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Learn to Type... If you
are trying to learn how to type, you'll love the software program
- Mavis Beacon Teaches Typing. It's available for $34.95 from Global
Software (1-800-8-GLOBAL).
This program is well worth the money because
it actually makes typing fun. I tried this out on my friend Laurie,
who had never sat down at a computer in her life. She was labeled
as the "typical" hunt-and-peck typist. However, she even
loved this program.
Mavis Beacon Teaches Typing is menu driven
and the more you use it the more it adapts to your particular strengths
and weaknesses. (Aren't computers smarter than ever now?) It also
entertains you while you learn by providing 2D and 3D graphics,
lifelike keyboard and "guide hands" to show you the perfect
technique for added convenience. We especially liked the Racing
Game, where the faster you type the faster your race car travels.
Can You Run a Company?
Capitalist Pig, exclusively available from
DataCal (800)336-5988 (Stock NO: M37001) for $29.95 is worth every
penny! It's the best thing I've seen - especially if you are just
starting a home-based business.
Capitalist Pig simulates a real business
environment to test your entrepreneurial skills to the limit. To
play, you set your plan, fill an empty building with employees and
product, and then what you say, goes. Of course, like real life
and real business, things don't always go as planned. Like that
break-in the other night (uh-oh, did you buy insurance?), embezzlements
(the accountant seemed trustworthy), tax audits, even terrorist
attacks. The game is economically accurate too, with actual statistics
and world events built into the model for all businesses created
between 1901 and 1991. Adding to the fun are colorful animation
and realistic sound effects. Try your hand at business building.
Go boom or bust. All you need to invest is a little of your spare
time!
Thumbs Down on This One
"cardsNOW" is a software program
for designing business cards. It's available from Global Software
(1-800-8-GLOBAL) for $39.95.
First of all, business cards are normally
printed with a raised print. Anything less makes you look unprofessional
and amateurish. In addition, people will normally use a color ink
for their logo or company name. Both of these options are NOT available
with this program, which degrades the quality look of your business
cards considerably.
So why spend $39.95 for a program and $10.95
for 25 sheets of perforated business card paper, when you can send
a camera-ready master to any mail order printer and have 1,000 professional
business cards printed in RAISED lettering as well as 2-color for
around $30? How long does 1,000 business cards last you? That's
about a 6-month supply for us, which would not warrant the extra
money to spend on this software program.
A Low-Cost Graphics Library
"Lotus SmartPics", exclusively
available from TPC Connection (800)800-5555 for $75. Over 2,000
high-quality and professional graphics to enhance all your documents,
flyers, memos, reports, bulletins, presentations and other business
communications.
And as an ADDED BONUS, when you order "Lotus
SmartPics" you get FREE Bitstream L'il Bits Winter Holiday
Font Pack. These fonts are also a designer's dream. You get unique
ones like SnowCap, the ornate Cloister Black, the elegant Shelly,
Allegro, or the ghostly FreeForm 721. Now all you have to add are
turkeys, snowflakes, bells, sleds and candy canes to name a few.
Graphico's Mail Order Private Collection
is available for $15 from Graphico's Clipart, P.O. Box 488, Bluff
City, TN 37618 and contains 2 high-density 3 1/2" diskettes
full of mailboxes, borders, money and enhancements any mail order
dealer will use over and over again. It's perfect for "beginners"
as well as "pros."
CD-Rom Business Opportunity
YOU can be one of the first people to sell
this ultimate CD. It really is a ground-breaking product with over
$700 worth of direct marketing products plus multi-media demos,
shareware, videos of Bill Myers, Brad Antin, Pat McAllister, Scott
Covert and Felix Ibay. Call Felix at (905)415-0945 or Scott (416)693-4267
any day between 9AM and midnight for info.