CompuNotes Notes from The Cutting Edge of Personal Computing ISSN: 1525-4534 April 16, 2000 Issue 163 +=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+= To subscribe, send an e-mail to listserv@peach.ease.lsoft.com SUBSCRIBE COMPUNOTES-L FirstName LastName To unsubscribe, send an e-mail to listserv@peach.ease.lsoft.com SIGNOFF COMPUNOTES-L For Contact and Other Information See Bottom of Publication! +=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+= ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ Buy Sams Teach Yourself Microsoft Exchange Server 5.5 in 10 Minutes at Amazon.Com Now and Support CompuNotes! Amazon.Com - about $10.39 -- Click Here: http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0672315564/compunotes/ ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ -=> We have been gone for a quarter, but are now back on a regualr schedule. Thanks for your patience and notes while we took a break! CONTENTS My Notes: 1=> CompuNotes Notes, DSL - Worth the Pain?, mailto:pgrote@i1.net 2=> This Issue's Winner! News: 3=> News of the Week, mailto:pgrote@i1.net Reviews: 4=> Product: Thief: The Dark Project, game Reviewed By: Doug Reed, mailto:dr2web@sprynet.com 5=> Product: Adobe Photoshop 5.0 Productivity Kit, graphics Reviewed By: Tim Ferrill, mailto:tferrill@hotmail.com 6=> Product: Programming the Be Operating System, book Reviewed by: Howard Carson mailto:howardcarson@home.com 7=> Product: Learning Red Hat Linux, book Reviewed By: Howard Carson, mailto:howardcarson@home.com 8=> Product: Fortress Personal Lie Detector v1.4, utility Reviewed By: Paul Schneider, mailto:p-schne@uiuc.edu 9=> Product: Bicycle Rummy, game Reviewed By: Craig Bull, mailto:cbull@siscom.net 1=> CompuNotes Notes, DSL - Worth the Pain?, mailto:pgrote@i1.net You've heard the great radio commercials. Maybe you have heard your friends talk about the merits of high speed internet access. Well, I took the leap and I am telling you, you should too. I've had a 128K ISDN connection for the last two years. It's dial-up and costs me $110.00 a month. Add a $49.95 a month ISP fee for unlimited access and you have $159.95 per month. For the last six months I have seen the cable and DSL ads tout their fast service. Intriguied, I did more research. With cable I found that the speeds were blazing and the prices was low, but the downsides were just too great for me. For one, I had to share this bandwidth with those in my neighborhood. See, cable is like one big local area network. The more people on, the less your bandwidth goes. Second, I didn't like the fact others could see the traffic going across the network. Yep, leave it to some young geek to take a sniffer or something to the connection and read packets. Third, I really hate my cable company. I mean I hate them. My cable is sort of reliable, but the customer service is absolutley horrible. I could imagine my cable going out for 48 hours along with my internet access. I'd go through withdrawl. As I looked into DSL, I liked what I saw. The bandwidth is your own. You don't share it with anyone. There are minimum commitments that the provider must meet. The installation is almost as easy as cable. You are required to use what the provider calls a modem, which can also be a router. At $79.95/month, it was more expensive than the cable plan at $39.95/month, but it had three distinct advantages I liked: 1) The bandwidth was my own and went up to T1 speeds. 2) Static IPs! Rather than having dynamic IPs assigned each time I connected, the provider would give me 5 static IPs. These are like gold and would allow each of my main machines in the house to be connected to the internet. 3) It was geeky cool. I don't do much in the way of the unknown nowadays and this was definitley saying goodbye. The last thing I had to do was choose a provider. In the St. Louis area there are three primary providers. I chose Southwestern Bell as I figured they were the folks who ultimatley support the system anyway. Also, they would supply me with 5 static IPs, the router and installation for a very low price as long as I committed to two years of service. Having just done this with ISDN, I didn't think it would be a big deal. The timing of all this was odd. I had to disconnect my ISDN line a week before DSL was due to be installed. During this time I connected to the internet through the 56K modem in my notebook. Can you say horrible? I don't know how people can connect at speeds like that. I found myself gravitating to the sites that used graphics sparingly, Yahoo and CNN, and avoiding high graphics sites like AltaVist and ABCNews. While waiting for the installation day to come, Southwestern Bell shipped me my DSL "modem", cables and some weird looking devices that plugged into my modular jacks. Since I