PC
NEWS DIGEST: November 14, 2000 PC
computing, hardware, software, searching, The
PC News Digest is published by PLEASE NOTE:
AND THE WINNER IS...We took time out this weekend from the election- without-end to visit the Edward Steichen retrospective at the Whitney Museum in Manhattan. The exhibit spanned the photographer's career, from his turn-of-the-century painterly gum bichromates, to his striking commercial work for Vogue and Vanity Fair (1930's and 40's), through his familiar celebrity portraits, to "The Family of Man" exhibit he put together for the Museum of Modern Art (1955). The Steichen exhibit continues until February 4, 2001. But if you can't get there, we've made a gift to celebrate Steichen and to say "thank you" to our readers. It's an electronic jigsaw puzzle based on his black and white cityscape "Maypole", shot at the Empire State Building in 1932. You're welcome to download the puzzle and play it on any Windows 95/98/ME/NT computer. We made it using the Jigs@w Puzzle software reviewed in this issue. (See 4.0 below.) Although no one knows yet who won the presidential election, we do know who won our inaugural Best Choice Award. It's Max Bylesjö of Sweden who wrote MaxSplitter, a neat program for cutting big files down to size. (See 3.0 below.) Another first in this issue: We've moved into a place of our own, pcnewsdigest.com. No need to change your bookmarks. But if you like us, why not send a friend to visit us in our new digs? Maypole
Puzzle The
PC News Digest 0.0 Get It Off Your Chest: Email The Government 0.0 GET IT OFF YOUR CHEST: EMAIL THE GOVERNMENTMost people here in the States agree on two things about the presidential election. They want a fair and lawful resolution. And they hope it will spur reform of the election process. If you also think it's time for reform, you might want to write your representatives in Washington. GovernMail from AcroVista Software makes it easy to email several at once, to visit their homepages using the built-in browser, and to see how they've voted recently. Each time you use it, it checks for updated contact lists. GovernMail also provides email and webpages for world leaders and parliaments, and multimedia links for twenty major news sources from CNN to the London Times to the Sydney Morning Herald. Cheers! GovernMail is advertiser-supported FREE software that needs a 486 processor, Windows 95 or later, and 16 mB RAM. If you prefer a version without ads, you can buy one for $16.95. GovernMail 1.0 WEBSHOP 104: DESIGNING FOR SEARCH ENGINESTo get your website listed in search engines, you need to design with them in mind. Here are some guidelines that apply to most engines and directories. DOMAIN NAME. Free domains (like geocities.com/widgetking) and secondary domains, (like earthlink.net/widgetking) suffer from Rodney Dangerfield syndrome. They don't get any respect. For a variety of reasons, some technical, some dogmatic, search engines really are snobbish. So register your own domain name, i.e. widgetking.com. Make it simple to type, easy to remember, and descriptive of your enterprise. TAGS AND TITLES. Every page, starting with your homepage, should include a brief title descriptive of the content. Engines vary, but most use the first 60-70 characters; some use up to 115. Longer titles may be ignored. Include META description (125-150 characters) and content (1000 characters maximum) tags on each page. They help engines index your site. If the tags are too long or missing, indexing and summary listings will be unpredictable. For more on META tags, see How to Use HTML Meta Tags on Danny Sullivan's Search Engine Watch site. FLASH AND FRAMES. It's not that sexy equates with bad, but search engines just don't know how to deal with frames and Macromedia Flash, two techniques that enhance appearance and navigation. If you must use Flash and frames, you should also build alternative pages which don't. TEXT AND IMAGES. Search engines give more weight to larger type sizes (but not to bold-face, italics, or capitals), so design with descriptive headlines and captions. But engines can't "see" graphics, so make sure your text tells your story. Use the alt (alternative) image attribute to describe graphics; some engines index alt copy. CONTENT IS KING. Sorry Marshall, the media is not the message. It's all about information, preferably in pyramid style with some repetition. Search engines give more weight to terms at the top of a page and to those repeated a reasonable number of times (three or four, not more). And they love fresh content. So be prepared to change your site on a regular basis. SKIP THE DIRTY TRICKS. Search engines aren't smart, but they've been around the web a few times. Multiple submissions will get you blackballed or relegated to result page 33,442. Ditto for redirection and gateway pages (two tricks used to list one page and take visitors to another). If your site uses ASP (active server pages) or other dynamic content for legitimate purposes, make sure you also provide static pages that search engines can read and index. In short, good rankings in the search engines result from good website design. Keep it clean, simple and informative and play it straight. How
to Use HTML Meta Tags 2.0 WEBSITES FOR REAL ESTATE PROFESSIONALS.For websites that work -- the WebShop at SERVENET.COM Ready to join the Internet explosion? Let our experts build a website for your real estate related business. Want to see a sample of our work? Check out the sites we built for Arleen Goscinski, past president of ASA's Long Island chapter, and for Balch Realty, a leading buyer's broker in downstate New York and Connecticut. Arleen
Goscinski, ASA Balch
Buyers Realty The
WebShop at SERVENET.COM 3.0 MAXSPLITTER MAKES BIG FILES FIT ON FLOPPIESSometimes the only convenient way to transfer a file from one computer to another is by floppy disk. But what if the file is too big to fit on a floppy? Why then it's a job for MaxSplitter! Written by Max Bylesjö, a bioengineering student at the University of Umeå in Sweden, MaxSplitter partitions that large photo, MP3, or PowerPoint file into pieces whose size and quantity you determine. You can "reconstitute" the file when it gets to its destination using another copy of MaxSplitter, or by executing the batch file it produces. MaxSplitter includes user prompts and housekeeping options that make it easy and neat to use. It's FREE but Max won't turn down contributions.
