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Issue 152 - September 12, 2001

ISSN 1488-3163; PC Improvements © 2001
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Welcome to the 152nd issue of the PC Improvement News. PCIN consists mainly of news and tips. There is something for everyone, and if this is your first issue, I'm sure there will be something for you.

You can reach me at editor@pcin.net with any suggestions or comments. If you give me two or three issues, I know that you will come back for more!

Recommend PCIN at http://PCIN.net/recommend.shtml
Support PCIN at http://PCIN.net/donate.shtml

CONTENTS

OPENING THOUGHTS

Everyone is still trying to understand what happened yesterday. I have nothing new to say about what happened yesterday. There have been plenty of people more eloquent than I who have said many things more important. All I can say is that our thoughts and prayers are with all of those who have been affected by this tragedy.

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The NEWS

Tragedy Results In Web News Gridlock

"Although Web sites like MSNBC.com, CNN.com and CBSNews.com initially began their coverage of Tuesday's tragedy by offering big graphics, live audio, and video, staffers rushed to distribute server loads and put up text only sites, in an effort to make information as accessible as possible.
Initially, Internet users across the country reported being unable to access national news sites as they frantically sought information about the situation, receiving 500-13 error codes -- 'HTTP Error 500-13 - Server too busy' -- or 404 error codes -- 'Cannot find server or DNS Error'."

I heard about this while I was at work. Luckily there were people who had radios (there are no TVs in the office). I tried every news site I could think of (ABCNews.com; CBSNews.com; NBC.com; GlobalTV.com; Pulse24.com; CBC.ca; CNN.com; MSNBC.com) and I couldn't load any of the pages until mid-afternoon. MSNBC.com was the first site that I was able to access.

For more info:
Tragedy Results In Web News Gridlock
http://www.internetnews.com/IAR/article/0,,12_882061,00.html
U.S. attack: Inundated CNN.com strips graphics, boosts bandwidth
http://www.infoworld.com/articles/hn/xml/01/09/11/010911hncnn.xml
eBay Bans Sale Of WTC, Pentagon Items
http://www.internetnews.com/ec-news/article/0,,4_882761,00.html
U.S. attack: Companies warned about possible cyberattacks
http://www.infoworld.com/articles/hn/xml/01/09/12/010912hncyber.xml

GoTo changes name to Overture

"GoTo.com Inc. is going away -- at least under that name. The pay-for-placement Internet search engine plans to change its name to Overture Services Inc., effective Oct. 8, GoTo.com said in a statement. The company has grappled with user confusion over its name, considered too similar to such Web portals as InfoSpace Inc.'s Go2Net.com and The Walt Disney Co.'s Go.com."

For more info:
http://www.itworld.com/AppDev/1634/IDG010910goto/

China spots "Code Blue" worm

"A new Internet worm has emerged in China akin to the Code Red worm, which caused $2.4 billion in estimated cleanup costs on Internet-linked computers last month, a computer security expert said Friday.
The "Code Blue" worm has similarities with the Code Red worm, which caused widespread problems, said a worker at the police-run Computer Virus Treatment Center in Tianjin, about 54 miles from Beijing."

For more info:
China spots "Code Blue" worm
http://news.cnet.com/news/0-1003-200-7086783.html
'Code Blue' Worm Strikes in China, May Migrate
http://www.newsfactor.com/perl/story/13405.html
Code Blue deemed bigger threat than Code Red
http://www.infoworld.com/articles/hn/xml/01/09/07/010907hncodeblue.xml

Microsoft sticks with Flash in Windows XP

"Digital graphics software maker Macromedia said Tuesday it will ship its ubiquitous Flash player with Microsoft's Windows XP operating system and bundled Web browser, avoiding a clash other technology makers have faced as they hustle to get their technology supported in the highly anticipated operating system.
The Flash player is a free plug-in that allows an Internet browser, such as Microsoft's Internet Explorer, to view animated cartoons or dynamic Web sites created with Macromedia's Flash technology. The player has been shipping with Windows operating systems and Internet Explorer for the past four years and is supported by roughly 97 percent of Web users, a Macromedia spokesman said."

For more info:
http://www.infoworld.com/articles/hn/xml/01/09/11/010911hnflash.xml

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POLL of the WEEK

Here are the responses from the last poll:

Your office suite (word processor, spreadsheet, etc.) is made by which company?

Microsoft (Office): 75.00%
Corel (WordPerfect Suite): 11.96%
Other: 6.52%
Lotus (SmartSuite): 5.43%
Sun (StarOffice): 1.09%

Total Votes: 92

Visit http://pcin.net/polls/ to participate in the new poll this week:

What program do you use to read your email?

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FREEHELP FORUM

Visit the PCIN FreeHelp Forum to post your questions or answer others. Each week I highlight a question, and where to go to get the answer.

Question

At fillcd.com there is a download that will let you list files that you want to copy on another media. You can list the size of the media that you are copying to and if it is several things that is being copied it will show which ones will best fit on the media. After it is selected it can be moved to another place and copied to the new media. My question is a stupid one but it must be ask anyway since I don't know the answer. When the files that I want to copy are moved to another place to copy, are they actually moved? If so how are they returned to the original place?

Answer

No Answers Yet!

Visit http://www.pcin.net/cgi-bin/forum/index.cgi and check out the Software Forum to post your suggestion, or to post a question of your own.

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PCIN.net UPDATE

Check out these new or updated pages on the PCIN.net site:

Archive of PCIN Polls (updated weekly)
http://PCIN.net/polls/2001/

Support PCIN (donate through PayPal, Canadian Mail, or US Mail)
http://PCIN.net/donate.shtml

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THE TIPS and OTHER STUFF

Cheap Trick of the Week

**Everybody out**
You have all kinds of folders and files open and you want to close them all. What's the fastest way?
Windows 98 and Me have an undocumented little procedure for this.
Hold down the Ctrl key and click on each file or folder's icon in the Taskbar across the bottom of the screen. The buttons will seem to depress but nothing further happens.
Then right-click on one of these buttons and select Close from the context menu that pops up.
All files and folders will close up at once.

Get your own copy of "The Little Black Book of Cheap Tricks: 2001" by visiting http://www.pcin.net/lbbct/

Downloading Internet Explorer 6.0 (Or any other version)

This is a tip I've seen around lately, with an extra bit added on. If you want to install IE6, Microsoft tries to force you to install over the web. In fact, they've been doing this for a while now (at least with IE5 and IE5.5). Well, if you visit http://microsoft.com/windows/ie/ you can download the setup file that starts the full installation. But once you've downloaded it, don't double-click on it. Start a DOS window and change to the directory where the setup file is listed. Then from the command prompt, type

ie6setup.exe/c:"ie6wzd.exe /d /s:""#E"

This will download all of the files needed for your current operating system. You can then run the setup file and install the file from your local computer. And of course you have the files if you ever need to install IE again.
The extra bit added on is a setting that will download all of the files needed for all Windows operating systems. Follow the same steps as above, but from the command prompt, type:

ie6setup.exe/c:"ie6wzd.exe /d:1 /s:""#E"

Finding Sounds

A couple of weeks ago, subscriber Jay Willette asked for help in finding sounds similar to the AOL sounds, but for those who are using Outlook Express. He received many links, but below are 3 links that have some very good WAV files that could be used in place of "You've Got Mail!" and other sounds.

http://www.favewavs.com/email.htm
http://www.slonet.org/~rloomis/mailcall.html
http://www.findsounds.com/

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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.

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Graham Wing can be reached at editor@pcin.net

Copyright 1998-2001, PC Improvements and Graham Wing. All rights reserved.

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