The PC Improvement News

Issue 57
November 10, 1999

ISSN 1488-3163; PC Improvements (c) 1999

There are only 2 ways to get on the subscriber list. You have either been
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Note 2: You can only win one contest every 30 days.

Welcome to the 57th edition of the PC Improvement News. In this newsletter,
I combine news, tips, thoughts, and contests. There is something for
everyone, and if this is your first issue, I'm sure there will be something
for you. I am willing to discuss any computer topics in this newsletter.
Email me at editor@pcin.net with your suggestions.

If you give me two or three issues, I know that you will come back for more!

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SOME OPENING THOUGHTS
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I'm sure that everyone knows by now that the Judge found Microsoft guilty.
They are a monopoly.  Surprise (not really).  I still don't see anything
happening from this.  Microsoft is just too big, powerful and important for
any government to hurt them financially or in the marketplace.  I guess we'
ll have to see.

Thanks to the 23 people who sent in their computer disasters for last weeks
contest.
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THOUGHT OF THE WEEK
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We must believe that we are gifted for something and that this thing must be
attained.
          - Marie Curie

Thought courtesy of http://www.HappyPublishing.com/

To subscribe to the FREE "Aspire to Something Higher" Thought-Of-The-Day
list, send a blank email to HappyQuotes-subscribe@listbot.com

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THE NEWS
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Microsoft a Monopoly
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I think everyone knows this, so I won't spend any time covering it. If you
are interested, check out the links below:

Microsoft's Spin on Things
http://www.microsoft.com/presspass/trial/
Mr. Bill goes to Washington - and gets burned
http://www.businesstoday.com/techpages/cap11081999.htm
What Next in the Microsoft Suit?
http://abcnews.go.com/sections/tech/DailyNews/msdoj991107.html
Microsoft aftershocks to hit today
http://www.freep.com/tech/micro8_19991108.htm
"Microsoft Enjoys Monopoly Power..."
http://www.pathfinder.com/time/magazine/articles/0,3266,33844,00.html
OK, but Will He Make Microsoft Have Babies?
http://www.pathfinder.com/time/daily/0,2960,33834-101991108,00.html
Microsoft woes send Red Hat shares soaring
http://www.techserver.com/noframes/story/0,2294,500055248-500090876-50033121
0-0,00.html

Microsoft provides a 'jolting' experience
http://www.usatoday.com/life/cyber/cc.htm
Judge Gives Microsoft Legal Black Eye
http://www.pathfinder.com/time/digital/daily/0,2822,33831,00.html
Splits On Ruling Make Microsoft Settlement Tough
http://dailynews.yahoo.com/h/nm/19991107/tc/microsoft_leadall_12.html
Microsoft, Gov't Mull Settlement
http://www.lasvegassun.com/sunbin/stories/tech/1999/nov/08/110800196.html


Do You Like Beta Software
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In the November Issue of ComputerWorld Canada, they had the results from
their "How does your company feel about installing and evaluating beta
software?" survey.
14% It is like injecting poison into corporate systems
11% It's inadvisable and probably a waste of time
47% It is only appropriate for a small number of techies
28% It's a strategic advantage for our company


A 69-GHz Chip
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I recently bought a PIII 450MHz. I thought that was very fast. Well, TRW has
built a transistor that runs at 69GHz. That is over 150x's faster than mine.
The material used in the transistor is expensive and is difficult to work
with, so don't expect anything to come of this for several years.


RealNetworks Tracking Users
----------------------------------------------------------------
I've always suspected it, but for the first time (that I know of), a company
that makes a product that is used online has been accused of tracking what
their clients are doing.  In this case, RealNetworks was gathering
information on what users were listening to and recording.

For more info:
http://news.cnet.com/news/0-1005-200-1425866.html?tag=st.ne.1002.thed.1005-2
00-1425866


Cracking Codes
----------------------------------------------------------------
Every once in a while there is one of these stories. They are always the
same, but I still find them fascinating, just from a brute computing power
perspective.  195 people in 22 countries needed 40 days and 740 computers to
break a 97-bit code.  This was to prove that basing codes on elliptical
curves is better than factorization (Huh?). Basically, the code forces
crackers to go through 119,248,522,782,547 possibilities in order to find
the key to the code.  Not an easy task.


Speaking of Code Cracking.
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One of the things that took so long for DVDs to start becoming popular is
that studios were reluctant to make DVDs because they didn't want people to
copy them.  The DVD specifications include an encryption key that will not
allow the disc to be copied. Well, until now.  Some crackers/hackers
(whatever you want to call them) have cracked the code and it is spreading
across the Internet.  I'm not totally sure how it works, but you can use
this little program (containing the key) to break the code and copy the
movie to your hard drive. You could then of course do whatever you want with
it.

For more info:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/WPlate/1999-11/04/217l-110499-idx.html


Western Digital Recalls 400,000 drives
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I know I am a little late on this, but I thought it was funny.  Western
Digital has recalled 400,000 hard drives.  That in itself isn't funny.  When
you visit their web site, it states, "Limited recall issued." It may be
limited when you consider the number of drives that they manufacturer
overall, but 400,000 is still a lot of drives.


