ISSN 1488-3163; PC Improvements © 2005
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Welcome to the 333rd 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
I'm back from vacation. We didn't do that much, but it was probably the best time off I've had in years! I had so much fun playing with Andrew and Matthew, and of course it was nice being with Lisa. I have some pictures, but don't have them ready to put up yet. I should have them ready to post for next week's PCIN.
Graham editor@pcin.net and Chris chris@pcin.net
Doodling with the Google logo
"If you're a young student who gets into trouble for doodling during class, you should probably read this. And after you've read it, you should clip it out, laminate it, punch two holes in the top, loop a string through those holes, and wear it to school like a necklace.
This story is about your new hero, a guy who doodled a lot as a kid then landed one of the sweetest gigs in the world because of it."For more info:
http://tinyurl.com/6nsxk
Shoppers Find Less Satisfaction Online
"As customers' expectations rise, giants like Amazon and EBay are finding it harder to keep people happy.
A new study has found that customer satisfaction with online shopping plummeted during the last holiday season. While some experts note that such dissatisfaction is often the result of rising expectations, others suggest that companies such as Amazon and EBay had better take note--or risk losing customers.
In the fourth quarter of 2004, customer satisfaction with online purchases fell by 2.7 percent from the third-quarter figure, according to the American Customer Satisfaction Index. That is the largest drop since the ACSI began tracking e-commerce in 2000. Though the index fell slightly in 2001, overall customer satisfaction has generally risen steadily until now.
Among the online retailers that the index tracks, Amazon and EBay took the biggest hits, though both companies still maintained relatively high customer satisfaction scores. On a 100-point scale, Amazon fell from 88 to 84, while EBay dropped from 84 to 80."For more info:
http://www.pcworld.com/resource/article/0,aid,119778,pg,1,RSS,RSS,00.asp
Take two aspirins and e-mail me in the morning
"Doctors may no longer make house calls, but they are answering patient e-mail messages--and being paid for it.
In a move to improve efficiency and control costs, health plans and medical groups around the country are now beginning to pay doctors to reply by e-mail, just as they pay for office visits. While some computer-literate doctors have been using e-mail to communicate informally with patients for years, most have never been paid for that service."For more info:
http://news.com.com/2100-1038_3-5595448.html
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Do you think file sharing has hurt the entertainment industry?
Yes 8 % (6) Yes, though not as much as the industry claims 26 % (20) No 23 % (18) No, I think it helps promote the entertainers 40 % (31) I don't know 3 % (2) Total votes: 77
This Week's Poll
You can also vote online at http://PCIN.net/polls/
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Check out these new or updated pages on the PCIN.net site:
VMware Inc. VMware Workstation 4.5 Software Review
http://PCIN.net/help/software/vmware45.phpPCIN.net Update Blog
http://PCIN.net/update/Sunbelt Software iHateSpam 4.0 Software Review
http://PCIN.net/help/software/ihatespam4.phpMicro Solutions RoadStor Hardware Review
http://PCIN.net/help/hardware/roadstor.phpAlbum Creator by FirmTools Software Review
http://PCIN.net/help/software/albumcreator.php
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Swiss Army Knife Command-line Utility
I was connected to a computer with Remote Desktop, and I realized that the CD-ROM drive was open and I wanted to run something off the CD. I couldn't figure out how to close the drawer. There is a context-sensitive menu item that allows you to eject the drawer, but not one to close it. I did a search for a utility that would help me do this, and I found NirCmd:
"NirCmd is a small command-line utility that allows you to do some useful tasks without displaying any user interface. By running NirCmd with simple command-line option, you can write and delete values and keys in the Registry, write values into INI file, dial to your internet account or connect to a VPN network, restart windows or shut down the computer, create shortcut to a file, change the created/modified date of a file, change your display settings, turn off your monitor, open the door of your CD-ROM drive, and more..."
I was able to successfully close the drawer. The utility also does over 40 other things as well. The main program page has a nice listing of a lot of its uses. Check it out at http://www.nirsoft.net/utils/nircmd.html
WinZip(R) Companion for Outlook(R)
I've been a WinZip user for years (ever since I paid for the product). I received this email yesterday afternoon:
We are pleased to inform you that we have introduced a new product,
WinZip(R) Companion for Outlook(R).
WinZip Companion for Outlook makes it easy for users of Microsoft(R) Outlook to zip and encrypt attachments to outgoing e-mail messages.
Zipping attachments saves transmission time, conserves space in Outlook mailboxes, and saves disk space for both the sender and recipient of the e-mail message.
The Companion can be configured to automatically zip your attachments, to ask whether or not you want them zipped, or to let you zip and attach files manually with just a few mouse clicks. Toolbar and menu items allow you to control the Companion's functionality on a message-by-message basis.
For more information regarding WinZip Companion for Outlook, and to download the evaluation version for a 45-day trial, please visit:
http://www.winzip.com/prodpagewzcou.htmI don't have a need for this sort of utility, but I've had people email asking for recommendations of utilities that do this. I haven't tried this (and don't really plan on it), but knowing the quality of the WinZip products, it is probably quite good.
What's the name of that song?
There is a new commercial by Zellers with a catch tune and I wanted to find out if it was a real song, or a jingle written for the commercial. A quick search of the Internet brought me to AdTunes.com
"'What was the song used in that television commercial?'Now you can find the answer at Adtunes.com - the weblog of information on music from TV ads, film trailers, and more."
A quick search of the forum showed me that someone else had the same question, but there has been no answer yet.
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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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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.
Graham Wing can be reached at editor@pcin.net
Chris Empey can be reached at chris@pcin.net
Copyright 1998-2005, 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.
Support PCIN by visiting http://PCIN.net/donate.php