Issue 383 - February 15, 2006
ISSN 1488-3163; PC Improvements © 2006
==== 2020 Subscribers in 56 Countries ====
Welcome to the 383rd 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
You'll notice that I only have 2 items in the Tips and Other
Stuff section. This has always been the hardest section to fill. Feel
free to email us with some sites to recommend and useful tips. It will help
us put together a more complete newsletter, and it will help your fellow
readers. We'd be happy to provide you with the credit and link back to you
for anything that we use.
Just a reminder of the change I made last week to the PCIN.net
home page. I added Top 10 Recent Tips or News from the PCIN.net Update
Blog and Top 10 All-time Tips or News from the PCIN.net Update Blog. I updated
it today. The Recent Tips list will be anything from the last month, so each
week as I update it, the oldest week will drop off and the most recent week
will be added. I think 5 of the items weren't on the list last week. The
All-time list is just that, so it probably won't change a lot, but it did
have a couple of changes this week.
Graham editor@pcin.net and
Chris chris@pcin.net
The NEWS
The Secret Cause of Flame Wars
"Don't work too hard," wrote a colleague in an e-mail today.
Was she sincere or sarcastic? I think I know (sarcastic), but I'm probably
wrong.
According to recent research published in the Journal of Personality and
Social Psychology, I've only a 50-50 chance of ascertaining the tone of any
e-mail message. The study also shows that people think they've correctly
interpreted the tone of e-mails they receive 90 percent of the time.
"
That's how flame wars get started," says psychologist Nicholas Epley
of the University of Chicago, who conducted the research with Justin
Kruger of New York University. "People in our study were convinced
they've accurately understood the tone of an e-mail message when in fact
their odds are no better than chance," says Epley.
Read the Wired News
article...
Leave a comment...
2 Workers Have Chips Embedded Into Them
Tiny silicon chips were embedded into two workers who volunteered to help
test the tagging technology at a surveillance equipment company, an official
said Monday.
The Mexico attorney general's office implanted the so-called RFIDs - for
radio frequency identification chips - in some employees in 2004 to restrict
access to secure areas. Implanting them in the workers at CityWatcher.com
is believed to be the first use of the technology in living humans in the
United States.
Read the TBO.com article...
Leave a comment...
Mommy, Help Me Download 'Farmer in the Dell' to My MP3 Player
As digital electronics have invaded Toyland, putting video projectors and
cellphones into the hands of 7- year-olds, companies that cater to preschoolers
have deliberately sat on the sidelines, determined to hold up the wall between
adult technology and children's play.
But the wall is about to come crashing down.
At least that is how it will look from the floor of the America International
Toy Fair, the industry's biggest annual trade show in the United States,
which begins tomorrow at the Jacob K. Javits Convention Center in Manhattan.
Fisher-Price, synonymous with Elmo and Power Wheels, will introduce a digital
music player and digital camera for children ages 3 and older that will be
sold during the 2006 holiday season.
Read the New York
Times article...
Leave a comment...
Search Engine Traffic Soars
People in the U.S. use the Internet for more everyday research than any
other medium, a fact proven by the 55 percent year-on-year surge in online
searches in December, according to market researcher Nielsen/NetRatings.
And Google remained the most popular place for Americans to search cyberspace
in December.
The number of online searches in the U.S. soared to nearly 5.1 billion searches
in December from 3.3 billion a year earlier, despite just a slight uptick
in the total number of Americans connecting to the Internet, according to
Nielsen/NetRatings.
Read the PC World
article...
Leave a comment...
Other News postings from the PCIN.net Update blog
PCIN.net UPDATE
Check out these new or updated pages on the PCIN.net site:
Update PCIN.net home page with "Top 10 Most Popular..." features
http://PCIN.net/
Microsoft Digital Image Suite Plus Review
http://PCIN.net/help/software/msdimagesuiteplus.php
Omega One Software Battery Pack Pro 2.1 Software Review
http://PCIN.net/help/software/bpp2.php
Makayama Interactive DVD to Pocket PC 3.0 Software Review
http://PCIN.net/help/software/dvd2ppc3.php
Adobe Photoshop Elements 4.0 Software Review
http://PCIN.net/help/software/elements40.php
Digital Photography
Tip of the Week
The best of the Digital Photography Tip of the Week
Chris is off on vacation this week, so I've chosen 5 of his tips that have
been very popular. You can read those tips by clicking the links below, or
you can view the entire Digital
Photography Tips category on the PCIN.net
Update blog.
Shooting at Night,
Part 2
Shooting At Night,
Part 1
Curves and Diagonals
Photographing Snow
Rule of Thirds
Chris will be back next week with the third and final installment on the night
photography series. He will talk about using flash at night, 2nd curtain sync
(night mode), dragging the shutter, magic hour and he will have examples of
some very nice night photography to share.
The digital photography tip of the week is written by the PCIN Assistant
Editor, Chris Empey. Chris is a long time photographer and is currently
the vice-president of the Niagara Falls Camera Club. You can see more of
his photography at his Photo
of the Day website.
If you have a tip to send Chris, or a question about digital photography
he can address in the newsletter, send it to chris@pcin.net.
THE TIPS and OTHER
STUFF
Finding files in Windows 2000 Pro with the Where.exe utility
From TechRepublic:
Everyone has to search for a file now and then, either on a local
system or on a shared network. Windows 2000 Pro provides a reasonably good
search feature within the user interface, but sometimes it is easier to search
from a command console.
To help you accomplish these command-line searches, you can turn to
the Where.exe utility included with the Windows 2000 Resource Kit. Where.exe
can locate files on the local file system or on the network. You can
direct Where.exe to search only the target folder or perform a recursive
search through subfolders.
I've never tried the utility, so I don't know how it compares to the built-in
search, but it sounds interesting.
Leave a comment...
Kelly's Korner - Troubleshooting Windows XP
I have put together a lot of information from various sources, to help
you find answers to the problems some users have with Windows XP. I have
also put together some commonly requested tweaks and tips to make XP work
the way you want it to.
Kelly Theriot Microsoft-MVP
This site has some great information! There is a great tweaks page where
you can download REG and VBS files, as well a Windows XP From A to Z page.
Be sure to check out Kelly's Korner...
Leave a comment...
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.
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Graham Wing can be reached at editor@pcin.net
Chris Empey can be reached at chris@pcin.net
Copyright 1998-2006, Graham Wing. All rights reserved.
This publication may be reproduced in whole, or in part, as long as the author
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