CONTEST RESULTS
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I had 23 people send in their stories of computer disasters or problems.
Thank you. Some of the stories are very entertaining and you can read them
at http://www.pcimprovements.com/pcin/contests/index.shtml  Remember that
all of the entries are posted online and left there. If you sent in an
entry, then it will be there for the world to see. Check it out.

The 3 winners were Roger, Salma, and Gary.

Even those these people didn't win (it was random remember), honourable
mentions go out to the following:
Malcolm Moor - dropped a monitor off the back of his truck while driving,
but the monitor was undamaged
Gloria Naughton - fought with Best Buy until she got a new computer
Neil McMullen - don't back up the file you need to restore the backup with


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I NEED HELP
----------------------------------------------------------------
Last week I forgot to include one of the submitter's names. It Leeor Geva.
Thanks Leeor for helping.

As many of you know, I offer a free help service via email. If you have a
question, you can email me and I will try my best to answer them. I can
answer about half of them. Those are things that I do regularly or have
experience with. There are other things that I have never tired or
experienced so I don't have an answer. I hope to post those questions here
and see if any of the readers have any suggestions. I will include all
reasonable suggestions with credit to you. These are NOT my own questions
and they are NOT my answers. I will NOT check the validity of these
comments. That is up to you.

Previous Question 1
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
I am trying to figure out how to connect my two computers together so I can
just transfer things between them, so I maybe can do a reformat. If you
could either tell me how to or point me to a source that can I would
appreciate it. By the way in about 3 weeks I will be networking them, I'm
just wanting to know if there is another way to this.

Answers to Q1
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Silvan Kuipers said, "Try LapLink. At www.laplink.com you can download a
version. It connects two computers using a parallel or serial cable
(COMx/LPTx). Easy and reasonably fast, without using network cards."
-----
John Hills said, "You need a serial cable twixt PC's and go to Add and
Remove Window Setup tab choose Communications and tick Direct Cable
Connection. I'm pretty sure you have to have Dial-Up Networking installed
before you can do this although I don't know why. Then it is simply a matter
of filling out the wizard i.e. Which serial ports and either HOST or GUEST.
One PC is the Host and the other Guest. Some nice ordinary and
understandable jargon in the PC world for a change. "
-----
Tom Foley said. "To transfer information between two computers that aren't
normally connected, you connect them with a cable that links their serial or
parallel ports. The cable creates a network connection between the two
computers, with one computer hosting the other.
1. Configure the computer that will be the guest to have at least one of the
same network protocols as the host computer
2. Connect the cable
3. On computer, click the start button, point to Programs and then
Accessories, and choose Direct Cable Connection from the sub menu
4. On each computer step through the Direct Cable connection Wizard. Specify
the port to which the cable is connected on each computer.
5. Complete the steps of the Wizard, and wait for the connection to be
established.
The fastest way to transfer information between computers when you're using
a cable connection is with a parallel connection. For a parallel connection,
you can use a standard4-bit cable, or for very fast transfer, a Universal
FastCable. For information about obtaining and using parallel cables,
connect to the Parallel Technologies Web Site at http://www.lpt.com/  You
can make a serial connection with an RS-232 null-modem cable.  This is an
excerpt from the book Called "Microsoft Windows at a Glance" pg 204/205,
published by Microsoft Press SRP $16.99 Lots of good info on Windows 98."
-----
Rich Skelton said, "Two ideas come to mind, the easiest being direct cable
connection. By using a parallel or serial cable (runs about $12 Can) just
link the two computers. From the start menu select
programs/accessories/direct cable connect. It is not always installed with
windows so you may need to use the add/remove settings for Win95. Another
option is to simply add the hard drive to your other system and use it as a
secondary IDE that you would access from windows just like you would a
CD-ROM.

Previous Question 2
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
My 3.5 floppy drive will not read one particular application disk. However
it will read any and all other disk. Two other duplicate systems to mine
will read the application without problems. What could be the problem(s)?

Answers to Q2
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Silvan Kuipers said, "Sometimes a floppy just cannot be read on a certain
system, although it can be read on an other system. Why? Probably because of
the heads in the floppy drive that read the floppy. This phenomenon is
well-known with cassette recorders, but also seems to happen on floppy
drives sometimes."
-----
John Hills said, "Floppies are hardly made with the precision of laser
technology and very often their read and write heads are not precisely lined
up. This means that one particular PC can use its floppy to read and write
without problem but what it has written may not be in exactly the right
place for another PC to read it and vice versa. If this is the problem then
you will have to get another copy off the disk on another PC and give that a
try. It would be helpful to preformat the disk on the PC that you wish to
read from first. There are some utilities that can re format a floppy
without erasing your data. There are also other utilities that used to be
used for breaking copyright on floppies and will read the disk in a
different way and this may resolve the problem. In the end, you may be
better off using the PC that it does work on an emailing yourself with its
content and then copying back onto floppy if that's where you need the data
to be."

