Nov . 05

 

DONA'S COMPUTER CAPERS

 

By Dona Z. Meilach

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DONA'S COMPUTER CAPERS

1. MAGIX PHOTOSTORY on CD & DVD

2. MY MAIL LIST DELUXE

3. DANCE PRAISE MAKES THE DANCE CRAZE A GAME AND EXERCISE

4. MAGNETIC GAMES

 

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With the holidays coming and companies vying for space to ply their offerings, here are a few useful items that can do more than clutter up your shelves. Buy them for yourself or for gifts.

                       

1. MAGIX PHOTOSTORY on CD & DVD

 

As your holiday photos increase you should latch on to a new program that will make it relatively easy to create a CD or DVD to send to family and friends. When I first opened the software I thought, here's a competitor to PowerPoint. I hate PowerPoint's shortcomings and clumsiness for my needs…assembling about 100 photos for each of 6 art lectures. MAGIX lets you bring in an entire file of images compared to bringing images in individually in PowerPoint.

 

With your entire file readily loaded into MAGIX, three different procedures are at hand. In one screen you select a photo one at a time and image it with an astounding number of tools, easily, quickly, visibly. You can also add special effects, timing and music for a dynamite presentation. A second screen lets you reorganize your photos in any order you want, and, with my requirement of nearly 100 photos X 6 lectures that takes some doing. Once you get the hang of how the program operates it's a breeze. The third screen lets you set timing, special effects, and music to each slide.

 

When you're happy with your photo show, send it to a CD or DVD and it's ready to roll.

So what doesn't it do that PowerPoint does? So far, in their version 4, you cannot bring in clip art or generate charts; it's not a presentation program in the PowerPoint sense of the word. It is, as the title implies, for creating Photostories. You can send the images to a printer or a printing service, too.

 

MAGIX PHOTOSTORY on CD & DVD would make a perfect holiday gift along with a digital camera, or for those who have cameras, and are looking for an easy inexpensive program for generating records of family gatherings now and all through the year.

The program is PC compatible and lists for $39.95…check it out at www.magix.net. There's a demo video at their Web site.

 

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2. MY MAIL LIST DELUXE

 

So after you create your photo stories, you'll want to mail them out to all your contacts, right? Before that, perhaps you wanted to send holiday greetings to family and business contacts. A perfect answer for setting up mailing lists is the program, MY MAIL LIST DELUXE by Avanquest, USA.  But that's only the tip of the post office box, given what this mature program can do.

 

You know a program is ripe, and right, when it is packed with a good size reference manual and not one you have to access on your computer. Among the beauties of the program is that it will import most database files directly …no re-entry of addresses to drive you nuts.

 

You can easily design and print directly onto labels, envelops, post cards, address books, form letters, and more using any of the Avery and other standardized styles. Add barcodes, logos, clip art, and return addresses.

 

The program can help you save on postage with bulk mailings because it sorts the addresses according to post office requirements. And yes, there are about 2.6 million clip art and photo images to keep your mailings interesting and eye catching. My Mail List Deluxe lists for #39.95 (just reduced on-line) from www.avanquestusa.com. There's a trial version available.

 

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3. DANCE PRAISE MAKES THE DANCE CRAZE A GAME AND EXERCISE

 

If you've eaten too much at the buffet tables, here's a great way to "dance" it off and latch on to the popular dance craze. We first saw this technology at a SIGGRAPH conference a few years ago and now it has come down to a program and price that makes it very attractive…while making you attractive too by shaking off those extra deserts in a fun way.

 

Dance Praise consists of a dance pad you place on the floor and a colorful video display on your computer. Arrows on the computer screen scroll in time with the music while arrows on the dance pad correspond to the ever-changing display. The trick? The dancer, or exerciser, has to keep up with the changing screen. There are four modes with different levels of activity. There is a Dance mode, an Arcade mode, an Exercise Mode, and a Shadow Dance Mode  (this one requires a second dance pad).

 

4. MAGNETIC GAMES

 

While mom, dad and the older kids are using the computer, what's there to do for those who feel left out? Never fear. A couple of new offerings will draw them to the refrigerator, not for left-overs but for games. A company called www.fridgeplay.com is marketing a line of magnetic games designed to adhere to the refrigerator and/or to play in your lap. Fridge golf is a spinner type game with boards that have you moving your tokens over the grassy knolls of a magnetic field. It's aimed at the home and the office market and encourages interactive play, friendliness, and kibitzing. While the recommended age level is 7, it's really much more sophisticated than that and will be sure to draw yeas and boos from the water cooler crowd. Then there's Backgammon, chess and other offerings.

 

The company's lap top games under the "goplay" logo consist of a 5 x 5 in. metal box with a board and magnetic tokens inside. Games include Checkers, Bingo, Dominos, shapes and other activities. They sell for $9.95 from Barnes & Noble.

 

It's all fun stuff that makes great stocking stuffers.

 

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Dona Meilach is the author of over 85 books with 10 on computers. Her latest book, just out, is TEAPOTS: MAKERS & COLLECTORS from Schiffer books. (Makes a great gift, too.) Other computer organizations interested in running this column should contact the author. The column is also available free. Subscribe DCC: Contact dmeilach@msn.com. Dona’s Computer Capers may also be found at http://www.smalladdictions.com/Skateboard.