The PC Improvement News
Issue 1-15
January 13, 1999
ISSN 1488-3163
Published electronically by PC Improvements (c) 1999
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Welcome to the 15th edition of the PC Improvement News. In
this newsletter,
I have a couple of tips to make your computing life easier
as well as
highlights of the past weeks PC Industry News. I am more than
willing to
discuss any PC related topics in this newsletter. Just email
me at
editor@pcin.net with
your suggestions. I would also appreciate it
if you let me know if there is any strange formatting in the
newsletter so
that I can fix them.
Give me two or three issues, and I know that you will get
something great
out of this!
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SOME OPENING THOUGHTS
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None
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THE NEWS
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Is there a retirement home for PCs?
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With the price of computers falling virtually everyday, a
lot of people
can't be bothered to upgrade. They just buy a brand new computer.
This
is a great thing, but there is always the question of what
do you do with
the old computers. You could give it to your friend, try to
sell it in
one piece or for parts, or you could keep it as a spare in
the basement.
Read the article for more info
http://www.news.com/News/Item/0,4,30365,00.html?pt.isyndicate.ne.hl
Prodigy cleared in email lawsuit
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Prodigy, and internet service provider, was involved in a
case where an
unidentified person had impersonated a Prodigy user by sending
profane
e-mail and bulletin board messages with his signature. The
suit charged
that Prodigy did not take proper action. The court found Prodigy
no liable
for the actions of the prankster.
This was an important decision as many people have wondered
how
responsible an ISP is for the things that happen through its
users
accounts. Read the article for more info
http://www.cnnfn.com/digitaljam/9901/04/prodigy/
"It" is online
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Stephen King has a web site. He was sick and tired of all
of the various
rumours that are spread about him.
Mr King is just another in a line of celebrities who have
their own pages.
it gives them a chance to set the record straight on some
of the rumours,
as well as give their fans a place to learn about them.
http://www.techserver.com/noframes/story/0,2294,4420-7784-53793-0,00.html
http://www.stephenking.com/
Microsoft and Y2K
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Microsoft has decided to join in the fun of trying to help
everyone with
their Y2K problems.
"One component is an analyzer tool that examines PC
hard disks and informs
system administrators which Microsoft products on those PCs
are compliant
and which need to be patched. The tool will be available this
quarter,
downloadable free from Microsoft's Web site and via a free
CD subscription
service. The service also provides quarterly updates on year
2000
compliance issues associated with Microsoft products"
http://www.techweb.com/se/directlink.cgi?IWK19990111S0029
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:
Government's final witness says Microsoft would win browser
monopoly
http://www.techserver.com/noframes/story/0,2294,4832-8518-58361-0,00.html
Judge Keeps Windows Pricing Info Private
http://www.techweb.com/wire/story/TWB19990111S0006
Judge exhibits opinion piece about Netscape-AOL merger
http://www.seattletimes.com/news/technology/html98/micr_010699.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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What's the deal with the Temporary Internet Files directory?
Part II
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I finally got the Temporary Internet Files article written,
but I did not
receive any comments from any of the readers. I had a lot
of readers and
other visitors to my site read the article, and I was hoping
to share some
of the findings with others. If you haven't read it yet, please
read it at
http://www.pcimprovements.com/help/articles/tif.shtml
and send me your feedback with
regards to whether or not you have the same problem.
Classic books online
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Carnegie Mellon University, in Pittsburgh PA has a collection
of 7000
books that are searchable by content, author, and title. This
would be a
great help if you wanted a short quote to support something
that you are
presenting.
Check it out at:
http://www.cs.cmu.edu/booklists.html
Downloading files from the Internet
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When you click on a zip file or an exe file on the Internet,
you always
get a dialog box that asks you where you want to save it.
What happens
when you click on a link to a txt (text) file? the file usually
opens up
in the browser. There has been many times where this has happened
to me
when all I wanted to do was to save it to my hard drive.
The way to fix this is to in IE right click on the link and
choose the
Save Target As option. IE will then find the target (even
if it is a zip
or exe file, and automatically save it for you without either
showing it
to you first or making you work through the regular dialog
box.
There is more to a PC than Microsoft products
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I like Microsoft products. There I said it. It might be uncool
to say
that, but it is true. My problem is, this newsletter is called
PC
Improvements, and so I need to broaden my horizons. I need
help doing
this. If you are a Netscape user, a Corel WordPerfect Suite
user, or a
user of any other major software program, I invite you to
send me your
tips for those programs. I will give you full credit in the
newsletter
(email address, URL, whatever you want me to include).
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Lastly, send in your comments, tips and news and you too can
be included in
The PC Improvement News with a reference to your name and
web site.
Send email to pcinews@pcimprovements.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 and I will try to accommodate
you. Also,
feel free to send any comments about the newsletters and the
topics covered.
This newsletter is sent to those who subscribed only. We don't
believe in
SPAM, so if you have somehow gotten this and you don't want
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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. 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
editor is notified.