Issue 319 - November 24, 2004
ISSN 1488-3163; PC Improvements © 2004
==== 2022 Subscribers in 58 Countries ====
Welcome to the 319th 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
After weeks of problems in sending the newsletter out (but not being able
to figure out what the problems were), last week we used Dada
Mail, and ended up getting over 1400 bounces! The support at my web hosting
provider thinks they've fixed the problem, so hopefully everyone is getting
this today.
I finished the review for iHateSpam 4.0. It is anti-spam software that integrates
with a number of different email clients. Check out the Tips
and Other Stuff section for a small blurb from the review, and a link to
the full version online.
Graham editor@pcin.net and
Chris chris@pcin.net
The NEWS
In search, the butler did it
"A life-size replica of a butler stands in Ask Jeeves (ASKJ) CEO Steve
Berkowitz's office here, ready to serve.
The company's signature cartoon butler, known as Jeeves, was a symbol of
dot-com excess, of untold millions spent marketing, of layoffs, of a highflying
stock that soared as high as $169 and later could be had for under a buck.
Jeeves is thinner and seemingly a much happier chap these days. His Internet
search site has rebounded quite nicely, one of the survivors of the dot-com
era. Well off its lows, the stock now trades for about $23."
For more info:
http://www.usatoday.com/tech/techinvestor/corporatenews/2004-11-22-jeeves_x.htm
Gates may be world's most spammed person
"E-mail users inundated with unsolicited spam messages have reason
to hope Microsoft will develop better tools for tackling the problem: Bill
Gates is suffering more than anyone.
Gates, Microsoft's chairman, gets 4 million e-mails a day and is probably
the most spammed person in the world, his Chief Executive Officer Steve Ballmer
said Thursday."
For more info:
http://techrepublic.com.com/5100-22_11-5459764.html
Internet Porn: Worse Than Crack?
"Internet pornography is the new crack cocaine, leading to addiction,
misogyny, pedophilia, boob jobs and erectile dysfunction, according to clinicians
and researchers testifying before a Senate committee Thursday.
Witnesses before the Senate Commerce Committee's Science, Technology and
Space Subcommittee spared no superlative in their description of the negative
effects of pornography."
For more info:
http://www.wired.com/news/technology/0,1282,65772,00.html
POLL of the WEEK
Last Week's Poll
I promise, I promise, this is the last time you will see the poll below!
This Week's Poll
You can also vote online at http://PCIN.net/polls/
PCIN.net UPDATE
Check out these new or updated pages on the PCIN.net site:
Sunbelt Software iHateSpam 4.0 Software Review
http://PCIN.net/help/software/ihatespam4.php
Micro Solutions RoadStor Hardware Review
http://PCIN.net/help/hardware/roadstor.php
Album Creator by FirmTools Software Review
http://PCIN.net/help/software/albumcreator.php
Microsoft® Windows® 2000 Administrator's Pocket Consultant, Second
Edition Book Review
http://PCIN.net/help/books/w2kapcse.php
Remote Task Manager by SmartLine Inc. Software Review
http://PCIN.net/help/software/remotetaskmanager.php
THE TIPS and OTHER
STUFF
Sunbelt Software iHateSpam 4.0 Software Review
"If you have an email account, then you get SPAM, Unsolicited Commercial
Email, Junk Email, or whatever else you want to call it. If you have a web
site of your own, then the amount of junk email you get is probably even
higher. The increase of junk email has brought a number of products to the
marketplace that claim to reduce or all together eliminate your junk email.
I previously
reviewed iHateSpam by Sunbelt
Software, and have now had a change to review the newest version of the
product, iHateSpam
4.0."
Read the full review at http://PCIN.net/help/software/ihatespam4.php
Inside Microsoft Outlook Express
"Help, tips and technical information for Microsoft Outlook Express© for
Windows, versions 5.0 until 6 SP2. All information here applies to all these
versions unless otherwise stated."
Check it out at http://www.insideoe.com/
Using the PrintScreen Key
I've been looking for a good, free utility that will make the PrintScreen
key work in Windows. By default, when you press the PrintScreen key in Windows,
you copy a screenshot to the clipboard. You can read about the PrintScreen
key by browsing some of the sites when you search.
One that I've found that seems quite impressive is PrintKey 2000 v5.10 Full
by Alfred Bolliger. This is an older freeware product. He has a newer version
that is shareware. You can still find the older product by going to your
favourite search engine and searching for either the name of the program
or the name of the zip file that you would download
Search for printkey510ef.zip
Search for printkey
5.10
Follow-up from last week
I included some tips for creating strong passwords. John Schowalter emailed
me the following:
"I wanted to make a note about your Creating Strong Passwords section of
this week’s issue.
I have found from personal experience and from supporting over 250 users
that creating a simple phrase and selecting the first or last letter out
of each word makes it easy to remember your password. A phrase like "The
big grey wolf ate two red elephants" with added punctuation could results
in a password similar to this. &Tbgwatre!
The phrase is much easier to remember than the actual key strokes.
I tend to sing it or say the phrase in my head as I’m typing it.
After a while I may forget the actual password, but saying the phrase gets
me to remember it and type it correctly.
Everyone has their own way of doing this but I have found for myself and
the users that I support, this works great."
Chris talked about Trillian and IM2. He mentioned IM2 was free and implied
that Trillian wasn't. Wayne emailed to say, "Trillian Basic is still
free. Don't know why you would say there is a charge!" You can download
either the Pro or Basic version of Trillian at http://www.trillian.cc/downloads/
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:
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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