With Michael Edwards's queries in mind, I'll remark here that both XyWrite itself & also much of the discussion in this list can be intimidating. Neither is as difficult as it may seem. Anyone in the least accustomed to computers can pick up run-of-the-keyboard XyWrite within a few hours, & without help, too. Exploiting XPL -- & understanding discussion by experts thereof -- is illuminating but neither essential nor urgent. XPL can wait till you're ready. (It's still waiting for me.) As for recent pyrotechnics, well, several years ago I flamed in frustration both the list owner & also a mysterious contributor who was given to posts consisting in their entirety of `Yes. -- k.' I soon realized that I was quite wrong about the former. Here I record that several Old Reliables helped me through that regrettable episode both off list & on. I particularly recall kind words from Tim Baehr, Daniel Say, & -- yesss, Annie. (Help from Carl Distefano came later.) Wendell Cochran West Seattle