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Issue 255 - September 03, 2003
ISSN 1488-3163; PC Improvements © 2003
==== 2085 Subscribers in 60 Countries ====
Welcome to the 255th 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 celebrated my 28th birthday today and my mother celebrated her birthday
as well. Yep... I was born on her birthday. I figure it was quite a present
for her :-) but she says that she went without birthdays for the first 19 years
of my life :-( Anyway, we had a nice dinner at my sister Julia's
apartment last night and exchanged gifts. Tonight Lisa, Andrew and I went to East
Side Mario's for dinner and spent the remainder of the evening at home.
Graham editor@pcin.net and
Chris chris@pcin.net
The NEWS
Parents crack down on Internet time
"Stephen Pearson saw his children's grades slip. His older daughter
was falling asleep in school, after staying up until the wee hours chatting
with friends online. Pearson quickly learned that despite the Internet's
reputation as a trove of knowledge, kids can easily squander their online
time playing games, downloading music and messaging friends and strangers
alike about parties, crushes and other school-age obsessions."
For more info:
http://www.msnbc.com/news/958493.asp
MIT Everyware
"When MIT announced to the world in April 2001 that it would be posting
the content of some 2,000 classes on the Web, it hoped the program - dubbed
OpenCourseWare - would spur a worldwide movement among educators to share
knowledge and improve teaching methods. No institution of higher learning
had ever proposed anything as revolutionary, or as daunting. MIT would make
everything, from video lectures and class notes to tests and course outlines,
available to any joker with a browser. The academic world was shocked by
MIT's audacity - and skeptical of the experiment. At a time when most enterprises
were racing to profit from the Internet and universities were peddling every
conceivable variant of distance learning, here was the pinnacle of technology
and science education ready to give it away. Not the degrees, which now cost
about $41,000 a year, but the content. No registration required."
For more info:
http://www.wired.com/wired/archive/11.09/mit.html
Overstock undercuts Amazon pricing
"Online retailer Overstock.com is directly targeting Amazon.com with
a new strategy that offers best-selling books priced 25 percent below what
Amazon is charging for the same titles. Overstock, a Web-based closeout specialist,
reported Tuesday that it would offer 25 percent off Amazon's prices for books
currently on The New York Times best-seller Lists, Publisher's Weekly best-seller
lists and even those books ranked among Amazon's own 100 best-sellers."
For more info:
http://news.com.com/2110-1019_3-5070144.html
TheftBusters: Coalition to Combat Online ID Fraud
"With the rapid growth of online identity theft eroding consumer confidence
in the e-commerce sector, heavyweight tech firms, including Microsoft, Amazon.com,
Verisign and eBay are teaming up to counter the growing scourge.
The industry-wide group -- Coalition on Online Identity Theft -- launched
in tandem with the Arlington, Va.-based trade group Information Technology
Association of America (ITAA), said it would promote public education, technology
and self-help approaches to combat online identity theft."
For more info:
http://www.atnewyork.com/news/article.php/3071701
POLL of the WEEK
Last Week's Poll
What type of greeting cards do you send more of?
| Electronic greeting card |
 |
30.93 % (30) |
| Standard (stationery) greeting card with envelope |
|
39.18 % (38) |
| I don't send greeting cards |
|
29.90 % (29) |
| Total votes: 97 |
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
I have recently bought a 1700 Mhz Celeron, 128Mb and 40 gig HD running XP
Home edition. At start up it is rapid compared to my old 400 Mhz Win 98 setup
but after 15 minutes of use is slows right down.
Response
You are running leaching programs that suck the power out of your computer.
Options:
First try Ad-Aware http://www.lavasoft.de
It can identify and remove unwanted programs that leech power.
Next, the MSCONFIG utility built into Windows can shed some light on your
Startup programs, most can be unchecked.
Last, you can upgrade your RAM (Memory). While 128 MB is enough Windows XP
works best with at least 256 MB.
At the moment 256 and 512 sticks o memory are at the best prices. It is usually
quite easy to upgrade your RAM (memory) yourself.
Consult your mainboard manual for details on which type of memory your computer
needs.
You may purchase memory that has a faster rating, but not slower, i.e. PC2700
vs. PC3400, either will do if your computer only needs PC2700 speed.
To post a response, visit the General Hardware Help forum at http://PCIN.net/help/forum/index.php?board=4 and
click on the "XP is so slow!!" 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:
Logitech Cordless Elite Duo Hardware Review
http://PCIN.net/help/hardware/lced.php
XemiComputers Ltd. DeskLook 3.0 Software Review
http://PCIN.net/help/software/desklook3.php
Symantec Norton Ghost 2003 Software Review
http://PCIN.net/help/software/ghost2003.php
Amic Games Email Saver Xe Software Review
http://PCIN.net/help/software/emailsaverxe.php
THE TIPS and OTHER
STUFF
UK Security Online
"...and you thought you were secure?
UK Security Online aims to quantify the threat to your systems & networks!
We then help you design a survival strategy in conjunction with our security
partners."
Check it out at http://www.uksecurityonline.com/
Task List Programs
This was in the September 2 issue of the W2K Element K newsletter:
"Identifying the processes listed in Task Manager
If you're stumped when it comes to figuring out which process is associated
with which application running on your computer, here's a great Web site
for you:
http://www.answersthatwork.com/Tasklist_pages/tasklist.htm
This Web site enables you to search for a process by name. Once you find
a specific process, you'll also see detailed information as to what application
the process is associated with along with a description of what the process
does."
Vintage Computer Ads
Subscriber, friend, and Author Shawn Bremner sent me this:
"The ads at this site once sold the biggest and best computers, which seem
pretty funny now.
Just keep clicking the Next button."
http://www.sbrowning.com/vintage/index.php3
PCIN.net AFFILIATED
SITES
Both of us have other sites other than PCIN.net. These are all sites that
we are actively involved in (they aren't client sites). Don't forget to check
them out from time to time for updates:
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
subscribed by filling out a subscription form on any of the pages on my site,
you have requested FreeHelp from me in the past, or you have registered with
the FreeHelp Forum.
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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
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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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