Table of Contents

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The Podium--A Quick Overview of this issue

Tech Flash – Again, Virus Protection Software

Employee Spotlight – Glen Gibbs –Developer

Fall 2000 Calendar of Events - Where will MBS be this next Quarter?

Did you know? - - A call for Beta testers. Are you interested?

Hints and Tips - Helpful suggestions and other items of interest.

TechFAQs – Editing property location after contract is saved

Sites Unseen – Interesting web sites.

Some thoughts from the CEO - Australian cemeteries and Cemeterians

MBS’ Recommended Hardware List

The Nashville area awoke this morning to find the temperatures in the low thirties. It was a record low. The frost wasn’t only on the pumpkin, it also was on the newspaper, and the windshields and the grass we didn’t get to mow this weekend. The point? Once again, to our inexplicable surprise, late fall has sneaked up on us, with his buddy in crime, winter, right behind him!

In Tech Flash, on page two, we once again implore you to install anti-virus software on your system. Also on page two we introduce you to Glen Gibbs, developer. You’ll also notice that on the same page we are asking for volunteers to be beta testers for the next generation of Nexus.

Hints & Tips, on page three, is chock full of Windows tip, as well as a few for some word-processing applications. In TechFAQs Gerald talks about editing property locations. Also, check out some of the Web sites we write about in Sites Unseen (but do it on your break so you don’t get in trouble with your boss). Finally, on page four Fred writes about his trip to New Zealand where he gave a talk to the ACCA.

As always, we wish you Happy Holidays, and the best luck and good health for the coming year.

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For Article Suggestions, Copies or Requests, please email Tom Balducci at tbalducci@mbs-intl.com.

For Site Corrections or Suggestions, please email jmcquiston@mbs-intl.com.

Thank you.

With the use of the Internet, it’s amazing how quickly useful information and files can be transferred from one location to another. The downside is that destructive viruses can be spread just as quickly and in a matter of seconds your computer can be rendered useless. With this in mind, you can see how important it is that each computer be protected by an anti-virus program. There are a number of good anti-virus programs, Norton Antivirus and McAfee VirusScan to name a couple, that are highly rated. These programs load at startup and run continuously to protect your computer from Internet downloads and Email as well as threats from floppy disks, CD-ROM's etc. And since new viruses appear almost daily, these programs can be updated quickly and easily via the Internet. So inoculate your computer so that you and those you deal with can have piece of mind.

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Glen is telling another hilarious story about his three rambunctious sons. "We’ve made a rule that they can’t throw golf balls in the house," Glen deadpans after describing his coming home and finding out that his youngest son, 2 year-old Meyson, had accidentally knocked his computer’s LCD monitor to the floor, shattering it. "He really was sorry because he knew that I really liked it," Glen adds, without the least bit of criticism or anger towards his son. And that exemplifies Glen’s good nature, not to mention his ability to spin a really funny tale.

Glen was born in Omaha, Nebraska. When he was eight years old his family moved to Oxford, Mississippi so that his father could complete his Ph.D. in Chemistry at Ole Miss. Besides the usual sports activities as a child, Glen says that he has been interested in electronics since he was five years old. "I loved repairing electrical stuff when I was a child." "It’s a gift," he adds, trying to explain his natural talent for electronics. Glen also liked building science projects, and was an avid reader, as he still is today. When asked what genre of literature he likes Glen answered: "History, Science Fiction, Historical Fiction, Adventure. But the Bible is above all of those, of course." Glen is very active in his church, and is a licensed Minister and an Ordained Deacon. He also is a Cub Scout leader.

Glen came to the Nashville area to attend Vanderbilt University, where he earned a degree in Electrical Engineering. When he was in college he liked to play Basketball and was also involved in the sport of Fencing. "It’s sort of like chess, but you get a really good workout, too."

After graduating from Vandy, Glen was hired as a Tech Manager by Stingray, a depot repair facility where he repaired computer peripherals. He also owned a business, Electronics Solution Laboratory, where he was involved with product development, embedded systems as well as assisting inventors to bring their products to market.

Glen also was employed as a research and development engineer by GLW, a company that designed and manufactured recording consoles. "That was a fun job. Very cutting edge. " Just before coming to MBS, Glen was employed as a Network Manager in the repair facility of Satellink Communications, a beeper company. Of his employment at MBS Glen says: "I love it;

the camaraderie and teamwork of our staff. Everyone is so professional. It’s the best job I’ve ever had."

When asked about his hobbies Glen mentions entertainment, electronics, reading, fishing and watching sports, particularly the Olympics. Besides his youngest son Meyson, there is the oldest, named Colton, and Tylen, the middle child. Glen’s wife Vanecia is an RN with a Master’s Degree, and is presently employed part time as a PRN in the postpartum ward of a Nashville area Hospital.

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October

4-7th – ICFA Meeting, Tucson, Arizona

31st – Halloween

November

7th – Election Day

December

22nd – Hanukkah

31st – New Years Eve

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Did

NEXUS USERS:

We need Beta Testers for the next generation of Nexus. Please contact Pat Mitchell here at MBS if you are interested in being a tester.

