SMUG - The February Upgrade: News From the SMUG Bureaucracy

Author: Joe Duroux 

Date: February 1994 

Keywords: user group meeting minutes 

Text:
The January meeting started with Kevin Savetz conducting an auction of
donated books and software for the benefit of SMUG, followed by
Denise's lottery to see who gets to review the software donated by the
publishers.
The main event was a demonstration of Photoshop by our inimitable
graphics guru, Larry Kuhn. He started with a blank window and built up
a collage of colored shapes. As he progressed, he manipulated  shapes
and colors with a variety of tools, including gradients and
distortions. Next he  produced a wide variety of textures, using
add-on filters. Larry then distorted some of the color patterns with
techniques like twirling, spherizing, and making composites of
different patterns. Apparently, one can produce just about any effect
that one can imagine with Photoshop.
Larry explained that many add-on tools and filters are available, from
third parties, for use with Photoshop. He recommends a set of filters
called Kai's Power Tools as a good starting set. To be a serious user,
you'll need at least 8M, and preferably 16M, of built-in RAM. Virtual
memory won't do (except to go beyond 16M for additional open
applications). You'll also need lots of hard disk storage. Complex
24-bit color pictures can be as big as 25MB. Photoshop is not for the
timid - or for the poorly equipped.

Denise Jesus, SMUG's Product Review Coordinator reports that we have
the following free products available to SMUG members for Review in
February:

The American Heritage Dictionary, Third Edition - From Star Press.
ColorDesign 1.0 - From Momentum Software. Create stunning computer
generated  or custom designs in 8 or 24 bit color.
3-D Tutor CD-ROM - From Zelos! Tutorial for learning the specifics
of 3-D modeling, rendering and assembly plus you can test drive 18 3-D
software packages and view professional 3-D animations.
Calculated Beauty CD-ROM - From Rocky Mountain Digital Peeks. A
journey through Mandelbrot space... copyright free multimedia fractal
images.
Millie's Math House - From Edmark. 2-6 year olds learn numbers,
shapes, patterns & more through six exciting activites. 
Thinkin' Things - From Edmark. Six activities for 4 -8 year olds
that help develop critical thinking skills.
MacInTax - From ChipSoft. A few easy steps & you've got a complete
tax return.


Products Available for Review in March:

Marvel Screen Posters - From Berkeley Systems. Desktop
pictures/screen saver.  Dress up your monitor Marvel-Style with
super-heros, super-villains, & mutants!
El-Fish - From Maxis. Design your own electronic aquarium & stock
it with fish that will breed and evolve into new never-before-seen
fish.
Learn to Speak Spanish CD-ROM - From HyperGlot. 30 lessons,
including digitized video & sound, for beginner and intermediate
levels.
Adobe Wild Type - From Adobe. 14  whimsical typefaces.
Ray Dream Designer 3.0 - From Ray Dream, Inc.. Get a new
perspective on graphics with a 3-D Illustration package... a new
upgrade!
Pixar Typestry 2 - From Pixar. Create 3-D type... WAY COOL
The Journeyman Project CD-ROM - From Presto Studios. Photp
realistic adventure game. Gold metal winner for animation & graphics. 

Copyright © February 1994 by Joe Duroux