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Issue 166 - December 19, 2001
ISSN 1488-3163; PC Improvements © 2001
==== 2224 Subscribers in 59 Countries ====
Welcome to the 166th 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. If you give me two or three issues, I know that you
will come back for more!
You can reach me at editor@pcin.net
with any suggestions or comments.
Recommend PCIN at http://PCIN.net/recommend.shtml
Support PCIN at http://PCIN.net/donate.shtml
CONTENTS
OPENING THOUGHTS
Christmas is only a week ago. Lisa and I have almost everything
ready. We'll be visiting with her parents on Sunday and Monday,
and then with my family on Christmas day. Lisa is making her
first turkey this year. We'll see how it turns out :-)
I have quite a bit of time off around Christmas, so I hope
to get several more things done on the web site. I have a
few reviews that are almost finished (VMWare, Virtual PC,
Siren Jukebox) and should be able to get them all done. Once
those are done, I will be almost caught up. If there are any
products that you'd like to have reviewed, let me know and
I'll see what I can do. Email me at editor@pcin.net
The newsletter will go out as normal next Wednesday (Boxing
Day), but since this is the last newsletter before Christmas,
both Lisa and I wish all of you a Merry Christmas and Happy
Holidays!
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The NEWS
A Chip ID That's Only Skin-Deep
"A Florida company is poised to become the first to
sell microchips designed to be implanted into human beings,
an achievement that opens the door to new systems of medical
monitoring and ID screening.
Implantable chips have long been discussed by technologists
and denounced by those who object on religious grounds or
fear their use by a totalitarian state. But the company
that did the test, Applied Digital Solutions of Palm Beach,
said the specter of terrorism is shifting attitudes. The
direct union of man and computer is no longer dismissed
out of hand."
For more info:
http://www.latimes.com/technology/la-000100545dec19.story
Psychologist untangles the Web of cybersex
"The computer is a tantalizing 21st century "sex
toy" that looks benign but can explode like a land
mine, trashing the private and work lives of a surprisingly
large number of Americans, says psychologist Kimberly Young.
Contrary to popular belief, cybersex addiction isn't a problem
restricted to lowlife losers you'd never want to know, Young
reports. She has counseled several thousand couples over
the past seven years at her Center for online Addiction
in Bradford, Pa. Her clientele is loaded with lawyers, doctors,
CEOs and elected officials. "These are people who go
to church every Sunday," she says."
For more info:
http://news.cnet.com/news/0-1005-200-8130582.html
The High Cost of Viruses
"Computer Economics estimates that computer viruses
cost American businesses $17 billion last year, up from
$12 billion in 1999. For example, the firm believes that
Code Red, which might have infected as many as 975,000 servers,
caused companies to spend about $1 billion to clean infected
systems, inspect more than 8 million servers to determine
the need for patches, and if necessary, patch, test, certify,
and return those systems to normal service. The price tag
for the loss of productivity of system users, support staff,
Help desk staff, and other staff responsible for assisting
internal end users, IT staff, and customers worldwide added
another $1.4 billion."
I don't see how they get figure all of this out. $17 billion
seems excessive.
For more info:
http://www.windows2000mag.com/Files/22941/Graph_01.gif
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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
Looking for good step by step explanation of creating
logon scripts for winnt domain with win95/98 clients.
I just set up my first winnt4 server and want to control
clients via logon scripts. This server is in a high school
that has several computer science students. Before server
I used reg files on each client to lock desktop, network
applet, printers and a few other tamper items. I want
to use logon scripts for student accounts to run the reg
files and a logon script for admin types to reverse the
reg controls.
Answer
No answer given yet.
Do you know the answer or have a suggestion? Visit http://www.pcin.net/cgi-bin/forum/index.cgi
and check out the General Discussion Forum. Post your answer
or 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:
WE Compute Magazine's Cheap Tricks of the Week
http://pcin.net/help/articles/cheaptricks.shtml
(The entire collection is in Microsoft Word format and is
more than 30 pages long. You can download the file from
here)
Windows Registry Tips and Tweaks
http://pcin.net/help/articles/registry.shtml
(The entire collection is in Microsoft Word format and is
more than 14 pages long. You can download the file from
here)
THE TIPS and OTHER STUFF
Cheap Trick of the Week
Iconography 101
You don't have to accept every desktop icon that your Windows
computer gives you to represent a file or folder. You can
replace an icon with an existing graphic.
Click Start, Programs, Accessories, and Paint. In Paint
open any graphic file, though bitmap files work best (you'll
know them by their .bmp extensions). To ensure your new
icon doesn't lose its detail, don't select a large picture.
Choose "Save as" and rename the file, making sure
you use ".ico" as the file's extension, as in
filename.ico. Save the file to a location on your hard drive
where you can easily find it, perhaps a special folder you've
created for odd files like these. Close Paint.
Now right-click on one of the existing, boring icons on
your desktop. From the drop-down menu, choose Properties,
then the Shortcut tab. Now choose the Change Icon button,
then Browse. Find your newly created icon, double-click
on it, then choose OK in both windows. Your new icon should
now appear on your desktop, replacing the original.
(Unfortunately, the Recycle Bin, My Computer and a few other
icons that come with Windows cannot be changed this easily.
You'll need more complicated Cheap Tricks for them.)
Get your own copy of "The Little Black Book
of Cheap Tricks: 2001" by visiting http://www.pcin.net/lbbct/
Windows Notepad Replacements
Subscriber Richard Holt email me a couple about a couple
of good Notepad replacements:
"Metapad is a small, fast (and completely free) text
editor for Windows 9x and Windows NT (2000) with similar
features to Microsoft Notepad but with many extra (and rather
useful) features. It was designed to completely replace
Notepad since it includes (just about) all of Notepad's
features and much, much more. Edits/Saves in DOS, UNIX,
Unicode, UniBigEndian.
Available from http://liquidninja.com/metapad/
Notespad (*s* just to show file name difference ) has many
Windows dictionaries for 6 or 7 languages. It is no longer
being improved but still available at http://www.newbie.net/NotesPad/
and other sites, it works great at stripping html tags.
[I use Notespad to check Spanish email; Metapad with Windows
Commander for viewing and editing.]"
Trojan Horse Resource
Subscriber Christy email me this about the web site that
she helps with:
"Our main web page can be found at http://www.hackfix.org/
This page is a trojan help site for users who have found
themselves infected with a trojan and require help/information
to remove it. We also have a general Virus Help email list
where readers can get answers to their (anti) virus related
concerns. Information can be found at http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Hackfix-VirusHelp
Subscribing is as easy as sending an empty email to Hackfix-VirusHelp-subscribe@yahoogroups.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.
- 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 editor@pcin.net and I will add it to the subscriber
web pages that I have on my site.
- Support PCIN by visiting http://www.pcin.net/donate.shtml
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Graham Wing can be reached at editor@pcin.net
Copyright 1998-2001, PC Improvements and Graham Wing. All
rights reserved.
This publication may be reproduced in whole, or in part,
as long as the author is notified and the newsletter is presented
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