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Issue 197 - July 24, 2002
ISSN 1488-3163; PC Improvements © 2002
==== 2412 Subscribers in 57 Countries ====
Welcome to the 197th 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.shtml
CONTENTS
OPENING THOUGHTS
Still no news on the baby front. We had 30 friends and family guess when the
baby would be born, and the last guess was for yesterday. I guess the baby wanted
to be independent.
We've finished several reviews over the last few weeks (see the PCIN.net Update
section below). We are now in the process of obtaining some new products to
review. We'll let you know of products as we get them
Graham editor@pcin.net
and Chris chris@pcin.net
Return to the top
The NEWS
Lawyers discover eBay as legal-evidence bazaar
After a heated bidding war on eBay, Mark Lanier recently paid $2,125 to win
a 1941 Naval Machinery manual.
It sounds like a peculiar collecting hobby, but to Lanier it was serious business.
The Houston lawyer, who sues companies on behalf of asbestos-exposure victims,
was bidding against a defense lawyer to get his hands on an evidentiary trophy
filled with details on where and how asbestos was used aboard ships.
eBay might be known best as a place to buy bobblehead dolls, ancient Roman
coins and millions of other idiosyncratic collectibles, but the world's most
famous Internet auction also has become an unlikely source for legal evidence.
It's a place where a growing number of lawyers bid - often against each other
- for everything from smoking-gun documents to killer products.
For more info:
http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/businesstechnology/134497949_ebay22.html
PC sales still slow, Dell closes in on new HP
"PC sales declined for the fifth quarter in a row, dashing hopes for
a speedy recovery in computer sales, according to data published Thursday
by two research companies.
Worldwide PC shipments for the second quarter of 2002 were down 0.5 percent
from a year ago, to 31.1 million units, according to data from IDC, in Framingham,
Mass. Shipments also were down from the immediate prior quarter, by 7.8 percent,
IDC said."
For more info:
http://www.infoworld.com/articles/hn/xml/02/07/19/020719hnpcsales.xml
The Wonderful Wizards of Google
"Amidst a crowd of competitors, Google stands alone in many respects.
From its Zen-like, uncluttered homepage that has only a smattering of words
to its Google Answers feature, the search site has won the respect and admiration
of legions of users and analysts.
As it continues to introduce new features, Google seems destined to remain
the search engine with the largest reach on the Internet. Already, the company
boasts more than 3 billion indexed documents, including 2 billion Web pages.
Relying only on minimal ad placements and sparse public relations, how does
Google continue to pull in more users? By keeping it simple, according to
analysts."
For more info:
http://www.newsfactor.com/perl/story/18681.html
EBay Earnings Up as Revenue Sets Record
"The online auction giant eBay Inc. continued its lonesome Internet
success story, announcing higher second-quarter sales and profits yesterday,
with strong growth in the United States and overseas markets.
'I am very excited about eBay's future, because the company has a lot more
room to grow,' Margaret C. Whitman, the chief executive, said during a conference
call."
For more info:
http://www.nytimes.com/2002/07/19/technology/19AUCT.html
POLL of the WEEK
Here are the responses from the last poll:
Have you ever been to a PC industry trade show like Comdex?
Yes 18.75 % (9)
No 81.25 % (39)
Total votes: 48
Visit http://pcin.net/polls/ to participate
in the new poll this week:
What is the most time you've spent at the computer for personal use?
FREEHELP FORUM
Visit the new and improved PCIN FreeHelp Forum at http://www.pcin.net/help/forum/index.php
to post your questions or answer others.
Question
I keep getting people advising me about security issues and privacy issues;
including possibility of hackers and also issues about Internet sites/visits
being recovered or identified by family members, friends , colleagues, etc
etc.
As I have two teenagers aged 16 and 17 and I know that at least one of them
has visited "porno" sites, I feel uneasy that all this history and
files etc can be held indefinitely on hard drive and within cookies index
and windows95 system.
Do I have to pay out for software like Internet eraser or can I manually delete
whatever I want from my system permanently? Any advice or enlightenment please?
Response
I want to make sure I start off with my view clear : if you are running windows
and are currently doing nothing in terms of security and are not worried about
it let me tell you this "You are wiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiide open to attack".
