BlueNotes

^CIBM PRINTER BLUES

I was first rather excited then very disappointed about the
Certificate Creator program.  The program looked promising till
I got to setting the printer drivers.  There are only five
drivers available and three of them are laser printers!  Now,
come on!  How many homes have laser printers--60%?  The other
two choices are Epson.  Well I have a Tandy DMP 134 with IBM
ProPrinter II emulation, and as you can clearly see (Editor's
note: the letter has two hard copies of certificates with
improper linefeed spacing), Epson control codes don't do well.
Tandy is the nation's leading PC retailer and we sell a fair
number of printers to boot.  All the Tandy printers today have
IBM emulation and only some have Epson.

How can you in good conscience deliver a program to your
subscribers with these printer drivers?  Who is asleep at the
wheel?

Please offer some advice as to how this program can be made
useful to us non-Epson folks.  We would appreciate your help.

^REd Champa
^RIndianapolis, IL


Dear Mr. Champa,

We did test it on our IBM compatible printers with Certificate
Creator set to Epson MX and it worked like a charm.  Our tests
included a Panasonic KX-P1124, Citizen 200GX, Star NX-1000II,
Star NX-1020 Rainbow, Seikosha MP-1300AI and a Mannesman Tally
910 Laser printer all set to IBM ProPrinter.  They all
functioned fine.

We will continue to research this problem until we have an
answer.  I will be driving down to the local Radio Shack and
BusinessLand to test Certificate Creator on the Tandy and (real,
honest-to-God) IBM ProPrinter printer lines.  Once we have the
problem solved we'll remaster the disks and announce it on ODM.
Until then I can only leave you with--we're doing our best to
find the solution.

^CIT'S A SMALL WORLD

I finally decided to write and tell you what happened to me this
past winter.  On Dec. 27, 1990 my Army Reserve Unit was
activated for duty in the Persian Gulf.  I belong to the 113th
Evacuation Hospital and we were sent to an Emirate hospital in
the United Arab Emirates.  Being a pharmacist, I worked with the
current pharmacy staff.  I met a pharmacist from Scotland
who was working under an employment contract for the U.A.E..
During conversations with him I told him about my subscription
to [On Disk Monthly] and he said that he also has a subscription
and he enjoyed receiving them regularly.  It is a small world
when you can travel 10,000 miles from home and find an [ODM]
subscriber and be able to relate to him.

We were fortunate that the war was short, we received no
casualties there and were able to return home quickly.  I love
your programs and use parts of them regularly.  Keep up the good
work.

^RJohn L. Jacobsen, Col, USAR (Ret)
^RBismark, ND

^CTHE COST OF COMPUTING

After a few years of subscribing to ON DISK MONTHLY, I finally
feel compelled to send in a report card and offer a few comments.

Issue #59 scared me a bit with its "new approach".  The
technology and industry is definitely changing and we all must be
aware of the fact.  Convenient cobwebs must be cleared away and
new things must be addressed.  But, does it all have to be done
at the expense of the average guy who can't afford high-priced
coprocessors and rich software upgrades?  Nearly all the
contents of issue #59 called for DOS 3.0 or higher, not DOS 2 as
before.

And then there was the question about replacing Print Shop images
with unknown (to me) clipart.  I am not an expert graphic artist
and am wary of the thought of doing away with my beloved Print
Shop!

On Disk Monthly is a great magazine on disk for the many novices
like myself.  If more complex, time-consuming, and expensive
computing is desired, there are a multitude of PC magazines to be
had on the local magazine rack.  Yes, we all must grow, including
us part time computer users--but give us time and enjoyment in
learning!

^RDavid A. Savage
^RMont Clare, PA


Dear Mr. Savage,

Thanks for taking the time to write with your concerns.  I would
like to address them one at a time.

DOS 2.1:  You may not realize it, but MS DOS 2.1 is over 5 years
old.  MicroSoft has made some major advances in DOS over the
years and we want to be able to take advantage of the new
features.  There is a chance that the programs on our disk will
work with DOS 2.1--but no guarantees.  The programs that will
most likely not work are the utilities.  DOS 3.3 actually gave
the programmers a way to interface with DOS where 2.1 needed
crazy hacks into the system files to get anything to work.

If you really want to be safe (not only with our software, but
all the great new utility software being developed today) I
suggest you drop by your local software store and get MS DOS
5.0.  It only costs 59.00 (average discounted price) and will
give you more memory, greater speed of DOS operations, help for
all DOS commands, and most important, definite compatibility
with all of tomorrow's software.

Print Shop:  We have found middle ground on this issue.  We will
provide .PCX (PCX is a standard PC graphic file format used by
all good graphic editors) clipart and software that allows the
user to turn the individual clips into either New or Old Print
Shop images.  This way we have the best of both worlds.

You don't have to worry about us forgetting the "little" people.
The fact is that we don't consider anyone "little" and strive to
provide something for everyone.  You state that you like to use
your computing time to enjoy and learn.  Well our goal is to
entertain and teach, but one of the lessons of computers is that
upgrades, especially DOS upgrades, are a necessary evil.

^CTHE STATE FARM ISSUE CONTINUES

I have just read both your comments and those of Mr. Lee
Schwartz, Agent, regarding State Farm Insurance Company's policy
on computer insurance.

As I too have been concerned about my valued computer equipment
and the inability to insure it at a reasonable cost, I was
delighted to learn of these, unknown to me, policies.

I promptly called my State Farm agent here in Arlington, TX.
It's important to know that I live in Texas since we apparently
have our own way to conduct an insurance company.  I have
adequate Home Owners policy which, to some degree, covers the
equipment.

I read your notes and those of Mr. Schwartz to my agent.  He
asked me Mr. Schwartz's location.  I told him he was in
Minnetonka, MN.  "Well, he said, that explains it."  It seems
each State Farm Unit (by state) makes their own state-wide
policies and Texas is one of those exceptions to the general
company policy in this regard.

The major differences are:

1. The computer MUST be for personal use.

2. If used for work or business purposes, it is not covered
under the Home Owners policy. You must get separate coverage for
your computers.

3. If your equipment is for home or personal use, it is covered
under your the Home Owners policy and is considered personal
property.

I think that main message is that State Farm has different
policies for different states.  You had better caution your
readers that Mr. Schartz's letter is NOT the final word, check
with your State Farm agent.

^RJerry Conger
^RArlington, TX

Thanks for the letter Jerry.  I'm beginning to think that these
policies may even be out of the insurance companys' hands and in
the hands of the (gasp) State Governments.  If anyone has any
other information on this subject please write.

^CWHERE'S THE BEEF?

I had intended not to renew my subscription when you announced
your new "improvements".  However, I felt I owed you enough to
allow you the opportunity to justify your product.

I find you have not made an improvement.  In fact, on this issue
you respond to another subscriber by telling her what a fine idea
she has in reference to the REPORT CARD, but I see only a dribble
of the wealth in her suggestion.

And speaking of a waste of space, who cares if your writer has a
friend who has resorted to using shovels for writing materials.
We who subscribe, do so because we use computers.

Unless, there is a tremendous improvement prior to the expiration
of my subscription, I will go with my first instinct and not
renew.

^RLee A. Brown

Dear Mr. Brown,

I can understand your frustration.   As you can see the changes
have started to fall into place and we have lots more on the way.
We all hope you enjoy the new ODM!