Issue 317 - November 10, 2004
ISSN 1488-3163; PC Improvements © 2004
==== 2016 Subscribers in 58 Countries ====
Welcome to the 316th 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
Hopefully subscriber Tracey won't get mad at me... but I'm going to talk about
the weather again! We got our first snowfall of the year on Monday, and it
was terrible. We didn't really get much snow at all, but knowing that it's
on its way is quite depressing. In case you can't tell, I'm not a big fan of
Winter. I don't like hockey or skate (can you believe I'm Canadian?), I don't
like skiing or tobogganing, and I don't like shoveling snow. In fact, other
than seeing some nice scenery through my living room or car windows, I can't
think of much at all that I like about winter! Today is much nicer, and the forecast indicates
that we won't have more snow for a while.
Speaking of the weather... did you see the Northern
Lights the other night? Lisa and I were out for a drive with Andrew and
Matthew Sunday night and we saw them. It was the first time I had ever seen
them, and it was incredible. We didn't see all the colours as shown in that
picture, but we saw lots of shades
of green and white.
Chris has finished a review of the Micro Solutions RoadStor. It is a portable
device that reads digital media cards and allows you to copy the contents directly
to a CD. It can also be hooked up to a computer and used as an external CD
burner. Check out Tips and Other Stuff section for a preview
of the review, and a link to the full version online.
Graham editor@pcin.net and
Chris chris@pcin.net
The NEWS
MSN Search to Challenge Google and Yahoo
"The new MSN Search is a full speed ahead effort for Microsoft to catch
Google and Yahoo in the search engine race and are about ready to release
their MSN Search Engine. Microsoft has offered a search engine since long
on their MSN website but they were powered using outsourced technologies
such as LookSmart, Inktomi, and Yahoo's Overture. Only recently with Google
emerging as a dominant force in the search engine market, they realized what
they were missing on.
In February Microsoft's Bill Gates commented that Google has blown away Microsoft
in the realm of search, confirming that Google 'kicked our butts' in a statement
given at the World Economic Forum. After offering a subpar search service
to their incredibly huge user base, MSN has finally gotten the ball rolling
in their direction and Bill may be able to rest well without fearing the
Google and Firefox teams chasing after him.
The new MSN Search Beta format can be previewed at http://beta.search.msn.com,
and the search results can be previewed on the MSN Tech Preview. But it will
not be until Thursday when the true preview test is released."
For more info:
http://www.searchenginejournal.com/index.php?p=1040
Firefox 1.0 unleashed to bite Explorer
"The Mozilla Foundation has released version 1.0 of its Firefox browser,
an open-source product expected to offer real competition to Internet Explorer.
A preview release of Firefox available since last month has had eight million
downloads, according to Mozilla.
Jupiter Research analyst Joe Wilcox said the buzz surrounding Firefox had
been fuelled by several factors, including the product's quality. 'The Mozilla
team has done a really good job with the browser. It's lean and mean.'
Then there's the widespread perception that Microsoft's Internet Explorer
is vulnerable to security breaches. 'There's the fear surrounding IE over
potential exploits,' said Wilcox. 'We hear a lot about the potential vulnerabilities
of IE but not so much about the exploits of those vulnerabilities.'"
For more info:
http://www.computerweekly.com/articles/article.asp?liArticleID=134931
eBay sellers to pay for phony bids
"Eight eBay sellers were ordered to pay nearly $90,000 in restitution
and fines after admitting they bid up products online to inflate the prices.
New York Attorney General Eliot Spitzer said more than 120 people will receive
restitution in the settlement of the three cases, which wrapped up last week
in state courts.
Spokesman Darren Dopp said the cases stemmed from specific complaints, but
the office has not conducted a broad investigation of the online auction
industry and doesn't know how widespread the practice of phony bidding is."
For more info:
http://www.cnn.com/2004/LAW/11/08/ebay.phoneybidding.ap/index.html
Patron Saint of the Nerds
"Here in the oldest church building in New Orleans, tucked into a dark
corner by the door as far away from the main altar as possible, stands the
statue of St. Expedite -- the unofficial patron saint of hackers.
Unofficial because the Roman Catholic Church doesn't know what to do about
St. Expedite. He's too pagan to be a proper saint, and too popular for his
statues to be simply tossed out the door.
Statues of St. Expedite seem to appear at some churches, a puzzling phenomenon.
Where do the statues come from? Who sends them? No one really seems to know
who St. Expedite was in life or even if he ever existed.
But whatever St. Expedite may or may not be, geeks, hackers, repentant slackers,
folks who run e-commerce sites and those who rely on brains and sheer luck
to survive have all claimed the saint as their own."
For more info:
http://wired.com/news/roadtrip/riverroad/0,2704,65184,00.html
POLL of the WEEK
Last Week's Poll
Let's try this one last time... Since not everyone has received the last
several issues of PCIN, I am continuing the previous poll for another week.
This Week's Poll
You can also vote online at http://PCIN.net/polls/
PCIN.net UPDATE
Check out these new or updated pages on the PCIN.net site:
Micro Solutions RoadStor Hardware Review
http://PCIN.net/help/hardware/roadstor.php
Album Creator by FirmTools Software Review
http://PCIN.net/help/software/albumcreator.php
Microsoft® Windows® 2000 Administrator's Pocket Consultant, Second
Edition Book Review
http://PCIN.net/help/books/w2kapcse.php
Remote Task Manager by SmartLine Inc. Software Review
http://PCIN.net/help/software/remotetaskmanager.php
Flash File Recover by PanteraSoft Software Review
http://PCIN.net/help/software/flashfilerecovery.php
THE TIPS and OTHER
STUFF
Micro Solutions RoadStor Hardware Review
MicroSolutions RoadStor is a multi-function device that acts as a portable
CD Writer to allow you to back up your digital media cards while away from
your computer. It also gives the user the ability to view a slideshow of
their images on a television screen, view DVD movies, and listen to CD's
or MP3's. While connected to your computer, the device is a USB 2.0 external
CD-Writer/DVD Player.
Read the full review at http://www.pcin.net/help/hardware/roadstor.php
SimpleOCR
"Use SimpleOCR to add accurate character recognition capabilities to
your custom software without the complexity and expense of runtime licensing.
SimpleOCR is the only OCR API that's Royalty Free. Save hundreds on every
runtime license.
Get the SimpleOCR application for free."
I haven't tried this myself, and it has received mixed
reviews, but you can still check it out for yourself at http://www.simpleocr.com/
Free Flash Games
007ArcadeGames.com has
a lot of free Flash games. Some of them are their own, while others are from
other well-known game sites (like PopCap).
My Windows XP SP2 computer blocked many pop-ups, but it didn't affect my
game-playing at all. But if you don't have a pop-up blocker, be prepared!
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
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Graham Wing can be reached at editor@pcin.net
Chris Empey can be reached at chris@pcin.net
Copyright 1998-2004, Graham Wing. All rights reserved.
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