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Don't Delete all Those Fonts

Before you start deleting all those font files that make your system boot slowly, make sure that Windows doesn't need them. For example, you should not delete the following fonts: Arial, Courier, Marlett, Modern, MS Sans Serif, MS Serif (or any font with a name beginning with "MS"), Small Fonts, Symbol and Times New Roman. Also, don't delete any fonts that start with 8514 or VGA.

Move active window with the keyboard

1. Press Alt + spacebar + M. A four -pointed arrow appears on the title bar of the active window.
2. Use the arrow keys to move your window in the desired direction.
3. When the window is where you want it, press Enter; if you don't like your move, press Esc instead.

Add Control Panel to the Start Menu

If you're always launching Control Panel to fiddle with your system settings, simplify your life by putting the Control Panel applet right on the initial Start menu. Drag CONTROL.EXE from your Windows folder and drop it on your Start button.

Tip (Word & WordPerfect)

Word and WordPerfect automatically wrap text at the end of a line. To keep two or more words on the same line of type in Word 97 or 2000, press <Ctrl-<Shift>-<Space> to insert a non-breaking space. In WordPerfect 8 or 9 , press <Ctrl>-<Space> to insert a Hard Space code instead of a normal space. To prevent a hyphenated word from splitting at the end of a line in Word, press <Ctrl-<Shift>-<Hyphen>; similarly in WordPerfect, you can insert a non-breaking hyphen by pressing <Ctrl>-<Hyphen>.

Tip

ScanDisk or Disk Defragmenter restarting numerous times when you run it, never reporting a problem? It may be t hat another program is running that is changing the disk’s contents while these utilities are trying to do their work. One of the leading culprits is FastFind, which is a part of Microsoft Office. Turn off FastFind, and you may find that ScanDisk and Disk Defragmenter can complete without restarting.

Hint (Win 95/98/NT )

Create a shortcut to your printer by clicking on your Start menu, then Settings, then Control Panel, then Printers, and dragging a printer icon to the Desktop. You can then drag documents to the printer icon and print them instantly.

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TechFAQs

Question

How do I edit a property location on a contract after the contract has been saved?

Answer

The procedure for changing a property location on a contract was changed in Nexus version 1.5.01. The location fields are no longer editable. To change the property location you must add the new location to the contract and then delete the old one. This process assures that a check is made to verify that the newly added property has not already been sold on a contract. To add or delete property from a contract, go to the Transactions-Contract-Enter\Edit menu. Find the contract and then click on the Contract Items tab. Now click on the edit spaces button. The tool bar in the lower left allows you to add or delete property.

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Sites Unseen

www.mapinfo.com               www.ups.com

www.navision.com

Sites Unseen is a list of interesting, informative and helpful Web sites we thought might be useful to you.  If your cemetery or cemetery-related business has a Web site, e-mail the address to us at tbalducci@mbs-intl.com.

I was recently the keynote speaker for the Australasian Cemetery and Crematoria Association at their annual meeting in Christchurch, New Zealand. Can you imagine people requesting an hour and a half of "Cutting Edge Technology" or, as subtitled, "Why I am Always Nine Years Behind."

It was a marvelous experience, but due to other commitments, there was only one day to enjoy the beauty of the country. I covet going back to that South Pacific paradise. The people really rolled out the red carpet and, based on their questions, even listened with interest to what I had to say.

Theirs is a different business than ours. There are several things that stand out. Cremation is larger there than in even our most cremation-oriented states. That’s simply an extension of our trend, but the main differences were that (1) they get along famously with funeral directors, and (2) they do very little preneed.

Regarding their camaraderie with funeral directors, no wonder. The funeral directors "pass out" the funerals, i.e., the family calls the funeral director, who handles his business and then selects the cemetery for burial unless the family specifies one. Without preneed, not much of the latter occurs.

Well then, why no preneed? The main reason the cemeterians have not gotten into preneed is that in most states the law limits the use of a grave space to 25 years from the time of purchase before re-use. Some of the larger properties are starting to make moves to get around these strangling limitations. The result is that the consumer doesn’t have much incentive to buy beforehand. In addition, vaults are only used in the most upscale burials, memorials are normally small and, when they are sold, it is by funeral directors as often as cemeterians. In my opinion, this has contributed to having several very large cemeteries. For example, 85% of all burials in one of the seven states of Australia are done in two cemeteries.

Other notes: all 350 attendees attended all the meetings, member and spouse; and there were very few (12) suppliers (They don’t need many.)

Finally, one other observation. The Olympics were in progress and New Zealand television was focused on participating New Zealand athletes whenever they were on. When New Zealand athletes weren’t participating, then they showed Aussies. It was pure sport without the sob stories that permeate the US coverage. And the people loved it. The games were on anywhere and the people would break out in cheers when one of their own would win. It was all patriotism. Quite a change, and a nice one.

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Ports

Pentium III

256 MB RAM

10 Gigabytes

1.44 MB

3Com 100 Base TX

700 Watt Smart UPS

VGA adapter

32 Speed

15" Color

2 Serial, 1 Parallel

Pentium II or III

64 MB RAM

6 Gigabyte

1.44 MB

3Com 100 Base TX

450 Watt UPS

SVGA w/4 MB RAM

32 speed

17" SVGA Color

2 Serial, 1 Parallel