The PC Improvement News
Issue 1-20
February 24, 1999

ISSN 1488-3163
Published electronically by PC Improvements (c) 1999
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Welcome to the 20th 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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Funny thought
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This doesn't have to do with computers or the net, but this morning I was
listening to the local sports radio station (http://www.fan590.com). They
were doing an interview with Blue Jays manager Tim Johnson. In response to
a questions about some of his lies about the Vietnam War, he quoted the
bible about not throwing stones if you have sin. The host then said, "If
that is true, then I don't even need to have either of my arms!" :-)


More on Amazon and losing money
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A good friend of mine, Shawn Bremner recently emailed me
telling me that it is very common for companies to lose money...

"Graham,
I've noticed your musings on the subject of companies that don't pull a
profit. Actually, there are many well known companies that don't make
profits and it is very, very normal.

If a company is making a huge revenue, selling mounds of stock, and
receiving tons of investment income from banks, domestic & abroad, and
still not pulling a profit, that is really common. A company like that is
receiving incredible operating income which is enough to pay their
employees, enough to pay for advertising, enough to operate their day to
day functions, enough to do anything they want and still have a party
every month... You'll probably find that Amazon.com probably plans to
be profitable in a certain amount of years. If they don't reach that goal,
well, that's ok, because in the process of losing investor income & stock,
they still made may people very rich, helped pay mortgages, put people
through school, made advertising sellers rich, and boosted the economy.
AND, they leave behind HUGE assets... Again, this is all very, very
normal. Ask your accountant father.

Shawn"

Well Shawn, this may be true, but it still stinks. You should be in
business to make money. If they go under, then what about all of the
investors who lost all of their profits? What about all of the employees
who can't enjoy those parties? What about all of those mortgages left
unpaid? You have to make money!


Did any of you see it?
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Last night (Tuesday) there was supposed to be a live heart bypass surgery
on the Internet. I didn't bother to check it out, but I was wondering if
any of you saw it. If you did, please email me a small paragraph about it
and I will include it in next weeks newsletter.

For more info visit:
http://www.urlwire.com/newsarchive/021899.html


Can politicians SPAM?
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In a very interesting turn of events, a New Jersey politician has used
email to SPAM to contact people because "You are receiving this message
because you have participated in discussions about political issues on the
Internet and having done so, have solicited contact on the subject."
Crazy, just because I have participated in a discussion group doesn't mean
I want email. When people email them complaining, they replied, "This is
OUR E-mail account. We pay for it. We may use it to communicate our
thoughts to whomever has an e-mail address because the Internet is the
equivalent of a public square." WOW! I don't know if that sets some kind
of precedent, but it would not be good if you could send email to anyone
about anything.

It is a good article. Check it out at:
http://www.salonmagazine.com/21st/feature/1999/02/19feature.html


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:
Microsoft disputes QuickTime allegation
http://www.news.com/News/Item/Textonly/0,25,32572,00.html
Microsoft denies sabotage
http://www.cnnfn.com/digitaljam/9902/18/microsoft/
MS socked with two class action suits
http://www.zdnet.com/zdnn/stories/news/0,4586,2214042,00.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 and OTHER STUFF
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Do you do home repair?
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Maybe some of you found my site in the search engines when you searched
for Home Improvements. Since my page is called PC "IMPROVEMENTS" and it is
my "HOME" Page, I have been getting those types of searches. If you are
interested in doing home repair, then visit
http://www.naturalhandyman.com/index.shtm and look around. There are lots
of tips and you even have a chance to ask questions.


A Drag and Drop tip
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Have you ever noticed that when you try to move a file by dragging and
dropping, some times it works and sometimes it doesn't. There are some
crazy rules like if you move it to another drive it only makes a shortcut,
if you are moving an exe file, it only makes a shortcut no matter where it
is going, text documents always move, etc. It can get very frustrating.
When you what to move things, instead of dragging with the left mouse
button, do it with the right mouse button. Every time you release the
button, you will get a small menu asking if you want to move, copy, or
create a shortcut. It is very handy, and that is the ONLY way I do my
moving, cutting, or pasting.


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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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