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Issue 82 - May 03, 2000
ISSN 1488-3163; PC Improvements (c) 2000
==== 933 Subscribers in 47 Countries ====
Subscribe/Unsubscribe/View Archives at http://www.pcin.net/
Welcome to the 82nd issue of the PC Improvement News. PCIN
consists of 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
topic. Email me at mailto:editor@pcin.net with any suggestions.
If you give me two or three issues, I know that you will come
back for more!
Recommend PCIN to others and be entered in a monthly draw
(May draw is for Mijenix's PowerDesk Utilities 4 Pro) at http://www.pcin.net/recommend.shtml
OPENING THOUGHTS
April Showers bring May flowers. It rained a lot on Monday
(May 1), so I guess the leap year just messed everything up
by a day.
I have just successfully set up a home network. I have 2
network cards in my desktop and 1 in my laptop. On my desktop,
1 NIC connects to the cable modem, 1 connects to a hub that
also is connected to my laptop. I am using the Software602
602Lan Suite Lite to allow my laptop Internet access through
the cable modem. Everything is working great. I am still playing
with things, but you can expect a full review up on the PCIN
site next week as well as more details in the newsletter.
Last week I mentioned that I was going to be fixing up some
things on my 2 sites. Well, the first site I worked on was
my business site at http://www.pcimprovements.com/ and I
have finished the updates there. Nothing exciting or too useful,
just a nicer layout. I haven't decided what to do to the PCIN
site yet, I just know that it is quite plain and unattractive
the way it is. I'm open to suggestions.
Lastly, congratulations to Dorothy Bechard who was randomly
chosen of those who recommended PCIN in April. She won a copy
of PowerDesk Utilities 98. Don't forget to recommend PCIN
during the month of May, as you will be eligible for a copy
of PowerDesk Utilities 4 Pro.
SMILEYS and ACRONYMS of the WEEK
B:-) Sunglasses On Head
:-<> Person Puckering Up For a Kiss
PTB Powers That Be
TTYL Talk To You Later
Get the WWW. Smileys & Acronyms book for the PCIN special
price of $7.00 Cdn (around $5.00 US). You can only get this
price by visiting
http://www.pcin.net/help/books/reviewed/smileys.shtml
The NEWS
Proposal to Breakup Microsoft
I'm sure most of you have heard by now that the US Department
of Justice and the States have sent a proposal to the Judge
asking the Microsoft be split up. The plan would be for
the Windows division to be separate from other software.
This, in theory, would stop Microsoft of leverage Windows
with other product placement.
For more info:
http://www.seattletimes.com/news/technology/html98/micr29_20000429.html
http://dailynews.yahoo.com/h/nm/20000428/tc/microsoft_industry_1.html
http://www.herald.com/content/today/business/tech/digdocs/001983.htm
Always Coca-Cola (on the Internet)
Did you know that Coke hasn't really used the Internet
for marketing? You certainly wouldn't be alone if you just
assumed that they did. It seems as if Coke and their logo
is everywhere. But, up until now, it has been the opposite
of this on the Internet. Today, Coca-Cola said "that
it has signed a multiyear pact with America Online to develop
online and offline marketing programs, marking the beverage
giant's first worldwide Internet marketing initiative."
For more info:
http://news.cnet.com/news/0-1005-200-1806110.html?tag=st.ne.1002.bgif.1005-200-1806110
eBay and Elian
"Using its right to pull questionable auctions from
its site, online auctioneer eBay finally pulled the plug
on a number of Elian Gonzalez-related auctions because the
items were either non-existent, non-realistic, or illegal.
Among the items you could bid on in the past weeks: Elian's
raft (plywood with a tire on one end), a bottle of air from
Little Havana in Miami, a toothbrush just like the one Elian
would have used, and even Elian himself. Bids for the raft
reportedly reached $10 million at one point. Among the auctions
missed by eBay are a copy of the famous "capture"
picture that was cut out of Canadian newspaper and is going
for more than $2,000, and tennis balls and combs resembling
the ones Elian used in Miami."
For more info:
http://www.internetnews.com/rumblings/0,1145,81,00.html
MONTHLY CONTEST
It seems as if everywhere you look these days there is some
little device that will allow you to access the Internet.
