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Issue 88 - June 14, 2000
ISSN 1488-3163; PC Improvements (c) 2000
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Welcome to the 88th 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.
The June prize will be Software602's 602Pro Lan Suite Lite,
a program that lets you connect several computers to the Internet.
Recommend PCIN at http://www.pcin.net/recommend.shtml
OPENING THOUGHTS
Is it just me or has the news over the last several months
been the same thing over and over. It always seems like there
is some report about a MP3 lawsuit or an update of the Microsoft
case. The government says that Microsoft stifled innovation,
but it seems that all of these lawsuits are stifling innovation.
This is officially the last week that I will be including
the Smileys and Acronyms of the Week. If you have any ideas
for another little thing to put at the top of the newsletter,
email me at mailto:editor@pcin.net with your suggestions.
Otherwise, starting next week I will go right into the news.
SMILEYS and ACRONYMS of the WEEK
:-() Big Lips
:-9 Licking Lips
TIC Tongue in Cheek
WRT With Regards To
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
Underwater Email
"Using underwater sound waves, e-mail has been sent
longer distances under the ocean than ever before.
It was also the first time a submerged and moving submarine
was able to communicate without giving away its position
by surfacing or raising an antenna.
In tests last month, the US Navy used equipment developed
by technology company Benthos to send e-mails from a submarine
off the coast of California to a naval base in San Diego
and to other underwater modems.
While cruising at a depth of 130 meters (400 feet), the
USS Dolphin was able to transmit data up to a distance of
five kilometres (three miles) to a relayer buoy. This then
transferred the messages to land, according to Benthos chief
executive John Coughlin.
He said that underwater e-mails had been sent before but
the new method improved the distance, speed and reliability
of the transmission."
For more info:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/hi/english/sci/tech/newsid_789000/789125.stm
More Napster Problems
This past week, The Recording Industry Association of America
asked a judge for a preliminary injunction to shutdown Napster.
Napster has responded by saying that it is perfectly legal
to swap MP3s. "Hank Barry, CEO of Napster, himself
an attorney, went much further, saying that music listeners
are "confused about their rights" owing to various
lawsuits against Napster. He added that people have a right
to use various digital and computer technologies, some of
which he said companies in the music industry helped fund.
He also said people were trading, and not selling, music
files over Napster."
For more info:
http://www.lasvegassun.com/sunbin/stories/tech/2000/jun/13/061300863.html
http://www.msnbc.com/news/420376.asp?cp1=1
http://www.salon.com/tech/log/2000/06/14/napster/index.html
MP3.com Goes Yahoo!?
Although MP3.com has denied it, rumours are flying that
Yahoo! wants to purchase the struggling online music site.
If they don't buy it, the rumour is that there will be at
least be some sort of partnership. Yahoo! has been trying
to get into the media side of things since AOL and Time
Warner merged.
For more info:
http://www.nypost.com/business/6036.htm
PlanetRx.com Lays off 70
"Troubled online drugstore PlanetRx.com quietly laid
off about 70 employees last week, or about 15 percent of
its workforce, hoping to reduce its losses as the company
explores alternatives for remaining in business in the long
term." The company stock recently closed at $2.75,
well below its 52-week high of $36.50.
For more info:
http://www.thestandard.net/article/display/0,1151,15941,00.html
MONTHLY CONTEST RESULTS
Congratulations to ALE52532 (I haven't gotten a full name
yet) who was randomly chosen as the winner of last week's
contest. (S)He wins a copy of Software602's 602Pro Lan Suite
Lite.
The responses were as expected. Virtually all of the 15 entries
in one way or another said that they didn't need a network,
but it is fun to hav eone. You can read all of the responses
at http://www.pcin.net/contests/20000614.shtml
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
Since I had Mindspring for a Internet service provider for
one month my browser says "Mindspring Internet Explorer"
How can I get rid of the Mindspring header and all of Mindspring
files?
Answers to Question 1
Rob said, "Installing a new version downloaded
from MS should overwrite that customized copy. If not, and
the custom version shows up in the Remove Programs in Control
Panel - then do an uninstall first. Otherwise more drastic
measures are in order."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Kenneth Aspinwall said, "There's a fix at http://powertips.tc3x.com/ that may do what
you want about the IE title, I haven't tried it myself though.