didn't do any pre- research on how DSL works, I was mystified. I didn't want to go look it up online, as I knew it would make me more impatient. I'd heard horror stories concerning the delays in installation and didn't want to get too excited. In the mail the following day came the piece of paper that was my official membership card into the internet elite -- my own IP addresses. Although there were only five, I felt very important. It was now official, the Grote family would be on the net. The day came to install DSL and I worked from home. Southwestern Bell had called the previous Friday to confirm the appointment on Monday. They told us to be at home from 8:00am to 5:00pm. In the age of Internet, DSL and high powered computing, you'd think they'd come up with a way to narrow that schedule. As the hours rolled away, I busily cleaned my office in anticipation. I moved the printer stand that had long since cloaked my ISDN jack in darkness. This got me thinking about the installation time. If they are running new wires it may take a while. I could suggest they use the ISDN lines ... As my excitement grew, I broke open the box Southwestern Bell sent me. I hooked up my router to the power and my Ethernet hub. Hmmm, no activity light on the Ethernet. I tried a straight through cable and it worked. Maybe I do know something about this DSL stuff. 10:00am -- No DSL guy. 12:00pm got some lunch and day dreamed about the speed. No DSL guy. 1:00pm starting to get nervous. 2:00pm fretting all about. My wife called Southwestern Bell who assured her we were on the schedule still. 3:00pm and I am as excited as a 6 year old on Christmas day. I decided to sit on the living room couch, which faces the front door, and wait for the knock. I drift asleep and no sooner do I start to dream about my high speed hijinks than the dogs bark. YES! The DSL guy has arrived. The DSL guy was in his mid-20s. We made short conversation about how busy they were and we were off to my office. I showed him where I was going to install the router. He kept calling it a modem. He then asked if I had the filters they sent. Filters? Oh, yeah, those modular jack plug things. That is when it hit me. DSL uses your existing copper wiring. Your own home phone line. The filters do just that. They filter out the data traffic from your voice traffic. Now it made all the sense in the world. No wonder it is distance sensitive. I hurridely fetched the filters for him. He indicated that he would have to place on on each jack in the house. My wife immediatley became concerned. We have a quaint old rotery phone that is wall mounted downstairs. She was objecting. I was at the point of insanity imagingin the DSL guy saying something like, "Gee, I don't do rotary" or "We'll have to dleay installation for a week." Instead of my worse fears coming to fruition, the DSL guy sais he could filter the traffic from the demarc. Cool. We showed him where the lines came in and he went to work. To be honest, I didn't watch. I was too excited. About twenty minutes later he came up to say he had finished. Wow, 30 minutes into this and we're almost done! ISDN had taken six hours! The DSL guy then connected the DSL cable to the home phone jack in my office and blammo, we had a DSL light! In preperation for the install, I had preconfigured each of my machines with the IP addresses given to me by Southwestern Bell. All a twitter, I cliked on IE and got the dreaded cannot find message. EGADS! We checked the modem/router and all looked well. It was seeing the Ethernet traffic, but the ATM light wasn't blinking. The DSL guy told me that typically the ATM and Ethernet lights blink together. The DSL guy went to his truck to get his laptop. It was a pretty nice Compaq notebook running NT 4.0. He plugged in my IP information and connected directly to the modem/router. No go. We looked at each other and shrugged. All looked well, but we couldn't connect. I gave him the resume speil about my being an MCSE, working in networks and working for MCIWorldCom. He threw me a blank look. I then explained to him that the hardware looks ok, so it must be a configuration issue. I pressed to find out how the modem/router gets its IP address. To me, this seemed to be the issue. I could ping all my local machines, but couldn't ping the default gateway, the router/modem. He threw me a blank look. Nice guy he was, no network genius though. He pulled out his support sheet and began calling for help. By this time it was 4:30pm and we were in the 90 minute portion of the install. I left the room when I overheard him respond shockingly to the person on the phone, "You can't find his order?" So close, but yet so far ... Tune in next week for the conclusion of my DSL saga ... Have you gone high bandwidth? I want to hear from you! Send me your experiences at pgrote@i1.net. ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ Buy Network+ Cheat Sheet and Get Certified! at Amazon.Com Now and Support CompuNotes! Amazon.Com - about $21.24 -- Click Here: http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0789721775/compunotes/ ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ 2=> Winner! This week's winner: nharding2@YAHOO.COM. 3=> News of the Week, mailto:pgrote@i1.net Sony PlayStation 2 and Missle Guidance Systems ... http://news.cnet.com/news/0-1006-200-1703777.html Think Your Boss Only Reads Your Email? http://www.news.com/Perspectives/Column/0,176,418,00.html Cable Modems Unfriendly to Napster ... http://search.washingtonpost.com/wp- srv/WPlate/2000-04/14/091l-041400-idx.html Microsoft's Latest Stab at the Palm Pilot ... http://www.zdnet.com/zdnn/stories/news/0,4586,2547955,00.html Balkans Attacking Domain Names ... http://www.wired.com/news/politics/0,1283,35674,00.html How to Be a Complete Idiot ... Or How to Raise 30 million and Find Jail ... http://www.wired.com/news/politics/0,1283,35691,00.html New Generation Encryption Cracked ... http://www.zdnet.com/zdnn/stories/news/0,4586,2542359,00.html 4=> Product: Thief: The Dark Project, game Reviewed By: Doug Reed, mailto:dr2web@sprynet.com Requirements: P-200 (w/o a 3D card) or P-166 (w/ 3D card), 32 MB RAM, Win 95/98, 4x CDROM, 60 MB Hard drive space. Recommended: P-266, 3D accelerator card, 64 MB RAM, 8x CDROM, 200 MB Hard drive space Reviewed on: P-166 w/ 3D accelerator, 48 MB RAM, 16x CDROM ESRB Rating: Mature (age 17+), for animated blood and violence MSRP: $49.95 Thief: The Dark Project is a first-person role-playing game created by Looking Glass, the same company that produced System Shock and the Ultima Underworld series (also successful first-person RPGs). I stress the term RPG here rather than call Thief a first- person shooter (ala Quake II) because if you approach Thief as an action game you are in for a big disappointment. In this game you play a thief, and your weapons are restricted to those of a true thief from the middle ages - bow, blackjack, and sword. Your attacks are best suited from behind, and you have to move quickly and silently - if a guard cries out, all is lost. Looking Glass has wrapped this premise with a compelling story line and beautifully eerie and dark graphics, creating an incredible experience (I can hardly call it a game, for to compare it to Monopoly does justice to neither). If you want to experience true role-playing as it was envisioned with the first release of Dungeons & Dragons back in the 70s, Thief is as close as you can get with a PC. The story is told through mostly static cut-scenes, rather than movies or live-action, but this makes it even more compelling and adds to the medieval feel. You are Garrett, a former Keeper who has turned his talents towards robbery. The game features a total of twelve missions, seemingly not very many but then again the missions are all fairly long. At least initially, your goal is to steal jewels and money from fat merchants to fill your own treasure chest. Naturally, this involves quite a bit of sneaking about, and you will quickly become a master at sneaking around in the shadows. Light and sound, therefore, play an integral part in the game. Looking Glass apparently understood this very well, because the game looks and sounds fantastic. I doubt seriously that I've seen a better looking first-person game, and I've played almost all of them. The feeling of being in a medieval setting is very strong. The interface can be broken down into two parts, the heads-up- display (HUD) and the keyboard. The HUD displays your health, any objects you are currently using or carrying (including weapons), air supply (should you find yourself swimming) and a visibility gem. The visibility gem is a summation of the sound you are making combined with how visible you are; the brighter the gem the easier guards can see you. The keyboard layout is one of the most intricate and extensive of any first-person game, rivaling that of many flight simulators. Because moving and turning, you can lean around corners. Your talents include picking locks, setting flash bombs, and laying down mines. A variety of potions can improve your health, and you also have a wide variety of arrows for your bow. The only bad part of the interface is that while you can use the mouse, joystick support is very poor (it can only function in a manner similar to a mouse). So my poor Assassin 3D/Sidewinder Pro combo sat unused while I did my review - which is too bad, because Thief really cries out for joysticks like the Assassin, with multiple buttons. Ah well. The game itself is astounding with the amount of detail and thought that went into the story. For