Open Window Software News October/November 2002 A Free E-mail Newsletter From Open Window Software Featuring Tips On Using The WinFlash Suite, HandyCards And ProUpdater Contents: 1) Introduce Us To Your Friends 2) New Freeware World Capitals Flashcards 3) Entering New Cards Faster - Use The Shortcuts 4) Optimizing Decks For Use With PDAs 5) Customize Your Cheers & Jeers Files 6) Free Upgrades For Deck Contributors 7) Study Tip --------------------------------------------------- 1) Introduce Us To Your Friends If you're enjoying our newsletters and finding them helpful, please forward them to friends who may also find them useful. --------------------------------------------------- 2) New Freeware World Capitals Flashcards This deck contains all 193 nations of the world. Question is the country name, answer is the country capital with the graphic of the country's flag. Each card is characterized by continent, so the deck can be studied one continent at a time. This is a good deck to try with Educator's Automatic Fill In The Blank From Standard feature. This lets you study standard mode pairs in FIB mode - automatically checking the entered answer against the text in the main Answer dialog box. Also try the Answer First Followed By Question mode to see if you can identify the country from being shown the capital and the flag. If you have a child taking World Geography, they may find this deck most helpful. You may also want to give it a try yourself. I was rather embarrassed about my own lack of knowledge in this area as I was creating the deck! You can download this file (~658Kb) by clicking on the link below: http://www.openwindow.com/ftp/worldcap.flz --------------------------------------------------- 3) Entering New Cards Faster - Use The Shortcuts If you're adding new cards to the deck, it really speeds things up to learn a couple of the shortcut keys that control the WinFlash Editor: Ctrl-L - Opens the current card deck with a new pair ready to edit in the Editor inserted at the end of the deck Alt-A - Go to the Answer entry panel For instance, if you were entering a vocabulary list, the sequence might go something like: Open the editor. Check Auto-save Edits and Auto-reset Page Ctrl-L (Add a new card at the end of the deck) Type in the Question - you're already focused in the Question edit box Alt-A (Move to Answer page); Type in the Answer - you're already focused in the Answer edit box Ctrl-L (Insert a new card at the end of the deck) : If you're constructing more complex pairs you can access each of the most-used panels via an Alt-key combination: Alt-Q - Question Panel Alt-A - Answer Panel Alt-F - Associated File Panel Alt-C - Hints & Comments Panel Experiment with moving the cursor between fields by using the tab key rather than the mouse. Even several tabs are quicker to enter than moving your hand away from the keyboard to reach for the mouse. Speed isn't everything when creating your decks, however. Remember that the very task of organizing and entering the Q&A pairs is, itself, a powerful aid in helping you retain the information. Pay attention to the content as you're entering the data - that's one or two fewer passes you'll need to master each pair! --------------------------------------------------- 4) Optimizing Decks For Use With PDA's If you're using the Educator/HandyCards bundle to get maximum coverage from your study decks you'll want to plan the construction of your files carefully. For instance, if you'll be using a PalmOS device you'll want to be sure that the primary content of the question and answer is contained within the text portion of the pair, since the HandyCards for the Palm cannot display images or play sounds. If you have a WinCE machine, you'll be able to use pictures and sounds, but only if you limit your file types to .bmp or .jpg's and your sound files to .wav's. For a complete discussion of how decks are exported for use with HandyCards, see the Help file topic HandyCards Compatibility Guidelines. --------------------------------------------------- 5) Customize Your Cheers & Jeers Files Virtually all computers have the ability to record and play back sound files. You can use this functionality to liven up your decks with your own Cheers & Jeers. Parents who are creating decks for their younger children can add encouraging comments in their own voices. Older kids can have fun recording and adding their own 'more colorful' comments and sound effects. The Windows operating system provides a simple but effective tool to record sound files called, appropriately enough, Sound Recorder. This is located in the Programs|Accessories|Entertainment section of the Start Menu. You'll need a microphone connected to the mic input of your sound card or, on many laptops, simply use the built-in microphone. Experiment with the recorder, noting how to record and playback sounds. You'll want to save your finished candidates for Cheers & Jeers with names of the form CJC*.* for cheers and CJJ*.* for jeers. CJCGoodJob.wav and CJJIDoubtIt.wav are usable names for a cheer and jeer, respectively. For details on where to place your newly-created Cheers and Jeers (up to 50 of each) see the Help file topic Cheers & Jeers. --------------------------------------------------- 6) Free Upgrades For Deck Contributors Have a deck that you think might be useful to others? We'll give you a free upgrade to the next release of your version of the program if you'll share! Plus you'll get credit on the library page for your contribution (unless you'd rather remain anonymous). To submit your deck, see the detailed instructions at http://www.openwindow.com/pages/contribute.htm We'll immediately acknowledge receipt of your submission and, after review, will send you another e-mail letting you know if we've accepted it for use in our library. If it's accepted, we'll flag your database entry for a free upgrade to v8.0 when it's released. --------------------------------------------------- 7) Study Tip As you review a deck, be as thorough as possible in framing your answers. Using the fill-in-the-blank mode helps to ensure completeness and actually entering each answer is more reenforcing than just 'saying it in your head'. Type it, say it, visualize it - maybe add sound as a key if that's appropriate. The more senses you involve in your review the better the material will 'stick'! Have a study-related tip on using WinFlash? Send us a quick e-mail to share it with other readers. --------------------------------------------------- Need Help? Have A problem? Check out our online listings of the latest releases and the problems that they've solved. For WinFlash programs see: http://www.openwindow.com/pages/wfprobs.htm For ProUpdater see: http://www.openwindow.com/pages/puprobs.htm If your issue isn't covered there, please send e-mail to support@openwindow.com and we'll do our best to resolve your problem. --------------------------------------------------- SUBSCRIBE: Send e-mail to service@openwindow.com with SUBSCRIBE as the Subject. UNSUBSCRIBE: Simply send an email to service@openwindow.com with REMOVE as the Subject. This newsletter is a free service of Open Window Software and is Copyright © 2002 Open Window Software. All worldwide rights reserved.