Issue 141 - June 20, 2001

ISSN 1488-3163; PC Improvements ©2001
==== 1886 Subscribers in 52 Countries ====

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Welcome to the 141st issue of the PC Improvement News. PCIN consists of news, tips, thoughts, and contests. There is something for everyone, and if this is your first issue, I'm sure there will be something for you. I am willing to discuss any computer topic. Email me at mailto:editor@pcin.net with any suggestions. If you give me two or three issues, I know that you will come back for more!

Recommend PCIN in June and win one of two copies of the Software602 Print Pack, software that lets you email any thing you can print, and that will also create PDFs. Recommend PCIN now at http://www.pcin.net/recommend.shtml

OPENING THOUGHTS

A few of you have signed up for the new Bulletin Board/Forum system. If you have, great! If not, sign-up now at http://pcin.net/cgi-bin/forum/index.cgi You can post questions, answer other questions, or comment on PCIN content.
Note 1: The script uses a cookie, but there is no information collected permanently. Since the forum is a script and the pages are created dynamically, the cookie allows the script to recognize you when you are still in the same session.
Note 2: When signing up, it asks you information about where you live. This is built into the script, but is not required. Feel free to skip anything that isn't required.

Father's Day was Sunday, and Lisa's mother's birthday was on Monday, so we met Lisa's parents at the Metro Toronto Zoo on Saturday. It was a nice day and we spent about 4 hours walking around the zoo. I took some pictures that you can see at http://lcwing.com/toronto_zoo/ and you can visit the main zoo site at http://www.torontozoo.com/

Lastly, if you recommend PCIN in June, you could win one of two copies of the Software602 Print Pack, software that lets you email any thing you can print, and that will also create PDFs. Recommend PCIN now at http://www.pcin.net/recommend.shtml

The NEWS

Apple tells Satanists not to 'Think different'

"Here's an intellectual rebel who apparently won't be the next poster boy for Apple Computer's 'Think different' ad campaign: America's late, leading Satanist.
Apple Computer Inc., which gained fame with its iconoclastic marketing, has told the Church of Satan it does not want to be associated with it, the group said Friday.
The 'Think different' slogan had until recently adorned a picture of Church of Satan founder Anton Szandor LaVey, on the group's Web site, but was pulled along with a 'Made with Macintosh' Web badge at the request of the computer company, the group said."

For more info:
http://www.cnn.com/2001/TECH/internet/06/18/apple.satanists.reut/index.html

Lawyers raise fears over AltaVista's search engine

"Lawyers have warned that companies using AltaVista's new search engine technology are at risk of breaching data protection laws.
Launched last week, AltaVista's new software lets people search entire corporate networks allowing employees to access all network folders, personal computers and emails.
Announcing the launch, Phil Rugani, executive VP of AltaVista's Search Software division said: 'Wherever data resides, whether it is structured or unstructured, AltaVista's software architecture provides a single, universal view to create efficiencies and more intelligent decision making throughout an organisation.'"

For more info:
http://www.theregister.co.uk/content/6/19773.html

Is Microsoft secretly using open source?

"Microsoft Corp., even while mounting a new campaign against open-source software, has quietly been using such free computer code in several major products, as well as on key portions of a popular Web site - despite denying last week that it did so.
Software connected with the FreeBSD open-source operating system is used in several places deep inside several versions of Microsoft's Windows software, such as in the 'TCP/IP' section that arranges all connections to the Internet. The company also uses FreeBSD on numerous 'server' computers that manage major functions at its Hotmail free e-mail service, whose registered users exceed 100 million and make it one of the Web's busiest sites.
Microsoft acknowledged its repeated use of open-source code Friday, in response to questions about the matter. Just two days earlier, it had specifically denied the existence of any such software at Hotmail."

For more info:
http://www.zdnet.com/zdnn/stories/news/0,4586,2776342,00.html

PCIN POLL of the WEEK

I was quite surprised by the results of last week's poll. 33 people responded to the question:

How much are you willing to pay for an MP3 music subscription service per month?

78.79%  Nothing
9.09%    $6 - $10
9.09%    < $5
3.03%    > $20
0.00%    $16 - $20
0.00%    $11 - $15

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

How many hours do you spend online a week from home?

MOBILE COMPUTING NEWS and NOTES

If you want an easy way to set up your own WAP portal/site, just go check out http://www.wapdrive.com/ Once you sign up, you can build your site with their help or by writing the code yourself. They have an emulator and a builder to help you out, and you can list your site in their directory.

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

I NEED HELP

Previous Questions

Q 140-01

I have two icons on my desktop, which have changed to a small size. The rest are still the normal size. Can anyone tell me why?

A 140-01

** said, "There are programs (like 'magic folders') which will let you hide drives, folders or just individual files. And magic folders at least also has the capacity to hold several 'accounts' so that several people may use the program, all hiding their own files from each other."

NO MORE NEW QUESTIONS

I will be using the FreeHelp Forum at http://pcin.net/cgi-bin/forum/index.cgi to answer questions from now on. Please visit the forum to post your questions.
This will allow me to answer questions from anywhere, as well as allow you to get your answers much quicker, either from myself, or from other subscribers.

PCIN.net UPDATE

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

Some Useful Registry Tips (Now 34 Tips)
http://pcin.net/help/articles/registry.shtml

FreeHelp Forum
http://pcin.net/cgi-bin/forum/index.cgi

PC Industry News (updated regularly)
-currently only 6 headlines, but this will grow
http://pcin.net/news.shtml

PCIN Poll of the Week
http://pcin.net/polls/

THE TIPS and OTHER STUFF

Cheap Trick of the Week

**Pop-up menus to order**
When you right-click on a folder, a context menu pops up giving you options such as Open, Explore and Find. But you can add almost any other command you like to this context menu.
It requires a Registry tweak. If you are not familiar with editing the Registry, check the instructions and precautions at www.WE-Compute.com/registry.html.
In the Registry, make your way to HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\Directory\shell. Right click on the shell key and select New and Key. Rename the new key whatever you want the new command to be. For example, if we want to be able to launch Microsoft Word from folder context menus, we might enter Word as the key name.
Then right-click the new key (Word in our example) and again select New and Key. This new key should be named Command. Click once on the new Command key and in the pane on the right side double-click on the Default string name.
In the Edit String dialogue box, enter the path to the file as the Value Data. In our case, the path would be C:\Program Files\Microsoft Office\Office\Winword.exe, but you can make a path to any other program, file or shortcut on your system.
Click on OK, close up the Registry Editor and press F5 to refresh the Registry. Right-click on any folder on the desktop or in Explorer and your new option will be available.

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

Software602 602Pro Print Pack

One of the most frustrating things about the Internet is how temporary some pages can be. You spend hours looking for the right information, you bookmark the page, and then the next time you visit the page, it's gone!
One of the tricks I've been using lately to combat this is to print the web page to a file. Windows already has a plain text "Print to File" option available, but a better alternative is Software602's 602Pro Print Pack.
Software602 is the company that has made the Microsoft Office alternative 602Pro PC Suite. The Print Pack is another excellent program that lets you send any printable file via email or lets you save any printable file as a PDF.
There is a 30-day free trial, and if you decide to keep the program, it's only $19.95.
View the full review online at:
http://pcin.net/help/software/602printpack.shtml

Hardware Troubleshooting Tips

Visit http://www.tccomputers.com/cgi-bin/bp/956754447/tech/techmain.htm to see TC's Computer Peripheral Installation and Trouble-Shooting Guide. It has a little bit of everything, all in one file.
(This would be a good page to print to PDF so you have it handy whenever you need it)

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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