example, to start the game you proceed through 'training' that teaches you how to stay in shadows, minimize the noise you make, and use your bow and sword. But the game really shows its depth in the first mission. You are attempting to break into the house of a merchant and steal a valuable trinket. To get in, you have to sneak around to the well house, knock out the guard (without raising an alarm) and use his key to get into the well house and through the underground entrance into the merchant's house. Sneaking around behind the guard isn't much of a problem (he's drunk) and knocking him out isn't terribly difficult. You can then easily remove the key and get into the well house. But what about the unconscious guard? If you leave him sprawled in the street, someone might see him and raise the alarm! So Looking Glass put this into the game - leave that unconscious guard there and the alarm could be raised. Instead, you can pick up the guard and move his body out of sight. Of course, the fact that he is missing might be enough to raise the alarm...You get the idea, I hope - Thief is a wonderfully intricate game. Pros: Beautiful graphics and well-executed sound, crucial to the premise of the game. Engaging story line and eerie environment make for an extremely compelling role-playing experience. A novel approach to the first person genre where being quiet and smart takes a front-seat to the mayhem. Cons: Poor joystick support, keyboard chart that rivals that of most flight simulators. Thief: The Dark Project Looking Glass Studios http://www.lglass.com ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ Buy Network+ Cheat Sheet and Get Certified! at Amazon.Com Now and Support CompuNotes! Amazon.Com - about $21.24 -- Click Here: http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0789721775/compunotes/ ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ 5=> Product: Adobe Photoshop 5.0 Productivity Kit, graphics Reviewed By: Tim Ferrill, mailto:tferrill@hotmail.com Suggested Retail: $39.99 The Adobe Photoshop Productivity Kit was written for people new to the wide world of Photoshop. With in-depth projects, including project files and extensive examples, the Photoshop Productivity Kit is a must for people wanting to learn essential techniques for use with Photoshop or any other photo editing software. Adobe Press was created as a way for people to learn and master Adobe graphics programs. The Photoshop Productivity Kit is one of several books on Photoshop, Adobe's flagship product. Photoshop has long been a leader among graphics manipulation and paint software. Now in version 5, the Photoshop Productivity Kit is geared toward this new version of Photoshop. The Productivity Kit includes lessons on designing web graphics such as interactive buttons, backgrounds, and also animated graphics such as ad banners. More advanced chapters teach methods for color manipulation in images as well as editing or removing backgrounds from photos. Along with teaching Photoshop, the book includes instruction on other Adobe products such as PageMaker and ImageReady. These together make up an excellent foundation for anyone trying to get involved with computer graphics or desktop publishing. Project topics included in the book are designing video and CD covers, scanning techniques for print and the web, blending photos, creating letterheads, and reducing file sizes. The techniques taught in this book can be applied to many different photo and image editing software packages. The included CD contains project files from the book and also an assortment of templates, backgrounds and actions for creating your own images. It also contains demo versions of ImageReady, ImageStyler, PageMaker, and PageMill. Do not expect to earn Photoshop overnight. To document every aspect of Photoshop would take a volume of instruction manuals several feet thick. That said, the Productivity Kit teaches techniques, not procedures. Instead of step by step instructions on how to accomplish individual objectives, the book gives you a foundational basis for you to start on and grow from, a much better and more practical approach to the world of Photoshop. In conclusion this is a great book for beginners but would be a great buy for anyone looking to gain knowledge and experience with Photoshop or other related software. The Adobe Press staff has created a book that can be helpful to a wide range of users from beginners to Photoshop professionals. Peachpit Press Adobe Photoshop 5.0 Productivity Kit Product Info: http://www.adobe.com/adobepress/alltitles.html 6=> Product: Programming the Be Operating System, book Reviewed by: Howard Carson mailto:howardcarson@home.com Requires: BeOS r4.0 or higher, approximately 4 weeks of study MSRP: US$34.95, Cdn$51.95 ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ Buy Programming the Be Operating System at Amazon.Com Now and Support CompuNotes! Amazon.Com - about $27.96 -- Click Here: http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/1565924673/compunotes/ ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ The Be operating system (BeOS) stumbled into public view about 6 years ago in the guise of something called the BeBox. The BeBox was a dedicated Mac computer (Motorola-based) with a brand new operating system. Be Inc., was founded in 1990 by Jean-Louis GassTe (formerly, president of Apple's products division). Be, Inc. is a software company focused on developing and delivering an operating system designed for digital media applications and Internet appliances. BeOS allows users to simultaneously operate multiple audio, video, image processing and Internet-based software applications while maintaining system stability, media quality and processor performance. Using C++ in the Code Warrior development environment along with "Programming the Be Operating System" should provide most programmers with a fascinating and satisfying look at the rather robust Be operating system. Dan Parks Sydow is the author of Programming the Be Operating System. He's a computer programmer, consultant, and writer based in the U.S. (Milwaukee, Wisconsin). He has worked on a variety of software engineering projects in areas as diverse as software control of the on-board nuclear reactor of the Seawolf submarine, to heart image display software for a hospital's medical imaging department. In the last few years he has written over a dozen programming books. Historical data on the evolution and development of BeOS is less than voluminous. It's a shame too, because BeOS takes quite a novel approach to computer operating system design. Programming the Be Operating System provides a solid foundation on which to develop strong applications for this robust OS. For the record (according to Frank Boosman, VP business development at Be, Inc.) the name of the operating system is pronounced Be-O-S. So who cares about BeOS and why should anyone bother developing applications for it? MGI Software (which develops and markets award winning software such as PhotoSuite III, VideoWave III), MetaCreations (Bryce), Opera (web browser) Maxon (Cinema 4D), and several dozen other serious multimedia companies are all porting some of their main products to BeOS. There's no reason why they shouldn't because Be, Inc. is making it easy for them to do so. According to Reid Ellis (who worked on the VideoWave II for BeOS project at MGI Software), technical and developer support from Be, Inc. is quite good. If you're a vaguely decent C++ programmer you should consider cranking out a few small utilities for BeOS too. You'll be surprised at some of the more interesting 'names' (in addition to the big guys named above) who are associating themselves with Be. There are even a couple of hardy souls touting BeOS as an alternative to Windows 98 and 2000. And since BeOS runs like a top on most standard (and plenty of not-so-standard) Intel and Mac-based machines, and also features a heavy dose of cross-system file compatibility, it's probably worth considering a dual-boot setup with BeOS and Win98 or 2000 on the same machine (or even a triple- boot setup if you're also brave enough to tackle Linux as well). What you'll end up with is a stable new OS that's pretty to look at, boots up in 15-20 seconds, and performs multimedia chores such as audio, photo, and video editing like a champ. So what about the book under review here you ask? Well there's not much to say about it. The principle premise is well met. The author has taken a dry, detailed, and well organized approach to his subject. The publication was reviewed by Be, Inc.'s own Stephen Beaulieu, Manager of Developer Technical Support, so there's certainly no question about the accuracy of the instructional information. The main caveat is that you need to be something more than a totally novice C++ programmer in order to wrap your head around the concepts which are presented in the book. That stated, the book is structured in a way that provides measured guidance through several programming projects. Most important of all, the book clearly emphasizes the strong points of the BeOS. The author does not attempt to present BeOS as Windows 'killer', but rather as a superbly viable alternative for programmers focused on multimedia application development. Cons: Although it's been around for a few years, only in the past 24 months has Be, Inc. really been pushing hard to attract strong developers. Be, Inc. did not do a good job of ensuring that developer links and contact information were included throughout the book. If a company truly