Issue 255 - September 03, 2003

ISSN 1488-3163; PC Improvements © 2003
==== 2085 Subscribers in 60 Countries ====

Welcome to the 255th 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 celebrated my 28th birthday today and my mother celebrated her birthday as well. Yep... I was born on her birthday. I figure it was quite a present for her :-) but she says that she went without birthdays for the first 19 years of my life :-(   Anyway, we had a nice dinner at my sister Julia's apartment last night and exchanged gifts. Tonight Lisa, Andrew and I went to East Side Mario's for dinner and spent the remainder of the evening at home.

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

The NEWS

Parents crack down on Internet time

"Stephen Pearson saw his children's grades slip. His older daughter was falling asleep in school, after staying up until the wee hours chatting with friends online. Pearson quickly learned that despite the Internet's reputation as a trove of knowledge, kids can easily squander their online time playing games, downloading music and messaging friends and strangers alike about parties, crushes and other school-age obsessions."

For more info:
http://www.msnbc.com/news/958493.asp

MIT Everyware

"When MIT announced to the world in April 2001 that it would be posting the content of some 2,000 classes on the Web, it hoped the program - dubbed OpenCourseWare - would spur a worldwide movement among educators to share knowledge and improve teaching methods. No institution of higher learning had ever proposed anything as revolutionary, or as daunting. MIT would make everything, from video lectures and class notes to tests and course outlines, available to any joker with a browser. The academic world was shocked by MIT's audacity - and skeptical of the experiment. At a time when most enterprises were racing to profit from the Internet and universities were peddling every conceivable variant of distance learning, here was the pinnacle of technology and science education ready to give it away. Not the degrees, which now cost about $41,000 a year, but the content. No registration required."

For more info:
http://www.wired.com/wired/archive/11.09/mit.html

Overstock undercuts Amazon pricing

"Online retailer Overstock.com is directly targeting Amazon.com with a new strategy that offers best-selling books priced 25 percent below what Amazon is charging for the same titles. Overstock, a Web-based closeout specialist, reported Tuesday that it would offer 25 percent off Amazon's prices for books currently on The New York Times best-seller Lists, Publisher's Weekly best-seller lists and even those books ranked among Amazon's own 100 best-sellers."

For more info:
http://news.com.com/2110-1019_3-5070144.html

TheftBusters: Coalition to Combat Online ID Fraud

"With the rapid growth of online identity theft eroding consumer confidence in the e-commerce sector, heavyweight tech firms, including Microsoft, Amazon.com, Verisign and eBay are teaming up to counter the growing scourge.
The industry-wide group -- Coalition on Online Identity Theft -- launched in tandem with the Arlington, Va.-based trade group Information Technology Association of America (ITAA), said it would promote public education, technology and self-help approaches to combat online identity theft."

For more info:
http://www.atnewyork.com/news/article.php/3071701

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POLL of the WEEK

Last Week's Poll

What type of greeting cards do you send more of?

Electronic greeting card 30.93 % (30)
Standard (stationery) greeting card with envelope 39.18 % (38)
I don't send greeting cards 29.90 % (29)
Total votes: 97

This Week's Poll

Can you surf the web through your TV?

Yes
No
Why would anyone want to do that?

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

I have recently bought a 1700 Mhz Celeron, 128Mb and 40 gig HD running XP Home edition. At start up it is rapid compared to my old 400 Mhz Win 98 setup but after 15 minutes of use is slows right down.

Response

You are running leaching programs that suck the power out of your computer.
Options:
First try Ad-Aware http://www.lavasoft.de
It can identify and remove unwanted programs that leech power.
Next, the MSCONFIG utility built into Windows can shed some light on your Startup programs, most can be unchecked.
Last, you can upgrade your RAM (Memory). While 128 MB is enough Windows XP works best with at least 256 MB.
At the moment 256 and 512 sticks o memory are at the best prices. It is usually quite easy to upgrade your RAM (memory) yourself.
Consult your mainboard manual for details on which type of memory your computer needs.
You may purchase memory that has a faster rating, but not slower, i.e. PC2700 vs. PC3400, either will do if your computer only needs PC2700 speed.

To post a response, visit the General Hardware Help forum at http://PCIN.net/help/forum/index.php?board=4 and click on the "XP is so slow!!" 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:

Logitech Cordless Elite Duo Hardware Review
http://PCIN.net/help/hardware/lced.php

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

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THE TIPS and OTHER STUFF

UK Security Online

"...and you thought you were secure?
UK Security Online aims to quantify the threat to your systems & networks! We then help you design a survival strategy in conjunction with our security partners."
Check it out at http://www.uksecurityonline.com/

Task List Programs

This was in the September 2 issue of the W2K Element K newsletter:
"Identifying the processes listed in Task Manager
If you're stumped when it comes to figuring out which process is associated with which application running on your computer, here's a great Web site for you:
http://www.answersthatwork.com/Tasklist_pages/tasklist.htm
This Web site enables you to search for a process by name. Once you find a specific process, you'll also see detailed information as to what application the process is associated with along with a description of what the process does."

Vintage Computer Ads

Subscriber, friend, and Author Shawn Bremner sent me this:
"The ads at this site once sold the biggest and best computers, which seem pretty funny now.
Just keep clicking the Next button."
http://www.sbrowning.com/vintage/index.php3

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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.

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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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