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Issue 240 - May 21, 2003
ISSN 1488-3163; PC Improvements © 2003
==== 2224 Subscribers in 61 Countries ====
Welcome to the 240th 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
They weather has been fantastic lately so I've been busy with my digital camera.
I've taken some more pictures of Niagara Falls, as well as Ball's Falls. I'll
have the pictures up on the AccessNiagara.com site sometime in the next week
or two.
Another week, another review. This week I finished a review for DeskLook 2.0
by XemiComputers Ltd. It is a tool that shows your Outlook Today data on your
desktop. Read the The Tips and Other Stuff section for
more.
Graham editor@pcin.net and
Chris chris@pcin.net
The NEWS
Prescription for Privacy
Information about you is everywhere, and you have no control over how most
of it is used.
Your medical records are particularly sensitive. If companies got a hold
of your records, they could use your medical history against you.
Imagine employers using your info to determine whether to offer you a job,
or insurance companies using your history to determine rate quotes. Some
people could even use your medical records to guess your sexual orientation.
For more info:
http://abcnews.go.com/sections/scitech/Living/techtv_medprivacy030519.html
Technology Takes Its Lumps
If our list of the 25 fastest-growing big companies had been published in
1999, it would have looked much different. Companies like Cisco Systems,
Sun Microsystems and Oracle would have made the cut. But today there are
only two big tech companies growing quickly enough to make our list: Dell
Computer and Microsoft.
Dell, which is changing its name to Dell Inc. to reflect diversification
beyond PCs, can seemingly do no wrong. It has gained market share and increased
sales and profits through the worst technology-spending slump in its 17-year
history. Competitors privately gripe that Dell walks around with a halo,
garnering nothing but glowingly positive news and analyst reports. Unfortunately
for them, the praise is justified.
For more info:
http://www.forbes.com/2003/05/20/cx_ld_0520biggrowth.html
Pressplay To Become Napster
Less than two years after going live as a legal alternative to the rogue
file-sharing program Napster, the Pressplay digital music service has been
acquired by Roxio (Quote, Company Info) and will be relaunched as Napster.
Roxio, known mostly for CD and DVD recording software, announced Monday it
would shell out about $40 million in cash and stock to acquire Pressplay's
distribution infrastructure and music licensing, which was previously a 50-50
joint venture between Universal Music and Sony Music Entertainment.
For more info:
http://www.atnewyork.com/news/article.php/2208791
POLL of the WEEK
Last Week's Poll
Do you defrag your hard drive(s) regularly?
| Yes, I use the built-in Windows defrag utility |
 |
55.41 % (87) |
| Yes, I use a freeware defrag utility |
|
10.19 % (16) |
| Yes, I've purchased a defrag utility |
|
24.20 % (38) |
| No, I've never been able to get it to work right |
|
3.18 % (5) |
| No, I did, but it didn't help |
|
0.64 % (1) |
| No, I don't think I need to |
|
5.10 % (8) |
| What does defrag mean? |
|
1.27 % (2) |
| Total votes: 157 |
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.
Question
Something recently happened with my internet-connection, and I don´t
know what is causing it.
I have 3 web-browsers: Explorer, Netscape and Opera.
1) None of these will now connect to the internet directly, that is: The "password/username" box
that I need to connect to my ISP do not appear when I start the browsers.
2) If I "manually" connect to my ISP, and THEN start the browsers,
Netscape and Opera WILL work, but Internet Explorer will not.
3) The same with Outlook Express. When I start it directly, it will not show
the "password/username" box. When I connect manually to my ISP,
and then start the program, it will work.
Response
In Internet Explorer choose Tools > Internet Options... > [Connections]
tab, and choose "Always dial my default connection" and {OK}. (Make
sure you default connection is the right one)
To post a response, visit the General Software Help forum at http://PCIN.net/help/forum/index.php?board=3 and
click on the "Problems with Internet connection/Browsers" topic.
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:
XemiComputers Ltd. DeskLook 2.0 Software Review
http://PCIN.net/help/software/desklook2.php
Executive Software Diskeeper 7.0 Second Edition Software Review
http://PCIN.net/help/software/diskeeper7se.php
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
THE TIPS and OTHER
STUFF
Outlook Performance Tips
"The ability to communicate by e-mail is an absolute necessity for
doing business today. So, ensuring optimal performance of your e-mail client
is critical. In response to this need, Microsoft has built performance improvements
into the latest release of its personal information manager and communication
solution - Microsoft Outlook® version 2002. This white paper provides
network administrators and Outlook users with technical background information
on the factors that affect performance, discusses the improvements in performance
in Outlook 2002, and provides recommendations for optimizing performance
for a variety of scenarios. Find out how these recommendations can help you
or your organization."
Download the Word document at http://www.microsoft.com/office/outlook/evaluation/performance.asp
Charting Free vs Used Drive Space
This tip was featured in a recent WinXPNews newsletter. To view a pie chart
showing your hard drive breakdown of free space vs. used space, in Windows
Explorer right click on the drive icon and choose properties. To view a pie
chart for all of your drives, select the drives you want to show while holding
down your control key then right click and choose properties. Now you will
have a separate tab for each drive. This worked for me in Windows 98, 2000
and XP.
XemiComputers Ltd. DeskLook 2.0 Software Review
"How many times a day do you check your email each day? If you're like
most people, you check several times a day, and most likely have your email
open all day checking constantly automatically. Email is critical to the
success of business and to the enjoyment of individuals and families. Because
of this, I'm always on the lookout for tools to enhance your email usage.
In the past we've reviewed Annotis
Mail (enhanced
email authoring) and Outback
Plus (email client configuration back up). DeskLook
2.0 by XemiComputers Ltd. is
a system tray utility that uses desktop wallpaper to display data it reads directly
from Microsoft
Outlook."
Read the full review at http://PCIN.net/help/software/desklook2.php
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 3 ways to get on the subscriber list. You have either been
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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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