December 1996

Cyber News and Reviews is a monthly column published for parents, teachers & business owners featuring kids educational software reviews, business software reviews (small business & home business), games and entertainment articles, a free resource since 1995.

 

Stay Tooned! A Zany CD Adventure, Street Atlas USA Version 4.0 and More Great Horse Racing Resources

Stay Tooned! A Zany CD Adventure from Sierra On-Line

If cartoons were a part of your Saturday morning entertainment as a kid (and maybe into your adult years) then you'll love Stay Tooned! a zany cartoon adventure on CD from Sierra On-Line. This is one wild cartoon adventure with all the elements of those colorful Saturday morning surrealistic satires of life and the world we live in. You'll find great graphics, memorable musical tunes and sounds that make you part of the action. Your immediate goal is to find the remote control, a very realistic challenge for television watchers (I'm still looking for my Sony television remote, which mysteriously disappeared months ago).

The adventure starts with you in your fourth floor apartment, your first challenge: to find the password so you can exit and wander the halls of this five story building filled with unusual people and happenings, games and puzzles, including some impressive 3D arcade-style games requiring 3D glasses (a pair of polarized 3D classes are included with the CD). In your journey for the remote, you'll find hours of activities, with laughs, silly gags and doors leading to unexpected places. Once a few pies are thrown in your face, you'll see what I mean.

This CD offers entertainment without the hard work associated with many of the adventure games. There are puzzles to solve, but you'll have lots of fun on the way to your goal. The 3D games include Make Way for the Highway (you help wreck a city), D-Ding Dong (an unusual paddle ball game) and Bubble Trouble (a deep sea adventure). Make Way for the Highway is a variation on electronic pong. Here, you try for the highest score while demolishing a 3D cityscape. Hitting a pedestrian with a rolling wrecking ball gets you bonus points.

Stay Tooned! will run on any 486/33 MHz or faster IBM compatible multimedia computer with 8 megabytes of RAM and Apple Macintosh Performa 575, Quatra, Power Macintosh or higher multimedia computer with 8 megabytes of RAM. The computers require double-speed CD-ROM drives or faster.

I consider Stay Tooned! more adult entertainment than for children, but my 5-year-old daughter Sarah enjoys it as well. There's no real educational value, but she has learned about computer errors and cursors. Every so often a fake error will appear on the screen, as well as a cartoon character teasing you about taking control of the cursor. Otherwise, it's just pure fun. Stay Tooned! sells for $30. For more information on this nutty adventure, call Sierra On-Line at 1-800-545-7677.

Street Atlas USA Version 4.0 by DeLorme Mapping

Just when I thought DeLorme's Street Atlas USA 3.0 had everything I needed for mapping the USA, they introduced version 4.0 with even more features including one you may never have imagined. Besides locating places and mapping the U.S. down to the street level with amazing details, one new feature allows you to track your location while on the road. Using a $149 radio receiver called Tripmate, connected to your laptop computer (through the mouse port), it will display your position on the map as your travel, using satellite navigation technology. You'll never need to stop for directions.

Other features include the ability to measure distances by drawing lines, circles or shapes on the map, locate addresses from your own database or spreadsheet, find zip code boundaries and demographics and download maps to your hard drive to mention a few. The maps, and all their details, may be printed in either black and white or color.

DeLorme also offers 3-D Explorer USA that lets you fly over America and AAA Map 'n' Go for trip planning like the professionals.

Street Atlas USA Version 4.0 will run on any 386/33 MHz or faster IBM compatible multimedia computer with 8 megabytes of RAM. The average street price of Street Atlas USA 4.0 (no pun intended) is $45. For more information call DeLorme Mapping at 1-800-452-5931.

Software Companies Mentioned

Sierra On-Line
P.O. Box 2961
Torrance, CA 90509
Phone: 1-800-545-7677

DeLorme Mapping
Lower Main Street
P.O. Box 298
Freeport, ME 04032
Phone: 1-800-452-5931

More Great Horse Racing Resources

Have you ever had an urge to go out to your local computer store or book store and browse the horse racing handicapping software and books? You shut down your system and then head out to your local computer superstore or book establishment only to find that they don't stock what you're looking for.

Fortunately, there are lots of places just a toll-free phone call away where you can get books and software on just about any gambling subject, and that includes my all-time favorite subject, horse racing.

Here's a list of a six important resources for gamblers and horse players. And if you call, tell them that Howard from Software Exchange sent you.

AMERICAN TURF MONTHLY
306 Broadway
Lynbrook, NY 11563
Phone: 1-800-645-2240

American Turf Monthly is a great magazine for horse racing enthusiasts. Each month you'll find newsworthy articles on horse racing as well as handicapping and betting to win. They even have a section called "Handicapper's Bookshelf" featuring the latest and greatest books and software on horse racing. Call toll-free for subscription information.

GAMBLERS BOOKSTORE
4001 S Virginia Street
Reno, NV 89502
Phone: 1-800-748-5797; 702-825-7778

At the Gamblers Bookstore, they specialize in gambling books, software and magazines, including horse racing. Ron Teston, the owner, also runs a dealer school. Call them toll-free for their free, 60-page, catalog on gambling books and software.

GAMBLERS GENERAL STORE
800 South Main Street
Las Vegas, NV 89101
Phone: 1-800-322-2447
Fax: 702-366-0329

And for the fourth source of horse racing products, call the Gamblers General Store, in Las Vegas for their free, 66-page, catalog. They stock horse racing books, software, magazines and other gambling related products including game tables, dice, chips and even videos.

JOHN PATRICK PRODUCTIONS, INC.
#604 Route 611
Tannersville, PA 18372
Phone: 1-800-282-6666

John Patrick is well known in the gambling circles as an expert on all types of gambling. He offers videos, books and other gambling-related products including two tapes on horse racing. Call for his free, 32-page, color catalog.

RPM INFORMATION SYSTEMS
6965 El Camino Real, Suite # 105-454
Carlsbad, CA 92009
Phone: 1-800-696-0067

Call RPM Information Systems (Your Handicapping Catalog SuperStore), toll-free, and you can talk to David Powers, the owner. Ask for his free, 52-page, catalog of the latest and greatest handicapping books and software. He offers lots of free bonus items (books and systems) with each purchase.