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Issue 383 - February 15, 2006

ISSN 1488-3163; PC Improvements © 2006
==== 2020 Subscribers in 56 Countries ====

Welcome to the 383rd 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.

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CONTENTS

Opening Thoughts

You'll notice that I only have 2 items in the Tips and Other Stuff section. This has always been the hardest section to fill. Feel free to email us with some sites to recommend and useful tips. It will help us put together a more complete newsletter, and it will help your fellow readers. We'd be happy to provide you with the credit and link back to you for anything that we use.

Just a reminder of the change I made last week to the PCIN.net home page. I added Top 10 Recent Tips or News from the PCIN.net Update Blog and Top 10 All-time Tips or News from the PCIN.net Update Blog. I updated it today. The Recent Tips list will be anything from the last month, so each week as I update it, the oldest week will drop off and the most recent week will be added. I think 5 of the items weren't on the list last week. The All-time list is just that, so it probably won't change a lot, but it did have a couple of changes this week.

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

The NEWS

The Secret Cause of Flame Wars

"Don't work too hard," wrote a colleague in an e-mail today. Was she sincere or sarcastic? I think I know (sarcastic), but I'm probably wrong.
According to recent research published in the Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, I've only a 50-50 chance of ascertaining the tone of any e-mail message. The study also shows that people think they've correctly interpreted the tone of e-mails they receive 90 percent of the time.
"That's how flame wars get started," says psychologist Nicholas Epley of the University of Chicago, who conducted the research with Justin Kruger of New York University. "People in our study were convinced they've accurately understood the tone of an e-mail message when in fact their odds are no better than chance," says Epley.

Read the Wired News article...
Leave a comment...

2 Workers Have Chips Embedded Into Them

Tiny silicon chips were embedded into two workers who volunteered to help test the tagging technology at a surveillance equipment company, an official said Monday.
The Mexico attorney general's office implanted the so-called RFIDs - for radio frequency identification chips - in some employees in 2004 to restrict access to secure areas. Implanting them in the workers at CityWatcher.com is believed to be the first use of the technology in living humans in the United States.

Read the TBO.com article...
Leave a comment...

Mommy, Help Me Download 'Farmer in the Dell' to My MP3 Player

As digital electronics have invaded Toyland, putting video projectors and cellphones into the hands of 7- year-olds, companies that cater to preschoolers have deliberately sat on the sidelines, determined to hold up the wall between adult technology and children's play.
But the wall is about to come crashing down.
At least that is how it will look from the floor of the America International Toy Fair, the industry's biggest annual trade show in the United States, which begins tomorrow at the Jacob K. Javits Convention Center in Manhattan.
Fisher-Price, synonymous with Elmo and Power Wheels, will introduce a digital music player and digital camera for children ages 3 and older that will be sold during the 2006 holiday season.

Read the New York Times article...
Leave a comment...

Search Engine Traffic Soars

People in the U.S. use the Internet for more everyday research than any other medium, a fact proven by the 55 percent year-on-year surge in online searches in December, according to market researcher Nielsen/NetRatings. And Google remained the most popular place for Americans to search cyberspace in December.
The number of online searches in the U.S. soared to nearly 5.1 billion searches in December from 3.3 billion a year earlier, despite just a slight uptick in the total number of Americans connecting to the Internet, according to Nielsen/NetRatings.

Read the PC World article...
Leave a comment...

Other News postings from the PCIN.net Update blog

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PCIN.net UPDATE

Check out these new or updated pages on the PCIN.net site:

Update PCIN.net home page with "Top 10 Most Popular..." features
http://PCIN.net/

Microsoft Digital Image Suite Plus Review
http://PCIN.net/help/software/msdimagesuiteplus.php

Omega One Software Battery Pack Pro 2.1 Software Review
http://PCIN.net/help/software/bpp2.php

Makayama Interactive DVD to Pocket PC 3.0 Software Review
http://PCIN.net/help/software/dvd2ppc3.php

Adobe Photoshop Elements 4.0 Software Review
http://PCIN.net/help/software/elements40.php

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Digital Photography Tip of the Week

The best of the Digital Photography Tip of the Week

Chris is off on vacation this week, so I've chosen 5 of his tips that have been very popular. You can read those tips by clicking the links below, or you can view the entire Digital Photography Tips category on the PCIN.net Update blog.

Shooting at Night, Part 2

Shooting At Night, Part 1

Curves and Diagonals

Photographing Snow

Rule of Thirds

Chris will be back next week with the third and final installment on the night photography series. He will talk about using flash at night, 2nd curtain sync (night mode), dragging the shutter, magic hour and he will have examples of some very nice night photography to share.

The digital photography tip of the week is written by the PCIN Assistant Editor, Chris Empey. Chris is a long time photographer and is currently the vice-president of the Niagara Falls Camera Club. You can see more of his photography at his Photo of the Day website.
If you have a tip to send Chris, or a question about digital photography he can address in the newsletter, send it to chris@pcin.net.

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THE TIPS and OTHER STUFF

Finding files in Windows 2000 Pro with the Where.exe utility

From TechRepublic:

Everyone has to search for a file now and then, either on a local system or on a shared network. Windows 2000 Pro provides a reasonably good search feature within the user interface, but sometimes it is easier to search from a command console.

To help you accomplish these command-line searches, you can turn to the Where.exe utility included with the Windows 2000 Resource Kit. Where.exe can locate files on the local file system or on the network. You can direct Where.exe to search only the target folder or perform a recursive search through subfolders.

I've never tried the utility, so I don't know how it compares to the built-in search, but it sounds interesting.

Leave a comment...

Kelly's Korner - Troubleshooting Windows XP

I have put together a lot of information from various sources, to help you find answers to the problems some users have with Windows XP. I have also put together some commonly requested tweaks and tips to make XP work the way you want it to.

Kelly Theriot Microsoft-MVP

This site has some great information! There is a great tweaks page where you can download REG and VBS files, as well a Windows XP From A to Z page.
Be sure to check out Kelly's Korner...

Leave a comment...

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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.

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Graham Wing can be reached at editor@pcin.net
Chris Empey can be reached at chris@pcin.net

Copyright 1998-2006, 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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