PC
NEWS DIGEST: December 05, 2000 PC computing, hardware, software, searching, news, books, websites, web design, humor. The
PC News Digest is published by
SERVENET.COM PLEASE NOTE:
MIND OVER CHATTERSome visitors to our FREE PC Forum stay just long enough to leave their mark: "Gilroy was here." or "Wassup?" Most want to talk about a problem: "IRQ Issues," "Laptop Battery," or "AOL 6.0 Crashes." Very few -- perhaps a handful out of thousands -- stand out as solvers, not seekers or posers. This weekend we had the good fortune to interact with one of the rare few -- a problem solver. Tomas Van den Hauwe posted this message: "Hi, I'm making a website with Flash 4 and I send variables from textboxes to my e-mail address. But in my e-mail, it's a .att document. Problem is, all spaces ( ) are replaced by + and ,:./?=+[]()& are replaced by "%" and a hexadecimal value. If I don't find a way to read it, I will make a program with visual basic to convert it." Not knowing a program that handles *.ATT email, we asked him to let us know if he wrote one. Less than 24 hours later, Tomas' ATT Reader was in our mailbox. It's not a fancy program, but it does the job. (You can download a copy using the link below.) The point is not Tomas' program, but his attitude. Others saw the same problem. Tomas saw its dimensions and solved it. Not bad for a 15 year- old (from Belgium)! If you, too, would like to be part of the solution, join us in the PC Forum. (Folks with PC problems in need of a solution are always welcome too!) P.S.
If you'd like to send Tomas your own Atta-
Boy, you can reach him by visiting the website
he's building with Flash 4, or by email: PC
Forum ATT
Reader Tomas
Van den Hauwe's KILLaHURTz homepage 0.0 Holiday Shopping Online: Part 2 Of 2 0.0 HOLIDAY SHOPPING ONLINE: PART 2 OF 2(This is part two of an article begun last week.) Shopping online isn't for everyone or everything. If you enjoy interacting with salespeople, or shopping socially, online shopping probably isn't right for you. The same goes for big ticket purchases. You might research a home or a car on the web, but you'll need to do the actual buying the good old-fashioned way.
For shoppers who never liked the trip to the store, the lines, and dealing with salesfolk, online shopping quickly becomes addictive. Selection is a prime factor. Even companies with both online and physical stores offer a broader selection online. Compared to companies selling by catalog, the selection is often fresher and more accurate. A company that links its web catalog to its inventory computer can produce an up-to-the-minute catalog on demand -- literally in response to your keypress. Right up there with selection is the convenience of shopping when you feel like it, dressed or not, a little now, a little later. No need to schedule a trip to the mall. Shopping can be done at odd moments sandwiched between classes, football games, or bridge parties, or at four in the morning. The third addictive factor is taxes, or rather the lack of them. Except when the e-tailer has a physical outlet in your state, online purchases typically arrive tax-free. (But don't forget those shipping charges.) If selection, convenience, and no taxes, don't get you, smart customization will. Amazon.com has one of the "stickiest" stores online. A returning customer is offered new items selected according to past purchases and the choices of customers with similar interests. Like an item? Great! Because your information is on file, Amazon offers one-click purchasing, charging and shipping it according to your previous instructions. Other sites use customized software to qualify your needs much as a well-trained salesperson might. For example, at Egghead.com, a "memory configurator" helps you select exactly the right RAM upgrade for your PC. All you need to know is the make and model. At Roadrunnersports.com, joggers tell the "Shoe Dog" their size, age, height, weight, running history, etc. Shoe Dog fetches a suitable selection of shoes. If you haven't shopped online and are still hesitant, consider this. Online shopping offers the ultimate in comparison shopping. You don't even have to visit all the e-tailers yourself. Feed the keyword phrase "comparison shopping" to your favorite search engine or directory. You'll be rewarded with hundreds of sites that have already found the goods and checked the prices. All you have to do is remember to log on with credit card in hand. A final word of caution about online buying. Sometimes it can be too easy. Remember to log out of sites that required you to register. And exercise patience when submitting your order. It can take from 30 seconds to several minutes to get a confirming response. A cross-continent trip slowed by heavy Internet traffic, inventory and credit checks, and a server busy with seasonal activity can create some serious delays. Don't hit Submit again unless you want to duplicate your order. 1.0 THE WORLD WIDE WAIT: IMPATIENCE PAYSYou probably don't need us to give you permission, but go ahead and be impatient. Waiting to access a Web site on the Internet is not like waiting for a traffic light to change. Waiting patiently has no benefit. In fact, the longer you wait, the more likely it is that you'll have to wait even longer for the page to appear. Keynote Systems, a leading web systems analyst, recently posted the following recommendation: "When a web site doesn't respond quickly, you should click the Stop button on your browser and re-select the link. On average, you'll spend less time waiting. If the site doesn't respond after a few tries, you're better off coming back later." So when the World Wide Wait starts getting on your nerves, forget your mother's advice and ignore Emily Post. Just go ahead and be impatient. We won't tell. Keynote
