Slateboard Software April 2006 Newsletter

Slateboard Software April 2006 Newsletter

ANNOUNCING OUR NEW WEB BASED AMORTIZATION SCHEDULES FOR YOUR WEBSITE!

In this month's newsletter we are pleased to announce our new Web Based Amortization Schedules for your website. We have the answer to last month's puzzler as well as the name of the winner of the free copy of DebtCalc. This month's Fun Fact covers the origins of the Easter Bunny and April Fools Day. Again we have tips and offers that we hope will be of interest to you. Here's what's covered in this month's newsletter:

Introducing Our New Web Based Amortization Schedules for Your Website!
What You Are Missing If You Haven't Updated Your Software
Upgrade To QuikCalc V5.0 For Half Price!
Tip Of The Month - Saving a Report as PDF
Fun Fact - Where Did the Easter Bunny and April Fools Day Come From?
Last Month's Puzzler Answer and Winner
This Month's Puzzler Contest

The staff at Slateboard Software hope you find our latest newsletter interesting and thank you for your business.

Introducing Our New Web Based Amortization Schedules for Your Website!

We are pleased to announce that we will soon be going live with our new Web Based Amortization Schedules. This will allow those of you with websites to give your visitors access to our Amortization Schedules by simply putting a link on your site. This will be offered on a subscription basis and all management is done at our end. All you need to do is place a link (that we will provide) on your site. When the visitor clicks it they will be taken to our site and shown a page completely branded with your logos, image, slogan, contact information, etc. They can then generate as many schedules as they want with your brand in front of them the entire time. Initially Amortization Schedules will be available and we will be adding more calculators as time goes on.

Here are the advantages of our subscription based Schedules over other similar products:

You don't need to do anything except add a link! We store the files, we pay for the bandwidth, we fix the problems. Others sell you the product and walk away. You need to install theirs on your server and any fix or enhancement means work for you.
You automatically get access to new features! As we add new features, you get them immediately. You don't need to install them, they are there right away for you because we do all of the work. You never need to pay for an upgrade, you always have the latest features available for your visitors.
Your calculators are branded! You supply the graphics and text, we format everything for you and once approved by you, it goes live. Other calculators force you to brand them yourself (if you even can), or allow only your company name to appear.
Best of all: Incredibly low introductory price! We are introducing this for only $9.95 per month. We guarantee that your price won't go up for a minimum of one year.

If you think you may be interested, please send an e-mail to sales@slateboard.com asking to be notified when we go live. This is a no obligation e-mail, you will be contacted but if you change your mind there is no cost to you. Customers will be set up on a first come first serve basis so act quickly to reserve your place in line.

What You're Missing If You Haven't Updated Your Software

We recommend that you check for updates at least once a month. You can do this easily from your Help menu by selecting Check for Updates. For QuikCalc users who haven't downloaded an update lately, here are just a few of the things you could be missing out on:

The ability to select the printer to print to directly from the Preview window. This is great for saving as a PDF (see our tip of the month).
Plus much more!

Upgrade To QuikCalc V5.0 For Half Price!

If you are still using an older version of QuikCalc, now is the time to upgrade! The number of enhancements in V5.0 compared to V4.0 are too many to list here (and comparing V5.0 to V2.0 or 3.0 would take far too long!). If you haven't done so already, download the fully functional demo from our website and then take advantage of our half price offer for existing users by using the following link:

https://www.slateboard.com/ORDERSITE/cat3_1.htm

Home Edition (Previously Amortization Edition) Users:

Upgrade for $14.95 and you can now specify a start date for your schedules plus override the calculated payment amount! As well, you get full access to the new Solve for Missing Number calculator that allows you to supply three parameters and solve for the fourth (loan amount, interest rate, payment amount and amortization period).

Plus! Edition( Previously Lite Edition) Users:

Upgrade for $29.95 and you can track up to 5 loans with the Premium Edition's Loan Manager! Also includes the new Solve for Missing Number calculator and much more!

Premium Edition ( Previously Personal Edition) Users:

Upgrade for $49.95 and you will have access to the redesigned reports, an easier to use interface for the Loan Manager, plus dozens of enhancements requested by users like you!

Office Edition Users:

Upgrade for $99.95 and access the many new reports and features that you have been asking for! One of the most popular new features: Payment Coupons!

