🚀 go-pugleaf

Date: Thu, 1 Feb 1996 16:53:30 -0500
From: Owner-OS2News@teamos2.org

Subject: OS2News: The OS/2 Warp Monthly, 01/96

January, 1996 Issue

Welcome to the OS/2 Warp Monthly Newsletter

The holidays have come and gone -- the new year is now here. It's now time =
to get down to business and actually commit to the resolutions you may have
ma=
de New Year's Eve.  Personally I do not make resolutions because I prefer to
evolve as the year goes by. I tend to run my life with an ethnically genera=
ted error correction code that comes with an added guilt feature, not usually
available for computers.

If you do make resolutions and you want something easier to accomplish than
changing a bad habit,  here are a few warped suggestions. Update at least h=
alf of the Windows applications running on your OS/2 Warp system to native,
OS/=
2 exploitive applications. (For a list of possible apps, see the Miller Freem=
an index at http://www.mfi.com/softwareguide/OS2-Solutions/homepage.html)
Conv=
ert at least one friend or colleague to OS/2 Warp or OS/2 Warp Connect.
(Rememb=
er: friends don't let friends run junk.) Learn to use OS/2 Warp better. Find
at
least one feature that you don't use now and start using it. (See the Produ=
ct Tips articles in this and prior issues for some good ideas.) Set up your
ow=
n homepage. Learn more about objects. Read at least one article a month on th=
is topic. (A good start is our November newsletter, if you haven't read it
already.)

The new year is also about changes and new beginnings, so that is the focus
of this month's newsletter.   We look at new trends on the Internet in Maxi=
ne Senn-Yuen's article What's Hot on the Internet.  Jose De Jesus looks at
Jav=
a,
the object-oriented programming language developed by Sun Microsystems and
recently licensed by IBM. Collin Summers reviews a new application called
Xtra! Xtra! that lets you create a personalized newspaper from on-line
sources. Karla Myers interviewed a couple of members of the Boca developmen=
t team to see how they feel about making a fresh start in Austin.   Most
exciting of all, we have included sneak preview information on Lotus
SmartSuite 96 for OS/2 Warp as well as an interview with the product
development manager for the next release of OS/2 Warp.=20

One final change to announce: Maxine Senn-Yuen, who has contributed greatly=
 to this newsletter, is leaving IBM for a new beginning as the marketing
direct=
or for a real estate company.=20

Enjoy this issue! As for the new year -- make and keep those warped
resolutions.

Jeri Dube


SHAREWARE AND COMMERCIAL APPLICATIONS

Xtra! Xtra!
by Collin Summers

Xtra! Xtra! read all about it...

Xtra! Xtra! is a new program that allows you to create your own personalize=
d newspaper from on-line sources.  You can use it to follow just the news,
stock, sports or weather information that interest you, without seeing any =
of the stuff that doesn't .  You can also set Xtra! Xtra! to deliver the
lates=
t news when you want it, giving you current information at your fingertips.

I downloaded a demo copy from the Sublime Software forum on CompuServe (GO
SUBLIME).  The install program was nice enough to tell me that it was about
to create an ini file to keep track of things. (Most software just does it
without telling you.)

Once installed,  I fired Xtra! Xtra! up and went straight to Settings.  (I
don't usually read "readme" files until I encounter problems.)  There I fou=
nd a very informative information box across the bottom of the screen
explaini=
ng the Settings notebook.  All areas of the Settings notebook had context-
sensitive help, so the information box displayed different information as y=
ou moved your mouse.  The  Setup gives you the option of taking a self-guided
tour/tutorial of the product.  The entire Setup procedure was straight
forward. =20

I then went to Newspaper and selected Get Newspaper (as this seemed like th=
e thing to do).  Up popped another box with familiar sections of a newspaper
(front page, sports, weather and so on) to check or uncheck.  I selected th=
e sections I wanted from the list and checked the option to overwrite the old
stories.  I then hit the Customize Section button.  From here, I could narr=
ow the criteria for selecting stories by entering key words the computer
shoul=
d search for when downloading stories. =20

After you've used Xtra! Xtra! once, it allows you to browse the headlines o=
f the stories it retrieved to help you determine what keywords best describe
your preferences. This seemed like a great feature to me since I like to sc=
an the news, and only read articles that look useful.   Xtra! Xtra! reduced
th=
e time I usually spend scanning a whole newspaper.  You can even select the
stocks that you follow and the program will tell you how much your portfoli=
o is currently worth,  if you enter how many shares you own.  There's also an
option to have the newspaper automatically printed once it's downloaded.

