Installation guide

Page 2 Blue Chips Magazine — August 2007
™
Recent
Ramblings
By Cliff Millward, Editor
cliff [e-mail]
Musical Modulations
There is a real battle going on with music composi-
tion software. Finale is fi ghting for it’s life against upstart
Sibelius.
Sibelius programmers obviously looked at Finale and
said to themselves, how can we make it easier and better
to write music? They came out with a program which
does just that. Sibelius made so many
improvements Finale is having a hard
time catching up.
Unfortunately, Sibelius seems to
intent upon keeping up the pressure
(to avoid Finale from catching up) that
they have released an upgrade (Sibelius
5) that, unfortunately (again), has a few
bugs in it. I suspect they rushed it to
market in order to keep ahead of Finale.
Too bad, because it has many new great
things, but Sibelius 4 was a great program also -- with
almost no bugs. I hope they bring out a patch real soon!
How about this -- I just received an e-mail from Finale
trumpeting their new release of Finale 2008. May I quote
Beethoven’s 5th symphony -- Da, Da, Da, Daaaaaa!
Stay tuned, I will keep you informed as things heat
up.
The Pen is Mightier than the Sword
A recent study in Australia has found that laser print-
ers emit a large number of unhealthy toner particles into
the air.
The particles can cause problems with the lungs and
respiratory system. They are reputed to be potentially car-
cinogenic and maybe as unhealthy as cigarette smoke.
Sixty-two printers were tested and HP was the best
and the worst. The old LaserJet 5 was suburb, but the
more recent LaserJet 1320 and 4250 were the worst.
Tying in with “Musical Modulations” above, perhaps
newer is not better! Some wag said long ago “if it ain’t
broke, don’t fi x it.”
The problem with this is if no new sales are generated,
companies tend to fade away. In my opinion, that is why
we are all caught in the upgrade cycle.
Sometimes upgrades are good and necessary, but how
Finè
many of us have upgraded a program only to fi nd that
most of the change is only a new graphical interface!
However, hardware is somewhat different. Hardware
wears out. Software will run as long as the hardware
supports it. Sometimes it may have to be re-installed,
but it still works.
Getting back to the printer problems,
I wonder if this study is only a ruse to get
the public to purchase ink jet printers.
After all, companies make quite a bit
of money selling cartridges. Toner car-
tridges for lasers may initially cost a bit
more, but they last a lot longer.
I am skeptical of studies that appear
out of nowhere that fi nd fault with suc-
cessful items. It is something like the
“gotcha” politics going on in Washington-
-fi nd anything wrong, blow it out of proportion, use it to
destroy amd gain advantage and/or power.
More Musical Modulations
By the time you read this, my “retirement” concert
will be history. I hope it will have gone well. It was held
at the Murray Park Amphitheater, unless it rained, in
which case it will have been given at Hillcrest Jr. High
or Murray High School.
Using the analogy presented above, my software
is fi ne, but the hardware is wearing out. I have trouble
standing up and waving my arms for two or two and a
half hours! I can still do things with a computer, but, even
then, my fi ngers don’t always go where I tell them to.
Unfortunately, I don’t know of any way to put my
software onto new hardware! Eventually I will have to
be replaced with a new model.
I will do what I can for as long as I can, so I am not
really retiring. Musically, I can still play trumpet. So I will
continue to perform with the West Valley Symphony, and
a few other organizations once in a while. I can still write
music, so I will try to increase my composition output.
Also the American Federation of Teachers wants
me to handle their publishing endeavours. So I will not
simply fade into the background!