Issue 261 - October 15, 2003

ISSN 1488-3163; PC Improvements © 2003
==== 2116 Subscribers in 60 Countries ====

Welcome to the 261st 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 got quite a few responses to my rant last week. Thanks for the support! Don't worry. PCIN will keep coming. I suppose one day it will end, but after 5+ years, it is hard to stop.

This past Monday was Thanksgiving Day in Canada. We had dinner with Lisa's family on Sunday afternoon, and then had dinner with my family on Monday. You'd think after two big turkey dinners that I would be full, but I sure could go for another helping :-)

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

The NEWS

Polaroid refuses to fade away

"Polaroid's place in history has already been secured by its trademark cameras with their signature instant prints.
But bad investments and the digital imaging revolution buried that business, sending the company spiralling into bankruptcy two years ago as it failed to evolve gracefully in a new instant photo world.
Now Polaroid is back, reconstituted and trying to refocus under new ownership by Chicago-based BankOne. And it's betting its future on digital - on printing kiosks, that is."

For more info:
http://tinyurl.com/r2xg

Yahoo settles with N.Y. over marketing practices

"Yahoo Inc. will change its marketing policy after being told by New York State Attorney Eliot Spitzer that its practices were "neither appropriate nor legally permissible," the Office of the New York State Attorney said Wednesday.
In March 2002, Yahoo announced that its telemarketing and e-mail campaigns would include customers who had previously opted out of such contact, the State Attorney said in a statement.
All registered Yahoo users were told by e-mail that they had 60 days to reply if they did not want to be included in marketing campaigns. This was despite the fact that users had been asked at registration whether they wanted to receive marketing communications, the statement said."

For more info:
http://www.infoworld.com/article/03/10/02/HNyahoosettles_1.html

Spy programs threaten data on PCs

For a computer user, it's the ultimate security headache: A hacker has secretly taken control of the computer and copied sensitive information such as passwords and credit card numbers.
Users often think the odds of getting hit by malicious software are safely low, but there are more invasive and destructive programs on the Web than ever before, computer security specialists say. In response to one of the latest attacks to become public, the Securities and Exchange Commission arrested a college student Thursday on charges that he hacked into someone else's computer, logged onto his brokerage account, and left the victim with an investment loss of over $40,000.

For more info:
http://www.msnbc.com/news/979063.asp

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POLL of the WEEK

Last Week's Poll

During election time, where do you get your results?

Newspaper 7.07 % (7)
TV 72.73 % (72)
Internet 17.17 % (17)
Radio 3.03 % (3)
Word of mouth 0.00 % (0)
Other 0.00 % (0)
Total votes: 99

This Week's Poll

Should Microsoft be held liable for any losses incurred as a result of their unsecure software?

Yes
No
I don't know

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 own an HP Vectra pentium 3 model. How do i recover my old files, i used the recovery disk supplied by intel and to my surprise it also deletes the partition drive w/c includes all my files, is there a software or any solution to this

Response

No responses yet.

To post a response, visit the General Discussion forum at http://PCIN.net/help/forum/index.php?board=4 and click on the "need help on hard disk data restoration" 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

Finding Old Usenet Posts

I was trying to get some information on Usenet (newsgroups) and different ways to access postings (via web, newsreader, email client, etc.) and I came across this site.
"For those who are simply interested in looking up old posts for the sake of historical perspective, the following links might prove to be interesting.
First mention of Return of the Jedi on Usenet
First thread about AIDS
First mention of MS Windows
First mention of the phrase "search engine"
First post from Berlin after the wall came down...
First mention of Britney Spears...
First mention of Google..."
Check it out at http://websearch.about.com/cs/articles/a/qausenet.htm

Celeb Ads in Japan

"The 'mission' of this site is to poke a little fun at western stars who advertise products in Japan they might not necessarily use. (You be the judge.)"
It was quite surprising to see all of the famous stars who have been in Japanese ads. And some of the ads are quite funny. Check it out at http://www.japander.com/

Free Compression Utility

Awhile ago I was trying to setup a batch file to automate the download of my web site log files, extract them, and the process the logs in the stats software I use. I could download them easily, and when extracted, I could process them easily, but WinZip doesn't extract GZ (GZIP, a Linux compression type) files from the command line so I had to look for something else. I came across 7-Zip.
"7-Zip is free software distributed under the GNU LGPL license that supports a multitude of other formats - 7z, ZIP, CAB, RAR, ARJ, GZIP, BZIP2, TAR, CPIO, RPM and DEB. The new 7z format offers amazing 30-70 % improvement over the compression ratio in ZIP format based solutions and beats out RAR, ACE and CAB.
The other advantages of this format include open architecture, AES-256 encryption, Unicode file name support, and impressive compression/decompression speeds."
You can register the software for $20 and get support, but other than that, it is free. It works beautifully on my log files. I still use WinZip for all of my standard Zip files, but 7-Zip definitely has a place in my utility folder.
Download the latest version, 7-Zip 3.11, at http://www.7-zip.org/

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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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