ass't- to Bob Gucaone: Diarie O'Connel!; Bxsc. Ass ( to Devid J. Myerson: Ten Pisam: Specie} Asst w Bot Gixcione: Jane Homfeh.

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14 COMPUTE DECEMBER 1990

Tune. Ik ih ^utUAe

If you've had it up lo here with uninspired, overpro- duced, poorly acted, and badly written comedies, dramas, commercials, documentaries, game shows, car- loons, lalkfests, and newscasts, take heart. The most successful consumer electronics product of the century and the most influential information technology of all time are coming together to cre- ate hundreds, even thousands, of potential new products, programs, services, and opportunities. After half a century of analog life, television is about to become a digital medium. Your televi- sion is entering the computer age.

Television waves, like radio waves, use a portion of the electromagnetic spectrum, and there's only so much spectrum to go around, A variety of distribution alternatives are now avail- able, all made for the digital world. Fiber optics can carry tens of thousands of digital signals at once — and carrj^ them not only from source to receiver, but also from your receiver back out into the world. Compact discs and laser discs are already being used as video publishing media. Computers increasingly possess TV-like capabili- ties, just as TVs contain larger and larger amounts of computing power.

The ramifications of that power can only be glimpsed today. Who, 50 years ago, would have predicted the myriad ways television has changed society? Our purpose, here, is to offer a few informed glimpses, imagine a few conse- quences, and make some qualified guesses.

There's an underlying conceit to our specu- lation, and that's the idea of interactive television.

Once a television program — or anything — has been digitized, it can easily be manipulated. We're all familiar with the convenience of word processing, the pleasure of interactive computer games, the potential of electronic learning. Add full-motion video and high-quality digitized sound to the equation, and you're on the brink of TV that we control, rather than the other way around.

What exactly does this mean for all of us couch potatoes stretched out in front of the tube? Don't touch that dial — you're about to find out.

J\p^ 05 OfM. W £y£

, At Apple Computer, multi- media is where television, film, music, and interactive computer programs come to- gether. A top-of-the-line Mac- intosh can display any of 16.7 million colors, providing tremendous potential for displaying lifelike pictures on your computer monitor. Link this system with the superb sound of audio CDs, the 54,000 still or moving video images available from a single laser videodisc, and the vast software storage capacity of CD- ROM discs, and you'll soon see why many in the industry think we're on the verge of truly interac- tive television.

Apple's CEO John Sculley himself set the tone for Apple's vision in Odyssey-, his 1987 autobiography. In that book, he described what he called a Knowledge Navigator, "a tool as gal- vanizing as the printing press."

To make Scuiley's dream come true, Apple's multimedia lab is working closely with Lucas- film Games to develop the new visual vocabu- lary t-hat will join computer graphics with video images. Much as D. W. Griffith had to invent cinematic techniques in his early films because there was no one to teach him, today's multime- dia pioneers face the challenge of building an en- tirely new art form.

Some of the new video tools are truly star- tling. In one of Lucasfilm's techniques, a Hyper- Card flip-book animation moves to the edge of the computer screen, disappears, and then con- tinues, as live video, on an adjacent television screen. A Macintosh coordinates the transfer of image from computer screen to TV screen. .Apple and Lucasfilm have also collaborated with the Smithsonian Institution and the National .Audu- bon Society to combine new technology with ar- chival film and video.

As early as 1983, Apple acknowledged that we think visually as well as linguistically. With faster processors, better display technologies, and more sophisticated compression techniques, computers are rapidly moving toward full- motion video. By merging the best of video and computer technologies, we may soon see the day when television at last lives up to its potential — as a true window on the world and an instrument for learning about ourselves. t>

DECEMBER 1990

COMPUTE fS

Ik 'Eke, Tube

Businesses and cor- porations are turn- ing to television as a training aid lo heip improve efficiency, increase productivity, and aid employees in ac- quiring new skills. IBM is already marketing a variety of interactive TV tools and applications aimed at busi- ness and institutional needs.

Big Blue's approach to interactive video training began in 1 983 with a product called Info- Window, which combines an analog video signal, typi- cally from a videodisc, with a personal computer equipped with a touch- screen monitor. More recently, the technology has evolved into the M- Motion Video Adapter, a system that can take an analog signal from any NTSC {American television), PAL (European television), or other video source, digitize it, and display it either full screen or in a window format on any VGA computer monitor. In ef- fect, M-Motion lets employees watch TV at a workstation while running other computer programs.

"Employers might be a little dis- appointed to see you watching soaps in the afternoon," says IBM Market- ing Manager Peter Blakeney, "but some of our clients require it. We sold a good number of these [systems] to the National Security Agency. They have a requirement that certain staff monitor the news services, CNN, C- Span, and a few other networks to keep as current on late-breaking hap- penings around the world as the CIA, FBI, or any other agency."

Operators monitor the television signal in a window while the major portion of the screen is occupied by word processing or other more tradi- tional computer activities. If a certain story on the video feed merits more attention, the operator can at any time bring the signal to full screen and in- crease the volume.

In most applications, however, the video signal will come from a tape or disc rather than from a live TV sig- nal. "There are enormous markets that we see for multimedia," Blakeney says. "There's training: industrial, on the job, and skill transfers. There's education: kindergarten on up. There's merchandising, where we place multi- media kiosks out where the shoppers are and try to compel them to buy, augmenting retail employees."

Another application includes commercial and business presenta- tions. Interactive TV presentations can be as simple as a product presen- tation at a sales meeting or as complex as a conceptual presentation by an ad- vertising agency to a client.

1 OoMMDdoiie.'s Qcmebaok

What better way to sneak compu- ters into unsuspecting homes than by marrying two of the most popular home entertainment devices: the television and the CD player?

That's what Commodore is try- ing to do with CDTV, an Amiga- based multimedia CD-ROM player designed for home use. While appear- ances aren't everything, CDTV's sleek black VCR-like cabinet certainly looks more at home next to the stereo than on the computer desk.

"We've taken a Trojan Horse ap- proach by putting computer capabili- ties into a familiar box; it just becomes a natural expansion of the home entertainment center," says Da- vid Rosen, Commodore's director of international marketing.

Rosen believes CDTV will be ac- cepted by consumers who have previ- ously avoided computers. CDTV, he feels, will be seen as an enhanced CD player. Along with computerlike edu- cational and entertainment software, CDTV will also play standard audio CDs and CD+G (CD plus Graphics: audio discs vvith visuals, computer graphics, or lyric texts encoded on un- used tracks). CDTV isn't being mar- keted as a CD player with a computer inside, but as a CD player that plays a bigger variety of discs.

"Consumers have no problem moving from a single medium to mul- tiple media," Rosen explains. "TVs aren't just passive terminals anymore. In the past few years, consumers have been attaching VCRs, videogames, computers, and laser discs to them; and all these have made TV accept- able as an interactive medium."

CDTV's success will depend upon its software. "Consumers don't care about boxes; they care about [en- tertainment] programming." says Ro- sen. Recalling the spreadsheet that essentially created the microcomputer

industry. Commodore hopes for a CDTV version of Visicalc, a product so impressive, so unique, that people will buy a CDTV player just to use it.

"It's like MTV and music vid- eos," Rosen says. "Cable TV created a new entertainment genre. No one an- ticipated it. We don't know what we will be doing with the [CDTV] tech- nology two years from now."

i The future of com- puter education is here now, and it's called interactive video. This tech- nology combines an interactive computer program with as much as two hours of video from a single videodisc. Sometimes a CD- ROM player is added to the mix for an additional 650 megabytes of computer-based material.

Ufe Story combines full-motion video, Interactive text, and hypermedia indexing to make television come alive.

The Voyager Company, of Santa Monica, California, specializes in la- ser-disc and interactive multimedia programs. To get a sense of the breadth of Voyager's interests, look at just a few of the company's recent re- leases: Eadweard Muybridge: Motion Studies, Vienna: The Spirit of a City. Bird Anatomy II. and The National Gallery of Art.

Life Story, developed by Lucas- film, the Smithsonian Institution, and .\pple Computer, includes the 1986 BBC drama "Race for the Double He- lix" and adds sound bites, video clips, text profiles, computer-generated dia- grams, and videotaped interviews with the scientists involved in the search for the structure of DN.A.. The information in Life Story is indexed through a DNA-like double helix — one strand indicates scenes from the BBC drama while the other leads to supplemental information. t>

16

COMPUTE

DECEMBER 1990

I

Blast From The Past.

For 150 million years, extroordinory creatures roamed the face of the earth, then suddenly disappeared. Bring them bock, in full-color, 3-D animation. With Designasairus II.*

Match wits with a 1 0-ton tyrant. Leorn how the dinosaurs lived. Or create your own, and see if it could survive. But be careful, or you might end up as someone's lunch!

Vow lost 9ft «99t

Be a lizard wizord. Find all the parts of the missing dinosour, and get nomed Chief Scientist.

Save the Joshasourusl Print out your dinosaur designs, and make T-shirts for you and your friends.

^

Designasaurus II from Britannica Softwore. It's beostly fun. For the name of the dealer nearest you call 1 -800-572-2272.

* lUquin IBM H w 1 DOS rompniUe, SI 2K SUM ad EGA if VGA. i^tA KwmerM. © 1990, Jrimnitt Sohwre. Inc.

^

BRITANNICA' SOFTWARE

Clicle Reader Service Number 125

The Teacher's Living World is an interactive multimedia program de- veloped on a Macintosh Ilci for the St. Louis Zoo's The Living World ex- hibit. Teachers can select audio, vid- eo, graphic, and text material and save it to VHS videocassette, laser printer, or computer disk, creating their own classroom presentations, .'\vailable re- sources include an entire biology te.xt- book, as much as 140 hours of full- motion color video from a special videodisc jukebox, and prepackaged "multimedia sets" that cover the most popular topics. Teachers can preview, add, delete, or rearrange their selec- tions before recording them to video- tape. They can also add their own titles and narration.

Unlike other electronic media, interactive video lets students and teachers set their own pace and active- ly participate in the selection of mate- rial. Attracted by the vast storage capacity of laser discs and CD- ROMs — where a single disc can con- tain paintings from the world's major museums or all the text from a com- plete encyclopedia — schools are forg- ing computers and televisions into unique learning tools.

Imagine putting Tom Brokaw on hold in the mid- dle of a story on com- puter technology and sending your TV out to find more details than a two-minute news stor\' can provide. Accessing databases throughout the world, your TV assembles a package of information that you can peruse at your leisure.

Better yet, how about a "per- sonalized"' evening newscast? As your TV grows smarter, it will be able to accommodate more and more your particular programming needs. Suppose you're interested in space travel, biotechnology stocks, and the Boston Red Sox, but not at all inter- ested in clothing fashion, movie stars, or food. Your television may soon be able to scan hundreds of news sources around the clock, col- lecting stories that impinge upon your interests, flagging others that it "thinks" you might be interested in, notifying you of important stories that you "should" know about. >

18 COMPUTE

D E C E M

EI? 19 9 0

^g.:^^^-

"Unquestionably the Game of the Year"

^A Truly Great Concept and Magnificent Implementation. Amen." &

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ELECTRONIC ARTS^

BULLFROG

HOW TO ORDER

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You need TEMPRA

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M Super VGA TEMPRA v2.01 $395,00 M TEMPRA Primer demo copy $15.95*

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You won't have lo constantly re- program the smart set, as you must with contemporary VCRs; it will learn yoijr preferences and remember them. Very quickly, the TV set comes to "know" your interests and act accord- ingly on your behalf.

Some of the required technology is already in place. Closed-captioning, for example, may serve a dual purpose. In addition to enabling the hearing- impaired to receive information, those captions may serve as an index to television content. "Search," you might tell your TV, "for every men- tion of the planet Mars in the past 24 hours." A moment later, the set re- ports its findings.

Rudimentary experiments with interactive news are in development. Call-in programs have long offered one level of interactivity. Earlier this year CNN experimented with viewer selection of news stories. ABC News has developed interactive videodisc presentations for classroom use. Sev- eral large news agencies have experi-

mented with videotex services, deliv- ering wire reports directly to homes. Tomorrow's evening news will likely be an amalgam of all these ser- . vices and approaches, delivering deeper and more useful information than Edward R. Murrow could ever have imagined.

This much power will doubtless be regulated by the federal govern- ment, won't it? Not necessarily.

Since so many of the new com- puter/television technologies and de- livery systems don't use traditional radio frequencies (RF), traditional means of regulating TV broadcasts don't apply.

"You can transmit anything you want to over fiber optic, and we don't care. Fiber is not RF, and it's outside our purview," says John Reed, elec- tronic engineer, Technical Standards Branch, Federal Communications Commission.

It's different with traditional ca- ble transmissions. "Cables radiate RF," Reed says, "so the FCC regulates it. But fiber doesn't radiate — only where it actually interfaces with trans- mission and reception equipment to convert light to RF energy does the FCC get involved."

In Reed's view, fiber is coming online just in time. "The spectrum's already too crowded," he says. "You're not going to be able to load tens of thousands of new signals onto it. There's only about two megahertz of unallocated spectrum left — and everybody wants it."

Although the FCC isn't the only government agency overseeing the media. Reed sees regulation as a mi- nor issue. Far larger is the question of whether or not the fiber network needed to create interactive TV will ever be put into place.

"Putting in a cable system was expensive," Reed says, "but a fiber system will be even more expensive. It's going to take a lot of capital."

If broadcast television serves as an example, computer TV will also generates lot of capital. And that should ensure solid investment.

S\/o^d. 5110M. Ota

SpOWSOAS ^ It may not be long before the com- mercials on your TV appear because you are female, make S50,000, live in New Jersey, and have bought an airline ticket within the last three months. The marriage of com- puters and television enables advertis- ers to target a specific audience and to deliver very specific information.

Many of the tools and techniques of interactive television are being de- veloped on existing telecommunica- tions services, and some online ser\'ices already carry advertising. Ads on Prodigy, for example, are tied to the gender and age of the user, as well as to the editorial content of the service.

If, for example, you spend time in Prodigy's food and wine area, you will be shown gourmet food ads. If that "leader ad" piques your interest, you can elect to see more information. Ac- cording to Steve Hein, program man- ager of communications with Prodigy Services, the ad package immediately fills one viewer need: instant gratifica- tion. Another advantage of the self- selective ad package is that it is nonintrusive — only interested viewers receive the extended ads.

Stgn-otjtj

Our time's up al- ready? But we haven't even scratched the surface! Hardly a glance at interactive TV entertainment, barely a mention of the role the phone companies may play in all of this, not even a nod at the global implications.

And there are questions yet un- raised. Where do the networks fit into this brave new picture tube? What creative video tools will we have in our homes? How far can all of this go? The answers to these questions? Stay tuned. Q

Senior Editor Keith Ferrell coordinated our PC-TV connection coverage. Staff members Denny Atkin, David English, Tom Netsel, and Liz Casey worked the remote control.

