Issue 232 - March 26, 2003

ISSN 1488-3163; PC Improvements © 2003
==== 2154 Subscribers in 60 Countries ====

Welcome to the 232nd 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.

Recommend PCIN at http://PCIN.net/recommend.php

Support PCIN at http://PCIN.net/donate.php

CONTENTS

Opening Thoughts

I'm flying solo this week. Chris is on vacation. Actually, I'm flying solo at home tonight as well. Lisa and Andrew have gone to visit her sister who just had a baby last Tuesday. Their going this morning and will be back tomorrow afternoon. I suppose I can take care of myself for 1 day :-)

A few weeks ago Chris reviewed the Logitech Cordless Freedom Optical keyboard/mouse combo. When Chris spoke with Nathan Papadopulos of Logitech Public Relations, he found out that there was a newer model. Nathan offered to send him the newer one. A few days later 2 large packages showed up with 3 new keyboard/mouse combinations (all different models) and a new rechargeable cordless mouse. We are in the process of looking at all of them, but first impressions indicate that they are fantastic products. I've been using a Cordless Navigator Duo and love it. It is superior in almost every way to the Microsoft Office Keyboard and Microsoft Wireless IntelliMouse Explorer that I was using. Add to that how accommodating Mr. Papadopulos has been and I have become a Logitech convert. We'll have full reviews soon.

Graham editor@pcin.net and Chris chris@pcin.net

The NEWS

U.S. EBay Seller Refuses Canucks

On eBay, the highest bid wins -- unless the item on sale is a laser printer from CompAtlanta and the bidder happens to be Canadian.
That's what a tax consultant discovered last week when he tried to buy a printer on eBay, but was refused by the vendor when it was discovered he lived in Vancouver.
David Ingram received notification that his winning bid of $24.50 had been canceled, along with this message: "At the present time, we do not ship to, or accept bids from, Canada, Mexico, France, Germany or any other country that does not support the United States in our efforts to rid the world of Saddam Hussein. If you are not with us, you are against us."

For more info:
http://www.wired.com/news/ebiz/0,1272,58190,00.html

Former Vice President Al Gore Joins Apple's Board

Apple Computer Wednesday said it has elected former Vice President of the United States, Al Gore Jr. to its board of directors.
The Cupertino, Calif.-based computer maker has been operating without a full board since Oracle CEO Larry Ellison departed last September for personal reasons. Ellison had been on Apple's board for five years.
Gore, who also serves as a senior advisor to Google, is "an avid Mac user and does his own video editing in Final Cut Pro," according to Apple CEO Steve Jobs.

For more info:
http://siliconvalley.internet.com/news/article.php/2119091

LookSmart searches for volunteer PCs

LookSmart is hoping to spin a small acquisition into a big project that will use distributed computing to improve its Web search results.
In January, LookSmart quietly bought the assets of Grub, an Oklahoma-based developer of technology that lets people donate their computers' otherwise unused processing power to run spiders, or software programs that continually crawl the Net, indexing pages and words. This collective, or distributed, computing power could be used to find new, outdated or updated Web pages daily.

For more info:
http://zdnet.com.com/2100-1104-993591.html

Whatever Happened to Internet2 - And Why You Can't Touch It

Internet2 , the next-generation network that supposedly leaves the mainstream Internet in the dust, is still an ivory-tower project cloistered in universities and research labs. If you are a graduate student at a U.S. university with a major computing center, you may get your hands on it, but if you are sitting at home waiting to reap direct benefits from this mammoth project, you face a long wait.
Why is it, then, that everyone who talks about Internet2 says it is crucial to development of next-generation technologies that will benefit all users?

For more info:
http://www.newsfactor.com/perl/printer/21047/

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POLL of the WEEK

This Week's Poll

How do you feel about online gambling?

All gambling is wrong
Doesn't interest me
I prefer to gamble in person
I love it

You can also vote online at http://PCIN.net/polls/

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PCIN.net FREEHELP FORUM

Visit the PCIN.net FreeHelp Forum at http://PCIN.net/help/forum/ to post your questions or answer others.

Question

I have download ClAudio to convert cassette to MP3. I have recorded one song but the sound quality is not good. I have to increase the volume to listen the song. Even though I have set it to stereo type.
Is there any other software to convert cassette to MP3, so that I can get good quality of sound.

Response

The quality of sound you receive from your MP3 will be of the same quality as the cassette recording.
If the volume is low, adjust the preamp or recording levels on your software or adjust the output (recording)volume on your cassette desk. If none are available, use an amplifier between your sound card and cassette deck on the cable.

To post a response, visit the Software How-To forum at http://PCIN.net/help/forum/index.php?board=6 and click on the "How to convert cassette to MP3" topic.

Visit http://PCIN.net/help/forum/ to post a question of your own.

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PCIN.net UPDATE

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

Logitech Cordless Freedom Optical Hardware Review
http://PCIN.net/help/hardware/lcfo.php

Some Useful Registry Tips - Now 171 Tips!
http://PCIN.net/help/articles/registry_tips.php

Paragon Hard Disk Manager 5.5 Software Review
http://PCIN.net/help/software/paragonhdm55.php

Object Desktop Software Review
http://PCIN.net/help/software/objectdesktop.php

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THE TIPS and OTHER STUFF

More Microsoft Word Tips

Different arrows in Word

Word's AutoComplete and AutoCorrect features let you type in a couple of characters and automatically have it change to something else. If you would like to insert arrows into your document, try the shortcuts below. Unfortunately due to HTML limitations, I can't show you what the end result is. You'll have to try it yourself.

--> creates an arrow pointing to the right
<-- creates an arrow pointing to the left
==> creates a thick arrow pointing to the right
<== creates a thick arrow pointing to the left
<=> creates a double arrow (arrow head pointed both ways)

Change Character Case

Press Shift+F3 when you have a selection highlighted to toggle case from Title Case, UPPERCASE, and lowercase.
Press CTRL+SHIFT+K to change the sentence to all caps, but with larger caps for words that are capitalized (you'll have to try this one to see it).

Restoring Formatting

If you have applied font or paragraph formatting to a selection, press CTRL+SHIFT+N to get back to normal.
Press CTRL+SPACE to remove character formatting only (the paragraph formatting would remain the same but the font formatting would be Normal.

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DISCLAIMER and OTHER STUFF

PCIN is brought to you by Graham Wing. The opinions expressed are those of the Editor, Graham Wing and the Assistant Editor, Chris Empey. Graham Wing and Chris Empey accept no responsibility for the results obtained from trying the tips in this newsletter.

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Graham Wing can be reached at editor@pcin.net
Chris Empey can be reached at chris@pcin.net

Copyright 1998-2003, 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 as is.

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