Issue 247 - July 09, 2003

ISSN 1488-3163; PC Improvements © 2003
==== 2281 Subscribers in 62 Countries ====

Welcome to the 247th 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

Last week something happened when I sent out the newsletter and you received the raw message as opposed to the formatted message. I don't know how it happened, but apologize nonetheless. Remember that if for any reason you can't read the newsletter, you can always read the latest issue at http://PCIN.net/archive/latest.php This file changes each Wednesday. If you still want to skim through last week's PCIN, you can see it at http://PCIN.net/archive/2003/20030702.php

If you would like to see some updated pictures of Andrew, you can visit http://www.wingfamily.ca/lisagraham/Andrew/20030427-20030703/index.html There are about 50 pictures I've collected over the last couple of months.

Graham editor@pcin.net and Chris chris@pcin.net

The NEWS

Type QWERTY for inefficiency

"Where have the British hidden the @ symbol? And what did the Hungarians do with the letter 'y'?
Anyone who has ever visited an Internet café abroad knows that typing an e-mail in a foreign land can be a bit perplexing. Some of the keys aren't in the usual places.
In much of Europe, the 'y' and 'z' keys swap places. The British put the @ symbol over by the semicolon and in Italy the question mark is on the top row. It's all a bit confusing for Canadian hands.
The universal standard for Roman-alphabet keyboards is, of course, QWERTY: named for the first six letters on the keyboard. Some countries have modified the keyboard over time, often to reflect the nature of the language."

For more info:
http://www.thestar.ca/NASApp/cs/ContentServer?pagename=thestar/Layout/Article_PrintFriendly
& c=Article&cid=1057529409269&call_pageid=971358637177

Sinbad movie a first for Linux

"The first animated film created entirely on Linux workstations has hit cinema screens.
The animation in Sinbad: Legend of the Seven Seas was developed on 250 Hewlett Packard (HP) workstation servers running RedHat Linux, the film's producers revealed yesterday.
Ed Leonard, head of animation technology at DreamWorks, said in a statement: 'HP provides us with the tools to push the boundaries of our craft.'
'With HP technology we are creating movies that would have been impossible to make as little as a year ago.'"

For more info:
http://www.vnunet.com/News/1142023

Court says Gator-style ads are legal

"A federal court has ruled that pop-up ads for rivals of U-Haul International, placed atop the moving company's own site by a third-party software application, are legal.
The summary decision, handed down last week, was a blow to U-Haul in its lawsuit to bar software maker WhenU.com from delivering competitors' ads to visitors to U-Haul's site. The judge granted WhenU's motion to dismiss charges of trademark infringement, unfair competition and copyright infringement."

For more info:
http://news.com.com/2100-1024_3-1022791.html

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POLL of the WEEK

Last Week's Poll

Since there were problems with PCIN last week, I'm using the same poll again this week.

This Week's Poll

Do you check email when on vacation?

Yes
No

You can also vote online at http://PCIN.net/polls/

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PCIN.net FREEHELP FORUM

Visit the PCIN.net FreeHelp Forum at http://PCIN.net/help/forum/ to post your questions or answer others.

Question

Recently I have been having problems with my PS/2 keyboard. About 3/4 of the keys stopped working so I installed a new keyboard but the problem remained. I removed the driver from the Device Manager and also physically removed the keyboard from the PS/2 port, but the computer still sees the keyboard on boot-up/restart and installs drivers,etc.for the keyboard,which is no longer there. I am using a USB keyboard now,and everything seems to be OK,but I would like to try and resolve the issue with the PS/2 port. Any help would be greatly appreciated. I have an AMD 650 MHz processor, w/128MB RAM, 10GB Hard drive, Running 98SE.

Response

No responses yet.

To post a response, visit the Hardware How-To forum at http://PCIN.net/help/forum/index.php?board=7 and click on the "Keyboard problem" topic.

Visit http://PCIN.net/help/forum/ 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:

XemiComputers Ltd. DeskLook 3.0 Software Review
http://PCIN.net/help/software/desklook3.php

Symantec Norton Ghost 2003 Software Review
http://PCIN.net/help/software/ghost2003.php

Amic Games Email Saver Xe Software Review
http://PCIN.net/help/software/emailsaverxe.php

XemiComputers Ltd. DeskLook 2.0 Software Review
http://PCIN.net/help/software/desklook2.php

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THE TIPS and OTHER STUFF

Online Horoscopes

If you are interested in astrology and read your horoscope regularly, then check out these sites:
http://horoscopes.astrology.com/
http://www.horoscope.com/
http://astrology.yahoo.com/
http://www.horoscope-universe.com/

Portable Media Deals

Kingston Technology is one of the big memory manufacturers, and each month they have different promos. As they try to reduce stock, they have some great prices on portable media (CompactFlash, SmartMedia and USB Flash Memory). You can see July's specials at http://www.shop.kingston.com/07promo/

System File Checker

If you're having problems with your system, it may be a result of corrupt system files. Windows 2000 and XP have built-in system file protection, but Windows 98 does not. To check your files, run the SFC.EXE application in your \Windows\System folder. This will scan all of your system files and let you know if it thinks there is a problem. You can choose to replace the file, ignore it, or update the verification information so that it now thinks that file is up-to-date. I ran it on a Windows 98 system will all updates done and only 1 file came up as possible being corrupted. I updated the verification information on it, and everything else finished successfully. Visit http://www.generation.net/~hleboeuf/sfc.htm for some helpful information on SFC for Windows 98.

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PCIN.net AFFILIATED SITES

Both of us have other sites other than PCIN.net. These are all sites that we are actively involved in (they aren't client sites). Don't forget to check them out from time to time for updates:

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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.

  1. If any of the links are too long to fit on one line, you may have to cut and paste.
  2. You can only win one contest every 30 days.
  3. To subscribe another address or unsubscribe, please visit http://PCIN.net/ and follow the appropriate links.
  4. Recommend PCIN to others at http://PCIN.net/recommend.php and be entered in a monthly draw.
  5. There are only 3 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, you have requested FreeHelp from me in the past, or you have registered with the FreeHelp Forum.
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Graham Wing can be reached at editor@pcin.net
Chris Empey can be reached at chris@pcin.net

Copyright 1998-2003, 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.

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