20

COMPUTE

DECEMBER 1990

Shopping for Sound?

SOUND BLASTER

Fill Your Bag With Music, Special Effects, Digitized Voice, and MIDI. . . the sound solution for games and multi-media presentations.

EXCHANGE POLICY: You can exchange your Adlib, C/MS, Covox, or GAME BLASTER and SAVE '100 off the suggested retail price. Just send your card and '139'' (check or credit card number) to Brown-Wagh, 130-D Knowles, Los Gatos, CA 95030.

SYSTEM REQUIREMENTS: SOUND BLASTER requires 512K or RAM. DOS 2.0 or higher, and CGA, EGA, VGA, or Hercules monographics, and external speakers.

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DESKTOP VIDEO

o w

Just as camcorders replaced 8mrn movie cameras, within five years still-video imaging will banish 35mm cameras to the dusty shelves of the Museum of Vintage Technology. Long overshadowed by its more popular relative, the camcorder, still-image video remains an under- used technology. This is partly due to a misconception about its high initial cost. While the elaborate systems used by computer graphic artists and professional photographers (es- pecially in the film industry) cost megabucks, savvy shoppers can assemble a consumer-grade system for about $ 1 ,000.

The system we assembled included Canon's Xap Shot camera, a ComputerEyes Pro- fessional image-capture board, Spinnaker's graphic-editing software Splash.', and the graph- ics-printing program Pizazi Plus. We also tested US Video's combination VG.A. and genlock video card. The results we achieved with our Si. 000 video system ranged from fair to good. And with the addition of two more sophisticated editing packages — Tempra and Picture Publisher Plus — our results were nearly spectacular.

Zap — You're on TV

Manipulating complex graphic images creates heavy demands

on a computer system. To avoid expiring from old age at the keyboard, you need a 286. 386. or PS/2 computer with 640K; DOS 3.0 or higher; a VGA card (preferably Super- VGA) with at least 256K (better yet. 5 1 2K or more); a multifrequency monitor; and a high-resolution mouse or trackball.

The $595 list ($500 street) price Xap Shot behaves much like other point-and-shoot cameras. The on-board electronic circuits determine the exposure, speed, and range to subject. .A built-in LCD panel displays track numbers along with the mode (single shot or three per second), low- battery warning, and disk-related problems. A flash auto- matically fires in low ambient light. With its 2,8 lens, indoor pictures often require a flash.

YOU CAN ADD A

COMPLETE VIDEO SYSTEM

TO YOUR IBM PC

FOR ABOUT $1,000,

HERE'S HOW,

The Xap Shot electronically records images on magnet- ic media. With its two-inch internal disk, the Xap Shot can be fairly described as a camera married to a portable disk drive. The resemblance is more than superficial, since the Xap Shot acts as a disk drive when displaying stored images on a computer or television. The images are filed by track number and retrieved for processing using the camera's ad- vance and reverse buttons.

The jacketed disk accepts 50 images in the camera's 786 X 250 pixel format. Extra disks cost S 10, or you can delete the images and reuse the disk.

After you've taken your pictures, the Xap Shot links to the ComputerEyes expansion card with a single coax cable (supplied by Canon).

Importing the image into the computer proved to be as simple as Mother Goose. Digi- tal Vision's bundled software. Eyes, while not quite as lovable as it could have been, stream- lined the task.

Using Eyes, you first pre- view any or all on-disk images before committing to a capture. The Xap Shot's drive takes about 20 seconds to travel through all 50 tracks. When you find the image you want to digi- tize, you simply hit a key. De- pending on the display res- olution selected, the software requires 1 0-25 seconds to digitize the Xap Shot's composite video signal and redraw it on the monitor.

With the image now digitized and displayed, you can perform some fundamental editing with Eyes — including globally raising or lowering the image's red, green, or blue components, as well as its contrast and intensity.

In addition to still video, the ComputerEyes board also captures frozen-frame video generated by a video camera. Capturing and editing full-motion video in realtime, how- ever, requires both a digitizer and a signal synchronization device called a genlock. US Video's modular TVGA board lets you expand your system when and if the need arises. The company's separate genlock daughterboard and digitiz- er module (functionally similar to the ComputerEyes >

HOWARD MILLMAN

22

COMPUTE

D E C E M

E R 19 9 0

Professional) piggyback onto the main VGA card. With 512K. US Video's board provides a resolution of 1024 X 800 X 256 colors.

In addition to the Xap Shot's sig- nal, ComputerEyes can also capture images generated by VCRs, videodisc players, and still-image cameras mar- keted by Panasonic and Sony. While the ComputerEyes board performs well for image capture, implementing advanced editing techniques requires more potent software.

Testing the Waters

Spinnaker's Splash!, a hybrid paint program and entry-level editing pack- age, includes functions specifically designed for image capture and re- touching. The program's icon-driven menu, coupled with its straight- forward features, makes it extremely easy to use.

Splash! includes the requisite basic editing techniques, including color fills, pattern copy /repeat, indi- vidual pixel editing, multiple patterns. brush sizes, and color swaps. Addi- tionally, you can rotate, resize, and merge captured images,

You can experiment with the many samples included with the pro- gram, or you can import your own graphics. .Although Splash! saves to disk in standard image formats such as PCX. TIF. and GIF, it imports only its own graphics format (SS). An odd omission, but not lethal. We used Digital Visions' software to import a TGA graphic, saved it in SS, and sub- sequently loaded it into Splash!.

Another limitation is Splashl's maximum image resolution of 320 X 200 (VGA or MCGA). As a result, the image details and menu icons appear fuzzy, (Images displayed in a 640 X 480 resolution appear much sharper. but these higher resolutions are non- standard and usually require special video drivers). .Also, some of the pro- gram's more advanced features, such as color blending and the alternate canvas, need clearer instructions or

THE HIGH COST OF COLOR

Electronic recording devices, including VCRs and still-video cameras, generate analog signals. The number of colors in an analog signal ranges to infinfty. When converting the camera's analog signal into a digital form, video capture boards reduce the number of colors in the signal to either 16 or 256. Why? Be- cause, in a digital format, having more colors requires more memory and in- cremental technology. That translates into higher prices and consumer resis- tance. High-end realtime digitizers from Everex, Tnjevision, and Matrox, for in- stance, cost $2,000 or more.

perhaps a simple tutorial.

Despite these limitations. Splash! lives up to Spinnaker's reputation for software that's easy to learn, capa- ble, and — with a street price of $60 ($99.95 list) — inexpensive.

Taking the Plunge

•At four times the price of Splash! ($395 list or $300 street price), the next level in editing software delivers five times the muscle. In fact, Mathe- matica's Tempra integrates all the es- sential paint features with commercial- quality image-manipulation, special- effects, and text-overlay features.

With its multiple icon-based menus, backed by a logically orga- nized manual and sample images, Tempra accomplishes the handhold- ing necessarj' to flatten its learning curve. The program's seemingly end- less array of editing features includes antialiasing (to smooth jagged lines), regional or global masking (to protect specified colors or locations), selective color swaps, color-contingent anima- tion, image-warping with perspective, and multiple Bitstream fonts with the international extended character set. The program also automatically uses available expanded memory to exe- cute memory-intensive functions and provides a volatile Undo buffer,

Tempra's intended market is seri- ous hobbyists and economy-minded pros. Unfortunately, this means limit- ed printer support. Presently, the pro- gram supports just Hewlett-Packard LaserJets and compatibles and two thermal color printers.

Dive Right In

Tempra may provide all the editing muscle you'll ever need. If, however, you decide to "go pro," you'll need the more sophisticated and exotic fea- tures found only in professional edit- ing applications.

Astral Development's $695 ($500 discounted) Picture Publisher Plus weighs in as one of the least expensive yet comprehensive professional edit- ing applications available. Here, the term least expensive is relative.

For example. Publisher Plus runs under M/cro5o/f Windows {$ 125 street price). And since time is money for professionals, add two megabytes of extended memory ($200-$ 600) to keep the current image in faster vola- tile memory.

This investment provides access to special effects such as texturizing, posterization, highlighting/shadowing, mosaics, multiple imported-image collages, interpretive resolution changes, paint smears, scatterprinting, vignettes, and silhouettes. Additional- ly, Publisher Plus imports scanner im- ages (it contains a universal scanner

SETTING STANDARDS

When IBM defined the 256-color VGA graphic standard, it stopped at 320 X 200 resolution. While every major video- board manufacturer adheres to that standard, it's inadequate for image edit- ing. At least a dozen strategies from as many vendors exist to extend VGA up to 1024 X 768 resolution with 256 col- ors. Therein lie the seeds of chaos.

Implementing these SuperVGA standards requires cooperation be- tween software publishers and board manufacturers. Within certain limits, these two groups do collaborate. As a result, most image-editing software supports the extended modes of select- ed VGA boards made by Video Seven, ATI, Orchid, Paradise, and STB.

One caveat: Before upgrading your video card or purchasing editing soft- ware, make sure that the hardware and software are compatible.

interface) and captures images directly from selected high-end digitizer boards.

Publisher Plus includes two tuto- rials and numerous sample images along with detailed step-by-step instal- lation and operation instructions.

The original Picture Publisher (without the Plus) worked exclusively with gray-scale images (256 shades from black to white). The present manuals still emphasize gray-scale im- aging and deal with color imaging in an all-too-brief addendum. Consider- ing the wealth of features in Picture Publisher Plus, clarity of instructions is essential. According to the publish- er, updated manuals to accompany a more color-oriented revision should be available this December.

You've captured and edited the image — now you want to do more than just display it on a monitor or television. You want to print it. One option is to purchase Hitachi's $ 1 ,400 entry-level color thermal printer (model VY-I50A). You might also consider Hitachi's $4,000 computer- compatible VY-200A.

One less-expensive option in- volves using the printer you already own. Application Techniques' Pizazz Plus enables you to do exactly that. A well-behaved RAM-resident graphics- printing utility, PZ+ captures text or graphics screens and provides exten- sive printing control along with some elementary image-editing features. One of the best of its editing features provides for printing unadorned black-and-white graphics in multiple shades of gray.

With more than 400 drivers, PZ+ lets you print graphic images on a wide variety of dot-matrix, laser, thermal, monochrome, and color printers. This $ 1 49.99 ($70.00 street price) utility will prove invaluable if

24 COMPUTE

DECEMBER 1990

\buVeBeeii Framed!

Agent Frank McBain is dead... but why did they pin it on you? You've just 96 hours to find out. ..crack an international spy ring... and prevent an INTERNATIONAL DISASTER.

coittiZDO^m

You're American agent Mason Powers and you've just intercepted an ultra secret message about an international l terrorist group. Just as you're '"^

about to brief CIA Section Chief, Frank McBatn, everything goes black... and you wake up in a remote prison hospital in Turkey.. .with no memory of what happened and charged with the murder of Frank McBain!

Who set you up? Who is trying to kill you? And why do you feel such intense urgency? The Countdown has begun.. .and you'd better find the answers fast.

If you break out of the hospitaJ you'll set out on an interactive adventure of intrigue and espionage taking you from Istanbul to Paris.., with both agents and terrorists in hot pursuit. Interview different characters which converse, animate and respond (some actually talk!). ..use your hand held computer to search for key evidence.. .gain valuable clues in realistic Motion Graphics flashbacks!

But can you complete your mission in time to avoid global disastef!

Motion Graphics*

Countdown is brought to you hy Access Software...the same madmen who brought you Mean Streets. You'll experience movie-quaiity Motion Graphics action. ..with 256-color screens that bring new meaning to VGA. Add RealSound ™ high-quality digitized sound effects and you've got an interactive movie that will involve you totally.. .mind, body and soul.

Start the Countdown... and live the ultimate interactive movie.

V

AMOTION > GRAPHICS' * 4

-^. Interactive Movie of - Espionage and Intrigue

INCORPORATED

*So Realistic, you'll think you're there

Countdown features breathtaking jWo/i'on Graphics. ..combining stunning 25fr<:o/or movie-quaiity graphics with Zud W»«/", the revolutionary technolog>' that gives you astonishing digitized sound effects, music and speech without hardware. Countdown also supports the major sound boards.

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To experience COUNTDOWN, visit your retailer or call

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This Is the original video image of a building.

Using Tempra, you could add an arching roof to the building.

your graphics software omits your particular printer.

Yet a third option yields opti- mum ftill-color printouts while avoid- ing a sizable capital outlay. Have a graphics service bureau print your im- age from disk. Costs range from $ 10 to $25 per image.

TV or Not TV

With traditional point-and-shoot cameras available for about $ 1 00 and superb single-reflex 35mm cameras available for less than S500, why spend $ 1,000 (and eventually more) for electronic photographs? The an- swer depends on your purpose. If you simply want photos for the family al- bum, then wait until prices decline as they inevitably will If, however, you need a photograph for a newsletter or catalog, a client, or those times when "good enough" just won't cut it, you may be ready for still-image video. Q

Or you could add colorful landscaping and a palm tree.

VIDEO TO GO

For more information about the prod- ucts mentioned in ttiis feature, contact the companies listed below.

ComputerEyes Professional

Digital Vision 270 Bridge St. Dedham, MA 02026 (617)494-1200

Picture Publisher Plus

Astral Development One Londonderry Sq. Londonderry, NH 03053 (603) 432-6800

Pizazz Plus

Application Techniques lOLomarParkDr. Pepperell. MA01463 {508)433-5201

Splash!

Spinnaker Software One Kendall Sq. Cambridge, MA 02139 (617)494-1200

Tempra

Mattiematica 402 S. Kentucky Ave. Lakeland, FL 33801 (603) 432-6800

TVGA Card

US Video

One Stamford Landing 62 Southfield Ave. Stamford, CT 06902 (203) 964-9000

VY-150A and VY200A Color Thermal Printers

Hitachi Sales 401 W. Artesia Blvd. Compton, CA 90220 (213)537-8383

Xap Shot

Canon

One Canon Plaza

Lake Success, NY 11042

(516)488-6700

26 COMPUTE DECEMBER 1990

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It's all part of the most sophisticated computer technology in the world. And if you have the desire and the aptitude, you could become a part of it

You'll receive not only the highest-quality technical training, but guaranteed hands-on experience. Use equip- ment and technology so advanced, it may be years before the rest of the world even reads about it

But there's much more to the Air Force than mainframes and megabytes.

We offer equally exciting opportunities in to- day's most sought-after fields. Electronts.

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CONVERSATIONS

KEITH FERRELL

The Media Lab at M.I.T. just might be the hottest of all the world's hotspots for research into the future of television. In fact, future television is too narrow a phrase to describe all the areas Media Lab re- searchers are looking into.

