PsL Monthly 1993 December/PSL Monthly Shareware CD-ROM (December 1993).iso/reviews/ms_07

Text File | 1993-10-01 | 12.5 KB | 351 lines

MS-07:  Home Management


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#27360/2763 Home Inventory          Small Programs disk
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Home-Inv (MY-INV)
   Ford, Nelson ASP
   $0
is a set of text files to be used for keeping track of your personal belongings
as well as important records. While these files could be used with any text
editor or word processor, they are ideally suited for use with "My-Desk", a
pop-up text editor with a unique feature, Auto-File-Load, which lets you
instantly load one of up to 40 different text files at the press of a key.

Home Inventory (HOMEINV)
   Mann, Brian
   $0
allows you to keep a list of your possesions on your computer. It is completely
menu driven and used easy screen input for data entry. It prints the inventory
on an Epson MX-80 (or equivalent) printer. BASIC is required.

Personal Inventory 2.12 (PERINV)
   Trujillo, Ed
   $20
is a personal inventory system designed to keep track of items in the home for
insurance purposes. It provides a means of tracking depreciation using four
different methods and supports 43 line mode for EGA/VGA screens and a Mouse.

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END OF SMALL PROGRAMS DISK #2763
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HouseHold Register 3.11
   Turner, Lemuel D. ASP
   $39
   #27360/3107
is an home-inventory program that lets you record category, location,
owner, purchase price, replacement price and warranty information. Seven
different reports let you analyze your possessions in different ways,
such as total value, broken down by category, location or owner.
Requires 384k.


Household Tracker 1.5
   Fischer Grafix & Software ASP
   $22
   #27360/3831
keeps track of household inventory, magazine subscriptions, auto repairs, VCR
tapes, phone list, credit cards, utility averages and more. It prints lists, VCR
labels and a booklet. Requires 530K.


Personal Record Keeper
   Professional Automated Systems
   $50
   #27360/2587
will help keep track of a wide variety of information for around the home: home
inventory, automobile and equipment maintenance, loan records, credit cards,
charitable donations, tax data, investments, important documents, valuables,
family data, personal medical information, business contacts, records, tapes,
cds, videocassettes, and tradespeople. It will print lists that can be useful
for insurance or income tax purposes. Requires DOS 3+, 475k, a hard disk drive,
or a high-density floppy drive.


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#0867 Home Maintenance, Improvement          Small Programs Disk
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Boundry
   Sitting Duck Software
   $45
is for hardcore audiophiles; it displays a loudspeaker frequency response curve
as influenced by the room boundary. It helps to avoid locating loudspeakers in
sites which cause dips in the overall response of the system.

HandsOff! 1.20a (HANDSOF)
   Pinnacle Software
   $0
turns your computer into a simple home burglar system.

JobJar.BAS
   Dwinell, William
   $5
helps you tackle odd jobs around the house.

LoudSP
   Hoffman, C.
   $0
aids in loudspeaker design for those who want to build their own stereo
speaker systems.

Magic Mover (MMOVER)
   Green Valley Publishing
   $30
allows you to design room settings and furnishings. A complete library of
furniture pictures is included. Rooms can be up to 40x20 feet. The program is
well designed and easy to use. (The authors are no longer at the address
listed in the documentation.)

Pool
   McDaniel, Joe
   $0
aids in the maintenance of a swimming pool by performing the calculations to
achieve a balanced pool. Requires BASIC.

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END OF SMALL PROGRAMS DISK #0867
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Family Tools
   Dorio, Michael
   $25
   #27359/2139
is a set of computer applications for the home. Included are a grade book
recording function, a checkbook recording and balancing function, a
calculator, telephone book, appointment calendar, software library catalog
function, a note pad, and more. Don't say we didn't warn you: this program is
acceptable for a new computer user who does not need or expect sophisticated
tools. We think that there is a legitimate need for such simple,
unsophisticated, but useful programs, but whenever we add one, we get letters
from people saying that such programs are not "worthy" of being in PsL.


Home Helper
   Torbert Data Systems, Inc., ASP
   $15
   #27359/2818
is a set of applications for the home: electronic phone book with mailing
labels, recipe book, audio and video tape cataloger, home inventory module,
credit card tracker, and appointment schedular. Requires 512k RAM.


Home Manager
   Applied Micro Systems Technology ASP
   $15-$35
   #27359/1173
is a multi-function program for managing a home.  The functions include an
asset and liability database, a budgeting and home finance module, an envelope
addressing utility (laser printers only), a home maintenance tracking and
scheduling programming, a name and address and label printing database, an
important records database, a to-do list manager, and a vehicle maintenance
program and a full-featured financial calculation system.  Requires two
drives.

Home Manager is an excellent program - intelligently designed, slick, easy to
use, plenty of help on line. We recommend it for anyone who has a computer in
the house.


HomeWare
   Whittington, Roy
   $30
   #27359/0496 [2 disks]
is a collection of programs for the home: for maintaining a meal schedule and
shopping list, for vehicle maintenance, and for home inventory. Also included
is a name and address record book, video cassette catalog, a hobbies record
keeping application, and a mixed drink application. Sample data files are also
included for mixed drink and food recipes. The programs are menu-driven and
easy to use.


My Little Realm
   Salisbury, John L.
   $40
   #27743/4266 [3 disks]  (10-93 CD)
keeps track of books, tapes, and other collections; important documents; phone
numbers and addresses; investments, checking accounts, credit cards and more.
Requires 2 meg of disk space.

