Who Works at Home, Why, and How You Can Join Them How ...

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HELP YOURSELF Beyond the highpowered productivity of word processors, databases, and spreadsheets, there's an exciting world of software that can improve your mind, teach you to cook, help you get a better job, and improve your love life. What's a computer done for you lately? Helped you work faster, bet ter, more efficiently? But what about the rest of your life? Has it helped you lose weight? Has it gotten you the dream job you've always wanted? How about improving your love life—any help there from the computer? One type of software is designed to do all these things for you. For lack of a better name, call it helpware—software that helps you diet with more determina tion, cook a better meal, write a dazzling resume, score higher on the SAT, spice up your romantic life, move up the career ladder faster, and more. Though examples of helpware have been around fora long time—some of the earliest computer programs fell into this category—the genre is just now catching on with the public and being aggressively marketed by software retailers. Since there are no absolute must-haves in the helpware world—no Lotus 1-2-3% or Word Perfects, for example—knowing which programs to choose can be a tough decision. Helpware comes in several categories. Among the most popular are • Brainware—Learn more about yourself and the way you think, or expand your mental capacities. • SATware—Score higher on the SAT (and similar tests) by following computerguided instruction. Gordon McComb • Foodware—Cook and eat better, or learn how to slim down by changing eating and exercise habits. • Careerware—Get a better job, or keep the one you already have. • Romanceware—Live and love better. 12 COMPUTE
HELP YOURSELF Brainware I haled them as a kid: brain-teasers— those quizzes that made my head hurt and my pride sink below by feet. But as an adult. I find brain games stimulating and helpful. The computer makes an excellent teacher because it's impartial, because it grades your work quickly and accurately, and because it helps you find those areas that need extra effort. If you feel you've developed cob webs in your noggin, help is on the way in the shape ofMentor, a unique Brainware program from Heuristic Research. This $49 program for the IBM PC and compatibles includes 58 psychological tests and exercises for honing your mental skills. Included in Mentor's rep ertoire are 25 IQ tests, plus an assort ment of exercises that analyze your reasoning and problem-solving skills, your memory, your response time and coordination, and even your perception of the world around you. The large number of IQ tests means that you can routinely evaluate yourself to see if your performance improves as you progress through the program. Note that the IQ tests should be used as a guide only. They may not al ways reflect the real you, and the tests aren't recognized by schools, organiza tions, or businesses. The purpose of Mentor is not to condemn you for what you can't figure out. but to exercise the most important part of your body— your brain. And it works. After using the pro gram for only five hours. I've already increased my IQ by five points! Move over, Albert Einstein. Mentor $49.95 IBM PC Heuristic Brainware Research 3112-A W. Cuthbert Ave. Midland, TX 79701 (800) 443-7380 SATware Thinking of going to college? If you are. sooner or later you'll run into that un friendly beast, the Scholastic Aptitude Test. This test, which is administered by the College Entrance Examination Board, is designed to determine how much you know—or in some cases, how much you don't know—and how easily you learn. The test results are used by colleges as entrance criteria— generally, the better schools pick those students with the better scores. Better scores on your SAT don't mean you'll automatically have an easi er life at college, but better scores often do mean that doors are open for you that might otherwise have been closed. With high SAT scores, for instance, you may have a better chance of obtaining scholarships or special grants, or at tending a college that offers the major in which you're interested. Scoring higher on the SAT doesn't require that you become any smarter. however. You can dramatically increase your score simply by learning how to take tests and by reviewing the types of questions asked on the SAT. Though there arc many books on preparing for the SAT, a computer program offers such benefits as automatic scoring and analysis of problem areas. Computer Preparation for the SAT, from Harcourt, Brace, Jovanovich, con sists of a 430-page SAT workbook and several computer disks. The package. which retails for $39.95, is available for the Apple II series as well as for the IBM PC. A pretest helps you establish those areas that need the greatest attention. For example, the pretest may help you discover that you have a high aptitude for math, but need a lot of remedial in struction in English. Then you'll know to spend more time on the English seclions and speed through the math. The questions for the five practice tests included with Computer Prepara tion for the SAT'are printed in the book. and aren't part of the program. You can, however, use the computer as a testing aid, turning it into a combina tion stopwatch and answer sheet. You can take the tests away from the com puter, but you have to reenter the an swers so that the computer can determine your test results. One nice feature of Computer Preparation for the SAT is that, al though each test is timed, you can stop the clock to take a break, answer the phone, or go to work. Of course, you're urged to complete the test in one sitting, but it's nice to know that you won't be penalized because of outside distractions. The practice tests and review are divided into 15 categories, similar to those found in the actual SAT, and range from antonyms to algebraic expressions. Practices include analogies, sentence completions, reading comprehension, geometry, word problems, and algebra. The computer scores your test, in dicating correct and incorrect answers. You have the option of saving your test results—as a means to review those areas that give you the most trouble— or clearing the results in order to take the test again. Two powerful features of Com puter Preparation for the SAT are its drill banks (verbal and math) and its vocabulary flash cards. The drills com prise the 15 areas of study: you can take any drill at any time. They're most helpful immediately after study and as a review on the eve of your real SAT. The vocabulary flash cards arc divided into banks of words, prefixes, word roots, and suffixes. Mastering the SAT from Mindscape isn't as comprehensive as Com puter Preparation for the SAT, but it can be just as helpful. The program uses three types of tests: pretest, posttest, and skill builder. The pretests help you identify those areas where your score is less than optimum. The skill-builder tests are designed as drills to be used during study. They are divided into the categories of opposites, analogies, sen tence completion, reading comprehen sion, arithmetic, algebra, geometry, quantitative comparison, and TSWE (Test of Standard Written English). The posttcsts function as checks to make sure you've mastered the material. Mastering the SAT comes with a 143-page booklet that offers test-taking tips as well as two simulated SAT ex aminations. The answers are included in an appendix in the booklet. A novel feature of the program is that its built-in AUGUST 19 13
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