I confess I´m totally dissapointed about how this magazine is posted on the web.

This is not really a free digital edition where you can take a look at some article(s) and search useful CBM information, it is just a demo of the magazine pages in flash and not a readable edition.

They should say: "free in US & Canada ... sorry, no free magazines outside of these countries, you should pay the suscription"

A simple and plain PDF would be better, but anyway, I´m not the editor. Bad luck for all of us, PDM/CBM guys overseas.

Walter -

Thanks for your post and I am sorry that you are disappointed in Uptime's Digital Editions

The digital issues are chock full of user features and just in case you did not read the instructions (I know - PdM guys always read the instructions) I will recap some features and how to use them here.

The read functions are two fold

1) Turn pages - this allows you to get to the right page or page of interest - and in theory - is like turning pages in a paper magazine - simply move your cursor to the lower corner where the page is folded up and click

2) If you want to read or print the page you have "turned" to - simply click on the center of that page and it will zoom in or enlarge. You can scroll the page with the scroll bar or simply "drag" the page with the mouse. If you want to print - simply use the printer icon on the top right of the page.

There are other features and other ways to turn pages, search or navigate each issue. When you load the digital edition - the detailed instructions are visible opposite the cover. It is a good idea to read them.

We are considering paid print subscriptions but are not ready yet. Feel free to send your FedEx number and we will forward back issues.

For those not subscribed yet - check out the March digital edition here

Request your free print subscription here

We certainly invite other to please post your feedback because a plain PDF would sure be a lot easier and cheaper to create.

Thanks again for your feedback Walter. Hang in there.

Terry O

The link Terry provided didn't look like a demo to me. In fact, I think I prefer it--one less thing I have to recycle.

Another nice feature I noticed is that the ads are hotlinked to the vendor's web sites.

I like the both (printed and digital) versions.

Lately I'm inclining to digital since my last inventory count (just before this reply)is 34 printed technical magazines (Uptime, Plant Services, Plant Engineering, others) piled up at my desk!

I need more room!!!

The printed version is nice and not a rag. It provides a good display in my office and provides reading for my techs and human interface. For someone to take interest to provide "us" with a good thread .... maybe not perfect but probably better than I could do and certainly cheaper than I would be willing to provide it. So, hats off to Terry and his organizational skills in being an asset to someone like me. I don't see much being provide elsewhere or outside the USA. We get some good stuff from Europe and I think that someone outside the USA should be willing to pay a token fee for such a magazine. I know if I saw a good publication from xyz, S. America and wanted it, I would think it normal to pay the 'extra' expense to get something for my benefit.

Nobody is critizicing Uptime´s organization effort in delivering this magazine, so please, don´t misunderstand this issue.

I just think that digital version can be prettier, nicer, but not so easy to read and impossible to save. If you don´t have a nice speed connection (which is usual in some places outside of US), and if you travel when working, you´re out of the game.

And Sam, paid suscriptions are not ready yet, and for your knowledge most of us outside of US work with very tight budgets and sometimes can´t afford to pay a few hundreds a year for magazines (sad but true). So, for this reason this kind of publications are so valuable for us. Good luck for you living in the land of the free home of the braves, where you can receive free printed magazines. We live in another reality.

Maybe Uptime can offer both options: the flash version and the pdf version, if it´s so easy to do, why not ?

The lay out of the magazine looks great and easy to use. The only problem I have I cannot read the articles in zoom out mode. When I click on the page to enlarge nothing comes up. It idicates it downloads but nothing appears on the screen. I've downloaded flash player but still no joy. Any suggestions?

When you stumble accross information is not always the time that you need the details. Not having a photographic memory I save a lot of articles if I think they may be useful later. I have a well categorized library of information on my hard drive. With pdf I can save it if I like it. Not so with an on-line e-zine.

Also, when I click the link it tells me I need
to upgrade my flash player. I'm not so keen on installing new software if not needed.

My vote would be pdf.

