This was our first Fuzzies and Pricklies Award Page from mid 1997

Welcome to the page where I attempt to give credit where credit is due (in my humble opinion.) And, just as in accounting where a credit can be a debit or a liability or some other totally incomprehensible and insensible … - well, let's just say I intend to praise something that I like (or does a decent job for me) and condemn anything that I don't like or that fails to perform as I expect. Do I need to say that this is a totally subjective appraisal? Just because I can't get something to work as I intended doesn't mean you'll have the same bad luck. However, forewarned is forearmed.

I've got lots of Cold Pricklies for Microsoft this week, sorry Bill.

Microsoft Front Page 97:

Microsoft Word 97:

Front Page 97

If I remember right, Front Page installed itself to my C: drive without asking my permission. That put me off! I jealously guard the precious space on C: for just those things that have to be on the root directory or in a Windows directory.

I use Front Page almost exclusively as an editor. The "Explorer" part - you know, the icon with all the lines radiating out in all directions, which must have been designed by an accountant - I find to be of limited use. If you've viewed my site, (and if you haven't, how in hxxx are you reading this!) you know my web is quite small and very simple, so I really don't need whatever it is that the "Explorer" part is supposed to do. As an "editor", Front Page is adequate. With practice, I was getting quite comfortable with it, and was even beginning to enjoy using it - although I still keep WebEdit around when I need to get down and dirty with HTML.

Tonight, simply because I was at home with just my college student son - who was busy working on an assignment - I decided to work with Front Page while actually on line. That's something I had hardly ever done before. I was checking out some hyperlinks - the old hyperlink for downloading Microsoft Internet Explorer seems to be no longer supported (another cold pricklie for not letting me know, Microsoft) - and making sure I had hyperlinks that did connect. After checking out the links, I was pasting the corrections into each of my web pages. I was about two thirds complete when my son appeared and asked if he could use the telephone.

With his usual cavalier approach to school work, he had left some essential files at school. He needed to call a friend and have him upload the files. Since my work on-line was essentially done, I promptly ended my connection. At about the same time, I decided I had better save some of these changed pages - and that's when I knew disaster was ahead.

Instead of saving the pages as files which is what usually happened, Front Page was apparently trying to save them via the server - which, whether it's supposed to do this or not, was not able to function when my on-line session ended. To make a long story short, I forced Front Page to save them as files. Front Page wanted to save the graphics to the root directory and I just said "no". Bad mistake. When I checked my saved pages, all the graphics were gone. Somehow Front Page had changed all the references to the folder in which I keep all the graphics for this site. I now faced the prospect of reentering all the image source information.

Then a moment of inspiration hit me! I'd use that nearly useless "Explorer" to find all my source info and add in the graphics file folder! Good idea - bad program! As far as I can tell, there is no way to make Front Page do a find and/or replace on HTML commands. Sure, it will do it on plain text, but who ever heard of an HTML editor that would NOT search through the HTML commands!

Fortunately, my trusty WebEdit was up to the task and I was able to rescue potentially hours of work within a few minutes.

UPDATE:

I received the Beta for FrontPage 98 last week and have been using it on my most recent revisions to this site. First, the bad news: As far as I can tell, there is STILL no way to do a search and/or replace on the underlying HTML code. Now, the good news: I like the changes I've seen so far in this version. The whole package seems much more integrated and when you start it up, it loads in the editor right away! So, if you don't want the 'Explorer' part, you can ignore it.

The editor now has tabbed sheets that let you switch between 'Normal' (WYSICTWYG: What you see is close to what you get), HTML and Preview mode. Preview mode seems to have IE's browser embedded in much the same way that you can embed it in a Visual Basic 5 project. It still takes a few seconds to load in, but it may be faster than starting IE from scratch.

Let me correct what I wrote in the previous review above: Front Page WILL let you determine what drive and/or directory you wish to install it too. However, the personal web server will not! It also appears that the web server expects the web site files to be on C: inside Webshare/wwwroot. So, my criticism on this point is only about half right!

I'll try to post more details when I have worked longer with this new version, but, as of now, I will probably get the new version when it is released, as long as the price isn't too high!

Word 97

I don't want to spend a lot of time on this - since it will probably be the subject of my new "In Search of the Perfect Word Processor" installment. I've spent about ten hours over the last week or so trying to set up a "Master Document" and organize several chapters of a computer text. Obviously, I'm doing something wrong - but there's virtually no mention of master documents in the meager documentation, and the on-line help isn't much better. There's some information, but it isn't very comprehensible or complete. Every time I re-load what I have done, page numbers are off and illustrations that I reduced in size are now back at their former size. Undoubtedly it has something to do with trying to edit in the master document something that should be done in a sub-document or vice versa. But that's as far as I can figure it out. There HAS to be a better way, Microsoft!