wants to spread the word, its got to use every means at its disposal to do so. There's also some concern about the fact that Be, Inc. doesn't seem to be pushing OS sales to the general public very hard as yet. Makes 'ya wonder. Pros: BeOS costs a lousy 60 or 70 bucks. Buy it, install it, and try it. You'll be shocked at how good it is. Check out the Be, Inc. web site at http://www.be.com If the book does nothing else, it will get you into an awfully nifty, new-ish OS. Programming for BeOS, while not exactly a pure joy, doesn't have to take legacy OS versions and applications into account. Like most things new, there's little or no aggravating history to contend with. Since BeOS was designed from its beginning to support C++ applications, everything you've learned in C++ to date will have a place when you're programming for BeOS. The book emphasizes this and is true to its premise. The book won't completely take the place of a developers kit from Be, Inc. itself, but it will get you most of the way there. O'Reilly & Associates Programming the Be Operating System Product Web site: http://www.oreilly.com (/catalog/beosprog/chapter/ch08.html) ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ Buy Programming the Be Operating System at Amazon.Com Now and Support CompuNotes! Amazon.Com - about $27.96 -- Click Here: http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/1565924673/compunotes/ ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ 7=> Product: Learning Red Hat Linux, book Reviewed By: Howard Carson, mailto:howardcarson@home.com Requires: About 10 hours of free time MSRP: US$34.95, Cdn$48.95 ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ Buy Learning Red Hat Linux at Amazon.Com Now and Support CompuNotes! Amazon.Com - about $27.96 -- Click Here: http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/1565926277/compunotes/ ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ Learning Red Hat Linux is meant to guide new Linux users through the detailed data preparation, installation, and use of this free operating system that is causing so much stir in the software business these days. The book attempts to describe and teach Linux in terms familiar to Windows users, and is supplied with a recent CD-ROM release of the Red Hat Linux distribution. Built around the supplied CD-ROM, the book takes the reader step-by-step through the process of installing and setting up the Linux version which is supplied. The reader needs nothing else to get started with this new-ish operating system. Author Bill McCarty is associate professor of management information systems in the School of Business and Management of Azusa Pacific University in Azusa, California. Windows and MacOS users the world over are experimenting with Linux by the hundreds of thousands. The problem with learning Linux however is that it does not rely on the familiar Microsoft Windows(R) design paradigm. Linux, according to many of its adherents, is a user friendly version of Unix. As such, it is unfamiliar to most typical computer users. In fact, Linux is nowhere near the mainstream of computer desktop operating systems. For typical desktop use in home, SOHO, and small business environments, the lack of such niceties as drivers for most desktop printers and other popular hardware devices will prevent anyone from taking Linux too seriously. But Learning Red Hat Linux is designed for people who've already made the decision to try Linux. Walking through the preparation and installation of the Red Hat Linux version supplied on CD-ROM was a reasonably uneventful task right up to the moment our test PC locked up. The book had suggested staying away from some AMD Pentium-class processors. We started over using a PC with a Intel Pentium II/266 processor and actually got excited about the whole process (again) when a configuration error was discovered. Once again, we were locked out of the PC and had to restart the whole process from scratch. Between hardware incompatibilities and Dumb User Errors, we managed to achieve success on the fourth try. The book was never at fault though. I should mention that we also blew an older monitor after configuring the X Window System. We inadvertently set the refresh rate unusually high and burned the guts out of the poor thing. A Linux experience, proper instructions or not, can sometimes turn out to be an expensive experience. The book's coverage of the Linux subject is impressive. It covers preparation, installation, configuration, the X Window System, the X and GNOME desktops, finding and installing Linux software, networking with Linux, Internet access using Linux, Linux- based servers, and understanding and writing shell scripts. Keep one thing in mind though - the book is recommended for new Linux users, not