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.
- If any of the links are too long to fit on one line,
you may have to cut and paste.
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http://www.pcin.net/
and follow the appropriate links.
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and be entered in a monthly draw.
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You have either been subscribed by filling out a subscription
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on my site.
- Support PCIN by visiting http://www.pcin.net/donate.shtml
Graham Wing can be reached at mailto:editor@pcin.net
Copyright 1998-2001, PC Improvements and Graham Wing. All
rights reserved.
This publication may be reproduced in whole, or in part,
as long as the author is notified and the newsletter is presented
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