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Issue 174 - February 13, 2002
ISSN 1488-3163; PC Improvements © 2002
==== 2323 Subscribers in 61 Countries ====
Welcome to the 174th 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
I can't believe I totally forgot to send out the special issue
on Saturday. I have an entire issue ready to send out that is
filled with stories of your first computers. I promise I'll send
it out this coming Saturday.
Chris and I are hard at work getting some new things ready for
the site. We'll have a few of them ready soon.
Graham editor@pcin.net
and Chris chris@pcin.net
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The NEWS
Networks sue over new video recorder
"If television network executives are steamed enough to
sue, there must be something exquisitely subversive about the
latest in digital video recorders.
ABC, CBS and NBC want the ReplayTV 4000 off the market and have
taken its parent company SonicBlue Inc. to court, contending
that the slim silver box violates their copyrights by letting
users share shows over the Internet.
But the angst in network executive suites is really more about
something else: These devices allow viewers to watch what they
want when they want--and skip commercials.
For more info:
http://www.chicagotribune.com/technology/chi-0202110012feb11.story
La. asks PayPal to halt service in state
"In a letter sent last week, Louisiana asked the online
payments company to cease offering its service to the state's
residents until PayPal receives a license from the state, the
company said in a regulatory document filed Monday. Although
Louisiana residents account for a small fraction of the money
sent through PayPal, the state's move could presage other governmental
attempts to regulate PayPal's service.
'We will comply promptly and suspend the ability of Louisiana
residents to make payments through our service, but we reserve
the right to contest the order through the appropriate administrative
process,' PayPal said in its regulatory filing."
For more info:
http://news.com.com/2100-1017-834313.html
NYC Unveils First Internet-Ready Pay Phone
"New York City's first Internet-ready public phone is
open for service, offering Web access and e-mail for 25 cents
a minute -- and looking to tease cell phone users back to pay
phones.
Located on the southwest corner of West 46th Street off Fifth
Avenue, the phone also features long distance service using
voice-over IP telephony.
At 25 cents a minute, or with a swipe of a credit card that
starts a meter running, the public can surf and check Web-based
e-mail, even snap a picture to send as an attachment.
Depending on how the 30-day trial run goes -- including whether
the rugged-looking phone can withstand vandalism -- its owner
TCC Teleplex would like to install 100 more around the city."
For more info:
http://www.atnewyork.com/news/article/0,1471,8471_971781,00.html
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POLL of
the WEEK
Here are the responses from the last poll:
Do you like the look of the new iMac?
Yes: 60.42%
No: 39.58%
Total Votes: 48
Visit http://pcin.net/polls/
to participate in the new poll this week:
How many ISPs (Internet Service Providers) have you used in
the last year?
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FREEHELP
FORUM
Visit the new and improved PCIN FreeHelp Forum at http://www.pcin.net/cgi-bin/bb/YaBB.cgi
to post your questions or answer others.
There is an excellent thread of messages running that is discussing
Registry Cleaners. Check out http://www.pcin.net/cgi-bin/bb/YaBB.cgi?board=software
and click on the Registry Cleaners link.
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PCIN.net
UPDATE
Check out these new or updated pages on the PCIN.net site:
PCIN FreeHelp Forum
http://www.pcin.net/cgi-bin/bb/YaBB.cgi
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THE TIPS
and OTHER STUFF
Automating Defrag in Windows 2000
Windows 2000 makes it a little complicated to schedule a task
of defragmenting your hard drive. Chris had been reading some
newsletters that talked about it, and ways around it. One way
is to use a VBS (Visual Basic Script) to automate this. Chris
looked at some available scripts, modified them a bit, and came
up with a good one. You can download it at http://www.pcin.net/help/download/defrag.vbs
Note: This has only been tested on Windows 2000. You must have
support for visual basic scripting installed.
Old PCIN FreeHelp Forums
I have taken down the old PCIN FreeHelp Forums. I have saved
each of the forums in HTML format, and have zipped them all
together. You can download the Zip file at http://www.pcin.net/help/download/PCIN_FreeHelp_Forum.zip
These aren't fancy, but if you search through them, you may
find useful postings from before.
Automatically Zip Files When Emailing
Quite a while ago a subscriber emailed me asking if there was
some way that he could automatically zip attachments when he
emailed them to people. At the time there didn't appear to be
any software that would do this for him. Over a year has gone
by and I finally heard about some software that will do this.
bxAutoZip for Outlook by BAxBEx Software "is a dedicated
add-in utility for Microsoft Outlook which automatically and
independently compresses any files attached to an e-mail message.
Compression dramatically reduces the size of e-mail attachments,
allowing much faster transfer times. The result is significant
savings in time and money for both the sender and the recipient.
Thanks to the program's seamless integration into Outlook, not
one single extra step is required to zip the files."
I haven't tried this myself, but it seems decent. You can check
it out at http://www.baxbex.com/products.html#bxautozip
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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 1998-2002, 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 as is.
Support PCIN by visiting http://www.pcin.net/donate.shtml
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