Hi, Everyone,

The ASE Update 3 will be out very soon now.  The CDROM distribution is timed
for the ACM/SIGAda
Ada Awareness Initiative at the DoD Software Technology Conference at the
end of April.
The websites, sponsored by Walnut Creek CDROM, Kennesaw State University,
and Microsoft/Idaho
State University, should soon be online as well (you will find the Walnut
Creek and KSU sites
up, but they are still being tested).

One of the features of Update 3 is the ASE Bookcase, a logical extension to
the Ada User's Bookshelf and
the Software Engineer's Bookshelf in Update 2.  This includes the Ada User's
Bookshelf and the
Software Engineer's Bookshelf (updated from Update 2) as well as a Reference
Shelf and a Special
Reports Shelf.  CNET's Dispatch (mentioned in a previous email) just
reported that Microsoft has
now shipped more than a Million copies of Windows 2000.  See CNET (this link
is timely and may
break as the news grows old):
  http://home.cnet.com/software/0-1497797-7-1679790.html
You will find a Trip Report from the launch of Windows 2000, with a lot more
statistics on the
pre-launch user population, at:

http://unicoi.kennesaw.edu/ase/ase01_07/bookcase/sprpts/win2k_launch/index.h
tm
Note that this is graphics-intensive (runs best on fast web links and
directly from the CDROM).

The issue on Software Quality is also discussed (in both the CNET report and
the ASE Trip Report).

As you know, Ada also has a good story to tell (albeit, a different story),
and the Ada Awareness
Initiative (headed up by Hal Hart) is working to do that (I already
mentioned their presence at
the DoD STC).  You will also find a trip report in the ASE Update 3 Special
Reports section on
the Ada Awareness Initiative effort at the Computer Science Education
Conference in Austin a
couple of months ago.  This is also graphic-intensive, complete with
pictures of the booth and
the volunteers who worked the booth:

http://unicoi.kennesaw.edu/ase/ase01_07/bookcase/sprpts/Ada_Awareness/sigcse
_2000/index.html

You are invited to visit the updated ASE Library websites (note they are
still being tested) at:
  ftp://ftp.freesoftware.com/pub/ase/index.htm
  http://unicoi.kennesaw.edu/ase/index.htm

Note that we have a new website at Walnut Creek CDROM (called
ftp.freesoftware.com), so delete your
old bookmarks to ftp.cdrom.com.  I think you will agree that Free Software
sends a clearer
message of what is there.  It is not yet as busy as before (most people have
not discovered it
yet, and it still have the 5,000 simultaneous user limit).  The other ASE
Library sites, such as
the KSU site, provide useful duplicates, and all the ASE Library sites give
you the ability to
switch from one to the other as you find them busy.

Rick
==============
Richard Conn
Principal Investigator, Reuse Tapestry
http://xenadu.home.mindspring.com/