The Letterman Links Page

Here you'll find lots of great links to help you with your stationery hobby - from newsgroup members, freeware sites, and Microsoft. Also listed are the newsgroups.





Paint Shop Pro
Get the ultimate web and stationery image editing program from Jasc Software. It's what most of the stationery people use. Available for about $90 at most computer software stores. It will do 90% of what Adobe Photo Shop will do, for one-fifth the price.

Screen Calipers
Screen Calipers is a very cool tool which you can use to measure pixels sizes of graphics and other items on screen. I can't do without this jewel! Freeware.

XnView
What a great little image (and other files too) viewer this is. Convert graphic images to many different formats too. Freeware.

IRFAN Viewer
IRFAN is a multi-format image viewer and JPEG compressor. Convert graphic images to many different formats too. Freeware.

ACDSee
For image viewing alone, perhaps the best viewer on the market. Folder browse, thumbnails, it's got it all. Not free, but demo available. For JPEG compression and file conversion, stick with the freeware viewers XnView and Irfan Viewer.

JPEG Optimizer
Don't miss this great little JPEG optimizer. It is absolutely perfect for what it does, and has a great image preview feature. Sorry, no longer freeware.

Color Cop
Everyone needs a tool for color matching and determining screen color. This will do it in grand style. It's the one I use for stationery. Version 5.0 is out with lots of new additions by Jay, the author. Freeware.

Color Pic
Another great tool for color matching and determining screen color. Brought to you by the same people who wrote Screen Calipers. Freeware.

Eye Dropper
Another tool for color matching and determining screen color. Freeware.

TrayColor
TrayColor is yet another tool for color matching. Freeware.

Colorist
One more tool for color matching. This one has an interesting graphical interface. Freeware.

dbPower Amp
This is an exceptional freeware program for ripping CDs and converting MP3 and WAV files. Possibly the best. It creates MP3 or WAV files from CD tracks quickly and flawlessly. Don't miss it!

Midi Tool Box
Do lots of things to your MIDI tunes, including chopping off dead space. Look in the Software section. Freeware.

WAV and MP3 Trim
Trim your WAV and MP3 files. Freeware. This is a touchy program - the WAV trim requires a large PCM encoded stereo WAV file to work. The MP3 trim can be jerky after applied. I'm leaving this link because I don't know of any other freeware sound trimmer. Anybody?

GoldWave Digital Audio Editor
GoldWave is a comprehensive digital audio editor. Play, edit, mix, and analyze audio. Apply special effects, such as fade, equalizer, doppler, mechanize, echo, reverse, and more. Trial version available.

Cool Edit 2000
Cool Edit is another comprehensive digital audio editor, much like GoldWave. Trial version available.

Arachnophilia
One of the great freeware HTML editors. When you get more deeply involved into HTML and scripting, this is a program you can use to create and edit those scripts.

CuteHTML
Another good HTML editor. Demo available.

WS_FTP LE
If you ever build a web site, you'll wonder how you ever got along without an FTP client for uploading those files. WS_FTP LE is one of the most popular ones. Freeware, too.

X-Fonter
The best freeware font viewer I know of, and the one I use. Shows and manages installed and non-installed fonts on your system. You'll love it.

FontLister
An excellent font viewer by Peter Theill of Germany. Shows and manages installed and non-installed fonts on your system. Freeware (version 2.0).

WinZip
Everybody needs WinZip to extract or compress files for e-mail. A fully-functional trial version is available.

WinRAR
Another file compression-extraction program. This one also handles the up and coming RAR format. Trial version is available.

DirectX Buster
Here is a program which purportedly uninstalls DirectX so you can fall back to an earlier version. No guarantees here, but if you are in a bind it might save your life.

Microsoft Agent Scripting Helper
MASH - The Microsoft Agent Scripting Helper. This is a program that will enable you to script the MS Agent characters. Not freeware.

Ram Booster
Last but never least. You need this program, especially if you are not running Windows 2000 or XP. Ram Booster will deallocate and release your held memory and save you many a reboot. Get it and use it often.



Letterman Stationery
Scripts, Tips, and Tutorials. Lots of help for the newbie here.

Alternate files site #1 for Letterman Stationery
Important files may be downloaded from this alternate site of Letterman is down. A big thanks to Ohmster for providing the server space!

MS OE5 Frequently Asked Questions
MS OE5 Frequently Asked Questions Web Site. Many of your general questions about stationery and the MS OE Stationery groups will be answered here.

Sven's Stationery Help Site
Good basic tips and beginning stationery help. Site is dated, though.

Java Runtimes (a.k.a. Microsoft Virtual Machine)
Get the Java Runtimes for Internet Explorer. You need these runtime modules if you want to see applets. These come directly from the creater, Sun Microsystems. They are no longer available from Microsoft.

A Tutorial for Producing and Posting ASF Files, by Mamselle
Create ASF music and stream it in a post using the Windows 4.1 Media Encoder.

Converting Audio Files with the dBpowerAMP Music Converter
Check out this cool tutorial on converting music to various formats, including ASF, by our own Uncle Gus.

Using ASF and Synchronizing Lyrics to ASFs, by Uncle Gus
Create ASF music and stream it in a post using the Windows Media Player 7 Encoder. Learn how to synchronize text lyrics to a streamed ASF. Several great tutorials on this site.

