|
Issue 258 - September 24, 2003
ISSN 1488-3163; PC Improvements © 2003
==== 2100 Subscribers in 60 Countries ====
Welcome to the 258th 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
We attended the wedding for my sister Alisa and her fiance (now husband) Jason.
They were married on a street
car in Toronto by an officiator from the Humanist
Association of Canada. The streetcar took us from the pub where they met
to the stop at the corner near their house. I took a bunch of pictures but
haven't had a chance to put them up on the site yet. Hopefully this week sometime.
PCIN.net is hosted with OKIHost.com and
they have acquired a new server and I will be moving the web site to the new
server sometime between Thursday and Sunday. If you visit the site and it appears
that there are a bunch of errors, just try again a few hours later. Chris and
I hope to make the move as seamless as possible, but there are bound to be
a few hiccups.
Graham editor@pcin.net and
Chris chris@pcin.net
The NEWS
(Hard Drive) Size Does Matter
"A group of computer owners has filed a lawsuit against some of the
world's biggest makers of personal computers, claiming that their advertising
deceptively overstates the true capacity of their hard drives.
The lawsuit, which seeks class action status, was filed earlier this week
in Los Angeles Superior Court against Apple Computer, Dell, Gateway, Hewlett-Packard,
IBM, Sharp, Sony and Toshiba.
The lawsuit brought by Los Angeles residents Lanchau Dan, Adam Selkowitz,
Tim Swan and John Zahabian centers on the way computer hard drives are described
by manufacturers.
Representatives of the eight defendants were not immediately available to
comment.
According to the lawsuit, computer hard drive capacities are described in
promotional material in decimal notation, but the computer reads and writes
data to the drives in a binary system.
The result is that a hard drive described as being 20 GB would actually have
only 18.6 GB of readable capacity, the lawsuit said."
For more info:
http://www.wired.com/news/business/0,1367,60505,00.html
Spammers now need permission in Britain
"Spammers beware. Britain has announced that those sending unsolicited
e-mail must get recipients' agreement in advance.
Violators will be subject to fines of 5,000 pounds ($8,000 U.S.) or more
and possible lawsuits from those they've spammed.
The rule, aimed at shrinking the heavy traffic of junk e-mail messages, also
applies to unsolicited text messages sent to mobile phones, the government
said Thursday."
For more info:
http://www.globetechnology.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.20030919.gtspamsep19/BNStory/Technology/
VeriSign stands firm on domain redirect
"VeriSign said Monday that it would not abandon its decision to point
unassigned domain names at its Web site, but representatives did say the
company would form a technical committee later this week to look into the
problems caused by the change.
During the last week, criticism has steadily grown over VeriSign's 'SiteFinder'
service, which has caused problems for network administrators and confused
spam-blocking utilities. A number of Internet standards bodies and administrative
groups have asked the Mountain View, Calif.-based company--which enjoys a
government-granted monopoly over the .com and .net registry--to stop, and
a second lawsuit seeking an injunction against the practice was filed Monday."
For more info:
http://news.com.com/2100-1032_3-5080384.html
Dell to name its own tunes
"The PC maker is preparing to unveil a new consumer-electronics plan
under which it will sell two types of devices--a portable music player and
a line of LCD TVs--under its brand name for the holidays.
Outside of computers, Dell has put its name on only a limited number of product
categories, such as printers, network switches, projectors and USB storage
devices. But Dell, which uses its online store to sell a large quantity of
consumer-electronics products from other companies, asserts that offering
such devices under its own name can help it meet revenue goals."
For more info:
http://news.com.com/2100-1042_3-5080430.html
POLL of the WEEK
Last Week's Poll
How many fonts do you have on your computer?
| < 50 |
 |
22.12 % (23) |
| > 50 and < 100 |
|
17.31 % (18) |
| > 100 and < 200 |
|
11.54 % (12) |
| > 200 |
|
18.27 % (19) |
| Who knows? |
|
29.81 % (31) |
| What's a font? |
|
0.96 % (1) |
| Total votes: 104 |
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 been having trouble with removing a lot of files from the Autocomplete
since when I try to click on it, I get the mouse to have the hour glass and
I have to click out of it since it won't work. The files are piling up and
when I go to post in the yahoo clubs, or the Google, I have to go through
lots of files to find the one I want, I want to remove these. I can start
over new when they pile up, but I am having problems with this.
Response
Sounds like your "Protected Storage" is too large or corrupt.
You can use a program called Cain to edit these. You can find it at http://www.oxid.it/
You can read more about "Protected Storage" at http://www.cpcug.org/user/clemenzi/technical/ie/IE_ProtectedStorage.htm
To post a response, visit the General Hardware Help forum at http://PCIN.net/help/forum/index.php?board=4 and
click on the "Wireless Card Access" 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
Talk Like A Pirate Day
" Avast, me hearties!
Welcome to the one and only, official, accept-no-substitutes Talk Like A
Pirate Day Web site.
You've read about it in Dave Barry's column. Maybe you caught one of our
radio interviews. Or maybe you just stumbled on to our site while googling
around for sites your mother probably wouldn't approve of.
However you got here, stick around an' learn all about September 19 - International
Talk Like A Pirate Day!"
Unfortunately we missed the day (it was last Friday), but you can still check
out the site at http://www.talklikeapirate.com/
Font Questions
Last week the poll was regarding how many fonts you have on your system.
This brought up the question of how many fonts is too many. Here are a few
links to help answer various fount questions:
Help! I Have Too Many Fonts
http://desktoppub.about.com/library/weekly/aa081202a.htm
Microsoft's Typography Group
http://www.microsoft.com/typography/
Fonts Frequently Asked Questions
http://www.pixelatingdivas.com/Fontastic/Fonts/
Visit http://www.pcin.net/help/forum/index.php?board=2;action=display;threadid=354 to
add your thoughts on the issue.
Data Backups
If your data is important to you, it is wise to periodically back up what
you have. You can use a variety of methods, backup to a second hard drive,
to CD ROM and now to DVD ROM, to a second computer (or server) on your network
if you have one or to a dedicated tape backup device. There are also services
that will back up your data over the Internet for a fee. Hard drives are
very cheap now for what you get so you can purchase a lot of space at very
little cost. Tape drives have also come down but are still more expensive
than a second drive, but allow you to take you backups off site. All options
have their benefits and drawbacks, but in the end, if you experience a system
failure, at least you still have your data.
Here are some links that may help you determine the best way to backup
your data:
Maxtor Desktop Personal Backup Device
http://www.maxtor.com/en/products/external/onetouch/index.htm
Telus backup service
http://www.teluscentral.com/application_services/desktop_backup.html
Article discussing personal backup strategies
http://www.extremetech.com/article2/0,3973,10684,00.asp
Also, try Google searches for the following
http://www.google.com/search?q=Personal%20Backup%20Software
http://www.google.com/search?q=Desktop%20backup
http://www.google.com/search?q=how%20to%20backup%20to%20CD-ROM
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.
- If you have a web site or run your own newsletter, please email me at editor@pcin.net and
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
PC Improvement News Home Page
PC Improvement News Archive
|