"The focus of what we do and have been doing for 15 years," says Andrew Lippman, the Lab's associate director, "has to do with the merger of computing and image distribution. We variously explore that from the perspectives of education, technology, and entertainment."

Do those different perspectives change the nature of the research?

"Sometimes," Lippman says, "you think of that as interactive systems, and sometimes as high-definition tele- vision. But fundamentally and under- neath those superficial distinctions, a lot of the work is very similar. It all addresses how you can smoothly merge what we've learned about com- puting and digital processing and im- age communications systems."

That smooth mei^er faces some obstacles, many of them imposed on television years ago. To understand the obstacles, Lippman compares TV's approach to images with the ap- proach taken by computers.

"The focus on high -definition television, here," Lippman says, "can be encapsulated in one word: scalabil- ity" For example, the Macintosh's small screen has 4 SO lines; the screen on a NeXT computer has 700 or 800 lines. An even bigger screen would carry even more lines. "The constant in these kinds of systems is the lines per inch, the density of lines," he ex- plains. "And as you gel a bigger screen, the density stays the same, and you get more lines."

That might sound logical, but it isn't the way television works.

"Only in television do you fix the number of lines," Lippman says. "And when you want a bigger display, [you] literally take those lines and spread them farther apart. That is counterintuitive; it just doesn't make any sense.

"We might do better in the next round if, instead of designing a TV system to be 500 lines, or 1000 lines, or some number like that, we opti- mized it for a system where [the num- ber of] lines was not the number you specified, just like it isn't on a com- puter screen."

How would such a design change our household TVs?

"Your little TV under your kitch- en counter might have 500 lines on it because it's only 4 inches high," Lipp- man says. "The one at the foot of your bed, which is a 19-inch set, might have 1 000 lines. And the one that's on your wall — the lines on that will de- pend on your architect more than [on] the designer of your television."

Andrew Lippman

Designer TV sets? Sure. "Like- wise," Lippman says, "the shape v/iW depend on your architect, as opposed to a Standards decision made in Washington. Kind of like theaters, where the shape of the screen is really the shape of the room. Maybe you should get your television set so that it's shaped to fit above the mantel, or along the wall. Scalability is the key."

The signal that scalable TVs would receive is as important as the sets themselves. "Having it be an end- to-end digital system at all phases is crucial because of the increasing num- ber of digital channels and the increas-

ing degrees of freedom that are afforded by digital representations," Lippman says.

Marrying scalable television sets with digital signals lays the ground- work for future television.

"If you can do that, then you have sown the seeds for future devel- opment of the medium," Lippman says. "You're no longer just sending out an analog 30-frame-per-second, or 50-frame, or 60-frame, motion pic- ture; you're sending out data."

And that is the heart of the PC- TV connection. "Your [future] TV set has already got the processing needed simply to turn that data into a pic- ture," Lippman explains. "That's 90 percent of a sophisticated computer. We can add the other 10 percent, give the TV some smarts, and let it start to help you make up the programs."

How dramatic a shift will this be for viewers accustomed to passive television viewing?

"You know, some [personalized TV technologies] are out there, in fun- ny ways that you don't recognize," Lippman says. He cites a viewer's ability to program a VCR to tape pro- grams for later viewing. "You're mak- ing up your own television, but it is a crude job," he says. "The control is pretty limited. All you can tell it is clock time and TV station to tape."

Tomorrow's television, thanks to computers, will offer more control. "If I can add content decisions to that, [for example: ] 'Watch the TV all the time for me. and if you see anything interesting about the world oil crisis, grab it, and I'll ask you later.' That seems like a large step, but it's not," Lippman says.

Whatever the capabilities of up- coming television sets and systems, Lippman argues, the technologies must evolve on several fronts at once.

"The point is, can you make sys- tems that, as they improve picture quality and give, strictly by fidelity, new degrees of freedom to existing uses like entertainment, can [those systems] also have the seeds of growth embedded within them?" a

26 COMPUTE

DECEMBER 1990

"You really have to see it to believe it."

Computer Entertainer

t's like an Arabian nights n\ovie come to life . . . with you as the star! In Prince of Persia, you'll plunge into an exotic world of challenging puzzles, tumultuous action and animation so fantastic it has reviewers reaching for superlatives:

"(****/****) Incredibly realistic. . . . The adventurer character actually looks human as he runs, jumps, climbs and hangs from

ledges."

Computer Entertainer

"An unmitigated delight . . . comes as close to (perfection) as any arcade game has come in a long, long, long time . . . what makes this game so wonderful (am 1 gushing?) is that the little onscreen character does not move like a little onscreen character — he moves like a

person.

Nibble

"Superb double-high-resolution graphics images and responsi\'e,

smooth animation work beautifully together to create an almost

cinematic experience."

inCider/A+

"A tremendous achievement . . . Mechner has crafted the smoothest animation ever seen in a game of this type.

"Prince of Persia is the Star Wnrs of its field."

Computer Gaming World

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Available tor IBMVPC/Tandy" and 100% compatibles, Amiga'

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LEINECKER

Iisten to the computer press, and before long you'll hear the term multimedia. It's the merging of different technologies for more powerful presentations. Videotapes interact with computers and stereo sounds to make presentations come alive and underscore their messages. Although these high-powered applica- tions are out of reach for most home and business computers, you can still use yours to get the most out of your stereo and VCR.

Since this month's In Focus theme is multimedia, we've filled the SharePak disk with programs that will help you manage your home enter- tainment systems. Now you can keep track of your VCR tapes and audio collections and tune your monitor for peak performance.

We screen hundreds of programs each month to bring you these fine collections. If you had downloaded the programs yourself and paid the connect charges, you would've paid many times what we charge for this disk. You don't need to sp>end hun- dreds of hours scouring the online services and mail-order catalogs for high-quality shareware. It's here on our disk, this month and every month.

Audiolog

It's hard enough to keep track of cur- rent albums, tapes, and CDs that you listen to often; last year's favorites may have faded from memory. This program keeps you organized and on top of things by cataloging your audio collections. Just run the program and search one of six indexes to find what you're looking for.

Whether it's a Beethoven sym- phony, a golden oldie from the Tarns, a big band classic from Glenn Miller, or a country ballad, you won't have trouble locating the right recording. This program tracks more than enough information to give you the full pic- ture. Besides the title, artist, and type, Audiohg records the medium, label (Polydor, CBS, and so on), and com- ments you've entered. You can search

and edit the database or browse through it with a special option.

Printing reports is a breeze — a single keypress does it. The program runs in 256K with any monitor, so there won't be any systems left out. You don't have to be a computer ex- pert to use the program, either. A sim- ple, easy-to-use interface makes it a snap for even novices to use.

For audiophiles, this program is a must. Keep track of your state-of-the- art audio collection with a computer and enter the information age at home.

VideoTest

Today's monitors have come a long way from those amber and green monochrome systems. Plenty of peo- ple have graphic capabilities that make computers more friendly, pleas- ant, and fun. But it's hard to enjoy a fuzzy, out-of-focus game or desktop publishing program. VideoTest will help you adjust your monitor for maximum performance across the spectrum of applications.

And there are detailed descrip- tions of the internal workings of your monitor so that you have a better un- derstanding of what's going on. (The program warns you not to opien your monitor unless you're trained to do so.) You can put up dots, lines, and

Crosshatch patterns for focus and con- trast. Color ban will help you adjust the hue, tint, and saturation.

Of course, you could load a game or graphic application and do the ad- justing. But then you may find anoth- er program doesn't look as good. VideoTest lets you maximize per- formance in a more exacting way so that your system is tuned for peak performance in a wide variety of uses.

You don't have to be technical minded to use the program, either. Simple menus let you navigate with single keypresses. If you want to maxi- mize your enjoyment and productivi- ty by making sure that your monitor is perfectly adjusted, this easy, straightforward program is for you.

Video Librarian Version 2.1

Most households have at least one VCR. And the more people who use it, the harder it is to find the tape you want to view. That's why Video Li- brarian is so valuable. You can enter all of the information about a tape, and then the program worries about remembering the details.

There's room for everything you'd want to record. You can enter the title, starring and costarring ac- tors, the production company, the re- lease date, and personal comments. And it's easy to use. Options are clear- ly labeled along the bottom of the screen and are activated with a single keypress.

You can print reports to the printer, the screen, or a disk file. You can also generate labels for your li- brary. Numerous search and sort op- tions give you a lot of flexibility and power. Joining files is a single key- press away, too. The program merges all of your library entries into a single file.

Video buffs who use this program will soon be asking how they did with- out it. You'll never come up short when you look for your favorite Star Trek adventure. And if you're in the mood for a Woody Allen movie, let Video Librarian show you the list. 0

30 COMPUTE

DECEMBER 1990

SHAREPAK

With COMPUTES SharePak, You'll

Share in the Savings!

SAVE TIME— we carefutly select and test all programs for you

SAVE MONEY — each disk includes two to five programs for one low price

SAVE KEYSTROKES— our free DOS shell lets you

bypass the DOS command line

Audiolog

^

VidooTeai

VMeo Librarian 2.1

COMPUTE'S SharePak disk contains the best of shareware — handpicked and tested by our staff — to com- plement this month's In Focus topic. You'll sample entertain- ment, learning, or home office software at a great savings. Each SharePak disk includes two to five programs plus complete documentation for one low price:

$5.95 for 5y4-inch disk

$6.95 for 3Vz-inch disk

For even more savings, Subscribe to SharePak and receive COMPUTE'S SuperShell FREE!

For a limited time, you can subscribe to COMPUTE'S SharePak and save more than 37% off the regular cost of the disks— plus get COMPUTE's SuperShell FREE. With a one-year paid subscription, you'll get

• A new 3Vz- or 5V4-inch disk delivered to your home every month

• Savings of over 37% off the regular disk prices

• Advance notices of COMPUTE special offers

• COMPUTE'S SuperShell at no additional cost! Subscribe for a year at the special rates of $59.95 for 5V4-inch disks and $64.95 for SVa-inch disks— and get COMPUTE'S SuperShell FREE!

COMPUTE'S SupsrShel! requires DOS 3,0 or higher.

Disks available only for IBM PC and compatibla compulers. Otter good wtiilB supplies last

For Single Disks

YES! I want to share in ttie savings. Send me the December 1990 issue of COMPUTE'S SharePak disk. I pay S5.95 for each SVi-inch disk and $6.95 for each 3V2-inch disk plus $2.00 shipping and handling per disk.

Please indicate how many disHs of eaeti lormat you'd like:

5V4-i,nch at SS.95 each S'/i-incli at $695 eacli

SutJtota!

Sales lax (Residenis ot NO and NV pteasa add appropnale sates tan for

your area)

Shippng and tiandSng ($2.00 U.S. and Canada. $3.00 surface mail, $5.00 air- mail per disk)

, Total enctosed

Subscriptions

I want to save even more! Start my one-year subscription to COMPUTE'S SharePak right away. With my paid subscription, I'll gel a FREE copy of COMPUTE's SuperShell plus all the savings listed above.

please indicate ttie disk size desired:

5'A-lncti at $59,95 per year 3V2-inch at S64.95 per year

Fof delivery outside the U.S. or CanaOa. add $10.00 tof postage and tiandiing.

Narrre .

jty

State/i^ovince . Total ErxJosed -

. ZIP/Postal Code -

CtiecK or money order

Credit Card No

Signature

MasterCard

. VISA

. Exp. Date .

Daytime Teleptwne No. .

Send your order to COMPUTE's SharePak, 324 West Vitendover Awenue, Greens- boro. North Carolina 27408.

AS ofders must bfi pad in U.S funds by cTwcii drawn on a U S bank or by money order MASlerCard or vlSft accapt- Kjior ofders over S20- Ttus otter wrt onfy be IiUhJ at ttie above Kktress and is nol maoe m cortuncnon wnn any other magazine or ** sutKcnpton olter Piaase Umi 4-5 weks loi dekvwy or smgls issues or la subsmptor to begin Sorry, but (eteprx»^a orders cannot be accepted

OM

Pacioli

Full-Featured

Accounting

Software

• Accounts Hii.-*^isiiblc ' Acwjunlji Pajitthk'

• Invi'iitoo Cuniriil

• Billinc ■ PiircloMnj;

• Budtiflmt.'

• Auditing

n

CHOICE

IF YOU'VE GOT ACCOUNTING SAVVY, THIS PROGRAM OFFERS YOU ALL THE TOOLS YOU'LL NEED TO KEEP A TOP-FLIGHT SET OF

TONY ROBERTS BOOKS FOR YOUR

HOME OFFICE

In our dreams, many of us picture ourselves running businesses, mak- ing fortunes, and laughing all the way to the bank. That success, how- ever, doesn't come easily. It requires a good idea, hard work, and careful con- trol of every penny.

Even if an outside accountant is hired to help count the beans, the business owner must keep tabs on things as welt. The owner needs a sys- tem of procedures and controls de- signed to keep financial data straight.

Pacioli 2000 is an accounting package that offers a growing business all of the tools it needs to organize a top-flight set of books. It's a full- featured program that you would ex- pect to cost several times its S49.95 price. The package includes a general ledger, accounts receivable, accounts payable, billing, inventory control, purchasing, budgeting, and auditing functions.

The options available in each of these modules give you enough lati- tude to customize Pacioli 2000 to your business's needs. You can choose among five inventory costing methods, you can automatically com- pute finance charges due on past-due accounts receivable, and you can print checks, purchase orders, receiving slips, and invoices. All of these mod- ules are organized in a single system, so data entered in one module is available to all the other modules.

Pacioli 2000, named for Fra Luca Pacioli, the inventor of double-entry accounting, has the flexibility to han- dle cash accounting, accrual account- ing, inventory' accounting, or account- ing for a service-based company. If you're a real wheeler-dealer, this pro- gram will keep the books for up to 999 separate companies.

32 COMPUTE

D E C E M

£ R 19 9 0

FFICE

Pacioli 2000 comes with a three-part videotape to gel you started. The tape includes a general section on accounting, a slep-by-step section on how to use Pacioli 2000 itself, and a DOS tutorial. For those who prefer book learning, these three sections are covered in the manual as well. Although the accounting primer is aimed at those who have a scant knowledge of accounting, no short videotaped tutorial can turn a novice into a fearless number cruncher. The video does provide plenty of basic information, however, that will give Pacioli 2000 users a better under- standing of what they're doing and why.

Help is available in most parts of the program, and it's often context- sensitive. If only a general help screen appears, there's an option to search the help index for the appropriate top- ic. An interesting feature of the help screen is the Date function. This per- mits you to change the program date without affecting your computer's sys- tem date. You can tell the program it's yesterday and finish up yesterday's transactions without changing your computer's clock settings. If you exit Pacioli 2000 without resetting the

Pacioli 2000 lets you enter different transaction types from a single screen.

date, DOS will still know the correct lime, your pop-up calendar will func- tion normally, and you won't be late for that lunch date.

