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Issue 307 - September 01, 2004

ISSN 1488-3163; PC Improvements © 2004
==== 1973 Subscribers in 58 Countries ====

Welcome to the 307th 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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Support PCIN at http://PCIN.net/donate.php

CONTENTS

Opening Thoughts

I can't believe we've made it to September already! The summer has flown by.

Speaking of flying, I'm flying solo for the next couple of issues. Chris is flying to London tomorrow morning for a vacation. Have fun!

Lastly, I just thought I would let everyone know that this Friday is my birthday. I'm turning 29! We're having a family barbeque at my sister Julia's place on Saturday.

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

The NEWS

Net gets blamed for high UK divorce rate

"The number of divorces in England and Wales continued to rise in 2003 to reach a total of 153,490, marking the third consecutive year of rising divorce rates according to the Office of National Statistics (ONS). For the first time, the internet, and more specifically dating sites and sites that reunite old friends, are being mooted as factors behind the increase in marriage breakdowns.
'There are of course a number of reasons behind the rise in divorce rates,' said Christine Northam, a spokesperson with Relate, a counselling firm, 'but chat rooms and sites which reunite friends make it easier for unhappy husbands or wives to meet other people and possibly go on to have an affair.'"

For more info:
http://www.enn.ie/news.html?code=9550235

Philadelphia mulls wireless society

"For about $10 million, city officials believe they can turn all 135 square miles of Philadelphia into the world's largest wireless Internet hot spot.
The ambitious plan, now in the works, would involve placing hundreds, or maybe thousands of small transmitters around the city -- probably atop lampposts. Each would be capable of communicating with the wireless networking cards that now come standard with many computers."

For more info:
http://edition.cnn.com/2004/TECH/internet/09/01/wireless.cities.ap/index.html

Have 25 Years of Progress Helped?

"Have we gotten any smarter over the past quarter century, or have instant access to information and all those wonderful technological advances made us more confused and far crazier than we were in 1979?
That's the question that scientists, hackers and artists will debate this week at Ars Electronica, the world's largest festival of technology and art. This year's theme is "Timeshift -- The World in 25 Years," in honor of the 25th anniversary of the festival, which will be held Sept. 2-7 in Linz, Austria. The many exhibitions, symposiums and events are all intended to identify the ideas that are likely to be the driving forces in art, technology and society over the next quarter century.

For more info:
http://www.wired.com/news/culture/0,1284,64794,00.html

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POLL of the WEEK

Last Week's Poll

How many email accounts do you check regularly?

1 17 % (20)
2 24 % (28)
3-5 45 % (53)
6-10 8 % (10)
11-20 6 % (7)
> 20 0 % (0)
Total votes: 118

This Week's Poll

For people who live more than 30 minutes drive away from you, what is your primary way to contact them?

Email
Instant message
Phone
I still prefer to drive and see them in person

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

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PCIN.net UPDATE

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

Newsgator 2.0 by Newsgator Technologies Software Review
http://PCIN.net/help/software/newsgator2.php

CDBF for Windows by WhiteTown Software Software Review
http://PCIN.net/help/software/cdbf.php

Photoshop Elements 2.0 plus Photoshop Album 2.0 by Adobe Software Review
http://PCIN.net/help/software/elementsplusalbum.php

Updated PCIN.net Site Search
http://PCIN.net/search.php

Updated Windows Registry Tips and Tweaks Article
http://PCIN.net/help/articles/registry_tips.php

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THE TIPS and OTHER STUFF

Trend Micro Anti-Spam 1.0 Pilot

"The Trend Micro Anti-Spam 1.0 Pilot delivers a free-of-charge tool for Microsoft Outlook users that provides sophisticated, effective and easy-to-use spam filtering capability to combat the spam problem prevalent today."
Give it a try. You can download it at http://www.trendmicro.com/en/products/desktop/anti-spam/evaluate/overview.htm

Switch to Windows' basic search tool

This was taken from the August 12, 2004 issue of the "Windows XP Tips at TechRepublic.com" newsletter:
"As you probably know, the Windows XP Search Companion provides users with a lot of bells and whistles designed to make searching for files on hard drives much easier. But sometimes all of these extra features just get in the way.
If you're longing for Windows 2000's basic search tool, it doesn't have to be in vain. The basic search tool is still available in Windows XP, and you can activate it with a quick registry edit.
Follow these steps:
Open the Registry Editor (Regedit.exe).
Navigate to HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\ CurrentVersion\Explorer\CabinetState.
Go to Edit | New | String Value.
Name the new value Use Search Asst.
Double-click the new value, type no in the Value Data text box, and click OK.
Close the Registry Editor, and restart the system.
To switch back to the Search Companion, just go back to the Registry Editor, and change the Value Data to yes."

Learn the Net

"Learn the Net, a guide to the Internet and World Wide Web: Discover why Yahoo!Internet Life has twice named Learn the Net one of the 100 best sites on the Web."
Check it out at http://www.learnthenet.com/

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PCIN.net AFFILIATED SITES

Both of us have other sites other than PCIN.net. These are all sites that we are actively involved in (they aren't client sites). Don't forget to check them out from time to time for updates:

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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 1998-2004, 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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