new computer users, so the instructions and references in the book assume at least an intermediate level of general computer hardware and software experience. Cons: Being an instructional text, we hoped for perfectly worded instructions as we moved through the preparation and installation process. We tried to put ourselves in the place of a genuine new Linux user. Unfortunately, the instruction on page 38 to place the "Linux CD-ROM diskette in your CD-ROM drive" is likely to leave at least a few new users baffled. The book does not contain any flow charts or diagrams, things which really help explain processes far more clearly than the reams of text presented by the author (Windows and Mac users have to be transitioned to the text- based traditions of Linux, rather than dragged there). In other words, the author (and the O'Reilly copy editor) have failed to fully define exactly who their target readers are. Witness the following paragraph: "The Linux printer driver claims all available parallel ports. If you want to access a device other than a printer attached to a parallel port, you must instruct the printer driver to reserve only the ports associated with printers. To do so, use the 'lp' boot argument which takes as its options a list of ports and IRQs use to support printers." A command line argument then follows (which is useful). It's just too bad the initial instruction is confusing. Pros: Somebody had to write this type of book. With Red Hat's wildly successful IPO and shares still a hot commodity, O'Reilly is smart to capitalize with this publication. The book is well organized and contains more than enough information for a potential Linux enthusiast to get rolling. If you're experienced enough to install and configure Windows NT, this book will be a worthwhile Linux guide for you. You'll need it too, because Linux is anything but intuitive. O'Reilly & Associates Inc. Learning Red Hat Linux ISBN:1-56592-627-7 Product Web site: http://www.oreilly.com/catalog/redhat/ ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ Buy Learning Red Hat Linux at Amazon.Com Now and Support CompuNotes! Amazon.Com - about $27.96 -- Click Here: http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/1565926277/compunotes/ ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ 8=> Product: Fortress Personal Lie Detector v1.4, utility Reviewed By: Paul Schneider, mailto:p-schne@uiuc.edu Reviewed on: AMDK2-233, 96 MB RAM, 2x CDROM, MX300 Sound, Mystic Video card, microphone headset MSRP: $34.95 Fortress Personal Lie Detector(FPLD) is a program that "utilizes advanced VSA algorithms to analyze the nature of a given statement." In other words, it tries to figure out when you're lying and when you're telling the truth. As most of you probably know, lie detection is a sketchy science at best, so while hopeful for this program, I did have my reservations. Since CompuNotes first received this program there have been two updates. The good news is that the updates corrected many problems. However, as you will gather from my review, the program would probably benefit from another update. The installation went well. My only complaint here is that FPLD does not let you choose what drive or folder the program will reside in. At first glance the program's interface seems intuitive and clean. However, this is only partly true and I highly recommend you carefully read the instructions before using the program. Where the instructions really shine is in pointing out the legalities of analyzing someone's voice and the necessities of obtaining expressed consent. Unfortunately, the usage instructions do not receive the same level of embellishment. On the plus side they are both adequate and accurate but I feel that they could greatly benefit from some illustrations, common problems, and other such details. Okay, so the user interface and instructions are a bit on the deficient side, but what about the important part? Can I tell when my spouse/friend/lover is lying! The good part here is that FPLD is very versatile. You can take any recorded conversation, save it as a normal Windows wav file and then let FPLD convert and analyze it. Of course when you do this make sure you obtain consent from the person whose voice you are analyzing! Once you have the file and have converted it, you can run an analysis and FPLD will save the results. After the analysis you can play these results. FPLD singles the presence of a lie (or extraneous background noise) by beeping. So how good is FPLD at detecting those lies? To answer this question I conducted two series of tests. In each instance the voice was recorded directly into the computer to eliminate as much background noise as possible. In the first test I recorded myself answering 10 written questions 10 