Once the system is set up and op- erating, it's easy and straightforward to use. However, unless you're famil- iar with accounting, setting up Pacioli 2000 is likely to be befuddling and confusing — but not by any fault of the program. Accounting involves diffi- cult concepts and procedures that can't be fully absorbed in a quick scan of the manual or a short videotape session. You can't invent an account- ing system on the fly when using Pa- cioli 2000. You need to know what you're doing, then use Pacioli 2000 to implement it.

One of Pacioli 2000'% strong points is that it does things by the book. It's rigid and strict in what it re- quires of its operators. The system re- fuses to let you exit an incomplete transaction, gently prompting you to fill in the incomplete fields. Pacioli 2000 maintains a complete audit trail of all transactions, even aborted ones. Once transactions have been posted, you can't go back and change infor- mation. When you review your daily

journal, you'll see every completed transaction, every voided transaction, and every adjustment.

Pacioli 2000 provides a complete chart of accounts that can be used by most businesses, and it's easy to add new accounts when needed. When you're prompted for an account num- ber by one of the modules, you can either enter the number if you remem- ber it or press F2 to browse through the account list. If you can't find what you're looking for, you can create a new account on the spot.

The key to using Pacioli 2000 is in creating new accounts. You create accounts for each vendor, each cus- tomer, and every product you buy or sell. As you create these accounts, you fill in an information screen that in- cludes such entries as the customer's name and address, shipping infor- mation, and discount levels available to that customer. The next time you do business with that customer, creat-

conlinued on page 38

DECEMBER 1990

COMPUTE 33

Nm From Northgate.

20 MHz R)W€red U)

ft

yes, we're a bit late to the part^' with SX systems. How come? We just couldnt bring ourselves CO market another ho-luim SX.

So we put our research and development team on it. Boy,

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exclusive space-saving case— a favorite of Northgate customers!

The secret to SlimLine's space-saving design? A fully integrated motherboard designed and manufactured by Northgate! This design reduces bus load — makes the system faster and more reliable!

Motherboard features include a built-in VGA adapter (with Z56K video RAM), one parallel and two serial ports, fully integrated floppy disk

controller and IDE hard drive controller. Motherboard integration also makes it easier to install modems and add-on cards.

SlimLine's triple cache boosts performance to zero wait state!

You get a built-in 64K memory SRAM cache to accelerate the execution of instructions; PLUS, hard drive caching to accelerate I/O transactions; and disk caching software to speed data to and from the CPU!

Slimline 386SX 16 Or With 64R Cache!

Plus! Northgate pumps up trial offa*. . . now use SlimLine SX for 60-days RISK-FREE!

TT Tnbeatable service! Your m I SlimLine 386SX is backed by \^ toll-free technical support, 24 hours-a-day, 7 days-a-\\eck. PLUS, FREE on-site service to most locations for one year if ^ve cant solve your problems over the phone. And if you ever need a replacement part, we'll ship it overnight — at our expense — before you return your part.

PC Magazine* says: ". . . Northgate stops at nothing to please its customers."

Of course, you also get Northgates full-year warranty on parts; five years on the OmniKey keyboard. It's no

SlimLine 386SX System Features:
■ 16 or 20MHz Intel* 80386SX	■ Clock/calendar chip rated at 5 years
procrasor ■ 1Mb of 32-bit DRAM (expandable to 8Mb on modicrboard — 16Mb using 16-bit memory boards) ■ Down-scaled, LJ.S.-made motherboard ■ 40Mb IDF. hard drive; AT bus interface; 1:1 imcricave; DisCache: 32K look ahead disk caching;	■ 100 watt pov\cr supply ■ Small footprint SlimLine case with room for two exposed and one internal half-height devices ■ Front mounted system reset and high/fow speed controls ■ E,\clusivc Northgate OmniKrf^ keyboard
19ms access	• 1 2' VGA monochrome monitor
■ 64K SRAM memory cache; read/writc-back caching	■ MS-DOS 4.01 and GW-a\SIC software installed
■ High density- 1.2Mb 5.25" and 1.44Mb 3.5" floppy drives; also read/write low density disks ■ Five open expansion slots; three ftiif length 16-bit and wo half lenph 8-bit ■ 16or20MHz80387SXandWeitek	■ On-line User's Guide to the swtem and MS-DOS 4.01 ■ Q.\ Plus diagnostic and utility software ■ Smartdrive disk caching software
coprocessor support ■ One parallel and two serial ports • Built-in 16-bit SVGA with up to 1024 x	■ 1 year warranty on system pans and labor; 5 years on key'board ■ FCC Qass B Certified
768 resolution: 256K video memorv	■ Other configurations available, just ask!
1

wonder PC Magazine reported: "If you're looking for the subjective

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Now use SlimLine for 60-days — Risk Free! It \von't take you 60

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i

16 MHz

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800-323-7182

A^

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coupurm

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AlhatM:rprii.ittit*ndburtJiumi:i are ifadcrnaiki and rcEft[C[cdlfa!iriMrkso( their ir*pctt!^xi-Dmp)in.csr'(ifC< and sp«ific«rt'niiubjcci 10 rhirKcviih^ icwi^nilic tijttii uisulMtimtcwniiMiftciiiMrfcuualni pcateTtjiialitytJi

pcifotTnaTiie, All iKm\ sMbjctl !q aiailatnlrty. Wc buppuiithF rthi.^ uic of scftware. 'Itvrepofr tofnrate mpi rifihi violation,. taJl iht S<ili).aic F\>li1iihcT, AtvH iaiH.nV Ai<li-I'ira«> i lulmc at |.RI)(V,tSS-l'IKS,

Northgate Announces...

Slimline 386/25-

Plus! A new 60-day no-risk trial!

1 ^ irst time ever! Now yoii rj can have Norcligatc RIej;ancc" X power, speed and performance in our popular space-saving SlimLine case! Elegance 386 computers shocked the industry- with a #1 and #2 sweep of lujrm'orkrs 1989 best product awards; AND three Editors' Choice awards from PC Magazine.

Cache! Cache! Cache! Like

our powerful Ivlegancc systems. Slimline 386 features 64K SRAM

cache to zip through the execution

of instructions. I'br even more speed, \ve've added a hard drive cache that makes siiort work of I/O transactions. To top it off. SlimLine 386 comes \\\\\\ .Smartdrive DOS disk caching software that anticipates the information you'll need and brings it into the cache for fast access.

Better features across the

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maximum system features in

the smallest possible space. There's room for up to 16\Ib of 32-bit RAM, one parallel and two serial ports, a built-in floppy disk controller and IDE hard drive controller. Plus an integrated SVGA video with 5I2K video RAVI to speed bus throughput — makes the system faster and more reliable! And there's plenty more room for add-on peripherals — \\ith SlimLine you get five open expansion slots.

33 Cache Systems!

r M Two speeds! SlimLine 386 M comes \\'ith vour choice of X 386DX 25 or 33MHz processors. For faster math-based applications — budgets, forecasts, spreadsheets and databases — both models feature 80387 coprocessor support for adding floating point unit (FPU) speed enhancements.

All purpose systems! SlimLine Cache is the perfect network workstation or stand-alone system for business and home use. It also provides excellent support for advanced desktop publishing and graphics applications.

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SlimLine 386 Base System Features:

• 2SorJ3MH/.Intcr80386DX

processor

• 4Mb of 32-bit DR.'\M (expandable to 16Mb on motherboard)

• Down-scaled, U.S.-niade motherboard

• 4UMb fast access hard drive: ATbus interface: 1:1 interleave: 32K look ahead disk caching

• 64K SRAM memory cache; read ' \Mite-back caching

« Hishdensirv- 1.2Mb5.25"and 1.44Mb 3.5'floppydrives: also read/write low density disks

• l'"ive open expansion slots; three full length 1 6-bit and i half length 8-bit

• 25or33MHz80387or\Vdtek coprocessor stippon

• One parallel and two serial ports

• Built-in 16-bit SVGA with up to 1024 X 768 resolution: 5t2K video memor\-

• Clock / calendar chip rated at 5 years

• 100 watt power supply

< .Small footprint -Slim Line case with room for two apposed and 1 internal half-height daices

• I'^ront mounted reset and high/low speed controls

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• 12" VCi/\ monochrome monitor

• MS-DOS4.0landGW-MSlC software installed

• On-line User's Guide to the svstem and MS-DOS 4.01

• Q;\ l^his diagnostic and utility software

• Srnartdri^c cachinf;suftM'jrc

• 1 war viarranty on system pans and labor; 5 years on keyboard

• FCC Class B Certified

fails, we'll ship a replacement to ytni overnight at our e.\pense — before you return your part!

Now use SlimLine for 60 days— Risk Free! Were sure you'll want to keep your SlimLine Cache — so we won't rush you. Put it to the test in your office or home for a full 60 days. If it doesn't live up to everything we say, return it for a full refund — No questions asked.

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0

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sysrEus

7(l7.i I'lyiiifj ("loud Drive, liden Prairie, MN 5.i344 Clicl« RuMler Servica Nmnbw 2H

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All ittlictpii-thMi«>HlliF,iTiilTiinirt tire liisJcnu!l>k<pilrcKiMciciJiij<!rn'jrk^ III ll>cirTCH^<iv¥^ii"<f>'"ici' I'li^i^ jn<l<(i**ifiiJW>ni sijhjcn iii iluiiBe wiihwii nniKC. NiiiihBiic icwnc^ihc ii^i in *gtMiiuii.-riini(>iiT>emsiil ciiujI iw j^jt« ijiijlrt^

pcifiiim^rii^. AniTcniitijhiciiiii jvjibhiliM.WcsiippiiitthceihKjIuhf iK.ilinjjc. 'Kirrptiit vi(<iijicui|nriRhTii<il]minv. v»IU>i?^il!ii4iF[^ijl']i^hcfi ALsmuiMhVAiiii-I'iiji> lli.iliin'j! |.H!KI-lKK.li|k)4.

continued from page 33

ing an invoice is quick and easy: Sim- ply type in the account number or se- lect it from the accounts list, and the pertinent information is pasted into the invoice. Then type in the product numbers for what the customer or- dered, and product descriptions and prices are filled in, and the appropri- ate discounts for that customer are applied.

You can operate Pacioli 2000 by using the keyboard, mouse, or both, but mouse support is limited in some areas. For example, when scrolling through the chart of accounts, you'll need to use the keyboard Page-Up and -Down keys if you want to move more than a line at a time. The scroll bars aren't as fully featured as you might be accustomed to.

This system is designed for daily use. Transactions are entered as they occur; then, at the end of the day, the printer goes to work, churning out the results of the day's activities. Invoices, packing slips, receiving slips, credit memos, account statements, and checks can be printed on forms avail- able from M-USA. Then the daily journals are printed, reviewed, adjust- ed, and reprinted if necessary.

Once the daily Journals are cor- rect, the transactions are posted. Post- ing is the process of placing all of the day's transactions into the various ac- counts your company uses. During posting, several files are modified, and both the manual and the program are quite insistent that you back up your data files before posting. Pacioli 2000's posting process involves a fair- ly painless, though time-consuming, backup process that utilizes the DOS Backup command. The procedure is automated and requires only a key- press or two to complete.

Pacioli 2000 also can be used as a point-of-sale system, printing out in- voices and receipts on the spot.

The system uses specially de- signed teal and gray, multipart, car- bonless forms for invoices, state- ments, and checks. These forms and associated envelopes, cards, and labels are available by mail order from M- USA. Samples of each of the forms and checks are included in the pack- age, so you'll be able to check with lo- cal printers to see if any of their stock matches that used by Pacioli 2000. M- USA claims to have the only official forms for use with the program, but purchasing forms locally, if they're available, is usually less expensive and faster.

By using Pacioli 2000 's checks and forms, you can significantly sim-

#HOME OFFICE

pliiy your bookkeeping work. Write a check or process an invoice, and the appropriate transactions are entered automatically in the daily journal. If you choose not to use the special forms and checks, you can still benefit from Pacioli 2000 by writing checks and invoices manually and then en- tering the transactions into the sys-

Track purchase orders and sales in- voices— even with no inventory on hand.

' T:	B»«M^P^^ 1
^',' :Zi.
1
■ ■ ■*
\:~ iy-i ; j ae. ;M ,
'
'■x: i 1 •■. i;;i •«! 'l.»9l
■
,:, 1

Pacioli 2000 's dialog boxes can be ac- cessed using the keyboard or mouse.

tem. Pacioli 2000 will keep up the daily journal and general ledger. A disadvantage of this approach, besides time lost, is that you increase the chance of error because data is en- tered twice.

Pacioli 2000 is fairly rigid in its output. You can't adjust the check, in- voice, or statement output formats. In the printer setup menu, the only op- tions you can modify are the page length and the control codes for nor- mal, compressed, and expanded type. .A dot-matrix or other impact printer is required to print checks or forms, and the manual recommends using such a printer for reports as well. Laser printers aren't supported to any degree.

All forms and checks are sent to the LPT I printer port, and there's no provision for redirecting them. Re- ports, however, can be sent to the screen or be redirected to a file, which you can edit or print later.

While using Pacioli 2000, you'll amass a great deal of information about your company and its vendors and customers. The program's report section gives you the tools to manage that information. The system includes several predefined reports that will satisfy most of your needs, and it in- cludes a report generator that can be used to arrange the information for more customized reports. Pacioli 2000 keeps up to 36 months of ac- counting data online, so reviewing re- cent history is as easy as looking at yesterday's data.

Pacioli 2000 puts a lot of ac- counting power into your hands. It's network ready, it offers a tiered pass- word system to protect your data, and it allows you to enter terms and dis- counts on a customer-by-customer ba- sis. The program also includes an auditing module to help you reconcile your checking accounts, verify the ac- curacy of your records, and keep an accurate count of your inventory. Pa- cioli 2000'% budgeting function will help you create future budgets based on past performance.

There's a great deal of capability here for a relatively small price. With Pacioli 2000, small and growing busi- nesses can set up an accounting sys- tem without worrying that they're spending a lot of money on something that won't work for them. M-USA promises free customer support for registered users.

If nothing else, the experience of working with Pacioli 2000 and com- ing to understand your company's fi- nancial data will make you better able to hire an accountant to do the books. As the owner, you're responsible for everything, and you can't afford to give up control of something as im- portant as your money.

Ease of Use	***
Documentation ...	•**
Features	•••*
Innovation	••*

Pacioli 2000

IBM PC and compatibles with 640K. DOS 2.1 or higher (DOS 3.1 or higher for net- work use), and hard drive— $49.95 Package includes two S'A-inch and one 3'/2-inch disk, tutorial videotape, 354-page manual, sample forms and checks, and forms catalog.

