Music sequences have been especially chosen to provide a nice, soft background as you read this issue of Compunews. My special thanks to those nice people who produce such beautiful music so the rest of us can enjoy.

Mademoiselle de Paris

In this issue.

• What's new at Omega?
• Graphics Utilities
• Misc Apps & Sites
• Astronomy
• Internet Tools & Apps
• Parting Words

What's new at Omega?

This, as always, has been a busy period at Omega. For example, using one of the new applications listed in this issue (I will let you guess which one...), I have reduced some 200 graphics file, in some cases from 100K to 25K in size, wihout noticeably affecting their quality. This alone saved over 2 megs of space on the server and has greatly hastened the loading time of the affected pages. This work is still in progress.

This particular issue is jammed packed with some of the best freeware/shareware available on the Net. I do hope they will prove of some help to you.

By the time you read this, our Musical Tribute to frank Sinatra should have reached the 25 000 hit milestone. Any guess when it will reach 50 000 hits? That feature alone generates over 300 e-mail messages per month. Most satisfying indeed.. Keep writing folks!

Graphics Utilities

Smart Saver

If your site uses large (and not so large) graphics files, this is the app for you. This 'trial' version is full-featured and good for 15 days; ample time to check it out. I have tried it on over 800 gif and jhpg files and it delivered what it promised. It reduced most 190K files to approximately 25/30K, quite a substantial saving and at no visible loss in quality of reproduction. Not only does it save space on your ISP server but also greatly speeds up your page uploading. This is a large file (over 3Meg) but it downloaded very fast.

CompuPic

If you have thousands of graphics/art files to keep track of, this is the program for you. Besides its high quality, I found this app to be extremely fast! It catalogued thousands of files in minutes. Once catalogued, it will display a sub-directory filled with thousands of files in seconds! You really check this one out. The URL above will take you to the author's homepage. You can here.

PaintShop Pro Ver 4

Personally, I find version 3 quite adequate and prefer it over this newer version but, you be the judge. You can get more info here.

Astronomy

Visual Planets V2.0

Updated version of an all-time favorite of mine. 233K in size, it includes some of the best color images from NASA and much information about the various spaceraft and the planets visited. here

365 Days of StarDate

This freeware program is a must for every armchair astronomer! here.

Stella 2000 Ver 1.0 Size: 1.6Meg

The Cadillac of astronomy simulators! Too many features to list. The serious astronomer/amateur will not be sorry to have downloaded that one.

Liftoff to Space Exploration

The MIR space station.... it may be old, it may be plagued with a series of troublesome events but, it's the only operational space station we have at the moment. Want to know where it is this very minute? This site will tell you and, more! Much of the info available on satellites comes nowadays from, would you believe, the Russian Space Agency! Who would have predicted that ten years ago?

Astronomy Lab 2 Ver 2.03

Here's an application that will prove interesting to the serious astronomer. Get more info at URL above or (470K) here.

Internet Tools

Superstats

I have mixed feelings about this one! First, the good news. This 'free' service will provide you with complete stats about who visits your page, their domain name, who referred them to your page and how often they did and, much more 'good to know' stuff. Because the service inserts banners into your page, I do not consider this as a 'free' service (read: you 'pay' for the service by allowing the provider to post banners for which 'they' get paid.) That's par for the course, as far as I am concerned. But, the part that worries me about this 'free' service is the 'fine print' in the agreement you must agree to before you are allowed to sign on. For one thing, by agreeing, one basically grants the service provider 'free access' to one's own homepage to do as they please with the information they gather from the site. If you don't mind giving full access to a third party to your site, then I say, this is a good statistics service. Check it out for yourself.

Linkman Ver 2

Here's a superb URL manager which possesses many more attractive features, beside being free. In addition to its own database of over 2500 links, it supports Netscape, MSIE bookmark formats.

HTML Writer

Here is a favorite HTML editor of mine. Easy to use and 'free'.

Goodies galore & Help too!

Folks... if you're new to the Internet (or an old pro, for that matter) this is the place to go. It is filled with superb help programs and a host of other goodies. Among them is a series of Windows 95 opening and closing screens with automatic install! My favorite one is the Titanic theme. Superb!

Anawave WebSnake Ver 1.23

This $30.00 shareware offers 30 'free' uses before, I presume, it goes dead. The reason I mention it here is because of what the promo promises in terms of features, too numerous to detail here. I will give this one a try as soon as I find a few minutes because, at the asking price, it promises to be worth it. It's your call.

NCSA Mosaic Ver 3

Mosaic you say??? Yep! I just had to try that one... not because it is freeware but, for old time sake's! Imagine... Mosaic! The browser which, in my view, started it all. If you're new to the Web... all I can say is "You just had to be there in the early days of hunting the Net with Archie, Veronica and the gang'. Then Mosaic came along. Oh well... you can visit Mosaic's page (above URL) or get the program right here!

HTML Body Builder Ver 1.5

Body Builder is one application that should be in every HTML programmer. It is free (well... smileware, in fact) is small (230K) and works with Win 3.x, Win95 and Win NT.

Web Turbo

This you have to see! And it won't cost you much (it's free). This neat, 1.8Meg application will let you search the Web five to ten times faster than you normally would. Using the six most popular search engines and some proprietary technology, the program delivers summaries of web pages in an outline format. There is a version for Netscape (listed above) and for MSIE that you can get here.

TelePort Pro 32-bit Ver 1.28 build 254

I have not downloaded this version of Teleport Pro as I have the registered version but, if this is the same app I paid $70.00 for just a year ago then, I say, at the listed asking price ($10.00) go get it quick. it was, and remains, a good buy at #70.00 (Cdn) so imagine... 10 bucks????