All of the modules have useful extra touches. The investments module will print
your portfolio.

The module for keeping track of your books will also keep a log of books you
have borrowed and helps you remember when they are due.

If you lose your credit cards, that module will generate a list of phone numbers
to call to cancel the cards, in addition to printing letters to the issuers, and
even printing labels for the envelopes.


Telisolar
   #27361/0688
is a program which provides the user with an easy, and fast method of
evaluating energy-saving in the areas of hot water usage, building
heating/cooling load, and solar collector design. It enables the average
homeowner to make intelligent decisions about energy-related home improvements
and/or investments. The phone number provided in the documentation is no
longer valid.


ZIP Insulation
   NIST
   $0
   #27361/2062
calculates how much insulation a home needs based on your input describing
your house.  Insulating can provide a seven percent or large return on the
cost of insulating.


Around The House 1.43
   BlueCollar Software ASP
   $29
   #4428  (09-93 CD)
is an information manager for the home. It includes modules for home
inventory, income and expense tracking, phone directory, address list,
birthday list, personal diary, vehicle maintenance/repairs, and
appointment calendar. The program is well designed and easy to use.


Data Master
   Software Masters
   $23
   #3830
helps keep track of a variety of types of information, including Automobile,
Calendar, Directory, Financial, Inventory, Library (audio/video), Messages,
To-Do Lists, Outlines, Shopping, TV, Recipes, Vocabulary Testing, Weight, and
Exercise. The program is easy to use and offers nine levels of security, many
printing options, and more. Hard disk required.


Letter of Instruction Writer
   Lingua Systems, Inc., ASP
   $25
   #3018
helps you create a written set of instructions for someone to use in managing
your personal affairs in the event of disability or death. It also serves as a
means of keeping track of important related information, such as descriptions
of insurance policies, location of bank accounts, investments, etc.

The program does not allow much room for recording detailed instructions in a
free-form manner, such as for the disposal of a business or care of children,
but otherwise it provides very extensive coverage of vital information. The
program has a very good interface and is easy to use.

Jacques Dery, South Hero, VT: "This diskette is defective as it freezes when I
select "Data Entry Menu". You will see at the bottom of the screen: "cannot find
page record" and locks up my machine.

PsL: A program error message is virtually NEVER caused by a "defective" disk. In
this case, all you have to do is select "Utilities" at the first menu and set
the paths for the program to use for your system, as instructed in the
documentation.


Loose Ends
   JetStream Development
   $28
   #3833
keeps track of names and addresses, your personal property, medical records,
automobile records, credit cards, reminders, insurance and more. Records can be
listed or printed in various ways. Passwords are optional. The program is menu
driven and easy to use.


Red's Home Maintenance Program
   Poteet, Red
   $15
   #4567
is a guide to basic home maintenance. It covers the use of concrete, lumber,
electrical systems, and more. It provides trouble-shooting tips for home
appliances, garage doors, fireplaces, etc. Each section begins with a
discussion of background information about the item. This is a very useful
reference tool for the home maintenance novice.


Tough Little Cabin
   Jincks, Dan
   $15
   #3175
contains construction plans for a 9'x12'x8' transportable utility building.
The drawings are in PCX format and can be viewed or printed from many paint
and DTP programs. The basic structure was designed to be strong enough to
withstand and survive the rigors of transport as well as strong shocks
associated with earthquakes. Its construction requires only basic carpentry
using readily available standard building materials and standard carpentry
tools. These files unarchive to 1.5 meg.


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#20033/3715 X10 Software          Small Programs Disk
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X10c 1.0
   GDG Systemes Inc.
   $15
sends commands to an X10 interface CP290 so that you can control lights
and appliances from your PC.

XA Command Interpreter 1.04 (X10CMD)
   Christensen, Bruce
   $20
can set a CP-290 X10 controller from a command line argument or from a file of
commands. Events may be scheduled days, months, even years in advance or may
take place immediately. A utility that is included can set errorlevel in a
batch file to indicate if the current time falls within a given range.

X10 Command TSR 1.0 (XT-TSR)
   Christensen, Bruce
   $20
is a TSR that will pop up a menu for controlling X10 modules, including
dimming. CP-290 is required.

X10Prog 4.03
   Schings, Greg
   $15-$15
is an X10 controller program that will download control files to your BSR X10
controller. You can dump the contents of your CP-290 to your screen, or a file.
The major practical use of DUMP is it's capability to convert existing X10 data
files, and X10P version 3 and earlier data files to X10P version 4 format.

X-Master (XMSTR)
   RejTech
   $10
is software for controlling the CP-290 remote control module. It is fast, menu
driven and easy to use.

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END OF SMALL PROGRAMS DISK #3715
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Smart10 2.0
   Sympathetic Software ASP
   $20
   #20033/4335  (10-93 CD)
can be used to control the CP290 computer interface for X10 electric switch
modules which are available in Radio Shacks and Sears stores. With Smart10,
you can schedule by day of the week, hour of the day and sunrise/set, as well
as calendar dates, "weekends", or "daily". Smart10 allows conditional
scheduling ("IF...").


XControl
   Sexauer, William L.
   $25
   #20033/3796
is a menu-driven program for operating the CP-290 home remote controller. It
features an installation program which saves it's settings, and automatic
resetting of both the DOS and the CP290 clocks at the beginning and end of
Daylight Savings Time. Schedule files can be stored in any directory, and the
command line accepts a schedule file name as well as a single command. 400k+
of disk space required.

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