M-USA BUSINESS SYSTCMS 18111 Preston Rd. Suite 500 Dallas, TX 75252 (214)931-0024

38 COMPUTE

DECEMBER 1990

Order ¥)ur Northgate Computer Today,

Make No Payments For 90 days!

Just say "charge it" toyourBigN credit card!

Get your new Northgate without spending a penny this year!

Simply fill in the Big 'N" information form and send it to Northgate. You'll get prompt attention! Once you're approved, call our systems consultants, toll-free, to select the Northgate configuration that perfectly matches your needs!

You'll free your other credit cards!

Big'N' lets you easily increase yotir credit po\ver. Best of ail, you'll make no payments for your new computer for 90 days after shipment! But, don't delay, computers must be ordered by December 31, 1990 to qualify' for deferred billing!

Northgate leases systems too!

Choose from flexible terms up to five years in length. It's nc\er been easier to get Northgate computer systems than it is now!

Gall Northgate Now!

800^548-1993

HOURS: Monday- i''riday 7 a.m. -8p.in. CST

JS^ ii NORTHGATE r

jSr%r£F COMPUTER 'li^/mf^'

707.i Hying Cloud Dri\c. Ivdcn I'rairie. .\IN .iS.i44 Circle Reader Service Number 250

OPEN YOUR CREDIT CARD ACCOUNT BY FILLING OUT THE APPLICAIION BELOW.

Please complete all appropriate sections, providing at least two years iesiileri[:B and employmenl hbtory. If you are sBllcmployed, please be sure 10 complete seclion d. THIS IS HOT A CREDIT AGREEMENT! One will be sent to you upon authorijation of an account. (This Hm Must Be Sipei) To Process Your Order.] All Financed Purchases Are Subject To Credit Appfoval. If Vou Ha»e Any Credit QusHlrons, Please Call For Assistance. Thank youl

A married person may apply for individual credit. I atn applying for (check one box, pleasel: L. JOINT CREDIT with another peison. Complete entire application. C INDIVIDUAl CREDIT complete only individual section. C INDIVIDUAt CREDIT but rely on income of another. Complete entire applii^ation. ■|f you are a matried Wisconsin applicant, you must provide your spouse's information as indicated, even though your spouse may not be signinj the contract.

■utice to wiscnmsiii appuumts

YCM rrUESI i^^clQse YCul irariLal llati;!-

.. ITtlTKli

!Z unnariieil

G It^afiv sBfttfaltd

I a, Pursonal liirorniatiori

Z}

NAME

SOCIAL SECURITY NUMBER.

PRESENT ADDRESS

DATE OF RESIDENCE MO, _

PREVIOUS ADDRESS

EMPLOYER

.YR.

CITY _

.BJYD flENTG OTHER D ,

_HQME PHONE (

JATE OF BIRTH . ST.

_ZIP.

DATE OF EMPLOYMENT MD.

-YR..

MONTHLY GROSS SALARY S PREVIOUS EMPLOYER

.BUSINESS PHONE (_

J.

DATES OF EMPLOYMENT .

.TO.

Income from alimony, child support o! separata maintenance payments need not be liisclosed if you do imt iwisli to have it considered »

basis for repaying the obligation.

ADDITIONAL MONTHLY INCOMES SOURCE

[ b. Ocdit Informatian

PLEASE TELL US IF YOU HAVE: BANK LOAN (YIN) . MASTERCARD lYIN) .

CHECKING ACCDDNT(YiN}

.HOW MANY?

HOW MANY?

.SAVINGS ACCOUNT (YiN).

VISA lYINl .

. HOW MANY? .

FINANCE COMPANY LOAN (YINl.

DEPT STORE CHARGE CARD (YIN)

OTHER MAJOR CHARGE CARDS |Y(NI .

. HOW MANY? .

CREDIT UNION ACCOUNT (VJNI.

.HOW MANY?

HOW MANY?.

_ HOW MANY?

Juint .applicant's Piirsonu! Inromintion

JQINT APPLICANT'S NAME _ SOCIAL SECURITY NUMBER, ADDRESS

_CITY_

.HOI^t PHONE L _DATE OF BIBTH ST

,ZIP_

DATE OF RESIDENCE MO.

JOINT APPLICANT'S EMPLOYER. MONTHLY GROSS SALARY S _

.YR.

. DATE OF EMPLOYMENT MD.

_YR._

.BUSINESS PHONE (_

NAME AND ADDRESS OF NEAREST RELATIVE NOT LIVING WITH VOJ .

	RFIATIDNSHIP
1 d. Self-Employment Information |
RIISINF.q.<; WAMf	RUSINFSS PHONE 1 1
TYPE OF BUSINESS 3 Pioprieiorship □Partnership u Corporation YOUR ANMUAL IMCOME FROM BUSINESS Gross S	IN nilSINF<;.<! .tlNCF
Nets
PFRSnWAI RANXFfl'SNAMF	BANKER'S PHONE ( 1
1 e. Customer Authorization |

I autboriie Northgate Computer Systems or its assignees to invesligate credit records and to report my performance hereontter to credit agencies. I hereby certily that the following inlormetion is fufnished to you for the purpose of obtaining credit and is true and correct of the best of my knowledge and belief. There ate costs associated with the use of this credit card. To obtain more infoin^aiion about these costs, call us at l-80D'54B 1S93 or write to PO. Boi 59060, Minnaapolis, MN 554630080.

NY— A consumer credit report may be requested in connection with this application or in connection with updates, renewals or extensions of any credit gfanted as a result of this application. If I subsequently ask for this informahon, I will be informed whether or not such a report was requesteii and, if so, the name and address of the agency that furnished the report,

OH-THE DHiO LAWS AGAINST DISCRIMINATION REQUIRE THAT ALL CREDITORS MAKE CREDIT EQDAILY AVAILABLE TO ALL CREDIT- WORTHY CUSTOMERS AND THAT CREDIT REPORTING AGENCIES MAINTAIN SEPARATE CREDIT HISTORIES ON EACH INDIVIDUAL UPON REDDEST THE OHIO CIVIL RIGHTS COMIifllSSION ADMINISTERS COMPLIANCE WITH THIS LAW,

APPLICANT'S SIGNATURE _

JOINT APPtlCANT'S SIGNATURE .

_DAT£ . _DATE_

FDR MARRIED WISCONSIN APPLICANTS:

I acknowledge that the obligation described herein is being incuired in the interest of my marriage or family.

BUYER'S SIGNATURE

DATE_

■ Viu muM rv<li»c^( dirferrcti biliinK " hen ordcfinc, ['a\ iiiunts h ill be defcfrcJ for [hrec billiiif^ lAclc-i jftcr shipiut-ni.

l[iiL-rL-si v.\\\ jttnieiltiriiiji Till: deferred [jcfKwlM a rjlci>i 1.5*S. per ntiiiuh iWVn .\PR>.

I his 1^ nut an applitarion. .\ tiimple:cd jppticalitJO ami agreement rmist be un tile prior lo jppn«\al hir ercdit.

WORKPLACE

DANIEL JANAL

Think back to your office days when a bunch of people would meet at the water fountain, gos- sip, discuss the ball game, and talk shop. Then someone would say something, and a thunderbolt would go off inside your head. A brainstorm!

You learn from your co-workers' experiences. They stimulate your thoughts. They inspire you toward greater heights.

Are you fertilizing your mind with new ideas in your home oiTice? You can if you follow these steps: Lis- ten to audio cassette tap>es on business topics. Join professional organiza- tions. Attend educational seminars. Share ideas with a colleague over lunch. Talk to a customer every day.

.■\udio cassette tapes cover such business topics as goal setting, time management, motivation, coping with difficult people, and sales. These 1- to 3-hbur audio programs are informa- tive and convenient. You can listen to an entertaining and thought-provok- ing discourse on a favorite topic as you drive to an appointment, jog a mile, or take a shower.

An inexpensive way to listen to the best business audio tape programs is to subscribe to The Personal Pro- gress Library (818-242-9583), a lend- ing library of more than 600 tapes covering management, communica- tion, negotiation, sales training, time management, and marketing. Its au- thors include Ken Blanchard (The One Minute Manager), negotiating ex- pert Roger Dawson, telephone com- munications guru George Walther, management author Peter Drucker, and customer service visionary Mi- chael LeBoeuf

The $199 annual fee entitles you to borrow an unlimited number of tapes. You must pay a $7 postage charge for each tape program. This is a small price compared to what you would pay to buy the tapes.

One of the largest and most di- verse collections of business and motivational tapes is offered by Nightingale Conant (N-C, 800-323- 3938). If you've ever listened to the

taped interviews and motivational speeches on airplanes, you've heard N-C authors, including Zig Ziglar. The most recent catalog features the audio cassette adaptations of such best sellers as Wealth Without Risk by Charles Givens, Thriving on Chaos hy Tom Peters, What The}' Still Don't Teach You at Harvard Business School by Mark McCormack, and Swirtt with the Sharks Without Being Eaten Alive by Harvey Mackay. Each sells for $59-$69 and lasts about four hours. The catalog features many orig- inal self-help tapes to improve memo- ry, avoid procrastination, manage people, promote a positive outlook on life, sell real estate, and be more cre-

ative. N-C also has two tape-of-the- month club offerings: Sound Selling ( 1 20 minutes, S 1 2.25 per month) and Sound Management (60 minutes, $13.90 per month).

If you don't have time to read the best-selling business books, you might consider Fast Track (800-257-8345). It offers 40-minute abridgements of two books each month plus 5-minute in- terviews with the authors. .An annual subscription costs Si 32 a year, a bar- gain compared to the $720 you would spend for two books a month at an av- erage price of $30. Recent titles in- clude Megatrends. Confessions of an SOB. and The Wall Street Journal on Managing.

Employing a self-study approach

complete with tapes and workbooks, The American Management Associa- tion (518-891-5510) features approxi- mately 100 programs on business topics such as marketing, finance, ser- vice organization, and manufacturing. You can iearn how to write a business plan, plan your business' s cash flow, write marketing plans, and analyze the competition. Prices range from $79 to $249, with minor discounts for AMA members.

To increase your expertise and get different perspectives on business, join a professional organization or general business group, such as the Rotary Club or the Chamber of Commerce.

Through community colleges, training companies, and numerous professional organizations, you can learn how to design newsletters, su- pervise people, read a balance sheet, or troubleshoot computers. Prices range from $95 to $895 a day. Many courses offer discounts if several peo- ple from the same company attend a session. Fred Pryor Seminars offers day-long seminars for $99 on a variety of subjects all across the countrv. Call (800) 255-6139 for information.

Nothing beats face-to-face con- tact. Take a colleague to lunch or breakfast. You can learn from each other's experiences. Don't worry about giving away your trade secrets. The expertise you bring to your work will differentiate you from the others. After all, a competitor can't steal your creative style and personal panache that win clients. Meanwhile, you can pick up invaluable tips that can save you time and money.

Want to do your job better and prepare for the future? Who knows what your customers want better than your customers? Call a customer or prospect every day. Don't try to sell, however. Talk to learn. Ask custom- ers: What trends are shaping the in- dustry? What products or services will be hot in the future? What do you like or dislike about my service?

You'll be amazed at what you learn from others. E3

40

COMPUTE

DECEMBER 1990

IMEW TECHNOLOGICAL ADVANCE:

HOME COMPUTERS LOCATf 250,000 BARGAINS!

I" 1- V V V V I

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Clrcla Reader Service Number 150

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Magnavox 13" RGB Color Monitor

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Brand Name Savings 95

Mfr. Sugg. Retail $399.00

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149

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20 MEG ST225 Half-Height Drive Kit i ^

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Qz^CLD. l]-©®®-[B[IIY?-\WaSBiXT.5i tf(D®Zi\Yr9

PricB do no* iridud« ihippng diorgfls. Cdt to gef ywjr iowmt ddivefed cost. VA imore al] siipmonh alno erirocwt toyojl AJIpocitoqw tire normally sh'pped Uri &Dund. 2nd day end ovoml^l dol'rvwy ore avolloye al exlfn trat. Wb jiiip to dl poJntj in tie US, Cmaoa, (Wfto Rioa, Aloita, HoMr, Virgin bSonds ond APOFPO. Monitors only stripped in Coitinontol US. Ilirwis rosidonh odd 6.5% WJM tax.

ory currwit Iwiliii 30 doyj) notionafly odvor^'rwd pricB on Mod «»n© itemj. Shipping ond uiea tax txjt indjded. ^ficotbn requirfld.

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22292 N. Pepper Road Barrington, IL 60010

We Love Our Customers"

iZi\wa OOP IF® Z^®% 3^B[sv®/^v9

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IVIice - Joysticks - Scanners

Logitech Finesse Software $99.95

Design beautiful pages easily with Finesse. You get layout tools, WYSIWYG display, templates, clip art, etc. Mfg. Sugg. RekiH $179.95

Logitech C9 Serial Mouse $79.95

Ergonomic design. Log! Menu software. Mouse 2-3 menu software for Lotus 1 -2-3, Lifetime warronty. Minimum 256K memory, IBM PC, XT AT, PS/2 or compatibles Mfg. Svgg. Retail $109.95

EPYX 500XJ JoysHck $12.95

The world's first high performance joystick. Trigger finger firing, fits in tfie palm of your hand. IBM PC & compat. Mfg. Sugg. Retail $39.95

Flywheel 4000 Control Yoke.$39.95

For flying and driving gomes, 4 "fire" buttons, full X-Y control yoke, sturdy desktop adapter clamp, works like 2 separate joysticks. 15 pin connector. "Feel the Gomel" Mfg. Sugg. Retail $99.95

Logitech Scanman Plus .$169.95

The power of images instantly I 4.1 "scanning window, adjust scanning resolution between 100 & 400 dpi. Adjustable contrast. Une ort and 3 dither pattern settings. Includes Logitech's graphic editor. For IBM PC, XT, AT, PS/2 and compatibles. M^. Sugg. Retail $339.95

Catchword OCR Software...$ 149.95

Intelligent character recognition software. The perfect companion (or Scanman Plus. M^. Sugg. Retail $249,95

'&

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Personal /Productivity J^^^Ju Personal /Productivity |Sj™f^>^_

M=k.C=fe„J»r.&Stafi,„=,y5«riA|r4rZ.S:$21.»5

Mr. Sugg. Iletail$9.95.....$7, 95 J^ X^v r n I- u I

^^ -:£?_ ^^H Company Policy Manuol -■ -ps-rr-

Electronic Checkbook ™JH Mr. Sogg. Rok^il m9S....$22.95 ^^■

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Lef's Make Greeting Cards ^|kgY Alfr- %g. Safa'"' i34.«....$21 .95 EahancerP'"'

Atfr.S«gg.fi.to;/iP.P5.....$7.95 ^^ A Family Reunion byFamwar. j,

Money Manager f-:^*^^W^^ A<fr.%g.Reto)7 169. 95..., $49.95

Mfr. Sugg. Retail S9.95.....$6.95 W: J^M GrandvilU PuUicotioni ^ ._.,^,.._

, ^, ., I -. OB "" i^Mi Up Your Cash Flow -T;.nst ^ssi.

