NWA-PCUG Newsletter Article, April 2007
The Deals Column
by Bob (the Cheapskate)Click, The Dealsguy
Greater Orlando Computer Users Group
bobclick@mindspring.com
(click to email author)


Medications
Are you taking a medication that has noticeable side effects? If so, you’re not the only one. I recently read an article in Consumer Reports about the biggest complaints that patients have about their doctors. At least a third of the patients surveyed complained that doctors won’t discuss the side effects of medications. I’ve noticed that too, and the answer I get is that I will get used to the side effects, and that I need those drugs regardless. No compromise is discussed and the doctor changes the subject. My family practitioner did help me get off two medications when I complained strongly enough and insisted on a substitute.

I was put on Coumadin for a blood clot in my leg last year and my blood pressure started raging. My cardiologist prescribed two drugs, Coreg and Lisinopril for both the heart and the BP, which brought it under control. Not long after I started taking them though, I began having serious numbing of my toes and feet. I thought I might have a circulation problem in the feet (common with diabetics) so I went to my podiatrist who said I had no circulation problems and it was probably a nerve problem in the leg.

I have two friends who had taken Lisinopril and got off it because of bad side effects, and two others who take it now and they say with no problems. I decided I wanted a replacement for Lisinopril and the doctor prescribed Quinapril. But the paper about its side effects read the same as the Lisinopril description; it said among the side effects that numbing toes, feet, fingers and arms could be a side effect so I refused to take it. Since I stopped taking Lisinopril (new BP medication now) the numbing in my toes is improved, but not gone, and I also occasionally still have it in my fingers. A nerve conduction study recommended by the doctor showed nerve damage in the legs and arms. That nerve damage in the legs also affects my balance. Doctors tell me the diabetes caused the nerve problems, not any medication. Maybe, but a logical conclusion to me is that I had the diabetes for seven years with none of those problems before I was prescribed the Coreg and Lisinopril, and I always keep my blood sugar very near 100. I wonder if those medications were attacking my nervous system.

I also developed a problem while taking those meds when trying to sleep. My head moves around, but I have little control over that when trying to sleep on my side. That situation has also improved some since getting off of the Coreg and Lisinopril. We’ll see how it goes; but not much thanks to the doctors listening to my complaint. My cardiologist tells me to “stop playing doctor, you are not a doctor.” I think doctors should be better doctors to their patients instead of protecting drug companies. I would like to hear from my readers on all this. I have already heard from several readers in the past about these problems.

The following announcements were severely edited so check their Web site for more information. I have not tried any of these products.

Problem With Your Flash Card?
PANTERASoft is proud to announce the release of version 2.1 of Flash File Recovery, a digital image recovery software tool for flash cards. Flash File Recovery 2.1 efficiently recovers corrupted or lost data from formatted, damaged, unreadable or defective storage media devices. This software recovers image and video files of different types, like JPEG, TIFF and others; RAW Image files, like Canon CRW, Nikon NEF, Kodak DCR and various other video files - AVI, MOV, MPG/MPEG, and many more. It is also capable of recovering pictures from damaged or corrupted flash drives (including a camera's built-in memory) and memory sticks. Flash File Recovery 2.1 supports a wide range of flash cards: SmartMedia, CompactFlash, Memory Stick, MicroDrive, xD Picture Card, Flash Card, PC Card, Multimedia Card, Secure Digital Card, and many others.

Flash File Recovery 2.1 requires Microsoft Windows 9x/NT/2000/2003/XP/Vista and costs $49.50. User Group members get a 15% discount. Additional information on Flash File Recovery 2.1, as well as its fully functional version for evaluation is available for downloading from http://www.panterasoft.com.

Product page link: http://www.panterasoft.com/file-recovery/index.html
E-mail: alexey@panterasoft.com with discount ordering questions.

