SMUG - April Upgrade: News From the SMUG Bureaucracy



Author: Joe Duroux

Date: April, 1994

Keywords: meeting minutes

Text:
The March meeting began with an auction of books and software with the
benefits going to support SMUG. The auction featured an expensive Adobe
Photoshop training manual with CD-ROM donated by Sally Everding and the
Office of Extended Education at HSU. Next the meeting proceeded to the
usual lottery for free products for review by members.
     The main part of the program was a description and demonstration
of Aldus' products by Brent Haley, who covers the Northwestern region
for Aldus. The first product he showed was a relatively new one called
Fetch. It is a cataloging system for files of just about any type,
including clip art, photo images, presentations, QuickTime movies, and
sounds as well as more common file types. The catalog can be a list or
an array of thumbnail pictures.
     Next came a demonstration of FreeHand 4.0. He combined and
manipulated shapes and colors in a wide variety of ways, including
gradation of fills and tinting. He also demonstrated some advanced
text-handling capabilities, including making and manipulating tables
and binding copy to a freely drawn line. He showed how FreeHand 4.0 can
do multiple page layouts well enough to be used as a page layout
application. But not, of course, as well as its sister application,
PageMaker.
     Finally, he demonstrated some of the features of PageMaker 5.0.
This latest version includes such things as incremental rotation of
text or graphics (and direct editing of the rotated text), built-in
color separation, a handy new control palette and the ability to open
multiple documents. He emphasized the fact that PageMaker can import
material from almost any other application.
     The Multimedia SIG had its first meeting on March 9. It plans to
have monthly meetings and occasional demos for the general SMUG
meetings. Contact Larry Kuhn on SMUGgler's BBS for future meeting
dates.
     The DTP SIG had its first meeting on March 14 at the Lumberjack
(HSU student publication) hosted by Howard Seeman. Those attending were
treated to a tour of the facilities. Contact David Reynolds on the BBS
for future meeting dates.
     Products available for review in April (to be given away at the
April meeting):
     *     CorkBoard - From MacTools. A creative idea management and
organizational tool.
     *     Final Draft 2.0 - From MacTools. Start writing your
screenplay today!
     *     Inside Macintosh: Overview  (book) - By Apple Computer,
Inc.; Published by Addison-Wesley.
     *     Virtus VR - From Virtus Corporation. Virtual reality for the
desktop... define and discover virtual worlds.
     *     Quick Flix - From Video Fusion. Personal QuickTime movie
making software.
     *     Adobe PhotoShop 2.5.1 Deluxe Edition CD-ROM - From Adobe.
The premiere photo design and production tool... HOT!
     *     Kai's Power Tools 2.0 - From HSC Software. The ultimate
plug-in filters and extensions for your artwork. ---------
     Products Available for Review in May:
     *     Heaven & Earth - From Buena Vista Software. Four dazzling
games that go beyond any card game, puzzle, or toy.
     *     Grolier's New Multimedia Encyclopedia CD-ROM - From Grolier
Electronic Publishing. 1994 Edition. TWO copies of the Groiler's
Encyclopedia will be up for review, one Mac, and one Windows; both
reviews will be merged into one for KU publication.
     *     The 7th Guest CD-ROM - From Virgin Games. A brain teasing
game of horror and intrigue that takes place in a realistic 3-D haunted
mansion. Must be at least 17 to play... Ooooooo!
     *     Now Ultilites 4.0.2 - From Now Software. A collection of
seven utilities to enhance System 7.
     And maybe some surprises... 
     

Copyright © april, 1994 by Joe Duroux