AFTER READING THIS FILE, CLICK THE "FILE" MENU (IN THE WINDOWS PROGRAM) AND CLICK "PSL-NEWS". IN THE DOS PROGRAM, PRESS ENTER. Contents: - 600+MB of Utilities Is TOO MUCH - Bogus Virus Reports - PsL's Internet Server Now Operating - PsL On-Line BBS Offers Low-Cost Internet Access - Program Descriptions in Text Files - Using the PsL CD =====600+MB of Utilities is TOO MUCH As our regular subscribers know, each month we are faced with the difficult task taking the 300MB of programs from the last time the section of the month was on a CD, adding all the subsequent new programs to it, and trying to make it still fit in 300MB. We have taken to splitting up categories (e.g.: Education from Home Apps), splitting up DOS and Windows apps (as we did with Games and with Home Apps), and deleting older, larger files, as we have done with all the sections in the past. None of these are perfect solutions, and each approach leaves some of you unhappy with the result. None of these approaches come without a lot of agonizing on our parts over those same pro's and con's. This month, our plan was to delete old, large, duplicative programs from Utilities. We were determined not to split Utilities into DOS and Windows CDs. Because there is a lot of duplication of program types in Utilities, we hoped that nobody would miss the parts we cut out. (Does anyone really need 200 file managers to choose among?) So starting with over 600MB of Utilities for DOS & Windows plus the OS/2 programs which we put on this same CD, we spent days going over program write-ups and visiciously cutting out programs that were pre-1995 and were over 100k and were not unique in their functions. When we were done, we ran a tally and were shocked to find 500MB of programs left! We had practically cut out everything of any size prior to the last Utilities CD (04/95), and still had 200MB too much. With time running out for getting the CD in to JVC for copying, we had an emergency meeting to try to come up with a solution which, hopefully, would irritate the fewest number of people. We decided to put in this month's Utilties and OS/2 sections only those new and updated programs received since the last (04/95) CD featuring Utilities. So we started from scratch and reassmbled all the files and updated the database accordingly, ending up with just under our 300MB limit - just of new DOS/Win Utilities and OS/2 programs received in the last 9 months. One advantage of this approach is that you are assured that there are NO old files on the CD (absolutely nothing prior to 1995). This increases the odss that the programs are still being actively supported and updated by the authors and use the latest technology. The disadvantage is that some of those "old", pre-1995 files were still uniquely useful. Those of you who have been subscribing for the last year and still have the Vol.4, #5 CD have no problem. The current CD database still has all the entries for those files, so you can look them up and read about them, but you will have to go back to the V.4, #5 CD to use them. For newcomers whose CD collection does not go back that far, we have decided to offer the V.4, #5 CD for a special price of just $2 (plus $4 shipping in the U.S. & Canada, $6 overseas). There is a limit of one CD at this price, and the offer only applies to those who have purchased (or are purchasing) this month's CD-ROM. =====Bogus Virus Reports Every program on our CD-ROMs goes through a review process. The first step in that process is that our Review Department software automatically virus-checks the software before our reviewers are given access to it. Then the next step is that the reviewers test the software, so if a virus somehow escaped detection, it would infect files on our machines and trigger other anti-virus software designed to catch such changes. Despite these precautions, every couple of months or so, we get a letter from a customer saying that his virus detector has found viruses in files on our CD-ROM. Although the odds of this being true are extremely remote, we take nothing for granted. We get out the latest versions of a half-dozen different virus scanners (including McAfee Scan, F-Prot, ThunderByte, AVScan, and others) and check the reported files. Then we run the reported programs and a couple of other "target" programs which we intentionally try to infect. After rebooting from a floppy disk (to get around any possible infection of the hard disk's boot sector or COMMAND.COM), we check the files, the hard disk's boot sector, and COMMAND.COM. The last report we received was that MODZIP12.ZIP and RPATH.ZIP, both in the DOS\UT_DSKFI directory of the Vol.3, Num.10 CD-ROM, had infected files. After following the above procedures and convincing ourselves that files were not infected, we called the person who made the report. After explaining the above to him, we also told him that we would bet that the virus scanner he used was Norton's Anti-Virus, because that is the one which every bad report we have received has come from. Sure enough, that is the scanner he used. So if you are using Norton's, you might want to give yourself some piece of mind and try a different virus scanner. What Others Say About Norton's - We asked members of the Association of Shareware Professionals about this situation, and here is some of the responses from virus experts in the ASP: "I have had plenty of files sent to me [by users] that were flagged as viruses by Norton's and *NONE* of them has ever been infected!" "As a BBS sysop, I have had 5 instances of users advising me that I had infected files... Of those, 4 were using Norton's and each of the 4 was a false reading." "Norton's