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Issue 216 - December 04, 2002
ISSN 1488-3163; PC Improvements © 2002
==== 2240 Subscribers in 56 Countries ====
Welcome to the 216th 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.php
Support PCIN at http://PCIN.net/donate.php
CONTENTS
OPENING THOUGHTS
I almost have the review of Paragon's Hard Disk Manager 5.5 software done.
If you haven't heard of it before, visit http://www.paragon-gmbh.com/
and read all about the different products they have. If you are looking for
a replacement for Ghost, PartitionMagic, or similar hard disk partitioning/copy
utilities, then you should check it out.
Lisa and I put up our Christmas lights on Saturday and then put up our tree
on Sunday. Andrew just sat there in his bouncy chair and stared at all of the
bright colours. He was very cute :-)
If you find any interesting/unique Christmas web sites, let me know and I'll
share them with the list.
Graham editor@pcin.net
and Chris chris@pcin.net
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The NEWS
New S.J. school gives every student a laptop
At San Jose's new Evergreen Valley High School, the idea of a computer lab
is virtually obsolete.
Every student and teacher has a laptop with wireless Internet access. They
can use their computers at any time during a lesson -- without leaving the
classroom. And when the school day ends, they can take their laptops home.
'It's cool -- like really cool,' said Azha Simmons, a freshman.
This school -- which opened this fall to about 850 freshman and sophomore
students -- is a technology model for the state. It is the only public high
school in Santa Clara County, perhaps in California, to issue every student
a laptop.
For more info:
http://www.siliconvalley.com/mld/siliconvalley/living/4661960.htm
Marooned!
Swat teams rarely visit the McMansion-covered hills above Niles Canyon in
Fremont, California. So locals were amazed in April to see a dozen unmarked
cars careen into the neighborhood and unleash a posse of heavily armed federal
agents encased in bulletproof vests to arrest Mirza and Sameena Ali. They
had allegedly pirated more than $100 million in software as the core of what
Microsoft is calling 'the largest criminal conspiracy in the history of the
software industry.' The Alis are the key figures in a group of 27 people arrested
as part of Operation Cyberstorm, a massive investigation involving half a
dozen government agencies.
For more info:
http://www.redherring.com/insider/2002/12/marooned120202.html
Risk of internet collapse rising
Simulated attacks on key internet hubs have shown how vulnerable the worldwide
network is to disruption by disaster or terrorist action.
If an attack or disaster destroyed the major nodes of the internet, the network
itself could begin to unravel, warn the scientists who carried out the simulations.
The virtual attacks showed that the net would keep going in major cities,
but outlying areas and smaller towns would gradually be cut off.
The researchers warn that the net has become more vulnerable as it has become
more commercialised and key net cables are concentrated in the hands of fewer
organisations.
For more info:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/technology/2514651.stm
AOL to undergo revamping
In a highly anticipated meeting with analysts Tuesday, AOL Time Warner cut
the advertising and commerce outlook for its AOL division. The company maintained,
however, that the decline will be offset by growth in subscriptions and that
overall revenue will be flat.
According to analysts, AOL's financial housecleaning wasn't totally unexpected.
AOL's earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization (EBITDA)
are expected to fall 15 percent to 25 percent year over year, due largely
to the drop in high-margin advertising and commerce revenue.
For more info:
http://news.com.com/2100-1023-975819.html
POLL of the WEEK
Last Week's Poll
How do you use Windows Update?
| I install everything |
 |
14.02 % (15) |
| I only install critical updates |
|
57.94 % (62) |
| I let Automatic Updates take care of it for me |
|
13.08 % (14) |
| I don't ever install any updates |
|
11.21 % (12) |
| I download MS updates from other sites |
|
3.74 % (4) |
| Total votes: 107 |
This Week's Poll
FREEHELP FORUM
The forum is currently down for maintenance. It should be back up in a day
or two.
PCIN.net UPDATE
Check out these new or updated pages on the PCIN.net site:
Object Desktop Software Review
http://PCIN.net/help/software/objectdesktop.php
LG GCE-8400B 40x 12x 40x CD-RW Hardware Review
http://PCIN.net/help/hardware/lggce8400b.php
PCIN.net Search
http://PCIN.net/search/
Some Useful Registry Tips
http://PCIN.net/help/articles/registry_tips.shtml
THE TIPS and OTHER STUFF
Development Help
If you are interested in some tips and tricks when it comes to building a
web site, visit http://www.DevArticles.com/.
Most of the articles are for experts, but there are also many articles that
would be appropriate for any level. 2 of the ones that I've found interesting
were the articles entitled:
The Ultimate JavaScript Guide at http://www.devarticles.com/art/1/272
7 Powerfull.htaccess Customization Tips at http://www.devarticles.com/art/1/266
The Ten Commands of Word
From Word 97 for Windows for Dummies (I'll let you read the full comments
in the book):
- Thou shalt not use spaces
- Thou shalt not press Enter at the end of each line
- Thou shalt not neglect thy keyboard
- Thou shalt not reset or turn off thine PC until thou quittest Word and
Windows
- Thou shalt not manually number thy pages
- Thou shalt not use the Enter key to start a new page
- Thou shalt not quit without saving first
- Thou shalt not press OK too quickly
- Thou shalt not forget to turn on thy printer
- Thou shalt not forget to back up thy work
Open Source Software
If you are looking for excellent open source software (free to use), then
check out http://www.SourceForge.net/
The stats program that I use for my web sites is from there. It is called
AWStats and can be found at http://awstats.sourceforge.net/
A CD ripping program I like called CDex can be found at http://cdexos.sourceforge.net/
Check out SourceForge.net to see what you can find.
DISCLAIMER and
OTHER STUFF
PCIN is brought to you by Graham Wing. The opinions expressed are those of
the Editor, Graham Wing and the Assistant Editor, Chris Empey. Graham Wing
and Chris Empey 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.php
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.php
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Graham Wing can be reached at editor@pcin.net
Chris Empey can be reached at chris@pcin.net
Copyright 1998-2002, 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.php
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