Tip Of The Month

We are asked all of the time if it is possible to save QuikCalc reports as PDF documents. The answer is Yes! You need a third party PDF printer driver to do this. We recommend Pdf995 available from Software995 at https://www.pdf995.com. This product can be used free with pop-up advertising or purchased for only $9.95. Once installed, it shows as a printer in your list of printers. QuikCalc V5.0 has a Select Printer button on the Print Preview window that when clicked will show a list of printers. Select the PDF printer and click OK. Next click Print to print your report. You will be prompted for a file name to save the PDF as. Select a location and a name for the file, then save it. Your report will now be saved as a PDF that you can e-mail, print or retain. To change your printer back, just click Select Printer again and select your regular printer.

Fun Fact

The Easter bunny has its origin in pre-Christian fertility lore. The Hare and the Rabbit were the most fertile animals known and they served as symbols of the new life during the Spring season. The symbol of the Easter Bunny originated with the pagan festival of Eastre. The goddess, Eastre, was worshipped by the Anglo-Saxons through her earth symbol, the rabbit.

The bunny as an Easter symbol seems to have it's origins in Germany, where it was first mentioned in German writings in the 1500s. The first edible Easter bunnies were made in Germany during the early 1800s. These were made of pastry and sugar.

The Easter bunny was introduced to American folklore by the German settlers who arrived in the Pennsylvania Dutch country during the 1700s. The arrival of the "Oschter Haws" was considered "childhood's greatest pleasure" next to a visit from Christ-Kindel on Christmas Eve. The children believed that if they were good the "Oschter Haws" would lay a nest of colored eggs.

The children would build their nest in a secluded place in the home, the barn or the garden. Boys would use their caps and girls their bonnets to make the nests . The use of elaborate Easter baskets would come later as the tradition of the Easter bunny spread through out the country.

It was widely ignored by other Christians until shortly after the Civil War. In fact, Easter itself was not widely celebrated in America until after that time.

The Goddess Oestre (Eastre) by Jacques Reich

April-Fool's Day in New York, Harper's Weekly,
March 30, 1861

April Fools Day

No one is exactly sure where the term April Fools Day comes from, however there are three main theories:

Originally, New Year's Day was April 1. Later, when the Church changed the calendar, they also changed the date for the first of the year. However, some people continued using April 1 as the date of the new year. These people were referred to as "April Fools".

OR In the early Roman calendar, April 1 was the first day of spring, the spring equinox, and before 154 B.C. it was New Years Day. Many celebrations of many cultures observed this day as the coming of the renewal of the earth and life. There would be sacrifices and gifts given to the gods. When the Christians came into power in the Roman empire, they created a celebration we call Easter that replaced the spring rituals. The old celebrations were ridiculed and made fun of. And people who observed these celebrations were persecuted. This was a chance to make fun of those who do not follow the correct beliefs. This is were we get April Fools Day, where we can make anyone feel foolish.

OR In 1564, King Charles IX decreed that with the adoption of the Gregorian calendar, New Year's be moved to January 1 from what was April 1 and those that celebrated the Old New Year's Day on April 1 were Fools.

*Source: https://www.easterbunnys. net, www.robrob8. com

Last Month's Puzzler Contest Answer

Last Month's Question:

Joan and Jane are sisters. Jean is Joan's daughter and 12 years younger than her aunt. Joan is twice as old as Jean. Four years ago, Joan was the same age as Jane is now, and Jane was twice as old as her niece. How old is Jean?

Answer:

Joan is 32, Jane is 28, and Jean is 16.

Winner:

This month again proved to be challenging. This month's winner of the free copy of DebtCalc Home Edition is: Bob Hawkins of Massachusetts.

This Month's Puzzler Contest

Send your answer for the puzzler below to contest@slateboard.com for a chance to win a free copy of DebtCalc Home Edition. We will randomly draw a winner from all of the correct answers received by April 30, 2006. The winner and correct answer will be revealed in the next newsletter.

Question (in honor of baseball season starting!): A baseball team had just won the championship game and the players wanted to congratulate each other. They began shaking hands, but each player only shook hands with every other player just once. There are, of course, only 9 players on a baseball team. How many times did the players shake hands?