Open Window Software News Summer 2003 A Free E-mail Newsletter From Open Window Software Featuring Tips On Using The WinFlash Suite, HandyCards And ProUpdater Contents: 1) Version 8.0 Available Soon! 2) WinFlash Educator Honored At The Shareware Industry Conference 3) Freeware Study Deck - Morse Code 4) Free Updates For Deck Contributors 5) Study Tip --------------------------------------------------- 1) Version 8.0 Available Soon! We've been busily working away on the latest version of the WinFlash programs and plan to have them ready for you sometime late in August - just in time for the new school year :-) Here's a little preview of some of the features we've added to v8.0: * The Study Outline view lets you enter your decks in a tree-structure organized by subject. Here's a crude example limited by the text-only nature of this newsletter: Subjects Outline View | - Math | | | - c:/program files/wfeducator_80/math/algebra.fls | - c:/program files/wfeducator_80/math/geometry.fls | - French | - c:/program files/wfeducator_80/french/nouns.fls - c:/program files/wfeducator_80/french/verbs.fls - c:/program files/wfeducator_80/french/phrases.fls This view is accessible via a speed-button on the button bar, so with one click you can see all of your current study files along with their Last Used Date and, if it's a Leitner-mode deck, the Review Date and the number of pairs due for review (not shown in the example above). You can open a file by double-clicking on it or check its stats by highlighting it and clicking the Statistics For Selected File Button. Our beta testers agree that this is now the first place they go when opening the program. * For those of you who often add new pairs that are very similar to already existing pairs we have added the ability to Copy the entire pair in one step. Everything associated with the source pair - including all support files as well as hints/comments and MC/FIB answers - is transferred to the target pair. We've also added a Move function to allow you to rearrange the position of pairs in the deck. * The well-respected Leitner Box System has been added as a new primary Q&A mode. This is similar to the Frequency Based On History mode, but allows for more levels of mastery (up to nine). It's a great way to learn and maintain a large knowledge base such as the entire vocabulary for a foreign language. It's integrated with the Subjects Outline View, so you can see when your material is scheduled for its next review. * You can directly record audio into your Questions and Answers without having to fool with filenames, entry into the associated files dialog, etc. Just hit the Record button and an applet will pop up allowing you to start and stop the recording to be associated with the Q or A. * Want a nice graphic to go along with all the pairs in a certain deck but don't want to have to enter it in every pair? V8.0 lets you specify a graphics file that will be displayed for all Q's (and a different one for all A's) in the deck where a specific graphic has not been entered. Great for dressing up your study decks with negligible effort! Hope we've piqued your appetite with this little sampling. We'll be sending you a special Version 8 Release edition of the newsletter when the programs are available for download. For those of you who are wondering if you should wait on purchasing v7.0 or a v7.0 upgrade until the release of v8.0 - definitely NOT! :-) All purchases and upgrades of v7.0 that occurred on or after June 1, 2003 will be eligible for a free upgrade to v8.0 when it becomes available. So get your upgrade NOW! --------------------------------------------------- 2) WinFlash Educator Honored At The Shareware Industry Conference The highlight of the annual Shareware Industry Conference is always the Awards Banquet on Saturday night. Open Window Software was one of this year's nominees for the Best Educational Program - itself a coveted honor. We're happy to let you know that when the envelope was opened this year, WinFlash Educator won the Best Educational Program award! As if that weren't enough to have us puff out our virtual chest, the next day at the Educational Shareware Cooperative's luncheon Open Window Software received this year's Outstanding Achievement Award for our efforts in the educational software field. We thought you'd be pleased to hear this, too - and that's all based on v7.0. Wait'll they see v8.0! --------------------------------------------------- 3) Freeware Study Deck - Morse Code Remembering my boyhood Scouting experiences, I decided to create a deck to help the aspiring telegraphers out there get a start on learning the code. Each letter is given in its dot-dash representation as well as a slow-speed audio rendition. Using the deck will give you a good start at recognizing the letters of the alphabet, basic punctuation, and the numbers 0 through 9. Download and open with WinFlash: http://www.openwindow.com/ftp/morse.flz --------------------------------------------------- 4) Free Upgrades For Deck Contributors Now that you've read about the new features in v8.0, isn't it time to put the final polish on that study deck of yours to make it a solid contribution to the WinFlash Users Group Library? We'll give you a free upgrade to v8.0 of your edition 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. --------------------------------------------------- 5) Study Tip While we don't recommend cramming as a study mode, who hasn't had to occasionally prepare at the last minute? If you're stuck with learning a week's worth of vocabulary words for Friday morning's test and it's now Thursday night, what's the quickest way? What's needed is a time-compressed version of Frequency Based on History, so that you don't waste time on learning words that 'stick' right away. The best way to do this is with the simplest Q&A mode, Ask All Questions Equally Often with a few additional options. Here are the steps and settings needed: 1. Open the study deck and set Options|Q&A Modes to Ask All Questions Equally Often. 2. In Options|Pair Order & Size select Repetition = One Pass 3. Run through the deck and, after the pass is complete, click 'Yes' in Continuation dialog and 'Yes' again in the 'Only Include Missed Pairs? dialog. As you continue to repeat the deck, the 'learned' pairs will drop off while the tough nuts will continue to appear. Once you've gotten all the remaining pairs correct the deck will automatically reset to asking all of the pairs again, letting you review the full set again, working through it until all are answered correctly again. 4. Repeat step 3 until you feel confident you've mastered the deck. You can add variety to the 'cram session' by using the Options|Pair Order & Size|Order = Random setting as well as the features in the Options|Q&A Modes|Settings Common To All Modes grouping. Take an occasional break and don't burn yourself out - and start a little earlier NEXT week :-) Note: WinFlash Basic does not support the 'Run Only Misses From Previous Pass' feature. --------------------------------------------------- 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 © 2003 Open Window Software. All worldwide rights reserved.