Systems 2.0 HELP KEEP US FREE: VISIT OUR SPONSORSAmerica
Online -- Up to 700 hours FREE! Amazon.com
-- A lot more than books and music! Dell
Computer -- Let Dell build a PC for you. eBay
-- Auctioning everything imaginable! McAfee
-- PC system protection. MemTurbo
-- For the just booted feeling! StoreRunner
-- Shop your favorite stores. 3.0 GENDOOR: SEARCH ENGINE FOR GENEALOGYA few generations ago, we lived with our great- grandparents. These days we research them on the web. A new search engine, still in Beta, makes genealogical searches easier. GenDoor, which styles itself "The Genealogy Doorway," has an index of 4 million webpages, and, as they say in Florida, still counting. It uses a proprietary algorithm to exclude pages which aren't genealogy-related. A simple search for the last name Townsend on GenDoor produced 13,476 hits, many obviously relevant. In contrast, the same search on Google reported 504,000 hits. GenDoor is a welcome addition to the genealogist's toolbag. However, it will take time, talent, and dollars for it to develop the breadth of Google or AltaVista (each with over a billion pages indexed) and their sophistication. GenDoor 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+ 4.0 HEWLETT PACKARD DESKJET 660C -- $29These lightly-used printers were replaced in service with a high-speed network printer. With plenty of useful life remaining, they're just right for the kids, for your second setup, or for light office duty. In economy mode, the HP DeskJet 660C prints 4 ppm in black and white, 1 ppm in color. When set for best quality, it prints at 600 dpi black and white and 300 dpi color. It has a print cache of 512 kB RAM. The 660C has a 100-sheet feeder (50-sheet catcher) and prints up to 20 envelopes automatically. Current drivers for DOS and all versions of Windows (3.1 through 2000) are available from the manufacturer's website, as are full specifications. The printer uses readily available black (#51629A) and color (#51649A) cartridges simultaneously --no swapping. The machine is shipped with used cartridges, separately packaged, and with a new 6 foot IBM compatible printer cable. MSRP for the DeskJet 660C at its debut was $489, but you can buy one today AS IS for $29, plus shipping, and tax where applicable. PayPal, M/C, Visa. Limited time offer -- only a few left! U.S. orders only please. Call 1-212-567-3705 mailto:specials@servenet.com 5.0 DYNAMIC DUO: DIGITAL IMAGES OF TWO GUTENBERGSAccording to her publicist, Madonna's webcast from Britain last week played to 43 million fans worldwide. Some say this demonstrates the power of the Internet. We think that's just faux TV. The real power of the Internet was demonstrated recently by another broadcast from the U.K. -- from the British Library. Helped by technical experts from Keio University in Tokyo, the British Library created digital images of two complete Bibles and put them online. Of course, they aren't just any Bibles, but original Gutenbergs printed in Mainz around 1454. One came from the library of King George III (1738-1820) and is printed on paper. The other, printed on vellum, was a gift from Thomas Grenville (1755-1846). Armchair tourists can view each page of these Bibles in thumbnail (5 kb), midsize (60), and large (800 kb -- a 2 minute, 56.6 kbs download) scale. Scholars can request even larger, uncompressed images. This is the true power of the Internet -- to disseminate information. Not as popular as Madonna perhaps, but for some, the Rock of Ages! The
Gutenberg Bible -- Digitised Images 6.0 BOOK: HOW COMPUTERS WORK: MILLENNIUM EDITIONIt's really not necessary to know how a computer works to use one. Don't buy this book because you think you should. But if you get off on knowing what makes things tick, jump on How Computers Work, now in its 5th, Millennium Edition from MacMillan (Que series). Written by PC Computing's senior editor, Ron White, the book explains processors, memory, modems, storage drives, plug-in cards (video, sound), digital cameras, printers, networks, and Internet basics. (For a thorough Internet grounding, you want The Internet for Dummies, reviewed here last week.) The text is easy enough for the novice but deep enough to please more experienced readers. It's handsomely illustrated by Timothy Downs (PC Computing) and Stephen Adams. They also deserve special mention for the accompanying interactive CD-ROM. It takes you on lively tour inside the case of a typical IBM-compatible PC. How Computers Work is for the curious, not the person who wants to learn how to upgrade or repair PCs. (The book for that is PC Upgrade and Repair Simplified, reviewed here two weeks ago.) Amazon.com has additional information and reviews, and sells How Computers Work for $23.99. The Internet for Dummies is $13.99. PC Upgrade and Repair Simplified is $19.99. Order now for guaranteed delivery by December 22! How
