The PC Improvement News
Issue 1-31
May 12, 1999

ISSN 1488-3163
Published electronically by PC Improvements (c) 1999
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Welcome to the 31st 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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HELLO! After a busy few weeks, this week's newsletter will be a little
shorter than normal. I'm still trying to come up with some original
contests, so if you have any ideas, let me know.

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THOUGHT OF THE WEEK
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"Life is a petty thing unless it is moved by the indomitable urge to
extend its boundaries. Only in proportion as we are desirous of living do
we really live."
          -Ortega

Thought courtesy of http://www.HappyPublishing.com/

To subscribe to the FREE "Aspire to Something Higher" Thought-Of The Day,
send a blank email to HappyQuotes-subscribe@listbot.com

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THE NEWS
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IBM and Storage
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IBM claims it has tripled its storage record. It has created a device that
fits 20.3 billion bits in a square inch of data storage. Their old record
was around 6 billion bits. Many researchers and analysts believe that we
are reaching the upper limits of what our current data storage technology
can store.

For more info:
http://www.news.com/News/Item/0,4,36433,00.html?st.ne.fd.mdh.ni


Red Had Linux 6 Available.
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As people become disenchanted with Microsoft, many of them are turning to
alternative operating systems. One of the most popular right now and one
that always seems to be in the news is Linux. A company called Red Hat
Software just released their version 6. I currently have version 5.2 but I
haven't installed it yet. I will be doing so in a few weeks. Until then, I
would like to invite any subscribers who have used Linux to email me at
editor@pcin.net and tell me how it went. Can you use a winmodem
in it? How did you get around the Plug and Play problems? I'll share any
responses in future newsletters. If you haven't tried Linux and would like
to, also let me know. Maybe we can all help each other.

For more info:
http://www.redhat.com/


White House Web Site Hacked
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In a well publicizes event, several hackers tried to break into the White
House web site. It appears that either they didn't succeed or they didn't
do any harm. There is nothing sensitive on the site anyway. Most people
feel that the NATO bombings and especially the accidental bombing of the
Chinese Embassy angered the hackers.

For more info:
http://www.cnn.com/TECH/computing/9905/12/whitehouse.site.02/index.html
http://www.whitehouse.gov/


Sony Robot Dog
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Last night on the local news I saw a clip about the new robot dog that
Sony has created. It has something like 60 joints so that is moves much
more like a dog than most toys. It is also program to react like a dog
does in many situations. The price will be something like $2500 so I don't
know how many people will be buying it.

For more info:
http://www.cnn.com/TECH/ptech/9905/11/robot.pet.ap/index.html
http://www.sony.com/


Cyber Trial of the Century
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For information on the Microsoft vs DOJ trial, visit:
http://www.zdnet.com/zdnn/special/msdojtrial.html


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THE TIPS and OTHER STUFF
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Defrag Before Everything Loads
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I've had a few people email me with problems when they defrag. It keeps
restarting. This is because when programs are running (such as Antiviral
software) in the background, it can slightly change the contents of the
hard drive. This causes the program to restart. To avoid this, you can
manually end every program. An easier thing to do is to go t your registry
and find HKLM\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\RunServicesOnce.
If that key does not exist, create it. Then add a string called Defrag
and type the value of defrage.exe in it. This will cause the Defrag
program to start before anything is loaded.
Note: If you don't know about the Registry, then don't try this. For
advanced users only.
This tip comes from the ZD Journals. Visit http://www.zdjournals.com/w9p/


Freeware is better than Shareware
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I hate shareware. Sure it is great to use programs for free for 30 days,
but I hate the nag screens and rarely are the programs worth paying for. I
like freeware better. As the name suggests, these programs are free and
there are no nag screens at all. There are several sites where you can get
these sorts of programs, but one of the better ones is at
http://www.freewarefiles.com/


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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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