The PC Improvement News
Issue 1-8
November 25, 1998
ISSN 1488-3163
Published electronically by PC Improvements (c) 1999
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Welcome to the 8th edition of the PC Improvement News. In this newsletter I try to have a couple of tips to make your computing life easier as well as highlights of the past weeks PC Industry News. As always, I am more than willing to discuss any PC related topics in this newsletter. Just email me at editor@pcin.net with your suggestions. Also, if there is any strange formatting in the newsletter you receive please use the same email address to let me know so I can fix any incompatibilities. With your help and suggestions, it will get better.
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THE NEWS
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Equal Access for All -- PART 2
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Last week I commented on the blind man in San Francisco. I did
not make myself clear as to what my point was. Using the S.F.
transit as the example, if they have a TTY service, a schedule
in Braille, and other services like that, then I think that is
fine. I feel that as long as these major public services have
a convenient way for each person to find the information they
need, than that is okay. I don't feel that every method should
be accessible by all. As long as everyone has at least one method.
(I hope that made sense!). The thing about this which I thought
was crazy, was that the S.F. transit probably has all of those
services for disabled people, and they thought they were just
doing another service to their patrons by putting things on the
web. Now they have a complaint filed against them. It just seemed
ironic that their good intentions turned into trouble for them.
I am by no means prejudice against the handicapped. I was just
stating my feelings and I have just as much right to my feelings
as anyone else does.
I still stand by my comments that the web is about multimedia.
For years before the Internet, there was email and newsgroups.
These are text based, and should be easily accessed by all. The
Internet brought graphics and sound to this text. As technology
increases, streaming video will become the norm, and we will get
even further away from text based web pages. I do understand and
agree that a responsible webmaster has a duty to make is web site
as accessible as possible.
I had one thoughtful reader email me with his feelings on this
topic. John Getz works for Providence R.I. Dept. of Veterans Affairs
and therefore has a lot of experience working with those who are
disabled. He wanted to emphasize the point that there are many
things that can be done to make your web site more accessible
to all. The best thing to do is to have a text version of your
site. You can also make sure that the ALT tags have appropriate
comments in them, as well as short descriptions/captions for each
picture, that would go along way in helping the disabled.
One place you can visit to see if your web site is easily seen-read-interpreted
by those who are disabled is http://www.cast.org/bobby/.
The Bobby web site checks your site for several areas of accessibility
and gives you some recommendations. If you run a web site, I strongly
suggest you check your site out.
Another useful site is http://www.trace.wisc.edu/world/.
This site is entitled Designing a More Usable World and has a
lot of good info and links.
Persons wishing to contact John with any questions can contact
him at al709@osfn.org
I had one other person forward a message to me but did not put
any of their comments in with it and didn't tell me where they
disagreed with me. I would have replied to them had they given
me a more formal letter stating clearly what their issues were.
Netscape/AOL/Sun Stuff
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There has been so much in the news the past couple of days about
this, I won't highlight anything, I'll just send you to the stories...
Analysts: Netscape-AOL merger won't wipe out surfers
http://www.zdnet.com/zdnn/stories/news/0,4586,2168283,00.html
AOL negotiating to buy Netscape; setback for Microsoft
http://www.seattletimes.com/news/technology/html98/aol_112398.html
After Netscape, AOL may ask what's left to own?
http://www.zdnet.com/zdnn/stories/news/0,4586,2168202,00.html
America Online, Inc. to Acquire Netscape Communications in Stock
Transaction Valued at $4.2 Billion
http://www.netscape.com/newsref/pr/newsrelease707.html?cp=hom11prt1
What's up with Microsoft?
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Every week, I will provide several links to articles about the
Microsoft case with the DOJ. I will provide no editorial comments,
other than this. I think that Microsoft should give every company
a chance to compete, but I don't think that they should be under
such intense scrutiny as they are right now. People complain about
the Starr report costing so much money. Well, this DOJ case won't
be cheap for either side, and I don't really think that anything
will come from this. A waste of time!
Links:
New evidence of Microsoft pushing IE
http://www.news.com/News/Item/Textonly/0,25,29202,00.html
Cyber Trial of the Century
http://www.zdnet.com/zdnn/special/msdojtrial.html
**Check this site out often as it is updated daily as new case
information becomes available**
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THE TIPS
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Changing the programs which open up your files
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Have you ever thought about what happens when you click on a file?
Usually an application (Word for a word document, Notepad for
a text file, etc.) opens up your document. You don't have a choice
as to what application opens. For instance when you first install
Windows 9x, all "bmp" files open up with MS Paint. If
you install a different graphics program, it might change the
default so that the new program opens up the "bmp" file.
This happened to me when I installed MGI PhotoSuite. What do you
do if you want to keep using MS Paint as the default application?
There are several things you can do, but the easiest thing to
do is the following. Hold down the Shift key while you right-click
on the file. There will be a menu option called "Open With..."
If you choose that, a small dialog box opens up with a list of
files. You can choose which application you want to use from the
list, or you can clock on the browse button and choose one that
isn't listed. There is also a small checkbox asking you if you
want to "Always use this application" when opening that
type of file type. If you check the box, then the next time you
double-click on that file (a "bmp" file in my example),
you will automatically find yourself in the application you selected
(back to MS Paint in the example).
This might seem a bit confusing, so if you would like further
instruction on how to do this, just email me at editor@pcin.net
and I will help you out.
NOTE: This method will work most of the time, but there are occasions
where it won't work as a result of more than one registry settings
are controlling which application is used to open a file.
While we're on the topic of Accessibility...
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There is a great little feature that comes with Windows 98 (I'm
not sure if it comes with Windows 95, but it probably does) called
Magnifier. You have to have the Accessibility features of Windows
installed though the Control Panel's Add/Remove Programs applet
installed. You can run it from the Start-Programs-Accessories-Accessibility
menu. It will magnify the area under the magnifying glass anywhere
from 2 to 9 times. It is great for checking out small details
and even for some graphic editing.
Downloading via FTP is faster than by the WWW
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I don't know if you knew it or not, but when you download directly
from an FTP (File Transfer Protocol) site, it is usually faster
than just clicking on a www link. If you have an FTP program such
as WS_FTP or CuteFTP, it is very easy to do. The problem might
be actually finding an FTP site with the file you are looking
for.
Well, if you visit http://ftpsearch.lycos.com/?form=medium
you will find a great site for searching FTP sites. Just enter
the file name you want, and it will look for it for you.
Just a warning that you had better make sure that you aren't downloading
Warez (Pirated Software). That is illegal, and you could be punished
if caught.
Well, that's all for this week. Remember that if there is anything that you want to learn about, let me know and I will try to accommodate you.
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The PC Improvement News is brought to you by PC Improvements. The Opinions expressed are those of the editor, Graham Wing.
Editor: Graham Wing editor@pcin.net
Copyright 1998, PC Improvements and 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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