I just had a really odd thought. Horizon is a passable diet journal, as long as you weigh yourself no more than once a day.
The max, min, and average functions let you analyse your progress.
Sure you can buy programs that are designed for diets, but look at it this way: is there any other finance program out there that can help you lose weight?
It was my father’s 75th birthday recently, so I bought him a new toy. For years now he’s had an interest in RC Helicopters, but the cost, complexity, and difficulty of controlling them has held him back.
I think I solved the problem. I got him a Havoc Heli, from Airhogs. (You’ll have to click through the site, because it’s all Flash.) This little thing is wonderful. And it lists for $29.95 US. The fuselage is styrofoam, with plastic rotors and a minute, functional tail rotor with it’s own motor. It has a flashing LED inside, too. It has a tiny battery that is charged by the remote control, and then you have two controls, throttle and direction. The battery is good for about 5 minutes of total flight time before recharge.
Now, one of my father’s habits is meeting up early in the morning (around 7:30 AM) with his pals for coffee. The place they hang out now is a restaurant in a local mall that they’ve convinced to out early. So this morning he took the Havoc down there, and they were flying it around inside the Mall!
He said he probably could have sold half-a-dozen of the things on the spot, if he’d had them.
Check it out. They’re available almost everywhere now, just don’t buy it from the website or TV ad that wants $40.00 for them. You should be able to find one for $30 US or less.
I should have done that yesterday, but with the holiday falling on a Sunday, everyone is celebrating Canada’s 140th birthday today.
Anyway, the real point of this post is to ask for suggestions for Horizon. It really seems that once you ‘get’ Horizon you really get Horizon, and realize the power, depth, and potential of the program. The problem is the ‘barrier to entry’. Some people download the program, install the app, and double-click on it. They haven’t watched the screencasts, and they haven’t looked at the help. So they’ve got a blank calendar staring at them, and they don’t know where to start.
So, what can I do to lower the ‘barrier to entry’? I’m really looking for suggestions here. If you’re a current Horizon user, can you tell me how you got started? If you downloaded it and gave up on it, can you tell me what would make things easier for you?
Would the old Microsoft/Adobe ‘Tip of the Day’ window at start-up help? Would a starter document be useful? Is there any way I can build in a tutorial? Please let me know what you think is missing.
