Nu Connexions Nutrition Software News
Issue # 1: August 31, 2000
This Issue Written and Edited by Steve Kinsley, RD

Welcome to the opening issue of the Nu Connexions Nutrition Software News!  There are exciting new developments happening in the world of professional nutrition software, but like many other food and nutrition professionals today, you may find it difficult to keep informed of these new developments on top of all your other responsibilities.  This newsletter will strive to keep you informed in one easy-to-access location.

This newsletter will have no predefined frequency, but I will strive to have a new issue approximately every 3 months, and hopefully more often.  I am beginning with a mini-series of articles about what I think are some exciting innovations and expanded functionality in an upcoming release of a small company's software that is slowly gaining recognition in the food and nutrition software marketplace (see "The Little Upstart That Could", below).  Other software vendors are invited to submit articles for future issues, according to the guidelines on the contact form set up for this purpose.  From time to time, I may also post a review of software packages which I have recently used.

And now for this issue's feature article....

"The Little Upstart That Could"

Those of you with young children may know how popular the story, "The Little Engine That Could", can be with the younger generation (maybe even you were inspired by it).  Sometimes, a small company or individual with an extra dose of ingenuity and some inherent flexibility, can revolutionize an industry and turn the heads of buyers and the "big league" companies in the same marketplace.

For example, some of you may have heard about a free computer operating system called Linux (there are also now enhanced versions available for sale by various companies).  A growing number of organizations began to use this operating system, and in the last year, a number of "big name" software companies have started to release versions of their software that run on Linux.  Even Microsoft, the undisputed giant with its Windows operating system, can no longer ignore this little upstart competitor.

The same may become true about a small upstart company in the nutrition and foodservice software field, namely Sasquatch Software Corporation, developers of Food Smart.  Food Smart appeared on the scene in 1995, with a vision of penetrating both the professional and consumer markets, and integrating their software with the Internet.  Nu Connexions is currently involved in the evaluation and testing of some new editions of their software, likely to be released by late Fall or early Winter.  In the next few issues, I will be highlighting some of the more innovative approaches and enhancements that I see as I test the beta versions of their new releases.  Topics will include:

• Their "end-to-end" approach to serving markets from the consumer level to healthcare and foodservice management, and how food and nutrition professionals could leverage this approach to work with the public in new and innovative ways. 

• Integration between the upcoming web and PC-based versions of their software. 

• Putting into layman's terms, some of their technical innovations that make the networking and data integrity of their software outstanding, yet affordable.