Issue 337 - March 30, 2005
ISSN 1488-3163; PC Improvements © 2005
==== 2040 Subscribers in 59 Countries ====
Welcome to the 337th 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
Chris and I have started another blog together... the Niagara Falls Blog.
Chris lives in Niagara Falls, and we both work in Niagara Falls, and so we
figured we'd provide updates on what's going on, in particular in the main
tourist district. The company we work for owns many of these properties, but
we will still remain objective and unbiased. You can check it out at http://www.accessniagara.com/blog/
Graham editor@pcin.net and
Chris chris@pcin.net
The NEWS
Computers cannot heal
"As computers appeared on the public scene in the '50s, psychologists
marveled at the parallels between data-processing technology and the workings
of the human mind. A handful of scientists of the day believed that the functional
structure of the human mind was fully analogous to that of the computer.
Considering that computers in the '50s were slow, noisy, and unreliable,
those scientists apparently didn't think much of their warm-blooded subjects.
I happen to be old-fashioned enough to think that some things will always
be beyond man's understanding, with or without a supercomputer in every garage."
For more info:
http://www.infoworld.com/article/05/03/18/12opcurve_1.html
Drop the mouse and step away from the PC
"The first few moments in any crisis response are critical, and mistakes
can be costly. So it is with misbehaving computers.
Yet the first step for many computer after a computer crash is to hit or
yell at their machine, according to a new survey. The helpless feeling of
data slipping away into a black hole seems to be more than many computer
users can bear. According to the survey, more people commit some act of computer
violence than call for help when faced with a crisis, according to a survey
conducted by New York-based Ontrack Data Recovery."
For more info:
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/7329279/
Terrorism on the Web
"Islamic militants who want the world to witness their attacks and
beheadings in Iraq have engineered new ways to ensure their videos appear
on the Internet, defying efforts to banish them from cyberspace.
Leading insurgent groups such as Iraq's al Qaeda wing may struggle to find
permanent hosts for their Web sites but can still point surfers to their
gory videos and photographs from well-established and less sensational Islamist
sites."
For more info:
http://www.cnn.com/2005/TECH/internet/03/30/al.qaeda.sites.reut/index.html
Microsoft to Implement EU-Mandated Windows Changes
"Microsoft will implement all of the major changes to its new stripped-down
version of Windows requested by the European Commission, the software giant
said on Tuesday.
The European Union's executive had ordered Microsoft to sell a version of
the world's dominant computer operating system without its Windows Media
Player program after ruling that the company had abused Windows' near-monopoly
to crush competition and fining it nearly 500 million euros ($650 million)."
For more info:
http://tinyurl.com/6oqvx
POLL of the WEEK
Last Week's Poll
Have you ever tried to install or run Linux at home?
Yes |
|
35 % (29) |
No |
|
60 % (49) |
What's Linux? |
|
5 % (4) |
Total votes: 82 |
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:
VMware Inc. VMware Workstation 4.5 Software Review
http://PCIN.net/help/software/vmware45.php
PCIN.net Update Blog
http://PCIN.net/update/
Sunbelt Software iHateSpam 4.0 Software Review
http://PCIN.net/help/software/ihatespam4.php
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
THE TIPS and OTHER
STUFF
How to add the workbook path to the footer in Excel 2000
Someone at work asked how they can get an entire path name in the footer
of their Excel spreadsheet. Excel 2000 only allows you to put the filename
is. There is a Microsoft Knowledgebase article that explains how to create
a very simple macro that will do this. Check it out at http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en-us;213615
Check your browser bookmarks
I'm sure many of you have heard of this before, but I was just reminded
of it recently. Martin Aignesberger has written a bunch of utilities, one
of them being software that checks your bookmarks:
"AM-DeadLink detects dead links and duplicates in your Browser Bookmarks.
If a Bookmark has become unavailable you can delete it from your Browser. AM-DeadLink
checks Bookmarks from Internet Explorer, Opera, Mozilla and Netscape."
I just ran it and I have 276 bookmarks, and 18 of them are bad. Of course
I probably haven't visited over 200 of them in last year, but that is a different
problem entirely.
Check it out at http://www.aignes.com/deadlink.htm
Show Formulas in Cell Comments
The Office
Tips and Hints blog regularly has some great tips (hence the name).
I thought one mentioned the other day was fascinating. It shows how to
read all the forumalas in your worksheet and put them inside comment bubbles.
You can read all about it at http://www.klippert.com/TCC/Blog/2005/03/excel-show-formulas-in-cell-comments.html
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.
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Graham Wing can be reached at editor@pcin.net
Chris Empey can be reached at chris@pcin.net
Copyright 1998-2005, Graham Wing. All rights reserved.
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