Media Player Object Code Samples, by Uncle Gus
Here is some sample Media Player object code you can use for streaming ASFs and other sound files in your posts.

Converting WAV files to ASF Using On Demand Producer, by Michy
Learn how to use the On Demand Producer program to convert your WAV files to ASF.

Compressing WAV files
Learn how to compress WAV files to reduce your post size.

Lake Applets & Tutorials, by Uncle Gus
Learn how to use the Lake Applet in your stationery.

MacroMedia Flash Player
Download the latest MacroMedia Flash player here. Flash Player 6 now works for stationery.

Swish
Swish is a utility for creating Flash files. It is easy to use and understand, and knowledge of Flash is not necessary. Download the demo version here.

Swish Tutorial
Find out how to use the Swish program in this tutorial.

Flash Toolset
Use this great Flash toolset (works with Swish too) to strip the images, music, or other content out of a Flash (.SWF) file.

SVG Adobe Plugin
Download the latest Scaleable Vector Graphic plugin by Adobe.

Decoding Base-64 and Other E-Mail Content
For the technically adventurous. An intensive treatise on encoding/decoding methods used in modern e-mail and newsgroups.

Setting up Microsoft Agent
From the Microsoft Agent Web Ring. A great page on how to install everything you need to see and hear the MS Agent characters.

Microsoft Agent Characters
From the Microsoft Agent Web Ring. Download lots of the MS Agent characters from this site.



Windows Update
Use Windows Update often to make sure your Windows operating system is up to date.

Internet Explorer 6 & Outlook Express 6
Get the latest and the greatest Internet Explorer and Outlook Express.

How to Reinstall or Repair Internet Explorer and Outlook Express in Windows XP
This Knowledge Base article shows you how.

Windows Script 5.6
Download the version 5.6 scripting engine, including VBScript and JScript. Also includes Windows Scripting Host 5.6.

Windows Script 5.5
Download the version 5.5 scripting engine, including VBScript and JScript. Also includes Windows Scripting Host 5.5.

DirectX 8 - 9
Download the latest DirectX multimedia system foundation. (Windows 95 and 98 users beware!!!! Certain users have lost the ability to see many of the standard filters after upgrading to DirectX 8.0)

DirectX 7a Download
This is the last DirectX prior to DirectX 8. ***NOTE! You cannot go back to DX7 once you've upgraded to DX8 unless you reinstall Windows.

Windows Media Player 6.4 - 7.1 - 9
Get the last three production Windows Media Players, versions 6.4, 7.1, and 9.

Windows Media Player Series 8.0 Codecs
Get the series 8 player codecs here.

Windows Media Player Series 9 Codecs
The series 9 player codecs are available at this link.

Windows Media Encoder Tools, Series 9
The latest encoder tool for sound and other Windows media. Create Windows Media files (WMA) from CDs, MP3, and WAV files.

Windows Media Encoder Tools, 7.1
The pervious version of the Windows Media Encoder Tools is available here.

Microsoft Virtual Machine
Microsoft Virtual Machine (Java) for Internet Explorer no longer comes standard with Windows XP. See the Sun Microsystems link in the Web Sites of Local Stationery Interest section.

How to Script Internet Explorer Filters and Transitions
Microsoft's tutorial on using IE filters and transitions.

HTML & DHTML Reference
Microsoft's references pages on DHTML (scripting).

Direct Animation Intro
Learn all about DirectAnimation, starting with this page.

DirectX Transform Demos
A quick look at most of the DX Transforms. MetaCreations filter demos are included here.

DirectX Transform Reference
See details of the coding required to use the DX Transforms. MetaCreations examples are included here as well.

MS Agent
Learn all about MS Agent and the great characters you can animate. Page also includes link to download.

Visual Basic 6 Runtime Files (Service Pack 5)
To run Visual Basic programs on your computer, you'll need the latest runtime files. Download and click on the .EXE to install.

IE Web Accessories
Internet Explorer 5 includes an extensibility feature called Web Accessories. Web Accessories are one way to add new features and functionality to Internet Explorer 5 and later versions.




Stationery News Groups List
Here is a listing of more than 20 news groups dedicated to stationery creation. The downloaded list is in .TXT format. Right-click the link and SAVE TARGET AS to save it. First copy the list to the Windows clipboard, then paste it into an OE Compose window. Click on the Preview tab at the bottom of the Compose window, then click on any link item to subscribe.

Download Stationery News Groups List 4k


microsoft.public.windows.inetexplorer.ie6_outlookexpress.stationery
Outlook Express 6.0 Stationery NewsGroup. This is the main stationery group referred to in this web site. Check out the fine work done by its members. Of the Microsoft stationery groups, this is where most of the activity is right now.

microsoft.public.windows.inetexplorer.ie6_outlookexpress
Outlook Express 6.0 Stationery Technical NewsGroup. Of a technical nature, and for the latest technical advice on what's happening with OE 6.0, check out this group.

microsoft.public.windows.inetexplorer.ie55.outlookexpress.stationery
Outlook Express 5.5 Stationery NewsGroup. Stationery newsgroup for previous version of IE/OE.