User group Newsletter Editors: Utilize this content in your newsletter -- PLEASE ... reference The User Group Network _ / _ UG Network Channel _ / _ NEWS_/ _ Info Manager The Info Manager is looking for your rumors and tidbits... give him a post! ...or subscribe... see subscription notes below Info Manager - 2/25/Y2K Don Crabb; Dragon Systems; EarthLink; Eazel; Helix RADE; Support **** Don Crabb Passes Don Crabb has passed away. He was seriously ill since December 3rd when he collapsed on his wedding day. He survived a lot and our best wishes are certainly with his family. Don was certainly one of the Mac world's best known columnists in print, on line and on radio. He often berated Apple's marketing efforts in the corporate world in many of his Mac books. The full story is available at MacWeek http://macweek.zdnet.com/ **** Dragon Systems MacWeek also reported that Dragon Systems has said that is has dropped all development of its speech recognition software for the Mac. They did leave the door open for possibly developing for OSX. Which kind of makes sense. OSX is just around the corner. Their software was suppose to have been completed by the end of 1999. If that had happened, it would have made sense to have a Mac product. Meanwhile, Philips, IBM and MacSpeech will fill in that gap in the market. **** EarthLink Because of Apple's recent $200 million investment in EarthLink, Sprint has purchased an additional $77 million worth of stock to keep its share of EarthLink at 14.6%. They will also retain 2 seats on the board. I still wonder if it is true that signing up for EarthLink via Apple's registration procedure on new Macs commits you to Sprint long distance service. Can anyone confirm that? **** Eazel The New York Times and others are reporting that Andy Hertzfeld and some other members of the original Macintosh development team have been convinced to work for Eazel (a new startup) on a new Linux interface that is to make Windows and Macintosh computers look difficult by comparison.Guy Tribble is also on the team. He left Sun to do this work. He also helped design the Next OS. It will be interesting to see if this group can actually raise the 4% market share that Linux currently has on desktop machines. **** Helix RADE TidBITS is reporting in its February 21st issue that the old Macintosh database Helix has been taken over by The Chip Merchant and a free version, called Helix RADE (Rapid Application Development Environment) is now available for download. Helix uses a unique icon driven development interface that does take some changes in thinking about databases in general. But it is very flexible. And is one of the options to paying for the expensive new versions of Filemaker Pro. (I always liked Panorama to, but that is for another time.)You can download it from: http://www.helixtech.com/ You should check it out. The full TidBITS article is at: http://db.tidbits.com/getbits.acgi?tbart=05814 **** Support on the Net The Dallas Morning News on 2/24 listed some web support sites in their weekly Technology section. They include: www.HelpOnThe.Net (Mostly PC) www.macinsites.com/Detailed/480.html lists Mac sites www.myhelpdesk.com multiplatform www.pchelponline.com a guide to manufacturer's web sites www.service911.com Online video tutorials for installing hardware on PCs www.nowonder.com multiplatform, I have had experience with this site and found it very useful for both Mac and PC (don't know about the Unix/Linux help) __ I would also like to add for Mac users the forums on www.macfixit.com. The forums work a lot like the forums on nowonder. __ Unfortunately the Dallas Morning News did deem I necessary to put this article on the web site, but it does have some of the companion pieces at: http://dallasnews.com/technology/38131_techsupport.html **** Quote of the Week: "There is no reason anyone would want a computer in their home." --Ken Olson, president, chairman and founder of Digital Equipment Corp., 1977 **** Web site of the Week: Old advertisements fascinate me. It is really cool to see what enticed our ancestors to part with their money. To say nothing of the prices. http://scriptorium.lib.duke.edu/adaccess/ has 7,000 old advertisements starting in 1911 and going into 1955. This site breaks the advertisements into five categories: beauty and hygiene, radio, television, transportation, and World War II. Take a look at it. And if you are interested in antiques, check out the antiques at the Obsolete Computer Museum. http://www.obsoletecomputermuseum.org This one truly brings back memories of the late 70's and early 80's. pau **** Don't forget Any suggestions for topics and reports of rumors are always welcome. Please me know at the address below. Thanks ... the Info Manager invites you to use all or part of his column in your user group newsletter. Please let him know at rumormangr@aol.com and if possible send an electronic copy for the old scrapbook. **** SO HANDY IT'S DANDY. Learn to build, repair, decorate, and in short, make yourself useful around the house with the tutorials at http://www.learn2.com . You can even learn how to properly build a snowman. (If you're in a warmer clime at this time, file this for future reference.) Another nice site is http://www.doityourself.com , and I particularly like the bulletin board described as "The Original Community Forum for Do-It-Yourselfers." Subscribe to Rumors@lists.user-groups.net DIGEST VERSION: rumors-digest@lists.user-groups.net (recommended) rumors-on@lists.user-groups.net for more information go to: http://www.user-groups.net/ugcommunity/subscribe.html The Info Manager is a veteran of the UGN (AOL User Groups Forum) and User Group Network. He's been a supporter and volunteer on many, many UGNet and User Group Academy projects. As a long time user group member, he's served as volunteer from Honolulu to Boston and many points in between. Currently working with the Apple Corp of Dallas, the Dallas Mac Pack, Cowtown MUG of Ft. Worth and TUMS (the Tulsa Users of Macintosh Society) doing newsletter articles and the monthly CD-ROM Update. UG Network Channel _ / _ NEWS _ / _ UG Library _ / _ UG Bookshelf To Advertise or become a sponsor -- Contact Jennifer -- Press Releases for publication -- should be directed to: UGNN News Desk at: UGNN News Desk. Article Reprints -- User Group Network Affiliates may reprint articles as long as full credit is given. Other Non-profit or non-commercial publications should contact us. The UGNN cannot guarantee accuracy or timeliness of articles. Many have been forwarded to us by field correspondents, or press release services. All care is taken to assure the accuracy of URLs and email addresses. Some items may be 30 to 60 days old. The User Group Network is an affiliate of the News-Serve Network - inquiries: The UGNN News Desk . . . All commercial names herein, including publication, product, and company names are assumed to be the registered trademarks of their companies. UGN, UGNN, UGNet News, UG Idea Exchange, are all trademarks for The User Group Network, copyright 1997, all rights reserved. Copyright 1999, The User Group Network, http://www.user-groups.net/News-Service.