When I felt ready to get my first newspaper, I hit Get Now and let Xtra! Xt=
ra! do its stuff.  A nice status bar pops up on the screen and shows how far
al=
ong the Get News process is.   The program also tells me what it's doing, like
Entering AP On-line Service.  While the Get News process was underway, I we=
nt to the Help section to see what Sublime Software had provided. I noticed a
Tip of the Day and selected it.  While I was reading the window of tips on
using Xtra! Xtra!, the program displayed the articles it had downloaded in =
the background.  Multithreading is a definite plus for Xtra! Xtra!. =20

Reading the news was very easy.  The articles are organized into sections
(front page, news, sports and  so on).  To read articles in a particular
section, click on the corresponding section tab.  A scroll box shows the
headlines in that section and a text display tells you how old a news item
is.  You can scroll down through the stories from the scroll box or text
display. =20

Once all the news is retrieved, an on-line report tells you what happened a=
nd how long it took.  This information is important if you want to monitor
you=
r time spent on-line.   At this point,  you can easily print the paper if you
didn't set it up to print automatically.  Even the print function has optio=
ns! (I do love a configurable program.)  Selective Printing lets you print
just
the most important stuff to read over breakfast or lunch and leave the rest
on the computer, or you can print it all.  Using Faxworks from the BonusPak=
, you could have your personalized newspaper faxed to you -- if you're away
from your computer.  The news printouts have nice titles and are easy to
read.  The print size is much like that of a typical newspaper's. =20

Another handy feature is the Autotimer function where Xtra! Xtra! is preset
to get the newspaper on its own.  You can set it to retrieve news at varyin=
g intervals from every minute to every 60 days, and increments in between.  I=
t can also automatically print the newspaper when it's done. =20

Xtra! Xtra! does have a few negative quirks.   The program doesn't
drag-and-drop fonts and colors properly.  The colors and fonts change when
you drag-and-drop changes, but quickly revert to their default settings.
This feature should be fixed because almost all good, native OS/2 software
should support this function.  Of course, colors and fonts are not essentia=
l to accomplish what the program was designed to do.  In future versions, I'd
also like the ability to download graphical weather information, and displa=
y or print that as well.  Overall, this application was very solid, and I
couldn't find any significant bugs.

Xtra! Xtra! is very easy to use and setup.  The interface is very easy to
understand and the self-guided tour is helpful.  The on-line help was also
very thorough.  Xtra! Xtra! is a must have for the traveling businessperson
who wants to get news in an up-to-date and easy-to-use format.  It's also
perfect for the home or office.  What could be better than having a
completely personalized newspaper waiting for you at the printer every
morning when you wake up or walk into the office?  Xtra! Xtra! makes the
vast amount of information available on-line more useable.  For more
information on Xtra! Xtra! for OS/2, visit their home page at
http://ourworld.compuserve.com/homepages/sublime.


* This article is based on the author's personal review of the product and
  should not be viewed as an IBM endorsement of such product.


PMView=20
by Maxine Senn-Yuen

PMView version 0.92 is a graphics viewer and editing tool for OS/2.  This
software package offers many useful features for viewing, enhancing,
organizing and converting a wide range of graphics formats, including BMP,
EPS, GIF, IFF, JPEG, Photo CD, PCX, PIC, PPM, PNG, TIFF and TGA.=20

PMView has a narrow learning curve, so you can start using the software
right away.  When you select File Open, PMView searches for all the graphic
files in your current directory.  If the program has already created
thumbnails for your graphics,  they will be displayed along with the file
names in the File Open window. The program can be set to automatically
create thumbnails of all the graphics in that directory in the background
while you work on your computer.  Once the thumbnails are created, you'll
have a handy graphical index every time you re-open that directory in the
future.  The thumbnail facility takes the guesswork out of finding the righ=
t image.  You can also setup PMView to create thumbnails only when a graphic
is loaded, saved or converted.   This option is best for users with very
large graphics collections on CD-ROM. =20

You can perform many operations on your graphics from the File Open dialog
box, without ever opening a single image.  Right-click on any thumbnail, an=
d you'll see a list of options for that file.  You can check the file size,
image size and color depth of that graphic here.  You can also rename or
convert the image into a different format.  Right-click in the File Open
window (but not on a thumbnail) and you'll get a list of viewing options.
Here you can sort your thumbnails by image size, type, file name and file
size.  You can also randomly scramble your thumbnails if you prefer less,
not more, organization.  Choose the Sticky Select option if you want to
select multiple thumbnails with only your mouse.   This feature is great if
you want to convert a batch of files into a different format, or if you wan=
t to create a slide show. =20

The Slideshow function is another unique feature in PMView.  Open multiple
thumbnails from the File Open window and the Slideshow will automatically
launch.  Or you can start the Slideshow by drag-and-dropping graphic files
on to the main PMView window.  The Slideshow is an easy way to create and
practice business presentations.=20

PMView has decent, though not comprehensive, editing tools.  The program le=
ts you crop, stretch, rotate or flip any image.  When you select a rectangular
portion of an image, a handy Track Info box tells you the size and location
of the selected area, and lets you type in a new location or size.  PMView'=
s handy Screen Capture utility lets you capture any portion of your desktop,
including parts of a window that lie outside the visible screen.

PMView offers some important image enhancement features as well.  The packa=
ge includes several filters you can apply to your graphics to create special
effects (like an "embossed" effect).  You can also create your own user-
definable filters.  In addition, PMView lets you adjust the brightness,
contrast and red-green-blue balance of your graphics.  You can convert the
color depth of any image from color to black-and-white to grayscale.  You
can correct the Gamma factor, create a negative or "solarize" your graphics=