Issue 235 - April 16, 2003

ISSN 1488-3163; PC Improvements © 2003
==== 2183 Subscribers in 61 Countries ====

Welcome to the 235th 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'm on vacation this week. We're not doing anything special, just spending time together. The weather was beautiful on the weekend and on Monday we went to the Metro Toronto Zoo. I'll have pictures up next week for anyone who wants to see them.

Last week I spoke about how terrible the weather was here. It has gotten much better over the last week, but it is still up and down. Yesterday it was 25° C and today it was 8° C. It is better than freezing temperatures, but it would be nice to have some consistency.

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

The NEWS

'Google' for Cops

"Detectives Tim Petersen and Jim Schultz of the Tucson, Ariz., Police Department were investigating a brutal crime in which the victim was shot, stabbed in the neck, and run over.
But aside from the gruesome forensic evidence and the nickname of a potential suspect, they had little else to lead them to whodunit.
'We had 'Shorty' and not much else,' says Schultz, remembering the case and the scarcity of investigative leads.
That was until they plugged in some of the data on their computers.
Within a few hours, the detectives nabbed their suspect.
Sound impossible? It would have been, if not for a new software package that is helping law enforcement take big bites out of cyberspace."

For more info:
http://abcnews.go.com/sections/scitech/TechTV/techtv_copsoftware030415.html

How the Mosaic browser triggered a digital revolution

"On April 22, 1993, a group of students at the University of Illinois released a piece of computer code designed to get information from various public networks.
Little did they know that their pet project, a humble application named Mosaic, would fundamentally change everyday life. While Web browsers with graphical interfaces had traded hands among academics years earlier, Mosaic was the first to be widely adopted and introduce the masses to the Internet."

For more info:
http://news.com.com/2009-1032-995679.html

Court blocks how-to-hack seminar

"A pair of students were blocked by a Georgia state court from presenting information at a security and hackers' conference on how to break into and modify a university electronic transactions system.
Washington D.C.-based education software company Blackboard successfully convinced a Georgia state court to block the students' presentation, which was scheduled to be given at the Interz0ne conference in Atlanta last weekend.
Blackboard argues that the restraining order blocked the publication of information gained illegally, which would have harmed the company's commercial interests and those of its clients. But conference organizers contend that the students' free speech rights were abridged."

For more info:
http://zdnet.com.com/2100-1105-996836.html

Open-source battle rages in Oregon

The front line in the legislative battle over open source moves to Oregon this week.

A group of open-source advocates and critics will meet behind closed doors Wednesday afternoon, in the first of at least two meetings in search of a compromise on what could be the first bill in the United States to encourage the use of open-source software by a state government.

The bill, introduced by Oregon Rep. Phil Barnhart, D-Eugene, last month, would require the state to consider using open-source software when buying new programs. Although the bill does not specifically mandate open-source software over proprietary software, the bill does say it cannot be excluded from the selection process. The bill, HB 2892, also says open-source options can "significantly reduce the state's costs of obtaining and maintaining software."

For more info:
http://news.com.com/2100-1012-996210.html

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POLL of the WEEK

Last Week's Poll

If you are an MS Office user, which version do you use?

MS Office 95 0.72 % (1)
MS Office 97 19.57 % (27)
MS Office 2000 59.42 % (82)
MS Office XP (2002) 20.29 % (28)
MS Office 2003 Beta 0.00 % (0)
Unlisted version of MS Office 0.00 % (0)
Total votes: 138

This Week's Poll

Do you own your office suite (MS or otherwise)?

Yes, I paid for it
Yes, work paid for it
No, but I got a copy from someone or someplace
I don't have an office suite

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.

Activity on the PCIN.net FreeHelp Forum has been slow lately. Be sure to visit the forums and post your questions or to answer the questions of others. You can also browse through all of the previous postings and search the forums. Check it out at http://PCIN.net/help/forum/

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:

Logitech Cordless Freedom Optical Hardware Review
http://PCIN.net/help/hardware/lcfo.php

Some Useful Registry Tips - Now 171 Tips!
http://PCIN.net/help/articles/registry_tips.php

Paragon Hard Disk Manager 5.5 Software Review
http://PCIN.net/help/software/paragonhdm55.php

Object Desktop Software Review
http://PCIN.net/help/software/objectdesktop.php

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THE TIPS and OTHER STUFF

DLL Information

If you have a question about what program a specific DLL file came from, visit http://support.microsoft.com/servicedesks/fileversion/dllinfo.asp and search for it. You'll find out what versions of the DLL came with which Microsoft programs.

Computer Help Documents

"Welcome to help-site, your free computer help and support resource! We are in the processes of checking all links in order to remove bad links and the less useful ones. You will also find many new resources have been added and many pages and links updated.
The dates shown against many links specify the date on which the link was checked (depending on how the link was added, this may be a manual or automated processed.)
Documents for CPAN (Perl) modules can now be found within help-site we are looking at creating a separate search option for these. The modules are browsable from here. All the CPAN documents will not appear on the new links page due to the quantity!
Help-Site currently contains links to 17867 documents and 167 sites!"
Check it out at http://help-site.com/

Don't forget F1

The first spot you should stop for help when you are stuck in an application should be the application's help file which can almost always be found by pressing the F1 key. Most products now have context sensitive help so when you are stuck on a particular item, pressing F1 will display help for that specific item. Using this available tool is sure to get you on your a little bit faster.

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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.
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  3. To subscribe another address or unsubscribe, please visit http://PCIN.net/ and follow the appropriate links.
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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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