The PC Improvement News
Issue 63 - December 22, 1999
ISSN 1488-3163; PC Improvements (c) 1999
==== 667 Subscribers in 38 Countries ====
There are only 2 ways to get on the subscriber list. You
have either been
subscribed by filling out a subscription form on any of the
pages on my
site, or you have requested FreeHelp from me in the past.
To subscribe, unsubscribe, or view previous issues please
visit
http://www.pcin.net/
Note 1: If any of the links are too long to fit on one line,
you may have to
cut and paste.
Note 2: You can only win one contest every 30 days.
Welcome to the 63rd 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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This week's and next week's newsletter will be quite a bit
shorter than
normal. I'm sure most people are busy getting things ready
for the holidays.
The January 5th issue will be regular length. I was going
to include some
Christmas links, but there are plenty on the Contest Results
page and I
figured by this time, anyone who wanted to visit Christmas
site would have
already found a large number of them.
I just wanted to wish all of you a very Merry Christmas.
It is a wonderful
time of year where it seems that everyone is a little kinder
to one another.
Thank you all for being subscribers to PCIN. It is a
lot of fun
corresponding with many of you.
If you have a web site or run your own newsletter, please
email me at
editor@pcin.net and I
will add it to the subscriber web pages that I have on
my site.
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THOUGHT OF THE WEEK
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It takes 20 years to make an overnight success.
- Eddie
Cantor
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 aspire-request@happypublishing.com
with
SUBSCRIBE in the subject line.
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THE NEWS
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The Chaos Mirror
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Most new devices that coming out are trying to implement some
form of
wireless technology. They use either radio waves or infrared
signals. The
problem is that radio waves can be interfered with and infrared
signals don'
t go through objects. Well, Japan Based Advanced Telecommunications
Research Laboratories have developed a mirror that looks like
a disco ball.
It spreads infrared signals more efficiently around the office.
Since it is
sending the signals from such a high point, it can usually
get around
plants, filing cabinets, and other things in the way.
The Dead Speak
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FinalThoughts.com has been getting a lot of publicity lately.
They offer a
service where you can plan for your own death. When
that happens, you can
send emails to people, you can have a list ready of who you
want to get
what, and you can fill out an organ donation form. I
don't know how they
know you're dead and I don't know if this is legally binding,
but it is an
interesting concept.
For more info:
http://www.finalthoughts.com/
Statistics, Statistics, Statistics
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This week I have a lot of statistics to share. Most of them
have come from
the December and January issues of Business 2.0 magazine.
Who's Online?
<><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><>
At the end of 1998 95.4 million people were online. Here is
how it divides
up by continent:
53.9% North America
1.6% South America
24.6% Europe
14.1% Asia
1.2% Rest of World
Media Penetration
<><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><>
What media are people receiving? (US Households)
99% Radio
98% TV
81% Magazines
62% Cable
59% Newspapers
29% Internet
Top Web Sites
<><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><>
The first numbers is the # in millions of people visiting
the site:
26.8 yahoo.com
23.9 aol.com
23.5 msn.com
15.6 microsoft.com
15.3 geocities.com
14.5 netscape.com
14.3 go.com
11.8 hotmail.com
11.3 passport.com
10.5 excite.com
Speaking English
<><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><>
Although only 6.2% of the world's population have English
as their native
language, 54% of the people on the Internet use English to
communicate.
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CONTEST RESULTS
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I had a real hard time deciding if I wanted to make a web
page available
with the contest entries. I didn't want to ruin a Christmas
surprise for
anyone, but there were also a lot of links and other Holiday
greetings from
subscribers to the rest of the list that I felt I should make
the page. Just
a warning! If you told me anything that is a secret (gifts
your purchased,
cards you sent, etc.) then don't let your friends or family
visit
http://www.pcin.net/contests/19991222.shtml
as that is where the responses
are. I would encourage you all to check it out though
as there are a lot of
good comments.
Silvan Kuipers and Dean Saba were the random winners. They
each won a copy
of Fit-It Utilities 99.
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I NEED HELP
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Will return January 5, 1999
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NEW CONTEST
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Will return January 5, 1999
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THE TIPS and OTHER STUFF
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Cheap Trick of the Week
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**Garbage by any other name**
Your Recycle Bin does not like to be renamed or deleted, and
so it does not
offer the Rename or Delete option on its context menu (which
you get by
right clicking on the icon).
But you can add these options if you dare fiddle with your
Windows 95 or 98
Registry.
To edit your Registry, click on Start and Run, type regedit
and click on OK.
This opens the Registry Editor. (See http://www.we-compute.com/registry.html
for more detailed instructions and precautions for editing
the Registry.)
Navigate through the following keys:
HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\CLSID\{645FF040-5081-101B-9F08-00AA002F954E}\ShellFolder.
With ShellFolder selected, double-click on the Attributes
value in the right
pane. In the Edit Binary Value window that appears, replace
the eight digits
"40 01 00 20" with 70 01 00 20 and click on OK.
Close the Registry Editor and right-click on your Recycle
Bin to see your
new choices.
Buy the Little Black Book of Cheap Tricks for only $9.95 Cdn
(about $7.00
US)
http://www.pcin.net/help/books/reviewed/cheaptricks.shtml
CPU Scorecard
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John Hills sent this in:
Visit http://www.cpuscorecard.com/cpu_400.htm
to see how CPUs from different
manufacturers compare.
Initial observations, ignoring the Mac is that AMD are ahead
of the game,
most of the time. I do know a couple of people, with a great
deal more
experience than I shall ever have say that if the CPU's are
compared when
running heavy 3DFX games with heavy graphics then AMD is not
so hot.
Personally, I have always favoured AMD right the way back
to 486DX days.
Intel always seem to bring out a CPU with a high spec and
high price and
then immediately bring out another model which is cheaper
but has the
improvements of the expensive one removed. I think we are
too hooked on
these processors because the working difference between a
700mhz CPU and a
400mhz is minimal in every way except the price. Give me stacks
of memory
every time for a major difference at a sensible price.
Find your way
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There are lost of map sites out there, but Maps On Us is one
of the better
ones. It provides basic maps, gives you routes to take
to your destination,
and lets you look up people along the way. Check it out at
http://www.mapsonus.com/
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PCIN 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 for the results obtained from trying the tips
in this
newsletter.
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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.