MaxSplitter 4.0 MAKE, PLAY, EMAIL REALISTIC JIGS@W PUZZLESLooking for the perfect gift for your jigsaw puzzle whiz? Jigs@w Puzzle from Tibo Software is it! This carefully crafted shareware program creates puzzles that can be played on almost any PC. All it needs is a 486 or better processor, 8 mB of RAM, and Windows 95 or later. Jigs@w Puzzle Entry ($9.95) makes and plays puzzles based on your images. Jigs@w Puzzle Edition ($14.95) includes 20 puzzles on themes like fine dining, masters of art, animal wildlife, and colors of Japan. Both are FREE to try. The puzzles can be emailed to friend or relative and played without additional software. They look three-dimensional and can be made in any number of pieces (depending only on screen size). The user interface is colorful and easy to use; solving a puzzle feels just like the real thing. We've used this software to make a puzzle based on Steichen's 1932 photograph "Maypole". It's yours for the download (about 1.5 minutes at 28.8 kB). Enjoy! Jigs@w
Puzzle Maypole
Puzzle THE LOOK-UP CENTER AT INSTALLATIONS PLUS+Scouring the web for basic information? Find what you need in one place for FREE! The Look-Up Center has telephone numbers by name, by address and reverse. Weather, stock quotes, dictionaries, quotations, package tracking, calories, currency conversion, maps, metric conversions, books, music, and more. The
FREE Look-Up Center at Installations Plus+ 5.0 GLOBEXPLORER: MAPS AND MATCHED AERIAL IMAGESTravelers, reporters, salesmen, and real estate professionals alike use FREE customized maps and driving directions from MapQuest and MapBlast. Now road warriors can add a new tool to their travel kit -- matched maps and aerial photos. For street addresses in the U.S. and U.K., and for some overseas cities, GlobeXplorer provides MapQuest maps matched to aircraft and satellite images. It claims to have the "most comprehensive image archive in the world." Paying customers get fresh, high resolution images. Visitors access an older database of lower resolution photos. Even for FREE, the technology will WOW you! The match of map to image is excellent and you can customize your selection with either an HTML or fast JAVA viewer, both with zoom and pan controls. P.S. MapQuest, MapBlast and now GlobeXplorer are all available from our Look-Up Center (see above)! MapQuest MapBlast GlobeXplorer 6.0 AUTOMATED MAINTENANCE FOR YOUR WINDOWS PCMost of us treat our computers like televisions. We buy them, use them constantly, and are outraged when then they finally break. That's OK for TVs, which have no user-serviceable parts anyway. But computers, like cars, need regular maintenance. Unlike cars or televisions, computers can service themselves, once programmed. There are three applications your PC should run at least once a week, if not daily -- ScanDisk and the Disk Defragmenter (both of which come with Windows), and your favorite anti-virus software. Now, as the old-timers say, here's the beauty part. Windows also comes with a program that schedules and runs these utilities automatically after a five-minute setup. In Windows 95, the program was called System Agent and was on the optional Microsoft Plus! disk. In later versions of Windows, it's built in and called Task Scheduler. (Upgrading a Windows 95 system to use Microsoft's Internet Explorer 4.01 SP1 or a later also upgrades System Agent to Task Scheduler.) Task Scheduler runs in the Windows System Tray to the far left of the time. It includes an Add Scheduled Task Wizard to assist in programming. You can get complete information about using Task Scheduler by selecting Help from Windows' Start button and searching on Task Scheduler. The Task Scheduler (open it by going to Start/Programs/Accessories/System Tools/Scheduled Tasks) lets you run ScanDisk, the Defragmenter, and the anti-virus software at times convenient to you. You can program the utilities to run overnight, if you leave your computer on continuously. Or you can tell the scheduler to monitor your activity and run the utilities when you're not working. You know what the anti-virus