I've heard about gas station pumps, refrigerators, Coke machines,
and even toasters. All of the new cell phones allow you to
receive basic text email, and even some newer expensive phones
have larger screens (although still very small) that you can
browse the Net with.
The question is what do you think of this? Is this going to
be a fad like wristwatch TVs or portable TVs? Is this practical?
Will you be buying a device like this in the near future?
Do you really need to have Internet access wherever you go?
Send in your thoughts, feelings, beefs, and other comments
about this to mailto:contest@pcin.net I will be giving away
1 copy of Mijenix PowerDesk Utilities 4 Pro in a random draw
of all entrants.
I NEED HELP
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 most of them, but there are things that I
have never tried or experienced so I don't have an answer.
I 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. If you do try one of these tips, please let me know
how the suggestions worked out. Did they work or not? Please
send in your questions or results to mailto:freehelp@pcin.net
Previous Question 1
I seem to have lost my recycle bin icon and the only way I
am able to access the bin is through Explorer (that lets me
see what is in there and manually delete things but I want
my visual bin and easy restore back!). The only change I have
made to my desktop is that I enabled active desktop and "view
as web page". I have tried everything I know including
reverting to the original settings.
Answers to Question 1
Leeor Geva said, "It looks like you lost everything on
there, all you have to do is: Right click on your desktop,
choose properties, click on "Web" at the top, and
click on "Show Web content on my Active Desktop"
so that there will be no checkmark there. That should do it.
At one point you wanted a JPG or GIF to be your wallpaper,
so windows determined you didn't want those nifty system icons."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Rob said, "I suppose you're on Win98 so I'm not entirely
sure if this will work. I have two suggestions. First you
could download and install something called TweakUI, which
may be part of Power Toys (might be on Win98 install disc).
Anyhow after you find it and install it will give options
to hide or restore special system icons such as the Recycle
Bin. The other option would be to try creating a shortcut
to Recycle Bin on the desktop."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Kenneth Aspinwall said, "If you have Tweak UI installed,
open the Control Panel, double-click on Tweak UI and move
to Desktop tab. There will be a listing for available desktop
icons. Put a checkmark in the Recycle Bin box. Click Apply
and close Tweak UI. You will need to reboot for it to appear.
If you don't have Tweak UI, it's available free from many
Web sites including http://www.winmag.com/ Be sure you get the right
version for your operating system."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
JR Leming said, "Download TweakUI. Free. Guaranteed to
work. (I hope) It worked for me."
Previous Question 2
Is overclocking a good idea? Where can I learn about?
Answers to Question 2
Leeor Geva said, "A good place to start is http://www.tomshardware.com/
Overclocking may heat your CPU up too much to a point where
you can kill it, or damage it, and that's not good.
One point people make about CPU overclocking is the factors
involved in it:
1. The increased CPU speed
2. The new Bus Speed.
Most of the time when you increase the CPU speed, you make
it hotter (posing a danger) but then the Bus speed lowers,
the bus speed is how fast things in your computer receive
and send information to your CPU, a clear disadvantage there,
but you'll have to see what each setting that you make does
what on probably intel.com or a third party site. How do you
do the overclocking? It's simple, you basically change a few
switches inside your computer ("jumpers"). I have
a 166Mhz with a 60Hz Bus, my option to overclock was 188Mhz
and 33Hz Bus, so I didn't bother to overclock, I know 166Mhz
with MMX can overclock to 200Mhz."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Rob said, "You're in luck. I just upgraded by PC and
did a good bit of research on this though I'm no expert. In
general overclocking newer machines isn't as beneficial as
it used to be. Further, overclocking typically only sees an
improvement in graphics intense applications or CPU intensive
games. You must adequately cool the CPU and for that matter
the whole inside of the computer's case or you may very well
fry your CPU (no warranties on overclocking). Also to make
things easier you will likely want to upgrade the Mother Board.
Also, depending on your current equipment you may need to
upgrade RAM, Video and Sound cards, etc. When you overclock
you're asking everything to run faster not just the CPU (typically).