Sidescape v1.02

Here's what looks like an interesting Net tool. I haven't tried it yet but will in the near future. This 1.3 Meg shareware app (#20.00) is a Netscape tool which tracks where you've been, recording URL's and pages. It can actually navigate itself and show the resulting pages on your browser. (that's the part I'm eager to see!). The promo even says it 'interprets' the contents of the page and, a lot more. Wow!

Netscape Cache Explorer Ver 1.2

Netscape users have another cache explorer to try out... This is a small application (100K).

WebZip Ver 1.05

What will they think of next? With this little beauty (1 Meg) you can download entire websites (or just parts of them) and automatically store them in zipped format. It has it's own built-in browser to help you view them offline. Or you can use your browser of choice. This is shareware ($40.00). I have no idea if it's crippledware or what... but I'll find out soon.

Misc Apps

Cheech Wizard's Cauldron & Personal Website

Here's is one site which should be bookmarked by every serious Net surfer! The author is not kidding when he says there is something here for everybody! It is professionally done and very easy to navigate. This one Reference page alone would make it worth this award... and there is much more. Check it out and 'bookmark' this site.

Desk List

Here is one of the dandiest little app I have seen. Only 15K in size, it does a super job. It keeps an icon of your apps listed on your desktop for immediate use. Saves a lot of minimizing etc... Give it a try, you'll love it.

Smart Board

If you are looking for a good clipboard utility, this is one you'll like. Especially good for showing off those graphics.

StartEd Ver 2.0

If you're the type who could play with an activate had grenade without drawing a sweat... then this nice little app (160K) will be right up your alley. You can use it to do cute things like playing with your Registry... here

Bonjour

No... it's not what you think! This freeware app is a shell replacement for Windows 95, no less. This 2 Meg program should prove most interesting to the hardy surfer. If you want to really customize your desktop and built your very own interface you want for your computer, then, ... this is the one folks! Have fun.

Cool Info Ver 1

We're all a little curious about just what is into our computers and this 2 meg freeware application will answer just about every question you might be asking about what's in your computer. I did find it a most interesting app to use and, it's free! You can see the details (above URL) or here.

WinZip for Win 95

Simply put: The best zip & unzip manager available today.

Pointcast Network

News servers come and go but PointCast News Network remains, in my opinion, the best of the pack! If you haven't tried it yet, give it a shot.... and if you tried it two years ago, try it again. You'll be amazed at the improvements.

Win Image

Ths is one utility you cannot do without. Will make copies of just about any-size disk and format you can find. Quick and reliable disk copier.

Thesaurus

This is a thesaurus and word-prompter. Try it... you'll wonder how you ever managed without it!

Desk Notebook

Small and fast. Easy to use notebook that sits on your taskbar (optional). Saves notes in a propriatory format but that's ok if this is your notebook of choice. Each notebook pad can have up to 50 pages of text and each page can have up to 5k of notes. Nice app.

Bio-Rythms v1 for Win 95

Here's an updated version of a very popular program. Includes a virtual calendar to help you find out which day it was when you were born and even tells you how many 'days' old you actually are. Scary! The one thing I don't like about this app is the lengthy and very annoying sign-on process the author puts you through. More and more shareware apps use this new, improved (oh yeah?) method of distributing their product. Even if your'e not really interested in bio-rythm, give this one a try if only to witness this anooying new trend of signing-on... it's an education in itself. I will not feature any more of these shareware apps which adopted this new torture method.

Affairs In Order

If you bought this new computer to organize your affairs, you're in luck. This huge application (4.3Meg) will help you do just that. The asking price is reasonable (#10.00), given all it does. read the details at the author's homepage (above) or here

Letter Chase Typing Tutor for Windows 95

Looking for a good Typing Tutor for Win 95 AND Win 3x? This one has two great features... it is good and it is Free. Check the author's homepage above for the Win3 version or download the Win95 version here.

Running a Business on the Internet?

Parting Words...

Recent visitors to Omega will have noticed the introduction of a new feature (see opening page). It is a menu listing 'special' pages requiring a password to access them. The majority of those pages represent articles I wrote on various subjects and are of a 'personal' nature and made available for viewing to family and close friends only. Others, now in progress, are of a more general nature and will be made available to visitors at large when completed.

One such feature will include extracts of a book I wrote entitled "Time to Live" subtitled: 'Retiring before 50'. This feature will be made available when completed. To give you an idea of how this works, you may try the following 'title' from this menu: Lost tourist in Paris . The required password is cancan I hope you enjoy this little number. It describes a visit I once made to Paris and includes several good photos and musical numbers.

About Plagiarism on the Internet

We all know there is plagiarism on the Net and we don't pay much attention to it until it hits you personally. And, it has! While it may be argued that imitation is the best form of flattery, it still hurts. There is a young student out there who has published a page containing over 5000 midi files, none of which gives credit to their authors. And he has the gall to ask visitors to vote for his page. Of course, he has a dedicated page to Frank Sinatra which is filled with ALL the numbers composed by my friend Mel and 'lifted' from our Tribute page.

Of course, none of them make the slightest mention of their author nor of the Tribute page. When I think of the hundreds of hours my friend has spent producing his music, it makes my blood boil! Should you wish to remind this nice young fella that it is the wrong way to begin a Web Publishing career, you may write him at . I am certain he will be delighted to hear from his many devoted 'fans'. Note:As a result of our complaint, the offending page has been removed. In fairness, I decided to remove references to his page and his mailing address. Thank you to those of you who have taken the time to write him and let him know your impressions on plagiarism. It did work.