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I 11 I I W^i^^w taucattonai MAiiit

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Dollars & Sense by Monogrom :5^ j{^' States & Traits

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Softvrare

Educational Mavis Beacon Teaches

Typing by El«trMtic Ai1>

m. Sugg. RetoitS49.9S....$Z7.95

Pro Tennis Tour

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Weather Brief

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World Atlas

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Entertainment

Trivial PursultbyEl«lranicArti Mk Sugg. Retail j39.95....$34.95

Jeopardy 25th Anniv. by Goimtek

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MFr. Sugg. Ratoii i699SS MwiilOf Optionol

Hard Drive and Monitor Options

- Add to Base Price -

Mo/J Mono RGB EGA VGA

Drvrm

No Drive

20MB

iSOMB

80MB

$120

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230

490

620

850

450

4W

840

1100

512

752

902

1140

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Mfr. Sum. Retail $7W.?S Mofiitof Opiionol

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Dm*

No Drive

20MB

48MB

71MB

111MB

$190

$420

$490

$600

$890

340

570

640

750

1040

425

655

725

835

1125

520

750

820

930

1220

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VIP 1 6MHz 286 Computer Systems

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Floppy Drive

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System Includes HFDC-II IDE & Floppy Controller

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Mfr. Suga. Rolo;l SSP^.M Monitor OpHonol

Hard Drive and Monitor Options - Add to Base Price -
H°^ Mono RGB EGA VGA |
No Drive	S190	340	425	520
20MB	$420	570	655	750
48MB	$490	640	725	820
71MB	$600	750	835	930
IIIMfi	$890	1040	1125	1220
■

grnc

I l>VJ*

I "^

Ptku do not indud* i^Ipoing cKarg*!. Coll kj gtl your lo^sil deliwod coih Wa iniurt oil thipmwib ot no udra cott to ywl All ^

rwfmalV iSjpp*d UPS Gftxjnd. 2nd doy wA cv*fiiigM d«liv«v or» ovoiln^bU ot »x1ra oMt, W* jliip to q1 pofnh in fh« US, Coi

Puwte Rico, Alotb, Hflvmii, Virgin liky>dt ond APO-FPO. Monik

1 ConHrwnkJ US. lEIinoii rui:Jenhi odd 6.5% iol« tax.

. .___ .._ ^ litors «![/ iliipped in Conri

Pfic« ond availatiil^ Kibjed to chong* wilficwt noik*. Net r*sponijbi« br troograpKkol trrcn of emiuiofij. *Comf>utor Dirad will moith any cumrtt [wtlhin 30 doyi) na'Fcoa&Y ochwtkMd pnca on axod tamt [terru. Shipping ond iol« ku not indudad. VanfiffirHon rtquinid.

FAX Ordering 708/382-7545 Outside Service Area, Please Call 708/382-5058

COMPUTER DIRECT, INC.

22292 N. Pepper Rood Barrington, IL 60010

We Love Our Customers'

Increase Your Data Transfer Rate Up to 1 00%! With Our Specially Equipped VIP Computers

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VIP 16MHz 386SX Computer Systems

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Mfr, Sugg. Retail $1 29f .95 Monitor OpKonol

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Mono RGB EGA VGA

No Drive

20M8

48MB

/IMB

111MB

$190

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T040

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■ ime is money. You spend time steadily, hour after hour, week after week, wisely or tbolishly. k. You use time to make money or — by not using time efficiently — to lose money. This alarming realization has helped fuel the boom in datebook orga- nizers, those ever-present leather note- books so many people carry. Software developers, ever alert to a trend, have created equivalent time-management systems for personal computers.

The computer is a valuable ally in the struggle to convert time imo money. Three classes of software assist in this battle: time managers, personal infor- mation managers, and time-tracking and billing programs. t>

DECEMBER 1990

COMPUTE

Principles of Time Management

"Classic lime management hasn't changed in 2000 years," says Hymm Smith, founder of the Franklin Insti- tute, a national time-management training firm and publisher of the best-selling Franklin Day Planner. "Time management is simply the con- trolling of events. The issue is decid- ing which events you can control and learning how to control them."

The basic elements of time man- agement are well known: determine goals, set up a prioritized schedule or calendar, keep notes on your daily ac- tivities, and maintain a database of important contacts and clients.

Goals. First, determine your goals. This is an essential step too often left out of time-management ad- vice. Without clear goals, you can manage even' minute of your day with perfect efficiency and still never accomplish anything worthwhile. Good time managers ensure that the right events take place.

Prioritized to-do list and calen- dar. Second, identify activities that lead to your goals. Put them on your daily to-do list, the basic tool of time management. Each day you need a clear picture of what you want to accomplish.

Once you have the list of your dayls activities, analyze it carefully and assign priorities. When you plan the next day, carry unfinished tasks forward.

Your day-planning sheet should also have a place to show your ap- pointments. Keep a set of monthly calendars showing your time-related commitments.

Notes on daily activities. To man- age time efficiently, you need a place to keep the important notes usually written on scraps of paper and lost. If you promise to call someone next Thursday or meet with the PT.A on the second Tuesday of each month, you'd belter write it down where you can find it.

Personal database. Finally, you need a personal database. .Addresses, phone numbers, bank account num- bers, important dates such as anniver- saries, and your notes from the last time you talked to someone — capture all these things in a single, accessible place.

Time-Management Style

How you choose to apply these princi- ples will var\' great!>'. What works for you depends largely on your view of life, your way of thinking, and your personal style. Some of us focus on time itself while others focus on tasks, projects, and processes. Still others concentrate on the people involved. Some key on goals or results: the end

4a COMPUTE

is ever in mind, and all else exists merely to create it.

How do you design a single piece of time-management software that ap- peals to everyone? You can't. Instead, software developers have created a variety of products, appealing to indi- vidual styles of time management.

These programs range from per- sonal information managers (PIMs), such as Arriba and Instant Recall, to simpler daily schedule managers, such as Top Priorily, who-'-vhal-when, and OnTime.

These programs reflect their designers' personal styles and time- management beliefs. If you find a pro- gram that shares your style, you'll really like it. If you end up with a mis- match, you'll be frustrated, wondering why the dolts who designed the pro- gram won't let you organize and man- age things logically.

Fair Warning

Before we discuss these programs, you need to be aware of a problem. Smith's Franklin Institute found out the hard way that once you've used a good datebook organizer, you're un- likely to be happy with a computer- based system for long. Two years ago, a $70,000 development effort pro- duced the Franklin Day Planner on a disk. The beta testers — techie power users, all — went back to their Frank- lin Day Planner books quickly, even though the software worked perfectly.

Why? Smith says that the need to have their schedule and personal data- base with them at all times out- weighed the benefits of computeriza- tion. "If you're into a computer for managing your time, you're into a double-entry system, like it or not," he says.

Smith's beta testers were accus- tomed to a superb paper-based sys- tem. For the great majority who now do little or no formal time manage- ment, however, these easy-to-use computer-based systems provide an excellent introduction to the marvels of mastering time.

Time Managers

Here are a few of the best and most popular time managers on the market.

Top Prion'tj'. The time manager known as Top Priority focuses on the day's activities, both to-do items and appointments. Its printed daily sched- ule page is a work of art, duplicating what you'd find in a normal datebook organizer, printed using decorative fonts, boxes, and lines. It provides room for handwritten changes and noles.

Top Priority's excellent manual gently teaches time-management con- cepts, including the importance of set-

DECEMBER 1990

ling goals and relating them to your daily lasks. It encourages you to orga- nize your tasks into projects, with step-by-step tasks as subtasks, yet it handles tasks not related to a project just as easily. Priorities range from A to Z, with subtasks getting an individ- ual subpriority.

Top Priority has no extra person- al database features, but it exchanges data with Power Up!'s market-leading powerhouse Calendar Creator Plus.

who-what-when. Although best suited to managing projects, who- whal-when provides dynamite ways of gaining alternative perspectives. It looks at projects from a what view- point (what's being done), a when perspective (how the events are se- quenced and the stages of project completion), and a who outlook (lists of tasks assigned to different people).

While it shines at managing pro- jects, who-what-when feels cumbersome when managing masses of small, unre- lated tasks. It lacks a usable overall calendar view of your schedule, though it has a report showing which days have tasks in them. It has a limited priority scheme, and its old-fashioned, plain-text reports can be hard to read and use.

who-what-when excels at manag- ing large projects, especially if there are several people involved. It com- pares schedules, reviews delegations, and cross-tabulates relationships among people and projects in every way imaginable.

OnTime. If you're looking for a lean, highly effective daily scheduling machine, you're looking for OnTime. It works on appointments and to-do items only and doesn't rely on your being at the keyboard throughout the day.

You plan your day ahead with OnTime anA print a single two-sided planning sheet, which folds into thirds and slips into your purse or coat pock- et. Inside the folded sheet is a detailed appointment calendar covering daily appointments for as many as seven weeks.

The outside fold shows today's appointments with room to add more by hand. The second fold shows your day's to-do list, sorted by priority. The final fold contains an annual calendar.

This single sheet of letter-sized paper contains all the basic infor- mation you need lo manage your day. It's an elegant solution to basic time- management needs, but it doesn't cap- ture any other data. It's direct, simple, and easy.

Personal Information Managers

One step up from the simple time managers are personal information managers. Here's a look at some of continued on page 52

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Vou can pay anyone with CheckFree because the CheckFree Processing Center utilizes electronic transfers as well as laser printed checks to make payments If a company or individual you are paying is not set up for electronic payment, the CheckFree Processing Center will print and mail a laser printed check for you. Because of its universal payment processing technologj; CheckFree can process payments to anyone in the US, through the checking account you already have at any bank, credit unioji, or savings and loan.

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You tell the CheckFree software when you want your bills paid and the CheckFree sj'stem pays them on the dates you specify. .^1 we need is a few days advance notice to make sure your payments get processed on time

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CheckFree is the only software package designed specifically for the efficiency of electronic payment technology'. Simply put, its the fastest and easiest way to handle your finances VVliat if you like the idea of CheckFree electronic hill payment but prefer to use Managing Vour Money*, Quicken®, orCheckwTite Plus*: No problem, CheckFree is seamlessly integrated into these programs, so you can enjoy the convenience of electronic bill payment with your choice of personal finance software

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"CheckFree makes bill paying a quick, painless task rather than a monthly ritual to be dreaded ,., Checkfree Corporation has been handling commercial electronic payments for companies such as CompuServe* for years, and its experience and professionalism showed in all aspects of my dealings with it"

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Now that you know all about CheckFree, why would you pay your bills and handle your finances any other way? Why would you burden yourself with checks, stamps, and paperwork vvhile your PC sits idly by? Besides, when you order by phone or mail, CheckFree comes with a money back guarantee If youVe not completely satisfied with CheckFree software, simply return it within -30 days of purchase for a full refund. You've got nothing to lose.

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IBW* FC/ComiMtibles with 38-!K usable RAM, MS UOS* 2.1, Iwo floppy drives or a hard disk s>-stem - or Mai-ii^tosh* 5 1 2KE or Kigher. 800K driv& Ha>es* compatible modem also required. 'UialtAlJons: Over 20 moniiilj' transactions in^-oKe a Mmij^al surcharge (S3 per ten payments or portion thereof), Checl(Free is a registered trademark of Checkfree Corporation Atl other trademarks are the propertv- of their respecti\-e corparatiot^s fteprinted from PC Hagaline, .Vovcmber H, 198S, Copjrighl © 1989, M Communications Company, Cot^yrighl © HIS9 by Scholastic Ina All rights reserved Reprinted from lite May wsue of Home Office Computing

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T COOK OUT INDOORS — THE HEALTHY WAY — WITH NO SMOKE

Are you one of the millions of Americans who loves to barbecue — but not only in summer? Then the Contempra Indoor Electric Char-B-Que is for you. Constructed of beautiful stoneware and measuring ■\5"xWA"-x.iVi", this barbecue p!x)vides a 150 square inch cooking area, large enough for the entire family or for company. This energy effi- cient indoor electric grill has a unique reflector system that directs heat at the food,

while fat drippings drain through a tray shielded from heat for virtually smokeless cooking. The unique design keeps the stoneware cool enough to handle Plus, clean-up is a cinch since all parts except the heating unit are dishwasher safe Instruction booklet with recipes included. UL listed; 1-year limited warranty; made in the USA. $59.98 (S7.00) #A1336.

? FOLDAWAY EXERTRACK™

Staying in shape is Vftal for our health and well being with today's lifestyle Get- ting to the gym may not always be easy in our busy lives. We have just the answer for all you people on the go or just for the ones who enjoy to get fit at home That's why the Foldaway Exertrack is the perfect way to exercise This personal treadmill has a speedometer/odometer to monitor speed and progress, It measures 38"x21"x5" and features a safe rubber track and an adjust- able handlebar that faces forward or back- ward for running and walking comfort. No electrical connections or motors needed. Exercise has never been simpler Order one today and get on the right track with the Exertrack. Folds away ftDr easy storage, light- weight and compact. At a great price! $131.98 (S15.00) #A1977,

T INFRARED IMPROVEMENT

Home infrared heat treatments are an increasingly popular form of natural pain relief Now the means of applying that heat have been significantly improved. Heating surface has been tripled, the larger contour head comfortably angled for reaching neck and back. Replaceable interi- or infrared bulb is now lOw, giving 45% more heat. Reaches deeper than heating pads or hot water bottles. The new infra- lux has two heat settings: High and Low {plus off) which allows you to experiment and choose most comfortable setting. It comes with its own zippered vinyl bag for neat storage or packing for travel. UL-listed. $39.98 (34.25) #A1906.

T THE BUSINESS CARD COMPUTER

Carry your office with you. The world's first credit card size SK computer lets you store over 8000 characters. That's ap- proximately 500 names, phone numbers and addresses, important memos or ap- pointment schedules. Recall a file by fast forward scrolling or simply by using the direct search feature which automatically finds a file for you. Access all this pertinent information in no time It also features a full-function calculator, a currency ex- change memon/ and a security code key for privacy. Easy to use and carry, Carn/ing case and battery included. $a9.98 (S5.00) #A1898.