different times with a mixture of lies and truths. In the second test I recorded 4 people two times each answering the same 10 questions. In the first instance I used FPLD to record the results. In the second instance I used MS Sound Recorder and then used FPLD to convert these files. In the first test FPLD falsely identified my truthful statements as lies 27% of the time. It correctly identified 39% of my lies. The results for my second test were slightly different. In this instance FPLD falsely identified the truth as a lie 6% of the time. While 26% of the time it correctly identified a lie. To be fair, lie detection is a difficult task that nobody has been able to solve thus far. However, given the results of my small test and the problems I had with the user interface I can not recommend this piece of software in its current state. However, if this area is an interest of yours, I recommend you keep an eye on this product. The updates have come at a regular pace and have made significant improvements each time. Things such as an improved interface, more explicit instructions with recommendations for recordings and accuracy are just two things that would help to make this a program worth considering. Digital Robotics Inc. Fortress Personal Lie Detector v1.4 http://www.digitalrobotics.com/fortress.htm 9=> Product: Bicycle Rummy, game Reviewed By: Craig Bull, mailto:cbull@siscom.net Requirements: Win95/98, 486DX/100, 8 MB RAM (16 MB recommended), 256-color SVGA video, CDROM, 30 MB Hard drive space, 16-bit sound card Reviewed on: AMD K6/200, 64 MB RAM MSRP: $14.95 Bicycle Rummy from Expert Software contains nine variations of Rummy, including 500 Rum, Gin Rummy, and Oklahoma Gin. You can play multiple computer opponents or online against other human opponents at the Microsoft Internet Gaming Zone. Difficulty levels can be set so you can play more difficult computer opponents. There is also a tutorial mode so if you don't know a specific game you can learn. Installation was very straightforward. Installation took just a few minutes and about 24MB of disk space. The game interface itself is very simple to use. The initial screen allows you to specify games options, such as which of the 9 variations you wish to play. Each can be played with two players, while certain others allow up to four players. You can play each version in Normal or Tutorial mode. You can also set a few other options, including setting the Ace high, low or both. You can also determine whether runs go "around the corner" (Q,K,A,2). Game play is straightforward. In Tutorial mode, the game will suggest a discard or meld, as appropriate. I don't always agree with the suggestion, but that's why it's a suggestion. In normal mode, you don't receive the suggestions. That's the only difference between the two modes of play. Graphics are nice, but nothing spectacular. The card faces are readable and can be changed to a larger face if necessary. It appears that screen's maximum size is 640x480. I run at a higher resolution, and I was unable to maximize to fill my entire screen. One feature that I was unable to accurately test is the ability to play against other users over a network. You can play via direct serial connection, modem (head-to-head), or over an IPX or IP network. One person initiates the game and the others join in. When enough people have joined, the initiator can start the game. Any unfilled seats will be taken by a computer player. While I was unable to verify it, I would assume that each player will need their own copy of Bicycle Rummy. You can also play online via Microsoft's MSN Gaming Zone. You select a room specifically for various Bicycle game products, in this case Bicycle Rummy. You can then start or join a game. It's very similar to starting one of the other network games. Once the game is started, your copy will load and you can play against the other opponents using the standard interface. In reviewing this function, I never found more than two people in all the Bicycle rooms (there are 27), so I don't know how much use this is. All things considered, this isn't a bad game. If you're looking to learn the rules and strategies of playing Rummy, I'm not sure this is for you. The Tutorial mode is only moderately helpful and the online help doesn't go into a lot of detail. But if you are familiar with the rules and are looking for a program to allow you to play rummy, either against the computer or other users, this is a great program to use. Expert Software Bicycle Rummy Product Website: http://www.expertsoftware.com/bicycle.htm ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ Buy Sams Teach Yourself Microsoft Exchange Server 5.5 in 10 Minutes at Amazon.Com Now and Support CompuNotes! 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