ISSN 1488-3163; PC Improvements © 2001
==== 2224 Subscribers in 59 Countries ====
Welcome to the 166th issue of the PC Improvement News. PCIN consists mainly of news and tips. There is something for everyone, and if this is your first issue, I'm sure there will be something for you. If you give me two or three issues, I know that you will come back for more!
You can reach me at editor@pcin.net with any suggestions or comments.
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Christmas is only a week ago. Lisa and I have almost everything ready. We'll be visiting with her parents on Sunday and Monday, and then with my family on Christmas day. Lisa is making her first turkey this year. We'll see how it turns out :-)
I have quite a bit of time off around Christmas, so I hope to get several more things done on the web site. I have a few reviews that are almost finished (VMWare, Virtual PC, Siren Jukebox) and should be able to get them all done. Once those are done, I will be almost caught up. If there are any products that you'd like to have reviewed, let me know and I'll see what I can do. Email me at editor@pcin.net
The newsletter will go out as normal next Wednesday (Boxing Day), but since this is the last newsletter before Christmas, both Lisa and I wish all of you a Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays!
A Chip ID That's Only Skin-Deep
"A Florida company is poised to become the first to sell microchips designed to be implanted into human beings, an achievement that opens the door to new systems of medical monitoring and ID screening.
Implantable chips have long been discussed by technologists and denounced by those who object on religious grounds or fear their use by a totalitarian state. But the company that did the test, Applied Digital Solutions of Palm Beach, said the specter of terrorism is shifting attitudes. The direct union of man and computer is no longer dismissed out of hand."For more info:
http://www.latimes.com/technology/la-000100545dec19.story
Psychologist untangles the Web of cybersex
"The computer is a tantalizing 21st century "sex toy" that looks benign but can explode like a land mine, trashing the private and work lives of a surprisingly large number of Americans, says psychologist Kimberly Young. Contrary to popular belief, cybersex addiction isn't a problem restricted to lowlife losers you'd never want to know, Young reports. She has counseled several thousand couples over the past seven years at her Center for online Addiction in Bradford, Pa. Her clientele is loaded with lawyers, doctors, CEOs and elected officials. "These are people who go to church every Sunday," she says."
For more info:
http://news.cnet.com/news/0-1005-200-8130582.html
The High Cost of Viruses
"Computer Economics estimates that computer viruses cost American businesses $17 billion last year, up from $12 billion in 1999. For example, the firm believes that Code Red, which might have infected as many as 975,000 servers, caused companies to spend about $1 billion to clean infected systems, inspect more than 8 million servers to determine the need for patches, and if necessary, patch, test, certify, and return those systems to normal service. The price tag for the loss of productivity of system users, support staff, Help desk staff, and other staff responsible for assisting internal end users, IT staff, and customers worldwide added another $1.4 billion."
I don't see how they get figure all of this out. $17 billion seems excessive.
For more info:
http://www.windows2000mag.com/Files/22941/Graph_01.gif
Visit the PCIN FreeHelp Forum to post your questions or answer others. Each week I highlight a question, and where to go to get the answer.
Question
Looking for good step by step explanation of creating logon scripts for winnt domain with win95/98 clients. I just set up my first winnt4 server and want to control clients via logon scripts. This server is in a high school that has several computer science students. Before server I used reg files on each client to lock desktop, network applet, printers and a few other tamper items. I want to use logon scripts for student accounts to run the reg files and a logon script for admin types to reverse the reg controls.
Answer
No answer given yet.
Do you know the answer or have a suggestion? Visit http://www.pcin.net/cgi-bin/forum/index.cgi and check out the General Discussion Forum. Post your answer or post a question of your own.
Check out these new or updated pages on the PCIN.net site:
WE Compute Magazine's Cheap Tricks of the Week
http://pcin.net/help/articles/cheaptricks.shtml
(The entire collection is in Microsoft Word format and is more than 30 pages long. You can download the file from here)Windows Registry Tips and Tweaks
http://pcin.net/help/articles/registry.shtml
(The entire collection is in Microsoft Word format and is more than 14 pages long. You can download the file from here)
Cheap Trick of the Week
Iconography 101
You don't have to accept every desktop icon that your Windows computer gives you to represent a file or folder. You can replace an icon with an existing graphic.
Click Start, Programs, Accessories, and Paint. In Paint open any graphic file, though bitmap files work best (you'll know them by their .bmp extensions). To ensure your new icon doesn't lose its detail, don't select a large picture.
Choose "Save as" and rename the file, making sure you use ".ico" as the file's extension, as in filename.ico. Save the file to a location on your hard drive where you can easily find it, perhaps a special folder you've created for odd files like these. Close Paint.
Now right-click on one of the existing, boring icons on your desktop. From the drop-down menu, choose Properties, then the Shortcut tab. Now choose the Change Icon button, then Browse. Find your newly created icon, double-click on it, then choose OK in both windows. Your new icon should now appear on your desktop, replacing the original.
(Unfortunately, the Recycle Bin, My Computer and a few other icons that come with Windows cannot be changed this easily. You'll need more complicated Cheap Tricks for them.)Get your own copy of "The Little Black Book of Cheap Tricks: 2001" by visiting http://www.pcin.net/lbbct/
Windows Notepad Replacements
Subscriber Richard Holt email me a couple about a couple of good Notepad replacements:
"Metapad is a small, fast (and completely free) text editor for Windows 9x and Windows NT (2000) with similar features to Microsoft Notepad but with many extra (and rather useful) features. It was designed to completely replace Notepad since it includes (just about) all of Notepad's features and much, much more. Edits/Saves in DOS, UNIX, Unicode, UniBigEndian.
Available from http://liquidninja.com/metapad/
Notespad (*s* just to show file name difference ) has many Windows dictionaries for 6 or 7 languages. It is no longer being improved but still available at http://www.newbie.net/NotesPad/ and other sites, it works great at stripping html tags.
[I use Notespad to check Spanish email; Metapad with Windows Commander for viewing and editing.]"
Trojan Horse Resource
Subscriber Christy email me this about the web site that she helps with:
"Our main web page can be found at http://www.hackfix.org/ This page is a trojan help site for users who have found themselves infected with a trojan and require help/information to remove it. We also have a general Virus Help email list where readers can get answers to their (anti) virus related concerns. Information can be found at http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Hackfix-VirusHelp Subscribing is as easy as sending an empty email to Hackfix-VirusHelp-subscribe@yahoogroups.com"
PCIN 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 for the results obtained from trying the tips in this newsletter.
Graham Wing can be reached at editor@pcin.net
Copyright 1998-2001, PC Improvements and Graham Wing. All rights reserved.
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