Issue 145 - July 25, 2001

ISSN 1488-3163; PC Improvements ©2001
==== 2265 Subscribers in 56 Countries ====

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Welcome to the 145th 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.

You can reach me at mailto:editor@pcin.net with any suggestions or comments. If you give me two or three issues, I know that you will come back for more!

OPENING THOUGHTS

I received the products from FrontX to review. They make expansion ports that fit into a drive bay at the front of your computer. It seemed like a cool idea when I saw the site, but it is even better than I thought. I'll have a review and some pictures ready in a week or so.

I also received a package from PowerQuest with boxed copies of DriveCopy 4.0, DriveImage 4.0, and PartitionMagic 6.0 to review. This will keep me busy for a while.

Last week I included something that Mike, a subscriber, sent me. It was a recommendation for WinMX, a file-sharing program. Unfortunately I gave the wrong URL. The correct URL is http://www.WinMX.com/
Thanks to Barb for being the first one to point it out to me.

The NEWS

Copy-protected CDs quietly slip into stores

"For the last several months, consumers in ordinary record stores around the world have unwittingly been buying CDs that include technology designed to discourage them from making copies on their PCs.
According to Macrovision, the company that has provided the technology to several major music labels, the test has been going on for four to six months. Although it's not disclosing just which titles have been loaded with the technology, at least one has sold close to 100,000 copies, the company said."

For more info:
http://news.cnet.com/news/0-1005-200-6604222.html

Rogers Cable sued by customers

"Frustration with Rogers Communications Inc.'s erratic high-speed Internet service and credit policy prompted five past and current customers to file a $75-million class-action lawsuit against the company's cable subsidiary Wednesday.
The five Toronto-area customers allege Rogers Cable Inc. has failed to fulfill its agreement to provide its Rogers@Home customers with unlimited connect time to the Internet in exchange for a monthly service fee. The Toronto company has admitted on numerous occasions that it has had service problems but has failed to provide adequate credit to its customers, the lawsuit claims."

For more info:
http://www.globeandmail.com/servlet/RTGAMArticleHTMLTemplate?
tf=tgam/realtime/fullstory_print.html&cf=tgam/realtime/config-neutral&
articleDate=20010725&slug=wfroge&date=20010719

AOL-Amazon Contract Has Takeover Provision

"AOL Time Warner Inc. insisted on a contract provision that would allow it to pursue a takeover of Amazon.com Inc. as part of its agreement to invest $100 million in the giant Internet retailer.
The provision, which was disclosed in an Amazon filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission, permits AOL to suggest an 'extraordinary transaction' with Seattle-based Amazon.com as long as the talks can be kept confidential. AOL spokeswoman Wendy Goldberg declined to comment. Amazon.com spokeswoman Patty Smith also declined comment about the language and whether Amazon, which has never made a profit, is considering a buyout."

For more info:
http://www.newsbytes.com/news/01/168310.html

PCIN POLL of the WEEK

Here are the responses from the last poll:

What speed is your primary connection to the Internet?

56 kbps: 45.16%
Cable: 30.11%
DSL: 18.28%
Other: 2.15%
33.6 kbps: 2.15%
Work Network/LAN: 1.08%
28.8 kbps: 1.08%
14.4 kbps: 0.00%

Total Votes: 93

Visit http://pcin.net/polls/ to participate in the new poll this week:

Which peripheral do you use the most?

MOBILE COMPUTING NEWS and NOTES

I don't know how many times I've been bored with nothing to read; after exhausting all the joke & news sites on my WAP phone, I wished I'd had something more to read.  Now Fictionwise.com will be offering wireless ebooks on 3G phones.  They'll be available on Microsoft's Stinger smartphone platform, viewable with MS Reader.  Believe me, when you're stranded with nothing to do, this will be a big relief....

Brought to you by Shawn Bremner and The Wireless Web ezine. Sign up by sending a blank email to mailto:wirelessweb-subscribe@topica.com

FREEHELP FORUM

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

As I bookmark items to "Favorites" in Internet Explorer, the latest additions pile up at the bottom of the list. I can move them individually into folders, no problem, but I can't find a way to auto-alphabetize the whole set. Possible?

Answer

I found my answer at the following site, which has proven twice to be the perfect source of information:
http://www.boogiejack.com/computer015.html
I must also report that I found this site through this present forum.

Visit http://www.pcin.net/cgi-bin/forum/index.cgi and check out the Software Forum to post your suggestion, or to post a question of your own.

PCIN.net UPDATE

Check out these new or updated pages on the PCIN.net site:

Support PCIN
http://pcin.net/donate.shtml

Some Useful Registry Tips (Now 43 Tips)
http://pcin.net/help/articles/registry.shtml

Updated 1998 and 1999 Archives
http://pcin.net/archive/1998/
http://pcin.net/archive/1999/
(The stories are old, but it is interesting to see how things have changed in just a couple of years)

THE TIPS and OTHER STUFF

Cheap Trick of the Week

**Searching near and far**
Search engines on the Web are never as precise as you want, which is why you end up with 108,295 hits when you plug in a single term to look for.
Use multiple terms joined by AND, OR, NOT and NEAR to narrow down the search.
In many search engines you use the word AND or a plus sign (+) to indicate you want to find sites that use both words, as in Bush + president.
Use the conjunction OR to get sites that contain either of two words, as in Bush OR Gore.
The word NOT or a minus sign (-) indicates you want sites that include one word but not the other, as in Bush NOT Gore.
Employ the preposition NEAR to tell some search engines to find sites with the words close together. You might use president NEAR Bush to get a site about "President George Bush", but rule out sites that include both words appearing far apart, such as an item about how "President" Bill Clinton once told Republicans to stop beating around the "bush".

Get your own copy of "The Little Black Book of Cheap Tricks: 2001" by visiting http://www.pcin.net/lbbct/

Streaming Music

A few weeks ago one of the Lockergnome newsletters featured an 80s streaming radio station at Live365.com. Lisa is a big fan of all-things 80s and so I checked it out. It was very good, but there is so much more at the http://Live365.com/ web site. There are over 37,000 "stations". Some of these are real radio stations. Most of them are streaming MP3s. You can sign up yourself for a 365MB storage space, upload your MP3s, and then have Live365.com stream them so anyone can listen. Some of the streams require a fast Internet connection; others will sound fine on a 33.6 kbps connection.
In case you are interested, here are my 3 favourite streams:
Dr. Horner's Classic Jazz Corner (Jazz) (I listened to this today while I was preparing PCIN)
http://www.live365.com/stations/24152
Fresh & Smooth (Jazz)
http://www.live365.com/stations/10186
The Breakfast Club (80s)
http://www.live365.com/stations/11583

Wireless Public Networks

Subscriber Chris Empey sent me this:
"A listing of publicly accessible Wi-Fi (Wireless Fidelity) access points in the San Francisco Bay area has been set up by Cliff Skolnick, a Bay area network Consultant. In his listing at www.toaster.net are locations in the bay area that have been volunteered by the owners providing free wireless access using 802.11b wireless network products. He also maintains a list of community based 802.11b networks across the world.  Each access point can service about one city block using an AirPort base and an FCC approved antenna, says Skolnick. (From the August 2001 issue of Wired magazine, http://www.wired.com/wired)"

DISCLAIMER and OTHER STUFF

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.

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Graham Wing can be reached at mailto:editor@pcin.net

Copyright 1998-2001, PC Improvements and Graham Wing. All rights reserved.

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