Lotus articles from December 1988

Lotus archives from December 1988

Staff letter: we keep learning things about you.
December 1, 1988... STAFF LETTER WE KEEP LEARNING THINGS ABOUT YOU Several months ago, we asked you to answer some questions and tip us off to some Lotus "heroes" and some offbeat spreadsheet applications. Many of you responded, and you can see the results in...

Paying bills electronically. (Ideas & Trends) (Checkfree Corp.'s paying bills electronically service)
December 1, 1988... PAYING BILLS ELECTRONICALLY An increasing number of banks allow you to do your banking at home, from your PC. If your own bank doesn't, however, you may be interested in a new service from Checkfree Corp. in Columbus, Ohio. Last month...

A 20-MB floppy disk. (Ideas & Trends)
December 1, 1988... A 20-MB FLOPPY DISK What do you get when you cross optical disk technology with a conventional floppy disk? The hybrid offspring, dubbed "floptical" disks, have 25 times the capacity of standard floppy disk. Insite Peripherals (Santa...

Pint-size PC. (Ideas & Trends) (laptop computers)
December 1, 1988... PINT-SIZE PC Laptop computers are unquestionably getting smaller and lighter. Even so, may people still complain that using them is about as much fun as balancing a reacup on one knee and a plate of hors d'oeuvres on the other. Enter the...

1-2-3 macros: mail call. (printing from a database, moving the cell pointer, and using keyword abbreviations)
December 1, 1988... 1-2-3 MACROS We receive more mail on Macros than we can deal with in a small space at the end of this department. So once again, we devote an entire department to a representative selection of those letters. ZIP CODE MACRO NEEDS...

Symphony macros: from the mail bag. (using multiple criteria, hanging up the phone, and setting Print ranges)
December 1, 1988... SYMPHONY MACROS FROM THE MAIL BAG As always, it's difficult to keep up with the mail. The letters in this month's column date back to the early months of the year. They are, however, representative of the mail that we receive, and they...

Q&A: questions you've asked the most. (1-2-3, Symphony)
December 1, 1988... QUESTIONS YOU'VE ASKED THE MOST 1-2-3/SYMPHONY SEVEN PARTS IN A PAGE Q. When I specify top and bottom margins of zero, why does my printout still leave blank space at the top and the bottom? A. A printed 1-2-3 or...

Good ideas: the best reader tips on using Lotus products. (1-2-3, Symphony)
December 1, 1988... THE BEST READER TIPS ON USING LOTUS PRODUCTS 1-2-3/SYMPHONY COPYING CELLS AND SKIPPING ROWS I used to think that the only way to copy a cell to numerous rows while leaving every other row blank was to copy one cell at...

Listings: Lotus special-interest & user groups.
December 1, 1988... LOTUS SPECIAL-INTEREST & USER GROUPS These groups are open to both beginning and expert users of Lotus products. Meetings combine question-and-answer sessions and presentations. Many of the groups listed here publish monthly newsletters...

What Lotus left out. (Essay) (column)
December 1, 1988... WHAT LOTUS LEFT OUT Heavily weighing down my desk as I type these words are an estimated 85 pounds of computing equipment. Far lighter, but equally significant, is my 4-ounce Radio Shack calculator. What is the calculator doing there?...

Spreadsheets: looking to the future; they will be the link between remote databases. (Ideas & Trends) (includes related article on what a desktop system will be in 2001)
December 1, 1988... SPREADSHEETS: LOOKING TO THE FUTURE The year is 2001. In a secluded office, an executive works late, preparing for an important sales meeting. In her own English-language "shorthand," which her spreadsheet program has learned and...

Computer games keep getting better; and the PC is in on the fun. (Ideas & Trends)
December 1, 1988... COMPUTER GAMES KEEP GETTING BETTER In the recreational-software market, IBM PCs and compatible computers have long been second-string players, behind Apple, Amiga, and Commodore machines. Now, however, they are moving up to the first...

The year's best games; just in time for the holidays. (Ideas & Trends)
December 1, 1988... THE YEAR'S BEST GAMES The following products are our favorites among this year's releases, and we probably tested a few of them longer than absolutely necessary. Some of the games are easy to learn and master; others are more difficult...

Interview: are PC innovators a dying breed? Industry veteran John McMullen says that MIS is back in power. (interview)
December 1, 1988... INTERVIEW: ARE PC INNOVATORS A DYING BREED? In the computer industry, the term old-timer often means someone who has two or three years of experience. So it's refreshing to find someone like John McMullen, who has been involved with...

