Welcome to LoanPayment v1.01,  a program to calculate loan payments.  LoanPayment is 
"char-ware" (charitable shareware), where ALL proceeds generated are donated to the 
Juvenile Diabetes Foundation in support of their efforts to fund reasearch to find a 
cure for Juvenile Diabetes.  Register your copy for only $5 US at PilotGear HQ 
(http://www.pilotgear.com).   Your small registration fee will fund research to find 
the cure for this - see the information at bottom for more about Juvenile Diabetes. 
Registering will also get you the registered version of LoanPayment, which gets rid of 
the "nag box" reminder that this unregistered version has.

System Requirements For LoanPayment
----------------------------------
LoanPayment was written onboard my Palm device with Quartus Forth and has been tested 
extensively with Palm OS3.0.  I am not aware of any incompatibilities with older 
operating systems.

Loading LoanPayment into your Palm device
----------------------------------------
Extract LoanPaymentU.prc from the LoanPayment.zip file to a subdirectory on your desktop, 
then use the Palm Desktop's Intall Application (InstApp) as described in your user 
manual to load LoanPayment into your Palm device.  Once loaded, the program will show up
in the launcher of your Palm device.

How To Use LoanPayment
---------------------
Tap the input fields to enter the Loan Amount, number of Payments / Yr, number of 
Loan Years, and the Interest Rate.  Enter values by using grafitti or the built-in 
pop-up keyboard.  After all fields have their input, tap the Calculate button and the 
payment amount will be shown.  For example, if you want to  buy a car and take out a 
loan for $10,000.00 for 5 years at 7% interest, you would enter: 
   10000 in the Loan Amount field;
      12 in the Payments / Yr field;
       5 in the Loan Years field; and
       7 in the Interest Rate field.  

Once all values are entered, tap the Calculate button - the Payment amount of 198.01
is then shown.

To see the effect of changes to the loan amount or interest rate, just re-enter the 
information in the field you want to change, and tap the Calculate button again.  The 
new payment amount will then be shown.

The "Nag Box" Reminder
-------------------------
Each time the unregistered version of LoanPayment is started a box will pop up, asking 
the user to register.  This box will pop up again every 3 times the Calculate button 
is pressed.  The registered version of LoanPayment does not have any "nag box" reminders 
- the sooner you register, the sooner you'll be rid of it!

Evaluation Period
-----------------
The user is granted an evaluation period of 14 days to use LoanPayment without 
registering.  After 14 days, you must either register the software or remove it from 
your Palm device.  When you register, you will receive a registered copy of LoanPayment 
that does not have the "nag box" reminder.

Release / Contact Information
-----------------------------
LoanPayment was written by Barry B. Ekstrand, release 1.0 made in June, 1999.  Questions
or comments can be sent to the author at EkstrandBB@aol.com.  The author's website 
can be found at http://www.members.aol.com/EkstrandBB.

Disclaimer
----------
This software is provided as is and without warranty of any kind.  It is copyrighted 
by Barry B. Ekstrand and is distributed as "char-ware" (charitable shareware) and all
rights are reserved.  This software is NOT placed in the public domain.

Copies of LoanPayment may be distributed to others for evaluation purposes, subject to 
the following conditions:
 1) The entire LoanPayment.zip file must be kept intact (containing both LoanPaymentU.prc 
    and LoanPayment.txt);
 2) Credit for these files must be given to the author, Barry B. Ekstrand, and not 
    taken by anyone else; and
 3) These files must not be sold for profit by anyone and must not be placed on any 
    "collection" disks without express consent of the author, Barry B. Ekstrand.

About Juvenile Diabetes
-----------------------
Our bodies convert the carbohydrates in the food we eat into blood sugar, which is 
then converted to energy for our cells by insulin.  Insulin is produced by the 
pancreas, and diabetes mellitus is the name of the disease that causes a disruption 
or problem in this process.  There are 2 different forms of diabetes mellitus: 
Juvenile Diabetes, also known as  Type 1 or Insulin-Dependent Diabetes Mellitus, and 
Adult Onset Diabetes, also known as Type 2 or Non-Insulin Dependent Diabetes 
Mellitus.  Juvenile Diabetes is so named because it usually (but not always!) begins 
during childhood or adolescence.  Similarly, Adult-Onset Diabetes is so named because 
it usually (but again, not always!) begins during adulthood.  Most people are more 
familiar with Adult-Onset or Type 2 diabetes, as many have friends or family that are 
affected by it.  There are over 15 million Type 2 diabetics in the USA, and this form 
of diabetes can often be controlled or improved by changes in diet.  This is true 
because the pancreas of the Type 2 diabetic still produces insulin, but their body 
needs help in properly utilizing it.

For Type 1 or Juvenile Diabetics, however, this is not true.  Juvenile Diabetes 
results from an autoimmune condition where the cells in the pancreas that manufacture 
insulin are killed off, resulting in an inability for the body to produce insulin. 
Juvenile Diabetics must receive insulin injections every day for the rest of their 
lives in order to survive - they don't outgrow it, and they can't avoid it by simply 
controlling their diet.  Juvenile Diabetes brings some very significant changes to 
the lives of the diabetic and all of their family members, such as:
	- Having to test the blood sugar level of the diabetic throughout the day, 
          usually at least 4 times per day;
	- Giving insulin injections throughout the day, often at 3 or 4 times per 
          day;
	- Monitoring the intake of carbohydrates by the diabetic to ensure a balance 
          with the insulin;
	- Having the daily routine revolve around testing, injections, and eating on 
          fixed schedules;
	- Carrying a 'diabetes kit' of blood monitor, insulin, hypodermic needles, 
          and food everywhere they go.

While adjusting to these changes is a challenge to the family of every Juvenile 
Diabetic, hope is found in the research that is ongoing to cure and cope with this 
disease.  Unfortunately, the governments of the world have not put a priority in 
funding research into a cure for diabetes.  For example, in the USA there are 16 
million diabetics, of which over 700,000 have Juvenile Diabetes. For comparison, 
there are 750,000 people in the USA afflicted with AIDS.  In 1997 there were over 
62,000 deaths in the USA from diabetes and 33,000 deaths from AIDS.  In 1997, the US 
government spent $1.6 billion on research for a cure for AIDS but only $373 million 
on research for a cure for diabetes.  That works out to $2,133 in research for every 
AIDS sufferer, but only $23 in research for every diabetes sufferer.  Diabetes 
sufferers DO NOT want the funding levels for AIDS or other medical research to be 
reduced, but they do want the tremendous disparity to be corrected by dramatically 
increasing the level of spending for a cure for diabetes.

Given the reality of the situation, it is through donations from individuals that 
research is enabled that will ultimately result in this disease being conquered.  The 
Juvenile Diabetes Foundation International was formed to raise funds for research 
towards a cure for Juvenile Diabetes, and is the largest private source of research 
funds for this purpose.  JDF funded over $50 million in research last year, and is 
considered one of the most efficient charitable organizations, with over 80% of 
donation moneys going directly to research funding rather than organizational 
overhead.  This is accomplished through the dedicated support of many volunteers, 
which allows JDF to keep its paid staffing to a minimum.  

I hope you will be able to join us in the effort to find a cure for Juvenile Diabetes 
by registering LoanPayment today.

Thanks,

Barry B. Ekstrand
e-mail: EkstrandBB@aol.com
website: http://members.aol.com/EkstrandBB


LoanPayment Release History
---------------------------

6/22/99 Update to v1.01 - added error-trapping for missing inputs
			- improved handling of memory
			- fixed bug dealing with non-standard number of payments per year

6/19/99 Initial Release v1.0