AV product is known for getting confused... Norton's is a poor product..." =====PsL's Internet Server Now Operating We are now up and running on the Internet, although the company who was paid to register our domain name of PsL-Web has still not done their work, so you have to use our IP#: "http://206.109.101.6". Our home page has links to the following: -- PsL Shareware Database (which is the same database as on this CD-ROM). -- Articles, such as where to get the best computer system for the best price. -- A list of programs for which PsL can take registrations over over the Internet. These pages also lead to links where the latest versions of the shareware versions can be downloaded. -- Pages for reading about, downloading, and registering programs written by PsL owner Nelson Ford, including CardShark Hearts, CardShark Bridge Tutor, Ventanas: Spanish For Windows, PsL Phone Book, and more. =====PsL On-Line BBS Offers Low-Cost Internet Access If you live in Houston (or don't mind paying long-distance charges to access the Internet), you will be hard-pressed to beat the deal offered by the PsL-Online BBS. For less than $5 per month, you can get up to an hour-and-a-half of full, graphical Internet/WWW access using your favorite browser. PsL-Online sysop Baine Brimberry is considering plans which will allow longer access for modest increase fees which would still leave his rates far below other providers. To sign up for PsL-Online, call the PsL Order lines. Six months is only $30, and a full year is just $55. -----Compuserve, Netcom, and IDT Internet Provider Drawbacks: "PsL-Online BBS" is an independently operated BBS which is not part of PsL, but which features PsL's CD-ROMs. We were very happy to see it offer full graphical access to WWW. We had tried Compuserve's Internet access first. We had a lot of problems just downloading the huge software from CIS. Once we finally got it, the access to the Internet was painfully slower than other providers we have tried. Next we tried Netcom, from an offer in a book, for $19.95 per month. Only about 1 time in 10 were we able to get onto the Internet on the first attempt. Some times we went 3 or 4 days without being able to get on. Messages to them for support got no response. An even bigger drawback is that you are forced to use only Netcom's browser, which cuts you off from advances in other browsers such as Netscape's. IDT advertises in our local paper with a big headline saying "Unlimited, Uncensored Internet Access - $19.95/month". Right below the headline is a picture of a graphical browser. But when you call them, they tell you that the $19.95 price is only for a TEXT-based interface, and for the graphical interface shown in the ad, you have to pay $30 per month, which is 50% more than the average local provider charges. =====Program Descriptions in Text Files If you prefer to view descriptions of all the programs of one type in a scrollable file rather than viewing one program description at a time as this program does, you can do so by using the FILES.BBS file which appears in each directory. The file DIRECTRY.TXT in the root directory of the CD gives descriptions of all the directories on the CD. Change into a directory (example: CD \DOS\GRAPHICS) and type \VIEW FILES.BBS to read about all the files in that directory, using the cursor keys to scroll through the file. You can easily manually install a file to your hard disk by typing "\PKUNZIP . For example, to unzip SOMEFILE.ZIP to a directory on your hard disk, first create a directory for it (example: MD C:\SOME-DIR) then unzip the file to that directory: \PKUNZIP SOMEFILE C:\SOME-DIR Or in Windows, you may want to load a FILES.BBS file into Notepad in one window for easy reading and have WinZip (see previous article) in another Window for easy installation. =====Using the PsL CD If this is your first time to use a PsL Monthly CD-ROM, after reading the information in this window (use the scroll bars), follow the instructions above to get to the main program screen, then click on "Tutor" on the menu bar and also read the "Help" files. You are also welcome to call PsL at 713-524-6394 during our office hours for any assistance you might need. =====Important Features in Windows CD-ROM Access Program Print Author Labels: ------------------- A new feature in the CD-ROM Access Program for Windows is the ability to copy an author's name and address to the Windows Clipboard. From there, you can paste it into Notepad, Write, etc., to print a mailing label, write a letter, or whatever. To do this, you first must turn on the author display by clicking on "Author" on the menu bar, then click on "Show Author". Then either search for the author by name or bring up the author's program, which will cause his name and address to be displayed. Then click on the "File" menu and "Author Address to Clipboard". To paste the address into most Windows apps, you run the app, click its "Edit" menu, click the cursor where you want the address inserted, then click on "Paste" or press Ctrl-V. Search Descriptions: ------------------- You can search program write-ups for specified text. This is a slow search technique, but is the most thorough way to search for text. To speed up the search, first select the method to Browse By (e.g.: program name, file name, category, etc.), due a Get-Program, and THEN click on Edit and Search. For details, read the Help file. Context-Sensitive Help: ---------------------- The Help file offers context-sensitive help. To use the context-sensitive help for a menu item, click on the menu bar and use the cursor keys to move down to the desired option, then press the F1 key.