My suggestions :
1) Dont use internet explorer, use mozilla or opera. Opera give you the most
control over what data you accept to store and send to others ( but note it
won't let you log in to pcin )
2) Delete cookies regularly, like daily. There are nifty little scripts you
can make that can do this automatically. Opera and mozila do this automatically.
IE ( internet explorer ) also lets you do this, after navigating several windows.
you can also do a file search for "cookie" which might be the easiest
short term solution.
3) Install software firewall. this is probably the most important - so i really
shoulda put this first, but i only just got up so give me a break :). I recommend
ZoneAlarm. its' free and easy to use. ( note : it will ask you lots of questions
when you first connect to the internet, as your programs try to access the
internet, but all you do is have to say yes to the programs you are trying
to use ).
4) install another email client ( get rid of any microsoft email program ).
almost all viruses only infect microsoft software, and email are a _big transmitter
of the worst ones. eudora is a good 'email only' program. and again, mozilla
and opera both have emailing built into them.
5) education. people will always try to take advantage of others ( at least
for the foreseeable future :). having done all this work make sure that everyone
accessing the internet through your computer is aware of the security tools
you have and are able to compentently use them. thankfully most of what's
above doesn't need to be touched by them.
6) update, update, update. seriously, update everything, especially windows.
you may be working with a leaky boat but you may as well patch what you can.
windowsupdate.microsoft.com
as aside to internet specific issues, i would also recommend installing antivirus
software. most of this is commercial, but some is free. i wont recommend anything
here because there are so many choices, including many good free ones. i suggest
searching at www.google.com for "antivirus"
please also note that there is no need to pay for any of the above. there
is a _lot_ of excellent free software out there, search on google. there is
also some dodgy free software out there, but better to get dodgy software
free rather than pay for it. besides, spend an hour to get somthing for free
and save $30, who wouldn't wanna get paid $30 an hour ??
To post a response, visit the Software How-To forum at http://www.pcin.net/help/forum/index.php?board=3
and click on the "Internet security?" subject.
Visit http://www.pcin.net/help/forum/index.php
to post a question of your own.
PCIN.net UPDATE
Check out these new or updated pages on the PCIN.net site:
Outback Plus 3.0 Software Review
http://PCIN.net/help/software/outbackplus3.php
Microsoft Office Keyboard Hardware Review
http://PCIN.net/help/hardware/msok.php
VMWare Workstation 3.1 Software Review
http://PCIN.net/help/software/vmware31.php
Microsoft Wireless IntelliMouse Explorer Hardware Review
http://PCIN.net/help/hardware/mswie.php
THE TIPS and OTHER STUFF
Finding Files
The My Documents folder on my computer is huge. I've got so many files in
it, and most of them are well over a year old. I've been meaning to go through
all of the files, but it is just to difficult. One way that might help though
is to use the Find Files feature of the operating system (this will work in
any recent version of Windows). You can search for all files (*.*) in the
folder that you want to search and be sure that you include sub-folders. This
will give you a list of all of the files in the folder and sub-folders. You
can then sort by date, file size, or file type. It can be very handy.
VMWare Workstation 3.1 Software Review
"Virtual Computing is growing more popular among computing enthusiast
as it allows them to test or use multiple operating systems, or different
versions of the same OS on one single physical computer. For developers testing
new products, system administrators supporting multiple platforms, or power
users who wish to have multiple computers without the space and cost constraints
associated with that, virtual computing is the way to go. VMWare 3.1 provides
this freedom to users at an acceptable cost."
Read the full review at http://PCIN.net/help/software/vmware31.php
Preview Your Installed Fonts
There are a lot of utilities that will let you preview the fonts that are
installed on your system. One of the best (and it's free) is by Karen Kenworthy
of WinMag.com fame. She has many great programs on her site, but Karen's Font
Explorer is fabulous. You can preview all of your fonts in regular, bold,
italic, or a combination. You can print individual samples or print the entire
list. If you design a lot and print a lot, then give it a try. You can find
it at http://www.karenware.com/powertools/ptfonts.asp
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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and paste.
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Graham Wing can be reached at editor@pcin.net
Chris Empey can be reached at chris@pcin.net
Copyright 1998-2002, 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://www.pcin.net/donate.shtml
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