Sprucing up 1-2-3; new add-ins jazz up spreadsheet printouts.
December 1, 1988... SPRUCING UP 1-2-3 In this era of slick TV commercials and snazzy tabloids, the plainness of 1-2-3 printouts is disheartening to many users. Microsoft upped the presentation-quality ante for spreadsheets when it released Microsoft Excel...

Lotus users swap help via world network; discussions over Lotus Echo range from trivial to arcane. (includes a listing of some FidoNet nodes that carry Lotus Echo) (Ideas & Trends)
December 1, 1988... LOTUS USERS SWAP HELP VIA WORLD NETWORK Greg Hanfbauer, a CPA in Cincinnati, bought his first modem in 1984. Soon afterward, he discovered a conversation about 1-2-3 on a local FidoNet bulletin board. At the time he was having trouble...

Paradox 2.0 (Software Review) (Borland International Inc.) (evaluation)
December 1, 1988... PARADOX 2.0 Paradox offers a combination of power and ease of use that makes it an excellent choice if you are selecting your first relational database manager. It comes in four versions: Paradox 2.0 for DOS, Paradox OS/2 for OS/2,...

Delta-Manager; analyze the risks in your business plans and budgets. (Software Review) (PC Publishing Inc.) (evaluation)
December 1, 1988... DELTA-MANAGER If you must evaluate the impact an uncertain business climate could have on your budget, investment analysis, or business plan, 1-2-3 alone may not suffice. 1-2-3's Data Table command can handle the task if you need to vary...

GraphPad, Sigma-Plot, and Tech*Graph*Pad; finally, technical graphs that meet the needs of scientists and engineers. (Software Review) (GraphPad from Institute for Scientific Information, Sigma-Plot from Jandel Scientific, Tech*Graph*Pad from Binary Engineering Software Inc.) (evaluation)
December 1, 1988... GRAPHPAD, SIGMA-PLOT, AND TECH*GRAPH*PAD If you want graphs to illustrate your engineering or scientific application, you'll be disappointed in most of the business graphics programs that are regularly reviewed in LOTUS. Those packages...

When your 1-2-3 database goes haywire. (guide to locating and correcting problems)
December 1, 1988... When Your 1-2-3 Database Goes Haywire Something's wrong with your 1-2-3 database. 1-2-3 extracts all of the records from the Input range, or it doesn't extract any records at all. Whatever the symptoms, trying to fix the problem is...

Know your break-even point. (profitability)
December 1, 1988... KNOW YOUR BREAK-EVEN POINT Do you know your business's break-even point? More important, can you accurately state what levels of production and sales yield the optimum profit? If you answer no to either question, this model, which works...

Is it a fluke? (probability, sample data, and management decisions) (includes related article on origins of probability theory)
December 1, 1988... IS IT A FLUKE? Management decisions are almost always based upon sample data rather than on complete information. In my experience, few managers know just how effectively they can use sample data to compute probabilities and guide...

4 Lotus heroes. (Special Report - Focus on You)
December 1, 1988... 4 LOTUS HEROES Mark Porterfield is an industrial-strength Lotus hero who goes at it full-time. He works in the Information Center for Pacific Mutual in Newport Beach, Calif., where he answers questions on Lotus products. Porterfield...

Not your basic model. (Special Report - Focus on You) (unusual ways of using spreadsheets)
December 1, 1988... NOT YOUR BASIC MODEL UP FROM GALLERY SLAVERY Before Hannelore Merry boards Culebra, she uses 1-2-3 to figure out how much food to take. Space is at a premium on the 35-foot sloop when hannelore and her husband, Brad, sail out of...

The ballots are in. (user survey results)
December 1, 1988... THE BALLOTS ARE IN The August issue of LOTUS included a tear-out questionnaire on the strenghts and weaknesses of 1-2-3, as well as on some computer-industry issues. More than 1,600 of you readership thinks and feels. Not surprisingly,...

Focus on you: special report. (Lotus users' likes and dislikes, and achievements)
December 1, 1988... FOCUS ON YOU SPECIAL REPORT Mid year we peppered the magazine with invitations to tell us about yourselves. On the pages that follow, you'll see the results of the ballot that 1,600 of you so kindly sent back, telling us what you like and...