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Issue 235 - April 16, 2003
ISSN 1488-3163; PC Improvements © 2003
==== 2183 Subscribers in 61 Countries ====
Welcome to the 235th 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'm on vacation this week. We're not doing anything special, just spending
time together. The weather was beautiful on the weekend and on Monday we went
to the Metro Toronto Zoo. I'll have pictures up next week for anyone who wants
to see them.
Last week I spoke about how terrible the weather was here. It has gotten much
better over the last week, but it is still up and down. Yesterday it was 25° C
and today it was 8° C. It is better than freezing temperatures, but it
would be nice to have some consistency.
Graham editor@pcin.net and
Chris chris@pcin.net
The NEWS
'Google' for Cops
"Detectives Tim Petersen and Jim Schultz of the Tucson, Ariz., Police
Department were investigating a brutal crime in which the victim was shot,
stabbed in the neck, and run over.
But aside from the gruesome forensic evidence and the nickname of a potential
suspect, they had little else to lead them to whodunit.
'We had 'Shorty' and not much else,' says Schultz, remembering the case and
the scarcity of investigative leads.
That was until they plugged in some of the data on their computers.
Within a few hours, the detectives nabbed their suspect.
Sound impossible? It would have been, if not for a new software package that
is helping law enforcement take big bites out of cyberspace."
For more info:
http://abcnews.go.com/sections/scitech/TechTV/techtv_copsoftware030415.html
How the Mosaic browser triggered a digital revolution
"On April 22, 1993, a group of students at the University of Illinois
released a piece of computer code designed to get information from various
public networks.
Little did they know that their pet project, a humble application named Mosaic,
would fundamentally change everyday life. While Web browsers with graphical
interfaces had traded hands among academics years earlier, Mosaic was the
first to be widely adopted and introduce the masses to the Internet."
For more info:
http://news.com.com/2009-1032-995679.html
Court blocks how-to-hack seminar
"A pair of students were blocked by a Georgia state court from presenting
information at a security and hackers' conference on how to break into and
modify a university electronic transactions system.
Washington D.C.-based education software company Blackboard successfully
convinced a Georgia state court to block the students' presentation, which
was scheduled to be given at the Interz0ne conference in Atlanta last weekend.
Blackboard argues that the restraining order blocked the publication of information
gained illegally, which would have harmed the company's commercial interests
and those of its clients. But conference organizers contend that the students'
free speech rights were abridged."
For more info:
http://zdnet.com.com/2100-1105-996836.html
Open-source battle rages in Oregon
The front line in the legislative battle over open source moves to Oregon
this week.
A group of open-source advocates and critics will meet behind closed doors
Wednesday afternoon, in the first of at least two meetings in search of a
compromise on what could be the first bill in the United States to encourage
the use of open-source software by a state government.
The bill, introduced by Oregon Rep. Phil Barnhart, D-Eugene, last month,
would require the state to consider using open-source software when buying
new programs. Although the bill does not specifically mandate open-source
software over proprietary software, the bill does say it cannot be excluded
from the selection process. The bill, HB 2892, also says open-source options
can "significantly reduce the state's costs of obtaining and maintaining
software."
For more info:
http://news.com.com/2100-1012-996210.html
POLL of the WEEK
Last Week's Poll
If you are an MS Office user, which version do you use?
| MS Office 95 |
 |
0.72 % (1) |
| MS Office 97 |
|
19.57 % (27) |
| MS Office 2000 |
|
59.42 % (82) |
| MS Office XP (2002) |
|
20.29 % (28) |
| MS Office 2003 Beta |
|
0.00 % (0) |
| Unlisted version of MS Office |
|
0.00 % (0) |
| Total votes: 138 |
This Week's Poll
You can also vote online at http://PCIN.net/polls/
PCIN.net FREEHELP
FORUM
Visit the PCIN.net FreeHelp Forum at http://PCIN.net/help/forum/ to
post your questions or answer others.
Activity on the PCIN.net FreeHelp Forum has been slow lately. Be sure
to visit the forums and post your questions or to answer the questions
of others. You can also browse through all of the previous postings and
search the forums. Check it out at http://PCIN.net/help/forum/
Visit http://PCIN.net/help/forum/ to
post a question of your own.
PCIN.net UPDATE
Check out these new or updated pages on the PCIN.net site:
Logitech Cordless Freedom Optical Hardware Review
http://PCIN.net/help/hardware/lcfo.php
Some Useful Registry Tips - Now 171 Tips!
http://PCIN.net/help/articles/registry_tips.php
Paragon Hard Disk Manager 5.5 Software Review
http://PCIN.net/help/software/paragonhdm55.php
Object Desktop Software Review
http://PCIN.net/help/software/objectdesktop.php
THE TIPS and OTHER
STUFF
DLL Information
If you have a question about what program a specific DLL file came from,
visit http://support.microsoft.com/servicedesks/fileversion/dllinfo.asp and
search for it. You'll find out what versions of the DLL came with which Microsoft
programs.
Computer Help Documents
"Welcome to help-site, your free computer help and support resource!
We are in the processes of checking all links in order to remove bad links
and the less useful ones. You will also find many new resources have been
added and many pages and links updated.
The dates shown against many links specify the date on which the link was
checked (depending on how the link was added, this may be a manual or automated
processed.)
Documents for CPAN (Perl) modules can now be found within help-site we are
looking at creating a separate search option for these. The modules are browsable
from here. All the CPAN documents will not appear on the new links page due
to the quantity!
Help-Site currently contains links to 17867 documents and 167 sites!"
Check it out at http://help-site.com/
Don't forget F1
The first spot you should stop for help when you are stuck in an application
should be the application's help file which can almost always be found by
pressing the F1 key. Most products now have context sensitive help so when
you are stuck on a particular item, pressing F1 will display help for that
specific item. Using this available tool is sure to get you on your a little
bit faster.
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://PCIN.net/ and
follow the appropriate links.
- Recommend PCIN to others at http://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.
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I will add it to the subscriber web pages that I have on my site.
- Support PCIN by visiting http://PCIN.net/donate.php
Return to the top
Graham Wing can be reached at editor@pcin.net
Chris Empey can be reached at chris@pcin.net
Copyright 1998-2003, 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://PCIN.net/donate.php
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