The PC Improvement News
Issue 1-43
August 04, 1999

ISSN 1488-3163
Published electronically by PC Improvements (c) 1999
To subscribe or unsubscribe, please visit
http://www.pcin.net/

Note 1: If any of the links are too long, please cut and paste.
Note 2: You can only win one contest every 30 days.

Welcome to the 43rd 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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I'm still having a hard time coming up with contest ideas. Only one more
person sent in a suggestion (that makes a total of 2 suggestions), but it
was the same as the first one. I'm getting even more prizes stockpiled, but
no contests. Please send in your contest ideas to editor@pcin.net


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THOUGHT OF THE WEEK
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"New boots...big steps."
          - Chinese Proverb

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

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


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THE NEWS
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Flat (and I mean flat) Screens
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The new trend right now is to create a flat-screen that is paper-thin that
can be used as presentation displays. These displays will be flexible (you
can roll them up). I guess that some JC Penny stores in selected areas are
already using a version of one of these as a ceiling display. Xerox and a
company called E Ink are working on this.

For more info:
http://www.parc.xerox.com/parc-go.html
http://www.eink.com/


The Grassy Knoll
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I share this because it will be interesting to people, not as a connection
to the JFK Jr. incident.

As I think everyone in the world knows, Lee Harvey Oswald shot JFK from the
Texas SchoolBook Depository. Ignoring all conspiracies, that is the story.
Well, if you have tried to visit the TSBD, you probably found that it is
part Of a museum and visitors are not allowed at that Window. Well, now you
can see the view from there via WebCam. EarthCam, a webcasting firm has set
up a camera there.

You can see the view at:
http://www2.earthcam.com/jfk/


Writing in the Air
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BT Laboratories have a pen that writes, but also can store in memory what
you wrote. The SmartQuill doesn't need a special pad like the CrossPad, and
it even recognizes an invisible message (one written in the air). The pen
recognizes the movement of the pen. You can use it as a diary, calculator
and note taker. I don't know how, but it can also receive emails and pager
messages.

For more info:
http://innovate.bt.com/showcase/smartquill/index.htm


Internet Statistics
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According to Business 2.0 magazine, and a study done by Computer Economics
and the U.S. Census Bureau, only 3% of the world population is online. Over
half of that is in North America, and the rest is from other parts of the
world. Not that this justifies it, but for you subscribers, you must forgive
us if the Net seems like an American (or Canadian) toy. It is just that most
of our audience is here. Japan is next in line with Germany next. The UK is
in 4th place followed closed by Australia/New Zealand.


The Other Microsoft Trial
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It appears that not only is Microsoft fighting the Department of Justice,
but they are also fighting the Internal Revenue Service. This has been a
very secretive case, with almost no details given publicly. You can read the
article though for the information that is known.

For more info:
http://www.seattletimes.com/news/business/html98/micr_19990803.html


Person of the Century
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TIME magazine is trying to decide who the Person of the Century is. They
have an online poll where visitors can vote for who they think it will be or
should be. Linus Torvalds, the creator of Linux, was at No. 15 while Bill
Gates was following behind. It appears that the Linux faithful have been
voting in a strong anti-Microsoft way. Of course, none of this means
anything. TIME did the same thing last year for their Person of the Year,
and Mankind, a WWF wrestler was voted number 1. I'm sure it is not too
surprising to you to learn that he wasn't given the award.

For more info:
http://www.theregister.co.uk/990803-000002.html

You can vote at:
http://cgi.pathfinder.com/time/time100/poc/century.html


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I NEED HELP
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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. I will not check the validity of
these comments. That is up to you.

Previous Questions
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Q1) Please answer a question that I asked several times to Microsoft
customer service and AOL with not reply. First let me give you some
necessary information to better assist you. I have IBM Aptiva, using Windows
98, AOL as my Internet; IE 5.0 has my browser, and Office 95 version
7.0. I have composed letters in word and I want to cut and paste this
information onto a web page that I found on AOL. I can cut and paste on the
e-mail page and to other pages when I am on office. However, my problem lays
when I try to paste this information to any web page. Why or what do I need
to do to resolve this.
A1) Ann Deaver answered, "He doesn't say if the web site he is trying to
upload to is an AOL free 2 meg one for his screen name. If it is, he needs
to use personal publisher software free in the AOL software library as you
can't use office to do this. If it is not, tell him to go to his Office 97
and see if he has web page wizard installed. If not he can get it from his
disk or the MS web site. There is also a publishing wizard for Office which
I believe is also a free download if it is not in his installation CD-Rom
for Office under the plus or added values folders. You can not, however use
Office to upload pages to AOL free web page space. Another thing I don't
like about AOL's selfish software package is you do it their way or no way
at all. They are starting to make bunches of unsatisfied members as the
members start getting out of the newbie stage and learn that the rest of the
Internet does not work the way AOL does and is not about to change
everything else in the world to accommodate AOL members."
A1) John Hills answered, "You need a HTML editor like Word. Go to open file
and select HTML instead of .doc (DOT DOC) and then cut, paste and do
anything you like and then save it again. If your word does not support it
then there are plenty of editors available free on ZDNET."

