Stamp Column Archives

The Glassine Surfer Column Archive

This column originally appeared in the American Philatelic Society's monthly magazine, "The American Philatelist." Since then some of the information may be out-of-date depending on how far back you're reading.

July 2001

This is a great site run by a stamp dealer willing to share his expertise about Machins for free with all stamp collectors.  Dealers are up to their necks in stamps everyday and by and large are great resources.  I'm glad many are now sharing that experience on the Web.

Machin trivia: The Deegam Machin catalogue derives its name from the initials of creator Douglas G. A. Mayall: DGAM.

Vivian

Steve Dorner named his e-mail client "Eudora" in honor of Eudora Welty's story "Why I Live at the P.O.," but I don't know why this other program was named "Vivian."

The many different e-mail programs available may be bewildering at first, but if you regard them each as specialized tools it's easier to sort them out.  Eudora is a full-fledged tool box complete with all the bells and whistles, but if you want a little e-mail program to stay in touch using your laptop something like Vivian might be the obvious solution.

Vivian Mail has a menu called Server Manager that will let you see the message headers on your ISP's server and then let's you delete or download them.  This in effect let's you kill off large messages or spam before you drag them down to your hard drive.

The spare and Spartan Vivian will display e-mail in html format, but won't let you compost rich messages.  If you try it, Vivian will simply put the html source into the original text.  Ouch.  On the other hand, it's very possible that by the time you read this, a new version of Vivian will have smoothed out this glitch.

Vivian has the essentials of e-mail management and it's absolutely fine for non-intensive e-mail users.  It's a well-coded, small piece of freeware without ad banners or surprises and over time, it'll improve, but let's hope it won't expand.

Vivian Mail
http://www.deepsleep.de/e/vivianmail/index.htm

There's another e-mail client that deserves mention and a look.  Kaufman Mail Warrior is another small, fast and powerful client that packs a lot into 700Kb.  Developed in Germany, it is available in both English and German.

Kaufman Mail Warrior
http://www.kaufmansoft.com/Index.htm

And one last thing.  There's Email Notifier.  It's at the Kaufman Software site and is a system tray utility that will check your ISP for new email.  It then let's you delete them from the ISP without downloading them, and the Notifier stands alone, so that you can use it independently of your Outlook, Eudora or Pegasus program.

RAM Now

The single best upgrade for your PC is more memory.  Depending on when you purchased it, your PC came with the standard 32 of 64Kb of memory, and if you've started using your PC for scanning, e-mail, Internet browsing, word processing and games, you probably need more memory.

Your PC is only as good as its slowest part, and when one part, like memory, is inadequate it makes other parts, like your hard drive, work harder.  It's like having a tiny engine in a huge 18 wheeler.

When you open a program and you're low on memory, your PC first writes some of its memory temporarily to your hard drive to make room in RAM to run the new program, and every time you open and close, or switch back and forth between programs you're making your hard drive do more and more work.

To buy more memory for your PC, you need the specifications for your current memory, usually written up in your PC manufacturer's handbooks, and most makers outline recommended speeds, etc.  There are thousands of Web pages to help you figure out the details, but the best place to start will be your PC maker's home page.

Remember if you're sitting and listening to your hard drive grind away while waiting for a program to run, then you need more RAM.

Online you can check out ZDNet's How-to section for resources about RAM.  Go to their home page, and in the center column click "Help & How-To," then "Hardware" and finally "RAM."

ZDNet
http://www.zdnet.com/

Help Needed

I'm not sure where I heard this anecdote, but perhaps by sharing it someone can help me nail it down.  As I remember it, it was about a dealer buying an expensive stamp from a non-collector in Scotland breaking up an inherited estate.  It runs something like this.

"Dear Mr. Dealer, I understand that the $98,000 price of this stamp requires some financing on your end, but I will gladly hold it for you with a deposit."

"Dear Seller, thank you. Enclosed is a cashier's check for $49,000, half of the stamp's purchase price.  I shall remit the balance within two weeks per our agreement."

"Dear Mr. Dealer, thank you for your check for half of this wonderful stamp.  Enclosed please find the top-half of the stamp."

If you know from whence this comes, please e-mail me.  I've had a devil of a time trying to remember where this half-remembered story came from.  Maybe I need more RAM?

Surf and Soak

Now, it's time to soak and sort, surf and bookmark.  Anytime you find a Web site, you'd like to share, e-mail me.  The other members will thank you.  You're also invited to come online and chat with us on Sunday evenings at the Sociable Stamp Society.  Just visit my Web site for details.

Thanks for reading the "Glassine Surfer" and remember to support your local stamp club.

Enjoy your summer!