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ESAG                                         ESAG
ESAG      Elite Shareware Authors Group      ESAG
ESAG               Newsletter                ESAG
ESAG              Issue: 2-97                ESAG
ESAG                                         ESAG
ESAG           phlin@ix.netcom.com           ESAG
ESAG   http://www.edepot.com/esagindex.html  ESAG
ESAG                                         ESAG
ESAG ESAG ESAG ESAG ESAG ESAG ESAG ESAG ESAG ESAG
ESAG ESAG ESAG ESAG ESAG ESAG ESAG ESAG ESAG ESAG
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Table of Contents:

(1) News off the press
(2) How will the internet affect shareware?
(3) Website help and advice.
(4) Advice from ESAG members.
(5) Tips from our members (That's you!)
(6) 	Be heard!
(7) 	Nice Quotes

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Section 1)  News off the press

o Highlights...

Starting now, the ESAG newsletters will be available
on-line at the ESAG home site.  Check them out by
pointing your browser to�
http://www.edepot.com/esagindex.html

o ESAG newsletter looking for contributors.

If you like to contribute to this newsletter, email
me at phlin@ix.netcom.com


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Section 2) How will the internet affect shareware?

 One major trend that is going to affect shareware
authors is the increasingly popularity of the internet.
Many shareware applications are now being tailored to talk
in TCP/IP, so that they may interact with themselves or 
with other pieces of software through the internet.

 Here are a few advice that will help you in your future
decisions concerning internet shareware�

1) 	Microsoft and Netscape are changing the industry.

Because the internet and PC industry are currently
dominated by Microsoft and Netscape, their current 
"internet" activity are affecting how future users are 
going to use their PCs.  Right now Microsoft and Netscape
are engaged in a battle for the majority share of the PC 
software and internet market.  Netscape is trying to form 
a new API that runs on top of many operating systems 
(including Win95).  They are also trying to provide internet
ready software that will make users think of the PC as a 
"client" or a piece of the "internet network."  Microsoft, 
meanwhile, is countering by trying to ship the same (at least 
comparable or better) software for free.  They are also 
going to integrate the internet into the Win95/NT desktop.  
Thus, pretty soon, your desktop will be able to dynamically 
fetch and display web pages and ActiveX components.  
Microsoft is touting their version as the Active Desktop, 
concentrating on ActiveX components and Dynamic HTML.  
Netscape, meanwhile is calling their strategy the Constellation 
and Communicator, concentrating on Java, plug-ins, and a "OS" 
API layer above Win95,Unix, etc.

2) 	ActiveX and Java shareware.

 Could it happen?  ActiveX and Java shareware?  Why not?  
ActiveX are simply programs that run inside the browser or on 
your desktop (when Microsoft finished merging IE4.0 with Win95/NT).
Java can run on multiple platforms.  You can make your ActiveX
or Java shareware pop-up a message reminding your users to 
register.  You can make your shareware check the clock and 
disable themselves after the trial period is over.  In fact, 
there are even benefits to programming shareware that is 
internet aware�

3) 	Self-updating shareware through the internet.

 Another trend that you may want to prepare for is 
self-updating software.  You can make your shareware check 
for internet connectivity, and if there exists one, check a 
default home site (could be a URL) for the latest version of 
itself.  If there exists one, do a ftp URL to fetch and install
execute) the newer version.  Of course, make sure your 
shareware remind the user, so that they agree to let your 
shareware connect long enough to download the updates.



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Section 3) Website help and advice.

 If you are promoting your shareware on your website, make 
sure you read the following advice..

1) 	Hold off on the Graphics!

  The majority of the shareware users visiting your site are
at home running on 14k and 28k baud modems.  DON'T go crazy 
and put too much GIF graphics in your website!  They take a 
long time to load.  People do not like to wait 3-5 minutes 
just to  get to the meat of your page.

2) 	Secret to placing your site on top of search engine lists.

