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Issue 260 - October 08, 2003
ISSN 1488-3163; PC Improvements © 2003
==== 2109 Subscribers in 60 Countries ====
Welcome to the 260th 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
The Opening Thoughts section is my (Graham's) opportunity to let you all know
what is happening in my life, my thoughts on certain topics, and to let you
know of upcoming improvements or additions to the PCIN.net site. Occasionally
I leave it out, and when I do, I get many emails letting me know that they
always read the Opening Thoughts and hope that it doesn't go away. On the other
hand, I'm sure there are also many of you who just skip over this section.
Anyway, two weeks ago I shared information about my sister's wedding, and
last week I included a link to some pictures. I had a subscriber email me, "Don't
want to know about your humanist preacher wedding. Please unsubscribe me." I
was quite taken aback by the abruptness of the email. The person could have
gone to the web site to unsubscribe on their own. They could have emailed me
asking to be unsubscribed. But the person felt the need to be rude. I have
gladly unsubscribed this person. I never promoted the humanist beliefs. Many
know that I have beliefs of my own (I am not a follower of Humanists). But
that is what my sister wanted, so that is the wedding that I attended.
If you don't like something in the newsletter, feel free to let me know. If
it turns out that it is something that the newsletter can do without, I will
remove it. If the majority of the people seem to want the section, I will keep
it. If you don't like it, skip over it. The second sentence at the beginning
of the newsletter (under the header) states, "There is something for everyone." I
never said you'd love the whole thing. But if you visit the links, read the
stories, and participate in the polls and forum, then you will definitely learn
something from visiting PCIN.net.</end of rant>
Graham editor@pcin.net and
Chris chris@pcin.net
The NEWS
Fake FBI site tries to lure victims
A suspicious e-mail and Web site masquerading as a communication from the
Federal Bureau of Investigation made their way around the Internet Tuesday,
attempting to lure Net users into divulging their bank account information.
Both the site and the e-mail sported realistic-looking FBI logos. The Web
site claimed that there had been a massive theft of debit cards, and urged
consumers to enter their account information so the agency could check to
see if it had been compromised. The FBI (the real one) said it was investigating.
For more info:
http://www.msnbc.com/news/974015.asp
Proprietary software--banned in Boston?
Eric Kriss, state secretary of administration and finance, said the policy
was articulated in an internal memo that circulated last week and was formalized
in a state capital spending plan released Monday.
The policy says in evaluating new technology purchases, the state will give
preference to open-source software and products that adhere to open standards
such as Extensible Markup Language (XML) and Secure Sockets Layer (SSL).
'We're going to be evaluating all projects to ensure conformance to open
standards as we move forward and to retroactively move legacy systems to
open standards,' Kriss said. 'We want to make sure what we build is interoperable
and interchangeable, so that different applications can use the same data,
so we won't have to be constantly reinventing and rethinking basic functionality.'"
For more info:
http://news.com.com/2100-7344_3-5084442.html
The e-spy who loves you could be a felon
A company calling itself Lover Spy has begun offering a way for jealous
lovers--or anyone else--to spy on the computer activity of their mates by
sending an e-greeting, the equivalent of a 'thinking of you' card that doubles
as a bugging device.
Computer security experts said the Lover Spy service and software appeared
to violate U.S. law but also said the surveillance program pointed to an
increasingly common way for hackers to seize control of computers.
Marketed as a way to 'catch a cheating lover,' the Lover Spy company offers
to send an e-mail greeting card to lure the victim to a Web site that will
download onto the victim's computer a Trojan program to be used for spying.
For more info:
http://news.com.com/2100-1029_3-5083874.html
POLL of the WEEK
Last Week's Poll
How many email newsletters do you subscribe to?
| 0 |
 |
3.15 % (4) |
| 1-10 |
|
68.50 % (87) |
| 11-20 |
|
14.17 % (18) |
| 21-30 |
|
5.51 % (7) |
| > 30 |
|
8.66 % (11) |
| Total votes: 127 |
This Week's Poll
You can also vote online at http://PCIN.net/polls/
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 just had to reinstall windows me and i wanted to install all the updates.
is there any site that will let me just download the updates, rather than
going to windowsupdate.microsoft.com and sending microsoft my personal data
?
Response
No responses yet.
To post a response, visit the General Discussion forum at http://PCIN.net/help/forum/index.php?board=6 and
click on the "windows updates" topic.
Visit http://PCIN.net/help/forum/ to
post a question of your own.
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
THE TIPS and OTHER
STUFF
Excel Tips
To populate a range of cells in Excel with the same data, select the cells,
type the data you want, the press CTRL+ENTER. The cells will now all have
the same value. This works for selected adjacent cells as well as cells that
are not adjacent to each other.
To show a drop-down list of content previously typed in a column in Excel,
Select the cell.
Press ALT+DOWN ARROW. A list of all previously typed entries appears.
Release ALT, and use the UP ARROW or DOWN ARROW key to select the entry you
want to apply to that cell.
Press ENTER.
To move between worksheets in an Excel workbook, press CTRL+PGDN (right)
or CTRL+PGUP (left)
These tips came from the Crabby Office Lady at the Microsoft Office Online
site, http://tinyurl.com/q5q3
Font of the Day
Visit http://www.fontface.com/fotd/ for
a free and a pay font every day.
Getting the most out of your Windows keyboard
To learn the function of a key, click on it.
http://www.internet4classrooms.com/winkeyboard.htm
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:
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.
- If any of the links are too long to fit on one line, you may have to cut
and paste.
- You can only win one contest every 30 days.
- To subscribe another address or unsubscribe, please visit http://PCIN.net/ and
follow the appropriate links.
- Recommend PCIN to others at http://PCIN.net/recommend.php and
be entered in a monthly draw.
- 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.
- If you have a web site or run your own newsletter, please email me at editor@pcin.net and
I will add it to the subscriber web pages that I have on my site.
- Support PCIN by visiting http://PCIN.net/donate.php
Return to the top
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.
Support PCIN by visiting http://PCIN.net/donate.php
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