M A N T E X N E W S L E T T E R Number 45 - early April 2001 Text messaging + FREE stuff ------ ISSN 1470-1863 ------ 0----- Teaching with TXT MSGS!! Are you ready for teaching with mobile phone text messages? It goes live today - 4th April 2001. The KnowItAll web site is devoted to revision and exam skills for young GCSE students. It features lots of study skills tips, exam techniques, and online resources. You can also sign up for FREE weekly email revision tips. http://www.knowitall.org.uk The site also includes a first-time experiment in teaching via FREE mobile phone text messages. To SUBSCRIBE - dial 07855 940528 Send the text message - WAN2LRN Subscribers receive episodes of a teenage soap opera. The kids are doing their GCSEs, and share their worries about exams. Also included is a pop group which actually exists - and whose members have blog sites. What's a blog site? (you ask). Answer: a personal pop diary housed in free web space. The name comes from Web Log - so, 'blog' for short. There's a new bit of cyber-slang for you. If you want to see all this in action, go to - http://www.knowitall.org.uk Text message subscriptions [FREE] 07855 940528 - text WAN2LRN The Knowitall scheme is part of a wide-ranging initiative mounted by the NorthWest Learning Grid. For further details, contact - Damian Allen - Tel: 0151 443 3247 0----- STORYVIEW - writer's outliner I saw a good review of a software program which helps writers organise their thoughts and materials for large-scale writing projects. The full program is quite expensive - but you can download a demo version which has an unlimited lifespan. The only limitation in the demo is that you can only enter 20 items into an outline. If you're writing a novel, and you have ideas for the beginning, the ending, and several scenes in the middle, StoryView lets you position these ideas visually along the story's timeline. It's suitable for screenplays, TV writing, stage plays, novels, live events, business plans, and any sort of presentations. http://www.screenplay.com/products/storyview/ 0----- HTML made *very* simple Have you tried writing your own web pages? And have you been baffled by the instructions in manuals? Well don't feel guilty - because so have we. We've created a 'bare bones' guide to HTML design. These are web pages which will explain the basics, make it simple, and get you up and running. Everything is pared to the minimum, and explained in simple terms - with no jargon. We've started with a page template, a list of common tags, and a few tips. More will be added. Why not send us your queries? http://www.mantex.co.uk/ou/t171/t171-00.htm 0----- Writing Skills - FREE bibliography We have updated our bibliography of writing skills. This is the most popular of all our FREE downloads. It now includes new items on writing in exams and the language of mobile phone text-messaging. http://www.mantex.co.uk/samples/bib1.htm 0----- New subscribers for Spring! Welcome to a big influx of fresh newsletter subscribers during the last few weeks. From addresses in - Sweden (se) Hong Kong (hk) Romania (ro) Ireland (ie) Canada (ca) Italy (it) New Zealand (nz) Mexico (mx) Slovenia (si) Lithuania (lt) Argentina (ar) and Brazil (br). 0----- FREE Software - Zip Central v. 3.0 ZipCentral is a free, easy to use zip file manager that lets you create new, open existing, add to and extract from zip files. It can also create self-extracting archives and archives spanned across multiple floppy disks. Files created in all popular Zip utilities can be opened with ZipCentral. http://www.WebmasterFree.com/zipcentral.html 0----- 'Essentials' - the best in typography We've started a new 'Essentials' series which offers recommendations on the best and most popular books. The first in the series is TYPOGRAPHY. These are the best respected, and most highly rated publications in their subject. They offer guaranteed quality and satisfaction - based not on our judgement, but on those of readers. http://www.mantex.co.uk/reviews/biblios/ess-typ.htm 0----- Coming soon! * 'The Art and Science of Web Design' * 'Illustrated History of English Literature' * 'Online Search Strategies' (c) Copyright 2001, MANTEX All Rights Reserved PO Box 100 Tel +44 0161 432 5811 Manchester Fax +44 0161 443 2766 M20 6GZ UK www.mantex.co.uk If you like this newsletter, PLEASE FORWARD IT to friends and colleagues. New subscribers should register at the following address -- http://www.mantex.co.uk/newslet.htm FREE BACK ISSUES featuring news items, reviews, and product details are available at - http://www.mantex.co.uk/news/archive.htm Please retain the copyright and subscription information. It may be posted, in its entirety or partially, to newsgroups or mailing lists, so long as the copyright and subscription information remains. If you have any requests, observations, or items you would like to be included in our next issues, just mail us at -- news@mantex.co.uk You receive the MANTEX newsletter because you subscribed to it. If you wish to unsubscribe, go to -- http://www.mantex.co.uk/newslet.htm News-45-April-2001 ISSN 1470-1863 The British Library