Updated 2/23/2008 (to reflect release of Acrobat 8 and add Foxit as an alternative)
The BAGS Newsletter is being distributed as an email containing a link to a web page with the links to the online newsletter. Members who have no email/internet access will be postally mailed a black & white printed copy of the newsletter. Note that the size of the PDF file will be approximately 800-1000KB and will take about 4 - 6 minutes for dial-up users to download.
VERY IMPORTANT: Members should make sure to keep the BAGS registrar informed of any changes in email addresses.
The BAGS Newsletter will be in PDF (Portable Document Format) which means you will need either the Adobe PDF viewer (formerly known as Acrobat Reader) or a program such as Foxit*** (see bottom of this page); both are free software download if you don't have it. Read the following paragraph unless you are already running version 6 or later of that software.
PDF is widely used on the web and nearly every computer has the Adobe Acrobat Viewer to view .pdf files. Many computers are now configured to directly view .pdf files internal to the browsers as opposed to a separate application being called. However, since Acrobat is usually supplied on a new computer, many folks have never upgraded and are still running older versions of the free Acrobat that might date back a few years. The current version of the free software is 8.0 for Windows XP & 2000-SP2 users (or 6.01 for Windows ME, NT, 2000-SP1 & 98-SE) and can be obtained here: http://www.adobe.com/products/acrobat/readermain.html and I recommend an upgrade, especially those still on a version that is prior to 5. That link will support many platforms, not just Windows. (The latest version is not required, but it has some nice enhancements; note that some of the enhancements and features are not available when the document is opened inside of a browser window, such as the Internet Explorer/Netscape plug-in.)If you cannot open .pdf files, your computer is likely configured incorrectly. Examples of incorrect configurations might be due to errors in file type associations, security options, etc. If you wish to learn more about setting up your computer, I suggest taking the Beginner and Intermediate classes at the HAL-pc Senior Learning Center in Webster. I will not be able to give individual instruction.
(** Note for users of Netscape 4.8 and earlier: I suggest downloading the file to your hard drive, then opening it separately. I have found that some combinations of Netscape 4.x with Adobe PDF Viewer 6.0 or later may cause Netscape to crash.)***There is another free product called Foxit (not related to Firefox) that can also be used as a PDF viewer. It is a much smaller program and has most of the features of the Adobe program plus a few that the Adobe PDF Viewer does not have such as more printing layout and size options. Visit http://www.foxitsoftware.com/pdf/rd_intro.php for more information and to download.