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Issue 210 - October 23, 2002
ISSN 1488-3163; PC Improvements © 2002
==== 2212 Subscribers in 57 Countries ====
Welcome to the 210th 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
I never play computer games. I just don't see how it is any fun. And now playing
games is apparently deadly (read the story below)! I can't believe that someone
died of exhaustion from playing games too long. Get a life!
I've been in the process of doing some behind the scenes cleaning up on the
web site. You shouldn't notice anything different, but if you come across any
errors, I would appreciate hearing about them so I can fix it up.
Graham editor@pcin.net
and Chris chris@pcin.net
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The NEWS
Second gamer dies after massive binge
"Just days after the first 'internet overdose', another addict has died
after a marathon games binge.
The 27 year-old Taiwanese man collapsed after playing computer games for 32
hours non-stop.
Police confirmed that Lien Wen-cheng started playing at the cyber cafe in
Fengyuan in central Taiwan at 10.30pm on Thursday.
At 7am on Saturday, a staff member found the man on the floor of the cafe's
toilet foaming at the mouth and bleeding from the nose. 'They rushed him to
hospital but he was already dead,' local police said.
A police spokesman stated that doctors believe Wen-cheng died from exhaustion,
having remained in the same position for too long. The death highlights the
danger of such intensive game-playing."
For more info:
http://www.vnunet.com/News/1136154
Google CEO to Advertisers: Stop Scaring Users
Like many Internet users, Google Chairman and Chief Executive Eric Schmidt
is not a big fan of pop-up and pop-under ads. But as the head of an ad-supported
company, he also thinks they are symptomatic of Internet advertising's continued
inability to harness the connective power of the Internet to improve the user's
online experience.
'My view of the world starts with the end user,' Schmidt said in the keynote
address opening the Jupiter/IAB Ad Forum on Tuesday. 'It's important the advertising
model doesn't scare the user.'"
For more info:
http://www.internetnews.com/IAR/article.php/1486281
Microsoft offers demos at reputed piracy haven
"In early September, Microsoft Chairman Bill Gates staged a Hollywood
gala to impress the music and movie industries with his company's latest software
for digital music and video, Windows Media 9.
A few weeks later, Microsoft started showing off Windows Media 9 to an audience
reviled by the entertainment industry: the Kazaa file-sharing network, where
users routinely copy digital songs, films and software for free."
For more info:
http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/businesstechnology/134559778_microsoft22.html
Folding@home Scientists Report First Distributed Computing Success
"As you read this sentence, millions of personal computers around the
world are working overtime – performing complex computations on their
screensavers in the name of science. This growing Internet phenomenon, known
as "distributed computing," is being used for everything from the
search for extraterrestrial intelligence (SETI) to the design of new therapeutic
drugs.
Now, for the first time, a distributed computing experiment has produced significant
results that have been published in a scientific journal. Writing in the advanced
online edition of Nature magazine, Stanford University scientists Christopher
D. Snow and Vijay S. Pande describe how they – with the help of 30,000
personal computers – successfully simulated part of the complex folding
process that a typical protein molecule undergoes to achieve its unique, three-dimensional
shape."
For more info:
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2002/10/021022070813.htm
POLL of the WEEK
Last Week's Poll
There was an error in last week's poll that prevented many of you from voting.
This week's poll will be the same as last week's. I've fixed the problem and you
should be able to vote both in the newsletter below and on the web site.
This Week's Poll
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 run three hard drives on my system. One for win98se, and the other two
are for storage. I recently re-formatted my OS drive and did a clean install
of win98se (something I do 1-2 times a year) After install was complete, my
other hard drives were not available in 'My Computer'
All the other times I've done this, I didn't have this problem. I usually
unplug my storage drives before a clean install. This time I did not.
Response
Use FDISK to determine if the two other drives contain partitions. (Use 5
to change to a particular drive, then 4 to view the partition information)
Troubleshooting:
(?) Only the first drive is listed.
(!) Check your hardware to make sure the drives are physically attached. Make
sure the drives are being seen by the BIOS
(?) The partitions are described as UNKNOWN.
(!) If you have used an operating system other than Windows, Windows NT, OS/2,
or MS-DOS to create the partitions they will appear as Unknown. If you used
Windows to make the partitions then, 1. Scan the drives for viruses, then
2. Use Norton Disk Doctor (or similar, Not scandisk) to repair the Partition
Tables.
(?) The drives contain FAT32 in the listing.
(!) Run Norton Disk Doctor to repair damage to the FAT file system.
To post a response, visit the General Hardware Help forum at http://www.pcin.net/help/forum/index.php?board=4
and click on the "can't access my hard drives" topic.
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:
LG GCE-8400B 40x 12x 40x CD-RW Hardware Review
http://PCIN.net/help/hardware/lggce8400b.php
PCIN.net Search
http://PCIN.net/search/
Some Useful Registry Tips
http://PCIN.net/help/articles/registry_tips.shtml
THE TIPS and OTHER STUFF
Opening all folders
This was in another newsletter that I receive, but I can't remember which
one. It is a good tip.
"You can open all the folders on your hard drive with one simple command.
This can save you valuable time in your workday if the file you're in search
of is nested several folders deep.
To do so, launch Windows Explorer, select the drive icon, and press the asterisk
(*) key on the numeric keypad. When you do, every folder on the drive will
open. To close all the open folders, double-click the drive icon to close
the tree, and then press [F5].
Find a Radio Station
"Welcome to Radio-Locator, the most comprehensive radio station search
engine on the internet. We have links to over 10,000 radio station web pages
and over 2500 audio streams from radio stations in the U.S. and around the
world."
Check it out at http://www.radio-locator.com/
Outlook Express Help
I came across a web site that looks like it hasn't been updated in a couple
of years, but I was surprised at the good content, and also the fact that
it is still very useful today. Visit http://www.okinfoweb.com/moe/
for Eric Miller's User Tips for Outlook Express. There are some very outdated
pages with regards to versions of Outlook Express, but the Tips Pages are
just as relevant today as they were when they were written.
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.
- If any of the links are too long to fit on one line, you may have to cut
and paste.
- You can only win one contest every 30 days.
- To subscribe another address or unsubscribe, please visit http://www.pcin.net/
and follow the appropriate links.
- Recommend PCIN to others at http://www.pcin.net/recommend.php
and be entered in a monthly draw.
- There are only 2 ways to get on the subscriber list. You have either been
subscribed by filling out a subscription form on any of the pages on my
site, or you have requested FreeHelp from me in the past.
- If you have a web site or run your own newsletter, please email me at
editor@pcin.net and I will add it to
the subscriber web pages that I have on my site.
- Support PCIN by visiting http://www.pcin.net/donate.php
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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.php
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