Issue 218 - December 18, 2002

ISSN 1488-3163; PC Improvements © 2002
==== 2251 Subscribers in 56 Countries ====

Welcome to the 218th 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

Only one week to go until Christmas. Both Christmas Day and New Year's Day are on Wednesday this year. I won't have much to say, but I'll still be sending out newsletters both days. If you get anything exciting that would be relevant for the newsletter, let me know so we can all share in the excitement.

Merry Christmas!

Graham editor@pcin.net and Chris chris@pcin.net

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The NEWS

Economics of Kid-Friendly Domain Questioned

Now that Congress has zoned off an Internet neighborhood for children, online real estate agents are questioning whether they can attract enough tenants to make it a worthwhile place for parents to send their kids.
Authors of the Dot-Kids Implementation and Efficiency Act, which President Bush signed into law last week, envisioned the new "kids.us" domain as a sanctuary where children could explore the Internet without being exposed to its dangers.

For more info:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A44122-2002Dec12.html

Google Feels a Little Froogle

Not to be outdone by rival search operation Ask Jeeves, Google has quietly launched a beta version of a new shopping search engine cleverly called Froogle, which the company says "makes it easy to find information about products for sale online."
The move follows a deal between PriceGrabber.com and Ask Jeeves (Quote, Company Info) earlier this week that resulted in the launch of an Ask.com shopping channel and e-commerce search operation.

For more info:
http://www.internetnews.com/ec-news/article.php/1556221

AOL Wins ICQ Patent

AOL Time Warner is the new owner of a patent that could give it an edge in the wars for control over desktop instant messaging, as well as a number of emerging areas of communications.
The patent, No. 6,449,344, had originally been granted based on work done by a team of developers at Mirabilis, which marketed the first public IM sensation, ICQ. (America Online acquired Mirabilis and its intellectual property in 1998, a year after the Israeli startup filed for U.S. patent protection.)

For more info:
http://www.instantmessagingplanet.com/public/article.php/1558671

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POLL of the WEEK

Last Week's Poll

Where do you buy software?

Online store 31.96 % (31)
Online auction 4.12 % (4)
Local retailer 48.45 % (47)
I don't buy software 15.46 % (15)
Total votes: 97

This Week's Poll

Are you giving any "technology" gifts for Christmas?

Yes
No

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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

How do you recover e-mail that has been deleted? I use Microsoft Outlook 2000.

Response

No responses given yet.

To post a response, visit the Software How-To forum at http://www.pcin.net/help/forum/index.php?board=6 and click on the "recover e-mail" topic.

Visit http://www.pcin.net/help/forum/index.php to post a question of your own.

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PCIN.net UPDATE

Check out these new or updated pages on the PCIN.net site:

Object Desktop Software Review
http://PCIN.net/help/software/objectdesktop.php

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.php

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THE TIPS and OTHER STUFF

Create a bootable disk for NTFS partitions

DOS does not read NTFS partitions (this is one way to format Windows NT/2000/XP partitions for better security). But there are ways around this. One of them is to follow Microsoft's instructions and make a boot disk using the files you already have on your own computer. Check it out at http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=KB;EN-US;Q119467

Having Computer Problems?

If you think you're computer problems are bad, check this out
http://www.uq.edu.au/education/extra/all.html

Customize the Command Prompt window

This is the Windows 2000 tip from Element K Journals from Monday, December 16, 2002:
"You probably already know that you can open a Command Prompt window by choosing Run from the Start menu, entering cmd in the Open text box, and then clicking OK. But did you know that there are parameters you can use to customize the Command Prompt window? For example, if you enter cmd /f:on in the Open text box and click OK, Windows 2000 will open a Command Prompt window in which you can use [Ctrl]F to scroll through the list of files and [Ctrl]D to scroll through the list of folders.
Entering cmd /t:xx enables you to set the background and foreground colors for the Command Prompt window. Replace xx with the abbreviation for the color you want to use for the background and foreground. For example, entering cmd /t:f0 will open a Command Prompt window with a white background and the text in black. Here's a list of the abbreviations you can use and their associated colors:
0 = Black
1 = Blue
2 = Green
3 = Aqua
4 = Red
5 = Purple
6 = Yellow
7 = White
8 = Gray
9 = Light Blue
A = Light Green
B = Light Aqua
C = Light Red
D = Light Purple
E = Light Yellow
F = Bright White
For more information on the parameters you can use with the cmd program, enter cmd /? in a Command Prompt window."

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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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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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