software does. ScanDisk checks the integrity of your files and makes sure they're indexed properly. The Defragmenter collects all the pieces of each program on your hard drive, and stores them next to each other for fastest execution. These three utilities will not only keep your computer running trouble-free, but also keep it running at top speed. All you have to do is program Task Scheduler once. Can we get you to commit to that for today? THE PC CLINIC AT INSTALLATIONS PLUS+PC PROBLEMS? Help is just a mouse-click away! PC News Digest subscribers get priority treatment at the FREE personal computer clinic at Installations Plus+. The
FREE PC Clinic at Installations Plus+ 7.0 COMPAQ PENTIUM 266MMX NOTEBOOK: $799This notebook PC is light enough at 5.3 pounds for the youngest road warriors, and small enough at 11.4 x 8.8 x 1.5 inches to tuck away in a corner of your kitchen or study. It's the Compaq Armada 4220T that you saw advertised two seasons ago for $4000. The notebook is powered by a Pentium 266 MMX processor supported by a 512 kB cache. It comes with 32 mB RAM, expandable to 96 mB. It has a 4 gB hard drive and a 20X CD-ROM. Its 2 mB video card provides a resolution of 800x600 pixels on the 12.1 inch TFT display. Internal speakers complement the integrated Ensoniq sound card. This refurbished laptop has Windows 95 pre- installed with an original license. There is no warranty on the battery and a 90-day warranty on everything else. The price for the Compaq Armada 4220T notebook is $799, plus shipping, and tax where applicable. PayPal, M/C, Visa. Limited time offer. U.S. orders only please. Call 1-212-567-3705 mailto:specials@servenet.com 8.0 FREEZIP: SHELL EXTENSION OPENS ZIP FILESTo save space and bandwidth, developers often compress programs for download using a ZIP-format archiver. That's no problem for Windows Millennium users, since their version handles ZIPs by design, but Windows 95/98/NT users all need a helper application. FreeZip by Dariusz Stanislawek of Australia is the helper most intermediate and experienced users need. This FREE application teaches Windows Explorer to identify a ZIP file with a bright FZ icon, and to open or unZIP it when it's double- clicked. And it adds options to the pop-up menu that appears when you right-click on a ZIP file. You'll be able to open it, list its contents, test its integrity, and select the unZIP folder. You'll also be able to make ZIP archives yourself. But FreeZip isn't for everyone. If you prefer a ZIP helper with a full graphical interface, try WinZip from WinZip Computing. Now in version 8.0, WinZip is shareware -- free to try; $29 to buy -- aimed at novice users who nevertheless want lots of options. FreeZip
v1.48 WinZip
v8.0 9.0 WANT TO TALK? WE'VE GOT A FORUM FOR YOU!As a public service, SERVENET.COM hosts and moderates four online forums. You are welcome to participate in any or all of them. •
The PC FORUM for help with computer problems. •
The REAL ESTATE FORUM for buyers, sellers. •
The OYSTER BAY HISTORICAL SOCIETY FORUM. •
The SHOP-TALK FORUM for things automotive. 10.0 HUMOR: DETERMINING A COMPUTER'S GENDERIt's rare when men and women perceive anything the same way. That goes doubly for computers. Men think of them as feminine, while women see them as having masculine characteristics. When
asked why, women explain that computers are
like men because:
Men,
on the other hand, say computers are like
women because:
11.0 SUBSCRIBE/UNSUBSCRIBE/SUGGEST/ETC.PAST ISSUES. 09/19/2000 09/26/2000 10/03/2000 10/10/2000 10/17/2000 10/24/2000 10/31/2000 11/07/2000 SUGGESTIONS. Your thoughts about our newsletter and our website are always welcome. Tell us. We're listening! RECOMMEND US. Tell a friend about our website and newsletter. LINK TO
US. All rights reserved. Produced in the WebShop at SERVENET.COM. Please report bad or changed links to the WebMaster. Last update: 11/14/2000. |
Oh yes, and congratulations are in order! MaxSplitter gets our first Best Choice Award. It's got all the needed features, is easy and fun to use, and plays well with other programs. Thanks, Max!
