CONTENTS:

1. Welcome & What's been happening
2. Our Shareware Recommendations for the Month
3. Making News this Month
4. Software Review of the Month
5. Web Sites of Interest
6. Book Review of the Month
7. Ask the Doc...

1. WELCOME & WHAT'S BEEN HAPPENING

Hello Subscribers!

Due to an injured wrist this month, I've not been able to type as much or as quickly as normal. This has been very frustrating and has led to a shorter newsletter.

Please keep in mind that we are always interested to hear what you think, good or bad. If you have something you'd like to get off your chest let it rip to

A bit about our new products this month:

(1) AceReader
AceReader is a productivity and self-improvement educational reading tool. In today's fast paced information age, it is more important than ever to be a proficient reader. Everyone from high powered executives to children just learning to read at school can benefit from AceReader. AceReader can be used to train you to read faster both on the computer and from traditional print.

AceReader can help you spend less time on your reading, whilst at the same time increasing your comprehension. It helps you learn to break the sub-vocalisation barrier when reading, thereby unlocking the ability to read more and to read faster.

Multi-user licenses, site licenses and educational discounts are also be available - contact us for details

More Info : Download Now

(2) QuickPhrase - FREE!
The TypingMaster QuickPhrase utility sends keystrokes to other programs saving you from constantly having to retype and retype, and retype... them yourself. Use it to automate email signatures, greetings or anything you find yourself regularly typing over and over. To send a phrase, you can use a keyboard shortcut or choose a phrase from the phrase menu located in the system tray on your TaskBar. QuickPhrase supports 10 user defined phrases, each of which can be up to 16 kilobytes long. Each phrase can have a separate hotkey or you can use a common hotkey to popup the phrase menu to select one from there. This program is freeware. It can be used and distributed freely when it is not modified in any way. Setting QuickPhrase up is easy, just 3 simple steps is all it takes!

Now only available as a bonus when you purchase TypingMaster

(3) Enriva Voyager (Now know as Magellan Explorer).
Last month we announced this magical file manager but at the time we sent the newsletter out we didn't have all the details available. Our web site has been updated with some more information and the downloads are now available too.

More Info : Download Now

Now, on with the show and Happy Sharewaring...

Regards,

Tim Jones
Aquarian Technologies

2. OUR SHAREWARE RECOMMENDATIONS FOR THE MONTH

Sorry, due to the wrist I injury just haven't had the time to review many applications this month, although I did still download as many as usual ;-)

3. MAKING NEWS THIS MONTH

If you see a write-up of one of our products somewhere, and think of it, please send us a quick email to say what it was and where you saw it.

Please consider submitting a review of your own to any local newsletters etc - such as a school newsletter, office gossip column et al. It is through such positive word-of-mouth communication about our products that they may be continually updated with the features you ask for and need most whilst keeping the prices at affordable levels. If you'd like some help preparing such a review give us a "hoy" and we'll be glad to help!

4. SOFTWARE REVIEW OF THE MONTH

To be read in conjunction with "Ask the Doc" this month.

5. WEB SITES OF INTEREST

Digital Cameras
I've had a couple of friends buy digital cameras recently. Both of them rave about how great they are. I've been thinking of getting one too, but, hadn't a clue which one to go with. A quick search on the net turned up this site http://www.pcphotoforum.com - It has all sorts of information on cameras. I'll be spending some more time there before spending my $'s, that's for sure. For the record, one of my friends recommended the Kodak DC210 Digital Zoom camera. Although at about $AUD1500 it is far too much for what I had in mind. If you have the need (and the $'s) it is certainly a good buy though.

History of Shareware
Want to know more about how, when and why Shareware started as a marketing concept? Then you need to visit the man who started it all. Full details here http://www.halcyon.com/knopf/jim.html Jim Knopf (Button was the name he used whilst running his company ButtonWare - Knopf being button in German) started it all, and although now in "retirement" is still active in various ways. He has a lot of interesting information on his site so check it out sometime.

6. BOOK REVIEW OF THE MONTH

The Dilbert Future
Thriving on Stupidity in the 21st Century
Scott Adams
ISBN 0-88730-866-X
Published by Harper Business

A friend loaned me this book this week. I do read the odd Dilbert comic here and there and every now and then one of them hits the spot for me. This book is not just about Scott Adams' comics though. It is more a humorous dialog about what he sees as the future for humankind based on how he often portrays society. He then links these "predictions" back to comics giving you a bit of an understanding of where and why some of them come from.

At first, I thought this would be good for a laugh. The only problem is most of his predictions make too much sense (which is a bit scary!) I thought I'd read a few pages here and there between various jobs... 108 pages later I realised I needed to stop and do some work. It is a light and easy read. Quite addictive for people who like a bit of light humour with a touch of rationale.

I give it an 8. More details here

7. ASK THE DOC...

Each month we select one of the requests to research and report back to everyone what we recommend. The lucky reader who asks the question will win a free copy of one of our programs. So, got a software ailment? Ask the "Doc" for some sound advice... Send us an email, with 'Ask The Doc" in the subject.

Some time back when we were looking for a way to get more control of doing screen grabs we reviewed quite a few tools. This month reader RobY also asked us for some advice on what he could use. He wanted to do more than what Windows provides with its Print-Screen and Alt-Print-Screen buttons (those keys, by the way, place a copy of the whole screen, or current window respectively on to the Windows clipboard).

We couldn't go past pointing him to the same tool we use ourselves and always recommend to anyone that asks. "SnagIt" is its name. Screen Capturing is its game. Here is just some of what it can do:

Image Capture, Video Capture, Text Conversion (requires Win98), Active Capture, Capture Destinations, Preview Window, Thumbnail Browser, Image Processing, Graphic File Output, Scale Image, DOS Screen Capture, Capture Mouse Cursor, Color Reduction, Color Substitution, DDE Interface, Mail Output... and much more!

SnagIt really does make taking screen shots easier. For instance, it can automatically number and store them in predetermined folders making the job of grabbing several screens at a time a real no-brainer.

If you need something to help with your screen shots, you really don't need to look any further.

More Info:
Web: http://www.techsmith.com
Price: $US39.95
Verison: 4.3.2

We also had a reader request us to Post the newsletters out to them in future. Whilst we usually bend over backwards to assist our customers, at this time this is one request we just can't meet. Two of the biggest attractions of this format of electronic newsletter are its speed of delivery and cost. Something postal mail can't compete with in terms of what we need to get out to an ever growing list of people every month. So we won't be snail-mailing our newsletter out any time soon.