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Issue 316 - November 03, 2004

ISSN 1488-3163; PC Improvements © 2004
==== 2009 Subscribers in 58 Countries ====

Welcome to the 316th 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've put two more galleries up on the family website. They are both of our trips to the Toronto Zoo. We went in September with my parents, and then went again in October with Lisa's parents.

I've been updating my blog more regularly. If you haven't, check it out at http://gawing.com/

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

The NEWS

Firefox still gaining on Internet Explorer

"Alternative Web browsers Mozilla and Firefox experienced another month of growth at the expense of Microsoft's dominant Internet Explorer, according to an online study.
The percentage of Americans using Mozilla and Firefox, two open-source browsers funded by the Mozilla Foundation, grew to 6 percent in October from 5.2 percent in September and 3.5 percent in June. That 6 percent was split evenly between the two browsers."

For more info:
http://techrepublic.com.com/5100-22_11-5435298.html

China Shuts Down 1,600 Internet Cafes

"China has closed 1,600 Internet cafes and fined operators a total of $12 million for letting children play violent games and for other violations, the government said Saturday.
The announcement came amid a campaign launched in March to reduce or eliminate sex and violence in Web sites, video games and other material that Communist leaders consider harmful to public morality."

For more info:
http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/C/CHINA_WEB_CRACKDOWN?SITE=FLTAM

U.S. could appeal Internet gambling rule

"If the World Trade Organization rules in favor of Internet gambling in Antigua and Barbuda, the United States will probably appeal, a U.S. official said Tuesday.
The United States contends that Internet gambling should be prohibited because it violates some U.S. state laws. Antigua and Barbuda says the U.S. position is contrary to global trade rules."

For more info:
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/6397282/

Election spurs tidal wave of Web traffic

"The U.S. presidential election drove millions of people online Tuesday, with traffic soaring for candidate sites, news outlets and Web logs.
According to the latest numbers from Internet statisticians ComScore Networks, both the Bush-Cheney '04 and the Kerry-Edwards 2004 sites recorded many more hits than they averaged on a typical Tuesday. President Bush, who appeared Wednesday morning to have been re-elected, received 380,000 visits to his Web site, or 101 percent more than usual, while Sen. Kerry's site charted 480,000 hits, 128 percent higher than usual.
On Monday, GeorgeWBush.com landed 317,000 visits, roughly 3 percent more than Kerry's site, which tallied 306,000. Traffic to the Kerry site was 128 percent higher than a typical Monday, while the Bush site was up by 103 percent, ComScore said.
News providers also received large amounts of Web traffic on Tuesday. The Washington Post site charted 1.1 million visits, an increase of 98 percent from its daily average, while that of Fox News generated 1.8 million visits--roughly 73 percent more traffic than usual.

For more info:
http://news.com.com/2100-1028_3-5437535.html

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POLL of the WEEK

Last Week's Poll

Let's try this one last time... Since not everyone has received the last few issues of PCIN, I am continuing the previous poll for another week.

This Week's Poll

How frequently have you had problems when doing computer hardware upgrades?

Never
10% of the time
25% of the time
Half the time
Almost always
Every time

You can also vote online at http://PCIN.net/polls/

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PCIN.net UPDATE

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

Album Creator by FirmTools Software Review
http://PCIN.net/help/software/albumcreator.php

Microsoft® Windows® 2000 Administrator's Pocket Consultant, Second Edition Book Review
http://PCIN.net/help/books/w2kapcse.php

Remote Task Manager by SmartLine Inc. Software Review
http://PCIN.net/help/software/remotetaskmanager.php

Flash File Recover by PanteraSoft Software Review
http://PCIN.net/help/software/flashfilerecovery.php

Email Saver Xe 2.0 by WinGuides Software Software Review
http://PCIN.net/help/software/emailsaverxe2.php

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THE TIPS and OTHER STUFF

TimeAndDate.com

http://www.timeanddate.com/
" This site includes lots of information that is time and date related, such as yearly and monthly calendars, counters, countdown, and the world clock which shows current time in cities all over the world."

Lookup Addresses and Phone Numbers

Subscriber and co-worker Louise Antonio does a lot of work with addresses and phone numbers. She passed along these sites to help you lookup addresses and area codes:
http://www.allsearchengines.com/
http://decoder.americom.com/cgi-bin/decoder.cgi
http://www.anywho.com/
http://canada411.sympatico.ca/
http://www.canadapost.ca/personal/tools/pcl/bin/default-e.asp
http://www.greatdata.com/index.htm
http://www.lincmad.com/cities.html#canada
http://www.infobel.com/teldir/default.asp
http://www.mapblast.com/(20dqcx55z4aqms553jwgn245)/Home.aspx
http://quickfacts.census.gov/cgi-bin/lookup?state=39000
http://www.reverseaddressdirectory.com/
http://www.allsearchengines.com/travel.html
http://www.usps.com/ncsc/lookups/lookup_ctystzip.html
http://www.whitepages.com/
http://www.getzips.com/zip.htm

TheOpenCD

http://theopencd.sunsite.dk/
" TheOpenCD is a collection of high quality Free and Open Source Software. The programs run in Windows and cover the most common tasks such as word processing, presentations, e-mail, web browsing, web design, and image manipulation. We include only the highest quality programs, which have been carefully tested for stability and which we consider appropriate for a wide audience."

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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:

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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 1998-2004, 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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