The PC Improvement News
Issue 1-15
January 13, 1999

ISSN 1488-3163
Published electronically by PC Improvements (c) 1999
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Welcome to the 15th edition of the PC Improvement News. In this newsletter,
I have a couple of tips to make your computing life easier as well as
highlights of the past weeks PC Industry News. I am more than willing to
discuss any PC related topics in this newsletter. Just email me at
editor@pcin.net with your suggestions. I would also appreciate it
if you let me know if there is any strange formatting in the newsletter so
that I can fix them.

Give me two or three issues, and I know that you will get something great
out of this!


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SOME OPENING THOUGHTS
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None


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THE NEWS
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Is there a retirement home for PCs?
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With the price of computers falling virtually everyday, a lot of people
can't be bothered to upgrade. They just buy a brand new computer. This
is a great thing, but there is always the question of what do you do with
the old computers. You could give it to your friend, try to sell it in
one piece or for parts, or you could keep it as a spare in the basement.

Read the article for more info
http://www.news.com/News/Item/0,4,30365,00.html?pt.isyndicate.ne.hl


Prodigy cleared in email lawsuit
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Prodigy, and internet service provider, was involved in a case where an
unidentified person had impersonated a Prodigy user by sending profane
e-mail and bulletin board messages with his signature. The suit charged
that Prodigy did not take proper action. The court found Prodigy no liable
for the actions of the prankster.

This was an important decision as many people have wondered how
responsible an ISP is for the things that happen through its users
accounts. Read the article for more info
http://www.cnnfn.com/digitaljam/9901/04/prodigy/


"It" is online
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Stephen King has a web site. He was sick and tired of all of the various
rumours that are spread about him.

Mr King is just another in a line of celebrities who have their own pages.
it gives them a chance to set the record straight on some of the rumours,
as well as give their fans a place to learn about them.

http://www.techserver.com/noframes/story/0,2294,4420-7784-53793-0,00.html
http://www.stephenking.com/


Microsoft and Y2K
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Microsoft has decided to join in the fun of trying to help everyone with
their Y2K problems.

"One component is an analyzer tool that examines PC hard disks and informs
system administrators which Microsoft products on those PCs are compliant
and which need to be patched. The tool will be available this quarter,
downloadable free from Microsoft's Web site and via a free CD subscription
service. The service also provides quarterly updates on year 2000
compliance issues associated with Microsoft products"

http://www.techweb.com/se/directlink.cgi?IWK19990111S0029


What's up with Microsoft?
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Every week, I will provide several links to articles about the Microsoft
case with the DOJ. I will provide no editorial comments, other than this.
I think that Microsoft should give every company a chance to compete, but
I don't think that they should be under such intense scrutiny as they are
right now. People complain about the Starr report costing so much money.
Well, this DOJ case won't be cheap for either side, and I don't really
think that anything will come from this. A waste of time!

Links:
Government's final witness says Microsoft would win browser monopoly
http://www.techserver.com/noframes/story/0,2294,4832-8518-58361-0,00.html
Judge Keeps Windows Pricing Info Private
http://www.techweb.com/wire/story/TWB19990111S0006
Judge exhibits opinion piece about Netscape-AOL merger
http://www.seattletimes.com/news/technology/html98/micr_010699.html
Cyber Trial of the Century
http://www.zdnet.com/zdnn/special/msdojtrial.html
**Check this site out often as it is updated daily as new case information
becomes available**


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THE TIPS
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What's the deal with the Temporary Internet Files directory? Part II
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I finally got the Temporary Internet Files article written, but I did not
receive any comments from any of the readers. I had a lot of readers and
other visitors to my site read the article, and I was hoping to share some
of the findings with others. If you haven't read it yet, please read it at
http://www.pcimprovements.com/help/articles/tif.shtml and send me your feedback with
regards to whether or not you have the same problem.


Classic books online
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Carnegie Mellon University, in Pittsburgh PA has a collection of 7000
books that are searchable by content, author, and title. This would be a
great help if you wanted a short quote to support something that you are
presenting.

Check it out at:
http://www.cs.cmu.edu/booklists.html


Downloading files from the Internet
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When you click on a zip file or an exe file on the Internet, you always
get a dialog box that asks you where you want to save it. What happens
when you click on a link to a txt (text) file? the file usually opens up
in the browser. There has been many times where this has happened to me
when all I wanted to do was to save it to my hard drive.

The way to fix this is to in IE right click on the link and choose the
Save Target As option. IE will then find the target (even if it is a zip
or exe file, and automatically save it for you without either showing it
to you first or making you work through the regular dialog box.


There is more to a PC than Microsoft products
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I like Microsoft products. There I said it. It might be uncool to say
that, but it is true. My problem is, this newsletter is called PC
Improvements, and so I need to broaden my horizons. I need help doing
this. If you are a Netscape user, a Corel WordPerfect Suite user, or a
user of any other major software program, I invite you to send me your
tips for those programs. I will give you full credit in the newsletter
(email address, URL, whatever you want me to include).


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Lastly, send in your comments, tips and news and you too can be included in
The PC Improvement News with a reference to your name and web site.
Send email to pcinews@pcimprovements.com
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Well, that's all for this week. Remember that if there is anything that you
want to learn about, let me know and I will try to accommodate you. Also,
feel free to send any comments about the newsletters and the topics covered.
This newsletter is sent to those who subscribed only. We don't believe in
SPAM, so if you have somehow gotten this and you don't want it, please see
the subscribe/unsubscribe options at the start of the newsletter.

The PC Improvement News is brought to you by PC Improvements. The opinions
expressed are those of the editor, Graham Wing. PC Improvements and Graham
Wing accept no responsibility (either good or bad) for the results obtained
from trying the tips in this newsletter.
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Editor: Graham Wing can be reached at editor@pcin.net

Copyright 1999, PC Improvements and Graham Wing. All rights reserved.
This publication may be reproduced in whole, or in part, as long as the
editor is notified.

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