ISSN 1488-3163; PC Improvements © 2007
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Welcome to the 469th issue of the PC Improvement News. PCIN consists mainly of news highlights 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.
Support PCIN at http://PCIN.net/donate.php
Well, she's here! The baby arrived on Thursday. Both she and Lisa are doing great!
Graham editor@pcin.net and Chris chris@pcin.net
Fridays go from casual to e-mail-free
Overwhelmed by e-mail? Some professionals are fighting back by declaring e-mail-free Fridays - or by deleting their entire in-box.
Today about 150 engineers at chipmaker Intel (INTC) will kick off "Zero E-mail Fridays." E-mail isn't forbidden, but everyone is encouraged to phone or meet face-to-face. The goal is more direct, free-flowing communication and better exchange of ideas, Intel principal engineer Nathan Zeldes says in a company blog post.
Avoiding a Computer Wasteland
A large number of companies and consumers upgrade to new computers every three or four years and therefore generate an incredible stream of discarded machines. In the U.S. alone, they ditched somewhere between 50 million and 75 million desktops, laptops, and monitors in 2005, according to the Environmental Protection Agency. That amounts to as much as 1.15 million tons of hardware - or more than 3,000 tons discarded every day. And with sales of new computers growing each year, the waste stream only grows. Though many still work, the majority of these machines end up in landfills.
Fathers of MP3 industry win Nobel
Two European scientists won the 2007 Nobel Prize in physics Tuesday for a discovery that lets computers, iPods and other digital devices store reams of data on ever-shrinking hard drives.
France's Albert Fert and German Peter Gruenberg independently discovered a physical effect in 1988 has led to sensitive tools for reading the information stored on hard disks. That sensitivity lets the electronics industry use smaller and smaller disks.
"The MP3 and iPod industry would not have existed without this discovery," Borje Johansson, a member of the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences told The Associated Press. "You would not have an iPod without this effect."
E-Mail Is Easy to Write (and to Misread)
As I was in the final throes of getting my most recent book into print, an employee at the publishing company sent me an e-mail message that stopped me in my tracks.
I had met her just once, at a meeting. We were having an e-mail exchange about some crucial detail involving publishing rights, which I thought was being worked out well. Then she wrote: "It's difficult to have this conversation by e-mail. I sound strident and you sound exasperated."
Check out these new or updated pages on the PCIN.net site:
Adobe Photoshop Elements 5.0 and Adobe Premier Elements 3.0 Software Review
http://PCIN.net/help/software/photoshopEL5_Premiere3.phpExpoDisc White Balance Filter Review
http://PCIN.net/help/hardware/expodisc.phpParagon Software Group Partition Manager 8.0 Professional Software Review
http://PCIN.net/help/software/ppm8.phpUpdate PCIN.net home page with "Top 10 Most Popular..." features
http://PCIN.net/Microsoft Digital Image Suite Plus Review
http://PCIN.net/help/software/msdimagesuiteplus.php
Couchville
I heard about this site from Chris. On the Couchville site, you enter your zip/postal code, choose how you view TV (cable, satellite, or over-the-air antenna), and then choose your provider (if you have more than one option in your area). You then are presented with an AJAX-based TV programming schedule. You can drag the grid around to move up and down the channels or move forward or backward in time. It's very cool.
Open Source or free CD/DVD burners
I recently posted a quasi-review of Nero 7 Ultra Edition ENHANCED. At around the same time, Download Squad had 2 different postings about open source (among other things, this generally means free).
CDBurnerXP 4: Free CD/DVD authoring tool
Despite its name, CDBurnerXP is not just a CD burning application for Windows XP. It's actually one of the most full featured free CD and DVD burning utilities you're likely to find for Windows 2000/XP/Vista.
InfraRecorder: Open source CD/DVD burner
InfraRecorder is an open source utility that doesn't skimp on features or accessibility. Once installed, you'll notice you can either launch InfraRecorder or InfraExpress. The latter version features a slimmed down interface with wizards for burning data, audio, and video discs. It's sort of InfraRecorder for dummies. The full feature gives you a ton of options that might confuse folks used to using Nero Smart Start.
Windows Vista test drive
I haven't tried this myself, but Microsoft has a web site that lets you "test" Windows Vista:
The Windows Vista Test Drive allows you to try (or "test drive") this latest operating system from Microsoft without having to install it on your PC. By simply logging onto our test drive environment using your web browser, you will be able to experience Windows Vista first hand. You can explore the product on your own, or follow along with guided exercises and videos.
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:
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 1998-2007, 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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