Whatever you decide to buy - shop around, but don't go with
a company you never heard of. You get what you pay for. Here
are some sites that should help:
http://www.overclockers.com/
http://bxboards.com/
http://www.hardwarecentral.com/hardwarecentral
You could also try some Usenet groups, on homebuilt PCs, Abit,
or Austek."
New Questions
Q1) I have lost most of my icons (shortcuts?) that bring up
my reports, etc that I had on my desktop. This happened after
I changed my password, but I don't think that caused it. Haw
can I retrieve my former desktop set-up?
Q2) When I'm reading mail, if there's an address on it, I
can't click on the address to get to the site etc. Before,
it worked perfectly. I'd just click on the address, and I'd
either go directly to message, or to the website. Not now.
Now I have to do it manually. When I click on an address,
I get a 'Program not Found' box with 3-4 various messages.
How can I solve the problem?
If you have an answer to these questions or have a question
of your own, please email me at mailto:freehelp@pcin.net
THE TIPS and OTHER STUFF
Cheap Trick of the Week
**Clean up as a minesweeper**
Through various versions of Windows, Minesweeper has been
a great time-waster - and people have found various ways
to cheat their way to impressive scores.
Find the game by clicking on Start, Programs, Accessories
and Games. If it's not there, you didn't install the included
games with Windows, but you can add it to your Windows installation
at any time.
Here's how to get scores to impress your friends - without
even playing the game. Look for the file winmine.ini in
your Windows directory. (You may have to play the game a
few times to have this file created.)
Open the file with Notepad. You'll find listed "Times1=",
"Times2=", "Times3=", each followed
by a number. These are the three fastest scores, which you
can change to whatever very low times you like. Below them
are "Name1=", "Name2=" and "Name3=",
each followed by a player's name, corresponding to the respective
times. Change them each to your name. Save and close the
file.
Now when anyone checks the best scores, they'll find your
incredibly fast times.
You can get the Little Black Book of Cheap Tricks yourself
for only $9.95 Cdn (about $7.00 US)
http://www.pcin.net/help/books/reviewed/cheaptricks.shtml
(Please mention that you heard about it from PCIN)
Backspace Key Useful for More than Deleting - Part
II
Subscriber Leeor Geva sent me this:
"You can use it in Internet Explorer also to go back
a web site. I love that feature."
Thanks Leeor. That made me think of another way to move
forward and back amongst web pages. Instead of pressing
the back or forward button in IE, you can also press the
Alt key and then either the left or right arrows.
Online Reference Site
A while ago I asked you all what was so great about the
Internet. A lot of you replied that is was so easy to find
information. The learning is endless. Well, http://www.refdesk.com/
claims to be "The Single Best Source For Facts Online."
There are facts, horoscopes, thoughts, encyclopedias, guides
and much more.
Typing URLs in Address Bar
I'm not sure if this works in Netscape, but it definitely
works in IE4.x and IE5.x. That is when you are typing in
a URL (web site address) in the address bar of the browser,
if it is a .com address, then you only need to type in the
name (without the .com) and then press CTRL-Enter. For instance,
if you wanted to check out the changes I'd made at http://www.pcimprovements.com/ you would
just type pcimprovements in the address bar, and when you
pressed CTRL-Enter, the http://www.
And .com would appear automatically and the page would start
to load.
You can also trying typing the name and pressing enter.
If name.com exists, then that page will load. The browser
will then try .net and/or .org if the previous domain doesn't
exist.
DISCLAIMER and OTHER STUFF
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.
- If any of the links are too long to fit on one line,
you may have to cut and paste.
- You can only win one contest every 30 days.
- To subscribe another address or unsubscribe, please visit
http://www.pcin.net/ and follow the appropriate
links.
- Recommend PCIN to others at http://www.pcin.net/recommend.shtml
and be entered in a monthly draw.
- 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.
- If you have a web site or run your own newsletter, please
email me at mailto:editor@pcin.net
and I will add it to the subscriber web pages that I have
on my site.
Graham Wing can be reached at mailto:editor@pcin.net
Copyright 1998-2000, PC Improvements and Graham Wing. All
rights reserved. This publication may be reproduced in hole,
or in part, as long as the author is notified and the newsletter
is presented as is.
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