Issue 481 - January 02, 2008
ISSN 1488-3163; PC Improvements © 2008
==== 1398 Subscribers in 44 Countries ====
Welcome to the 481st issue of the PC Improvement News. PCIN consists mainly
of news highlights 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.
Support PCIN at http://PCIN.net/donate.php
Contents
Opening Thoughts
I hope everyone had a safe and enjoyable New
Year's Eve. Mine was pretty uneventful. We were at home with the kids
and watched some moves. Lisa actually stayed up with me this year. Matthew
got tired and wanted to go to bed, but Andrew stayed up. On New Year's Day
my grandmother took us all to Swiss Chalet for dinner (it's a tradition of
hers). Ultimately the holidays have been great, but it'll be nice to get
back into a routine again.
This Fall I will have been sending out the newsletter for 10 years! That is
unbelievable. I'm not sure what this new year holds for me and PCIN, but I
appreciate you coming along for the ride :-)
Graham editor@pcin.net and
Chris chris@pcin.net
News Highlights
The 15 Biggest Tech Disappointments of 2007
From on-demand video services that were overly demanding, to underwhelming
operating-system updates, 2007 was full of disappointments. We surveyed the
landscape and polled some old friends to come up with the 15 products, companies,
and industries that left the most sour taste in our mouths. From last to
first, here's our list of the year's biggest losers. Read 'em and weep.
Read the ABC News article...
Leave a comment...
Knicks statisticians showcase their gadgets
Information technology is keeping pace with all the frantic action happening
on the court in the National Basketball Association (NBA).
In a game where play is fast and furious, the league is leveraging an array
of technologies, including portable touch-screen computing, wireless sensing
and quick-reacting statisticians to following the bouncing ball as its being
played in 30 NBA arenas.
It's all about accurately accounting for all the numbers as points scored,
rebounds, assists and fouls are continually logged as it all happens.
It's creating a veritable mountain of statistical information that's being
used by coaches, league officials and teams to assess player and team performance.
The statistics are also offered up to fans that can't seem to get enough
of the number crunching action.
Read the itWorldCanada article...
Leave a comment...
AOL to End Support of Netscape Navigator
Netscape Navigator, the world's first commercial Web browser and the starting
point of the Internet boom, will be pulled off life support Feb. 1 after
a 13-year run.
Its current caretakers, Time Warner's AOL, decided to end further development
and technical support to focus on developing the company as an advertising
business. Netscape's use dwindled with Microsoft's entry into the browser
business in the 1990s, and Netscape all but faded away after the birth of
its open-source cousin, Firefox.
Read the New York Times
article...
Leave a comment...
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PCIN.net Site Update
Check out these new or updated pages on the PCIN.net site:
Paragon Software Group Hard Disk Manager 2008
http://PCIN.net/help/software/paragonhdm2008.php
Adobe Photoshop Elements 5.0 and Adobe Premier Elements 3.0 Software Review
http://PCIN.net/help/software/photoshopEL5_Premiere3.php
ExpoDisc White Balance Filter Review
http://PCIN.net/help/hardware/expodisc.php
Paragon Software Group Partition Manager 8.0 Professional Software Review
http://PCIN.net/help/software/ppm8.php
Update PCIN.net home page with "Top 10 Most Popular..." features
http://PCIN.net/
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Tips and Other Stuff
101 Simple Appetizers in 20 Minutes or Less
As the title indicates, this is a list from the New
York Times of 1001 appetizers you can make in 20 minutes or less:
You want good food at a holiday cocktail party and you want to impress
people? You don't want a caterer, you refuse to heat up frozen food, and
you want to show that your expertise extends beyond buying perfectly ripe
hunks of cheese and juicy olives? Then think about doing some cooking.
Here is a collection of party foods that are as easy to eat as they are
to make. Each can be produced in 20 minutes or less.
Leave a comment...
Price Protectr - Get Your Money Back!
I originally heard about this on the Kim
Komando radio show in early December. Price
Protectr is a service that monitors prices on items that you've purchased
to help you get the difference back from the store you purchased it at:
There are lots of stores out there that offer price protection
policies -- when the price drops on an item you've purchased, they'll refund
you the difference. But there's a catch... it's up to you to watch prices.
Price Protectr makes it simple to keep track of your purchases and get
your money back. It's free. It's easy. It's free and easy money. How
often do you get that offer?
Leave a comment...
Google Zeitgeist 2007
In year's past, I've seen lots of postings and links to various year-end
lists. For some reason this year I haven't seen so many. In fact, the only
highly publicized one I've seen is the Google
Zeitgeist 2007. They have a section of their site where they show
stats throughout the year, but then they have their full
year-end listing:
We're bidding adieu to 2007 with a look back at the breaking news, the
big events and the must-have gadgets that captivated us this year (give
or take a few weeks; we compile this list by early December). To get a
glimpse of what's been on our collective consciousness, we mined billions
of search queries to discover what sorts of things rose to the top. We
encourage you to check out our findings to see if you, too, reflect the
zeitgeist - the spirit of the times.
Leave a comment...
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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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and paste.
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I will add it to the subscriber web pages that I have on my site.
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Graham Wing can be reached at editor@pcin.net
Chris Empey can be reached at chris@pcin.net
Copyright 1998-2008, 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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