Computers Work The
Internet for Dummies PC
Upgrade and Repair Simplified 7.0 WANT A WEBSITE OF YOUR OWN? LOOK HERE!For websites that work -- the WebShop at SERVENET.COM Ready to join the Internet explosion? Let our experts build a website for your business, school, club, or group. Call or write today for a quote. Want to see a sample of our work? Check out the site we build for our Alert Home Guardians. AHG provides property management, premises protection and inspection services for Westchester, Putnam, Dutchess, and Bronx Counties in New York and Fairfield County, Connecticut. A simple, inexpensive site, this is the WWW equivalent of a Yellow Pages ad. Alert
Home Guardians The
WebShop at SERVENET.COM Call 1-212-567-3705 mailto:info@servenet.com 8.0 YOU'LL FLIP OVER THIS COLLECTION OF ADSNeed graphics for your retro website, factoids to punch up your marketing campaign, an overview of modern advertising, or just wanna have fun? Check out AdFlip, a searchable archive of print ads from 1940 on. AdFlip yields more when browsed by product category or decade than when searched by keyword. Product name searches worked well, but searching by photographer or advertising slogan didn't. Search results are displayed as identifiable thumbnails yielding full-screen ads when clicked. The editors offer a new Top 10 list each day supplemented by featured collections such as: Ads as Art, Soda Fountain (recommended), and Provocative. AdFlip is not a powerful research tool, but no matter. It's the nostalgia that you'll flip over. AdFlip 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 AT LAST A SMART WAY TO SHUT DOWN WINDOWS"You mean you go to Start to shut down Windows?" Yes, and to log off or restart, too! At least that's the way it used to be before the folks at Smartline developed Active ShutDown (ASD). ASD gives users the last laugh. A double click on its System Tray icon shuts down your PC, reboots it, or logs you off. But it gets better. ASD optionally terminates programs that aren't responding, making shutdowns both quicker and safer. Developed by Smartline Inc., specializing in security and network management software, ASD works with Windows 95/98/ME/NT/2000. ASD also provides for configurable Hot Keys for users who prefer keyboard control.
Smartline 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+ 11.0 HUMOR: AND THEN THE DOCTOR SAID...The following quotes were taken from actual medical records dictated by physicians. They're featured in Richard Lederer's book Fractured English: A Pleasury of Bloopers and Blunders, Fluffs and Flubs, and Gaffes and Goofs. It was illustrated by Dave Morice and published by Pocket Books in 1996. By the time he was admitted, his rapid heart had stopped and he was feeling better. Patient has chest pain if she lies on her left side for over a year. On the second day the knee was better and on the third day it had completely disappeared. She has had no rigors or shaking chills, but her husband states she was very hot in bed last night. The patient has been depressed ever since she began seeing me in 1983. Discharge status: Alive but without permission. Healthy-appearing, decrepit 69 year old male, mentally alert but forgetful. The patient refused an autopsy. The patient expired on the floor uneventfully. Patient has left his white blood cells at another hospital. Patient was becoming more demented with urinary frequency. The patient's past medical history has been remarkably insignificant with only a 40 pound weight gain in the past three days. The patient left the hospital feeling much better except for her original complaints. Fractured
English by Richard Lederer 12.0 JIGSAW PUZZLE: BRONX LION IN WINTERThis week's puzzle shows a lion pacing in winter. It was photographed by PC News Digest writer Lou Bruno about ten years ago at the Bronx zoo. Tibo Software's Jigs@w Puzzle program was used to make the puzzle, which downloads in 46 seconds at 56.6 kbs and plays in 4-5 minutes on Windows 95 or later PCs. P.S. Previous puzzles are still available. Dunderberg is Joseph Brennan's photo of upstate New York woods in autumn. Trains is Gregory V. Swisher's photo of a pair of locomotives passing historic Union Depot in Durand, Michigan. Maypole is a black and white cityscape by Edward Steichen. Lion
Puzzle Jigs@w
Puzzle Dunderberg
Puzzle Trains
Puzzle Maypole
Puzzle 13.0 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 11/14/2000 11/21/2000 11/28/2000 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. Written by Louis J. Bruno Edited by Judith Reinfeld |
Use this secure link to buy online. Your M/C or Visa will be processed through PayPal.
Active
ShutDown is our hands down winner of this
week's Best Choice Award. The program meets a
real need for millions of Windows users, consumes
a minimum of resources, but offers a maximum of
features. And did we tell you it's FREE?