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Issue 148 - August 15, 2001
ISSN 1488-3163; PC Improvements ©2001
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Welcome to the 148th 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 mailto: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
OPENING THOUGHTS
I went to use my computer last night and when it came back
from power saving mode, my monitor was all green. I don't
know what's wrong, but it is 3 years old and I've already
had it repaired once, so I think I'll buy a new one. Most
likely a 19". So I'm doing this at work during my lunch
break :-)
Does anyone know anything about System Restore? I hate Windows
ME, and so don't use it. Unfortunately, a lot of computers
come with it preinstalled, so I often get questions on how
System Restore works. If you know enough about System Restore
to write an article, or you have some links to some good existing
articles, email me at mailto: editor@pcin.net
Lastly, who says that Napster (and other file-sharing programs)
have killed the music industry?! Since Napster has been shut
down, CD sales are down. As I mentioned before, I've been
listening to live streams from Live365.com instead of installing
any of the new programs. I listen to one Jazz stream, and
because of a song I heard the other day, I ordered a CD from
Amazon.com. I'm sure I'm not the only one who has done
this.
The NEWS
AOL's Blue Blitz
From the August 20-27, 2001 issue of The Industry Standard
magazine, PG 17 (by Boris Grondahl):
"AOL may lag behind Deutsche Telekom when it comes
to Web customers in Germany, but the U.S. media giant is
No. 1 in marketing chutzpah. In June, AOL Germany bought
the naming rights to the soccer stadium in Hamburg, Germany,
changing it from Volks-parkstadion to AOL Arena. Then last
week, for soccer club Hamburger SV's first game in the renamed
stadium, the national newspaper Die Welt agreed to change
the color of its front page - for one day - to AOL's distinctive
blue.
Terms of the deal were kept secret, but that didn't silence
the chorus of media critics. In an op-ed piece in the daily
Der Tagasspiegel, journalism professor Wolf Schneider concluded
'Die Welt must have kissed goodbye its ambition to establish
itself in the small circle of German prestige papers.' Who
says there's no such thing as bad publicity?"
Britons drawn to online porn
"More than a quarter of Britons using the Internet
from home visit pornographic websites, according to new
figures.
Around 3.8 million home users visited an adult site in June,
said Internet monitoring company NetValue. It found that
3,879 of the 9,411 websites visited in the month were pornographic,
with Britons spending around 45 minutes a month looking
at adult material."
For more info:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/hi/english/sci/tech/newsid_1484000/1484003.stm
Don't Eat the Yellow Links
"If you have a popular file-sharing program called
KaZaA on your computer and suddenly start seeing yellow
links to obvious ads on some of your favorite Web sites,
this is because a cunning piece of software called TopText
was automatically installed on your computer along with
KaZaA. Many Web site owners are upset with this alteration
of their content. But there is an opt-out procedure (albeit
a somewhat cumbersome one) you can use to keep TopText links
from being added to your site, according to the company
that markets TopText."
For more info:
http://slashdot.org/features/01/07/31/2015216.shtml
Best Buy purchases Future Shop in $580 million spree
"Canada's largest consumer electronics retailer announced
Tuesday an agreement to be acquired by Best Buy Co. Inc.
for $580 million.
The Eden Prairie, Minn.-headquartered company has offered
$17 for each Future Shop Ltd. share, an increase of a 48
percent on Monday's closing price on Toronto Stock Exchange.
The deal is expected in late September.
Richard Schulze, chairman and CEO, called the acquisition
a huge win for Best Buy and its shareholders and 'will accelerate
our plans to expand into Canada by several years.'"
For more info:
http://www.itbusiness.ca/index.asp?theaction=61&sid=45771
PCIN POLL of the WEEK
Here are the responses from the last poll:
How many computers (desktops or laptops) do you have in
your home?
2: 39.19%
1: 24.32%
5 or more: 16.22%
3: 14.86%
4: 4.05%
0: 1.35%
Total Votes: 74
Visit http://pcin.net/polls/
to participate in the new poll this week:
Have you ever purchased a music CD because of music you
heard online (either using a program like Napster or with
streaming radio)?
MOBILE COMPUTING NEWS and NOTES
One Voice Technologies has begun beta testing with mobile
phone carriers for their voice-to-text software for wireless
phones. The platform will allow users to send email, SMS,
and navigate the web all by voice. One Voice says the
software "understands words, concepts and phrases by
asking clarifying questions and archiving previous commands".
Brought to you by Shawn Bremner and The Wireless Web ezine.
Sign up by sending a blank email to mailto:wirelessweb-subscribe@topica.com
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
My [Windows ME] system just reboots after I choose shutdown
from the start menu. Does anyone have a remedy?
Answer
A shutdown troubleshooter is built right into Windows ME.
To access it, click Start | Help. In the window, type Troubleshooting.
Click on the Troubleshooting entry in the menu. Scroll down
the new list provided and click on "Startup & Shutdown
Troubleshooter" in Win ME.
Or try this link: http://support.microsoft.com/support/kb/articles/Q273/7/46.ASP
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.
PCIN.net UPDATE
Check out these new or updated pages on the PCIN.net site:
FrontX CPX Review
http://PCIN.net/help/hardware/frontx.shtml
PCIN FreeHelp Headquarters
http://PCIN.net/help/
Tips of the Day
http://PCIN.net/help/tods/index.shtml
Support PCIN
http://pcin.net/donate.shtml
THE TIPS and OTHER STUFF
Cheap Trick of the Week
**Clear out, docs**
If you find Windows' Documents list useful but would like
to clear the contents every now and then, you can use the
following simple tweak to the Registry to have the list
wiped out every time you exit Windows.
(Once again, if you are not used to Registry editing, you
can find out all about it at http://www.WE-Compute.com/registry.html
)
Open the Registry Editor and head to HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\
Microsoft\Windows\Current Version\Policies\Explorer. Click
Edit and New DWORD value.
Right-click the value and select Rename. Type ClearRecentDocsOnExit
and press Enter. Double-click the new value and set the
value data to 1 (that's the numeral one). Exit the Registry
and restart the computer.
Windows will now clear the Documents list whenever you restart
or turn off your PC.
Get your own copy of "The Little Black Book of Cheap
Tricks: 2001" by visiting http://www.pcin.net/lbbct/
Highlight Vertically in Microsoft Word
This is a great tip! I was looking for months on how to
highlight vertically text in Word. By default, when you
highlight text, it highlights vertically across the row
you are in, and then up or down to the next row.
Depending on how you have formatted your document, you may
have text at the beginning and/or end of each line. You
can delete this text quickly by holding down the ALT key
and then highlighting the text. Give it a try; you'll see
what I mean.
Some Odd Rest Stops on the Digital Highway
"Never underestimate the drawing power of eccentricity,
especially on the Internet. A Web site, even about the most
arcane topics, is like the baseball diamond in the Iowa
cornfield: if you build it, they will come. And since the
Web is a great equalizer, those with peculiar interests
can make them seem as compelling as artifacts in the British
Museum. Or not. Just keep in mind that there are no Accuracy
Police in cyberspace. Here, based on uncounted hours of
aimless Web surfing, are some good, bad or ugly - but mostly
offbeat - sites devoted to topics related to automobiles
and driving."
http://www.nytimes.com/2001/08/10/automobiles/10CARS.html
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.
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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
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- If you have a web site or run your own newsletter, please
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- Support PCIN by visiting http://www.pcin.net/donate.shtml
Graham Wing can be reached at mailto:editor@pcin.net
Copyright 1998-2001, PC Improvements and Graham Wing. All
rights reserved.
This publication may be reproduced in whole, or in part,
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