  To make your site appear on TOP of the list of some search
engines (not yahoo, but the rest), write in background 
color (so the users don't see them) repeating word(s) that 
describe your site.  For example, if you want others to see 
your site when they type in "Shareware" in the search 
engine prompt, write about 100 times the word "shareware" 
at the bottom of the main page of your website.  The grapevine 
tells me you may actually have success increase your hits by 
writing 100 times the word "sex" on your pages. :^)

3) 	Use your browser to upload your pages to your web site.

One feature that you may not be aware of is that the Netscape
Navigator allows you the capability to upload using drag and
drop.  All you have to do is point your browser to your ftp
site with info on your username and password.  Navigator 
supports username and password inside the ftp URL.  The format 
is like this...

ftp://USERNAME:PASSWORD@FTPSITE

Example: To upload to site ftp.goodshareware.com with username
         uploader, and password secret, type the following URL
         in the browser...

         ftp://uploader:secret@ftp.goodshareware.com

         Next, you would drag your html files (or any type of
         file you want) into the browser.  It will then get 
         uploaded!

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Section 4) Advice from ESAG members!


I would like to recommend the PsL registration service
(http://www.pslweb.com). They charge $5 per transaction
but they accept orders by phone (800 number) and fax, in 
addition to on-line.

For on-line registration you simply place a link to the 
order form of your product. See example at 
http://www.rtlsoft.com/animagic and
http://www.rtlsoft.com/submitblaster/download.html.


For a better and easier to use Gif animation tool try 
Animagic GIF at http://www.rtlsoft.com/animagic

Uri Postavsky                   urip@rtlsoft.com
Right to Left Software          http://www.rtlsoft.com
[ESAG member]

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Hiya!!  

This is not an article - just a quick tip.

When I was looking around for places where I could get
a link to my shareware site, I came across a relatively
unused yahoo category - shareware/titles.  What the
heck - I submitted one of my titles.  WOW - it took
less than two weeks before they listed it (heh - I 
did NOT expect THAT from yahoo).  Anyway, I submitted
my other titles a few days ago; they just might list
them as well ;)

Here is the URL for that category:

http://www.yahoo.com/Computers_and_Internet/Software/Shareware/Titles/

Best of luck!!

Steve
SPAK Dynamics
[ESAG member]

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Section 5) Some words, history, and TIPS from our members.

Questions:
1) Describe your company
2) Describe your products
3) What platforms does your products run on?
4) What future platforms are you considering programming on?
5) What kind of audience do you target?
6) How did you get started in programming?
7) What talent do you think you have that makes you stand out?
8) What TIPS would you like to share with other ESAG members?
9) What future products can we expect?


-----------
Flywheel Software
[ESAG member]

1.  Flywheel Software was started in 1994 with its initial
shareware release of Mentor, a selection of mind twisting games.
We then began to focus on screensavers which has since become
our main attraction along with user-friendly free utilities for
everyday users.  

2.  Our hottest items are our screensavers, which all seem
to share equal popularity.  Currently we have 5 on the market, 
Metallix, Aurora, Botanica, BitBlitz and Jewel Box.  All of our 
screensavers are mathematically drawn using analytical geometry 
and/or fractals.  Each contain 12 different screensavers as well 
as several options. Our last 2 releases, BitBlitz and
Jewel Box are interactive with sound.

3.  Windows 3.1 and above

4.  We target all people who own a computer since screensavers
are appreciated by both business and home PC users.

5.  As a child I was inspired by reading Author C. Clark novels.  
Later, I obtained a HP48SX scientific calculator where I began 
to experiment with programming.  Two and 1/2 years ago, I finally 
began programming on our companies first computer.

6.  My greatest asset, I believe, is that I have a good knowledge
of analytical geometry and mathematics in general.

7.  The amount of hours that everyone puts into making the
company work far outweighs the initial feedback monetarily.  I 
would tell others not to be discouraged, but to expect to put in 
lots of hours, lots of effort and to not be afraid to explore your 
options.  If the work is fulfilling overall and founded on your 
passion to create and share the programs you've produced,
then it will eventually be viable on all the necessary levels.

8.  We are now working on several new screensavers which involve 
more interactivity by the user.  There are plans to release 
upgrades on our first 3 screensavers.

