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Issue 294 - June 02, 2004

ISSN 1488-3163; PC Improvements © 2004
==== 1932 Subscribers in 58 Countries ====

Welcome to the 294th 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

Last Thursday after dinner, I suggested to Lisa that we walk to the closest 7-11 and get a Slurpy. It's probably a 20 minute walk there, and when we were about 3/4 there, Lisa was walking off the sidewalk to cross a side street and she tripped. She didn't want to fall on her belly, and hurt the baby, so she turned and ended up falling on her side. She scraped her face in two places, scraped both knees, and broke the little finger on her right hand. We went to the hospital (don't get me started on how terrible and experience that was!) where they set the finger and put it in a splint. Yesterday she went to the plastic surgeon who set the finger again, and put her hand in a cast. She'll have it in a cast for 3 weeks. She's doing fine, and the baby is fine as well. The only thing is we were hoping to have the baby a little early, whereas now we want to wait until the cast is off. Hopefully the baby will co-operate!

Many of you know that my Dad collects an antique glassware with a design called Hughes Corn Flower. It has been a long time since I've updated the site, but I'm finally getting around to improving the gallery. You can check out the new gallery (I'm still working on it) at http://hughescornflower.com/gallery2/

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

The NEWS

AOL tries to keep surfers in its Net

"Linda Palmer never wants to give up her America Online.
A subscriber since 1994, she pays AOL $24.95 monthly even though she no longer needs it to get online. She added high-speed DSL service a year ago, at $39.95 a month.
'I can't give up my AOL e-mail address,' says Palmer, a Los Angeles novelist. 'Too many people write me there. Plus, I don't like change.'
AOL became a household name by offering consumers an easy way to get onto the Internet. Now, it is scrambling to hold onto to its 24 million members as many ditch dial-up for broadband service.

For more info:
http://www.usatoday.com/tech/news/2004-06-01-aol_x.htm

Internet groceries continue to expand

After the spectacular crashes of big-name Internet grocers in the late 1990s, the dream of a grand new wave of on-line food stores appeared to fizzle. But with intentionally meager fanfare, grocers have made Internet shopping available to tens of millions of consumers across North America, and upcoming expansions will expand it to millions more.
Industry watchers say it's no longer a question of whether Internet grocery can be successful, but rather of how big it will become.

For more info:
http://www.globetechnology.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.20040517.gtegrocermay14/BNStory/Technology/

The rising cost of protecting your identity

"With identity theft rampant, we need to be cautious with our personal information. But consumer advocates say there's something else we ought to be vigilant about: expensive services for identity theft protection.
The prevalence of credit card fraud and other identity-related crimes has given rise to a cottage industry of services aimed at protecting people from falling victim."

For more info:
http://www.cnn.com/2004/TECH/05/25/credit.watchers.ap/index.html

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POLL of the WEEK

Last Week's Poll

Do you trust companies online with your personal information?

Yes 23.75 % (19)
No 76.25 % (61)
Total votes: 80

This Week's Poll

How old is your current main computer?

It's brand new
Less than a year old
1 year
2 years
3 years
4 years
5 years
> 5 years
I don't have a computer at home

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:

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

MySlideShow 2.3 by Anix Software Software Software Review
http://PCIN.net/help/software/myslideshow.php

Anyplace Control by Anyplace Control Software Software Review
http://PCIN.net/help/software/anyplacecontrol.php

Inboxer 1.1 by Audiotrieve, LLC Software Review
http://PCIN.net/help/software/inboxer.php

Microsoft Outlook Add-Ins by MAPILab Ltd. Software Review
http://PCIN.net/help/software/mapilab.php

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THE TIPS and OTHER STUFF

Politicswatch.com

"Politics Watch - Canada's Political Portal"
On June 28, 2004 Canadians will be voting in a federal election. PoliticsWatch.com has links to many articles as well as the Vote Selector Quiz.
"The PoliticsWatch 2004 Vote Selector Quiz is a best-effort design to give you a fair, unbiased and entertaining view of Canada's federal political leaders.
You answer the questions. We rank the leaders and parties for you based on your responses."
Check it out at http://www.politicswatch.com/ and http://www.politicswatch.com/VoteSelectorQuiz2004.html

Ink Refills

I'm sure there are a lot of opinions on whether using ink refill kits are a good idea, or if they do a good enough job. I'm just sharing my experience. Recently my father bought me an IMS Ink Refill Kit. I have an HP DeskJet 990 printer, and followed the instructions provided. It couldn't have been any easier. The ink bottles come with a syringe attached, so there is once you figure out how to "open" your cartridge, you just insert the syringe and fill it up.
Since it was my first time filling them up, I put too much ink in and had to use tissue to absorb the extra ink, but now that I've done it once, I know not to overfill.
I'm not terrible picky about my printing, and I didn't do any comparative tests, but I did print out a page with large cyan, magenta, yellow, and black rectangles, and the colours look excellent. And if you think the colours are off, most printers have a way to adjust colour output.
My Dad purchased the kit at Costco, but you can read about it http://www.ims-ink.com/

LDS Music site

Let me first preface this tip/link with this... anyone who knows me knows that I'm a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (the Mormons). I don't use the newsletter to share any spiritual message or try to force my beliefs on anyone. I'm sharing this because it is neat technology.
It seems like for the last year or two, there has been very little innovation in web site design and other web applications. However, recently while searching our church website, I came across something I've never seen before, an interactive music player. The official web site for the LDS Church has a fascinating interactive music player. The entire Hymn Book (about 340 hymns) as well as the entire Children's Song Book (about 290 songs) can be pulled up. You can then listen to the song, separate the various parts of the song (tenor, soprano, bass, alto), change the key, as well as the tempo. It is very impressive as I've never seen anything like it.
Check it out at http://www.lds.org/cm/display/0,17631,4996-1,00.html

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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.

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