If I Could Turn Back Time

Newcastle Herald

Friday April 24, 1998

RODERICK QUINN

EVER had that sickening feeling in the stomach when you accidentally hit the wrong key on a computer and the unthinkable happens?

Actions seem to slip into slow-motion.

You know that things are going wrong almost before you hit the fatal key, but you can't stop yourself.

Hours of work go missing, a file is deleted, settings are changed, a crucial file is overwritten instead of being stored as fresh work.

It's then that you wish you could turn back time. In a way you can, using a new program called Undo It from Marketing Results.

Undo It is described by its makers as `insurance' for your PC.

It allows users to install new software, uninstall old software, upgrade, download files from the Internet and change, copy, rename or delete files with the confidence of knowing that they can reverse their actions.

Marketing Results likens the program to an `undo' button for Windows 95.

Undo It has wizards that can coach users through its uses. The package sells for $69.95. For more information, drop into www.kissco.com. CANON has announced a machine that combines its PhotoRealism printing techniques with faxing, scanning and copying functions.

The MultiPASS C20 uses low-density inks and applies ink to a single dot many times to create more colour combinations and better contrast.

The MultiPASS will print at up to 4.5 plain paper pages a minute (720x360 dpi) and can fax at six pages a second. It has enough memory to store 42 pages of incoming or outgoing faxes and has one-touch speed-dialling for six locations.

The new machine will also scan at up to 400 dpi and copy at the rate of three mono pages a minute.

Printing, faxing and scanning operations are controlled on the PC using a drag-and-drop interface.

The MultiPASS C20 sells for $899. ANOTHER new addition to the Canon stable is the Fax B150.

The B150 is a Bubble Jet fax, copier and telephone. It can transmit at up to six pages a second and can store 21 outgoing or 15 incoming pages.

The B150 sells for $599. THE latest collection of photos from IMSI Australia has a 25,000-image library and tools for users to compress and catalogue their own images.

MasterPhotos Studio suite also has tools for enhancing, editing and customising photographs taken from its CD database or images scanned or downloaded from digital cameras or the Internet.

The suite includes:

* HotShots, a photo-editing utility that can fix problems such as bad lighting or `red-eye'.

* Graphics File Converter, which can convert images to popular file formats such as .GIF, .JPG and .TIF.

* MasterPhotos Premium Photo Collection, a royalty-free library of images for dressing up web sites, projects and presentations.

* NetCard, a program for sending picture postcards via the Internet.

MasterPhotos Studio needs at least a 486 running Windows 3.1 or 95 with 16Mb of RAM and 50Mb of hard disk space. It sells for $89.95. UFOpedia, from Roadshow Interactive, is a CD encyclopedia dedicated to flying saucers and little green men.

If it hovers, glows, burns circles in wheat fields or makes guest appearances on The X-Files, then chances are it's in this package.

UFOpedia has a database of 20,000 sightings and `incidents' that have occurred around the world, including theories that ancient Romans and Egyptians and medieval astronomers were following Mulder's line of thinking.

The CD has videos and photographs of `UFOs' and the marks that mysterious craft have apparently left behind, `including human and animal mutilation'.

There's even a web site.

UFOpedia sells for $59.95. FANCY trying your hand at sailing or powerboating?

No need to risk getting wet, or to shell out megabucks for that matter. Just pull on the seaboots and sou'wester and sit down at the computer.

A Sydney-based company, M.A.W Software, has a catalogue of boating software ranging from sailing and racing simulators to a powerboating tutor and packages for learning about weather, navigation, racing rules and racing tactics.

The company says its most popular titles at the moment are the Sail 2000 Yacht Racing Simulator, Hands-On Powerboating, The Racing Rules for Sailors and Tactician Magician.

The catalogue is stacked well in favour of PCs, but Macs aren't completely overlooked. Prices start from $49.95 for a history of the America's Cup and go up to $179.95 for a weather trainer.

For more information, drop into www.ozemail.com.au/~mawsoft/main/htm or call 1800-621-938.