Best regards,

Lex Owens

----------
Eugene Osumi
Flywheel Software [ESAG member]
tiberiun@aol.com
http://members.aol.com/tiberiun/index.html

1) Describe your company

NEXUS Solutions is a small software development house located 
in Sydney, AUSTRALIA. We've been going for 17 years in the
hardware/software/communications field.

2) Describe your flagship product(s)

NTrust - Encryption product offers 33,344bit encryption. So 
strong we've been banned from export by Australian government 
(and you thought only the US had such strong restrictions).
MMS - Complete medical practice management system - in use by 
largest privately owned chain of medical centres in the Southern 
Hemisphere.

3) What main platform does your products concentrate on?

Win 3.x, 95 and NT

4) What kind of audience do you target?
From commercial customers to programmers to casual computer users.

5) How did you get started in programming?

Sort of moved on from hardware engineering. I used to work for 
a company which built custom electronics for clients. In those 
days - someone had to learn how to program the controllers. Start 
off with primitive embedded systems and PLC's and moved to 
state of the art PDP-8's!! Kept on going from there.

6) What talent do you think you have that makes you stand out?

The products work. Customers/registered users get free lifetime 
support and free lifetime upgrades.

7) What tips would you like to share with other ESAG members?

The perils of running a small business - if there's a snamg to 
be caught on - I've done it! Though this may seem unfortunate - 
I've still managed to run my own business all these years.

8) What future products can we expect?

Well, where do I start. There's products for software copy 
protection, digital watermarking, internet secure commerce 
transactions, various plug-ins for Eudora and Lotus Notes to 
use our encryption stuff. The list goes on and on...

Regards,


-----------------------------------------------------------
Peter Pavlovic - Managing Director
NEXUS Solutions
WWW:                http://www.nexsol.com
Enquiries:          info@nexsol.com
Support:            support@nexsol.com
Facsimile:          +61 2 9569 7323
Telephone:          +61 2 9569 7278
Postal address:     P.O.Box N12, Petersham North  NSW  2049
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Want to be included in the next newsletter?  To get included,
make sure that you EMAIL me the latest questionnaire.  Note that
because its almost a year later, please write me ANOTHER updated 
version of your shareware products through email if you have done
so previously on hardcopy.  Interested?  Answer the following 
questions and email to phlin@ix.netcom.com ...

1) Describe your company
2) Describe your products
3) What platforms does your products run on?
4) What kind of audience do you target?
5) How did you get started in programming?
6) What talent do you think you have that makes you stand out?
7) What tips would you like to share with other ESAG members?
8) What future products can we expect?


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Section 6) Be heard!

 Do you want to get more exposure to your shareware?  Do
you want to be heard?  Do you have advice, tips, or
tricks that you want fellow members to know about?  Do
you have products you want others to know about?  Then point 
your browser to http://www.edepot.com/esagindex.html 
and write in the Shareware Forum.  OR you can email me 
directly at phlin@ix.netcom.com and you may get included 
in the next newsletter!  Let the shareware community in on 
what you have to say!

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Section 7) Nice Quotes

Right here is a good time to end this newsletter.  To finish
off, here are a few nice quotes people wrote me after visiting 
LIFE DEPOT at http://www.edepot.com/religion.html

"Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our 
deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. It 
is our light, not our darkness, that most frightens us. 

We ask ourselves. Who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, 
talented, fabulous? Actually, who are you not to be? You 
are a child of God.   Your playing small does not serve the 
world. 

There is nothing enlightened about shrinking so that 
other people won't feel insecure around you. We were born 
to make manifest the glory of God that is within us. It is 
not just in some of us: It is in everyone. 

And as we let our own light shine, we unconsciously give other 
people permission to do the same. As we are liberated from our 
own fear, our presence automatically liberates others."

-Nelson Mandela


"The meaning of life is to be one with nature.
When this connection is mad, man is finally free
from the restrictive chains of society and finds 
his true place in the world."
-Nico

"Man is born free, but everywhere he is in chains."
J.J. Rousseau