New Questions
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Q1) I would like to know how to remove the little arrows in an icon on the
desktop.
Q2) My CD player will not play audio CDs anymore...I think that it is a Real
Audio bug though...It will read other CDs, but it will not play audio's...

If you have an answer to these questions or have a question of your own,
please email me at freehelp@pcin.net

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NEW CONTEST - Do you have a web site?
----------------------------------------------------------------
Do you have a web site? It could be a business one or a personal one. It
could be on your own domain or on a free server. It doesn't matter.  Send me
in the URL and a short (and I mean just a few sentences, not novels)
description of the site.  I will include them on the contest page on my site
(where they stay forever; good for links) and will randomly choose 4 people
who will win a copy of Poor Richard's Web Site: Geek-Free, Commonsense
Advice on Building a Low-Cost Web Site.

I did a review for the book in September and Missy Derkacz, the Marketing
Director at TopFloor Publishing generously donated these 4 copies. You can
read the review in the newsletter at
http://www.pcimprovements.com/pcin/archive/19990908.shtml or view the full
review at http://www.pcimprovements.com/help/books/prwebsite.shtml

Send in the URL and description to editor@pcin.net and don't be
afraid to send in your site no matter what it is about (except adult sites).
Whether you have a site devoted to carpet or a site about your cat, send it
in so we can all look at it.

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THE TIPS and OTHER STUFF
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Cheap Trick of the Week
----------------------------------------------------------------
Cheap Trick of the Week: November 1, 1999
**Sit up and shut down**
This is one of WE Compute's most popular Cheap Tricks ever.
Windows 95 and 98 have almost turned shutting off your computer into a
12-step program.
You have to click on the Start button, click on Shut Down, select Shut down
again and click on OK. And the computer is still on. You have to wait until
it tells you it's okay, and then you can actually push the various buttons
on your PC, monitor and printer to turn them off.
But you can set things up so at least the first part of the operation is
reduced to click-click.
Right-click on your Windows 95 or 98 desktop and, in the menu that pops up,
choose New and Shortcut. In the dialogue box that appears, type the command
line C:\windows\rundll.exe user.exe,exitWindows with a space before user
only. (This assumes your Windows 95 or 98 directory is called Windows. If
not, substitute the real directory name for windows in the command line.)
Click on Next and name the new shortcut something clever like "Shut Down".
Click on Finish.
Now a "Shut Down" icon appears on your desktop. Double-click on it and you'
re out. That fast.
Note: This trick works with the systems we've tested it on, but a few users
have found it works for them better if they use rundll32.exe in the command
line instead of rundll.exe.
And at least one reader has found he has to revise the line to
C:\Windows\rundll.exe  \system\user,exitWindows for the trick to work.

Buy the Little Black Book of Cheap Tricks for only $9.95 Cdn (about $6.00
US)
http://www.pcimprovements.com/help/books/cheaptricks.shtml


Resort Your Menus
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You really do learn something new everyday (or at least every other day). It
seems that everyone complains about the fact that in Windows 98 (or Windows
95 with Desktop Update installed) you can sort your Programs menu and
Favorites Menu in any order you want.  Well, after using this for a year, I
just learned that if your right-click while in either of those menus, there
is an option called "Sort by Name" that will reorder the menus. I've gone
into the registry to delete a registry key so the menu would be resorted.  I
have used numerous utilities to do this for me.  Now I can do it with a
couple of simple clicks.


How Big Are the Search Engines?
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This is something I just read the other day, but had never thought of
before.  If you are curious how many web pages the search engines have
indexed, do a search for a word that you know does not exist like
"xsdjkjgyrhk" (without the quotes).  The results page should show 0 results.
Some (not all) search engines have Boolean features and you can use words
like AND, OR, NOT, to do searches.  Type in "NOT xsdjkjgyrhk" (without the
quotes). This should give you all of the web pages that do not have
xsdjkjgyrhk in it. Since no pages have xsdjkjgyrhk in it, the number you are
seeing is the number of pages the search engine indexes. I did this very
same search at Northern Light Search and discovered they have 203,239,380
pages indexed.


Don't flick your "boogers"
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Did you know that "Boogers may not be flicked into the wind" in Alabama?
Well, you can find this out and more at the Dumb Laws web site.  I don't
know how reliable the site is, but it is very humourous reading the old laws
that are still in the books. Visit http://www.dumblaws.com/

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Well, that's all for this week. Remember that if there is anything that you
want to learn about, let me know. You can also send in your comments and
suggestions.
This newsletter is sent to those who subscribed only. If you have somehow
gotten this and you don't want it, please see the subscribe/unsubscribe
options at the start of the newsletter.
The PC Improvement News is brought to you by PC Improvements. The opinions
expressed are those of the editor, Graham Wing. PC Improvements and Graham
Wing accept no responsibility (either good or bad) for the results obtained
from trying the tips in this newsletter.
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Editor: Graham Wing can be reached at editor@pcin.net
Copyright 1999, 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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