ISSN 1488-3163; PC Improvements © 2002
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Welcome to the 177th 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
Don't forget about the next special issue. For the next several weeks, I will be asking people for their "success" stories that only happened because of the Internet. Did you meet your true love online? Have you left your "regular" job behind and made money online? Did you find that long-lost relative? Have you been able to learn more about a hobby then you ever dreamed possible? Send your thoughts and comments to editor@pcin.net.
As always, there were some more updates to the site this week. Check back often, and be sure to recommend PCIN to others :-)
Graham editor@pcin.net and Chris chris@pcin.net
'Web Rage' in Real World
From the February 25, 2002 issue of InformationWeek magazine, p 13, by David M. Ewalt:
"Keep an eye on the guy in the next cubicle - if his download times out, you could be in for trouble. So says a new study measuring 'web rage,' or violence spurred by Internet-related frustration, performed by British pollsters Market & Opinion Research International. The survey of 1,000 people found that 54% experience Net frustration on a weekly basis, and 11% deal with it daily.
When people get mad at the Internet, they take it out on the real world. Seven percent say they hit their equipment, 4% pound on their desks, and 2% say they've hit the person who sits next to them.
Slow-loading Web sites are the biggest cause of irritation, followed by unhelpful help buttons."Chris: It amazes me what trivial things people find important in their lives. I would not like to be sitting next to the guy in the cubicle beside me when something really bad happens to him.
Riding the Disinformation Superhighway
"'The Web's growth has certainly created a new opportunity for people to set up scams,' FTC spokesman Derick Rill said.
Dubbed the information superhighway in its infancy, the Internet has in many ways fulfilled its early promise of providing unprecedented access to information and communication. But for all its shady characters and dangerous alleys, the Net might just as well have been called the disinformation superhighway.
According to experts, today's users often can spot scams and outright lies by using the Web to find multiple sources of information and perspectives. However, the cons and creeps of the cyber world have mastered the same powerful tool, and they use it skillfully to propagate schemes and spread misinformation."For more info:
http://www.newsfactor.com/perl/story/16607.html
Cheap PCs will doom Microsoft
"Microsoft's software monopoly is running out of time, says open-source guru Eric Raymond, and he's got a precise figure for when the company's position will no longer be sustainable: $350.
'When the price of a PC falls below $350, Microsoft will no longer be viable,' Raymond said in an interview with ZDNet UK. 'The reason is that if you sell something below that price, you can't afford to pay the Microsoft tax and still make money.' He said the best illustration of this is the handheld PC market, where Microsoft software powers relatively expensive devices, but has no presence in the lower-end market."For more info:
http://zdnet.com.com/2100-1104-847416.html
Does Business Really Care About Faster Computer Chips?
"The speed wars between Intel (Nasdaq: INTC) and AMD (NYSE: AMD) have become somewhat muted lately, perhaps because of an AMD public relations campaign that pleaded with buyers to consider factors other than clock speed in their buying decision.
But despite AMD's efforts and the overall tech slowdown, chip speeds -- and prices -- are still rising. This trend leads to an inevitable question: Do businesses really make their upgrade decisions on the basis of chip speed?"For more info:
http://www.newsfactor.com/perl/story/16514.htmlGraham: I don't really care about faster processors, but I would like to get a PC for under $350!
Here are the responses from the last poll:
When you surf the Internet you surf for...
News 6.67 % (4)
Sports 1.67 % (1)
Photos 1.67 % (1)
Music 1.67 % (1)
Computer Help 23.33 % (14)
Anything 65.00 % (39)Total votes: 60
Visit http://pcin.net/polls/ to participate in the new poll this week:
When at work how much of your Internet access is for personal use?
Visit the new and improved PCIN FreeHelp Forum at http://www.pcin.net/cgi-bin/bb/YaBB.cgi to post your questions or answer others.
Question
I just formatted the hard drive on my Compaq laptop because I couldn't get the restore disk to work. Everything went smooth until I tried to get the Win 98 disk to work to load everything and I get the error message that it can't read the e: drive cdr101 missing. You can see the computer trying to read the drive and starting the process but then I get the message. Please help!!
Answer
I've run into the same problem before after system restore on other PCs and Laptops And I have always had to do a driver search for the hardware in question and download the driver, copy to disk and install that way. Sometimes it takes a while so just do the best you can and good luck. I'll locate the site I use since it's not bookmarked and be back to provide the link.
If you have a suggestion, visit the Hardware forum at http://www.pcin.net/cgi-bin/bb/YaBB.cgi?board=hardware and click on the "formatted now cdrom won't work" subject.
Check out these new or updated pages on the PCIN.net site:
Connectix Virtual PC 4.2 Software Review
http://PCIN.net/help/software/virtualpc4.shtmlPurgeIE 4.04 Software Review
http://PCIN.net/help/software/purgeie4.shtmlRecommend PCIN
http://PCIN.net/recommend.php
Google Language Tools
From February 11, 2002 issue of eWeek Magazine, pg 3:
"We knew Capt. Kirk and his crew never liked them - they were evil and violent - but we weren't always sure what the Klingons were saying.
But as with everything else about "Star Trek," some of the rabid fans of the sci-fi TV series clung to the Klingons, creating Web sites devoted to the intergalactic evildoers. Witness the Klingon Language Institute site (www.kli.org), with its various pages on Klingon culture and language.
Now the popular search engine Google has jumped on board. Sprinkled among the growing list of language interfaces - including German, French, Arabic and two types of Chinese - is Klingon, conveniently located between Kannada and Korean.
Klingon joins the list of other strange foreign language interfaces, such as pig Latin and Elmer Fudd."
Check out http://google.com/language_tools for the Google Language Tools. You can translate phrases in many languages, and can change the language that the Google home page displays.
Bypass Default Home Page
I don't usually repeat things word-for-word from other email newsletters, but Neat Net Tricks had an excellent tip the other day:
"If you have specified a default home page for Internet Explorer to open on start up, but at times you would prefer no opening screen, there's an easy way. Go to Start|Run and enter, without the quotation marks, "IExplore -NoHome" and OK. You'll only have to do this once, because the Run box will retain that command in its history for future instances."
You can also make a shortcut that will do this for you. And you will find that the NoHome switch is faster than having a blank home page.
PurgeIE 4.04 Review
One of the most popular pages on the PCIN.net site is the What's the Deal with the Temporary Internet Files directory article at http://PCIN.net/help/articles/tif.shtml. This goes over some of the problems with the way Microsoft saves Internet data (history, cookies, and cache).
People are interested in this because it deals with their privacy. Even when you think that you've deleted your "tracks", they are still there. A market has emerged for software utilities that will help with this, and one of the best is PurgeIE by Assistance & Resources for Computing, Inc.
The web site says "PurgeIE is the "Swiss Army Knife" of Cache and Cookie Utilities for Internet Explorer" and it certainly is. I found the ability to save the settings and purge in one step was wonderful. If it saves you a few minutes a day, then it pays for itself quickly.Check out the full review online at http://PCIN.net/help/software/purgeie4.shtml
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 1998-2002, 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.
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