Q2) I'd like to have my computer log on to the Internet each time I turn on
my computer. I've tried putting the Dial-Up Networking shortcut in the
StartUp folder, but that just pops the box up to hit connect. I'd like for
it to log on automatically - without having to put a URL link in my StartUp
folder. My brother tells me that this is possible writing some scripts. I'm
trying to bug my ISP about it, but it seems that most of their support desk
is all new. Well, I'd appreciate any comments or suggestions.
A2) John Hills answered, "Double click Task Scheduler, normally on the task
bar by the time \ volume control. Double click Add Scheduled Task - Page
down to select Outlook Express or Internet Explorer whichever one you fancy
and then click next and finally select when my computer starts. I am using
Win98 SE but I am sure this is roughly the same for Win95 if running IE4 or
IE5. Of course you need to ensure that eg Outlook Express is set up in the
options menu to "Send and receive messages at startup" in the General menu
and possibly in the SEND menu - "Send messages immediately. If these options
are not available in IE up to 4 then upgrade to IE5."
A2) Silvan answered, "Put Netscape / Internet Explorer in your Startup
Folder. When it starts, select "AutoConnect". Next time it will start
without asking."
A2) Ken Berry answered, "Assuming your computer logs on to the Internet
automatically whenever you open a URL, or web browser, put a shortcut to
your browser in the start up folder instead. If your having trouble getting
DUN to remember your password, http://winfiles.com in the
WIN 95/98 hints & tips has a plethora of info to fix the latter."


New Questions
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Q1) I'm working with a Compaq Presario with Win95. I was working on
Microsoft Word, when the computer kicked me out, saying I had to reboot.
Well, I've tried rebooting but it keeps giving me the "Shell32.dll file is
missing". I don't know what to do, I've tried searching the Internet for
advice, but I come up empty.

Q2) I downloaded a file. When trying to open it, I was asked what with and
chose word pad. Now every downloaded file opens or tries to open with word
pad. Help!

If you have any answers to these questions, please email me at
freehelp@pcin.net


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THE TIPS and OTHER STUFF
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Dragon Naturally Speaking
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John Hills sent in this review. "Info on useful program. I have had occasion
to supply, install and teach clients on Dragon Naturally Preferred Speaking.
It is an extraordinary program, as you can not only dictate into any windows
application, you can control 99% or more of windows operations by voice. You
can even control individual keys on the keyboard and use a mouse grid to
pinpoint where you wish to click. A must for people with spinal injuries and
others with a set of 10 thumbs. Having tried other voice programs it is my
opinion that this program is the by far the best. In UK it costs around £115
pounds sterling but I suspect in USofA and Canada it is much less."


Emoticons (emotion icon)
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I'm sure many of you have seen the happy faces that are made with a colon, a
dash and right bracket :-) Well, there are all sorts of them. Here are some
of them with suggested meaning:
: )  Smile
:-)  Big Smile
:-(  Frown
:(  Unhappiness
;-)  Wink
:-P  Stuck out tongue
:-}  Smirk
%-)  Confusion
8-)  Surprise


Icon Problems
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If you have a problem with the wrong icons being shown for certain files,
then it may be that your icon cache is full. By default, Windows stores 512
icons in a file called shelliconcache. If you have the need to cache more
icons, you can fix this by editing the registry. DO NOT DO THIS UNLESS YOU
ARE FAMILIAR WITH REGISTRY EDITING. Find your way to
HKLM\software\microsoft\windows\currentversion\explorer. You should have a
value on the right called "Max Cache Icons" (without the quotes but with the
spaces). If it isn't there, create it as a DWORD. Right-click on it and
choose modify. Click on the Decimal option. Then type in the number of icons
you would like to have cached.


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NEW CONTEST
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Okay, since you actually read the newsletter (or at least got to this part),
I will have a new contest. A contest asking for contest ideas. The best 5
ideas will get a copy of Window Washer by Webroot Software. Be creative. Be
original. But try to have it have something to do with computers and/or
other things this newsletter covers. I will probably be away next week (a
colleague will do the newsletter for me), so you have 2 weeks to send in
your suggestions. Email me at editor@pcin.net with your
suggestions.


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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 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
editor is notified.

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