■< FOOD DEHYDRATOR

Even if ft weren't so specially low-priced, this food dehydrator would be immensly econom- ical. Using almost none of your valuable time, it makes nutritious, preservative-free, refined-sugar- free, healthful dried fruits and snacks, plus yogurt — at a tiny fraction of their price in stores. Sim- ply slice fruit into lemon juice, spread on the per- forated plastic stacking trays and forget it for 12 to 24 hours. With electrical coil at bottom, the unit IS engineered for convection heating; no fan need- ed, so it's energy-efficient and noiseless A 28-page instruction book provides guides for adjustable vents and timing plus enticing recipes Treat kids to crispy banana chips, make dried apples, apricots raislns..even beef jerkey and vegetables for soups and camping trips., try zucchini slices with sesame seeds — a dieter's dream substitute for hi-cal chips. 12" dia., U.L Listed. 5-trav Dehydrator (shown) $51.98 (56.25) #A1887X. 3-trav Dehydrator $ai,98 (S5.25> #A1886X.

T TEACH AN OLD LAMP NEW TRICKS

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ny lamp that takes a standard bulb can be up- dated with the Touchtronic dimmer. No rewiring needed-just screw into lamp socket. Then your touch on any metal part becomes the "switch"-touch once for low light, again for medium, a third time for full wattage Handy when you're entering a dark room, great at bedside and a real comfort to the arthritic "^^ or the ill. You'll save time, money and electricity-no

more 3-wav bulbs to buy and you pay for only as much light as you need U.L. listed: one-year factory warranty $15.98 (54,00) ^1700. 2 for $27.98 (55,00) #A17002

T CAR-THEFT PROTECTION — WITH NO INSTALLATION

W ith Sonic Sentrv, the value of a car alarm bnngs you peace of mind — without the expense and bother of installation. You can switch it from one vehicle to another Just plug Sonic Sentry into the cigarette lighter; cord reaches 5 feet, so the unit can occupy dash or seat when vehicle is parked, where the flashing lights can make a browsing thief think twice The petite 4y!"x4ya"x2" box is capable of emitting a truly ear-piercing alarm, concentrated inside the car, where it can most effectively repel an intruder. Actfvated by the light that accompanies the opening of car door, hood or trunk, it also senses impact or "unnecessary roughness"; the shriek lasts for one minute and only the key stops it — unplugging the lighter activates a back-up battery Stuck on the road? Switch Sonic Sentry to its mode showing HELP in flashing red lights and put in the window to attract aid. It's protection you can't afford not to have, at $70.98 (57.00) #A1989,

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T INFRAVIB INFRARED HEAT MASSACER

he infravib Mas- sager is good news for your aches and pains. This state of the art device combines infrared heat and a powerful wand massager in one unit. Deep pene- trating infrared has two settings and gives fast temporary relief to sore joints and muscles. Massager soothes and relaxes tired and aching mus- cles, Massager has a long flexible shaft with four massaging attachments (body, acu- point, leg and foot, and scalp) and two mas- sage levels Try Infravib— it might be just what the doctor ordered. $89.98 (56.251 M1952.

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If ordering by mail send remittance to MAIL ORDER MALL, Dept CP120; PO. Box 3006, Lakewood, N.J. 08701, Item price is followed by shipping and handling in ( ). Be sure to add both together to arrive at total price N.J. residents add 7% sales tax. When using credit card — include account number, exp date, signature Sorry, no Canadian, foreign or CQD. orders

Magalog Marketing Croup inc © 1990

1905 Swarttimore Ave, Lakewood, Ni 08701

contimwd from page 48

the best and the brightest.

Arriba. The way to visualize Ar- riba is to picture a file cabinet full of folders. In each folder is a set of relat- ed information, which can be any- thing from simple text to a structured minidalabase of your own design. There arc built-in folders for to-do list processing, a phone list, and other functions.

Arriba is fast. If you know that somewhere in all your folders is a note containing the birthday of the daugh- ter of the president of ABC Company, for example, just search for.-JSCand daughter. The note is onscreen almost instantly.

But how is it for time manage- ment? It's adequate, but that's not its strong point. If you need some of the finer elements of to-do list processing and calendaring, look elsewhere. If your time-management needs are modest but the prospect of custom minidatabases is alluring. Arriba is for you.

Instant Recall. A fast PIM with an entirely different outlook is hut am Recall. It provides four basic ways of viewing your personal database: notes, tasks, schedule, and people. De- pending on your style, any of these views can become the primary focus.

The step-by-step task/subtask processing of who-what-when and Top Priority won't be found in Instant Re- call, making it more suited for work that doesn't involve a time-related se- ries of component tasks leading to completion of an overall task.

The strength of Instant Recall is that it can run as a memorj'-resident program, ready to instantly pop up over other applications. Bigger PIMs

have TSR modules that run a subset of the program, but Instant Recall's entire program is there whenever you pop it up, and it only takes about 28K of RAM when dormant. Arriba uses about 200K to do the same thing.

Time-Tracking and Billing

If you bill clients for your time, you need a time-tracking and billing pro- gram. It simplifies your recordkeeping process and handles the drudgery of accumulating information from origi- nal sources into sorted, detailed, priced invoices for your clients.

Even if you aren't at your com- puter all the time, the amount of work these programs do behind the scenes justifies the occasional double-entry process of copying handwritten notes into the computer. Don't lose money because you didn't track your time well enough to bill it accurately.

TimeSheet Professional. A time sheet is a document that lists client tasks down the left and hours in col- umns under day headings across the top. TImeSheel Professional auXo- mates the process of maintaining a time sheet. You can enter time and expense amounts in any slot on the time sheet and attach long notes using a pop-up window. Notes and expenses can be printed on bills at your option.

And, of course, TimeSheet Profes- sional keeps track of time for you. You just put the cursor in the cell for the job you're doing and hit a key. and it starts timing. When you slop the timer, the elapsed time is charged to the job for you.

Timeslips III. The market leader in time-tracking and billing programs

is Timeslips III. Its metaphor isn't the time sheet but a time slip, a small piece of paper on which you write a code and the time spent on a job. These are typically accumulated and processed by an accounting clerk who turns them into invoices. Time slips are often used by law firms and others who have too many active projects go- ing to fit neatly onto a time sheet.

Timeslips III does more than TimeSheet Professional. It offers more codes, more classifications, more ways to determine billing rates, and, unfortunately, a few more ways to get confused. Thai's offset by an out- standing, clearly written manual.

Timeslips III is really a billing program, producing professional- looking invoices effortlessly in a vari- ety of formats. It gets downright serious about tracking what's owed to you, even supplying aged accounts- receivable reports.

A Final Caution

These programs arc fun — maybe too much fun. You can get so caught up in managing your time that you fritter away the very thing you're working to conserve. Add a computer to the mix, and the temptation to really get orga- nized can end up eating away your precious time. Don't be overorga- nized, more interested in being orga- nized than in accomplishing anything. Time management is doing the right things at the right time, not just keep- ing track of what you've done. 3

Richard O. Mann is an internal auditor for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. His bool<, Working with Windows 3, will De released in the spring of 1991.

Arrlbs 1.01	OnTime 1.2	Top Priority^. 00
PC compatibles with 384K and a hard	PC compatibles with 320K	PC compatibles with 384K
disk	$69.95	$99.95
$195.00	Campbell Services	Calendar Creator Plus 3.0
Good Software	21 700 Northwestern Hwy.	PC compatibles with 320K or Macintosh
13601 Preston Rd.	Suite 1070	$59.95
Dallas, TX 75240	Southfield, Ml 48075	Power Up! Software
(800)272-4663	(313)559-5955	P.O. Box 7600
Franklin Day Planner (a book)	TimeSheet Protesslonal 1.2	San Mateo, CA 94403-7600 (800)851-2917
$24.95	PC compatibles with 51 2K; hard disk
Franklin International Institute	recommended	who-what-wt)on 2.0
P.O. Box 25127	$149.95	PC compatibles with 51 2K and a hard
Salt Lake City, UT 84125-0127	Software Partners	disk
(801)975-1776	999 Commercial St.	$189.95
Instant Recain. 2 PC compatibles witn 51 2K and at least	Palo Alto, CA 94303 (415)857-1110	Chronos Time Management Software 555 De Haro Suite 240
a 720K floppy or a hard disk $99.95 Chronologic	Tmeslips III PC compatibles with 448K and a hard disk	San Francisco, CA 94107 (415)626-4244
5151 N.Oracle, #210	$299.95
Tucson, AZ 85704	Timeslips
(800)848-4970	239 Western Ave. Essex, MA 01929
	(508)768-6100

52 COMPUTE

DECEMBER 1990

BRING YOUR

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Circle Reader Service Number 121

PRODUCTS

EDITORS

Backup Zinger

Central Point Software is now offering the backup program in its PC Tools Deluxe Version 6.0 package as a stand-alone program — Central Point Backup.

The new interface in Central Point Backup, the most graphical in any character-based DOS backup pro- gram, makes it easier to select files and options and thereby encourages you to perform regular backups. You can save the program's options and selections, making it easy to launch subsequent backups and restore your data directly from the EKDS command line. With the built-in scheduler, you

Central Point Backup has an easy-to-use interface that simplifies backups.

can perform unattended backups. To help ensure data integrity, the pro- gram offers complete bil-for-bit verifi- cation of all backed-up data, as well as a Compare feature, which checks the backup against current files. National Software Testing Laboratories tests have shown Central Pain! Backup to be the fastest backup program on the market. The program also compresses data by as much as 60 percent without increasing backup time.

Central Point Backup lists for $99, and you can upgrade to PC Tools Deluxe for an additional S50. Central Point Software. 15220 NW Green- brier Parh^'ay. #200, Beaverloii. OR 97006 Reader Service Number 35t.

Opening Up Windows

Microsoft is offering its Supplemental Driver Library (SDL), a collection of device drivers supporting approxi- mately 126 hardware peripherals, in- cluding printers, video displays, pointing devices, and other peripher- als that run under Windows 3.0. Some of the drivers provide support for new peripherals, while others provide en- hanced performance or new features for previously supported peripherals. This is the first in a series of periodic releases of additional Windows device drivers.

The SDL has a broad distribution scheme to give you fast and easy ac- cess to the drivers you need. More- over, the SDL disks can be freely copied and distributed among li- censed Windows users within a com- pany. You can download the SDL from online services such as Micro- soft OnLine, CompuServe, and GEnie at no charge. Optionally, you can or- der the SDL from Microsoft directly by calling (800) 426-9400. There's a nominal $20 charge to cover the cost of the 3'/:- or S'/i-inch disks on which the SDL is distributed. Microsoft, One Microsoft Way, Redmond, WA 98052-6399 Reader Service Number 3S2.

Micro Micro

Isotropic Computer, a PC designer and manufacturer, is producing the smallest 80286-based motherboard on the market. Based on the revolution- ary Chips and Technologies Single Chip AT (SCAT) product, the dimin- utive board measures 4X7 inches. It operates at 12 MHz or 16 MHz, and plans call for a version that would op- erate at 20-1- MHz (as soon as C & T offers the faster chip). Features in- clude a variety of memory configura- tions— up to 16MB — with a selection of plug-in memor)' boards, selectable wait states, full LIM EMS 4.0 support, BIOS shadow ROM support, and a socket for an 80287 coprocessor. Iso- tropic is the first manufacturer to de- velop and release a system board based on this C & T design.

Isotropic's motherboard will be 100-percent IBM compatible and will initially be offered in a slimline cabi- net and a regular AT-style cabinet. Isotropic Compuier.E. 5920Sellice Way. Post Falls. ID 83854 Reader Service Number 353,

Fun with Words

Ever wish you could supply the defini- tion and have your computer come up with the right word? Now you can with Inside Information from Micro- lytics. It's a comprehensive hierarchi- cal dictionary that organizes the English language into categories of de- fined words. According to the compa- ny's president, Mike Weiner, "Inside Information presents the ideal organi- zational structure for language in the electronic age."

The program begins with seven genera! word classes: Nature, Science & Technology, Domestic Life, Institu- tions, Arts & Entertainment, Lan- guage, and the Human Condition. The seven classes are broken down into 20 subclasses, 125 categories, 700 subcategories, and more than 65,000 root-word entries. You can view the words with an Outline view, which lists the information vertically, or with the Reverse Dictionary view, which lets you type in a few descrip- tive words and receive a list of possi- ble answers. For example, with the Reverse Dictionary, you could type in left side of ship and get back port. The MS-DOS version of Inside Infor- mation is available for $ 1 1 9, Micwlytics. Two Tobey Village Office Park. Pitlsford. NY 14534 Reader Service Number 354.

Friendly Persuasion

Presenters interested in winning friends and persuading strangers will want to know about Persuasion 2.0. It makes presentations easier and more intuitive by using the advanced graph- ics capabilities of Windows 3.0. Not only does it present pretty pictures and graphs, it also incorporates an outliner and a word processor, which can help you prepare speaker's notes >

54 COMPUTE

DECEMBER 1990

THREE OF THE MOST LAVISHLY ILLUSTRATED BOOKS EVER PUBLISHED ON WATCHES

ROLEX

CARTIER

\ f i-tiivav Of i:^AHTU'M WJtls(WA.if.Mli5

D Rolex: Tlmslsss Elegance by George Gordon. llVt x 9Win./310 x 234mm. 350 pages, 292 colour illustrations, in slip case. A Certificated Limited Edition. ISBN 962 7359 01 7. Features the company's original designs, period advertisements and certificates. However, the higlilight of this luxurious volume is the sumptuous modem colour illustrations of 635 RoleJt watches of all ages. $160,

D Cartler: A Century of Cartler Wristwatches by George Gordon. 12W x 9'/4in./310 x 234nim. 552 pages, 450 colour illustrations, in slip case. A Certificated Limited Edition. ISBN 962 7359 02 5. Louis Canier created the first man's wristwatdi in 1904 and this book illustrates them from this date to the present day. The hallmark of this book is the lavish, high quality, modem colour Illustrations of 1002 wrist watches, $225.

O Twentieth Century Wristwetches by George Gordon, \2V* x 9'/4in./310 x 234mm. 364 pages, 300 colour photographs. ISBN 962 7359 03 3. Twentieth Century Wristwatches is a look at the development of wristwatches during this century. The finest wristwatches by the greatest Swiss companies from the beginning to their finest productions of the 1920- 1950s have been assembled in this unique book includang beautiful photographs and complete descriptions. SI 80

Please add SI 0.00 per book for airmail. Send your check or money order to: Timeless Elegance c/o Michael Stevens, General Media, 1965 Broadway, Ne\v York, N.Y. 10023 Tel: 212 496-6100. Fax: 212 874-1349. (N.Y. residents add sales lax.)

^=-g

INTERNATIONAL COLLECTORS OF

TIME

A new international club for colleaors and dealers of wristwatches is being formed with headquarters in four cities, Milan , London, New York and Hong Kong. Called "International Collectors of "Time Association", the club's purpose is to provide an avenue for the exchange of ideas and information between wristwatch collectors.

