The PC Improvement News
Issue 1-18
February 10, 1999

ISSN 1488-3163
Published electronically by PC Improvements (c) 1999
To subscribe or unsubscribe, please visit
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Welcome to the 18th 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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***Sorry this is late. ListBot was upgrading their servers and it wasn't
back on line until Friday night. Saturday morning was the earliest I
could get this done.***


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THE NEWS
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Do you want a free PC?
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A company called ideaLab! Has decided to offer free PCs and free Internet
access to users in exchange for some advertising on the computer. I am
not sure how this would work or look, but I guess if you got a free
computer, you could put up with some ads. Besides, I would imagine you
could get rid of it if you were technical minded enough. You can start
applying for you free PC immediately.

Read the article for more info
http://www.internetnews.com/ec-news/article/0,1087,4_65401_,00.html
http://www.idealab.com/
http://www.free-pc.com/


This past week in Canada...
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This past week in Canada was Y2K awareness week.The federal government
sent out some literature explaining some of the problems and some of the
things that need to be remembered. It was kind of funny as it was
directed to the very beginner. It even went so far as to tell you that
your toaster and iron would not be affected. Good Thing!

In honour of Y2K awareness here are some links of interest:
http://www.year2000.com/
http://www.frbsf.org/fiservices/cdc/bulletins.html
http://www.sba.gov/y2k/
http://pweb.netcom.com/~ggirod/bookmark.html


Fingerprints and Microchips
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According to PC Magazine, Biotechnology is really taking off. This is
when technology is mixed with biology. An example is using a fingerprint
as a password protection. There are actually a couple of things on the
market right now with this technology. It will probably be awhile before
it catches on, but it is neat.

Visit these sites for more info:
http://www.biometrics.org
http://www.emory.edu/BUSINESS/et/biometric/
http://webusers.anet-stl.com/~wrogers/biometrics/
http://www.tibs.org/
http://www.bioapi.org
http://www.dss.state.ct.us/digital.htm


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 considers Windows licensing
http://www.news.com/SpecialFeatures/0,5,27528,00.html?st.ne.fd.mdh
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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Can you type?
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I have been reminded of this lately in a couple of magazine articles as
well as watching some fellow students in the Programmer course I am
taking. It is so important to be able to type! I'm not talking about the
2-finger method. I'm taking about using all digits (fingers). Some
people say they don't have the time, but that isn't true. They have the
time to waste typing slowly. If you take the time to practice, you will
save time in the end.

Visit a shareware web site like
http://www.download.com/ or http://www.winfiles.com and search for typing
tutors. It will be worth it!


An Internet shortcut
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Instead of right clicking on a web page and choosing back or moving up to
the top of the screen to press the back button, try pressing Alt-Left
Arrow. To return forward to the page you were visiting, press Alt-Right
arrow. This trick works in IE4, NS3, NS4, and Opera 3.4. It might work in
other versions of these browsers, but these are the 4 I have on my system.

A lot of people think that using a mouse is fast, but sometimes these
keyboard shortcuts are a lot quicker.


Free magazine subscription
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Do you like to read computer industry publications? I do, and if you visit
http://www.iw.com/subs/subs.html you can apply for a free subscription to Internet
World magazine. The catch is you have to be in the computer or hitech
industry. The application form asks a bunch of questions to determine if
you qualify. If you don't then you can pay for the subscription. Give it
a try anyways. When you do, give priority code 304A.


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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
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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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