Issue 271 - December 24, 2003

ISSN 1488-3163; PC Improvements © 2003
==== 2171 Subscribers in 62 Countries ====

Welcome to the 271st 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

Nothing else to say today other than Chris and I wish you and your families a very Merry Christmas! And if you get any cool tech toys, be sure to let us know :-)

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

The NEWS

Dutch Supreme Court rules Kazaa is legal

"In a fresh blow to the entertainment industry, the Supreme Court of the Netherlands on Friday upheld a lower court's ruling that the creators of Kazaa can't be held liable for the copyright-infringing actions of users of the popular file-sharing application.
Dutch music rights body Buma/Stemra took its case against Kazaa BV to the high court last year, arguing that the Amsterdam Appeals Court in March 2002 wrongly found that Kazaa is not responsible for the unauthorized downloading of copyright-protected music using the software it developed and brought to market."

For more info:
http://www.infoworld.com/article/03/12/19/HNcourtkazaa_1.html

Online holiday spending up, up and away

"This year's online holiday buying binge so far has shattered existing records.
According to research published this week by companies that monitor online spending, both retail spending and online payment transactions have been well above prior years' totals. In the e-tail sector, spending continued to gain momentum as the holidays drew closer."

For more info:
http://news.com.com/2100-1038_3-5129828.html

'DVD Jon' cleared on appeal

"An Oslo Court of Appeals on Monday upheld a lower court's ruling clearing Jon Lech Johansen of charges related to his development and distribution of DeCSS, a software tool that can be used to crack copy protection on DVDs.
Johansen, also known as DVD Jon, was acquitted in January by the Oslo City Court. The Norwegian National Authority for Investigation and Prosecution of Economic and Environmental Crime, decided in March to appeal the verdict, and had previously called for 20-year-old Johansen to be given a 90-day suspended jail term."

For more info:
http://www.infoworld.com/article/03/12/22/HNdvdappeal_1.html

Web addresses get nip and tuck--and spam

"A crop of Web sites have sprung up with the mission of making long, easily breakable Web addresses shorter--and at least one of them is trying to make money at the idea.
Sites like TinyURL.com, Shorlify and Make A Shorter Link aim to solve a problem as old as the mainstream Web itself: After database-generated Web addresses, also known as uniform resource locators (URLs), get to be a certain length, they become not only impossible to remember, but difficult to forward between some e-mail programs that automatically insert line breaks."

For more info:
http://news.com.com/2100-1038_3-5132457.html

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POLL of the WEEK

Last Week's Poll

Have you ever paid for Internet access at a kiosk or cafe?

Yes, I had work to do 15.22 % (14)
Yes, I'm addicted 3.26 % (3)
No, I don't need Internet access away from home 47.83 % (44)
No, I won't pay 33.70 % (31)
I didn't know you could do that! 0.00 % (0)
Total votes: 92

This Week's Poll

Do you have a blog (a web log)?

Yes, I host it myself
Yes, I use a blog host (Blogger, LiveJournal, etc)
No, people aren't interested in what I say
What's a blog?

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'm completely ignorant on the subject/concept of Domain names and registration. I am at the moment building my first website on my free space with NTL.
All well and good but I hear that search engines ignore free sites. Thus I was advised that it is possible to register a domain name and that I can then link this to my free space. I hope to have two sites or more eventually. My problem is not knowing all the facts about this issue, i.e. what do I do when I have registered a domain name (or three) what is the next step etc. Is it possible to carry out the above suggestion regarding a link to my free site (and how)? Will this mean that search engines will find my site? What is the relevance of the different address endings and as I hope to sell from the site must it end in biz? etc etc. What I really need is the complete procedure but some basic answers will do along with any useful tips and links.

Response

No responses yet.

To post a response, visit the General Software Help forum at http://PCIN.net/help/forum/index.php?board=3 and click on the "Domain names and registration" 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:

Updated PCIN.net Search
http://PCIN.net/search/

Moon Software Password Agent Software Review
http://PCIN.net/help/software/passwordagent.php

NewsGator Technologies NewsGator Software Review
http://PCIN.net/help/software/newsgator.php

Sunbelt Software iHateSpam Software Review
http://PCIN.net/help/software/ihatespam.php

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THE TIPS and OTHER STUFF

Start Applications Minimized

The START command will start a program up with any parameters that you pass to it. At a command prompt, if you type START/? you will see a list of switches that can be used. If you use the /MIN switch, you can start an application minimized. Most programs will be minimized on the Taskbar. But some programs will minimize to the System Tray. For instance, if you wanted to have Task Manager run at startup in Windows NT/2000/XP , you could either in the Startup folder of the Start Menu or in the RUN keys of the registry create a shortcut that points to "start /min c:\winnt\system32\taskmgr.exe"
Visit http://support.microsoft.com/?kbid=126410 for help with this for Windows 98

History of Robots in the Victorian Era

"Here is the most extensive collection of images and information on Victorian-era robots to be found in the whole World Wide Web.
Read illustrated accounts of the world's first robot, the Steam Man, created in 1865! Subsequent automatons such as the Electric Man and the Automatic Man are also profiled. The most comprehensive section, with more than 20 pages, concerns the mechanical man known as Boilerplate--described as 'charming' by U.S. News and World Report and declared 'cool' by NASA!
Check it out at http://www.bigredhair.com/robots/

Food Dictionary

"Know saté from sauté, semifreddo from spoom?
Search our dictionary of more than 4,000 food terms and you'll never have to eat your words."
Check it out at http://eat.epicurious.com/dictionary/food/"

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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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  7. Support PCIN by visiting http://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 1998-2003, 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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