ISSN 1488-3163; PC Improvements © 2004
==== 2016 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
Hopefully subscriber Tracey won't get mad at me... but I'm going to talk about the weather again! We got our first snowfall of the year on Monday, and it was terrible. We didn't really get much snow at all, but knowing that it's on its way is quite depressing. In case you can't tell, I'm not a big fan of Winter. I don't like hockey or skate (can you believe I'm Canadian?), I don't like skiing or tobogganing, and I don't like shoveling snow. In fact, other than seeing some nice scenery through my living room or car windows, I can't think of much at all that I like about winter! Today is much nicer, and the forecast indicates that we won't have more snow for a while.
Speaking of the weather... did you see the Northern Lights the other night? Lisa and I were out for a drive with Andrew and Matthew Sunday night and we saw them. It was the first time I had ever seen them, and it was incredible. We didn't see all the colours as shown in that picture, but we saw lots of shades of green and white.
Chris has finished a review of the Micro Solutions RoadStor. It is a portable device that reads digital media cards and allows you to copy the contents directly to a CD. It can also be hooked up to a computer and used as an external CD burner. Check out Tips and Other Stuff section for a preview of the review, and a link to the full version online.
Graham editor@pcin.net and Chris chris@pcin.net
MSN Search to Challenge Google and Yahoo
"The new MSN Search is a full speed ahead effort for Microsoft to catch Google and Yahoo in the search engine race and are about ready to release their MSN Search Engine. Microsoft has offered a search engine since long on their MSN website but they were powered using outsourced technologies such as LookSmart, Inktomi, and Yahoo's Overture. Only recently with Google emerging as a dominant force in the search engine market, they realized what they were missing on.
In February Microsoft's Bill Gates commented that Google has blown away Microsoft in the realm of search, confirming that Google 'kicked our butts' in a statement given at the World Economic Forum. After offering a subpar search service to their incredibly huge user base, MSN has finally gotten the ball rolling in their direction and Bill may be able to rest well without fearing the Google and Firefox teams chasing after him.
The new MSN Search Beta format can be previewed at http://beta.search.msn.com, and the search results can be previewed on the MSN Tech Preview. But it will not be until Thursday when the true preview test is released."For more info:
http://www.searchenginejournal.com/index.php?p=1040
Firefox 1.0 unleashed to bite Explorer
"The Mozilla Foundation has released version 1.0 of its Firefox browser, an open-source product expected to offer real competition to Internet Explorer.
A preview release of Firefox available since last month has had eight million downloads, according to Mozilla.
Jupiter Research analyst Joe Wilcox said the buzz surrounding Firefox had been fuelled by several factors, including the product's quality. 'The Mozilla team has done a really good job with the browser. It's lean and mean.'
Then there's the widespread perception that Microsoft's Internet Explorer is vulnerable to security breaches. 'There's the fear surrounding IE over potential exploits,' said Wilcox. 'We hear a lot about the potential vulnerabilities of IE but not so much about the exploits of those vulnerabilities.'"For more info:
http://www.computerweekly.com/articles/article.asp?liArticleID=134931
eBay sellers to pay for phony bids
"Eight eBay sellers were ordered to pay nearly $90,000 in restitution and fines after admitting they bid up products online to inflate the prices.
New York Attorney General Eliot Spitzer said more than 120 people will receive restitution in the settlement of the three cases, which wrapped up last week in state courts.
Spokesman Darren Dopp said the cases stemmed from specific complaints, but the office has not conducted a broad investigation of the online auction industry and doesn't know how widespread the practice of phony bidding is."For more info:
http://www.cnn.com/2004/LAW/11/08/ebay.phoneybidding.ap/index.html
Patron Saint of the Nerds
"Here in the oldest church building in New Orleans, tucked into a dark corner by the door as far away from the main altar as possible, stands the statue of St. Expedite -- the unofficial patron saint of hackers.
Unofficial because the Roman Catholic Church doesn't know what to do about St. Expedite. He's too pagan to be a proper saint, and too popular for his statues to be simply tossed out the door.
Statues of St. Expedite seem to appear at some churches, a puzzling phenomenon. Where do the statues come from? Who sends them? No one really seems to know who St. Expedite was in life or even if he ever existed.
But whatever St. Expedite may or may not be, geeks, hackers, repentant slackers, folks who run e-commerce sites and those who rely on brains and sheer luck to survive have all claimed the saint as their own."For more info:
http://wired.com/news/roadtrip/riverroad/0,2704,65184,00.html
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Let's try this one last time... Since not everyone has received the last several issues of PCIN, I am continuing the previous poll for another week.
This Week's Poll
You can also vote online at http://PCIN.net/polls/
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Check out these new or updated pages on the PCIN.net site:
Micro Solutions RoadStor Hardware Review
http://PCIN.net/help/hardware/roadstor.phpAlbum Creator by FirmTools Software Review
http://PCIN.net/help/software/albumcreator.phpMicrosoft® Windows® 2000 Administrator's Pocket Consultant, Second Edition Book Review
http://PCIN.net/help/books/w2kapcse.phpRemote Task Manager by SmartLine Inc. Software Review
http://PCIN.net/help/software/remotetaskmanager.phpFlash File Recover by PanteraSoft Software Review
http://PCIN.net/help/software/flashfilerecovery.php
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Micro Solutions RoadStor Hardware Review
MicroSolutions RoadStor is a multi-function device that acts as a portable CD Writer to allow you to back up your digital media cards while away from your computer. It also gives the user the ability to view a slideshow of their images on a television screen, view DVD movies, and listen to CD's or MP3's. While connected to your computer, the device is a USB 2.0 external CD-Writer/DVD Player.
Read the full review at http://www.pcin.net/help/hardware/roadstor.php
SimpleOCR
"Use SimpleOCR to add accurate character recognition capabilities to your custom software without the complexity and expense of runtime licensing.
SimpleOCR is the only OCR API that's Royalty Free. Save hundreds on every runtime license.
Get the SimpleOCR application for free."
I haven't tried this myself, and it has received mixed reviews, but you can still check it out for yourself at http://www.simpleocr.com/
Free Flash Games
007ArcadeGames.com has a lot of free Flash games. Some of them are their own, while others are from other well-known game sites (like PopCap). My Windows XP SP2 computer blocked many pop-ups, but it didn't affect my game-playing at all. But if you don't have a pop-up blocker, be prepared!
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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:
Return to the top | Recommend PCIN Tips 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.
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.
Support PCIN by visiting http://PCIN.net/donate.php