I'm delighted to offer warm fuzzies to WebEdit originally from Nesbitt software, but now part of the Luckman stable. WebEdit may not be the best HTML editor (or it may be), and it certainly doesn't seem to be one of the best known, but it does its job just fine for me!

More warm fuzzies for http://www.basta.com. This is a nice web site with an interesting line-up of Internet related software. I've really only tried out one of the programs so far: Splitty, which divides long files so that they can be copied unto multiple disks. It does a nice job, but then so does EZ-Split (and I've already registered EZ-Split). You'll also find a neat "retro" game of "Snake" (I remember it as "Zap") that is a Java applet. There's also a neat currency conversion utility available. All-in-all, Basta.com may not be an eye-opener, but it is a quality site that is well worth the visit - even if you don't want some dandy software to try out!

My final warm fuzzy this time is for http://www.rocketmail.com which offers free e-mail. Just sign up and you can have your friends e-mailing you in no time. There are two really neat things about RocketMail. First, it is surprisingly easy to use. I've had a quick look at Eudora, spent a few weeks evaluating Calypso, worked with Netscape's mail window and agonized over Microsoft Exchange and Outlook 97. (I really don't dislike Microsoft, but some of their products do leave a lot to be desired!) I have no real opinion about Eudora. Both Calypso and Netscape offer good mail services (Calypso - the registered and evaluation versions - will let you access multiple mail sources), but Rocket Mail is simpler and it also lets you access up to three other mail accounts. The other really nice thing about Rocket Mail is that it is an Internet web site - and therefore accessible by any computer with access to the Internet. You don't have to try to set up a new computer to access your mail - just point your browser to http://www.rocketmail.com. There are, of course, some dawbacks. It can be slow just like any other Internet site, and, somehow, my mail seems a little more vulnerable with access available to anyone who happens to have my password - and who happens to want to see my mail! Still, I recommend it. The price is right! (Calypso seems like a very good product, but it costs about $70 US.) It's easy to learn. It can be accessed from anywhere (practically). What more could you want? Well, automatic log-in would be nice.

Coming soon, warm fuzzies for two gif animating programs: Giffy and Cel Assembler. Also a combined fuzzy/prickly for Gif Construction Set.

I really intended to have a lengthly review of the above animated gif creation programs. But where has the time gone! Since the last issue, I've been previewing Cel Assembler exclusively. I like the ease in which I can place various images, even repeating images at will. I can also drag an image to a different part of the animation. The animation can be controlled globally and then individual cells can be tweaked at will. I am happy to award three fuzzies to Cel Assembler (I keep wanting to call it Cell Animator - which is an entirely different  [and much more expensive] program.)

In all fairness, I can not assign fuzzies to Giffy. I just haven't had time to use it enough. It is a very professionally done package, and it comes with some amazingly well done samples, but in my short experience with it, I was unable to find an easy way to repeat images or even add images after my initial list.

I really can't give Gif Construction Set too much of a review either. When I first started fooling around with animated gifs, it was the program I found and used. That was almost a year ago. At that time, it was very text-based and did not have the same type of WYSIWYG interface that the other two programs feature. It does the job, and if you are a die-hard DOS fan who likes to enter parameters, you'll probably like GCS, but for me, the other two are much more fun to use.

Recently, I got an e-mail from the folks who created Xara for Corel. I've been interested in Xara since I first spied it in the computer store, but not enough to put out $200 or more! They are now offering Xara 3D, and you can download a trial version from their web site. Unfortunately, the trial version only works for two days. Fortunately, you can purchase the program, over the web, for $29.95 $US. The biggest problem with this approach is the lack of a back-up disk to reinstall the software WHEN (not IF) something goes wrong with Windows 95 or your hard drive. It is a very professional program and, simply by using one of the templates provided, you can soon have your own 3D message. You can save it as a static graphic, but for the most effective effect, create a animated gif. You'll find examples on the David Oldfield Promotions pages for local card shows. By using Xara 3d along with Gif Assembler, I was able to produce an animated gif that rotated horizontally and that changed wording every time it rotated through 180°.

My biggest criticisms (or want list) of the program are that it does not rotate vertically, and that it works only on fonts. I would like to be able to rotate some graphics, even if they were only extruded and not true 3D objects. Undoubtedly, some trye 3D programs exist to do what I want, but they almost certainly aren't as easy to use.

Final Note: When I revisited the Xara site to make sure I had the URL correct, I found out that they now are offering 300 different fonts on line for $2.00 a font. Once you provide personal and credit card information over a secure link, you can order any font you want quickly and easily. And they keep track of what you have ordered. If you ever need to download the same font again, you can do so without any further charge. Nice touch. However, there does not seem to be any "shopping basket". Each font must be ordered separately. Won't my Mastercard love getting a bunch of charges for $2 each! (okay, that's probably $3.50 each Canadian)

Copyright © 1998 by
Frederick D. Oldfield
Created:
June 08, 1998
Last revision:
July 10, 1998

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