Issue 348 - June 15, 2005
ISSN 1488-3163; PC Improvements © 2005
==== 2065 Subscribers in 59 Countries ====
Welcome to the 348th 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
This Sunday is Father's
Day. My father is going to be in Miami visiting
my brother, so I'm not totally sure yet what we'll be doing. We'll be seeing
Lisa's father on Saturday at
the Metro Toronto Zoo.
We may stay here at home, or spend the afternoon in Toronto with
my sister.
We've been very busy at work. Several offices are being switched around, so
we've been pulling new wiring, moving desks, moving computers, etc. I never
would have thought that standing on a ladder would wear me out so much. Oh
well, it helps the day go by fast.
After a couple of weeks of 30° C weather, we've finally gotten some rain
and it is a little cooler. I like the warm weather, but it's only the middle
of June. We've got lots of time for the scorchers!
Graham editor@pcin.net and
Chris chris@pcin.net
The NEWS
Pac-Man chomps up milestone
For a video game, Pac-Man is getting downright old. The ghost-wary hero
with an insatiable appetite for dots turns 25 this month.
From the early 1980s "Pac-Mania" to today's endless sequels and
rip-offs, the original master of maze management remains a bright yellow
circle on the cultural radar.
But there was more to Pac-Man's broad appeal than eating dots and dodging
on-screen archrivals Blinky, Pinky, Inky and Clyde.
For more info:
http://www.cnn.com/2005/TECH/fun.games/06/15/pac.man.25.ap/index.html
Leave a comment:
http://www.pcin.net/update/index.php/2005/06/15/pac_man_chomps_up_milestone
Looking for zombies? Try AOL, report says
Internet "zombie" attacks that attempt to knock computer systems
offline are more likely to come from users of America Online than any other
source, according to a report released by a security company on Tuesday.
AOL and other large Internet service providers serve as launching pads for
most "denial of service" attacks, according to Prolexic Technologies,
which helps companies fend off such attacks.
For more info:
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/8219398/
Leave a comment:
http://www.pcin.net/update/index.php/2005/06/15/looking_for_zombies_try_aol_report_says
What's Really Behind the Apple-Intel Alliance
Nearly a quarter-century ago, Apple Computer ran a snarky ad after its onetime
rival encroached on its territory: "Welcome, I.B.M. Seriously." This
week, however, Steven P. Jobs had a different message for Big Blue, which
had since become a chief ally: "Goodbye. Seriously."
Mr. Jobs, 50, a co-founder of Apple, is famously brash and mercurial. Even
so, the Apple faithful - not to mention I.B.M. itself - were caught by surprise
by Apple's decision to end its 14-year relationship with I.B.M. and team
with Intel for its computer chip needs.
The buzz that began Monday among developers, bloggers, analysts and Apple
followers trying to guess Mr. Jobs' true designs has not let up. After all,
Mr. Jobs is a legend in no small part because he defied the monster combination
that is Wintel - as the digerati call the Windows and Intel alliance - and
lived to talk about it.
For more info:
http://tinyurl.com/bpkok
Technology Can't Fix Trust Breach
"There is a monster data market of information from sources that aren't
supposed to have that information," says Jeff Moss, president of Black
Hat, a Seattle-based computer security training and conference firm. "Inside
employees who are misbehaving are very hard to stop," he says. "It's
very frustrating."
In the recent cases of customer data sales by bank employees, employers came
face to face with their biggest security challenge: trusting their employees.
"
It's pretty much the toughest security problem to deal with," says
Rich Mogull, research vice president at Gartner Latest News about Gartner,
Phoenix.
For more info:
http://www.ecommercetimes.com/story/HAl4bTt494dLGv/Technology-Cant-Fix-Trust-Breach.xhtml
Leave a comment:
http://www.pcin.net/update/index.php/2005/06/15/technology_can_t_fix_trust_breach
POLL of the WEEK
Last Week's Poll
How do you get pictures off your digital camera?
I use the software that came with the camera |
|
33 % (33) |
Windows XP detects my camera and does it for me |
|
22 % (22) |
I use a card reader |
|
35 % (35) |
I don't have a digital camera |
|
9 % (9) |
Total votes: 99 |
This Week's Poll
You can also vote online at http://PCIN.net/polls/
PCIN.net UPDATE
Check out these new or updated pages on the PCIN.net site:
VMware Inc. VMware Workstation 4.5 Software Review
http://PCIN.net/help/software/vmware45.php
PCIN.net Update Blog
http://PCIN.net/update/
Sunbelt Software iHateSpam 4.0 Software Review
http://PCIN.net/help/software/ihatespam4.php
Micro Solutions RoadStor Hardware Review
http://PCIN.net/help/hardware/roadstor.php
Album Creator by FirmTools Software Review
http://PCIN.net/help/software/albumcreator.php
THE TIPS and OTHER
STUFF
A Search Engine for Acronyms
From ResearchBuzz:
Esus has announced the release of Acronyma, a search engine with an index
of over 450,000 acronyms and abbreviations. It's available at http://www.acronyma.com/.
You may search in several different languages, and you may search by word
or by acronym. I searched for the acronym Yahoo and got one result (Yet Another
Hierarchical Officious Oracle). I searched for Perl and got four results,
then searched for Pine and got three results (including the expected "Pine
is Not Elm".) Results are listed by relevance/importance or alphabetically
as you prefer.
Comment on this tip at http://www.pcin.net/update/index.php/2005/06/11/a_search_engine_for_acronyms
Slimming Down Windows XP
I saw this in the latest issue of LangaList.
A person who goes by the screen name BoldFortune has posted a very lengthy
message to a forum that he runs that details steps on how to reduce the
size of Windows XP. He claims it took him 4 years to gather this all together.
Check it out at http://hollow-refuge.net/Bold/viewtopic.php?t=229.
Comment on this tip at http://www.pcin.net/update/index.php/2005/06/09/slimming_down_windows_xp
Get the ultimate list of Microsoft keyboard shortcuts
Another great tip from Ed
Bott's blog:
You say you hate to take your hands off the keyboard to click the mouse?
Then you'll love this master
list of keyboard shortcuts covering a long, long list of Microsoft products,
including Internet
Explorer 6 and nearly every program in the Office 2000, Office XP, and
Office 2003 families. If you use Windows XP Media Center Edition, be sure
to get
this one.
Comment on this tip at http://www.pcin.net/update/index.php/2005/06/15/et_the_ultimate_list_of_microsoft_keyboa
List All Files
The Office
Tips and Hints blog has a great post about how to use a macro in Word
to create a list of all the files in a certain folder:
Here is a macro that will produce a list of all the files in a selected folder.
* The folder name for the listed files
* The file names of the files found
* The file sizes of the files found
* The dates and times of the files found
* The total number of files listed
The posting shows
what it will look like and gives you the code for the macro.
Comment on this tip at http://www.pcin.net/update/index.php/2005/06/15/list_all_files
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
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Graham Wing can be reached at editor@pcin.net
Chris Empey can be reached at chris@pcin.net
Copyright 1998-2005, Graham Wing. All rights reserved.
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