You Tell Me What This Does!
ALM Works announces the release of JIRA Client 1.0, the first version of a handy desktop client for Atlassian JIRA issue tracking and project management system. This client offers interactive user interface, powerful search, offline mode and other capabilities that expand JIRA functionality to organize issue tracking for more convenience and efficiency. Thanks to JIRA Client caching issues, you can now search, create and modify issues when JIRA server is not available such as during business trips or on-site with a customer.

JIRA Client downloads issues from JIRA and stores them in a local cache allowing users to view and edit issues, regardless of a server's availability. Any changes that are not marked "draft" are uploaded to JIRA whenever the server is reachable. JIRA Client also periodically polls the server for changes and downloads new or modified issues. These changes are automatically reflected on the JIRA Client's interface, in issue counters and issue tables. JIRA Client has a powerful search with complete Boolean logic processor. Each downloaded query is displayed along with an issue counter that shows the number of issues that pass the query's filter.

Neatly Organized Issues Allows you to Concentrate on Work to be Done. Links between issues may be created by dragging "source" issues and dropping them over "target" issues, or by using copy-and-paste operations.

JIRA Client corporate license price is $169.00 per user. User group member are entitled to 15% discount for any type of license (offer is valid until June 1, 2007) by using coupon code UGPROMO. ALM Works also offers floating, academic and personal licenses. JIRA Client is free for use in open-source projects. All customers are entitled to free lifetime patches and minor updates, and to limited-time technical support and major upgrades. JIRA Client 1.0 runs under Microsoft Windows 2000/XP/2003/Vista, Linux and Apple Mac OS X 10.4. The client is compatible with Atlassian JIRA version 3.3 or later, any edition. JIRA Client downloads and free time-limited evaluation is available from the product web site: http://almworks.com/jiraclient

Download link: http://almworks.com/jiraclient/download.html
Company website: http://almworks.com

Super DVD Creator Now Available
MasterSoft, Inc. announces the release of Super DVD Creator 9.30. Super DVD Creator lets you jumpstart your creativity and make a personalized disk (DVD, VCD or SVCD) from your own or a downloaded video. Whether you want to create a DVD as a present for your friend or beloved, transfer an old video of a family get-together from VHS to digital form, or create a digital resume, Super DVD Creator is an excellent choice. Select the format (DVD, SVCD, VCD disk), then add video files, include a DVD menu with chapters and subtitles and click 'Start'. That's all! Super DVD Creator will take care of the rest. It'll burn the output to DVD in brilliant quality and much faster than any other DVD authoring software on the market. Another unique option in Super DVD Creator is Super Encode Engine, which is based on MMX-SSE & 3DNow! technology. It delivers an advanced and high speed converting method that lets users create a full 4.2 GB DVD in 60 minutes!

Super DVD Creator 9.30 runs under Microsoft Windows 95, 98, 2000, XP and Vista, and costs $29.90 (US) for a single-user license. User group members get 20% off its regular price. E-mail press@alldj.com for ordering info. Licensed customers are entitled to free lifetime technical support by e-mail and free lifetime upgrades. The software is backed by 30-day money back guarantee. Among the company's premier products, there are Super DVD Creator, Super DVD Player, Super DVD Video Editor, Super IPOD/PSP/iTurn/3GP/PDA Video Converter, Super Clone DVD, DVD To AVI Converter, and DVD To Mpeg Converter. For more information, please visit the Web site.

Product page link: http://www.alldj.com/sdvdc/index.htm
Download link: http://www.alldj.com/sdvdc/download.htm
Company website: http://www.alldj.com

That's it for this month. I have some new product announcements on my Web site page. Meet me here again next month if your editor permits. This column is written to make user group members aware of special offers or freebies I have found or arranged, and my comments should not be interpreted to encourage, or discourage, the purchase of any products, no matter how enthused I might sound. Bob (The Cheapskate) Click bobclick@mindspring.com. Visit my Web site at http://www.dealsguy.com

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