I got the same upgrade message as Pete. I was on my home computer so I clicked on upgrade and then download. It appeared to run the download and took me to another web page. I closed that page and clicked on the link and it took me back to the upgrade page. I gave up on it at that point. I like the pdf format also. Small file size and can store it for later reference.
My vote goes to pfd too.
Ronnie

PDF files should be the standard if information is to be archieved for later usage. PDF utilities can combine a large number of files into a single file, which is "searchable."

If you want to just print what you are reading on the web, try Print Punk. It's a free utility that shrinks output to fit a printed page nicely. http://www.printpunk.com/

If you have Adobe Acrobat installed (or something similar) you can "print" the output to the Adobe printer driver, and you've got your PDF. I'm sure there are free/shareware versions available if you don't have Adobe Acrobat.

Good tips for converting flash pages to pdf, but, would be necessary to save page by page right ? If so, then I quit before I begin, this process would be real time consuming, not really practical. I still vote for pdf.

I generally have mixed feelings about print vs. digital. I think I like digital, but then notice that I seldom actually read the digital versions.

That said, I find that the various competitors to pdf file formats are cute, but much less useful than pdfs. Specifically to Uptime: takes a (short) while to load initially and then turns pages quickly. Yet, when I click a page to zoom in, it says it is done quite quickly, but leaves me with a blank screen for a long enough time that I have gone looking at pop-up blocking to see if it was the problem. It wasn't -- just a very slow load of the page image. (on DSL) In addition, and I just figured this out this morning, when I took another look, there are two sets of scroll bars generated in the zoom view. The normal scroll bars, surrounding the window do not allow the lower half of the page to be displayed. In order to see the bottom half of the page, I discovered that I have to scroll all the way to the right to uncover a scroll bar INSIDE the window and use it to scroll the image down. Kludgy. Also, the page image opens in the same window - so that closing the window does not take you back to the full spread view -- it takes you out of the magazine. You have to find the "zoom out" button all the way in the top right corner to get back to the magazine. Kludgy.

Terry - save money and make the online version easier to use and more useful to file -- go with pdf!

Jack

Just wanted to say I think the magazine is great in the printed version. Very good articles. Thanks for the printed version sorry for those who cant enjoy it, maybe a pdf file is on its way. Keep up the good work on printed version.

quote:

Originally posted by Walter Vargas:
... sometimes can´t afford to pay a few hundreds a year for magazines (sad but true)....

I also have problems to have approved a handbook or other technical book a year.

I also just tried here at home the link provided to the March digital edition and everything worked fine. No problems at all to zoom in or out, print, turn pages, read articles, etc.
Having the magazine in pdf would be better.
Terrence please make the magazine view bigger, at the moment 40 % of the whole computer screen is not used (I found no way to make it bigger). It would be nice to be able to read at least the article headers without needing to load the page. This is a great help especially for all of us who can’t see without reading glasses.

pdf would let all users adjust the zoom to their own taste.

I showed this to a seminar bunch of positive fellas and they got mad at me thinking I was trying to pull their legs on April 1st. What is wrong with your PC???? was asked many times. Embarrasing.

This is a bit like the H C Andersens story about the Emperor´s New Clothes. Ever read that? His new outfit was all new an fancy and hence approved and admired - but the sad man was just naked.

A flash presentation is such a fancy thing - but not for the outdated PC´s that are forgotten in the workshop or maintenance offices. This system might work fine in a new modern uptodate office where you have 8 Mb/s DSL connection and a 3 GHz unit with 10 Gb RAM and 64 Mb graphic game card, but for the most users this is a cruel p i t a. Kludgy is a mild and polite word. I will get back to it and show more people when it has matured to pdf. Many mechancis and egineers are not allowed to sit and surf. Downloading a pdf can work since they can read it later not being online or print and circulate to collegues and read the paper.

Arne,

I guess the moral of your story is not to stand in front of a maintenance group while Naked trying to give a Flash presentation with an old PC!

Walt

Thanks for the great feedback guys - Jeff Shuler (Editor in Chief) and I have been discussing what is next for Uptime and we hope to resolve the issues soon so please have some patience.

If you guys have any other ideas (in any category) for Uptime - now would be a good time to air them.

Terry O