Each chapter will have its own Board of Directors to oversee that area's activities.

Four meetings of the International Colleaors of Time Association (ICTA) are planned per year. The first meeting will be in May, 1990 in Hong Kong at the Park Lane Radisson. The second meeting is scheduled for September, 1990 in London at the Churchill Hotel, followed by the third conference in New York in December, 1990. More details will be provided later, but the Hong Kong meeting will give collectors an opportunity to meet other collectors and dealers from around the world,

We want to organize meetings in Italy, Japan, France and Germany. If you would like to help organize one of these meetings, or any of the three already scheduled, please contact one of the clubs.

A magazine comes complimentary with your membership. Published in English, bi-monthly, it will contain reviews on what's happening in the wristwatch market around the world with reports on sales and auctions, and news about new products just being aesignal. There will also be a question and answer column for collectors and dealers , as well as a column where watches can be sold or bought. If you have 'any interest in writing an anicle for the magazine, sharing an old catalogue or have stories about yours or others' wristwatches, the editor would like to hear from you. The association plans a new book nest year, and your wristwatch could be included if you so desire.

Membership fees are USS75.00 per year. (If you require your magazine sent aimiail, there is an additional USS25 charge.)

Name

Address .

Country . Fax _

. Telephone No.

office

Home

D I want to become a member of the London, Hong Kong, New York, Milan

chapter of ICTA (circle one). Enclosed is my cheque for US$

to cover membership fees plus any airmail charges.

Cheque made payable to Internationa] Collectors of Time Association

□ I might be interested in attending the Hong Kong, London, New York meeting. 'Please send me more information.

D I have an interest in writing/ contributing information to the magazine.

D I want to help organize one of the meetings, Location:

INTEBNATIONAL COLLECTORS OF TIME ASSOCIATION

U.S. A.: 1 Old Counm Road. Suilc 330, Caric Place. Nc* Vorit 11514 Tel; 211 8.18-1560 Fiii 2U 838,«3J

Lf.K.; 173 Colchcnw Court. RedtlifTc Gardens, London, England SW5 OD.K, Utiiled Kingdom Ttl 4J-7 1-373-7807 Fai. 44-7 1- 373-0347

tTALY- Vialc San Miclisic I>ri Carso. S, MiUin, Ualy. Tel, 39.2-t9j-OMi4 Fax. 39-2-46W)B!W

H.K.: 224 Pacifif I'lacc, 8B Ouecnswaj. Honj Kong. Tel. 852,845.7514 Fax. S52-877-05I8

COMPUTE CHOICE

PETER SCISCO

COMBINE REALISTIC PLAY, SPECIAL EFFECTS, TOURNAMENT PLAY, AND THE ABILITY TO PLAY WITH SOME OF THE PGA'S TOP GOLFERS, AND YOU HAVE A GOLF GAME THAT SCORES AN EAGLE

The key to any sports simulation lies in its ability to nnimic the real thing. Most golf games pin their hopes on copying famous courses and in offering PC duffers a choice of clubs. Some go so far as to include wind and other environmental fac- tors. PGA Tour Golf does all of these things and goes one better: It puts you on the professional tour, where you play against the big boys.

Put your skills to the test on any of three Tournament Players Club golf courses: Avenel, Sawgrass, or the PGA West Stadium. But before you go out on the tour, you'll want to visit the Pro Shop. This opening screen provides menus for Play, File, View, Stats, and Options and is a good ex- ample of the detail built into the PGA Tour Go//" interface. You can pull down menus and play the game with key- board commands, a mouse, or a joy- stick. From the Pro Shop Play menu, for example, you can hone your driv- ing and putting skills, play a Practice Round, or move to a Tournament.

The other Pro Shop menus han- dle game files, scorecards, and statis- tics. Every time you play, PGA Tour Golf adds to your stats, giving you a steady chart of your progress — or lack of it. The Tour, after all, consists of more than one game. Trying to stay at the top of the rankings is as much of a challenge as is sinking a 40-foot putt.

60

COMPUTE

DECEMBER 1990

The mechanics of PGA Tour Golf mow the traditional power-bar method: You aim your shot by moving a cross- hairs cursor to the right or left; then you press the space bar or a button (joysticlc or mouse) for distance and accuracy, Overswinging (moving past the 100- percent power line) increases the chance of a hook or slice. Accuracy depends on your striking the space bar or pressing the button at the point at which the power indicator returns to the 0-percent line. Hooking and fad- ing the ball around obstacles plays a role as well and it's good to practice these techniques on the driving range.

■■■■	'* StroU a E
■fe----	- ^

An arsenal of special shots enhances the realism in this duffer's dream.

Graphically, the game is a plea- sure to watch. Until you strike the ball, your view is from behind your player, looking down the course to- ward the green or fairway. Once you've struck the ball, however, the view switches to a point farther down the links, and you have a TV view of your ball as it lands in the fairway — or as it misses its target and falls into the rough or another hazard. The bounce and roll of the ball is very realistic, with some shots spinning back or roll- ing forward depending on how you strike the ball.

The graphic presentation is en- hanced with fly-by views of each hole, accompanied by a tip from a top PG.A golfer. Beginning at the pin, the cam- era rolls back down the fairway to- ward the tee, illuminating the

approach to the green and the hazards that threaten your success. On a fast machine, say a 12-MHz 286 or a 386SX, these views are a lot of fun to watch (at least at the beginning). But 1 turned them off when playing the game on a Tandy 1000 because it took so long to run the graphics sequence. To its credit, PGA Tour Golf aWows you to make such adjustments, en- hancing your enjoyment of the game no matter what kind of computer you own.

Out on the links, the game sug- gests the right club for every situation, but you can put it back in your bag

DECEMBER 1990

COMPUTE

61

# ENTERTAINMENT

and choose another if you like. You can even choose the mix of clubs you want in your bag at the start, which lets you customize the game to your golfing style. Unlike most golfing sim- ulations, the club you have at any giv- en point on the course is not simply rated at a certain distance at 100 per- cent (that is, a 9 iron isn't always rated at 112 yards); rather, the potential dis- tance of any club is affected by the lie of the ball. For example, that same 9 iron might be rated at 112 yards from the center of the fairway but only 57 yards from the deep rough — and even less if your ball is half-buried in the rough.

Once you're on the fairways, it's easy to see why this game earned the endorsement of the PG.A Tour: The detail of play is accurate right down to the lie of the ball and unpredictable gusts of wind. The wind meter at the bottom left of the screen swings around with every gust and stops only when you begin your swing. On a long hole, you may want to wait for the wind to swing your way before trying that long drive.

You not only have to deal with the wind, but you also must contend with the vagaries of the ground. If your ball is sitting in the fairway, for example, you would get a better shot than you would if the ball is half- buried in heavy rough. Special pop-up overlays describe the condition of your lie before everj- shot except for the drive off the tee. I found the infor- mation crucial to my making deci- sions along the course, but if you find these screens distracting, you can turn them off

Golf is a lot more than just swinging a club, of course. Like great pool players, great golfers know how to work a ball to gel the best roll, the fortuitous bounce. When you're ap- proaching the hole, PGA Tour Golf gives you a choice of shots to make from its Options menu when you se- lect Special Shots. Shortcut keys for these shots are also available, so you don't have to go through the motions of pulling down the menus. The F7 key, for example, lets you chip your shot. There are also options for punching your shot (great for getting out of deep rough with some measure of accuracy, with the sacrifice of dis- tance) and for pitching your shot out of bunkers.

In any case, whether you chip the shot from 1 3 yards out and send the ball rolling across the green for the birdie, punch the ball low to get out of the rough, or putt the bail from the

fringe of the green, you'll appreciate the variety and realism that these shot options add to the game.

When you do reach the green. PGA Tour Golf brings to the screen a topographical representation of the green, with a grid that helps you iden- tify the breaks — both their angle and severity. Using the Fl and F2 keys, you can walk around the green to ex-

Start the tournament at the pro tent.

Tips from the pros can help you plan a strategy from the tee to the green.

Use the game's topographic grid to read the green and sink that birdie.

amine your shot from different ang- les. The distance your ball lies from the hole and the distance your ball sits above or below the cup are listed at the top of the grid screen. That infor- mation is indispensable to making a successful putt. In a nice touch, the game allows you to aim your shot from the grid screen by positioning the crosshairs; when you return to the normal view, your target position is carried over.

After a few practice rounds, if you feel ready to go for the money,

you can take your bag on the tourna- ment circuit to compete against some of the biggest names on the men's tour, (It's unfortunate that Sterling Silver Software doesn't offer an LPGA mode. I should think that there are some women out there who'd en- joy a good computer golf game. May- be in a later version or as an add-on disk — right, guys?)

The tournament mode brings in the great golfer's equalizer: psycholog- ical pressure. If you make the first cut, you advance to the second round (no mean feat). Make that cut and then the nest and you find yourself among the money winners. PGA Tour Golf keeps stats on all the golfers, including the pros, so that you can check your standings against the top money win- ners at any time.

The tournament mode brings in a few more graphical touches, such as a pop-up screen that announces the standings from time to time as you play. For example, before making your approach shot to the 8th hole, you may learn that Hale Irwin birdied the 16th to move into third place. At the end of each hole, the leader board screen gives you a quick picture of the standings. It lists the players, what hole they're shooting, and their stroke total. Page through the leader board to find out where you are in the pack; then plot your comeback or watch yourself fade. Without a doubt, you'll soon find yourself caught up in the ac- tion and trying to make up lost ground or trying to defend your nar- row lead. But stay steady — golf is played by the stroke, not by the putt.

Golf is one of the fastest growing sports in the country, which may have something to do with the booming success of computer golf games. With its attention to detail, its special graphics effects, its tournament mode, and its realistic play, PGA Tour Golf scores an eagle.

Playability *****

DQCumentation ****

Originality ****

Graphics *-***

IBM PC and compatibles with S12K— $49.95

Package indudes 55-page manual, quick- reference card, golf scorecard, and two 5V4-jnch disks

Sterling Silver Software

(Distributed by Electronic Arts)

1820 Gateway Dr.

San Maleo, CA 94404

(415)571-7171 B

62 COMPUTE

DECEMBER 1990

Two ways to play an American tradition.

Play the Tape.

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Then Play the Game.

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j4SC"j Monday Night Football is a tra- dition in more than 20-million American households. Now you can enjoy 20-years of highlights and then make some of your own.

The new ABC "s MONDAY NIGHT FOOTBALL Entertainment Paclc features the 20th anniversary Monday Night Madness videotape md ABC's Monday Night Football computer-software game.

ABC 's MONDAY NIGHT FOOTBALL brings the tradition of football excellence to life in the most realistic computer-football game ever created. The IBM-PC game now features enhanced VGA graphics that put you right on the field. You'll even hear Frank Gifford make the broadcasting calls in key game situations.

MONDAY NIGHT MADNESS captures two decades of the most memorable moments from ABC's weekly football spectacle. There's nothing but action and excitement in this thrilling 48-minute VHS videotape never before available in stores.

The ABC 's Monday Night Football Entertainment Pack — Either way you play, you win.

Available for IBM-PCICompatihles and Amiga.

Clrd* RMd*r Sarvkw Number 154

SIGHT...SOUND...SAVINGS!

INTRODUCING COMPUTE MAGAZINE'S ENTERTAINMENT SOFTWARE SHOWCASE

No more guesswork... No more disappointment Now you can preview hundreds of dollars worth of the hottest new entertainment software products before you buy! And you don't need a computer to do it!*

WORTH OF

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ENCLOSED!

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"*':>5*-r-k^V

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"VCR with VMS format required. Many programs previewed available ■} in MS-DOS (ormal; others available for mull pie machines.

Copyright © 1990 Compule PuWicaWons Intl. Lid.

It's Easy! Just put Compute's Entertainment Software Showcase video into your VCR*, press "play" and you are

on the way to sampling the sights and sounds of 24 of the latest products from today's top software publishers. All

for only $12.95 plus postage and handling! Order your video today by calling toll free or using the coupon below.

CREDIT CARD ORDERS ONLY CALL TOLL FREE: 1-800-535-3200

(Visa or MasterCard Accepted) Some of the exciting previews you'll see are:

The AD LIB Music Synthesizer

Sound Card

Vour PC games wlil come alive with slate-oMhe art sound power. Instru- ments and sound effects are generated using FM synthesis technology.

LUCASFILM LTD.

Secret Weapons Of Ths Luftwaffe Fly classic American planes, or switch sides, to pilot experimental German aircraft in cJassic World War I! aerial battles.

The Secret Of Monkey Island

High resolution graphics and challeng- ing puzzles make tfiis search for pirate gold on a mysterious Caribbean island a swashbuckler's delight.

Join young hero Bobbin in a fantasy adventure game of swirling magic spells and battles against the dark forces of evil. Includes an audio cassette that prepares players lor the quest

Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade-

The Graphic Adventurf.

INDY is back, for more excitement and

narrow escapes from trouble. Features

lush graphics and some humorous plot

twists.

Night Shift

Tired of the same old 9 to 5? Punch in

for the NIGHT SHIFT at Industrial IVIight

and Logic, and take control of the

wackiest, wildest toy making machine

imaginable.

ORIGIN

Wing Commander Test your courage by piloting your Ter- ran spacefighter in 3D galactic warfare against the vicious alien race the Kilrathi. Victories win promotion to svififter, more powerful spaceftghters.

Uncover the mysteries of lost civiliza- tions, explore a spectacular under- ground cily and meet the exotic princess Aiela on this perilous journey into a jungle kingdom.

Ultima V'

Sail from Britannia, land of magic and adventure, into the dark recesses of the Underworld, and emerge in the strange world of the Gargoyles.

Bad Blood

The pureblood humans have a new leader, and he wants to wipe out any lainted' races. You set out from your tribal village to find a way to stop his march of destruction.

SIERRA ON-LINE

Brave King Graham returns in the long awaited Chapter 5 of Roberta Williams' popular computer adventure series. Features 'cinemagraphic' Hollywood animation, making it play like an interac- tive movie.

Space Quest IV'

The hilarious adventures of Roger Wilco, who has a run-in with the Sequel Police, a crack team of inlergalactic assassins. He enlists the help of the Latex Babes of Chronos, as well as the Time Rippers-rebel lighters from the future.

Fire Hawk: Thexder-The Second Ep.coL]'-!!?.

Constant challenge and nonstop arcade action, as you don a battle suit that can transform from a giant robot to a super- jet, and battle bloodthirsty aliens.

Mixed-up Mother Goose Mixed-up Mother Goose transports children to Mother Goose Land, where they help her sort out some of her most popular rhymes. Then, they spring to life in brilliant color.

,4-10 Tank Killer

Take command of the ugliest, most indestructible, devastating plane ever