Click on Quick Fixes on left side, then scroll down to Customize/Restore
Window Title."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Will Chatham said, "Probably the easiest thing to do
would be to completely uninstall the Mindspring version of
IE, then download the latest version from Microsoft and install
it (Don't worry, it's free). This would ensure that no more
unneeded Mindspring files are left on your computer, and that
you have all of the most recent bells and whistles with your
new browser."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Chris Wheatley said, "Branding IE5 is a royal pain, it
can be removed by editing the registry; but be careful to
make a back-up first! Run REGEDIT (type it in the RUN box
from the start button). Navigate via:
HKEY_local_machine
Software
Microsoft
Internet Explorer
Main
And then look in the right-hand panel for the key WINDOW TITLE
Modify the key (Right-click the key) and delete the offending
message - you can add your own name if you prefer. Quit Regedit
to save and re-boot.
Failing that take the easy route: Go to http://www.xteq.com/ and download the freeware
program X-setup as recommended by .Net magazine in the UK
and moi! It will allow you to do the same, also with Outlook
Express and Media viewer and change the System properties
computer plus user names (handy if the former user has left
the area) and also change all sorts of lovely thingy's. The
dangerous stuff has a warning and is bright orange -don't
go there! Its better than Tweak UI for the initiated users."
Previous Question 2 (Two Weeks Ago)
Task bar! It has elongated itself, to the left and
to the right. I can view only 1/4 of the start button over
on the left, and the clock is out of view - on the right.
Nowhere in the literature can I find mention of how to rectify
this. I think I should be able to correct it without resorting
to the monitor's controls - which, by the way, do not correct
the problem.
Answers to Question 2 (Two Weeks Ago)
Chris Wheatley said, "Your monitor is probably
displaying the screen image 'too wide.' Use the on-screen
VDU setting buttons to narrow the screen and possible shift
the horizontal axis left/right as well until the Windows screen
fits back onto the visible area. Look for the borders of the
toolbar! You'd me amazed at the number of new monitors I have
to do this with straight out of the box!"
Previous Question 2
I only have 1 game port. Is there any way for me to
connect 4 controllers to this one port so I can play a 4-player
game?
Answers to Question 2
Simon Duffy said, "Why not get USB controllers.
You can connect lots with no hassle."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Will Chatham said, "All I know about this is that I tried
hooking up two gamepads to my soundcard's gameport, and it
didn't work. I think it depends on the capabilities of your
specific card. I know they do sell adapters for joysticks
that split up into four plugs, but whether or not this will
work on your system may be a trial and error procedure. I
suggest first contacting the manufacturer and getting the
specs on your gameport. If that is of no help, go buy everything
you need from a place you can return the stuff to if it doesn't
work. Plug it all in and try it."
New Questions
Q1) Today when I tried to open my Word Perfect 7.0,
I kept getting a message "PerfectFit dlls cannot be loaded".
What does this mean and how do I fix it?
Q2) Yesterday I inserted some more RAM for my computer. But
when I restart it, there was a error: "NLTD (or something
like that, I can't remember) not found." Then I start
my computer with the other disk. And I can not use the command
"dir" with drive C. There's a error "invalid
media type..." What can I do now?
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
**Can't remember your Windows password? Fugeddaboddit!**
If your Windows computer has been set up to require a password
when you log on, there's a good chance you may not recall
which to use. But this need not be a disaster.
Upon being asked for the password, click on Cancel. You'll
end up in Windows anyway, although not with your personalized
settings. Click on Start, Programs and MS-DOS Prompt. In
the DOS window, type DIR *.PWL (with a space after DIR only)
and press Enter. You'll get a list of files ending in .PWL,
one of which probably starts with a reasonable facsimile
of your name, like SANDYMIL.PWL if you're Sandy Miller.
Delete it with the command DEL followed by a space and the
filename, as in DEL SANDYMIL.PWL.
Close the DOS window and restart. You'll be asked for a
new password.
You can get the Little Black Book of Cheap Tricks yourself
for only $9.95 Cdn (about $7.00 US) at http://www.pcin.net/help/books/reviewed/cheaptricks.shtml
(Please mention that you heard about it from PCIN)
Microsoft Online Seminars
I was looking around the Microsoft site this week and found
out that they have online seminars. All previous seminars
are available online using some streaming video and some
slides. The seminars cover a wide variety of topics. Check
them out for yourself at http://www.microsoft.com/seminar/
Digital Video Help
I am not really into multimedia other than listening to
CDs. But I came across a site the other day that gives all
sorts of information on various digital video formats (MPG,
ASF, AVI, MOV, and more). If you want to learn more about
video on your PC, or what the different formats are best
for, then visit http://www.vcdhelper.com/
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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